Town Hall 8 marks a turning point for Clash of Clans players, as the gameplay becomes more exciting and engaging. Many experienced players still use their mini TH8s for wars, and Town Hall 8 wars were particularly popular in the last decade.
By following the right upgrade order and putting in the necessary effort, you can max out your Town Hall 8 base in just a few short weeks. As someone who runs multiple TH8 mini accounts for XP farming wars, I will share the upgrade order I use for my accounts in this article.
Laboratory
When you decide to upgrade your Town Hall in the game, it’s necessary to prioritize the Laboratory first. Why? Because the Laboratory is where powerful Wizards work their magic, experimenting with various potions to upgrade your troops which makes them stronger.
Here’s a useful tip: Always have something queued for upgrade inside the Laboratory. This way, if any of your troops have a missing level, you won’t waste 16 hours of upgrade time.
Laboratory to level 6 upgrade cost: 400,000 Elixirs
Laboratory to level 6 upgrade time: 16 hours
New Buildings
When you reach TH8, you’ll unlock several new buildings for your base. To efficiently manage the construction of these buildings, it’s recommended to assign at least two builders to work on these new buildings until they reach the same level as your existing ones.
Here are the new buildings introduced at Town Hall 8:
- Dark Spell Factory
- 1x Bomb Tower
- 1x Wizard Tower
- 1x Mortar
- 1x Archer Tower
- 1x Hidden Tesla
- 1x Gold Storage
- 1x Elixir Storage
- 1x Dark Elixir Drill
- 50x Walls
- 1x Giant Bomb
- 2x Skeleton Trap
- 2x Spring Trap
- 2x Air Bomb
- 2x Seeking Air Mines
Getting and upgrading new buildings is important because they significantly increase the Damage Per Second (DPS) value of your base compared to existing buildings.
Clan Castle
The Clan Castle is an important building in Clash of Clans, serving both offensive and defensive purposes. The troops housed in the Clan Castle play a major role in defending your village against unwanted attackers.
That’s why upgrading the Clan Castle should be one of your top priorities at every Town Hall level. Most players opt for this upgrade as early as possible to strengthen their defense.
At Town Hall 8, you have the opportunity to upgrade the Clan Castle to level 4. This upgrade provides you with 25 housing spaces in the reinforcement request bar, allowing you to request more troops for defense or offense.
Additionally, with this upgrade, you can now receive a one-housing space spell in your Clan Castle which will provide you with even more tactical options during attacks.
Clan Castle to level 4 upgrade cost: 1,200,000 Elixirs
Clan Castle to level 4 upgrade time: 1 day
Dark Spell Factory
Having a stronger offense makes it easier for you to gather more loot, which in turn allows you to upgrade your defenses more effectively. Once you’ve built the Dark Spell Factory, the next important step is to upgrade it to level 2.
After upgrading the Dark Spell Factory to level 2, you have access to the Earthquake Spell.
The Earthquake Spell proves to be extremely useful in almost every TH8 attack strategy. With only four Earthquake spells of any level, you can break through big sections of walls.
Dark Spell Factory to level 2 upgrade cost: 300,000 Elixirs
Dark Spell Factory to level 2 upgrade time: 8 hours
Barracks
Upon reaching Town Hall 8 and upgrading your Barracks to level 10, you unlock a powerful troop known as PEKKA. This powerful unit proves to be extremely useful in various attack strategies.
One of the most renowned attack strategies that involve PEKKA is the GOWIPE strategy. However, to execute this strategy effectively, you’ll need to work on unlocking the other necessary ingredients in the next upgrade.
Once you have all the components ready, you can use the full potential of PEKKA in combination with other troops, leading to devastating attacks on your opponents.
Barracks to level 10 upgrade cost: 1,700,000 Elixirs
Barracks to level 10 upgrade time: 2 days, 12 hours
Dark Barracks
At Town Hall 8, the Dark Barracks becomes available, and it allows you to train dark troops. There are two upgrades for the Dark Barracks at this level, unlocking the Valkyrie and Golem.
Valkyries are particularly valuable in Mass Valk attacks, where multiple Valkyries are deployed to three-star enemy’s base. Their spinning attack can deal massive damage to surrounding buildings.
On the other hand, the Golem can be used in almost any attack strategy. Thanks to its larger hitpoint pool, the Golem can absorb a considerable amount of damage from defenses which allows your other troops to survive longer and deal more damage to the enemy base.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Elixirs) | Upgrade Time | Unlock |
| 3 | 1,000,000 | 1 day, 12 hours | Valkyrie |
| 4 | 1,600,000 | 2 days | Golem |
Dark Elixir Storage
At Town Hall 8, you have the opportunity to upgrade your Dark Elixir Storage twice, and with each upgrade, its capacity increases to 40,000 and 75,000 Dark Elixir, respectively. Since Dark Troops require a decent amount of resources to upgrade at this Town Hall, upgrading your Dark Elixir Storage becomes important.
A helpful strategy is to prioritize upgrading your Dark Elixir Storage after you’ve unlocked the new Dark Troops. By doing so, you ensure that you have enough storage capacity to hold the increased amounts of Dark Elixir needed for troop upgrades.
Remember to allocate one of your builders to work on the Dark Elixir Storage upgrade continuously. As you progress through Town Hall 8, your Barbarian King will also require higher amounts of Dark Elixir for upgrades.
So, keep the Dark Elixir Storage capacity ahead of your troop and hero upgrade requirements.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Elixirs) | Upgrade Time |
| 3 | 1,000,000 | 1 day |
| 4 | 1,500,000 | 1 day, 12 hours |
Barbarian King
Reaching Town Hall 8 gives you the opportunity to boost your Barbarian King’s power greatly by unlocking 5 new levels, elevating him to level 10. A well-upgraded Barbarian King can have a big impact on the outcome of your attacks.
To make the most of your Barbarian King’s potential, it is recommended to prioritize his upgrades right after completing your Dark Elixir storage upgrades.
The Barbarian King stands as one of the strongest heroes in the game, and investing time in his 5 upgrades is truly worthwhile. As you upgrade him, he gains more strength, durability, and damage-dealing capabilities.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Dark Elixirs) | Upgrade Time |
| 11 | 14,000 | 22 hours |
| 12 | 15,000 | 1 day |
| 13 | 16,000 | 1 day |
| 14 | 17,000 | 1 day |
| 15 | 18,500 | 1 day |
| 16 | 20,000 | 1 day |
| 17 | 21,500 | 1 day, 12 hours |
| 18 | 23,000 | 1 day, 12 hours |
| 19 | 24,500 | 1 day, 12 hours |
| 20 | 26,000 | 2 days |
Air Defenses
With our offense now well-established, it’s time to shift our focus to defense. At Town Hall 8, one of the highest priority defensive upgrades is the Air Defense. Mass Dragon attacks are quite common at this level, and Air Defense is your best line of defense against them.
As you progress in Clash of Clans, you’ll notice that players tend to rely more on aerial attacks than ground attacks at Town Hall 8. To counter these air-based attacks, upgrading your Air Defense to level 6 is necessary.
Air Defense to level 6 upgrade cost: 1,350,000 Gold
Air Defense to level 6 upgrade time: 2 days
Air Sweeper
The Air Sweeper is a highly useful defense when it comes to countering air attacks. Its ability to redirect air troops can disrupt the plans of attackers, sending their aerial units in the wrong direction.
To strengthen your defense against air attacks, prioritizing the upgrade of the Air Sweeper is a wise move, especially after you’ve already upgraded your Air Defenses.
By doing so, you increase your chances of successfully withstanding air attacks and thwarting your opponents’ strategies.
Air Sweeper to level 4 upgrade cost: 1,500,000 Gold
Air Sweeper to level 4 upgrade time: 1 day
Archer Towers
Archer Towers hold big importance as high-priority defenses, especially at Town Hall 8. Their ability to target both air and ground troops, coupled with a long attack range, makes them a good addition to the defense of your base.
Against Mass Dragon attacks, Archer Towers act as your second line of defense, adding an extra layer of protection to your base. By positioning them wisely, you can effectively eliminate enemy troops before they can cause damage to your base.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Gold) | Upgrade Time |
| 9 | 800,000 | 14 hours |
| 10 | 1,000,000 | 18 hours |
Bomb Towers
As you progress to Town Hall 8, you’ll encounter numerous Hog Rider attacks, which can pose a major threat to your base. To defend against these attacks, a well-upgraded Bomb Tower is essential.
If you followed the recommendations mentioned at the beginning of the article, you should have already built the Bomb Tower. Now, it’s time to take it to the next level by upgrading it to level 2.
Bomb to level 2 upgrade cost: 1,200,000 Gold
Bomb to level 2 upgrade time: 1 day, 12 hours
Wizard Towers
At Town Hall 8, Wizard Towers become even more useful with the addition of two new levels. These upgraded Wizard Towers play a critical role in defending your base because they are capable of countering both air and ground attacks effectively. Their splash damage ability makes them important in fending off Mass Hog or Mass Balloon attacks.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Gold) | Upgrade Time |
| 5 | 920,000 | 1 day |
| 6 | 1,200,000 | 1 day, 12 hours |
Hidden Teslas
Hidden Teslas are important defensive buildings in Clash of Clans, and they become even more powerful at Town Hall 8 with the option to upgrade them three times.
By upgrading your Hidden Teslas, you not only increase their damage output but also their durability which allows them to take more damage before going down.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Gold) | Upgrade Time |
| 4 | 850,000 | 18 hours |
| 5 | 1,100,000 | 1 day |
| 6 | 1,300,000 | 2 days |
Cannons
At Town Hall 8, Cannons receive a boost with the addition of two new levels. While Cannons can target only ground units, making them less useful compared to some other defenses, they still play their part in defending your village.
Cannons act as essential frontline defenses, providing a solid defense against ground-based attacks. Although they lack the ability to target air units, their strength lies in dealing consistent damage to ground troops that come within their range.
| Level | Upgrade Cost (Gold) | Upgrade Time |
| 9 | 500,000 | 12 hours |
| 10 | 700,000 | 18 hours |
Mortars
In upgrade priority guides, Mortar is often considered a lower-priority upgrade. While it has a good attack range, it may not be as effective against most attack strategies at this level.
It is often recommended to place Mortar at the end of the priority list for upgrades.
Additionally, Mortar upgrades take a considerable amount of time. Given that there are other defenses that can have a bigger impact on your base’s overall defense, it’s often more beneficial to focus on upgrading those first.
Mortar to level 6 upgrade cost: 750,000 Gold
Mortar to level 6 upgrade time: 2 days, 12 hours
Walls and Traps
Once you are done with defense upgrades, it’s a good practice to keep one builder continuously working on upgrading walls, while dedicating the rest of your builders to upgrading traps.
Wall to level 8 upgrade cost: 75,000 Gold or Elixir
Wall to level 8 upgrade time: None
Gold Mines and Elixir Collectors
Resource production buildings, such as Gold Mines, Elixir Collectors, and Dark Elixir Drills, provide a steady stream of free resources over time. Once you’ve completed the higher-priority upgrades for defenses and other important buildings, it’s a smart strategy to use your remaining builders to work on resource production buildings.
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Attribution: The images used in this blog post are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) and are sourced from Clash of Clans Fandom Wiki.
