TH11 Upgrade Priority 2026: What to Upgrade First

That order puts offense first, because offense decides how fast you farm everything else.

The rest of this guide explains each step, what it costs, and where the free crafted defense fits in. All numbers are as of October 2026.

I pulled the Town Hall table from the community wiki and compared the Town Hall 10 and 11 rows. Here's everything that changes:

You also get one more Cannon, Archer Tower, Wizard Tower and X-Bow.

That's a long list. The trick is knowing which items change your attacks and which only change your defense log.

The lab is your slowest queue, and nothing else can speed it up for free.

Laboratory level 9 opens the research levels for this Town Hall. Until it's built, your troops stay at Town Hall 10 strength no matter what else you upgrade.

Start it the day you arrive. Then never let it sit idle.

Research the troops and spells you really attack with. Your main war army comes first. Spells you rarely bring can wait.

If you have the Lab Assistant from the Helper Hut, keep him working too.

An idle lab day is a day you never get back.

This is the upgrade that defines Town Hall 11.

The wiki lists Hero Hall level 5 at 4,500,000 with a build time of 4 days and 12 hours. It unlocks the Grand Warden, your fourth hero.

Why so early? Hero levels are the longest grind in the game. Every day the Warden doesn't exist is a day he isn't leveling.

The Warden also changes how your army survives. His equipment protects and boosts the troops around him, so a weak army gets more out of him than any single defense would give you.

There's a second reason. From Town Hall 8 up, the Hero Hall must be at its max level before you can upgrade the Town Hall. You'll need level 5 eventually, so build it now.

These two are the biggest jumps in attack power.

Spell Factory level 6 unlocks the Invisibility Spell. The wiki lists it at 3,500,000 Elixir and 5 days. Invisibility hides your troops from defenses for a short time, which is how a hero gets past an Inferno Tower alive. Our Invisibility Spell guide covers the placements.

Barracks level 13 unlocks the Electro Dragon, at 6,000,000 Elixir and 5 days. Its attack chains from one building to the next, so it clears tight base cores fast.

Pick the one that matches your army first. If you already attack with dragons, Barracks 13 comes first. If you run a ground army with hero dives, take the Spell Factory first.

Army Camp level 9 is a quiet win. Every camp you upgrade adds space to every attack you make afterwards.

That compounds. A defense helps when you're attacked. A camp helps in every battle.

The Blacksmith goes to level 4 at Town Hall 11. The wiki lists it at 3,000,000 and 3 days, and it unlocks the Rage Gem.

The Rage Gem is Grand Warden equipment, so it only matters once he exists. That's why the Blacksmith sits after the Hero Hall.

Once the Warden is up, the Grand Warden equipment guide shows which pieces to level first. Ore is scarce at this level, so spend it on equipment you'll really use.

The Eagle Artillery is the headline defense of Town Hall 11.

It covers almost the whole base. It also stays quiet at the start of a battle and only wakes up once the attacker has deployed a set amount of troops.

That delay makes it a nasty surprise for big pushes. It's also why attackers plan their whole army around it.

You get it up to level 2 at this Town Hall. Build it, upgrade it, and place it deep in your base, where it's hard to reach early.

If you only rush one defense at Town Hall 11, rush this one. Most other defenses here are level bumps on buildings you already own.

Yes. It's free.

I checked Supercell's July 31 post. It says this season's crafted defenses are available starting from Town Hall 11, to celebrate the Clashiversary. You choose between the Cake-A-Pult, the Hero Hunter and the Hot Candle.

The Crafting Station arrives already at level 3, and the crafted defense keeps defending while a module upgrades.

The catch is time. Crafted defenses are seasonal, and they're replaced when a crafting phase ends.

So switch it on and take the free level. Then think hard before spending builder time past that. Our Town Hall 11 crafted defense breakdown goes through the module costs.

After the Eagle Artillery, upgrade defenses by how much damage they do.

Inferno Towers go up to level 5 here. X-Bows go to level 5, and you get a fourth one. Those two cover the most ground with the most damage.

Then the splash and air defenses. Wizard Towers reach level 10, Bomb Towers level 6, and Air Defenses level 9.

Cannons and Archer Towers last. Both reach level 15, but they're single target and you have many of them, so each upgrade moves your defense less.

Place every new building the day you arrive. A new Cannon at level 1 still shoots. An empty plot does nothing.

Use spare builders on cheap upgrades so no builder sits idle.

Traps are cheap and quick, so they fit in any gap.

The Tornado Trap is new at Town Hall 11, with up to 2 levels. It pulls troops toward its center and holds them in place for a few seconds.

That's useful against air armies, which tend to bunch up as they fly.

The other traps get one more level each. Bombs go to 8, Spring Traps to 6, Air Bombs and Giant Bombs to 5.

Do traps when a builder frees up and nothing big is ready. Don't plan your whole week around them.

One rule worth keeping. Rearm traps after every defense, or they'll do nothing next time.

You get 25 more wall pieces, for 300 in total, and walls can now reach level 12.

Walls are where spare gold and elixir go. Once your builders are all busy, dump extra loot into walls before it hits the storage cap.

Wall Rings help most here. They upgrade a piece without using a builder, so save them for wall levels you can't afford otherwise.

Don't let walls block anything above. A wall upgrade never makes up for a missing Warden or an idle lab.

If you want a layout that makes the most of the new pieces, the base library has current Town Hall 11 layouts with copy links.

Dark Barracks level 8 unlocks the Ice Golem. The wiki lists it at 7,000,000 and 6 days.

The Ice Golem tanks for your army, then freezes nearby defenses and troops when it dies.

But it's a support troop. Few Town Hall 11 armies are built around it.

So leave the Dark Barracks until your main army's buildings are done. Build it sooner only if your favorite army really needs Ice Golems.

The same logic works for every troop building. Upgrade it when it unlocks a troop you'll use, never just because the level is there.

Not until your heroes and your main army sit close to Town Hall 11's caps.

Remember the hard rule. The Hero Hall must be at level 5 before you can upgrade the Town Hall. Every building must be placed too.

The soft rule matters more. Heroes arrive at Town Hall 12 at the level they left with. Every missing level becomes a bigger gap against stronger bases.

Defenses can lag a little. Offense shouldn't.

When you're ready, our TH12 upgrade priority guide carries the same order up one level.