When you first upgrade your Town Hall in Clash of Clans, it can feel like there's a mountain of things to build and upgrade. Knowing where to start can save you a lot of time and help you get stronger faster.

The short answer is: prioritize offense first. This means focusing your builders and resources on buildings that make your army stronger, like the Laboratory, Clan Castle, Heroes, Army Camps, and Spell Factories. Once your attacking power is up, getting loot for other upgrades becomes much easier.

Let's break down the best order to upgrade things in your village.

Boost Your Attack Power First

In Clash of Clans, a strong offense is key to gathering resources and winning battles. Without enough loot, you can't upgrade anything else! This is why your attacking buildings come first.

• Laboratory: This is often the first thing you should upgrade at a new Town Hall level. A higher-level Laboratory lets you research and upgrade your troops and spells, making them much more powerful. Always keep it busy!
• Clan Castle: Upgrading your Clan Castle gives you more housing space for donated troops and spells. These extra troops can make a huge difference in both attacking and defending your base. Sometimes it even unlocks space for powerful Siege Machines!
• Heroes (Barbarian King, Archer Queen, Grand Warden, Royal Champion): Your Heroes are incredibly strong and important. Always try to keep a builder free to upgrade them. A higher-level Hero can turn the tide of a battle. I remember early on, I tried to save my Dark Elixir for a new troop, but my attacks really started to shine once I committed to getting my Barbarian King to level 5 for his Iron Fist ability. That extra boost made farming so much easier!
• Army Camps: More Army Camp space means you can bring more troops into battle. This is a direct boost to your attacking power. Max these out as soon as you can.
• Barracks and Dark Barracks: Upgrade these to unlock new troops and speed up your troop training times. You don't necessarily need to max them all at once, but make sure you get the ones that unlock troops you plan to use.
• Spell Factories and Dark Spell Factories: These buildings unlock new spells and give you more spell slots for your attacks. Spells can be game-changers in battle, so getting access to more or stronger ones is a big deal.

Managing Your Resources

You need resources (Gold, Elixir, Dark Elixir) to upgrade everything.

• Storages: Upgrade your Gold, Elixir, and Dark Elixir Storages to hold more loot. This is important so you can save up for those expensive upgrades.
• Collectors, Mines, and Drills: While not the absolute first priority if you attack a lot, upgrading your resource collectors (Gold Mines, Elixir Collectors, Dark Elixir Drills) provides a steady, passive income. At lower Town Hall levels, these can fill up quickly and are easy to raid from other players if not protected.

Beefing Up Your Defenses

Once your offense can reliably gather loot, you can focus on making your base tougher.

• New Defenses: When you upgrade your Town Hall, you often unlock new defensive buildings. Place these down right away, even if you don't upgrade them immediately. A level 1 defense is better than no defense!
• Splash Damage Defenses: Prioritize defenses that hit many troops at once, like Wizard Towers and Mortars. These are great for defending against swarms of attacking troops.
• Air Defenses: Don't forget your Air Defenses and Hidden Teslas! Many strong attacking strategies use air troops like Dragons or Balloons, so having good air defense is crucial.
• Traps: Traps are quick and cheap to upgrade, and they can surprise attackers who aren't expecting them. Bombs, Spring Traps, and Seeking Air Mines can really mess up an attack.
• Walls: Walls are often the last thing players upgrade because they are expensive and take a long time. However, higher-level walls make it harder for attackers to break into your base. I always keep my extra gold and elixir flowing into walls; it's a good way to use up resources before logging off so you don't lose too much to raids.

What Does Star Level Do?

As you upgrade your troops and heroes, their visual appearance changes, and they gain "Star Levels." This shows off how powerful your units are! You can learn more about this in our post: What Does Star Level Do in Clash of Clans?

General Tips for Smart Upgrading

• Get More Builders: Aim to unlock all five builders as quickly as possible. More builders mean you can upgrade more things at once, speeding up your progress.
• Don't Rush Your Town Hall: For most players, it's best to max out your current Town Hall level before upgrading to the next. Rushing can make it very hard to get enough loot and defend your base effectively.
• Plan Ahead: Look at what upgrades are coming at the next Town Hall level. This helps you save up the right resources.

By focusing on offense, managing your resources wisely, and then strengthening your defenses, you'll be on your way to a powerful Clash of Clans village!

If you're looking to make those in-app purchases or speed up your Clash of Clans upgrades, check out Playstorm! You can earn points by playing free games and redeem them for Google Play or App Store gift cards, perfect for getting those gems or Gold Pass.