Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Minion is the first Dark Elixir troop you get: a small, fast flyer that spits Dark Elixir at whatever is closest, on the ground or in the air. It unlocks at Town Hall 7 with the level 1 Dark Barracks, takes 2 housing space, and maxes at level 14 on Town Hall 18. It dies fast, so you use it in numbers or for cleanup, never as a tank.
What the Minion does in a raid
Minions fly at speed 32, the fastest of any air troop, and attack once per second from 2.75 tiles away. They have no favorite target. A Minion flies to the nearest building, and if Clan Castle troops, a defending hero or trap Skeletons start a fight nearby, it switches to them until they are dead.
Being airborne means Cannons, Mortars, Bomb Towers and a ground-mode X-Bow can’t touch it. The flip side is the hitpoint pool: a max-level Minion has 140 HP, so splash damage from a Wizard Tower or an Air Bomb wipes out a whole clump in one hit.
One quirk matters a lot when you plan an air attack: the Seeking Air Mine ignores Minions completely, so you can’t use them to find or burn those traps. Regular Air Bombs do trigger on them.
Minion levels, stats and upgrade costs
Minion upgrades are researched in the Laboratory with Dark Elixir. Training has been free since June 2022 and instant since March 2025, so the research is the only cost left. The Town Hall column is the lowest Town Hall whose Laboratory can research that level.
| Level | Damage per second | Hitpoints | Research cost (Dark Elixir) | Research time | Lab level | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38 | 58 | – | – | – | 7 |
| 2 | 41 | 63 | 1,000 | 6h | 5 | 7 |
| 3 | 44 | 68 | 2,500 | 8h | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | 47 | 73 | 5,000 | 12h | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | 50 | 78 | 10,000 | 1d | 7 | 9 |
| 6 | 54 | 84 | 15,000 | 1d 12h | 8 | 10 |
| 7 | 58 | 90 | 31,500 | 1d 18h | 9 | 11 |
| 8 | 62 | 96 | 47,500 | 2d | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | 66 | 102 | 75,000 | 3d | 11 | 13 |
| 10 | 70 | 108 | 100,000 | 4d | 12 | 14 |
| 11 | 74 | 114 | 115,000 | 4d 12h | 13 | 15 |
| 12 | 78 | 120 | 160,000 | 5d | 14 | 16 |
| 13 | 84 | 130 | 220,000 | 9d | 15 | 17 |
| 14 | 92 | 140 | 335,000 | 14d | 16 | 18 |
Costs and times are before Gold Pass discounts. Each hit does the same damage as the per-second figure, since the Minion attacks once a second. Level 8 is also the gate for the Super Minion boost, which costs 25,000 Dark Elixir.
How to attack with Minions
A handful of Minions in any army pays off. Three or so can clean up corner buildings and anything that only Cannons and Mortars protect, which is often the difference between 99% and a full clear at the end of a war hit.
For a bigger Minion push, the classic setup is a Balloon or Lava Hound front. In “Balloonion”, Balloons go at the anti-air first and Minions follow to sweep everything behind them. “Lavaloonion” adds Lava Hounds to soak Air Defense shots while the Minions and Balloons work. Either way:
- Take out or tie up Wizard Towers, Multi-Archer Towers and Super Wizard Towers before the swarm arrives. Splash is what kills Minions; single-target Air Defenses struggle to keep up with them.
- Bait Air Bombs with one Minion (or a sturdier flyer) where you expect them, then send the group.
- Spread them out. A tight clump is exactly what an Air Bomb wants.
- Pair them with a Rage Spell or Haste Spell when they hit the core, since their damage per housing space is high but they die quickly under fire.
In the Single Player Campaign there’s no timer, so once every air-targeting defense is down, a lone Minion can finish the map. Tap or pan the screen now and then so the game doesn’t end the battle for inactivity.
How to defend against Minions
- Set Air Bombs one layer in from the edge, where the swarm will be bunched up and stray single Minions can’t reach them first.
- Keep Wizard Towers covering your Air Defenses and Archer Towers. Splash coverage over the core does more against Minions than extra single-target damage.
- Don’t count on Seeking Air Mines; they won’t fire.
- Minions are cheap Clan Castle defenders that hit ground and air, which punishes armies with nothing that can shoot up at them.
Recent changes
- June 27, 2022: training cost removed for all troops.
- February 27, 2024: level 12 added.
- November 25, 2024: level 13 added with Town Hall 17, and Dark Elixir troop costs cut in half.
- March 2025 (Clash Anytime): training time removed.
- November 17, 2025: level 14 added for Town Hall 18; level 13 buffed from 82 to 84 damage and 126 to 130 HP, with a cheaper, shorter upgrade.
- April 27, 2026: the new Sky Wagon siege machine launches Minions along with your Clan Castle troops (level 14 Minions at its max level).
Other Dark Elixir troops by Town Hall
| Town Hall | Dark troops unlocked |
|---|---|
| 7 | Minion, Hog Rider |
| 8 | Valkyrie, Golem |
| 9 | Witch, Lava Hound |
| 10 | Bowler |
| 11 | Ice Golem |
| 12 | Headhunter |
| 13 to 16 | Apprentice Warden, Druid, Furnace, Ruin Witch (one per Town Hall) |
Minion FAQ
What Town Hall do you get Minions?
Town Hall 7. Building the Dark Barracks unlocks them right away.
What is the Minion’s max level?
Level 14, which needs a level 16 Laboratory at Town Hall 18.
Do Seeking Air Mines target Minions?
No. Seeking Air Mines skip Minions, but regular Air Bombs hit them hard.
Is the Minion Prince the same as the Minion?
No. The Minion Prince is a separate flying hero added in November 2024 and kept in the Hero Hall. The troop on this page is trained in the Dark Barracks.
Sources: in-game troop and Laboratory data; Supercell release notes: Town Hall 17 update, Clash Anytime update, Town Hall 18 update, Sound of Clash update.
