COC Upgrade Priority for TH16 — What to Max First

So you finally pushed your Town Hall to 16. Nice. Now comes the part that trips up almost every player — figuring out what to actually upgrade first.

I made this mistake when I rushed to TH16. Dropped all my builders on defenses because I figured I needed to 'catch up' on my base strength. Three weeks later, my heroes were still at TH15 max levels and I was getting destroyed in war because I couldn't effectively attack, let alone defend. Wrong call.

Here's the truth about TH16: your offensive capability matters more than your defensive strength, at least in the first few months. You need to be able to attack well in war and get loot from Legends or farming to fund the rest of your upgrades. If your heroes are weak, your attack fails. If your attack fails, you don't get loot. If you don't get loot, your base never gets upgraded. It's a cycle.

This guide breaks down the actual optimal upgrade order for TH16 in 2026, accounting for the hero equipment ore system, the new buildings introduced at TH16, and what the competitive meta demands right now.

Every experienced player will tell you this and they're right: heroes first. At TH16, you unlock the Barbarian King, Archer Queen, Grand Warden, Royal Champion, and Minion Prince all getting their TH16 levels. The Barbarian King goes up to Level 100. The Archer Queen hits Level 100. These aren't just big numbers — the stat jumps at those breakpoints are significant.

But here's the thing a lot of players miss: all four heroes going down at once is brutal. You become completely unable to war and farming with no heroes is painful. The smart approach is to stagger your hero upgrades. Start with whoever is furthest from their next 5-level milestone (heroes get significant ability upgrades at Levels 25, 50, 75, 100). If your Queen is at Level 93 and your King is at Level 87, start the Queen — get her to 95 first, then King to 90.

In 2026, the Archer Queen and Grand Warden are still the two most impactful heroes for attack. Warden's ability can literally save or ruin an attack based on timing. Keep these two being upgraded aggressively while alternating your other heroes.

Minion Prince is newer and many players undervalue him. Don't. His ability at higher levels is legitimately powerful for certain attack strategies, and he's a hero, meaning his levels contribute to your Clan Games hero level restrictions too.

For war, I always make sure at least two heroes are up (not upgrading) before hitting the 'ready' button. The best TH16 attack strategy guide goes deeper on which heroes you need for specific attack strategies — worth reading while your heroes are cooking.

Hero equipment is the second biggest priority at TH16, and a lot of players sleep on this because it's a separate resource system. You need Shiny Ore, Glowy Ore, and Starry Ore to upgrade equipment, and grinding for these can feel slow.

But here's the math: maxing out a single piece of equipment can effectively add the equivalent of 10+ hero levels worth of stats to an attack. The Fireball (Barbarian King equipment), the Giant Gauntlet, and the Frozen Arrow for the Queen are tier-S equipment that, when leveled, fundamentally change how your heroes perform.

For TH16, prioritize upgrading equipment in this order: Fireball to Level 18+, Frozen Arrow to Level 15+, Rage Vial or Giant Gauntlet depending on if you run hybrid ground attacks, then Warden equipment based on your preferred attack style.

The hero equipment tier list breaks this down in detail with exact upgrade cost comparisons. Read it. Knowing which equipment to sink your ore into will save you weeks of grinding on the wrong pieces.

For acquiring ore: do every single event quest, complete Clan Games fully, and buy the Ore Pass if you're investing in the game seriously. The Gold Pass also provides a small ore boost. Don't spend Starry Ore (the rarest) on anything below Epic rarity equipment — save it for items that actually move the needle.

Farm ore actively by doing Multiplayer battles and Raid Weekend (Clan Capital). These are the two best passive ore sources and most players don't max their Raid Weekend attacks consistently. That's leaving ore on the table every single week.

Once your heroes are in a stable rotation and you've got your core equipment upgrading, it's time to look at defenses. And at TH16, not all defenses are equal.

The Multi-Gear Tower (MGT) is the signature TH16 defense and it deserves your first builder slot when you're not upgrading a hero. The MGT switches between ground and air modes automatically, making it incredibly versatile. At higher levels, it shreds both air armies and ground compositions. It's genuinely the best new defensive building introduced at TH16 and leaving it at Level 1 while you upgrade your 20th Cannon is backwards logic.

Second priority is the Monolith. If you came from TH15 you already know how dangerous a well-placed, high-level Monolith is. At TH16 you get an additional level cap, so push it. The Monolith's area damage with the health-based secondary damage makes it particularly lethal against armies that have taken chip damage throughout the attack — which is exactly when you need it most.

After MGT and Monolith, focus on Scattershots, then Inferno Towers, then Eagle Artillery. Eagle Artillery might surprise you at #5 but hear me out: your Eagle Artillery from TH15 is already at a decent level, and the TH16 upgrade is meaningful but not as dramatic as some other buildings. Scattershots at higher levels are incredibly strong against the Root Rider meta and are worth prioritizing.

I'd skip upgrading Cannons and Archer Towers aggressively in the early TH16 phase. They matter eventually, but a single maxed Scattershot contributes more to your war defense than five maxed Cannons.

For base layout while you're still upgrading, CocBaseDrop has tested TH16 war layouts that account for partially upgraded defenses — they're designed so your strongest buildings are in protected positions.

I made the mistake of rushing my lab at TH15 and paid for it in CWL for months. Don't repeat that. Your heroes and key defenses should always come first because they directly impact your war weight and attack power. I've seen so many TH16 players with maxed troops but level 85 heroes getting destroyed in legends because their heroes can't carry the attacks they're trying to run.

Your Laboratory is one builder that too many players leave idle. Wrong move. Lab research at TH16 takes weeks per troop, so starting early compounds heavily over time.

At TH16, the meta troops you need upgraded ASAP are: Root Riders, Super Miners (via Miners), Electro Titans, and Goblins (for farming). Root Riders hit their TH16 research cap and become significantly stronger — this is the ground attack backbone right now, as you can see in the TH16 attack strategy guide.

After those four, prioritize Yeti (still solid for tanking), Super Dragon (air meta), and Minions. Minion Prince synergy with Minion troops is real and if you're running Minion spam attacks, having maxed Minions matters.

For spells: Overgrowth Spell and Fireball are TH16 exclusive upgrades. Get these done early. The Overgrowth Spell is genuinely busted for Root Rider attacks — it stops defenses from targeting your troops for several seconds, which when combined with a Warden ability creates an almost unkillable window.

Don't neglect Siege Machines. The Root Rider Siege Barracks and Flame Flinger both get TH16 levels and they contribute more to attack success than players realize. Treat Siege Machine research like hero equipment — it stacks.

Walls. Every player's least favorite subject.

At TH16 you unlock Level 17 walls (the black obsidian tier). They look incredible and the HP jump from Level 16 is significant. But — and this is a big but — you have hundreds of wall segments to upgrade, and each one costs Gold or Dark Elixir.

Here's my actual wall strategy at TH16: use any excess builders (when all other upgrades are queued) and pour overflow loot into walls. Never specifically farm for walls. Never put a main builder on walls when there's a meaningful defense or troop to upgrade.

If you do this consistently — walls as the 'last resort' for surplus resources — you'll find that over six months most of your walls get done naturally. Trying to 'grind walls' specifically is demoralizing and wastes attention that should go into your attack and defense upgrade priorities.

According to the Clash of Clans community resources on Reddit, the average TH16 player takes 8-10 months to fully max their base including walls. Don't stress about walls being incomplete in war — good wall placement matters more than wall level in most war attack scenarios anyway.

Prioritize upgrading walls around your core defensive buildings (Eagle Artillery, Monolith, MGT) before worrying about the outer perimeter. Inner walls protect your high-value buildings. Outer walls just slow the funnel entry, which matters less.