With limited builders and one lab, the question is never 'what can I upgrade' — it's 'what should I upgrade first'. The goal is a balanced base: offense, defense, and heroes rising together so you're strong in war and hard to farm.
Your own levels are live on your profile
This is general priority advice. For your specific account, your current troop/hero/building levels come straight from the official API on your player page — use them to see exactly what's lagging.
A general order of priority
When you hit a new Town Hall
- 1
Lab & army first
Start upgrading troops and spells in the lab immediately — research is slow and runs independently of builders, so never leave the lab idle.
- 2
Offensive buildings
Upgrade army camps, barracks, spell factory, and the workshop so you can field a bigger, higher-tier army.
- 3
Hero Hall & heroes
Upgrade the Hero Hall early — it gates how many of the six heroes (Barbarian King, Archer Queen, Minion Prince, Grand Warden, Royal Champion, Dragon Duke) you can field, and unlocks the Dragon Duke at Hero Hall 9. Then keep heroes upgrading constantly — hero levels are a huge share of your attacking power.
- 4
Defenses
Bring new and existing defenses up so you don't get 3-starred. Prioritize splash and high-value defenses (Inferno, Eagle, Scattershot).
- 5
Walls last
Walls are a bottomless money sink — upgrade them with spare Gold once the above are moving, not before.
Don't strand your Dark Elixir heroes
Heroes stay usable in attacks while they upgrade, so there's no reason to hold back. If you let Dark Elixir pile up unused, you're wasting your single most impactful long-term upgrade track.
Hero equipment matters as much as levels
Spend your ores in the Blacksmith on the equipment you actually attack with — a leveled signature piece (Giant Arrow, Fireball, Rocket Backpack) often swings an attack more than a couple of hero levels.
Rules of thumb
- An idle builder or idle lab is the most expensive thing in the game — keep both running.
- Upgrade the whole base a tier before moving your Town Hall up.
- Two 'low' priorities running is usually better than one 'high' priority and an idle builder.