Hidden Tesla

For the Builder Base version, see Hidden Tesla/Builder Base.

For the larger analogues, see Mega Tesla and Town Hall/Giga Tesla.

For a similar defense in the Clan Capital, see Hidden Mega Tesla.

"Lay a deadly trap with the Hidden Tesla! Our Wizards have trapped a storm cloud into each of these sneaky towers. When an enemy walks or flies close enough, the tower springs up and fries it using the power of Electrickery!"

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Level 8

Level 9

Level 10

Level 11

Level 12

Level 13

Level 14

Level 15

Level 16

Summary

The Hidden Tesla is a defensive building with a twist: similar to a Spring Trap or Bomb, it stays hidden and appears when a ground or air unit gets close, or when 51% of the base is destroyed. However, unlike a trap, it does not have to be rearmed after being deployed.
The Hidden Tesla is unlocked at Town Hall level 7.
Like traps, Hidden Teslas are only visible to the player and their clanmates.
A Hidden Tesla has a seven tile range but a six tile trigger radius in which it will only pop up if a troop comes near it or the enemy has destroyed at least 51% of the base.
Hidden Teslas are not traps. Their aesthetics and mechanics trick some into believing that they are traps, but they are actually defensive buildings like Archer Towers.
The Hidden Tesla can have troops spawned on top of it if it is located within a 3x3 (or greater) region that does not contain buildings or walls. Placing a troop into the spawn hole will cause the Hidden Tesla to pop up and start attacking.

Strategies

Defensive Strategies

The main advantage of the Hidden Tesla is that it is a surprise. Capitalize on that. A well-placed Hidden Tesla can wreak havoc on an attacker's offensive strategy.
Unfortunately, many players design their villages such that it has only as many 2x2 open spaces within its layout as it has Hidden Teslas (and possibly Giant Bombs) available, which makes it obvious where they are located. Instead, try to make sure that there are a few different places where Hidden Teslas could be lurking.
- A good strategy is to create "dummy" 2x2 open spaces to make the enemy think they know where your Hidden Teslas are. For example, you unlock 2 Hidden Teslas at Town Hall 7. You could create two empty 2x2 spaces in your base which are actually empty, while deploying your Hidden Teslas elsewhere, increasing the chances of surprising your opponent.
Be cautious when upgrading the Hidden Tesla, as this will reveal its location to future attackers. Combat this by relocating it during the upgrade period.
- Although a Hidden Tesla being upgraded loses the merit of being invisible, it still keeps the demerit of being unable to cause a no-spawn zone.
Make sure to place your Hidden Tesla in a space where troops cannot be placed (an empty space no larger than 2x2), as unlike other defenses structures, Hidden Teslas do not expand your no-spawn zone, meaning that troops can be placed directly on top of a Hidden Tesla.
Players can place Hidden Teslas next to an exposed Town Hall as a means of deceiving enemies. This will force them to use more troops to destroy or otherwise outlast the Teslas, leaving less available troops for other areas of the base. While it is possible to win trophies in this manner, a sufficiently prepared army will almost certainly be able to destroy the Town Hall.
A common but powerful strategy is to group up three or four Hidden Teslas together, along with traps (like a Spring Trap) in between, called a Tesla Farm. Teslas combine to tons of damage, and their smaller size compared to other defenses groups troops together, maximizing the potential of them. This is best used either protected in the core of the base or off side near the trash buildings. The advantage of this play is that the extreme power and surprise can draw out spells and ruin the attacker's plan.
A risky but effective strategy is to put the Hidden Teslas in the corners of your base without the Builder's Huts. They are hidden and unless your opponent has deployed in the Tesla's corner or a prior attack has revealed the Teslas (which is possible in Clan Wars), they are unlikely to check the corners of your base for something hidden. Once the Hidden Teslas are revealed after 51% of building damage, it is often too late for the opponent to react, and troops may end up wasting time traveling to the Tesla. These are known as Troll Teslas. Putting Teslas in the corners reduces their overall effectiveness in defending your base but can prevent three star raids.
- This can disrupt the behavior of troops that target defenses, especially Hog Riders and Balloons; if all the defenses in the main section of the base are destroyed, these troops will proceed to attack the Teslas instead of cleaning up the remaining non-defensive buildings, which wastes their time. You can further exploit this by placing traps to stop them outright.
- However, this strategy generally falls off at higher Town Hall levels (TH10 or higher), where bases become large enough that the corners are occupied with buildings (which makes it more likely for opponents to deploy troops in these corners and ruin the strategy).

Offensive Strategies

Hidden tesla detected — A Villager clapping the empty spot, which reveals to be a Hidden Tesla.

Before attacking, look for obvious places where a Hidden Tesla might be located, and avoid them. Hidden Teslas will activate when troops come close to them. If one happens to trigger, keep in mind that it has a low range. If you cannot destroy it easily, avoid deploying more troops near it if possible, as Hidden Teslas can deal high amounts of damage.
If you see a 2x2 empty square space surrounded by Walls, it is very likely that a Hidden Tesla has been placed there. Be aware that Hidden Teslas are only for Town Hall level 7 or higher. If it is a Town Hall 6, it is most likely a Giant Bomb.
You can use a troop to trigger the Hidden Tesla and then destroy it with the Grand Warden as he has more range than the Hidden Tesla.
One Giant and a few Archers can quite easily destroy a Hidden Tesla, as it has relatively low health.
Some people have purposeful spawn points inside Walls, but place a Hidden Tesla to deceive the enemy.
If there is space next to the Town Hall, there might be a Tesla farm, as it will deal a lot of damage to your army. Be careful when attacking a base with it!
If you have the opportunity to observe a village prior to the attack, such as when planning revenge, then watch the Villagers. They can reveal the location of Hidden Teslas by walking up to the "empty" spot where the Tesla is hidden and clapping. However, this is not guaranteed, as you might waste your 30 seconds of planning.
If there is a large area of 2x2, 2x3, or 2x4 spots on the outside of the base, but not found much elsewhere, it is likely a Tesla Farm. Use a minor troop to trigger it, or just attack by air on the farm.

Upgrade Differences

When initially constructed, the top of the tower has a wooden platform, with metal coils and a metal cone with a sphere on top protruding from the platform, with a cross-shaped stone support under it and a wire connecting to the back right support. The tower consists of a tall, slender wooden lattice structure with a wire coiled up the right pillar.
- At level 2, it gains two additional empty metal coils without wires connected to the cross-shaped support with a piece of crooked metal and wire, hanging down from the platform. The wire no longer connects to the back right support.
- At level 3, a second set of empty metal coils is added. The tower gets a second wire coiled up for support on the left pillar. The base gains some stone foundations on each pillar and the inner side of the tower.
- At level 4, the metal cone acquires its namesake Tesla coil at the top, forming a torus to surround the cone and has a wire that runs across each coil. The base of the platform turns into metal. The bolt that the Hidden Tesla fires becomes thicker.
- At level 5, the metal cone, crooked metal pieces connecting the empty coils, and the pillar stone support turns into gold. A third coil of wire appears on the front pillar on the tower.
- At level 6, the Tesla coil around the cone and the wire connecting the cross-shaped support and crooked metal piece turn golden as well. The bolt that the Hidden Tesla fires becomes even thicker.
- At level 7, the Tesla coil is replaced with three bronze rings increasing in size, seemingly levitated over a black, stepped, circular tower, and the base of it become octagonal as the corners are truncated. The empty metal coil become darker and the crooked metal piece turns brass and only connects to the side. The wooden lattice structure of the building is replaced with thicker horizontal wood planks, the inner stone foundation is removed, and the tower and gold foundation are bigger. The three smaller wire coils on the tower supports disappear and are replaced with a thicker coil of wire running up the front pillar. When it fires, the rings glow a steady blue.
- At level 8, the horizontal bronze rings are replaced with five yellow transformer coils with a black square plastic shell, the top and bottom is connected by two thin lines on opposite side, with a bump on top, the middle one has a gold bump and the other four spread diagonally outwards. The crooked metal piece connects to the corners instead. More wires coil up the left and right pillars and spikes are added on the wood planks. Zaps of electricity jump from the tower several times per minute.
- At level 9, the transformer coils are now reduced from 5 to 4, and are lined up as a square. The coils have much thicker golden wires, the top shell is octagonal with a rectangular piece of gold hold on by some black plastic, the octagonal shell forms a square in the middle and is filled with a blue electrode, each is separated by a plastic plate, and placed on top of an indented circular platform. Each cardinal side of the platform is separated by gold with grooves that hold the plastic plates in place. The empty metal coils finally gain some yellow coils. The black wires wrapped around the pillar are now thicker.
- At level 10, the transformer coils are replaced with a metal truncated icosahedron (football pattern) focal point with a protruding hexagonal plates every two side, on top two of octagonal gold plates, on a wooden platform that has a cross-shaped stone support with a square wire running through them, each on top of 3 brass ring only appearing at the side, and big gold corner pieces. The black wires around the pillar disappear, and the tower itself is constructed of much thicker wood and is reinforced by two diagonal wood planks from top to bottom, the golden foundation now has pentagonal black metal bolts on each side. Coils with a brass shell are added to each side of the base between the foundation, a wire from the left front coil runs up to the middle of the diagonal planks and turns right, twist around the corner and turns up at the middle of the planks at the right side, each middle of the planks has a pentagonal brass bolt holding the wire in place, and the wire finally connects to the brass ring on the platform.
- At level 11, the protruding hexagonal plates on the focal point are now spikes besides the top one. The platform of the Tesla has icy blue pads replacing the square wire, the stone cross-shaped support is now deep green metal, the gold corner pieces are slanted at the corner, and now merge into one with indents on the side, the corner piece has some deep green rocks under them on the pillar. The indents house the wire with two purple metal rings, one at the top and one where the wires turn up, the wires are much thicker, goes diagonally up at around the corners, each side of the base has a wire comes up and the coils are replaced with gray stone. The gold foundation pentagonal black metal bolts are replaced with deep green metal spikes.
- At level 12, the focal point's spikes and top plate are now golden, a metal ring under it turns into icy blue metal. All the gold turns brighter, the pillars turn into dark raisin metal with ridges, and the top of the golden foundation has a layer of deep green metal.
- At level 13, the focal point uses a darker metal and its spikes and top plate get bigger and are flush to the sides, under the focal point the icy blue metal ring is removed. A layer of golden with four triangles at the corner is added; they are on top of a layer of green metal, then gold with the deep green stone merges with the gold corner pieces. The wires are now made of the same reflective metal as the focal point, the purple rings are now green metal. The golden foundation turns into purplish black stone with Town Hall 14's gold linings and the side of the base is now green metal instead of gray stone.
- At level 14, the focal point changes shape again, and golden spikes and upside down triangles are added and encased within a thin plum frame. Under the focal point, the golden metal changes to purple, and the pipes leading up the focal point have been made thicker and reinforced with sturdier metal. Thin wires with a glowing interior can be seen on the pipes. The pipes also change position slightly and electricity can be seen coursing through them. The foundation has changed, and the gold corner pieces are replaced with a golden frame.
- At level 15, the supports appear to be replaced by bones and are strangled by curling roots which replace the metal pipes. The pipes are replaced by small tree branches with one leaf on each side. The wood of the platform is now painted red, and the golden plates are more reinforced. The metallic ball at the top of the tower is replaced by a large boulder with bluish cracks with large blue crystals coming out from the top of the boulder's cracks, replacing the golden spikes.
- At level 16, the supports are now replaced with prussian pillars with yellow light in between, similar to the corner pillars of Town Hall 17. The platform at the top is now five-layered, with each one increasing in size up to the bottom layer. Each odd layer is gold, while the even layers are made of metal, with the second top layer being attached to metal reinforcements which hold the other layers in place, replacing the gold bands and roots from the previous level. The cracked boulder with crystals is now replaced by a truncated icosahedron ball with pentagonal plates with their respective bolts, held by an identical group of pillars from the bottom, except much smaller.

At a certain level, the Hidden Tesla's trapdoors' appearance changes.
- At levels 1-9, on each side of the tower's base are what appear to be open wooden trapdoors with golden hinges, evidence of the fact that it buries oneself under the ground until an enemy comes nearby the tower or when the base is more than halfway destroyed (>51%).
- At levels 10 and above, the wooden trapdoors are replaced with sturdier metallic ones, hinges are no longer visible but there are two metal lines that run across the top before they open.

Statistics

Town Hall Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Number Available	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	4
	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5

Size
2x2

Level	Damage per Second	Damage per Shot	Hitpoints	Cost	Build Time	Experience Gained	Town Hall Level Required
1	34	20.4	600	250,000	2h	84	7
2	40	24	630	350,000	3h	103	7
3	48	28.8	660	500,000	4h	120	7
4	55	33	690	600,000	6h	146	8
5	64	38.4	730	800,000	12h	207	8
6	75	45	770	1,200,000	1d	293	8
7	87	52.2	810	1,400,000	1d 6h	328	9
8	99	59.4	850	1,600,000	1d 12h	360	10
9	110	66	900	2,100,000	1d 18h	388	11
10	120	72	980	3,000,000	2d	415	12
11	130	78	1,100	3,100,000	2d 12h	464	13
12	140	84	1,200	3,700,000	3d	509	13
13	150	90	1,350	5,100,000	4d	587	14
14	160	96	1,450	6,500,000	5d	657	15
15	170	102	1,550	8,200,000	6d	720	16
16	180	108	1,650	20,500,000	15d	1,138	17

Supercharges

These additional levels can be attained at Town Hall 17 once the maximum level of the building has been attained. These Supercharges will be removed when a new level of this building is added.

Charge Level	Damage per Second	Damage per Shot	Hitpoints	Cost	Build Time	Experience Gained	Town Hall Level Required
1	185	111	1,650	10,000,000	4d	587	17
2	185	111	1,700	6,000,000	6d	720	17

Range	Trigger Range	Attack Speed	Damage Type	Unit Type Targeted
7	6	0.6s	Single Target	Ground & Air

Icon Descriptions

	Tapping this icon displays information about the Hidden Tesla, such as Level, Damage Per Second, Hitpoints, Range, Damage Type and Targets.
	Tapping this icon begins upgrading the Hidden Tesla to the next level, if you have enough resources and a free Builder (or B.O.B). When the Hidden Tesla is at maximum level, this icon is replaced by the Supercharge! icon.
	Tapping this icon begins supercharging the maxed Hidden Tesla to the next charge, if you have enough resources and a free Builder (or B.O.B). When the Hidden Tesla is at maximum charge, this icon is not shown.
	Tapping this icon instantly upgrades the Hidden Tesla to the next level, at the cost of one Hammer of Building if you have one. When the Hidden Tesla is at maximum level, or if the Town Hall requirements for the next level are not met, this icon is not shown.
	Tapping this icon, which is displayed only while an upgrade is in progress, instantly finishes that upgrade at the cost of the displayed number of Gems.
	Tapping this icon, which is displayed only while an upgrade is in progress, instantly finishes that upgrade at the cost of one Book of Building. This icon is only shown if you have at least one Book of Building.
	Tapping this icon, which is displayed only while an upgrade is in progress, instantly finishes that upgrade at the cost of one Book of Everything. This icon is only shown if you have at least one Book of Everything but do not have a Book of Building.
	Tapping this icon, which is displayed only while an upgrade is in progress, boosts all your Builders for 1 hour by a factor of ten, at the cost of one Builder Potion. This icon is only shown if you have at least one Builder Potion.
	Tapping this icon, which is displayed only while an upgrade is in progress, cancels the current upgrade and refunds half of the upgrade cost.

Sounds

Sound Effect	Caption	Description
	Hidden Tesla appears	When an enemy unit enters the trigger radius
	Hidden Tesla zaps a target	When the Hidden Tesla hits a unit
	Hidden Tesla zap (unused)	When the Hidden Tesla hits a unit (became unused since the June 17, 2013 update)
	Hidden Tesla selected	When the Hidden Tesla is picked
	Hidden Tesla placed	When the Hidden Tesla is placed

History

Date	Description
August 30, 2012	Added Hidden Tesla with 6 levels.
September 12, 2012 balance changes	Improved the Hidden Tesla from level 4 onwards.
September 18, 2012	Added an additional Hidden Tesla available at Town Hall level 8.
January 11, 2013 maintenance break	Restored the count of Hidden Teslas on Town Hall level 8 that broke.
February 5, 2013	Doubled the damage dealt to P.E.K.K.As and prioritized them over other enemy troops.
April 17, 2013	Added the level 7 Hidden Tesla. Increase its trigger radius at all levels.
June 17, 2013	Changed the Tesla's attack sound. Previously, the Tesla's attack sounded like this.
July 3, 2014	Added the level 8 Hidden Tesla. Reduced upgrade build times.
February 27,2015 maintenance break	Hid Teslas from village thumbnail in players' profiles.
April 30, 2015	Allowed Hidden Tesla range to be visible during construction.
May 25, 2016 maintenance break	Made upgrading Hidden Teslas visible to attackers in matchmaking. (War was unaffected by this problem even previously; the Tesla invisibility was just visual, troops still knew where the upgrading Tesla was and they were destroying it for correct % damage).
October 12, 2016	Added the level 9 Hidden Tesla. Removed the double damage and priority given to P.E.K.K.As.
June 11, 2018	Added the level 10 Hidden Tesla.
June 26, 2018	Reduced build times at levels 1 to 9: Level 1: 1d -> 12h Level 2: 3d -> 2d Level 3: 5d -> 3d 12h Level 4: 6d -> 4d Level 5: 7d -> 4d 12h Level 6: 8d -> 5d 12h Level 7: 10d -> 6d 12h Level 8: 12d -> 8d Level 9: 14c -> 10d
April 2, 2019	Reduced build times at levels 1 to 8: Level 1: 12h -> 3h Level 2: 2d -> 8h Level 3: 3d 12h -> 16h Level 4: 4d -> 1d Level 5: 4d 12h -> 2d Level 6: 5d 12h -> 3d Level 7: 6d 12h -> 4d Level 8: 8d -> 6d Reduced build costs at levels 1 to 9: Level 1: 1,000,000 -> 500,000 Level 2: 1,250,000 -> 750,000 Level 3: 1,500,000 -> 1,000,000 Level 4: 2,000,000 -> 1,250,000 Level 5: 2,500,000 -> 1,500,000 Level 6: 3,000,000 -> 2,000,000 Level 7: 3,500,000 -> 3,000,000 Level 8: 5,000,000 -> 4,500,000 Level 9: 8,000,000 -> 7,500,000
September 11, 2019	Increased hitpoint of level 10.
December 9, 2019	Added the level 11 Hidden Tesla.
March 30, 2020	Made it so that Hidden Teslas are now visible in the village thumbnail of players' profiles when viewed by a member of the same clan.
October 12, 2020	Added the level 12 Hidden Tesla.
April 12 2021	Added the level 13 Hidden Tesla.
December 9, 2021	Reduced upgrade costs of Hidden Tesla levels 2 to 12.
October 10, 2022	Fixed Hidden Teslas sometimes not being triggered by Heroes which were using the Phoenix pet.
June 12, 2023	Added the level 14 Hidden Tesla. Reduced upgrade time and cost of levels 10 to 12.
February 27, 2024	Added the level 15 Hidden Tesla.
September 9, 2024	Added 2 Supercharge levels for the Hidden Tesla.
February 10, 2025	Added the level 16 Hidden Tesla. Reduced upgrade times at levels 4, 5, and 12: Level 4: 12h -> 6h Level 5: 18h -> 12h Level 12: 4d 6h -> 3d Reduced upgrade cost at level 12: Level 12: 6,000,000 -> 4,000,000 Removed the Supercharges at level 15 and replaced them at level 16: Charge 1: Damage: 175 -> 185 Cost: 6,000,000 -> 10,000,000 Time: 1: 2d 6h -> 4d Charge 2: Damage: 1,600 -> 1,700 Cost: 3,000,000 -> 6,000,000 Time: 3d 18h -> 6d

Trivia

The Hidden Tesla gets its name and appearance from the Tesla coil, invented by the scientist Nikola Tesla. Tesla coils wirelessly transmit electricity to the destination; the way tesla coils transmit electricity appears similar to how the Hidden Tesla attacks.
The Hidden Tesla is one of the few defenses to have appeared in both villages. Other defenses that appeared in both villages include the Cannon and Archer Tower, though in the latter's case the models are different.
Lightning Spells, Freeze Spells, Overgrowth Spells and Earthquake Spells cannot harm or interact with a Hidden Tesla if it has not yet been revealed.
- However, in the case of the Overgrowth Spell, when a unit gets into its trigger range, it will reveal itself, but will be disabled midway until the spell effect expires, rendering it untargetable.
Defense-targeting troops will not target a Tesla until it is revealed, even if all other defenses are destroyed.
The Hidden Tesla forces to retarget all units if revealed.
In the Party Wizard Party time video, the level 7 Hidden Tesla can be seen, despite the Town Hall being at level 7.
When you are viewing your village, the Tesla will eject small sparks. The Tesla will still create sparks even if it is being upgraded.
The level 7 Tesla has the same top piece as the level 7 Laboratory and the same sphere from the level 10 Hidden Tesla, as well as the Mega Sparky from the Clan Capital.
- In Clash Royale, the card "Sparky" shares the same feature.
Like the Mortar, the Hidden Tesla can one-shot a same-level Archer, e.g. a level 4 Hidden Tesla can one-shot a level 4 Archer. However, this is not true for a level 5 Archer.
The Hidden Tesla, along with the Cannon, Mortar, Bomb Tower, X-Bow, and Inferno Tower, are the only defenses that appear in Clash Royale.
If you do not count traps as defenses, the Hidden Tesla is the only defense that is hidden under the ground before it is activated.
In Clash Royale, the Tesla resembles a level 1 Hidden Tesla from Clash of Clans.
- The Tesla upgraded with Star Points resembles the level 6 Hidden Tesla from Clash of Clans.
- The word "electrickery" in its card description in Clash Royale is also taken from its description in Clash of Clans.
- Unlike in Clash of Clans however, the Tesla in Clash Royale retreats back to the underground when there are no targets in its range and is vulnerable to Earthquake and Freeze Spells, as well as having a limited lifespan.
If all revealed buildings are destroyed before reaching 51% (which is possible in certain Attack Challenges), any unrevealed Hidden Teslas will not reveal themselves, and all attacking units will remain in place if there are no other targets remaining.

Gallery

Home Village Buildings
Defensive Buildings	Cannon • Archer Tower • Mortar • Air Defense • Wizard Tower • Air Sweeper • Hidden Tesla • Bomb Tower • X-Bow • Inferno Tower • Eagle Artillery • Scattershot • Builder's Hut • Spell Tower • Monolith • Multi-Archer Tower • Ricochet Cannon • Multi-Gear Tower • Firespitter • Wall Town Hall: Giga Tesla • Giga Inferno (TH13 • TH14 • TH15 • TH16) • Inferno Artillery Traps: Bomb • Spring Trap • Air Bomb • Giant Bomb • Seeking Air Mine • Skeleton Trap • Tornado Trap • Giga Bomb
Resource Buildings	Town Hall (Magic Items) • Gold Mine • Elixir Collector • Dark Elixir Drill • Gold Storage • Elixir Storage • Dark Elixir Storage • Clan Castle (Treasury)
Army Buildings	Army Camp • Barracks • Dark Barracks • Laboratory • Spell Factory • Hero Hall • Hero Banner • Dark Spell Factory • Blacksmith • Workshop • Pet House
Other Buildings	Builder's Hut • Helper Hut • B.O.B's Hut • Decorations • Obstacles • Boat • Airship • Forge • Loot Cart • Trader's Shop • Strongman's Caravan • Super Sauna • Goblin Workers' Stand

For the Home Village version, see Hidden Tesla/Home Village.