Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Flame Flinger is a Siege Machine that unlocks with the level 6 Workshop at Town Hall 14. It is a slow catapult that hits defenses from 11 tiles away, further than most of them can shoot back, and leaves burning ground that keeps damaging buildings and defending ground troops. Its max is level 5, reached at Town Hall 16, and it has had no new level since April 2024.
How the Flame Flinger works
The Flinger rolls toward the nearest defense and stops once it is in range. Every 5 seconds it lobs a burst of three fire projectiles. Each hit does direct damage, then sets a circle of ground on fire for a while. Enemy buildings and ground units inside that circle take damage over time, a bit like a Poison Spell, and the fire does extra damage to Walls, so it also chews through Wall segments near its target.
With 11 tiles of range it outranges most defenses. The ones that can match or beat it are the ones you have to plan around: Mortars, X-Bows, the Monolith and, at Town Hall 17 and 18, the Inferno Artillery.
It has the lowest hitpoints of the nine Siege Machines and also loses about 17 hitpoints a second over time. That decay is slow compared with the Log Launcher, so an untouched Flinger lasts a long time: 100 seconds at level 1 and about 124 seconds at level 5. When it finally breaks, or you release it, your Clan Castle troops come out on that spot.
Unlock, donations and levels
The level 6 Workshop needs Town Hall 14 and costs 10,000,000 Elixir with a 5 day 12 hour upgrade. Building the Flinger is free and instant; research is done in the Laboratory with Elixir.
To receive it you need a level 8 Clan Castle, which means Town Hall 12. Donated Flingers arrive at level 2 in a CC8, level 3 in a CC9, level 4 in a CC10 and the max level 5 from CC11 up.
| Level | DPS | Damage per hit | Max fire DPS | Hitpoints | Lifetime | Research cost (Elixir) | Research time | Lab level | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 124 | 225 | 80 | 1,700 | 100.0 s | None | None | None | 14 |
| 2 | 137 | 250 | 95 | 1,800 | 105.9 s | 5,500,000 | 3d | 10 | 14 |
| 3 | 151 | 275 | 105 | 1,900 | 111.8 s | 8,000,000 | 4d | 10 | 14 |
| 4 | 165 | 300 | 120 | 2,000 | 117.6 s | 10,000,000 | 7d | 11 | 14 |
| 5 | 179 | 325 | 130 | 2,100 | 123.5 s | 18,000,000 | 12d | 14 | 16 |
The Flinger only appears in the Laboratory after the Workshop reaches level 6, so a new Town Hall 14 can take it straight to level 4. Town Halls 16, 17 and 18 all share the same level 5 cap. Costs and times are before any Gold Pass discount.
How to use the Flame Flinger
Use it to clear one side of a base slowly while the rest of your army works elsewhere, or to soften the outer ring before your main push. It is at its best against edges that have no Mortar, X-Bow or Monolith, because nothing there can reach it.
- Deploy it early. It fires once every 5 seconds, so it needs time to earn its value.
- Send a cheap troop ahead of it. A Giant or Hog Rider in front will set off a Giant Bomb or a Skeleton Trap and reveal Hidden Teslas before the Flinger rolls into them.
- Take out or tank the long-range defenses on its side first. A Queen Charge with Healers on the same edge handles this well and keeps defenses busy.
- Keep a few troops in reserve. The Flinger only goes after defenses, so a defending hero or Clan Castle troop that walks out to it will wreck it unless you send something to deal with them.
Army ideas for the Town Halls where it fits are on the Town Hall 14 attack strategies page and the attack strategies hub.
Defending against the Flame Flinger
Your best answers are defenses that can reach it. An X-Bow set to ground mode, kept away from where attackers can drop troops, is hard for a lone Flinger to deal with. The Firespitter also hits it hard, and its shots pierce, so a troop parked in front of the Flinger doesn’t protect it. A Monolith deals damage based on the target’s max hitpoints and needs only a handful of shots to break it.
Other things that help: putting defenses close to the edge of the base so the Flinger has to come nearer to hit them, a tight group of Hidden Teslas at the rim, Giant Bombs and Skeleton Traps in its likely path, and defending heroes or Clan Castle troops that will walk out to it. Keep those defenders away from the burning ground or they will lose health too.
Flame Flinger changes
- December 9, 2021: added with the level 6 Workshop and four levels.
- February 16, 2022: reworked to fire bursts of three smaller projectiles instead of one big one.
- June 27, 2022: fire lasts longer but its max damage over time was lowered.
- April 17, 2024: level 5 added.
- September 9, 2024: no longer receivable at Town Hall 11 and below; donated levels lowered at Town Halls 12 to 14.
- March 2025, Clash Anytime update: building Siege Machines takes no time.
- April 27, 2026, Sound of Clash update: all Siege Machines became immune to the Town Hall 14-16 poison, Life Gem effects and the Apprentice Warden‘s aura, and now take damage from Firemite fires.
- May 26, 2026: the Sky Wagon was cut back (one fewer barrel, one fewer Minion per barrel, troops one level lower). No change to the Flame Flinger.
Flame Flinger FAQ
What Town Hall unlocks the Flame Flinger?
Town Hall 14, with the level 6 Workshop. You can receive one by donation from Town Hall 12 with a level 8 Clan Castle.
What is the Flame Flinger’s range?
11 tiles. Mortars, X-Bows, Monoliths and the Inferno Artillery can still reach it.
What does the Flame Flinger target?
Defenses. It moves to the nearest defense, stops at max range and fires.
What is the Flame Flinger’s max level?
Level 5, from Town Hall 16 up. The full set of caps is on the max levels page, and the other eight machines are compared on the Siege Machines page.
Sources: Supercell release notes (Sound of Clash update, April 2026, Clash Anytime update, State of Gameplay part 2), in-game data.
