So you've reached TH8? What do you do now?
Unquestionably the biggest changes in townhall upgrades come between Town Hall 7 and Town Hall 8. This is because you are going into a whole new world essentially. The players get stronger and you are only able to farm so far down in trophies. This handy guide will teach you what to upgrade first and what to do while you are waiting.
Assuming that you have already maxed everything at TH7 before upgrading to TH8 the upgrade priorities at TH8 are as follows:
What to do first :
Go to the shop
a) Buy defenses
When you reach TH8, you should have all your storages full . Here is a list of the new things you unlock. Buy these right away...
(1) Wizard Tower
(2) Archer Tower
(3) Air Defense
(4) Tesla
(5) Walls
You want to get all of these defenses built and to a reasonable level before you begin to work on maxing your existing defenses, in the words of another forum user, "Any level defense is better than no defense".
The other things you unlock will not enhance your base too much, except the dark elixir drill, which should be prioritized above the other non-defensive upgrades.
When you reach TH8, you should have all your storages full . Here is a list of the new things you unlock. Buy these right away...
(1) Wizard Tower
(2) Archer Tower
(3) Air Defense
(4) Tesla
(5) Walls
You want to get all of these defenses built and to a reasonable level before you begin to work on maxing your existing defenses, in the words of another forum user, "Any level defense is better than no defense".
The other things you unlock will not enhance your base too much, except the dark elixir drill, which should be prioritized above the other non-defensive upgrades.
b) Upgrade
The amount of new buildings you can get will vary depending on how many builders you have for your village . Always try to keep one builder open so that you may build and upgrade your 50 new walls to a healthy level and actually use them to re-design your base. Walls can be upgraded at any time with an available builder and no wait time. They are good to just put that extra gold into while you are waiting for time-consuming upgrades. Also strong Walls are a huge deterrent for attackers.
1.LABORATORY - The laboratory should be your first upgrade. This is because it gives you the capability to make your army stronger with extremely powerful lvl 5 troops. Level 5 troops will help you to raid and gain resources for those expensive upgrades you so badly need. It will also help you to win attacks and gain trophies. Troop upgrades are your best advantage at TH8.
The amount of new buildings you can get will vary depending on how many builders you have for your village . Always try to keep one builder open so that you may build and upgrade your 50 new walls to a healthy level and actually use them to re-design your base. Walls can be upgraded at any time with an available builder and no wait time. They are good to just put that extra gold into while you are waiting for time-consuming upgrades. Also strong Walls are a huge deterrent for attackers.
1.LABORATORY - The laboratory should be your first upgrade. This is because it gives you the capability to make your army stronger with extremely powerful lvl 5 troops. Level 5 troops will help you to raid and gain resources for those expensive upgrades you so badly need. It will also help you to win attacks and gain trophies. Troop upgrades are your best advantage at TH8.
Which Troops to upgrade first:
One of the most common questions when people get to TH8 is what troop they should upgrade first. This may depend on what you use most often however the first troops I would reccommend for everyone is the archer. This is because they are extremely versatile, the most cost-efficient troop and are a great troop to donate to your clan mates. Here is a general list of troops to upgrade according to priority:
(1) Archers
(2) Giants
(3) Goblins
(4) Barbarians
(5) Wallbreakers
(6) Wizards
(7) Balloons (can always be swapped with the wizards depending which you use more)
One of the most common questions when people get to TH8 is what troop they should upgrade first. This may depend on what you use most often however the first troops I would reccommend for everyone is the archer. This is because they are extremely versatile, the most cost-efficient troop and are a great troop to donate to your clan mates. Here is a general list of troops to upgrade according to priority:
(1) Archers
(2) Giants
(3) Goblins
(4) Barbarians
(5) Wallbreakers
(6) Wizards
(7) Balloons (can always be swapped with the wizards depending which you use more)
2. SPELLS in the SPELL FACTORY - The maximum level the Spell factory can be upgraded to at TH7 is level 3 and it won't be available for another upgrade till TH9. Your Spell factory should therefore already be a level 3 at TH7 before moving up to TH8. If it isn't upgraded then you need to do so now. Spells can help take out Air Defenses (if using mass air), Mortars (if using mostly Archers, or always dreaded Clan Castle reinforcements. You get 3 Spells with a level 3 Spell factory. Prioritize upgrading your lightning and heal spells first as they are the most commonly used and are the least expensive to upgrade.
3. BARRACKS - Not hugely important except that with all level 7 or 8 Barracks you can fill the queue for the maxed Army Camps (excluding level 8 camps) very quickly. Also allows you to recruit new troops and muster a stronger army.
3. BARRACKS - Not hugely important except that with all level 7 or 8 Barracks you can fill the queue for the maxed Army Camps (excluding level 8 camps) very quickly. Also allows you to recruit new troops and muster a stronger army.
Maxing Out: What defenses to upgrade and when
When you have all your new defenses at a reasonable level, it is time to move on to the more fun part of TH8, maxing out your defenses.
1. SPLASH DAMAGE!!!! - The first thing to max out is your splash damage, the most important defensive buildings available at TH8. When Mortars reach level 6 they deal a huge amount of damage and will one shot level 5 Archers and below. Level 6 Wizard Towers can take out large hordes of Goblins quickly when they are targeting Walls so they become essential in protecting resources.
2. SINGLE TARGET - After your splash damage your single target defenses are next. Of archer towers and cannons, I would recommend you upgrade your cannons first because they are cheaper and take less time. They can also pick up a little slack that comes without an Archer Tower. Upgrade your Archer Towers next since they can target both ground and air troops and make a difference against Dragons and Balloons especially when the attacker takes out your Air Defense. Archer Towers are actually more important than Cannons and I only place them second on your priority list because they are much more expensive, for example level 10 Cannons are 1.6 million gold but level 10 Archer Towers are 2.5 million gold.
3. AIR DEFENSE - Having strong Air Defenses becomes essential at higher levels of the game. Eventually you will begin to see mass Dragon and Balloonion attacks. With strong Air Defenses those attacks can be averted. Although I reccomend you upgrade your Archer Towers first then Air Defense, you may switch it around and upgrade your Air Defense first if your AD is weak and you have all your archers at lvl 8 already. The wildcard is your Hidden Teslas, they can be upgraded in the background while you do your splash damages, before your Cannons and Archers or after the Air Defense, it all depends on how important Teslas are to you.
4. CLAN CASTLE - Upgrading your CC will enable you to keep more troops and increase the holding capacity of war loot bonus. ALWAYS keep you CC as centralized as possible as it keeps your base well covered.
5. WALLS - Hey, walls are important. You need walls to house all your defenses and storages and defend you under attack. An effective base design is a valuable defense. I only listed this last because walls can be upgraded at any time with an available builder. They are great to just put that extra gold into during those long waiting times between upgrades and are a huge deterrent for attackers. At TH8 they need to be upgraded to at least level 7 (dark purple) or 8 maxed. Because of the extreme jump in costs at each new level walls are usually last on many player's list and can be a pretty boring task.
When you have all your new defenses at a reasonable level, it is time to move on to the more fun part of TH8, maxing out your defenses.
1. SPLASH DAMAGE!!!! - The first thing to max out is your splash damage, the most important defensive buildings available at TH8. When Mortars reach level 6 they deal a huge amount of damage and will one shot level 5 Archers and below. Level 6 Wizard Towers can take out large hordes of Goblins quickly when they are targeting Walls so they become essential in protecting resources.
2. SINGLE TARGET - After your splash damage your single target defenses are next. Of archer towers and cannons, I would recommend you upgrade your cannons first because they are cheaper and take less time. They can also pick up a little slack that comes without an Archer Tower. Upgrade your Archer Towers next since they can target both ground and air troops and make a difference against Dragons and Balloons especially when the attacker takes out your Air Defense. Archer Towers are actually more important than Cannons and I only place them second on your priority list because they are much more expensive, for example level 10 Cannons are 1.6 million gold but level 10 Archer Towers are 2.5 million gold.
3. AIR DEFENSE - Having strong Air Defenses becomes essential at higher levels of the game. Eventually you will begin to see mass Dragon and Balloonion attacks. With strong Air Defenses those attacks can be averted. Although I reccomend you upgrade your Archer Towers first then Air Defense, you may switch it around and upgrade your Air Defense first if your AD is weak and you have all your archers at lvl 8 already. The wildcard is your Hidden Teslas, they can be upgraded in the background while you do your splash damages, before your Cannons and Archers or after the Air Defense, it all depends on how important Teslas are to you.
4. CLAN CASTLE - Upgrading your CC will enable you to keep more troops and increase the holding capacity of war loot bonus. ALWAYS keep you CC as centralized as possible as it keeps your base well covered.
5. WALLS - Hey, walls are important. You need walls to house all your defenses and storages and defend you under attack. An effective base design is a valuable defense. I only listed this last because walls can be upgraded at any time with an available builder. They are great to just put that extra gold into during those long waiting times between upgrades and are a huge deterrent for attackers. At TH8 they need to be upgraded to at least level 7 (dark purple) or 8 maxed. Because of the extreme jump in costs at each new level walls are usually last on many player's list and can be a pretty boring task.
6. HEROES
Maxing your barbarian king isn't something that will come back to haunt you if you do not do it. Do it if you have a surplus of dark elixir or if you really are interested in "Super Heroes" and want yours progressed for attacks or being on the defensive.
Maxing your barbarian king isn't something that will come back to haunt you if you do not do it. Do it if you have a surplus of dark elixir or if you really are interested in "Super Heroes" and want yours progressed for attacks or being on the defensive.
Farming: Where to farm and find good resources
From my experiences in TH8, the best places to farm are 1300-1450, 1600+ for dark elixir and sub200/sub50 for the hardcore farmer. I find that anything below 1300 for farming is small raids on lower lvl TH6s and TH7s, I would not reccommend it, but if you are a TH8 farmer having luck down there, keep doing what you're doing! 1600+ is where most people have luck finding their dark elixir raids and you can pull in quite a bit of dark elixir in a day from raiding above 1600+, this place is called 'dark elixir heaven' for a reason. As for the sub200/sub50 ranges, everything that is mentioned about these ranges is in fact true. You can grind roughly 1 million per hour using nothing but goblins, it's amazing! But in order for this to work, unlike the other farming ranges, you have to be on for long periods of time to make it worthwhile, I would say about 2 hours minimum at a time, because once you get offline you will be welcomed back with 100s of trophies and will have to undergo the process of cup-dropping once again.
So depending on how often you are online or what range best suits your game style, pick your poision!
From my experiences in TH8, the best places to farm are 1300-1450, 1600+ for dark elixir and sub200/sub50 for the hardcore farmer. I find that anything below 1300 for farming is small raids on lower lvl TH6s and TH7s, I would not reccommend it, but if you are a TH8 farmer having luck down there, keep doing what you're doing! 1600+ is where most people have luck finding their dark elixir raids and you can pull in quite a bit of dark elixir in a day from raiding above 1600+, this place is called 'dark elixir heaven' for a reason. As for the sub200/sub50 ranges, everything that is mentioned about these ranges is in fact true. You can grind roughly 1 million per hour using nothing but goblins, it's amazing! But in order for this to work, unlike the other farming ranges, you have to be on for long periods of time to make it worthwhile, I would say about 2 hours minimum at a time, because once you get offline you will be welcomed back with 100s of trophies and will have to undergo the process of cup-dropping once again.
So depending on how often you are online or what range best suits your game style, pick your poision!
Don't Rush
Don't become impatient or rush through TH8, although it can be boring at times, you are only each town hall once, you cannot go back. This could be your last chance to effectively farm at sub 200 and definitely your last chance to pick on those TH7s, because of the TH9 loot penatly. Trust me, taking your time and maxing your base will be the best thing you've ever done. And don't be intimidated by the jump to TH8, there is plenty of good loot and you will barely notice the raiding difference once you find your comfort range for farming.
Don't become impatient or rush through TH8, although it can be boring at times, you are only each town hall once, you cannot go back. This could be your last chance to effectively farm at sub 200 and definitely your last chance to pick on those TH7s, because of the TH9 loot penatly. Trust me, taking your time and maxing your base will be the best thing you've ever done. And don't be intimidated by the jump to TH8, there is plenty of good loot and you will barely notice the raiding difference once you find your comfort range for farming.