Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
Town Hall 3 is the first level that feels like the real game: you get the Mortar, your first traps, the Laboratory for troop upgrades, and enough storage to rebuild the Clan Castle and join a clan. Since the August 2026 update, Season Challenges and the Gold Pass also start here. The upgrade to Town Hall 4 costs 25,000 Gold and takes 3 hours.
What Town Hall 3 unlocks
| New at TH3 | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mortar | 1 | Ground splash, range 4 to 11 tiles, cannot hit anything inside 4 tiles |
| Bomb | 2 | Hidden trap, splash damage to ground troops within 3 tiles |
| Walls | +25 (50 total) | |
| Laboratory | 1 | Upgrades troops (and later spells) with Elixir, one research at a time |
| Clan Castle | Rebuild | 10,000 Elixir, no Builder and no build time |
| Army Camp | +1 (2 total) | |
| Gold Storage and Elixir Storage | +1 each (2 each) | |
| Gold Mine and Elixir Collector | +1 each (3 each) | |
| Wall Breaker | Barracks level 5 | 2 housing space, deals 40 times damage to Walls |
No spells, heroes or air defenses yet. Those start at TH4 and TH5.
Max levels at Town Hall 3
Defenses and traps
| Defense | Max level | At max |
|---|---|---|
| Cannon | 4 | 17 damage per second, 500 hitpoints |
| Archer Tower | 3 | 19 damage per second, 460 hitpoints |
| Mortar | 1 | 20 damage per shell, one shell every 5 seconds |
| Walls | 3 | 400 hitpoints |
| Bomb | 2 | 24 damage |
Army, resources and troops
| Building or troop | Max level | At max |
|---|---|---|
| Army Camp | 3 | 35 each, 70 housing space total |
| Barracks | 5 | Adds the Wall Breaker |
| Laboratory | 1 | |
| Clan Castle | 1 | 10 troop housing space |
| Gold Mine and Elixir Collector | 6 | 1,300 per hour, holds 20,000 |
| Gold Storage and Elixir Storage | 6 | 45,000 each |
| Barbarian, Archer, Goblin | 2 | Laboratory level 1 research |
| Giant, Wall Breaker | 1 | Level 2 needs Laboratory level 2 (TH4) |
With every storage maxed, TH3 holds 100,000 Gold and 100,000 Elixir, counting the 10,000 the Town Hall stores itself.
Upgrade order at Town Hall 3
- Rebuild the Clan Castle as soon as you have 10,000 Elixir. It costs no Builder time, and joining an active clan gets you donated troops every 10 minutes.
- Build the Laboratory and start Archer level 2, then Barbarian level 2. Lab research doesn’t use a Builder, so keep it running at all times.
- Place the Mortar, the two Bombs and the new storages, camps and collectors. Everything new has to be placed before the Town Hall can move up.
- Second Army Camp and camp upgrades, taking you from 30 to 70 housing space.
- Storages to level 6. You will need room for 25,000 Gold for TH4 and more for TH4’s buildings.
- Collectors toward level 6.
- Defenses: Cannons to 4, Archer Tower to 3.
- Walls to level 3 with spare Gold, then Town Hall 4.
If you have collected 500 Gems by now, this is a good time to buy the third Builder’s Hut. TH3 has more upgrades than two Builders can keep up with.
Armies that work at Town Hall 3
Seventy housing space plus 10 from the Clan Castle is enough for real attacks. Mortars now show up in the bases you raid, and their splash wrecks bunched-up Archers and Barbarians, so spread low-hitpoint troops out.
- Giants and Wall Breakers with Archers. Four Giants (20 space) soak damage, two or three Wall Breakers open the Walls in front of them, and Archers fill the rest.
- Goblin raids. Goblins deal double damage to resource buildings, so a camp of Goblins with a few Giants to draw fire is a fast way to farm Gold and Elixir.
Since training is free and instant, there is no reason to hold back. Lose an army, rebuild it in one tap and attack again.
Base building at Town Hall 3
- Put the Mortar in the middle. It has a 4-tile blind spot, so the Cannons and Archer Tower around it need to cover the ground right next to it.
- Use your 50 Walls to make two small compartments instead of one long ring. One Wall Breaker blast then opens one section instead of the whole base.
- Leave a tile or two between Walls and the buildings inside them so ranged troops standing at the Wall have less to hit.
- Bombs go where troops will cluster: next to storages that Goblins will run for, or just inside a Wall where Wall Breakers will arrive.
- Rebuilt Clan Castles can be moved. Put yours near the center so defending clan troops come out where your defenses can support them.
What is different for new players in 2025-26
- Season Challenges and the Gold Pass now start at Town Hall 3. This replaced the Starter Pass in the August 30, 2026 update and rolls out as a test from September, so not every account sees it yet.
- Donating troops from your Clan Castle costs the donor Elixir since March 2025, and the standard request cooldown is 10 minutes.
- The Barbarian King is one Town Hall away. He and the Hero Hall unlock at TH4 since May 2026.
- New accounts reach the Builder Base at Town Hall 6.
Before you upgrade to Town Hall 4
- Mortar, both Bombs, second Army Camp, second storages and third collectors placed.
- Clan Castle rebuilt and a clan joined.
- Laboratory busy with a long research so it keeps working during the 3-hour Town Hall upgrade.
- Storages big enough to hold 25,000 Gold.
Town Hall 3 FAQ
What is the best Town Hall 3 base layout?
Mortar and Town Hall in the center, storages in their own walled sections, Cannons and the Archer Tower spread so they cover the Mortar’s blind spot, and Bombs near the storages. Army buildings and Builder’s Huts go outside the Walls.
What should I upgrade first at Town Hall 3?
Clan Castle and Laboratory first, since neither competes for Builder time for long, then the new buildings, Army Camps and storages. Defenses and Walls come last before TH4.
What are the max levels at Town Hall 3?
Cannon 4, Archer Tower 3, Mortar 1, Walls 3, Bomb 2, Army Camp 3, Barracks 5, Laboratory 1, Clan Castle 1, collectors and storages 6. Barbarians, Archers and Goblins reach level 2. The max levels page lists every Town Hall.
More Town Hall guides
Previous: Town Hall 2 guide. Next: Town Hall 4 guide. See also the Town Hall overview and max levels by Town Hall.
Sources: Supercell release notes for the August 2026 update, the Clash Anytime update (Mar 24, 2025) and the May 2026 update; in-game data.
