All your Clash of Clans Clan Wars questions answered.
What is a Clan War?
Chief, this is what you have been waiting for! The biggest feature in Clash of Clans is called Clan Wars. Clan wars gives you and your Clan the possibility to show the entire Clash of Clans community who rules the battlefields once and for all.
A Clan War is a strategic battle between two randomly matched Clans. Both clans need to have the same amount of members in their clan and be of comparable strength.
There are two phases in a Clan War:
1) Preparation day!
Once a Clan War has been announced, after being initiated by its leaders, your Clan and you will have 24 hours to prepare for the battles ahead. During this time you can make adjustments and changes before the war actually starts. You can change the layout of your War Base and donate troops to your Clan members.
The changes you perform on your War Base during the Clan War will not affect your village outside of the war. This also means that any troops donated to your War Base will not be available in your regular village, and vice versa.
2) Battle day!
When the 24 hours of Preparation day have passed, your clan should be prepared and hungry for victory! Each participant can attack twice during Battle day, so make each attack count. At the end of the war, the Clan that earns the most stars from attacking wins the clan war.
Remember, Clan Wars are free to start and participate in, and, unlike normal multiplayer battles, Clans get to choose if and when they would like to go to war. Clans do not have to participate in Clan Wars.
How do I prepare for a Clan War?
Preparation is so important to Clan Wars that we’ve dedicated the first whole day of the war to it. In order to adequately prepare for a War, you must act cooperatively with your clanmates. Note that the 24 hour Preparation phase starts as soon as a worthy opponent has been found through the matchmaking system.
To begin with, make sure that your War Base is optimised for defence. Defence is important because the more of a user’s base you destroy, the more stars you get, and only stars count towards victory in Clan Wars. In fact, just knocking down a user’s Town Hall will grant you a one-star victory, so it’s important to take that into consideration when laying out your base.
You can edit the layout of your War Base by pressing the button in the bottom right corner in the War Map view. Remember that you can only edit your War Base during Preparation Day. After that, its layout will be locked for Battle Day and saved in the state you left it until your next Preparation Day in your next Clan War.
Your War Base will contain the same buildings as your regular village. However, every time you add a new building to your village, you have to go to your War Base’s inventory to “deploy” that building in your War Base. The game will not choose a random spot in your War Base for any new constructions — you get to decide where everything goes. If you leave a new building in your inventory, it won’t appear in your War Base during Battle Day.
Note that you cannot train troops in your War Base. All troops that you use for attacking come from your regular village. Train and request your troops in your village as if it were for a regular attack, either during Preparation Day or Battle Day — it doesn’t matter.
Another important step is troop donation. The Clan Castle in your War Base is different from the Clan Castle in your village, and must be filled separately. The troops donated to a War Base will be used to defend it against all attacks during the day, so be sure to make those donations count. You cannot use troops donated to your War Base for your own attacks.
Finally, it’s imperative that you use your opportunity to scout enemy bases before going to war. This will help you specify your attack strategies, army load outs, and donation needs. Use reconnaissance to zero in on the best opponent for you, so you can do your part in defeating them later.
How do Clan Wars work?
Before a Clan goes to War, there are 3 things worth knowing:
How to start a Clan War,
How to take part in it,
The minimum requirements related to participating in a Clan War.
How does one start a Clan War?
Only leaders and co-leaders can take their Clan to War by opening the Clan War screen and pressing the “Start War” button.
This will start the search for an opposing clan. The matchmaking system will ensure your Clan is paired up with a Clan of equal Strength (both attack and defense) and a similar number of Clan members. The War will start immediately after a valid opponent has been found.
Finding an opposing Clan can take several minutes, but there is no need to wait in the matchmaking screen. Close the screen with the red “X” button and you will be notified when an opponent has been found. You cannot challenge specific Clans; the selection will be entirely random from the pool of Clans that match the profile of your Clan.
How do I take part in clan wars?
To participate in a Clan War, you must be part of a Clan when a leader or co-leader presses the “Start War” button. If you join the Clan after this point, you will become a spectator and will not be able to actively participate in the Clan War.
While you are free to leave your Clan during a War, your War Base will remain visible on the war map even if you leave, so leaving a clan will not affect an ongoing war. Please note that your War Base is not your village and as such all your resources, trophies and even a Shield are not affected by a Clan War.
However, you cannot join another Clan War by joining another Clan, while your original Clan is still battling it out. Other players will be able to see that you are still part of an unfinished war by checking your profile. You will be marked as ineligible for war until the previous Clan War has concluded.
What are the minimum Clan requirements required to go to war?
The only requirement is that a Clan must have at least 10 members eligible for war.
What happens to my village during a Clan War?
Your village is always safe from Clan War attacks because these battles are fought in a different area than the regular game.
Even when the War Base is an almost identical copy of your village, it is important to remember that this War Base used during Clan Wars is a separate entity from your village.
This means that you will have two “villages”: one regular village, and a War Base for the Clan Wars. Any changes you make on your War Base will not affect your regular village.
From their War Base, players prepare and attack War Bases instead of their regular village. Your village’s resources, Trophies and Shield are never at risk during a Clan War.
What happens to inactive Clan members during a Clan War?
Inactive Clan members are treated the same as active Clan members during Clan Wars.
They can still be the target of any actions during the war, including receiving donated troops and being attacked by the enemy.
Inactive Clan members will still count toward the total team size and their War Bases will still appear on the war map.
However, inactive Clan members will not use their attacks and will not receive any bonus War Win loot.
As a result, you may have less total attacks and less chances to win the war than a Clan with as many active Clan members.
Can I cancel a Clan War?
Before an opposing Clan has been found, you can cancel the matchmaking by pressing the “Cancel” button.
However, once an opponent has been found, the Clan War can no longer be cancelled. Preparation day begins immediately.
How are Clans matched up in Clan Wars?
Clans will be matched up based on the overall strength of its members. Strength is based on each member’s attacking power (troops, army camp capacity, spells and heroes) and defensive strength (defense buildings, walls, traps and heroes). Different layouts and base designs do not affect strength. The only way a member’s strength can be changed is if they upgrade their troops, defenses, spells, etc.
Can I choose a Clan to attack?
The matchmaking in Clan Wars is based on the strength of Clan members, so it is not possible to choose which Clan to attack.
How do you win a Clan War?
The evaluation of Clan Wars is based exclusively on the amount of stars that your entire Clan wins during the war!
Every Clan member who makes successful attacks during a Clan War will earn some bonus loot at the end of the war, but only the winning clan will receive the full War Win Bonus.
When the two Clans hold the same amount of stars at the end of the War, neither side wins and the result is a draw instead.
I can’t find a Clan to wage War against!
In Clan Wars Clans are pitted against each other thanks to a matchmaking algorithm which ensures only Clans of the same combined strength and the same amount of Clan members are selected for your Clan War.
Because of this huge undertaking, the Clan Wars matchmaking takes more time than a regular attack in the game as we want to ensure you always receive the right target.
If the matchmaking system has been searching for a while, it is best to leave it running in the background. You can still enjoy your regular game of Clash of Clans in the meantime. Select the “Return Home” icon (1) in the bottom left corner of the matchmaking screen to return to your village without interrupting the matchmaking process.
Once an opponent has been found, you will receive a notification on the Clan Wars icon. Remember that the 24 hour Preparation Day period starts as soon as a valid target has been identified.
Note: pressing the “Cancel” button (2) in the matchmaking screen will cancel the matchmaking and you will have to start the search all over again.
Your clan will be in the matchmaking, in case an opponent clan is not found, for a maximum of three hours. After this period, the matchmaking will be cancelled and the leader or co-leader of your clan has to push the “Star War!” button again.
I’m in a Clan that fought a war, but I couldn’t participate. Why is that?
In order to participate in a Clan War, one must be part of a Clan when a leader, or co-leader presses the Start War button. If you join the Clan after a war has begun, you’re able to spectate but not participate.
If the two Clans chosen are only roughly the same size, then Clan-members with the lowest trophy counts will be excluded from the fight. This is to make sure the war is even, and to balance out the odds.
What does my Clan get for winning a war?
Your Clan will earn the glory of victory, the respect of the rest of the Clans, and the celebration of a great power that will last into posterity.
Additionally, the Clan will earn a shiny new point on its “Wars won” stat, visible from the Clan description.
At an individual level, each participating member of the winning Clan will immediately be awarded the full bonus loot they accrued from their victorious attacks. Remember that you can only accrue this bonus by attacking and defeating enemy War Bases.
What happens if our Clan is defeated or draws?
If your clan is defeated, you will have to face the shame of being overthrown and massacred, the memories of greater times will be turned into ashes and your clan name will be unremembered. At least until the next Clan War.
The members of a Clan that lost a war, will suffer a stiff penalty to their War bonus loot; this is the loot collected from the victorious attacks on enemy War Bases during the war. This loot will still be awarded, but will be heavily reduced.
If both Clans have the same amount of stars by the end of Battle Day, the result of the War will be counted as a draw. Both Clans’ members will still be awarded their War bonus loot, but it will come at a penalty since there was no actual victory. The penalty will not be the same as if the Clan had lost, but the result will be less than if the Clan had won.
