Dark Elixir Spending Order at TH18 in COC 2026
Four things at TH18 want the same dark elixir and you cannot afford all of them. I compared the costs and put them in the order that finishes fastest.
The Order, Before Anything Else
Quick answer: Heroes first, pets second, the Monolith supercharge third, troop levels last. Heroes decide whether your attacks three star, and nothing else on this list does. At TH18 the four things competing for dark elixir all look worth it on their own, and that's exactly why people spread it thin and finish none of them.
Dark elixir is the only resource in this game that does not pile up while you sleep. Gold and elixir overflow. Dark elixir trickles.
So the question is never whether an upgrade is good. It's what you give up to buy it. I read the August update notes to see exactly which new costs landed on dark elixir, and the answer barely changes between accounts.
Why Dark Elixir Is the Real Bottleneck
A maxed set of dark elixir drills produces a few thousand a day. A single hero level at TH18 costs hundreds of thousands.
That gap is the whole problem. You are not spending income, you are spending raids, and raids take attacks, and attacks take time.
Gold works differently. You overflow gold overnight and lose some. Elixir the same. Nobody has ever complained about running out of elixir at max town hall.
So every dark elixir decision is really a decision about weeks, not about numbers. Ask how many weeks of farming a purchase costs, and the priority sorts itself out.
Lane One, Heroes, and Why They Win
Hero levels are the only dark elixir purchase that makes your attacks better.
Everything else on this list either defends you or adds a small multiplier. A hero level adds damage, health and ability strength to the unit that opens every base you attack.
There's a second reason people miss. Hero levels compound with equipment. A stronger King makes every piece of King equipment stronger, because the equipment scales off the hero.
So a hero level is not one upgrade. It's an upgrade to every attack you will ever make with that hero, forever. Nothing else here is close.
Which Hero to Level First
Level whichever hero you actually fly. That sounds obvious and almost nobody does it.
If you Queen Charge every attack, the Queen is your engine and she should be ahead of everything. If you open with the King and Warden behind a tank, that pair comes first.
The Royal Champion is the one people neglect and then wonder why their cleanup stalls. She's the difference between a two and a three on a spread base.
And the Minion Prince is now genuinely strong rather than a novelty. If you haven't looked at him since he arrived, look again. Our hero equipment tier list covers which equipment justifies the levels.
Lane Two, Pets, and the TH18 Range
The August update opened Diggy to level 15 at Town Hall 18, which put the pet house back into the dark elixir argument.
Pets are second on this list for a simple reason. A pet makes a hero survive longer, and a hero that survives longer does more damage. It's a multiplier on lane one.
But it's a smaller multiplier than a hero level, and it only applies to one hero. So it sits behind, not ahead.
The practical rule is to keep your main hero's pet within two levels of the hero. A level 60 Queen with a level 8 pet is wasting the pet, and a level 15 pet on a hero you never fly is wasting the dark elixir.
Lane Three, the Monolith Supercharge
The August update added supercharge levels to the Monolith, and they're paid in dark elixir too.
They're good. The first level raises the Monolith's base damage, which is the part that kills mid sized troops walking through your core. The second raises hitpoints.
They're also third, because a defense upgrade has never won anyone a war. It denies the occasional star. That's worth something in clan war leagues and worth almost nothing anywhere else.
So buy it once heroes and pets are healthy, or buy it now if you are specifically pushing Legend League for defense wins. Those accounts exist and the maths genuinely flips for them.
Lane Four, Dark Troops
Minions, Hog Riders, Valkyries, Witches, Golems, Ice Hounds, Headhunters and Apprentice Wardens all upgrade with dark elixir.
They're last, and the reason is that most of them sit in your barracks unused. You run two or three dark troops seriously. The rest are filler.
So do not upgrade a dark troop you have not used in a month. Upgrade the two that appear in every army you build, and leave the rest until everything else is done.
The exception is the clan castle. A dark troop you donate constantly is worth levelling early, because it defends every base in your clan, not just yours.
What This Costs You in Weeks
Here's the part that makes the order feel real rather than theoretical.
A hero level at the top end costs roughly a week of committed farming. Two hero levels, two weeks. That's the unit you should be thinking in.
A pet level is faster but not free. The Monolith supercharge is a large single purchase that will stop your hero progress dead for its duration.
So do not start a supercharge in the same fortnight you want two hero levels. Pick one. The accounts that finish things are the accounts that run one lane at a time, and the accounts that stall are the ones running four.
Where to Get Dark Elixir Faster
Farming dark elixir at TH18 is mostly about what you attack, not how you attack.
Go for storages, not collectors. A collector raid is a rounding error at this town hall. A storage raid is real money.
Snipe with a cheap army. A full army against a base with 3,000 dark elixir loses you more in training than it earns.
And take every clan games reward that includes a Rune of Dark Elixir. A rune fills your storage instantly, and it's the single most valuable magic item in the game for a TH18 account. If you want to see what the strong accounts are defending with while you farm, browse the base library and copy something that holds.
The Mistake That Wastes the Most
Spreading it. That's the whole mistake, and almost everyone makes it.
You see a hero upgrade, a pet upgrade and a supercharge all available, so you start whichever your storage can afford right now. Then you farm, and you start the next one you can afford.
Three months later you have half a hero, half a pet and a supercharge that finished, and your attacks are exactly as good as they were. I compared that against finishing one lane at a time and it is not close.
Finish one lane. Then start the next. A finished hero is worth more than three half finished upgrades, because a finished hero attacks and a half finished one does not exist.
What About Walls and Buildings
Walls do not take dark elixir, so they're not in this argument at all. Good. Keep it that way.
The August update did make walls easier though. Wall rings no longer need a free builder, so you can spend rings whenever you have them rather than waiting for a builder to come free.
That matters here because it frees your builders for the things that do compete. A builder tied up on walls is a builder not available for a hero.
The full change list is on the official Clash of Clans site and it's a short read.
A Plan for the Next Month
Week one and two, one hero level on the hero you fly most. Nothing else. Let the storage refill between.
Week three, bring that hero's pet up to match. It's cheaper and it makes the hero level you just bought worth more.
Week four, reassess. If your defense log shows your Monolith dying early in attacks, take the first supercharge. If it doesn't, take another hero level instead.
That's four weeks with three finished things in it. Compare that with the usual four weeks of everything at 40 percent. If you want your attacks to convert those levels into stars, the clan war league strategy guide covers the planning that turns hero levels into wins.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I spend dark elixir on first at TH18?
Hero levels, every time. Heroes are the only dark elixir purchase that makes your attacks stronger, and they compound with your equipment because equipment scales off the hero. Pets come second, the Monolith supercharge third and dark troop levels last.
Are pets or hero levels better value for dark elixir?
Hero levels. A pet is a multiplier on one hero, while a hero level improves every attack you make with that hero forever. Keep your main hero's pet within about two levels of the hero, then put the rest into the hero itself.
Is the Monolith supercharge worth the dark elixir at TH18?
It is good but it is third in line. The first supercharge level raises the Monolith's base damage, which helps against mid sized troops in your core. A defense upgrade denies the occasional star though, while a hero level wins attacks, so buy it once heroes and pets are healthy.
Which dark troops are worth upgrading in 2026?
Only the two or three you actually put in every army, plus anything you donate constantly. A donated dark troop defends every base in your clan, which makes it better value than a troop sitting unused in your own barracks. Leave the rest until everything else is finished.
How do I farm dark elixir faster at max town hall?
Attack storages rather than collectors, because collector loot is a rounding error at TH18. Use a cheap sniping army so training does not cost more than the raid earns. Take every Rune of Dark Elixir you are offered, since it fills your storage instantly.
Can I upgrade a hero and a pet at the same time?
You can, and it is the most common way people stall. Running several dark elixir lanes at once means nothing finishes, and a half upgraded hero attacks exactly like the old one. Finish one lane, then start the next. If you need a base that holds while you farm, check the tournament layouts for something current.