The Hidden Tesla tower is the only tower that functions like a trap in Clash of Clans. It occupies just 2×2 tiles and remains hidden until enemies get within 6 tiles of the tower. Despite functioning like a trap, the Hidden Tesla has a health pool like a normal tower and counts as a building for purposes of unlocking the stars resulting from 50% and 100% of a base being destroyed.

Hidden Tesla Basic Stats, Upgrades, and Number Available by Town Hall Level

Damage Type: Single Target
Attack Speed: 1 attack per .6 seconds
Range: 7 Yards
Targets: Ground and Air
Building Size: 2 units by 2 units
Preferred Target: P.E.K.K.A (2x damage)

The Hidden Tesla is the only tower in-game which has a preferred target: the P.E.K.K.A. Hidden Tesla towers not only deal double damage to the P.E.K.K.A, but they will also specifically target the P.E.K.K.A over other targets if a P.E.K.K.A is in range.

Hidden Tesla Strategy

The Hidden Tesla is the only tower in the game that you get to hide. There are many ways to deploy this tower, as its small size allows it to be placed in tighter places than the average tower. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Hidden Tesla’s primary strengths are its fast attack speed, its high DPS, its ability to be hidden, and the double-damage this tower deals against the P.E.K.K.A.

The Hidden Tesla’s fast attack speed makes it very effective against light units. Since an appropriately-leveled Hidden Tesla will 1-shot an Archer, it is very effective at destroying Archers given that the tower gets to attack once every .6 seconds. While many other towers will also 1-shot an Archer, none will do so as readily as the Hidden Tesla given the Tesla’s fast attack speed.

The High DPS of the Hidden Tesla (the highest in the game outside of a single-target Inferno Tower) makes it very strong against high-health targets. This is especially the case with enemy P.E.K.K.As, given that the P.E.K.K.A is preferentially targeted by the Hidden Tesla and takes double damage from this tower.

The tower’s ability to be hidden can also be leveraged to the player’s advantage. Note that the tower triggers at a range of 6 tiles, but has a range of 7 tiles. This means that an enemy unit needs to get within 6 tiles of the Hidden Tesla for it to pop, but once the tower pops, it can then hit enemy units from up to 7 tiles away. Hidden Teslas automatically pop when an opponent clears 51% of a base.

All around, the Hidden Tesla is a fairly strong tower and does not have any one particular weakness. It has fairly low HP, and as a result like any single-target tower can get overwhelmed by a large number of enemy units, or by a single very high HP unit (such as a Dragon).

Hidden Tesla Placement

There are many ways to place the Hidden Tesla tower, and there is no right or wrong answer to their placement. Hidden Teslas can often use surprise to their advantage by forcing units that target defenses (like Giants) to go into a funnel where it appears that these units otherwise would not enter (as in there is no other defensive structures located in that funnel).

Lower level players (TH7-early TH9) tend to place their Hidden Teslas on the perimeter of the base. They are less likely to run into high-health units like P.E.K.K.As and high-level heroes coring into the center of their base. Instead, Hidden Teslas on the perimeter are great for picking off Wall Breakers and Archers that players often use to attack the perimeter of the base.

High level players using trophy layouts often place their Hidden Teslas in the center of their base around their Town Hall. Hidden Teslas are strong towers and take up little space, so it is easier to squeeze them in the center of the base than it is to include larger towers here. Hidden Teslas compliment Inferno Towers very well, which are also commonly located centrally in a high-level base.

Hidden Tesla Upgrade Priority

Upgrading the Hidden Tesla should be a very low priority. The reason for this is that Hidden Teslas take a very, very long time to upgrade compared to other towers. They are also not such an essential tower (like the Air Defense or Mortar) where your base will suffer if you upgrade multiple Hidden Teslas at the same time. You can easily have all 4 Hidden Teslas being upgraded simultaneously and still mount an effective defense against enemy attacks.

The Wizard Tower has moderate health and damage and a very short range, but makes up for it with its fast attack speed and ability to deal area of effect damage. Its low single-target damage makes it ineffective against high-health targets like Giants or Dragons, but its area of effect damage-dealing makes it effective against any unit that clumps up – Barbarians, Archers, Wizards, Balloons, Minions and Goblins among others.

Wizard Tower Basic Stats, Upgrades, and Number Available by Town Hall Level

Damage Type: Area of Effect
Attack Speed: 1 attack per 1.3 seconds
Range: 7 Yards
Targets: Ground and Air
Building Size: 3 units by 3 units

The Wizard Tower is the only splash damage tower with an instant projectile attack that is able to hit an unlimited number of targets. This makes the Wizard Tower particularly useful in protecting storage buildings from Goblins. Goblins can outrun traps and Mortar shots, but cannot escape the Wizard Tower.

Wizard Tower Strategy

The Wizard Tower is one of your best Towers in Clash of Clans. As a high-value tower, some care should be taken in order to shield it from enemy attacks.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Wizard Tower excels at protecting storage units from hordes of Barbarians, Archers, or Goblins that may be deployed in an attempt to rush down a valuable storage building (particularly the Dark Elixir Storage). Its primary strength is taking down these clumps of light units. As the Wizard Tower can hit air units, it also excels at taking down swarms of Minions and Balloons. Consider placing an Air Bomb next to the Wizard Tower in order to enhance this effect and prevent enemy’s from spreading out troops to take down the Wizard Tower with a spread-out air attack.

The Wizard tower starts off as a fairly weak structure in terms of the amount of damage it deals, but its strength increases significantly at Town Hall 8 and above. When the Wizard Tower hits level 6, it starts 1-shotting most Archers and 2-shotting Barbarians. Before this time period, a Wizard Tower can be taken out by spread out Archers or Archers behind Barbarian tanks. After this level, the Wizard Tower is very strong against both units.

The biggest weakness of the Wizard Tower is any high health unit, particularly when that unit is support by Healing spells or a Healer. Keep your Wizard Tower within range of an Air Defense tower in order to minimize the impact of the Healer’s healing ability. The Wizard Tower can actually deal significant damage to higher health units like the Giant if many of these high-health units are clumped up, but this damage is erased by healing. Air Defense will keep Healers from erasing all of your Wizard Tower’s damage.

Wizard Tower Placement

Wizard Towers should be placed towards the center of the base, preferably in range of one or two storage structures. Keep at least one within range of my Dark Elixir Storage, as this will protect the storage from Goblins and Barbarians. Some players create a “kill zone” by placing two Wizard Towers within range of the Dark Elixir Storage. This ensures that the combined attacks of the two Wizard Towers kill any Goblins in one hit, preventing the Goblins from tanking the Wizard Tower’s attacks with a Healing Spell.

At the same time, keeping Wizard Towers too close to one another leaves the player vulnerable to Balloon and Minion-based air attacks. If a player can drop a healing spell and encompass two Wizard Towers, Balloons can make short work of the Wizard Towers and come out with full health. To prevent this from happening, make sure your Wizard Towers are centralized and near a storage structure, but not too close to one another.

Wizard Tower Upgrade Priority

Upgrading the Wizard Tower should be in the middle of your upgrade order. Upgrading the Wizard Tower should come after the Air Defense and Mortar, but is a higher priority than a Cannon or Archer Tower. The only thing that might slow down your upgrade order is the high cost of upgrading the Wizard Tower – the level 6 and 7 upgrades are particularly expensive compared to the cost of upgrading other towers in this level range.

The Air Defense tower is the only tower in Clash of Clans that exclusively targets air units. Despite its inability to hit ground units, the Air Defense tower is one of the most important defensive structures in Clash of Clans. It has by far the highest damage per second of any tower (aside from a charged up Inferno Tower) and a very long range. The Air Defense is essential for protecting the player against high threat, high health air units like the Dragon and Healer.

Air Defense Basic Stats, Upgrades, and Number Available by Town Hall Level

Damage Type: Single Target
Attack Speed: 1 attack per 1 second
Range: 10 Tiles
Targets: Air
Building Size: 3 units by 3 units

Number of Air Defense Towers By Town Hall Level

Town Hall Level	4	7	8	9
Number of Air Defense Towers	1	2	3	4

The Air Defense is the only low-level tower in Clash of Clans that deals significant damage even from level 1. While this damage goes up significantly from upgrades, even a level 1 Air Defense tower is capable of dealing big damage.

Air Defense Tower Strategy

 

Placement of the Air Defense tower is essential to good defense in Clash of Clans. If Air Defense towers are placed carelessly, they can be easily picked off, leaving the base vulnerable to a number of attacks. The Air Defense tower is particularly important in protecting the defending base against Healers and Dragons; without Air Defense towers, the player has no way to stop either of these units.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The only weakness of the Air Defense tower is that it cannot attack ground units. Spread out Air Defense towers and keep them a bit deeper in the base in order to protect against attempts to snipe out Air Defense towers.

Sometimes players using air-based armies try to take advantage of the Air Defense tower by using Dragons or Minions. A few Dragons are sometimes used in an attempt to “tank” the damage dealt by the Air Defense tower while the player attacks with Balloons or a ground-army supported by Healers. Keeping the Air Defense tower fully upgraded will prevent Dragons from tanking damage for very long.

Minions are sometimes used to target Air Defense towers because Air Defense towers can only hit one target at a time. A swarm of Minions can easily overpower an Air Defense tower. An Air Defense Tower can be protected from Minion swarms by keeping the Air Defense towards the center of the base, keeping it within range of an Archer Tower, or by placing a Air Bomb or Wizard Tower near the Air Defense.

Air Defense Tower Placement

Air Defense towers should be placed towards the center of the base. Air Defense towers should never be in a position where they can be easily sniped by enemy units (i.e. on the perimeter of the base). From Town Hall levels 4 to 6, players only have 1 Air Defense, so it needs to be protected as a priority. The Air Defense should be placed directly in the center of the base at Town Hall 5 and 6 (getting attacked by air units at Town Hall 4 is rare) as it is the only structure players have that can stop the Healer.

At Town Hall 8 and above, it is ideal to place the towers in a triangle or square-shaped pattern so that there are many high health targets between the towers (resource storage buildings, Town Hall, the Clan Castle, etc). This makes it very difficult for a mass Dragon army to attack the player, as Dragons will get hung up for some time attacking the high health structures. It also ensures that 1-2 Rage Spells will not allow Dragons to quickly power through all Air Defense structures.

Never place Air Defense towers directly next to one another as this leaves the towers vulnerable to Lightning Spells. It normally takes 3 Lightning Spells to destroy an Air Defense tower (meaning a player can only destroy one Air Defense tower through spells per battle). However, if Air Defense towers are adjacent to one another, four Lightning Spells will destroy both towers, leaving the player very vulnerable to Dragons or Healers.

Air Defense Upgrade Priority

Upgrading the Air Defense should be seen as a top priority amongst defensive towers. The reason for upgrading the Air Defense early is due to its long training time and the fact that players should only upgrade a single Air Defense at once. Upgrading more than one Air Defense at a time leaves the player extremely vulnerable to both Dragons and Healers. Upgrading Air Defense structures one at a time takes a long period of time, so it is best to start upgrading the Air Defense early.

The Mortar is the first tower players get access to in Clash of Clans that can deal splash damage. Effectively taking advantage of the Mortar’s ability to hit multiple units at once is essential for defending a base against the increasing number of enemy units present with each Town Hall upgrade.

As the Mortar Tower has a minimum range and low overall DPS, care must be taken when using this structure in order to protect it while maximizing its effectiveness.

Mortar Basic Stats, Upgrades, and Number Available by Town Hall Level

Damage Type: Splash (1.5 yards)
Attack Speed: 1 attack per 5 seconds
Range: 11 yards (4 yard minimum)
Targets: Ground
Building Size: 3 units by 3 units

Number of Mortars By Town Hall Level

Town Hall Level	3	6	7
Number of Mortars	1	2	3

Despite the low DPS dealt by the Mortar, the Mortar tower will typically deal more damage than any other tower type throughout a raid (aside from perhaps the Inferno Tower). The large amount of splash damage dealt by the Mortar means that a single Mortar shot will often hit 10+ units with each shot. Players do not get access to many Mortars, unlocking three at Town Hall 7 and not unlocking any additional Mortars from that point onward.

Mortar Tower Strategy

Using Mortars effectively requires more strategy and thought in regards to building placement. Below, we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Mortar and how to best counter them.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Mortar has a number of weaknesses. Firstly and most obviously, the Mortar cannot hit air units, and as a result it is weak against enemy air units. Secondly, the Mortar’s low damage per second means that high health units supported by a Healer will be able to easily heal any damage dealt by the Mortar. The solution to both of these problem is to keep an Air Defense relatively close to each Mortar. The Air Defense will take out both aggressive air units as well as Healers.

Mortars also have a minimum range – they cannot hit any units that are 3 yards away or closer. This means that melee units like Giants and Barbarians cannot be hit by the Mortar when the aforementioned melee units get within range of the Mortar. The Mortar also cannot hit melee units that are attacking a wall directly next to a Mortar. Placing the Mortar deeper into the base helps protect it from attacks.

Mortars also are relatively weak against the Lightning Spell. The low health of the Mortar means that just two LIghtning Spells will take out a Mortar.

Mortar Tower Placement

Good placement of the Mortar is essential to using it effectively. Since the Mortar has a minimum range, it never belongs on the perimeter of the base. It should always be towards the center of the base, so that it is difficult for units to get within its minimum range. Mortars should be spread out a bit, but still relatively close. It is helpful if all Mortars are within range of other higher value buildings or units (Dark Elixir storage, Air Defense towers, other Mortars), as this allows the Mortars to protect one another.

Mortars cannot be placed directly next to one another. While the idea of doubling the Mortar’s potency is appealing, the fact is just two Lightning spells will take out a Mortar. If you place Mortars next to one another, both can be taken out by the same set of Lightning Spells. Mortars should be separated by a wall when possible, as this prevents Mortars from being taken out too easily. Some good base layouts use Mortars within the same cell in a base, but at most two of three Mortars should occupy the same cell.

Mortar Upgrade Priority

Upgrading your Mortar towers should be considered among the highest priority for upgrades in Clash of Clans (after the Laboratory of course). Upgrading Mortars is essential to keeping them effective, as a fully upgraded Mortar will typically 1-shot comparable-level Archers. If a Mortar cannot 1-shot enemy Archers, its effectiveness is significantly reduced. A level 6 Mortar can one-shot any level of enemy Archer, so be sure to take all Mortars up to this level as a top priority.