Every Town Hall from 13 to 17 gave you a Town Hall that fought back. TH18 takes that away. Supercell's own wording is that Guardians are "Town Hall 18's unique defense" — and the important half is that only one of them can defend at a time. Your Town Hall's defense is now a choice you make, not a building you upgrade.
This guide uses only what Supercell published, linked at the end. Where we recommend something, it's labelled as our judgement. TH18 is also the level where secondary sources disagree most — on how many Guardians exist, on costs, on level caps — so anything we couldn't verify is in a checklist for you to confirm, not stated as fact.
In a hurry?
- TH18 war bases — loads into your war base slot, for Clan Wars and CWL
- TH18 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)
- Pick your Guardian deliberately. It replaces the Town Hall weapon, and only one defends at a time.
- Re-check any layout you copied at TH17. It was probably built around a Town Hall that shoots. Yours doesn't.
- Keep the Laboratory running. Still the queue you can't buy your way out of.
- Treat the Revenge Tower as a late-raid building. It gets stronger as your base falls.
- Walls last, with leftover resources only.
- Don't plan around the Totem Spell as a damage spell. Its damage is now zero.
What changed at TH18 (verified by Supercell)
Guardians — and the Town Hall stops defending itself. This is the change everything else hangs off. Supercell states that Guardians "defend your Village, but cannot be used in attacks", that they are the Town Hall's unique defense, and that only one can defend at a time. Two are named: Smasher, melee with splash damage, and Longshot, ranged with splash damage. Each has abilities that require Builder upgrades.
Read that as a design change, not a feature list. From TH13 to TH17 your Town Hall carried a weapon that punished whoever came for it — a Giga Inferno, then the Inferno Artillery. At TH18 that weapon is gone and a Guardian stands in for it. Because you can only field one, you're not accumulating defense here; you're choosing a defensive character for your base.
The Revenge Tower. A new defense that, in Supercell's words, "gets stronger… and angrier!" as other buildings fall — it scales as 5, 20 and 40 buildings are destroyed in a defense. That's an unusual shape: most defenses are at their best at the start of an attack, and this one is at its best at the end.
The Super Wizard Tower. Merge two Wizard Towers at TH18 to create it.
The Meteor Golem. A troop that arrived as a temporary event unit and is now permanent.
The Totem Spell. Distracts enemy defenses with dense cosmic rock; the totems soak damage so your other troops can push. Note the balance changes Supercell has already applied: radius 6 tiles → 5, damage 70–100 → 0, and Apprentice and Life Gem Aura no longer affect Totems. Any guide still describing it as a damage spell is out of date.
New levels have arrived for some Heroes, Buildings, Troops, Spells, Siege Machines and Pets. Supercell didn't publish which — see the checklist below.
Confirm these in game
TH18 is where third-party sources diverge hardest from the official post, so here's what to check yourself rather than take our word for.
- How many Guardians you can actually unlock. Supercell's post names two. Some trackers list a third. Your Town Hall menu is the answer.
- Which Guardian is currently set to defend. Only one is on duty, and the default may not be the one you want.
- What the Super Wizard Tower merges from. Supercell says two Wizard Towers. Whether TH16's merge rules — both sources at max level, and permanent — also apply here isn't stated anywhere we could verify.
- The Revenge Tower's real cost and build time. The figures circulating come from community posts, not from Supercell.
- Which of your heroes gained a new level cap. New levels shipped; the list didn't.
Also unverified and deliberately absent from this guide: the Town Hall's own upgrade cost, build time and hitpoints, the Meteor Golem's stats, and whether a Crafting Station or new pet exist at this level. If what you see differs from anything here, trust the game and tell us — we'll check it against the patch notes and correct the page.
Best upgrade priorities (Offense / Defense / Economy)
Everything in this section is our editorial recommendation, reasoned from the verified mechanics above — not a claim from Supercell.
Offense first. Heroes decide most war attacks and research is slow, so the queue that compounds is the one to keep moving. A defense delayed a week costs a week of that defense; a lab upgrade delayed costs every attack in between.
Defense: your Guardian is the Town Hall's defense. Since only one defends at a time, Guardian upgrades aren't a checklist to grind through — they're investment in the one you actually field. Spreading upgrades evenly across Guardians you don't use is the TH18 version of a half-finished defense line.
Defense: the Revenge Tower rewards surviving. It gets stronger at 5, 20 and 40 buildings destroyed, which means its value depends on it still being alive deep into an attack. A building whose payoff arrives late is one you want somewhere an attacker reaches late.
Defense: finish lines, don't start them. A half-upgraded defense line gives you the downtime without the benefit.
Economy: storages only as far as you need them. A storage needs to hold the most expensive upgrade you're actually about to buy. Past that it's a builder doing nothing useful.
Walls last, always. Walls take leftovers, and should never be why a hero or a lab upgrade is waiting.
Laboratory priorities (what matters first)
The Laboratory still runs one research at a time, and gems spent on builders don't touch it.
- Never leave it idle. An empty lab overnight is the most expensive mistake on this page.
- If you have the Helper Hut, use the Lab Assistant. Available since TH9, and the one lever that acts directly on research time.
- Upgrade the army you actually use. The troop you bring to every war beats a new troop you'll try twice.
- Finish what's started. Partial research across three troops is worth less than one finished line.
- Re-check your Totem Spell assumptions. Its damage is now zero and its radius is smaller. If it was part of your army because it did damage, that reason no longer exists — it's a distraction tool now.
We 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 TH18 (how priorities differ)
The game keeps two separate layouts, and the Guardian change lands differently on each.
If you're warring, your war base defends in Clan Wars and CWL and there's no loot at stake — the job is denying stars. The Town Hall no longer fights for itself, so whatever used to be true about "the Town Hall punishes anyone who commits to it" needs re-testing with your Guardian in that role. Heroes still decide most war attacks, which is why they stay top of the list.
If you're farming, your home village layout defends when another player attacks you in multiplayer, and there are real resources to lose. Storage placement earns its keep here in a way it never does in war. The Revenge Tower's late-raid scaling is interesting for exactly this case: a multiplayer raider chasing loot is often deep into your base by the time it wakes up.
Most people do both. If you have to choose: heroes and lab serve both jobs, so when in doubt, spend there.
Recommended base types
One thing worth saying plainly: a layout designed at TH17 assumed a Town Hall with a weapon in it. At TH18 that assumption is gone, so it's worth re-checking any base you're carrying up rather than copying it forward on faith.
The two 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.
- TH18 war bases — every layout here loads into your war base slot, ready for Clan Wars and CWL.
- TH18 home village layouts — these load into your home village slot, the base that defends your storages and trophies.
- All TH18 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 protects, and anti-2 vs anti-3 explained covers how many stars a war base is built to deny. Coming up from below, the TH17 upgrade guide covers the Inferno Artillery merge one level earlier.
Common mistakes (checklist)
- ❌ Leaving the default Guardian on duty. Only one defends at a time, and choosing costs nothing.
- ❌ Spreading upgrades across Guardians you don't field. You can only use one.
- ❌ Carrying a TH17 layout up unchanged. It was built around a Town Hall that shoots back.
- ❌ Still budgeting for a Town Hall weapon upgrade. There isn't one at TH18.
- ❌ Bringing the Totem Spell for damage. Its damage is zero now.
- ❌ Burying the Revenge Tower where the attack ends early. Its payoff arrives at 5, 20 and 40 buildings destroyed.
- ❌ Trusting a community number for costs or level caps. Supercell didn't publish them; check in game.
- ❌ Walls before heroes or lab. Walls absorb infinite resources and will eat your week.
FAQ
Does the Town Hall still have a weapon at TH18? No. Supercell describes Guardians as Town Hall 18's unique defense, taking over that role.
How many Guardians can defend at once? One. Supercell states only one can defend at a time.
Can I attack with a Guardian? No. Supercell is explicit that they defend your village but cannot be used in attacks.
How many Guardians are there? Supercell's post names two, Smasher and Longshot. Some third-party trackers list a third. We haven't found an official confirmation either way, so check your own Town Hall menu.
What does the Revenge Tower actually do? It gets stronger as your buildings are destroyed, scaling at 5, 20 and 40 buildings down in a defense.
Is the Totem Spell still a damage spell? No. Supercell's balance changes set its damage to 0 and reduced its radius from 6 tiles to 5. It's a distraction tool.
What does the Super Wizard Tower merge from? Two Wizard Towers, at TH18.
Why doesn't this guide list TH18's cost, hitpoints or level caps? Because Supercell's post doesn't state them and the numbers in circulation come from community sources that disagree. We'd rather hand you a checklist than a figure we can't stand behind.
Sources
- Supercell — TOWN HALL 18 Crash Lands! Update: supercell.com/games/clashofclans (TH18 update)
- Clash of Clans Wiki — Town Hall / Guardians: clashofclans.fandom.com
- Clash Champs — TH18 Guardians and merged defence: clashchamps.com