Introduction to Clash of Clans, Part 4: Defenses

You have three days to prepare for the first attack on your village. There’s no need to rush into building up your defenses the first two days, but Day Three is the one where you want to concentrate on making your village safe against invaders.

Cannons

Your first defensive weapon is the Cannon. In fact, you’ll install one during the Clash of Clans tutorial. You can have up to 2 cannons with a Level 1 through Level 4 Town Hall, adding a third with a Level 5 Town Hall and two more – for a total of 7 – when your Town Hall achieves Level 7.

The cannon is a ranged weapon and can only hit ground targets within 9 units of its location. Click on the cannon to see a circle depicting its range.

A cannonball doesn’t hit a single target; it explodes upon impact, causing splash damage to the surrounding area. This can makes it very effective against tightly grouped opponents.

A Level 1 cannon can take 420 hit points of damage and inflicts 9 hit points of damage per second. Cost to build a cannon is 250 gold and takes just a minute.

Upgrading your cannon to Level 2 costs 1,000 gold, takes 15 minutes, increases damage slightly to 11 points per second, and raises its hit points to 470. Note that cannons cannot be fired while they are being upgraded.

The Level 3 cannon takes 4,000 gold, and the upgrade takes 45 minutes. Damage per second jumps to 15, and it can now sustain 520 points of damage.

The Level 4 cannon does 19 units of damage per second and takes 570 points of damage. Cost is 16,000 gold, and the upgrade needs 2 hours for completion.

For 50,000 gold, you can upgrade to a Level 5 cannon, and that takes 6 hours for the overhaul. Damage increases to 25 points per second, and it can handle 620 points of damage.

Level 6 costs 100,000 gold and needs 12 hours to upgrade. Damage grows to 31 per second, and the cannon’s hit points increase to 670.

A Level 7 cannon takes a 200,000 gold investment and 24 hours. Damage jumps substantially to 40 per second and hit points to 720.

We’re reaching the limits of an introductory article with a Level 8 cannon, which costs 400,000 gold and 2 days of construction. Hit points grow to 770, and damage increases to 40 points per second.

For more on the Cannon, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Walls

Don’t underestimate the importance of walls, which start as wooden stockade walls. You can add 25 wall sections when you have a Level 2 town hall, and each piece of Level 1 wall costs just 50 gold pieces and can withstand 300 points of damge.

Twenty-five is not a lot, and certainly not enough to enclose even most of your village. Build your walls around your most important buildings, starting with your town hall. With 25 sections, you can have a 7 x 7, 6 x 8, 5 x 9, or 4 x 10 enclosure with one wall piece left over.

A Level 3 town hall gives you 25 more wall units, and so do levels 4, 5, and 6. At town hall levels 7 and 8, you get 50 additional units, and the maximum of 250 wall sections comes with a Level 9 town hall.

A Level 2 wall is made of uncut stone and won’t be broken through until 500 points of damage have been inflicted. They cost 1,000 gold. The Level 3 wall section is made of cut stone, costs 5,000 gold, and stands up to 700 points of damage. You need a Level 3 town hall to build Level 3 walls.

At Level 4, your walls are built of iron, and each section is a 10,000 gold piece upgrade from cut stone. Maximum damage they can sustain is 900 hit points, and you must have a Level 4 town hall to build iron walls. At the high expense of 30,000 gold per wall unit, Level 5 can take 1,400 points of damage, a big improvement over Level 4. This requires a Level 5 town hall.

The highest walls you’ll build early in the game are elixir Level 6 walls (you need a Level 6 town hall to build them), which cost 75,000 gold pieces and can take 2,000 points of damage. That’s costly protection, and there are five levels beyond this!

For more on walls, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Archer Towers

Your second defensive construction is the Archer Tower. These towers have a slightly longer range than the cannon (10 units vs. 9) and can defend against air attacks, such as the Balloon. The Archer Tower has its own archers; it does not require you to train archers separately. Archers also fire faster than cannoneers, getting off two rounds per second.

The Level 1 archer tower requires a Level 2 Town Hall, costs 1,000 gold to build, and takes 15 minutes. It can sustain 380 hit points of damage and metes out 11 points of damage per second.

Level 2 costs 2,000 gold and the upgrade consumes 30 minutes. Hit points increase to 420, and damage per second rises to 15.

You need a Level 3 Town Hall before you can build a Level 3 archer tower, and it will cost you 5,000 gold. Build time is 45 minutes. Damage increases to 19 points per second, and it can take 460 points of damage.

A Level 4 archer tower is going to cost you 20,000 gold, 4 hours of time, and requires a Level 4 Town Hall. The Level 4 tower can inflict 25 points of damage per second and sustain 500 points of damage.

The Level 5 tower needs a Level 5 Town Hall, 80,000 gold, and takes 12 hours to build. Damage per second rises to 30, and it can take 540 points of damage.

Level 6 archer towers cost 180,000 gold and require 24 hours for construction. They can take 580 hit points of damage and let fly 35 points of damage per second.

We’re approaching the end of an introductory game with the Level 7 archer tower, which calls for a Level 6 Town Hall, 360,000 gold, and two days of work by a Builder. Damage rises to 42 points per second, and it can take 620 points of damage.

For more on the Archer Tower, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Mortars

For sheer destructive power, the Mortar puts the cannon and archer tower to shame. They shoot a large exploding shell every 5 seconds when an enemy is within range. You must have a Level 3 Town Hall to build your first mortar.

The mortar has an attack range of 11, a bit longer than the archer tower and 2 units greater than the cannon. Best defensive strategy with a single mortar is to place it near the center of your village and keep everything important within its range. (Click the mortar to see a circle displaying its range.)

Additionally, the mortar does splash damage to a 1.5 tile radius from the point of impact, making it very useful against tightly packed enemies.

The Level 1 mortar costs 8,000 gold and takes 8 hours to construct. It can sustain 400 hit points of damage and does 20 hit points of damage per shot (an average of 4 per second, as firing take 5 seconds.)

Each additional level requires one more level of Town Hall, adds 5 points of damage per shot, and increases hit points by 50, so at Level 8 the mortar requires a Level 10 Town Hall, does 65 points of damage per shot (13 per second), and has 750 hit points. Costs and construction time increase rapidly:

  • Level 2: 32,000 gold, 12 hours
  • Level 3: 120,000 gold, 24 hours
  • Level 4: 400,000 gold, 2 days
  • Level 5: 600,000 gold, 4 days

At this point we’re well beyond the scope of an introductory article. For more on Mortars, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Air Defenses

The Air Defense only works against airborne enemies, such as Balloons, and can only target one enemy at a time. Range is 10, the same as the archer tower. You must have a Level 4 Town Hall before you can build your first air defense.

The Level 1 air defense costs 22,500 gold and can be built in 5 hours. It puts out 80 hit points of damage per second and can take 800 hit points of damage.

Level 2 costs 90,000 gold and takes a full day to construct. Damage is 110 per second and it has 850 hit points.

At Level 3, your investment is 270,000 gold, and the upgrade takes 3 days. You must also have a Level 5 Town Hall. Damage increases to 140 per second, and hit points to 900.

Level 4 requires a Level 6 Town Hall, 540,000 gold, and 5 days. Damage increases to 160 per second, and hit points to 950.

Higher levels are beyond the scope of this introduction. For more on Air Defenses, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Wizard Towers

The Wizard Tower brings us to the end of our introduction to Clash of Clans, although there are even more powerful defensive items. The wizard tower is equipped with its own wizard; you do not need to train and supply one. The wizard tower has a range of 7, which is less than any of the other defensive buildings we’ve examined.

After you achieve a Level 5 Town Hall, you can build your first wizard tower at the cost of 180,000 gold. Construction takes 12 hours. Its attack inflicts 11 hit points of damage per second, and it can sustain 620 points of damage.

A Level 2 wizard tower costs 360,000 gold and takes a day to upgrade. Damage increases to 13 per second, and hit points to 650.

Level 3 costs 720,000 gold and takes 2 days, putting it at the upper limit of this introduction to Clash of Clans.

For more on Wizard Towers, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Air Sweeper

This item didn’t even exist when I began working on this series of articles, but Supercell came to realize that air attacks could be too powerful. Even though you won’t have air troops at lower levels, you can still be attacked by them. Dragons can be especially devastating, minions more than a bit of a nuisance, and even slowly moving balloons dropping bombs can run through most ground-oriented defenses in short order.

The air sweeper is available with a Level 6 town hall, and you can only have one. Carefully consider where you will place it and how you will rotate it for maximum benefit. The air sweeper covers a 120° arc, has a reach of 15 tiles, and can initially push air units 1.6 tiles further from the air sweeper. It can push dragons, minions, balloons, and healers. The air sweeper only attacks every 3.5 seconds and pushes air troops for a maximum of 1.2 seconds.

At higher levels, the air sweeper pushes air units 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.2, and 3.6 tiles at levels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively.

Note that the air sweeper has no effect on units above it. It can only blow air units at least one cell away and within its 120° arc.

For more on the Air Sweeper, see the Clash of Clans wiki.

Next: Village Layout

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