Overview
The Clan Castle is an essential structure for establishing or joining a Clan. It accommodates reinforcement Troops, Spells, and Siege Machines, which can be employed to support attacks or, in the case of troops, to protect a player’s village during enemy assaults.
At the beginning of the game, players have a dilapidated Clan Castle surrounded by Obstacles, such as plants and stones, rendering it immovable. Reconstructing a Clan Castle demands 10,000 Elixir but doesn’t necessitate a free Builder or any time investment. Upon reconstruction, players can form a Clan or become part of an existing one, and the Clan Castle becomes movable without needing to join a Clan or clear surrounding obstacles first.
Upon joining a Clan, players can “Request” reinforcements every 20 minutes (or faster with a “Donation Request Wait Time” perk or by utilizing Gems). Players can also specify their desired troops in a message and restrict donations to requested troops only. Other Clan members can view the request in the Clan Chat and contribute a certain amount of Troops, Spells, or Siege Machines to the Clan Castle, depending on the Clan’s level and the player’s Clan Castle level.
From level 4 onwards, players can request Spells equivalent to one housing space from clanmates. Level 7 Clan Castles or higher permit two housing spaces worth of Spells, while a level 10 Clan Castle allows for three housing spaces worth of Spells. Starting at level 6, players can request Siege Machines from clanmates.
If reinforcements are exhausted before the wait time concludes, the remaining time is displayed on top of the Clan Castle. However, a glitch sometimes prevents the time remaining from being shown if only the Siege Machine is missing.
Players can switch the defense status of defending Clan Castle troops between guard mode and sleep mode. In guard mode, housed troops defend the player’s village, while in sleep mode, they don’t. Sleep mode can be beneficial for preserving Clan Castle troops for offensive purposes, particularly in Clan Wars.
Players earn experience points for each donated troop, with 1 Experience point awarded for every housing space of Troops donated. For instance, donating 1 Archer grants 1 Experience point, while donating a Giant earns 5 Experience points and a Dragon 20 Experience points. Typically, players can donate up to 6 troops per request, although a higher-level Clan with a “Donation Limit” perk allows for up to 9 donations. Every housing unit of donated troops contributes to the “Friend in Need” achievement.
Players gain 5 Experience for each housing space of donated Spells, with each donated Spell counting toward the Sharing is Caring achievement. In Clans level 3 or below, players can only donate 1 spell per request; in level 4-7 Clans, 2 spells; and in level 8 or higher Clans, 3 spells.
Players receive 30 Experience for each donated Siege Machine, with each Siege Machine contributing to the Siege Sharer achievement.
If part of a Clan, players can fortify their Clan Castle using Raid Medals earned from Raid Weekends, adding reinforcements as if donated by other players. These reinforcements are added at the Clan Castle’s maximum permitted level, even if no player in the Clan can donate at that level. Reinforcing troops with Raid Medals costs 1 Raid Medal for every 2 housing spaces (or part thereof), 5 Raid Medals per housing space of Spells, and 15 Raid Medals per Siege Machine.
The Clan Castle houses the Treasury, which accumulates loot from Star Bonuses, Clan Wars, and Clan Games. This supersedes the previous War Loot storage, independent of the Clan Castle’s actual level. Attackers can only pilfer a small percentage (3%) of the Treasury’s loot, so it’s advisable to claim the loot only when needed.
In summary, the Clan Castle plays a pivotal role in forming or joining a Clan, housing reinforcement Troops, Spells, and Siege Machines. Players can request reinforcements, donate troops, spells, and Siege Machines, and earn experience points and achievements for their contributions. The Clan Castle also contains the Treasury, where loot from various sources is securely stored. Understanding and utilizing the Clan Castle effectively is crucial for success in the game.
Strategy
Defense
The significance of Clan Castle troops cannot be overstated in the upper leagues. These troops have the ability to divert and potentially eliminate attacking forces, thereby reducing the size of the assault and consuming valuable time.
When your Clan Castle is in “guard” mode and adversary units come within a 12-tile radius, any troops inside will emerge to engage the enemy. Defending troops from your Clan Castle and defending heroes can also effortlessly leap over walls.
If the Clan Castle is annihilated while defending, any remaining troops inside will not deploy for the battle, though they will be safe otherwise. This can occur when troops inside cannot target the deployed units. For instance, if a Balloon and a Minion are in the castle when a Dragon is deployed, only the Minion emerges. If the Dragon destroys the castle and ground troops are deployed afterward, the Balloon never appears.
Position the Clan Castle near the heart of the village, enabling troops within to swiftly react to assaults from any direction. This also makes it difficult for attackers to trigger the castle, allowing reinforcements to optimize damage inflicted on enemy troops.
Remember that when enemy troops without a favorite target become aware of defending Clan Castle troops, they will prioritize attacking these troops over buildings. They may even breach a wall if necessary to reach the defending forces. Thus, placing a Clan Castle filled with Archers behind an interior wall compels attacking troops to break the walls before targeting adjacent buildings, whether intended or not.
With an abundance of hitpoints (typically surpassed only by the Eagle Artillery and Town Hall), the Clan Castle serves as an effective damage sponge while your defenses engage the enemy. Despite its defensive utility, the game classifies it as a resource building.
Defensive troops that survive an attack, irrespective of their health status, will return to the Clan Castle with full health. Offensive troops, however, never return.
If a unit that splits into smaller troops upon death (like a Golem or Lava Hound) perishes and subsequently splits, this does not count as surviving the attack, even if their smaller counterparts survive. Consequently, they will not return to the Clan Castle.
Archers make excellent entry-level Clan Castle troops, as they provide robust defense against both air and ground units at a low cost. Their main advantage lies in their capacity to attack from behind walls. However, attackers equipped with a Poison Spell or a Dragon can easily eliminate them.
Dragons, Dragon Riders, Electro Dragons, and occasionally Inferno Dragons are popular Clan Castle troops, particularly in Clan Wars. They are resistant to single Poison Spells and inflict significant damage on both ground and air units. However, many players anticipate their presence and likely have a strategy to counter them, such as employing a high-level Archer Queen or their own Dragons.
High-level Balloons deal substantial damage and can swiftly eliminate unprepared ground forces but are ineffective against aerial assaults. Nonetheless, due to the threat they pose and their relatively low housing requirements, they are frequently used to fill Clan Castles partially occupied by Dragons or Electro Dragons.
While Witches are less common, they remain a widely utilized Clan Castle troop. Their primary tactic involves summoning Skeletons to distract opponents. With multiple Witches in a Clan Castle, they can quickly overwhelm unprepared attackers, although their low hitpoints make them susceptible to Poison Spells or Lightning Spells.
Ice Golems, despite inflicting minimal damage, are often found defending in Clan Castles due to their high hitpoints (relative to the space they occupy) and their ability to freeze attacking units nearby upon destruction.
Offense
Drawing out defending troops from the enemy Clan Castle during an attack is of paramount importance. This can be achieved by placing a single unit within the range of the enemy’s Clan Castle, which helps avoid the scenario of facing these troops while in range of the enemy’s defenses. It’s advantageous to ascertain the types of defending troops inside the Clan Castle before deploying your entire army (e.g., avoid deploying numerous Barbarians if the enemy’s base is defended by Balloons). If you’re unable to reach the castle’s radius from the exterior of the base, use 1-2 Hog Rider(s) who can get closer by leaping over walls.
In cases where the enemy base is too expansive to draw out troops (which is common at higher levels), initiate with a phase like an Electrone or Queen Walk. Bear in mind that Skeletons and Bats (produced by spells or Witches) won’t activate the Clan Castle, thereby not deploying its troops. As a result, avoid using spells that spawn these creatures to draw out Clan Castle troops. On the other hand, they are an excellent choice for attacking an undefended Clan Castle (though Bats will not target the Clan Castle as they prioritize defenses).
After successfully luring out troops, a player can opt to forfeit the battle (if the troops put you in an unfavorable position), ignore them (not advisable), eliminate them using a Lightning Spell or Poison Spell, or lead them further away from defensive structures before engaging them with your own forces. Remember that once deployed, Clan Castle troops lose their trigger radius and will traverse the entire map to confront any enemy units. Exploit this to pull them as far away from defensive structures as feasible.
In the event of weaker troops emerging from a Clan Castle, wait for them to be fully lured out and then utilize a Lightning Spell or Poison Spell to eliminate them. These spells exclusively damage defending troops (not your own), so they can be used while defenders are engaged with your attacking troops without causing friendly casualties.
An effective method for managing powerful troops is to entice them far from the base. Position one Giant at a distant side, wait for the troops to approach, and then deploy Archers or Wizards in a circular formation around them for an easy takedown. This technique is also applicable to Heroes, although it is more challenging, and Heroes cannot be drawn far from their trigger radius.
Keep in mind that a Clan Castle without a Clan shield may still house troops from previous clans.
Deployment Order
In a Clan Castle, the deployment of multiple troops follows a specific sequence based on three determining factors.
The primary factor is housing space, where troops with lower housing space exit the Clan Castle before those with higher housing space. For instance, a Balloon (occupying 5 housing space) will consistently depart the Clan Castle prior to a Dragon (occupying 20 housing space).
For troops with equal housing space, an internal ID governs the deployment sequence. This ID establishes an apparently random deployment order; however, it typically favors troops introduced earlier in the game (or those appearing first if introduced simultaneously) over those added later. The following list demonstrates deployment sequences for troops with identical housing space:
- 1 housing space: Barbarian > Archer > Goblin
- 2 housing space: Wall Breaker > Minion
- 5 housing space: Giant > Balloon > Hog Rider > Super Barbarian
- 6 housing space: Bowler > Miner > Headhunter
- 8 housing space: Valkyrie > Super Wall Breaker > Rocket Balloon
- 10 housing space: Baby Dragon > Super Giant > Super Wizard
- 12 housing space: Witch > Super Archer > Super Minion
- 15 housing space: Ice Golem > Inferno Dragon
- 20 housing space: Dragon > Super Valkyrie
- 25 housing space: P.E.K.K.A > Dragon Rider
- 30 housing space: Golem > Lava Hound > Electro Dragon (this interaction is only found in the Single Player Campaign’s Goblin Castle and is not currently possible in player bases)
Among troops of the same variety, deployment proceeds from the lowest to the highest level, ensuring a level 2 Archer always deploys ahead of a level 4 Archer.
Between June 2017 and March 2020, the order in which troops were donated roughly determined their departure from the Clan Castle. However, this process appeared inconsistent and was never fully comprehended.
Before the June 2017 update, the deployment order was as follows: Barbarians, Archers, Goblins, Giants, Wall Breakers, Balloons, Wizards, Healers, Dragons, P.E.K.K.As, Baby Dragons, Miners, Minions, Hog Riders, Valkyries, Golems, Witches, Lava Hounds, Bowlers, and proceeded from the lowest to the highest level.
