Game Tips

This is a list of useful game tips:

Offensive Tips

 * 1) The maximum amount of resources you can Raid during multiplayer battles are 50% of resources stored in the gold/elixir collectors, 75% of Dark Elixir stored in Dark Elixir Drills, 5% of Dark Elixir stored in Dark Elixir Storage, plus 20% of gold/elixir storage (up to a maximum of 199,000) and 100% of what is stored in the Town Hall. However, the available loot is reduced if the opponent has a Town Hall which is lower than yours  and increased if it is higher. See Loot for a detailed explanation.
 * 2) During a Raid, you can "End Battle" even after the countdown has begun without penalty as long as you haven't deployed Troops and the button does not say "Surrender".
 * 3) You get 1 star for destroying an opponent's Town Hall.  You may end the battle victorious with 1 star or continue battling to earn the remaining 2 stars.  You get another star for 50% total damage.  You get the third star for destroying everything (walls not included).
 * 4) Barracks will produce Troops while you're Raiding an enemy village. Start production for your next battle before you begin a raid.
 * 5) Even if your attacking Troops survive the battle, if you actually deployed them to the battlefield, then you will still need to replace them.
 * 6) You can tell if the X-Bow is pointed to ground only or air and ground and full or empty by the different graphic.  See X-Bow for images.
 * 7) Raiding people with high level Town Halls give you more chance for loot.
 * 8) The Lightning Spell can be used to take out or weaken a defense or Heroes, or take out Clan Castle troops once they are outside of the castle.

Defensive Tips

 * 1) Be ready for defense. Before logging off, try to fill your Clan Castle, place your Traps and loot your collectors.
 * 2) Start training Troops, especially Tier 3, when you log off. They will be ready for the next day even if your camps are destroyed.  Also, the elixir used to train those troops will not be susceptible to looting.
 * 3) Don't forget to reset Traps after a Raid.  If you have an X-Bow, you must reload it.
 * 4) You can safely hide up to 450k Elixir by filling the training queue of your Barracks with Wall Breakers (which has the highest Elixir per housing slot of 1500 at level 5) when your Army Camps are full. Cancel the training to get the elixir back and then train Troops to actually attack with.
 * 5) *WARNING: If you upgrade a Barracks while you have it full of hidden Elixir, you will not be able to retrieve the stored Elixir until the upgrade is complete.
 * 6) *WARNING: If an Army Camp upgrade completes while you use this technique to hide Elixir, the new slots will fill with Wall Breakers!
 * 7) *WARNING: Notwithstanding #24, don't go raiding while you have hidden Elixir, as you will come back to an Army Camp full of Wall Breakers.
 * 8) You can also hide Dark Elixir by filling the training queue of your Dark Barracks when your Army Camps are full. The most Dark Elixir that you can currently store this way is 3,340 (a queue of 2 Golems, 1 Valkyrie and 1 Minion in both level 4 Dark Barracks).
 * 9) See the Layouts page for base design ideas

Gameplay Tips
Factual points about the game beyond opinion:
 * 1) Clan Castle Troops surviving a Raid will return to your Clan Castle only if unharmed. If you place the Troops they will return to you as Elixir.
 * 2) A Dragon can fit into a level 3 Clan Castle.
 * 3) A P.E.K.K.A can fit into a level 4 Clan Castle.
 * 4) A Golem can fit into a level 5 Clan Castle.
 * 5) Multiplayer matchmaking is based on Trophy count only. Enemy levels and capabilities will vary widely.
 * 6) You get a 12-hour Shield if Town Hall is destroyed, or if 40%-89% of buildings are destroyed. The Shield increases to 16 hours if 90%+ is destroyed.
 * 7) Your Army Camp Troops cannot defend, but they are unaffected if their Army Camp is destroyed in a Raid.
 * 8) Upgrading your Resource Collectors stops production, and they won't begin to collect until they are completed.
 * 9) If only 40-49% of your buildings are destroyed (not including Town Hall) you gain a 12-hour Shield with no loss to your Trophies. (Use this time to upgrade defenses.)
 * 10) Defensive Buildings are rated in damage per second rather than per shot; therefore slow firing Defensive Buildings like the Mortar have high damage per shot and yet have a relatively low damage per second rating. This does not mean they are not important, as they are a valuable defensive asset later on.
 * 11) You can't cancel a Troop upgrade in the Laboratory.
 * 12) Donating Troops to clan members gives experience points; however the player level currently has no meaning.
 * 13) Army Camps, Clan Castles, Gold Storages, Elixir Storages and the Dark Elixir Storage can still be used while upgrading.
 * 14) You can move your buildings/walls/decorations during building/upgrading.
 * 15) Players cannot Raid your village while you're online, though the game times out if not touched for a period of time (even if your iDevice does not go into screen lock).
 * 16) Bombs and Spring Traps, along with Air Bombs and Seeking Air Mines, are single-use items. You must buy them each time they are triggered by an enemy Raid.
 * 17) Nobody can steal your Gems.  So tidy up your base and collect them.
 * 18) Traps and Decorations can be built without the need of a free Builder, unlike building/upgrading Walls and removing Obstacles.
 * 19) The Wizard Tower is the only Defensive Building that does splash damage to air attacks.
 * 20) The amount of Experience needed to go up a level is (50*current level). For example: to go from level 10 to 11 requires 500 Experience points.
 * 21) Being in a Trophy League will also provide a loot bonus in addition to the loot from the raid. You enter Trophy Leagues automatically by raiding.
 * 22) Even though you are in your own trophy league, you can still raid people from lower leagues.

Miscilaneous Tips
Please continue rearranging and adding to this page.
 * 1) Try to upgrade Defensive Buildings during Shields as they do not defend while upgrading.
 * 2) It is recommended that you upgrade all your towers and buildings to the maximum level allowed before upgrading your Town Hall.
 * 3) A good place for the Clan Castle is in the middle of the village. Archers are nice all-purpose Troops to fill it with.
 * 4) Try to spend, or hide, all your Resources at the end of the day if you don't have a Shield. That way those who Raid for Resources will most likely ignore your village.
 * 5)  If you wish to remodel your village, try to do so when you have a Shield. If for some reason the game crashes, you won't get three-starred easily while your village is only halfway finished.
 * 6) If you see someone who has a high amount of loot, and the loot is a rounded number (92,500 for instance) then their storages are most likely empty and the Resources are all in the Gold Mines and Elixir Collectors.
 * 7) If you have a lot of resources and your shield is about to run out, stay online.
 * 8) Believe it or not, all a Farmer needs some times is a few Wall Breakers and a horde of Goblins for stealing resources.