When a game has a player base that consists of millions of people, you can bet that each and every competitive soul amongst them is looking for ways to one-up the competition. Such is the case with Clash of Clans, and it’s why we’re here with some of the best Clash of Clans “hacks” that you’ll find.
These aren’t actual hacks, mind you; Clash of Clans is a regularly updated online game plays on smartphones, not a title that you saved your pennies for to play on your Sega Genesis in the mid-90s. Read on to hear some of the best tips and strategies to get ahead of your opponents in this popular title.
Provided you have a little bit of patience and a lot of bit of time, there is a big degree of mastery to be achieved in Clash of Clans. Like any strategy game worth its salt, your own instincts, developed from playing the game a hell of a lot, can be fine-tuned into tactics that will make you seem practically undefeatable. You can be the envy of your clan mates and a ranking that sets other players a-quivering. Heck, you can develop your own Clash of Clan hacks!
Or, you might not be at that level yet, which is probably why you found your way to our article!
Rest assured that you don’t need to be the “best of the best” in order to compete with the big dogs. You just need to play smart and develop your own strategies, and that process doesn’t need to take forever and it certainly won’t cost you a single dime. One of the things that veteran RTS (real-time-strategy) gamers know is that repetition in your gameplay is both a curse and a blessing, depending on how it’s approached. Though we’ll certainly delve into this more below as we get to our “best of” list of tips, it’s a generally good rule of thumb to take widely-applied tips like the ones we’re about to share and practice them as much as you can in the gameplay.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Appamatix has written about Clash of Clans. If you’re looking for ways to get the game up and running on your PC or Mac, we have a guide for that! If you’re looking for a way to play Clash of Clans on a slightly bigger screen than the several inches afforded by your smartphone or your tablet, then check it out!
Keep in mind, the tips below are lessons that you can always apply to your Clash of Clans gameplay. If you want to surprise your opponents time and time again, consistency is key. However, don’t be afraid to let your own strategies evolve along the way! Tactical games like CoC are built upon players’ tendencies to be creative in how they approach similar scenarios.
Don’t Be Idle!
If you’re an avid player of mobile games on your smartphone or tablet, you’ve probably noticed a recurring trend about the playstyles in each–you’re meant to be kept busy while you’re playing! From Diner Dash to Clash of Clans, the very best advice that you can regularly follow is to keep your fingers moving at all times. Whether you’re upgrading buildings, directing units, or scouting your opponent, there should never be a quiet or “still” moment when you’re playing Clash of Clans.
This is a combination tip and an exploration of the game’s design, and if you’ve ever faced an opposing tribe that seems like they’re able to develop, mobilize, and attack faster than you, then you know exactly why this is so important. If you can master the use of your time in Clash of Clans, you can practically trick slower opponents into thinking that you’re using a hack or cheat, when in reality, you’ve just become a master of fast multitasking.
Balance Your Upgrades
Responsible and timely upgrading of your buildings and units is another habit that long-time RTS players know like the back of their hand. After enough time playing strategy games where resources and monetary accumulation control the strength of your “army,” it just becomes a good practice to spend those resources and strengthen those buildings and units as quickly and effectively as possible.
However, if you’re not an RTS veteran, this might be a new concept to you, and it’s another way that the best Clash of Clans players differentiates themselves from the rest of the pack. When you unlock a favorite unit or find yourself fond of a particular strategy, it can be mighty tempting to dump all of your resources into developing that particular character or strategy. However, all that this will do is poke holes in your overall effectiveness, without actually allowing you to bring anything new to a battle. Work on upgrading your entire tribe, slowly and consistently.
Spend Wisely!
I promise, this is more than a continuation of the above tip, and it’s not exactly contradictory, either! While it’s important to maintain the overall effectiveness of every unit that you send into battle, it’s also important to realize what strategies and tactics best suit you. After all, you aren’t very likely to improve if you ignore those aspects of CoC gameplay that appeal to you, right? While you most certainly shouldn’t neglect any particular aspect of your available upgrades, don’t hesitate to jump on those units the most benefit your own preference for tactics.
If you like to play defensively, then upgrade your units according to this! If you’re a tower fiend, always make sure your towers are the first thing that you level up, once your other units are taken care of.
Don’t Hesitate to Take Your Revenge
Getting creamed by your opponent is never a particularly fun experience (though, the easier that you can laugh it off, the more fun you’re going to have; I promise!) Still, getting demolished in Clash of Clans does present an opportunity to get even, as long as you’re smart and quick about putting your plan into action!
Right after you’ve had your ass handed to you (it happens to all of us), you can tap on the battle log to view the tribe of the player who just beat you. You’ll have to be fast, though, and do this before the clock timer runs out. Once you’ve had a quick gander at their defensive setup, you can start planning your own tactics in order to best topple it when you “Revenge” that player! It’s the best way to get an upper hand against a tough opponent that deserves to be beaten…but make sure that you don’t lose twice in a row!
Watch Your Opponent’s Level
You’ll learn early on in Clash of Clans that raiding an opponent’s Town Hall can net you a stolen portion of their resources–an invaluable tactic for making sure that your own resource levels can be maintained, right?
However, it’s a lesser-known fact that your opponent’s Town Hall level, and its relation to your own, will determine the amount of resources that you’re able to abscond with. If you’re at the same level as your opponent, you’ll gain 100% of the available resources from your raiding. If your opponent is a higher level, you’ll gain more resources, and if they’re lower, you’ll gain less. Plan your raiding accordingly, and you’ll maximize your gains across different levels of opponents. This is especially important after the December 2015 update since there’s a good chance that you could come up against players that are a higher level than you!
Save the Campaign!
When playing through the Clash of Clans campaign, you’ve probably noticed that you can get a slow trickle of additional resources in the form of completion rewards. In the final handful of campaign missions, that slow trickle becomes a flood, but there’s no reason that you have to take advantage of it immediately.
In fact, what I recommend in this tip is that you save those final missions for a time that you’re in actual need of those resources. Since stockpiling resources beyond what you need for upkeep and upgrading is bad, anyway (it paints a big ‘ole target on you!) there’s no reason to hoard resources. Since you can complete the campaign episodes whenever you want, this puts their rewards in that enviable camp of being completely under your control.
No matter what, I guarantee that you’ll reach a point in your Clash of Clans experience where those extra resources are going to be invaluable. Make sure you have access to them when that time comes around, but don’t ever let them sit idle, or you’re going to have other players looking to steal them from you.
Whether you’re an December 2015 update that’s been playing the game since its release or a newbie that’s finally catching onto the trend, the game has its own “best practices” that will always help you more than any offer of a “cheat” or “hack.” If you want to be at your best when playing Clash of Clans in 2016, follow the above tips through all of your gameplay; consistency is key, after all!