A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE OF CLASH F CLANS
Clash of Clans is a surprisingly complex and immersive game. Although played on a mobile platform, some play Clash on the same level as one would play a competitive console game! Supercell manages to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars every month from its players; you probably dont want to dish out that much cash on a game, as there are other ways to earn resources and go big. If youre new and want to get a head start or a grip on the game, youre in luck.
There are multiple trophy levels at which players typically farm. Lower level players usually stay around 1000-1200, where higher level players who need dark elixir stay around 1500. Farmers stay below their potential trophy count because, rather than being attacked by players higher and equal to their level, they will be attacked by lower levels with weaker troops.
When farming, its recommended to use archers, barbarians, and goblins. Some use 10-15 giants and a healer as well, but that costs much more to create. I personally use 200 archers and sometimes mix in barbarians and goblins; this is because I usually target players who have all their resources in their collectors (inactive players). It makes for an easy raid and a quick getaway, and the troops take little time and cost little to nothing to train (especially compared to the elixir you walk away with). I typically get 100,000-300,000 gold/elixir per raid.
Archer towers, cannons, air defenses and teslas should be, for the most part, evenly spread around your base. Wizard towers should also be evenly placed, however ideally they should be closer to the center than other defenses. The clan castle should be in the very center (or at least close to the center) of your base. Why is this? The clan castle has huge range and, when filled, has the most DPS out of every single defense. Be sure to always request archers, and always donate!
This is a picture of my base layout. As you can see, I have my clan castle very close to the center and the mortars in a triangle formation. My collectors and army camps are along the edge of my outer walls.
Many people try to rush to upgrade their town hall as soon as possible; this is a horrible idea. Sure, you get more defenses and upgrade options, however if you upgrade too fast you wont be able to keep up with your the upgrades and youll fall behind. The higher town hall level you are, the less resources you can find; if you pace yourself, players with higher town hall levels wont be able to steal as many resources from you and in turn youll be able to steal more resources from higher level town hall players. Its fine to upgrade your town hall to, say, level 6 without maxing out most of your upgrades, but once you hit six you should focus on upgrading to almost max before upgrading your town hall again.
When youve farmed your fill, built a solid base, and decide to test your limits, you might want to try trophy hunting. Most players trophy hunt for a week or two in order to reach the highest trophy count possible, and then go back to farming to upgrade and try again. There are whole clans that rotate between trophy hunting and farming, and when they have hunting periods many break into the top 100.
Depending on your trophy level, youll need to make use of certain strategies to climb the trophy ladder. You can typically climb all the way up to 1700-1900 trophies just by picking off town halls that are placed outside base walls. To break into crystal league, though, youll need an actual raiding strategy. Popular armies in crystal include mass Hog Riders, Giants with Healers/healing spells and support troops (archers, barbs, wizards), and mass Minions and Balloons, otherwise known as Balloonion. Experiment with different raiding strategies and figure out what works best for you; consider elixir cost and training time. Youtube is a great source for looking up various raiding strategies.
My priorities are Mortars > Wizard Towers > Teslas > Archers, Cannons > Air defense
Of course, as a lower level youll also need to decide when to upgrade your collectors, clan castle, spell factory, etc. I personally would max out the clan castle ASAP and upgrade the collectors and miscellaneous buildings at leisure.
For troop upgrades, I typically prioritize archers and barbarians. For farmers, the most important upgrades would be archers, goblins, barbarians, and giants. You should always upgrade the troops you use most and try to max them out.
Thus concludes my guide; if I missed anything or if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
Attacking and Farming
If youre a fairly new player, you probably havent heard of the term "Farming". When you farm, you raid with the sole purpose of gaining resources; trophies are not a priority and are usually disregarded. Farmers typically keep their resource storages inside of their base and their town hall outside of their base. This is because most players will attack your town hall to gain trophies and ignore the resources; this gives you a free shield. Farming is the most efficient way to earn resources and, when you reach a higher level, is pretty much the only way to actively play without spending money on gems.There are multiple trophy levels at which players typically farm. Lower level players usually stay around 1000-1200, where higher level players who need dark elixir stay around 1500. Farmers stay below their potential trophy count because, rather than being attacked by players higher and equal to their level, they will be attacked by lower levels with weaker troops.
When farming, its recommended to use archers, barbarians, and goblins. Some use 10-15 giants and a healer as well, but that costs much more to create. I personally use 200 archers and sometimes mix in barbarians and goblins; this is because I usually target players who have all their resources in their collectors (inactive players). It makes for an easy raid and a quick getaway, and the troops take little time and cost little to nothing to train (especially compared to the elixir you walk away with). I typically get 100,000-300,000 gold/elixir per raid.
Base Building and Maxing
A good base, depending on town hall level, usually consists of resources spread around the middle and mortars in the center. If you have three mortars available, place them in a triangle formation close to the center/in the center. Mortars are centrally important because they do tons of splash damage and have a lot of range; the closer to the center they are, the more coverage of your base they have.Archer towers, cannons, air defenses and teslas should be, for the most part, evenly spread around your base. Wizard towers should also be evenly placed, however ideally they should be closer to the center than other defenses. The clan castle should be in the very center (or at least close to the center) of your base. Why is this? The clan castle has huge range and, when filled, has the most DPS out of every single defense. Be sure to always request archers, and always donate!
This is a picture of my base layout. As you can see, I have my clan castle very close to the center and the mortars in a triangle formation. My collectors and army camps are along the edge of my outer walls.
Spoiler (Click to View)
Many people try to rush to upgrade their town hall as soon as possible; this is a horrible idea. Sure, you get more defenses and upgrade options, however if you upgrade too fast you wont be able to keep up with your the upgrades and youll fall behind. The higher town hall level you are, the less resources you can find; if you pace yourself, players with higher town hall levels wont be able to steal as many resources from you and in turn youll be able to steal more resources from higher level town hall players. Its fine to upgrade your town hall to, say, level 6 without maxing out most of your upgrades, but once you hit six you should focus on upgrading to almost max before upgrading your town hall again.
Trophy Hunting or Farming?
Many players focus on raiding for trophies rather than raiding for resources. This is fun for a while, however once you reach a certain level it becomes very hard to upgrade without farming resources. The higher level you are, the more resources upgrades will cost. Theres nothing really wrong with trophy hunting, but farmers have a general advantage over trophy hunters because they gain resources easily and dont have to worry as much about resources being stolen (because of the free shields given after your town hall is destroyed). When youve farmed your fill, built a solid base, and decide to test your limits, you might want to try trophy hunting. Most players trophy hunt for a week or two in order to reach the highest trophy count possible, and then go back to farming to upgrade and try again. There are whole clans that rotate between trophy hunting and farming, and when they have hunting periods many break into the top 100.
Depending on your trophy level, youll need to make use of certain strategies to climb the trophy ladder. You can typically climb all the way up to 1700-1900 trophies just by picking off town halls that are placed outside base walls. To break into crystal league, though, youll need an actual raiding strategy. Popular armies in crystal include mass Hog Riders, Giants with Healers/healing spells and support troops (archers, barbs, wizards), and mass Minions and Balloons, otherwise known as Balloonion. Experiment with different raiding strategies and figure out what works best for you; consider elixir cost and training time. Youtube is a great source for looking up various raiding strategies.
Upgrading
It may be hard sometimes deciding what to upgrade first. I prefer to upgrade my mortars and wizard towers and then move on to teslas. After that, I go for archers and cannons and upgrade air defense last (air defense isnt as important since Im in a fairly low trophy level while farming). My priorities are Mortars > Wizard Towers > Teslas > Archers, Cannons > Air defense
Of course, as a lower level youll also need to decide when to upgrade your collectors, clan castle, spell factory, etc. I personally would max out the clan castle ASAP and upgrade the collectors and miscellaneous buildings at leisure.
For troop upgrades, I typically prioritize archers and barbarians. For farmers, the most important upgrades would be archers, goblins, barbarians, and giants. You should always upgrade the troops you use most and try to max them out.
Thus concludes my guide; if I missed anything or if you have any questions, feel free to ask!