Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Root Rider is a slow, very tough Elixir troop that walks straight at defenses and breaks Walls by riding over them. She unlocks at Town Hall 15 with the level 17 Barracks, takes 20 housing space, and is mostly used as a tank that opens a path for the rest of a ground army. Level 4, added in April 2026, is the max at Town Hall 18.
How the Root Rider works
She rides a moving tree root and targets defenses, ignoring everything else. What sets her apart is how she handles Walls: she doesn’t stop and attack them, she rolls over them, and her root smashes them as she passes. Her normal movement is slow enough that the Walls she crosses break behind her, which turns her path into an opening for everything that follows.
How long a Wall survives her depends on its level. Walls up to level 10 break the moment she touches them. Levels 11-13 last about 0.4 seconds, levels 14-17 about 0.8 seconds, and level 18 about 1.2 seconds. That’s still far quicker than any normal troop chewing through them.
Her damage is low for her size. She hits once every 2.2 seconds, and her job is to absorb defense fire and break Walls while other troops do the killing. One quirk: under a Rage or Haste Spell she moves fast enough to cross Walls without fully breaking them. That doesn’t matter much when the defense she’s attacking sits right behind the Wall, because she stays on the Wall while she attacks.
Defensive Root Riders in a Clan Castle don’t damage their own village’s Walls.
Root Rider stats
Housing 20, movement speed 12, attack every 2.2 seconds (0.4 seconds against Walls), range 1 tile, ground targets only. Research is done in the Laboratory with Elixir.
| Level | DPS | Damage per hit | Wall damage per hit | Hitpoints | Research cost (Elixir) | Research time | Lab level | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95 | 209 | 4,000 | 6,200 | None | None | None | 15 |
| 2 | 105 | 231 | 4,000 | 6,350 | 15,000,000 | 8d | 13 | 15 |
| 3 | 115 | 253 | 4,000 | 6,500 | 17,600,000 | 10d | 14 | 16 |
| 4 | 125 | 275 | 4,000 | 6,700 | 30,000,000 | 16d | 16 | 18 |
Costs and times are standard values before any Gold Pass discount. Town Hall 17 has no new level, so a Town Hall 17 Root Rider stays at level 3.
How to attack with Root Riders
Root Riders as the front line
A few Root Riders on one side give a ground army a tank that also removes the Walls between it and the core. Send them first, then follow with damage dealers that can use the gap: Valkyries, Witches and your heroes are the usual partners. Valkyries make up for her low damage, and Witch skeletons crowd around her and help keep her alive. An Apprentice Warden adds to her already high hitpoints.
She often replaces the Golem at higher Town Halls. She costs less housing, breaks Walls, does slightly more damage and attacks slightly faster.
Distract single-target defenses
Single-target Inferno Towers, the Monolith and the Ricochet Cannon are what kill Root Riders. Skeleton Spells dropped on those defenses pull their fire away. A Skeleton Spell can also bait a Poison Spell Tower into wasting its spell.
Don’t over-speed her
Rage and Haste are still useful once she is deep in the base, but if the plan depends on her breaking a particular line of Walls, let her cross it at normal speed. If you see Walls left standing, an Earthquake Spell or a second Rider on the same path cleans them up.
Clan Wars at lower Town Halls
At 20 housing she fits in a donated Clan Castle as low as Town Hall 6, and even a level 1 Root Rider has far more hitpoints than anything a low Town Hall can train. In lower-level wars she makes a strong Clan Castle tank for the attacker.
How to defend against Root Riders
- Split defenses across several large compartments so each Wall she breaks opens less of the base, and put high-hitpoint buildings such as storages in her way to slow her down.
- Protect the single-target Infernos and the Monolith with splash defenses such as Multi-Archer Towers and Wizard Towers, so Skeleton Spells can’t freely distract them.
- Poison from a Spell Tower slows her attacks and gives your defenses time.
- Ice Golems in the Clan Castle freeze her when they die, which can push a slow Root Rider attack into a time fail.
As a Clan Castle defender she has good hitpoints for 20 housing space, leaving room for a second defender, but she only hits one ground target at a time and can’t touch air.
Root Rider changes
- December 12, 2023: added with the Town Hall 16 update, at Town Hall 15, with 3 levels.
- February, March and June 2024: three nerfs. The June 2024 pass halved her damage at every level and lowered her hitpoints again.
- March 2025, Clash Anytime: training time removed.
- April 27, 2026, Sound of Clash: level 4 added for Town Hall 18.
Root Rider FAQ
What Town Hall unlocks the Root Rider?
Town Hall 15, with a level 17 Barracks.
Is the Root Rider an Elixir or Dark Elixir troop?
Elixir. She trains in the regular Barracks and is researched with Elixir.
Does the Root Rider jump over Walls?
No. She rides over them and breaks them on the way, so she doesn’t need a Jump Spell.
What is the Root Rider’s max level?
Level 4 at Town Hall 18. All troop caps are on the max levels page.
Sources: Supercell release notes (Town Hall 16 update, Sound of Clash update, April 2026, Clash Anytime update), in-game data.
