Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Skeleton Trap is a hidden coffin that pops up when an attacker walks or flies within 5 tiles and releases a small group of Skeletons to stall your opponent’s troops. You unlock two at Town Hall 8 and up to four from Town Hall 14, and each one is set to either ground or air mode. Its max level is 5, added with Town Hall 18 in November 2025; that level makes the Skeletons stronger instead of adding more of them.
How the Skeleton Trap works
Each trap takes a 1×1 tile and stays invisible until something it is set to target comes within its 5-tile trigger radius. A ground-mode trap ignores flying units passing over it, and an air-mode trap ignores ground troops. You switch the mode by tapping the trap in your village. Air-mode coffins have a bat-wing symbol on the lid, and their Skeletons float on two small red balloons.
The trap does no damage of its own. Its value is distraction: the Skeletons draw fire from troops that attack whatever is closest, and they chip away at troops that only target defenses, since those troops never turn around to fight back. Trap Skeletons show a small skull icon next to their health bar, which is how you tell them apart from Skeletons made by a defending Witch.
Like other Home Village traps, a triggered Skeleton Trap stays spent in normal multiplayer until you log in, then re-arms for free. In Clan War attacks it is armed for every attacker.
Skeleton Trap levels and stats
| Level | Skeletons spawned | Skeleton level | Cost (Gold) | Upgrade time | Town Hall needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 6,000 | – | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 250,000 | 5h | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 400,000 | 8h | 9 |
| 4 | 5 | 1 | 1,000,000 | 12h | 10 |
| 5 | 5 | 2 | 18,000,000 | 7d | 18 |
A level 1 trap Skeleton has 30 hitpoints and deals 25 damage per second. At trap level 5 the Skeletons are level 2, with 45 hitpoints and 30 damage per second. Ground and air Skeletons share these numbers; air ones move a little slower.
Skeleton Traps per Town Hall
Two at Town Hall 8 and 9, three from Town Hall 10 to 13, and four from Town Hall 14 through 18.
Where to place Skeleton Traps
- In ground mode next to a high-value defense or the Town Hall. A P.E.K.K.A or a hero that stops to swing at Skeletons loses several seconds under fire.
- Along the path of defense-targeting troops like Giants and Hog Riders. They ignore the Skeletons, so the Skeletons keep hitting them for free unless support troops clean up.
- Against Miners, which burrow and resurface between targets and lose a lot of time to small distractions.
- In air mode near an Air Defense. Balloons only hit buildings, so air Skeletons can pick at them unopposed, and Dragons pause to deal with them.
- Next to a Bomb Tower so troops that clean up the Skeletons are standing in its blast when it goes down.
Skip spots where Golems are likely to walk: Golem death damage clears the Skeletons at once.
How to beat Skeleton Traps when attacking
Splash damage handles them best. A Valkyrie or Super Valkyrie spins through Skeletons from every side, and the Electro Titan‘s aura or the Royal Champion’s Electro Boots wipe them the moment they spawn. Wizards, Witches and Bowlers work once the Skeletons bunch up. If a trap goes off by the Town Hall during a hero dive, a well-placed Lightning Spell kills the whole group instantly, while a Poison Spell kills them more slowly but also covers Clan Castle troops.
A lone trap rarely decides an attack. Worry about it when it catches slow single-target hitters such as P.E.K.K.As and Electro Dragons, or a defense-targeting group with no support behind it.
Recent Skeleton Trap changes
- November 17, 2025 (Town Hall 18): level 5 added, which upgrades the Skeletons to level 2. The same update added an info screen for trap Skeletons.
- March 24, 2025: air Skeletons’ housing space cut from 2 to 1, and levels 2 to 4 got cheaper and faster.
- April 12, 2021: fourth trap added at Town Hall 14.
See the Home Village traps page for the full trap lineup.
Skeleton Trap FAQ
Should Skeleton Traps be on ground or air?
Match what you get attacked with. If your defense log is mostly ground armies, keep them on ground; if you see a lot of Balloon or Dragon attacks, flip one or two near your Air Defenses to air.
How many Skeletons does a max Skeleton Trap spawn?
Five. Level 4 and level 5 both spawn five, but level 5 Skeletons are level 2 and hit harder.
When do you get the Skeleton Trap?
At Town Hall 8, with two traps. The third arrives at Town Hall 10 and the fourth at Town Hall 14.
Sources: Supercell release notes (Town Hall 18 update notes, Clash Anytime update notes) and in-game data.
