Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
The Tornado Trap is a hidden trap that, once triggered, spins up a tornado that drags nearby ground and air troops toward its center for 5 to 7 seconds. It barely hurts anything (55 total damage at max level); its job is to hold an army in place so your defenses and other traps can hit it. You get one at Town Hall 11, and it maxes out at level 3 from Town Hall 12, with no new levels since.
How the Tornado Trap works
An attacker walking or flying within 3 tiles sets it off. For the next several seconds every enemy unit in the radius gets pulled toward the middle and takes a small amount of damage each second. Units can still attack while they spin if a target is in range, so ranged troops keep shooting; they just can’t go anywhere.
How hard a unit gets pulled depends on its size. Each unit gets a value from 1 to 5, worked out as its housing space divided by 3 and rounded up, with 5 as the cap. Low values spin hardest. Heroes and pets always count as 5, and Siege Machines count as 1, which makes them very easy to stall. Flying units get pulled a bit more than ground units with the same value.
A few units ignore the pull completely: Miners, Super Miners, the Diggy pet and the Battle Drill. They still take the small damage. Skeletons and Bats from spells can’t set the trap off, but if they wander into an active tornado, they get shredded.
One side effect makes it more dangerous than its damage suggests: a ground unit pulled into a Wall gets stuck there until the tornado ends, even a troop that normally ignores Walls.
Tornado Trap levels and stats
| Level | Duration | Total damage | Cost (Gold) | Upgrade time | Town Hall needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 seconds | 39 | 1,800,000 | – | 11 |
| 2 | 6 seconds | 47 | 2,000,000 | 1d | 11 |
| 3 | 7 seconds | 55 | 2,500,000 | 2d | 12 |
All levels deal 8 damage per second over a 3-tile radius and hit both ground and air. Base costs and times, before Gold Pass discounts. You only ever get one Tornado Trap, at every Town Hall from 11 to 18.
Where to place the Tornado Trap
Treat it as a setup piece. On its own it does almost nothing; the value comes from what’s next to it.
- Inside the range of a high-damage defense. A single-target Inferno Tower can melt a held tank, and a multi-target one cleans up a held swarm.
- Next to another trap. A Giant Bomb, Air Bomb or Seeking Air Mine hits much harder on troops bunched in a tornado.
- In a splash defense’s blind spot. Pulling troops off the dead zone of a Mortar, Eagle Artillery or Scattershot lets that defense fire on them.
- Near the Town Hall, to stall Clan Castle troops dropped by a Wall Wrecker or Battle Blimp, especially Balloons that need to be right on top of their target.
- In front of Walls that Wall Breakers aim for, so the breakers spin in place instead of opening the Wall.
Hero pushes are a good target too. A Royal Champion stuck on a Wall burns through the timer of her equipment ability while doing nothing.
How to deal with the Tornado Trap when attacking
Lead into suspected trap spots with a few cheap, small troops such as Barbarians, Archers, Minions or Wall Breakers. The tornado fires once, and if it fires on a handful of throwaway units, your main push walks through clean. A Miner or Battle Drill army, or Diggy on your hero, isn’t moved by it at all.
The other traps are on the Home Village traps page.
Recent Tornado Trap changes
The trap has had no stat changes since its durations were cut on April 2, 2019, when re-arm costs were also removed for every trap. The June 16, 2025 update refreshed its visual effects only. Its level 3 cap at Town Hall 12 still stands in October 2026.
Tornado Trap FAQ
What Town Hall unlocks the Tornado Trap?
Town Hall 11, with levels 1 and 2. Level 3 needs Town Hall 12.
Does the Tornado Trap affect heroes?
Yes. Heroes and pets count as the heaviest class, so they’re pulled the least, but they still get moved and can get stuck on Walls.
How much damage does the Tornado Trap do?
Very little: 8 per second, which adds up to 39 at level 1 and 55 at level 3.
Sources: Supercell release notes and in-game data.
