Author: Greg Borish (greg in game)
Leader, The Current War
Leader, The Current War
NOTE: This guide is for people who are primarily interested in war. People who prioritize farming should probably ignore almost all of my advice.
General Priorities
Heroes take precedence over everything else. When you farm, generally only look for bases that have at least 2000 dark elixir. The overall DE cost as well as the time it takes to get these guys up to 30 is staggering. Even if you double up on heroes (put both down at once), you will finish your lab literally months before your heroes, so if you have to choose between heroes and lab stuff, pick heroes and let your lab sit empty a day or two. I promise that it is worth it - three starring completely max th9s is MUCH easier with high level heroes and the beginning of th10, which is typically very tough, isn’t bad at all with 30/30s. If you ever go more than a couple days with both heroes up, count on a couple days with both heroes down later on.
Full lavas took me about a month longer than heroes (11 months vs. 10 months), but I also spent months and months only attacking for dark elixir at the expense of any gold/elixir gains. With regular farming splits they should take a similar amount of time. Even though lava walls have a high war weight, by the time you get a fair amount, your non-xbow defense and troops will be done and you should have solid heroes and be able to punch your weight. The intimidation factor and incredible looks make it worth it. It was very satisfying to finish my last lava wall.
As for farming as of now (summer 2016), I recommend Crystal II/III. Tons of loot, lots of collector bases, decent bonuses and you really will not get attacked very often as well (typically just once a day if you have an intelligent base design unless you are bursting with gold, elixir AND dark elixir). You may want to go into Gold 1 at the start so you can beat up on more TH8s. You can get up to Masters and Champs (and above) as a TH9, but the loot is honestly worse than Crystal even with the bonus, and you will get creamed the second you log off. Also, in Champs, prepare to spend a LONG time nexting (I once hit next over 140 times in a row until I ran out of gold - every single base I saw was a near max TH10 or 11 with active inferno towers). Not worth it in my opinion - I certainly gained loot at a faster and less frustrating rate in crystal.
I recommend you wait quite a while to place your xbows. They have an ENORMOUS war weight - a base with lego walls (level 9) and max TH9 every other defenses and no xbows ranks below a base with all TH8 defenses, skull walls (level 8) and level 1 xbows. The biggest weight jump is just putting an xbow in. It seems to have more of an effect than the upgrades. Mythos waited a crazy long time to put in his first xbow (and still only has one as of now) and he is able to attack significantly above his number most wars which is very helpful. I would recommend not putting in an xbow until you have at least 15/15 heroes, and absolutely do not get level 3 xbows until you have at least 20/20 heroes and full lego walls. I would say to wait as long as possible - make sure you feel reasonably confident in your ability to 3 star max TH9s. If you feel tempted, just remember that they are also pretty underwhelming. Level 1 xbows are WAY worse than archer towers and level 2 are about on par with archer towers. Level 3 xbows are decently menacing, and probably your most versatile and sturdiest defense but obviously are not on par with infernos at TH10 which are a complete game changer.
Full lavas took me about a month longer than heroes (11 months vs. 10 months), but I also spent months and months only attacking for dark elixir at the expense of any gold/elixir gains. With regular farming splits they should take a similar amount of time. Even though lava walls have a high war weight, by the time you get a fair amount, your non-xbow defense and troops will be done and you should have solid heroes and be able to punch your weight. The intimidation factor and incredible looks make it worth it. It was very satisfying to finish my last lava wall.
As for farming as of now (summer 2016), I recommend Crystal II/III. Tons of loot, lots of collector bases, decent bonuses and you really will not get attacked very often as well (typically just once a day if you have an intelligent base design unless you are bursting with gold, elixir AND dark elixir). You may want to go into Gold 1 at the start so you can beat up on more TH8s. You can get up to Masters and Champs (and above) as a TH9, but the loot is honestly worse than Crystal even with the bonus, and you will get creamed the second you log off. Also, in Champs, prepare to spend a LONG time nexting (I once hit next over 140 times in a row until I ran out of gold - every single base I saw was a near max TH10 or 11 with active inferno towers). Not worth it in my opinion - I certainly gained loot at a faster and less frustrating rate in crystal.
I recommend you wait quite a while to place your xbows. They have an ENORMOUS war weight - a base with lego walls (level 9) and max TH9 every other defenses and no xbows ranks below a base with all TH8 defenses, skull walls (level 8) and level 1 xbows. The biggest weight jump is just putting an xbow in. It seems to have more of an effect than the upgrades. Mythos waited a crazy long time to put in his first xbow (and still only has one as of now) and he is able to attack significantly above his number most wars which is very helpful. I would recommend not putting in an xbow until you have at least 15/15 heroes, and absolutely do not get level 3 xbows until you have at least 20/20 heroes and full lego walls. I would say to wait as long as possible - make sure you feel reasonably confident in your ability to 3 star max TH9s. If you feel tempted, just remember that they are also pretty underwhelming. Level 1 xbows are WAY worse than archer towers and level 2 are about on par with archer towers. Level 3 xbows are decently menacing, and probably your most versatile and sturdiest defense but obviously are not on par with infernos at TH10 which are a complete game changer.
Builder Priorities
I will assume that you begin with maxed out storages. Immediately put in your new traps (including 4th giant bomb!) and archer queen, then work on spell factory, lab, clan castle, archer queen (and putting her to level 2). After that, your first priorities (after heroes if you have the DE) should be dark elixir drills to 6 (an enormous upgrade and you will need the DE - the faster you get these done, the better) and then army camps. Dump most of your gold on walls while doing drills and camps, saving DE for early lab upgrades and heroes.
When you get a free builder for a bit, put in the new storages, air defense (should be the first defense you build probably), tesla, wizard tower, archer tower, mortar. You can upgrade these sporadically when you have time, builders and resources. No hurry, but I would try to get the tesla and air defense up to level six or so ASAP - although camps and drills are more important in the early stages.
In general, I think it is better to catch all your new defenses up to max th8 level before progressing to th 9 level defenses, but hey, if you have 5.3 million gold sitting around and can choose between getting one wizard tower to level 7 versus your new one to level 6, go for it (especially since one shotting wallbreakers is big game) unless you are OCD about your base being symmetric. I had a level 4 archer tower for the longest time.
Do not underestimate traps - having level 2 spring traps (to get 2 valks) and level 6 bombs (to kill wallbreakers in one hit if placed 2 units from a wall) is ENORMOUS and these should be upgraded pretty early. Bombs nuking wallbreakers can derail a raid incredibly quickly. Upgraded black air mines are very good against lava hounds.
My general priority with defenses is this:
Tesla - Archer Tower - Wizard Tower - Cannon - Air Defense - Mortar - Air Sweeper - (Xbow, once everything else is upgraded)
Upgrade mortars near the end. The impact is minor and they have a surprisingly large war weight.
I would do one barracks early so you can donate baby dragons for war CCs, but other than that, just whenever you feel like it. Dark spell factory to 3 and 4 similarly - neither haste nor skeleton spells see much usage in farming or war. I would do my dark barracks as early as possible since warring with one dark barracks is awful. Try to upgrade them while you are opted out of war for another reason - heroes down or on vacation or something.
There is no hurry with your defenses! You will finish them a couple months before your lab, and at least six months before your heroes and walls. If you’re worried about the lava grind later on (and trust me, it is a grind), work on walls along the way - just take a break from defenses for a few weeks and do walls. They will take SO SO much longer. This is also why it is totally fine to just spend the first month or so working on offense, camps, and drills.
When you get a free builder for a bit, put in the new storages, air defense (should be the first defense you build probably), tesla, wizard tower, archer tower, mortar. You can upgrade these sporadically when you have time, builders and resources. No hurry, but I would try to get the tesla and air defense up to level six or so ASAP - although camps and drills are more important in the early stages.
In general, I think it is better to catch all your new defenses up to max th8 level before progressing to th 9 level defenses, but hey, if you have 5.3 million gold sitting around and can choose between getting one wizard tower to level 7 versus your new one to level 6, go for it (especially since one shotting wallbreakers is big game) unless you are OCD about your base being symmetric. I had a level 4 archer tower for the longest time.
Do not underestimate traps - having level 2 spring traps (to get 2 valks) and level 6 bombs (to kill wallbreakers in one hit if placed 2 units from a wall) is ENORMOUS and these should be upgraded pretty early. Bombs nuking wallbreakers can derail a raid incredibly quickly. Upgraded black air mines are very good against lava hounds.
My general priority with defenses is this:
Tesla - Archer Tower - Wizard Tower - Cannon - Air Defense - Mortar - Air Sweeper - (Xbow, once everything else is upgraded)
Upgrade mortars near the end. The impact is minor and they have a surprisingly large war weight.
I would do one barracks early so you can donate baby dragons for war CCs, but other than that, just whenever you feel like it. Dark spell factory to 3 and 4 similarly - neither haste nor skeleton spells see much usage in farming or war. I would do my dark barracks as early as possible since warring with one dark barracks is awful. Try to upgrade them while you are opted out of war for another reason - heroes down or on vacation or something.
There is no hurry with your defenses! You will finish them a couple months before your lab, and at least six months before your heroes and walls. If you’re worried about the lava grind later on (and trust me, it is a grind), work on walls along the way - just take a break from defenses for a few weeks and do walls. They will take SO SO much longer. This is also why it is totally fine to just spend the first month or so working on offense, camps, and drills.
Research Order
- Hogs to level 5 (this will allow you to 3 star low to mid TH9s and makes all TH8s a complete joke)
- Valks to level 4 OR Golems to level 4 - These are your next two most important upgrades. Probably golems should go first to improve goho but level four valks are obscene so it is hard to say.
- Heal to max
- Jump to 2 (jump level 1 requires pretty precise timing and jump helps a ton in most ground attacks)
- Goblins to level 6 (so they can survive a hit from a mortar or wizard tower, huge for farming)
- Giants to level 6 (if you are having trouble farming, do these sooner, it is a hugely important upgrade with a massive effect)
- Healers to max (make sure this is done by the time queen hits 15)
- Balloons to 6
- Lava hounds to 2
- Poison to 3
- Lightning to 6
The following upgrades are all relatively useless to war and farming and can be done interchangeably. I like to do the DE upgrades early while hero upgrades are not obscenely expensive:
- Barbs to 6 (note that this and archers do affect your hero ability)
- Archers to 6 (huge upgrade in cost and looks, not so much in damage and hp)
- Dragons to 4
- Baby Dragons to 2
- Minions to 5
- Quake to 3
- Haste to 2
- Witches to 2
Farming Strategies
NOTE: none of the farming strategies I post are reliant on CC troops although they obviously help. I recommend poison for your DE spell, always try to pull the enemy CC if you can.
1. Superqueen - this is a huge no-brainer once you have a level 15 queen. It is BY FAR the most efficient farming strategy since the army is dirt cheap and you can attack twice in a row (just queue up 4 more healers in your barracks). Queen, 4-5 healers, 8-10 giants, 20-30 archers (can replace with 10-15 minions but I like saving DE), 12-16 wallbreakers, rest (~40-50) goblins, three rage, 1 jump, 4 more healers queued up in your barracks. Some people prefer all rage, I like having a jump to help get to some centralized DE storages.
2. GOBLIN JUMP - level 6 goblins required. 8-10 giants (maybe more if you dont have king), 8 WBs, ~40 archers to path, rest (100-120) goblins, 2 heals 2 jump (typically only use one of each though). Drop your giants and wbs, archer to path. Drop a jump that will get you to the town hall and dark elixir without running over giant bomb spots. Drop your goblins with 2 or 3 fingers, then heal them near the TH/DE storage. You will 25% people but get the town hall and goblins. This strategy trains fast and you will fail a lot as you get used to it BUT it is by far the most efficient way to get DE if your queen is down. You can really rack up the DE to pay for the next hero upgrade! Some people like rage, I prefer heal. Watch out for giant bombs. NOTE: do not use this strategy to get elixir, it is basically only good at getting dark elixir. As an extra plus, goblins are great for the rare collector base or exposed town hall you encounter.
3. Gibarch - 12-16 giants, 4-8 wizards, 8wbs, rest barbs and archers, maybe some goblins too, 3 heal, 1 jump. This is a surprisingly elixir-intensive army as if you want to get 50% you will need to use several spells. I do not recommend this if both heroes are down - stick to goblins. This is kinda what you have to use until you get your queen and goblins up to speed if you want to get to dark elixir storages efficiently.
4. Archers and goblins for collectors. I don't enjoy this much and your trophies will drop a ton but some people have had great success. You can experiment with barbs and wbs also.
5. Queen walk govaho - 1 golem, 4 healers, 9 valks, six hogs (six more in cc), 6 wiz, 4 wallbreakers, 3 heal, 1 jump. Only use this once you finish your heroes and need to finish your walls since it costs an obscene amount of DE. But it is fun, great practice for war, and you will finish your walls in a hurry :)
Finally, HAVE FUN! TH9 was by far the most fun I have had clashing so far. War is challenging but so rewarding with a good attack, and there are so many different strategies to choose from and tailor to each enemy base. Farming is relatively easy as well - things are expensive but it’s not too hard to keep your builders occupied and see the progress. It is very well balanced. The hero and lava grinds are a little insane but completely worth it in the end. I miss it already and I have only been TH10 for a few weeks. Good luck!
1. Superqueen - this is a huge no-brainer once you have a level 15 queen. It is BY FAR the most efficient farming strategy since the army is dirt cheap and you can attack twice in a row (just queue up 4 more healers in your barracks). Queen, 4-5 healers, 8-10 giants, 20-30 archers (can replace with 10-15 minions but I like saving DE), 12-16 wallbreakers, rest (~40-50) goblins, three rage, 1 jump, 4 more healers queued up in your barracks. Some people prefer all rage, I like having a jump to help get to some centralized DE storages.
2. GOBLIN JUMP - level 6 goblins required. 8-10 giants (maybe more if you dont have king), 8 WBs, ~40 archers to path, rest (100-120) goblins, 2 heals 2 jump (typically only use one of each though). Drop your giants and wbs, archer to path. Drop a jump that will get you to the town hall and dark elixir without running over giant bomb spots. Drop your goblins with 2 or 3 fingers, then heal them near the TH/DE storage. You will 25% people but get the town hall and goblins. This strategy trains fast and you will fail a lot as you get used to it BUT it is by far the most efficient way to get DE if your queen is down. You can really rack up the DE to pay for the next hero upgrade! Some people like rage, I prefer heal. Watch out for giant bombs. NOTE: do not use this strategy to get elixir, it is basically only good at getting dark elixir. As an extra plus, goblins are great for the rare collector base or exposed town hall you encounter.
3. Gibarch - 12-16 giants, 4-8 wizards, 8wbs, rest barbs and archers, maybe some goblins too, 3 heal, 1 jump. This is a surprisingly elixir-intensive army as if you want to get 50% you will need to use several spells. I do not recommend this if both heroes are down - stick to goblins. This is kinda what you have to use until you get your queen and goblins up to speed if you want to get to dark elixir storages efficiently.
4. Archers and goblins for collectors. I don't enjoy this much and your trophies will drop a ton but some people have had great success. You can experiment with barbs and wbs also.
5. Queen walk govaho - 1 golem, 4 healers, 9 valks, six hogs (six more in cc), 6 wiz, 4 wallbreakers, 3 heal, 1 jump. Only use this once you finish your heroes and need to finish your walls since it costs an obscene amount of DE. But it is fun, great practice for war, and you will finish your walls in a hurry :)
Finally, HAVE FUN! TH9 was by far the most fun I have had clashing so far. War is challenging but so rewarding with a good attack, and there are so many different strategies to choose from and tailor to each enemy base. Farming is relatively easy as well - things are expensive but it’s not too hard to keep your builders occupied and see the progress. It is very well balanced. The hero and lava grinds are a little insane but completely worth it in the end. I miss it already and I have only been TH10 for a few weeks. Good luck!