Town Hall 16 is unusual. Most Town Hall levels hand you a new building and a longer upgrade list. TH16 hands you a permanent choice instead — and it's the one thing here you cannot take back.
Everything below about what TH16 contains comes from Supercell's own patch notes, linked at the end. Where something is a judgement call rather than a fact, it's marked as such.
In a hurry?
- TH16 war bases — loads into your war base slot, for Clan Wars and CWL
- TH16 home village layouts — loads into your home village slot, protects storages and trophies
- How to copy and adapt a base — if you've never imported a layout before
Quick upgrade plan (30 seconds)
- Keep the Laboratory running. It's the only queue you can't speed up by buying builders.
- Upgrade what you already attack with, not what's newest.
- Don't merge anything yet. Merging needs both buildings at max level and is permanent.
- Buy the Spirit Fox if you use pets — Pet House level 9.
- Walls last, with leftover resources only.
- Skip the Giga Inferno panic. At TH16 it has a single level.
What changes at TH16 (verified unlocks)
At a glance, the verified additions are:
- Multi-Archer Tower — merged defense, built from two Archer Towers
- Ricochet Cannon — merged defense, built from two Cannons
- Building Merging — the system itself: at TH16 you buy the ability to merge, not a building
- Spirit Fox — new pet, unlocked with Pet House level 9
- Giga Inferno (TH16) — the Town Hall weapon, with a single level instead of a repeating upgrade
Each one below, with what actually matters about it.
Defense merging. This is the headline. Supercell describes it plainly: when you upgrade to TH16, "instead of purchasing new Defenses from the Shop, you'll be presented with the option to purchase the ability to merge several Defenses." You're buying a capability, not a building.
Two merged defenses are named in the patch notes:
| Merged defense | Built from | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | | Multi-Archer Tower | Two Archer Towers | Targets several attackers at once instead of focusing one, so its damage spreads across a group | | Ricochet Cannon | Two Cannons | Its shot bounces from the first target into a second one, and it has substantially more HP and damage than a single Cannon |
Two rules matter more than the stats:
- Both source buildings must be at max level before they can be merged.
- Merging is permanent. In Supercell's words: "Once they have been merged, they cannot be unmerged."
The merged building can be placed anywhere you have space and can still be upgraded further.
Spirit Fox. A new pet at TH16, unlocked by taking the Pet House to level 9.
A Giga Inferno that stops asking for resources. Supercell is explicit: TH16's Giga Inferno "only has one level and doesn't need to be upgraded multiple times." If you're used to TH13–TH15, where the Town Hall weapon was a recurring bill, this is a real change to how you budget.
Two things people commonly file under "TH16" that are not TH16 unlocks:
- Hero Equipment arrived in the same update, but it's for "Town Hall level 8 players and up". If you're at TH16 you've had it for a long time.
- The Root Rider also shipped with the TH16 update, but it unlocks at TH15 with Barracks level 17.
This distinction matters when you plan: neither is something to "save up for" on arriving at 16.
Best upgrade priorities (Offense / Defense / Economy)
Everything in this section is our editorial recommendation, reasoned from the mechanics above — not a claim from Supercell.
Offense first. Attacking is how you get the resources for everything else, and lab research is slow. A defense you delay by a week costs you a week of that defense; a lab upgrade you delay costs you every attack in between.
Defense: finish lines, don't start them. A half-upgraded defense line gives you the downtime of an upgrade without the benefit. Take one category to completion before opening the next.
Merging comes late, and it's a decision, not a step. Both facts point the same way: you need two max-level buildings, and you can never separate them again. Doing it early costs you two defensive positions permanently, at the exact moment you have the fewest max-level buildings to spare. There's no rush — the merge option doesn't expire.
Economy: collectors and storages only as far as you need them. Storages need to be large enough to hold the most expensive upgrade you're actually about to buy. Beyond that, they're a builder doing nothing useful.
Walls last, always. Walls take leftovers. They should never be the reason a hero or a lab upgrade is waiting.
Laboratory priorities (what matters first)
The Laboratory runs one research at a time, and no amount of gems spent on builders changes that. It's the genuine bottleneck at TH16.
- Never leave it idle. An empty lab overnight is the most expensive mistake on this page, and the easiest to avoid.
- Upgrade the army you actually use. The troop you bring to every war is worth more upgraded than a new troop you'll try twice.
- Finish what's started. Partial research on three troops is worth less than one finished line.
- Spells are cheap for what they do. They're usually shorter research times than troops, and they change how your existing army performs without you having to relearn an attack.
- If you have the Helper Hut, use the Lab Assistant. It's available from TH9 and speeds up research — the one lever that acts directly on this bottleneck.
We deliberately don't publish "best troop" rankings. Which army works depends on what you can already use well, and a guide that tells you otherwise is guessing on your behalf.
War vs Farming focus at TH16 (how priorities differ)
The split is simpler than it's usually made out to be, because the game keeps two separate layouts for you.
If you're warring, your war base is what defends in Clan Wars and CWL, and there's no loot at stake — the whole job is denying stars. Your upgrade attention goes to the defenses that make the last few percent expensive, and to your heroes, who decide most war attacks.
If you're farming, your home village layout is what defends when another player attacks you in multiplayer, and it has real resources to lose. Storage placement earns its keep here in a way it never does in war. Priorities shift toward whatever keeps your loot inside the walls while you save for the next big upgrade.
Most people are doing both at once. If you have to choose: heroes and lab serve both jobs, so when in doubt, spend there.
Recommended base types
Both layouts are separate slots in the game, and a copy link loads into one specific slot — so you can set up both without one overwriting the other.
- TH16 war bases — every layout here loads into your war base slot, ready for Clan Wars and CWL.
- TH16 home village layouts — these load into your home village slot, the base that defends your storages and trophies.
- All TH16 bases — the full feed if you'd rather sort by rating or by how often a layout has been copied.
Not sure which you need? War vs farming vs trophy bases explains what each one is built to protect. If you've never imported a layout, start with how to copy and adapt a base.
Common mistakes (checklist)
- ❌ Merging early. It's permanent, and it costs you two max-level buildings at the point where you have the fewest to give.
- ❌ Waiting to "save up" for Hero Equipment at TH16. It's been available since TH8.
- ❌ Budgeting for repeated Giga Inferno upgrades. At TH16 there's one level.
- ❌ An idle Laboratory. The one queue you can't buy your way out of.
- ❌ Walls before heroes or lab. Walls absorb infinite resources and will happily eat your whole week.
- ❌ Running a farming layout during a war. Different slot, different job — set both up once and stop switching.
- ❌ Rushing to TH17 with an unfinished lab. Your troops don't get better because the Town Hall did.
FAQ
Do I have to merge my Cannons and Archer Towers? No. Merging is an option you can buy at TH16, not a required upgrade. You can play the whole Town Hall level without merging anything.
Can I undo a merge? No. Supercell's patch notes state that merged buildings cannot be unmerged. This is the single irreversible decision at TH16.
What level do my buildings need to be before merging? Both source buildings must be at max level. You can't merge a max-level Cannon with a lower one.
Is Hero Equipment new at Town Hall 16? No. It arrived in the same update, but it's available from Town Hall 8 upward.
How many times do I upgrade the Giga Inferno at TH16? Once — it has a single level, unlike the Town Hall weapons at TH13–TH15.
Is the Root Rider a TH16 unlock? No. It shipped with the TH16 update but unlocks at TH15, with Barracks level 17.
Can I place a merged defense wherever I want? Yes. The merged building can go anywhere you have space, and it can be upgraded further afterwards.
Should I rush to TH17? That's your call, and it depends on whether your heroes and lab are close to done. Moving up with an unfinished lab means attacking TH17 bases with a TH15 army — the Town Hall level changes, the army doesn't.
Sources
- Supercell — Full Patch Notes, Town Hall 16: supercell.com/games/clashofclans (TH16 patch notes)
- Supercell — Building Merging at Town Hall 16: supercell.com/games/clashofclans (building merging)
- Clash of Clans Wiki — Multi-Archer Tower: clashofclans.fandom.com
- Clash of Clans Wiki — Town Hall unlocks by level: clashofclans.fandom.com
Unlock levels are occasionally rebalanced between updates. If something here doesn't match what you see in game, trust the game and tell us — we'll check it against the patch notes and correct the guide.