Clash of Clans Strategy Guide

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Barracks Units

Barracks units cost elixir to produce and vary drastically in strength. As a general rule, the units that cost the most elixir and time to produce tend to be the most powerful based on their supply cost. However, the extra elixir cost and time requirements for these expensive units offsets their increase in strength. When farming, generally it is best to stick to the cheaper units to save on elixir costs and training time.

Barbarian

Training Time: 20 seconds
Supply Cost: 1
Movement Speed: 16
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Any
Barracks Required: Level 1

The Barbarian is the first unit you get access to in Clash of Clans. This unit is a cheap melee unit that does well as the base of your army for the first five Town Hall levels. A good strategy is to use only Barbarians and overwhelm the opponent with a Barbarian swarm. Since Barbarians are so cheap and train so quickly, you can easily go on 5-6 raids per hour when using a Barbarian army.

At higher levels, Barbarians still can be used as damage shields for more fragile units, but mass-Barbarian armies do not work nearly as well as they do at early levels. You will need something to break down walls and shoot at high-threat targets like Wizard Towers and Mortar that are behind walls.

Archer

Training Time: 25 seconds
Supply Cost: 1
Movement Speed: 24
Targets: Ground & Air
Preferred Target: Any
Barracks Required: Level 2

The Archer is the basic ranged unit in the game. It does solid damage, but has very, very low health. However, its low health is more than made up for by its low cost and quick movement speed. The Archer’s range allows it to shoot over walls and hit defensive towers and resource storage buildings even with the walls around these structures are intact.

Players are best served by using a line of Barbarians (initially) and later Giants to tank for their Archers. These higher health troops will absorb tower hits so that Archers can stay alive longer. The Archer’s biggest weakness is clumping up with other Archers and having them all get hit by Mortars or Wizard Towers. Keep them spread out and do not drop them all in the same place to minimize this effect.

Archers also do very well in the Clan Castle when the Clan Castle is placed in the center of a base layout. Archers in this position will shoot over walls at melee units that will not be able to fight back until the melee units break through the wall.

Goblin

Training Time: 30 seconds
Supply Cost: 1
Movement Speed: 32
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Resources (Damage x2)
Barracks Required: Level 3

Goblins are cheap, fast units that will focus entirely on collecting resources. Goblins will not attack anything other than resource collectors and storage units until every resource collector and storage building have been destroyed. Goblins also do twice their normal damage to collectors and resource storage structures. Their fast movement speed allows them to frequently avoid traps. Goblins are fast enough to trigger a spring trap without getting launched (as long as they do not stop on top of it).

At low levels, Goblins are not very effective. Their low damage and health does not give them enough survivability to be effective. However, the Goblin unit gets generous damage increases with each level of research, drastically increasing its effectiveness. By level 4, Goblins will easily start tearing through even high-level walls and wiping out storage buildings within a few seconds, making them very effective for farming.

By level 5, 20 Goblins + healing spell + rage spell are practically an unstoppable force, as they will tear through level 8-9 walls in just a few seconds. Great for coring deep into a player’s base to snag a Dark Elixir storage. Just make sure you take out the mines on the outside of the base or Goblins may be reluctant to attack walls.

Giant

Training Time: 2 minutes
Supply Cost: 5
Movement Speed: 12
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Defenses
Barracks Required: Level 4

Giants are the first units that players get access to that will specifically target defensive structures. Giants will not attack any other structures until all defensive towers have been destroyed. Hidden Tesla towers are considered defensive structures for the Giant.

Giants have three weaknesses: Spring Traps, their low damage, and their slow movement speed. Giants are very susceptible to well-placed Spring Traps since players have a good idea of how Giants will move. Be sure to try and trigger obvious Spring Trap locations with Goblins, Archers, or Barbarians before sending your Giants in to attack.

The Giant’s low damage can be best made up for by using Wall Breakers and Archers. Giants normally take forever to destroy high-level walls, so use a Wall Breaker or two to break down the walls and let the Giants in faster. Archers can also shoot and take down towers behind walls, limiting the number of walls that the Giants need to break down. Giants slow speed can be improved immensely via the Rage spell, but the cost of the spell prohibits its regular use.

Wall Breaker

Training Time: 2 minutes
Supply Cost: 2
Movement Speed: 24
Targets: Ground (area splash)
Preferred Target: Walls (40x Damage)
Barracks Required: Level 5

Wall Breakers are an essential unit for most Clash of Clans armies. These units can very quickly destroy walls that other units would take ages to break down. Breaking down the first line or two of an enemy’s walls can be the difference between clearing the entire base or getting wiped without reaching 50%.

Wall Breakers are very fragile, so you will need to put down a few distracting units like Giants or Barbarians to allow your Wall Breakers to break down walls without getting hit. Be sure to time your Wall Breakers in between Mortar Shots so that they do not get taken out by splash damage.

Balloon

Training Time: 8 minutes
Supply Cost: 5
Movement Speed: 10
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Defenses
Barracks Required: Level 6

The Balloon is an interesting air unit that specifically targets defenses first. As an air unit, it is strong versus Mortars and Cannons, but weak versus Air Defense towers. The biggest weaknesses of the Balloon are its very low movement speed, its low HP, and its tendency to clump up with other Balloons. The low movement speed allows Air Defense towers to pick off many Balloons before they ever get in range. Its low HP and tendency to clump make the Balloon susceptible to Wizard Towers and Air Bombs.

The Rage Spell makes the Balloon many times better, as it allows the Balloon to quickly move between targets. A fleet of Balloons under the effects of the Rage Spell will quickly take out all defensive structures within the area of effect of that spell. Balloons also scale very well with research; max level Balloons do quite a bit of damage.

Balloons are an atypical unit, as they do not scale like the normal unit. Balloons are outright terrible outside of the campaign from levels 1-4. At level 5, they become pretty good, as the amount of damage and health they gain with this upgrade is significant.

At level 6, Balloons become an excellent unit and are even one of the strongest mid-tier (not cheap, but not overly expensive) units in the game. The reason is the amount of damage and health they gain from levels 5 to 6 is incredible. A level 6 balloon does twice the damage and has about double the health and well over double the damage of a level 4 balloon. No other unit scales this well and has such a jump at this level range.

Wizard

Training Time: 8 minutes
Supply Cost: 4
Movement Speed: 16
Targets: Ground & Air
Preferred Target: Any
Barracks Required: Level 7

You can think of the Wizard like an upgraded Archer. However, the Wizard does not always get used in place of the Archer simply because one Wizard (a 4 supply unit) costs more Elixir than 4 Archers and the Wizard takes significantly longer to train.

Like an Archer, the Wizard should be used with something to tank in front of it, typically Giants or even Barbarians. This ensures that the Wizard does not get taken down by towers and can stay alive long enough to dish out its very high damage. The Wizard has a lot more health than the Archer – making it less vulnerable to the Mortar and Wizard Tower. Wizards are still weak against structures like the Archer Tower or Cannon, particularly if the Wizard is attacking something else while being fired upon by either of these two structures.

The Wizard scales very well with upgrades, getting a large damage increase with every level of research. When fully upgraded, the Wizard is the most powerful DPS unit in the game on the basis of the amount of damage it can deal based on its supply cost. A max-level Wizard does 180 DPS; divided by its 4 supply cost, and that yields 42.5 DPS per housing space – by far the highest of any unit.

Healer

Training Time: 15 minutes
Supply Cost: 14
Movement Speed: 16
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Any (your own units; heals with area splash)
Barracks Required: Level 8

Healers will issue steady area of effect healing to a group of nearby units (radius of a few units on the heal), keeping approximate pace with any AoE damage or damage from one single-target defensive tower. Healers tend to work very well when paired with Giants, as Healers can keep the Giants healed while the Giants slowly work down the enemy’s defensive structures.

The Healer’s primary enemies are the Air Defense tower, Seeking Air Mines, and to an extent the Inferno Tower. Air Defense structures will take down Healers in less than 10 seconds, so taking down these structures is a must. A common strategy is to use Wall Breakers and an initial wave of Giants to destroy one air defense tower, then send in the healer. This ensures that the Healer is able to follow the Giants until coming into range of the next Air Defense tower. At higher levels, sometimes a few Hog Riders can be used to take down exposed Air Defense towers in similar fashion.

With Giants and a healer taking out about half of a base’s defensive structures before coming into range of the next Air Defense, Goblins can easily be used to steal much of a base’s resources. If enough structures have been destroyed, it is possible that a follow-up wave of Archers may be able to take down any remaining Air Defense structures. Lightning spells can also be used to take down an Air Defense tower, allowing the Giant and Healer combo to become more effective.

Note: Healers will not target air units.

Dragon

Training Time: 30 minutes
Supply Cost: 20
Movement Speed: 16
Targets: Ground & Air (area splash damage)
Preferred Target: Any
Barracks Required: Level 9

The Dragon is an extremely strong unit in Clash of Clans, dealing high damage to both air and ground units while possessing a massive HP pool. The Dragon also deals splash damage, allowing it to take out Clan Castle troops with ease. Even though the Dragon is technically weak against Air Defense structures, its large HP pool allows it to absorb many hits even from upgraded Air Defense turrets.

A mass Dragon army is actually quite effective. By using Lightning Spells to take down an Air Defense tower, a mass Dragon Army can get a 50% clear on even the best-designed, fully-upgraded base. Dragons are also very effective at clearing many of the single-player campaign missions.

The main problem with Dragons is the cost and time it takes to train them. Each Dragon costs 25,000 Elixir; a 200-supply 10 Dragon army would run 250,000 elixir in total! The cost of the Dragon also increases significantly with level. Level 3 Dragons cost 36,000 elixir, making a 10 Dragon army of this level cost 360,000 elixir.

Dragons are quite useful in Clan Wars, as a Town Hall 7 player can easily 3 star any other Town Hall 7 player by using 3x LIghtning Spell to take out an enemy’s Air Defense and then using Dragons to take out the rest of the base. A Town Hall 8 player can 3 star most Town Hall 8s with 10 level 3 Dragons (along with an 11th Dragon in the Clan Castle). A fully maxed Town Hall 8 with good base design and a loaded Clan Castle will not be 3 starred by level 2 Dragons.

P.E.K.K.A

Training Time: 45 minutes
Supply Cost: 25
Movement Speed: 16
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Any
Barracks Required: Level 10

The P.E.K.K.A is the most powerful ground unit produced by the Barracks. It takes out most buildings in just 1-2 hits and has a massive HP pool. The only turret that is particularly effective against the P.E.K.K.A is the Hidden Tesla, but it still takes a single Hidden Tesla 15-30+ seconds to take out a P.E.K.K.A (depending on upgrade level).

P.E.K.K.A’s may not necessarily be more effective than the Dragon despite the fact that the P.E.K.K.A is a higher level unit. The Dragon has a lower supply cost than the P.E.K.K.A, allowing players to create more dragons than P.E.K.K.As. Dragons can also fly over walls, increasing the Dragon’s tendency to attack defensive structures.

P.E.K.K.As have a habit of attacking the perimeter of an enemy’s base, destroying all the structures typically left outside enemy walls – good for trophies, not always efficient for farming. You may want to clear the perimeter of structures with Archers and use a Wall Breaker to break down the first set of enemy walls in order to steer your P.E.K.K.A towards the center of the enemy’s base.

One great way to use the P.E.K.K.A. is for a strategy known as coring. Coring involves driving a hole straight into an enemy’s base in order to target their central storage (typically the Dark Elixir storage). High level players with strong base designs usually put their Clan Castle at the center of the base (at TH8 and beyond). P.E.K.K.A.s are drawn towards Clan Castle units, so if you drop your P.E.K.K.A.s with a rage spell when the enemy’s clan castle units pop, the P.E.K.K.A.s will tear through the walls of the enemy base (i.e. coring), allowing your other units easy access to an otherwise well-protected Dark Elixir storage.

Dark Barracks Units

The following 5 units are produced from the Dark Barracks and all require Dark Elixir for both production and their research upgrades. The Dark Barracks is available at level 7.

Minion

Training Time: 45 seconds
Supply Cost: 2
Movement Speed: 32
Targets: Ground & Air
Preferred Target: Any
Dark Barracks Required: Level 1

The Minion is a light flying unit and the first available out of the Dark Barracks. It is not particularly strong, but it is very mobile since it is an extremely fast flying unit. Its fast training speed and low cost make it quite popular as it allows the Dark Barracks to contribute production power to farming runs. Minions are quite popular for farming trophies as they can be deployed to attack buildings only defended by Cannons or Mortars.

Despite being a flying unit, the Minion is actually decent against Air Defense towers since the Air Defense tower can only attack one target at a time. Minions tend to clump up, making them particularly weak versus Wizard Towers and Air Bombs.

One of the best uses of the Minion is to kill the Barbarian King. You can lure the Barbarian King away from defensive structures and then drop a handful of Minions on it to take down the Barbarian King with minimal losses.

At Town Hall 9, Minions also pair well with max level Balloons. Balloons take out enemy air defenses, whereas the Minions come in and provide DPS after the Balloons have killed most of the towers.

Hog Rider

Training Time: 2 minutes
Supply Cost: 5
Movement Speed: 24
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Defense
Dark Barracks Required: Level 2

The Hog Rider is a specialty unit that is capable of jumping over walls. It also possesses high DPS and targets defensive structures first. Due to their ability to jump over walls, they can be used to quickly take out defensive structures. Unless you are making an army of mass Hog Riders, it is likely best to use Wall Breakers and standard units to take out the towers on the perimeter of the enemy’s base before using Hog Riders to take down interior towers.

An army of maxed-out Hog Riders along with a few spells (i.e. the Rage Spell and Heal Spell) can quickly destroy even fully maxed out bases. As a result, Hog Riders recently had their unit cost increased by 30%, as they were deemed to be a bit too effective when used in large quantities. While still effective when used in large number, the cost is not efficient for farming – a fully-maxed Hog Rider army costs over 3,000 Dark Elixir.

With that said, people still use 20+ Hog Rider armies to routinely wipe TH8 and TH9 players during Clan Wars. While the players spend more Dark Elixir than they earn, it may be worth it to guarantee the 3 star and propel your clan to victory.

Valkyrie

Training Time: 15 minutes
Supply Cost: 8
Movement Speed: 24
Targets: Ground (melee splash damage)
Preferred Target: Any
Dark Barracks Required: Level 3

The Valkyrie is a high-powered Barbarian-like unit that deals significantly more damage and possesses significantly more health. However, due to its supply cost, the Valkyrie actually does less damage per second per housing supply cost than the Barbarian. The Valkyrie does have more health than a Barbarian on a supply basis, making it much more survivable.

The Valkyrie’s high health makes it much more durable than a Barbarian, allowing it to soak up a large amount of damage and rendering Mortar and Wizard Towers ineffective in the process. Their splash damage also makes them great at taking out Clan Castle reinforcements (assuming they are ground units).

The biggest obstruction to using the Valkyrie is that it costs a significant amount of Dark Elixir (160 per Valkyrie at max level) and takes a long time to train (15 minutes for an 8 supply unit). The Valkyrie’s health was recently increased to promote its use, but I am not sure if it is enough. The cost for a maxed-out Valkyrie is just too high and its target choice (Any) too poor to use regularly. Maybe a single Valkyrie or two could be included for Clan Castle reinforcements and to take out regular structures, but I would rather conserve my Dark Elixir and use a P.E.K.K.A. instead for similar effect.

Golem

Training Time: 45 minutes
Supply Cost: 30
Movement Speed: 12
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Defenses
Dark Barracks Required: Level 4

You can think of the Golem like a hero Giant. It is the only high health, high supply unit in-game that specifically targets defenses. It has an enormous HP pool that tops out at 6,300 health at max level.

Upon death, the Golem deals massive splash damage (550 at max level) and splits into two Golemites, each unit possessing 1/5 the health of the Golem. Given that the Golem at max level has 6,300 health, this leaves its Golemites with 1260 health – quite beefy in their own right. Golemites also do modest splash damage upon death.

The Golem’s downside is that it does very little damage on a per-supply basis. The Golem barely hits harder than a Giant, despite the fact that Giants do not do much damage and only cost 5 supplies to the Golem’s housing cost of 30.

The Golem is considered by many to be the best unit for use within the Clan Castle. It has so much health that it can distract enemy troops for ages while your towers do damage. Also, its splash damage upon death makes it difficult to take out, not to mention the Golemites that spawn once the original Golem goes down. Note that Golems in the Clan Castle only really works for TH9 and TH10 players, as at lower TH levels, it is easy to lure out Clan Castle troops without committing with an army.

Golems are expensive and take up a lot of supplies; it is typical for high-level players to just use a single Golem and support it with ranged DPS units such as Archers, Witches, or Wizards (depending upon trophy range).

Witch

Training Time: 20 minutes
Supply Cost: 12
Movement Speed: 12
Targets: Ground & Air
Preferred Target: Any
Dark Barracks Required: Level 5

The Witch is the highest-level Dark Barracks troop (and for good reason). An army of well-used Witches can take out a maxed out TH10 base. Witches themselves are not very strong units, but the wave after wave of summoned Skeletons they bring to the battlefield can eventually wear an opponent out. Witches are able to summon a new set of Skeletons every six seconds (with a max of 6 at level 1 and 8 at level 2).

The Witch itself has extremely low health, so it needs to be positioned well. It is very vulnerable to the Mortar, as Skeletons may get in the Mortar’s minimum range and force the Mortar to fire at the Witch. It is important to find ways to take out the Mortar when using Witches. Use distracting units or Hog Riders to focus down any exposed Mortars. Lightning Spells can be used to take out central Mortars.

With no Mortars left, the Float spell can be used on Skeletons to send a steady stream of free units over walls and into the enemy’s base. When the units are free and never-ending, even the best-designed base does not stand a chance.

Lava Hound

Training Time: 45 minutes
Supply Cost: 30
Movement Speed: 20
Targets: Ground & Air
Preferred Target: Air Defense Towers
Dark Barracks Required: Level 6

The Lava Hound functions like a flying Golem. The Lava Hound does very little damage, but has a very large health pool and specifically seeks out enemy Air Defense towers. While the low damage dealt by this unit is not likely to result in any tower kills, its high health pool can distract enemy tower fire long enough to allow other air units to take out the distracted towers.

The Lava Hound alone does not make an army, but it is an effective unit when backed up by Minions, Balloons, or Dragons.