Crafted Defenses in COC: All 12 So Far and How They Work

That's the state of things as of October 2026. I read Supercell's notes for every phase and counted the defenses one by one. Then I checked the Reddit threads where players compared them.

If you'd rather see one in a real layout first, browse war bases by Town Hall. Layouts from Town Hall 17 up show where the station sits.

Supercell launched the system in the Let's Get Crafty update notes on 16 June 2025. The rules from that day still hold.

1. 1Three choices per phase. "Up to 3 Crafted Defenses are available to build during a Crafting Phase."
2. 2One active at a time. "Only 1 Crafted Defense can be active at a time, but you can switch between them anytime!"
3. 3Three modules each. "Each Crafted Defense has 3 upgradeable Modules." You pick which module to level.
4. 4They're temporary. When a phase ends, "New Crafted Defenses will take their place with the next phase."

At launch, the station sat at Town Hall 17 only. It moved up with Town Hall 18, and it opened to lower Town Halls in Phase 4. The module math is its own topic. Our crafted defense upgrade priority guide covers the level caps for each Town Hall.

Here's the full list. The dates come from Supercell's notes where they exist, and from the day players reported the switch where they don't.

That's 12 defenses in 16 months. None of them came back in a later phase.

The first batch arrived with the June 2025 update. Supercell's own one line pitches were short:

1. 1Hook Tower: "The Hook Tower pulls attackers in and stuns them! Sadly, Siege Machines are a bit too heavy."
2. 2Flame Spinner: "Spins right round and emits flames to damage nearby attackers."
3. 3Crusher Mortar: "Launches giant mortars to crush nearby foes!"

This phase was meant to last about three months. It didn't. On 30 June 2025, Supercell posted: "We're extending the current Crafted Defenses season to after the World Finals in early November!" The same post promised that "your effort on Crafted Defenses will not be lost." So Phase 1 ran about five months.

Players still talk about the Hook Tower. In a May 2026 thread, one player called it "easily the best one." Another said, "That thing grabs your warden and you're screwed." A third player wrote, "I hated the hook tower," because it could ruin any attack you didn't plan for.

Phase 2 came with the Town Hall 18 update on 17 November 2025. The notes said the phase would start "a few days after the update" and was "scheduled to last for four months."

The Bomb Hive became the popular pick. A January 2026 post said "Everyone prefer bomb hive", though that player wanted to try the other two. The Hero Bell was the odd one. It doesn't shoot at all. It makes your defending heroes stronger.

Supercell's February 2026 notes set the date. A new Fancy Shop decoration would arrive "together with the Crafted Defenses season, starting April 1st, 2026." Players posted the three new names on 30 March: Air Bombs, Lava Launcher and Roaster.

The reaction was cooler this time. One thread title read, "They ran out of ideas ... in just 3 seasons." In the May ranking thread, players argued over the Air Bombs. One said they're "top of meta now because you need more anti air." Another called them "still hot garbage", and said the Lava Launcher was "just hp filler".

This was also the last phase for max Town Halls only.

The current phase started on 1 August 2026. It's different in two ways.

First, it's open below the max Town Hall. A player in an August thread put it simply: "this season is the first with THs under max having access." We wrote up what it means at Town Hall 11 when it opened.

Second, it's longer. The thread that spotted it was titled "This time the crafted defence phase is 5 months long." Players there read the end date as 1 January 2027. One added that the date "could also be a placeholder".

Supercell already patched one of the three. The 30 August 2026 update notes list: "Fixed Hot Candle starting to melt during scouting instead of when the battle begins."

If you're choosing between them now, we ranked the Hero Hunter, Hot Candle and Cake-a-pult against each other.

Supercell spelled this out in the Town Hall 18 notes. Three things happen.

1. 1The defense goes away at once. "When the phase ends, all previous Crafted Defenses reset instantly to the Crafting Station."
2. 2Running upgrades come back to you. "Ongoing Crafted Defense upgrades from the previous phase will be automatically refunded."
3. 3Old war bases keep it for a while. "Any War or Ranked snapshots taken before the phase ends will still include the defenses, while new snapshots afterward will only show the Crafting Station."

That third point catches people out. A war base saved before the switch still fights with the old defense. So don't be surprised to meet a Phase 4 defense in a war that starts after Phase 4 ends.

Yes, in a way. Supercell's answer to the "will not be lost" promise was Sparky Stones. They came in the Town Hall 18 update.

The notes say "Each Crafted Defense upgrade awards 8 Sparky Stones". Each Supercharge awards 10. You spend them in the Fancy Shop on things like "a new decoration, a Builder Skin, and decoration Charge Effects".

Phase 1 upgrades counted too. The notes say removed Crafted Defense upgrades "will convert to Sparky Stones when the update goes live." So the levels vanish, but the stones stay.

There's no official ranking. But a May 2026 thread on r/ClashOfClans asked players to rank all nine from the first three phases.

One player gave a full order: "Hive > Crusher=Lava > Light beam > Hook=Bell > Air bomb/Roaster/Spinner." Another said the Hero Bell and Hook Tower are "the only ones I'd ever wanna see return", because they need some thinking to beat.

Old threads also show how each one fit the meta. A November 2025 post said "the crusher mortar was amazing against roots but useless against dragons". That's the pattern with most of them. Each one punished a few armies and ignored the rest.

Look at the lengths. Phase 1 was planned for about three months and ran about five. Phase 2 was scheduled for four. Phase 3 ran four. Phase 4 looks like five.

I found no Supercell statement that explains the longer Phase 4. Players have guesses. Some think it lines up with Town Hall 19. Others think lower Town Halls simply need more time to level it.

The complaint behind it is older. A March 2026 thread title read, "Craft defenses need an additional month (at least) to the cycle." In the May ranking thread, another player called the "upgrade times and amounts" "ridiculous for temp content". Longer phases answer part of that.

You don't need to max a crafted defense to get value from it. Here's a simple plan for the weeks left in Phase 4.

1. 1Switch one on. It's part of your defense the moment it's active.
2. 2Pick for your base, not the meta. Watch a few defense replays and see where attacks slow down.
3. 3Level it only with spare builders. It disappears around the turn of the year, and your regular defenses don't.
4. 4Save your war base before the phase ends if you want the old defense in it for a while.
5. 5Expect a new set. Each phase so far brought three brand new defenses, so plan a gap in your layout.

That last point matters for base building. A layout that depends on one crafted defense stops working when the phase changes.