Clash of Clans is one of those games that requires a clear head for strategy, and a desire to climb to the top. A player can train troops, and attack other players to earn resources to upgrade their own base. It is one of the longest-running successful mobile games, as even after nearly a decade since its release in 2012, Clash of Clans remains one of the top 50 grossing apps in both the Play Store and App Store.
Beginner Tips to Play Clash of Clans
As someone who’s been playing the game since 2015, fallen in and out of love with it multiple times only to end up with a barely-there TH Level 14 in 2022 through complete free play, here are some tips for a beginner at Clash of Clans.
- Don’t spend gems on building time. Actually don’t spend gems at all until you own 5 builder huts.
- Fulfilling achievements give you gems, so check your profile and scroll down to see what achievements you’re close to getting.
- When looking for a base to attack in regular matchmaking, check the base carefully for exposed gold and elixir storages, mines and drills. Always have a few archers no matter what your army comp is, and swipe them for quick and easy cash. Remember, trophy pushing should only be a secondary goal to farming, i.e. looting as many resources as possible to upgrade your base.
- Do not ignore the mines and drills. You will also begin to recognize their level and how full they are the more you play, and a single high-level full drill can give you enough gold or elixir for your storages to overflow.
- While getting into the high leagues might be alluring with the promise of the shiny badge and the league bonus, remember that once you’ve logged out, stronger players will demolish your base.
- Use the training mode to discover new army compositions for attacks. Barbarians and archers is a pretty decent army comp for TH7 and below. Once you learn more ways to attack, begin incorporating giants as ‘tanks’ for their high resiliency, and wallbreakers to quickly break down walls. Spamming troops isn’t always helpful – make sure you have a plan for your troops and where they will go.
- Max out every building before upgrading your town hall. Prioritize Clan Castle for troops and laboratory for upgrades, followed by the strongest defenses and army camps, and then move on to other buildings. When you get a Hero, they’re your best asset but upgrading them is expensive and costs their own oil (Dark Elixir).
- Never have your laboratory empty. While you might have multiple builders, you have only one laboratory for upgrading your troops and it does take a fair bit of time to level up everything. Always keep something upgrading in your laboratory.
- For passive income, max your gold mines and elixir collectors whenever you have extra resources that aren’t enough for a defense upgrade as they’re a lot cheaper.
- Start upgrading King and Queen as soon as you reach th9, and keep upgrading them until they are level 30, because you should be earning enough Dark Elixir just from playing a few times a day to have enough each week.
- Walls are your friends. Max them out until at least town hall 6. Depending on how much you play, and how much gold you can ‘farm’, you may fall behind on walls while the rest of your base is maxed. This is a good time to level up your town hall to save valuable time on your builders.
- Rushing your town hall is not recommended for beginners, but it is a strategy more experienced players use to speed up progress. It will be difficult to repair your base if you rush without the correct technique.
- However, for when you unlock builder base, feel free to rush it to builder hall 9 and unlock all the buildings, especially the gem mine and your 6th and last builder hut.
- Make sure to clear out the regular trees and bushes that spawn every few days for the extra gems. You might want to keep the special event obstacles for decoration (you can reposition them later with a Spade).
- Clash of Clans is about finding a team to play with, and finding a solid clan is extremely useful. A high-level clan will give you perks, and you can additionally grow comradeships with veteran players and learn from them. Take advantage of the higher-level troop donations.
- If you’re in a clan war make sure you use both attacks. Clan wars take your level into account, so you can participate even if you’re not a very strong player. Follow the existing clan war rules, and don’t hit too high for loot or too low for stars if your clan can still clutch a victory with your attacks.
- Whenever you can, donate to your clan members for goodwill. You also get a fair bit of XP doing it, and this will reward you with gems.
- If you’d like to try out the premium way of play, the only thing I’d recommend in the shop is the Gold Pass for $7 which gives millions in free loot every month.
Lastly, don’t feel pressured to climb to the top at the very onset, because low TH play is something you’re going to miss later. It’s still incredibly competitive, be it trophy pushing or war – and doesn’t it feel awesome when you use your maxed out CC troops from your high-leveled clanmates to utterly decimate a base in matchmaking? You get a lot of fun stuff to do at these lower levels, so relax and play at your own pace. As with all long-term games, patience is the key.