Clash of Clans: Our top tips for optimal gameplay

Although this depends heavily on what your intent for attacking is, using a horde of archers and barbarians is usually much more effective than a few strong troops. Dragons, for example, are great, but they use a lot of resources and take precious time to train. If you’re saving and looting for dark elixir, you should not really be using it to train troops either.

Ultimately, if your primary goal is to save up resources, you need to make an effort to use cheap units that are quick to produce. The best units to make depends on your Town Hall level; see this Clash of Clans Town Hall Farming Guide by Level for more details.

It may be tempting to spend fifteen gems on an upgrading building, but don’t do it. Every penny matters and all that quick spending adds up very quickly. Get a reasonable number of gems to work towards, and you’ll reach it soon enough. Removing bushes and completing achievements are pretty much the only way in which you can actually make gems, but it’s sufficient.

Make it a goal to complete these achievements, be it ‘Mortar Mauler’ or ‘Nice and Tidy’. You’ll thank yourself later. You can then spend them on things like shields and heroes.

The awesome weapons and troops that await you at the next town may be desirable, but it is not worth rushing there. Let me explain it: when you upgrade your town hall, your new opponents get significantly harder as you are limited to attacking town halls that are one level below you. A bit confused? Say that you were a town hall 8, but rushed to town hall 9. Now you have to attack harder bases with the same troops as you had before.

This makes it harder to get resources, and inevitably slows down your progress. Short story: don’t rush.

Spells are very expensive and take a while to brew. You can also take a limited amount of spells to aid you in a battle. For this reason it can affect farming resources and should not be used without reason. It may be tempting to just drop them, but you’re only making the situation worse if your expenses exceed your incomes.

If you care about trophies, spells can also literally mean the difference between a 30% raid and a 100% raids. You should drop them wisely. Determine the best locations and the best times for when you drop them, be it a single troop that can get you 50% or twenty balloons that are terrorizing the base.

If you are inactive for some time, you can still make a neat sum of resources via your collectors and drills. But, only if no one else can get it. Use your saved up gems to purchase a shield that best corresponds with you absence time.

Furthermore, if you have an existing shield, try not to decrease it by attacking opponents. In the past, your whole shield would be removed if you attacked someone, but now it penalizes you by three hours. It’s up to you.

You can get bonuses from either participating in war or from getting five combined stars from attacking opponents. With a reasonable payout often in the hundreds of thousands, it’s an excellent opportunity to make some extra cash. Pushing harder in war and attacking more often suddenly becomes a bigger priority when you see how much you can make off this.

You even get a bonus from a successful attack, and more depending on what league you’re in.

Don’t use any old army composition when in war. Strive to tailor your army according to the base you are going to attack. If it has weak air defenses, attack with air troops. If their walls are weak, use land troops instead. This will help ensure that you get the maximum possible efficiency in your attack.

It also helps to browse the web and YouTube for bases similar to your opponent’s. Very often you will end up finding a base that is almost matching with a solution on how to beat it.

YouTube has a wealth of videos from thousands of Clashers on how to execute different attack styles. GoWiWi, GoWiPe and LavaLoon are just some of the more popular styles and very often result in attackers getting three stars when done properly.

Some of these videos are two hours long and require months of practice to effectively work. You should also always watch attacks of clan members and find their mistakes, making sure to not replicate them.

Happy clashing!