Since the free-to-play mobile game released in 2012 Clash Of Clans has enjoyed a dedicated and loyal following as people continue diving into this strategy game full of unique and quirky characters. Even as the game grows more complex and complicated it remains a solid mobile game for new players to break into.

In fact, if you’re looking to try it out for the first time, it’s been a few years since you’ve played, or you’re curious about how the current metas are shaping up, then it’s important to know which characters are worth your time and which you should stay away from according to fans.

10 Best: Hog Riders

  • DPS – 60
  • Damage Per Hit – 60
  • HP – 270
  • Training Cost - 30

Hog Riders are interesting offensive troops as they prioritize defensive buildings and the Grand Warden before targeting anything else. Their ability to hop over walls to go after these targets is useful for opening up weak points that can be exploited by other troops.

They would rank higher except that strategies in later parts of the game, say above Town Hall nine, cause them to decrease in usefulness a bit. They do have the advantage of being a simple-to-use unit that’s great for beginners and remains effective for a long time.

How To Unlock

The Hog Rider will become available after you upgrade the Dark Barracks to level two.

9 Worst: Giants

  • DPS – 11
  • Damage Per Attack – 22
  • HP – 300
  • Training Cost – 150

Giants are meant to be anti-defensive units like the Hog Riders, but struggle from abysmal attack damage. As a result of this and recent buffs and nerfs, they feel like meat shields with little in the way of teeth unless you throw them against the enemies in swarms or to defend more useful troops.

They admittedly would have ranked much higher in previous years, but the recent buffs given to PEKKAs which serve the same role have seen them drop off in terms of usefulness. Essentially if you’re thinking of a strategy that involves Giants you should be using PEKKAs instead.

The Giant is unlocked after the Barracks reaches level three.

8 Best: Archer Queen

  • DPS – 160
  • Damage Per Hit – 120
  • HP – 725
  • Regen Time – 10 minutes
  • Upgrade Cost – 10,000

Hands down the best hero in Clash of Clans right now is the Archer Queen. Part of this is due to her ability to become invisible to defenses and summon a small cluster of Archers to aid her in battle.

But honestly, the main reason she’s so powerful is how useful she is in bringing down air units. Balloons, Dragons, and Minions will struggle to survive her hail of arrows and attack a village and she can pepper enemies with arrows when on offense. She’s adaptable and versatile which makes her useful in any engagement against nearly any strategy.

The Archer Queen becomes available after the Town Hall reaches level nine.

7 Worst: Battle Blimp

  • DPS – 100
  • Damage Per Attack – 150
  • DPS (Upon Death) – 1,000
  • HP – 3,000

Because the Archer Queen is often used by players and is so effective at shooting down air units, it makes the Battle Blimp a liability in the current meta. It also doesn’t help that the Battle Blimp is weak when compared to other siege machines like the very useful Stone Slammer.

If there isn’t an Archer Queen on the battlefield, then you could make a case for its usefulness and it would rank higher. But considering many of the high-ranking players are using her in nearly every battle, it makes the Battle Blimp a floating target and one of the worst troops in Clash Of Clans.

The Battle Blimp requires the Workshop to be upgraded to level two before it’ll be available.

6 Best: Yeti

  • DPS – 230
  • Damage Per Attack – 230
  • HP – 2,900
  • Yetimites Spawned – 8
  • Training Cost – 19,000

The Yeti is a recent inclusion to the game and as such players are still devising tactics and strategies to effectively utilize them. Because of this they can still rise in terms of usefulness, hover in the middle somewhere, or plummet to the bottom.

But as it stands right now a lot of players are using these fuzzy critters to act as strong supportive fighters. They’re excellent when paired with PEKKAs or Golems that can take the hits and give them openings to pummel units.

The Yeti will become available once the Barracks reaches level 14.

5 Worst: Lava Hounds

  • DPS – 10
  • Damage Per Hit – 20
  • DPS (Upon Death) – 100
  • Lava Pups Spawned On Death – 8
  • HP – 6,100
  • Training Cost - 390

Lava Hounds are incredibly useful at taking out air defenses. But considering current metas aren’t utilizing air units very much players aren’t spending as many resources on air defenses, which means Lava Hounds don’t have much of a purpose in the game right now.

There are niche occasions where you’ll be glad to have Lava Hounds, but those moments are so few and far between that it’s not worth having them. Odds are you can replace them with a variety of other units and not notice their absence.

This unit is unlocked once you get Dark Barracks up to level six.

4 Best: Healers

  • Healing Per Second – 35
  • Healing Per Pulse – 24.5
  • HPS (Heroes) – 19
  • HP – 500
  • Training Cost – 5,000

Healers are a staple of almost every meta right now. They have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of offense or defense, but their ability to keep offensive and defensive units in play longer is absolutely invaluable.

Sending in units to take out the few air defenses that are around before rolling out these units is a must for getting the maximum benefit. Having a solid line of offensive fighters with a bunch of healers behind them is a terrifyingly powerful attack.

The Healer is unlocked once you’ve upgraded your Barracks to level eight.

3 Worst: Wall Breakers

  • DPS – 6
  • DPS (Upon Death) – 6
  • DPS (Walls) – 240
  • DPS (Upon Death VS Walls) – 240
  • HP – 20
  • Training Cost - 600

The only reason Wall Breakers don’t rank dead last is that some crafty players are using them now and then in very clever ways. But at the end of the day, a Wall Beaker is meant to break walls and that’s it.

It also doesn’t help that you lose the unit once it does its job, meaning you have to plan on replacing the ones destroyed by the enemy or when they successfully knock out the wall. To make matters worse, a Wall Breaker will not attack an enemy unit or building until every section of the enemy’s wall is destroyed, which isn’t necessary or even recommended to do in order to win matches.

To unlock the Wall Breakers you’ll need to upgrade your Barracks to level five.

2 Best: PEKKA

  • DPS – 240
  • DPA – 432
  • HP – 2,800
  • Training Cost – 14,000

Easily the best Clash of Clans character is the PEKKA. These metallic monsters have both the highest attack and the highest health out of every troop in the game. They are capable of tearing down walls, smashing buildings, and carving through hordes of enemies with ease.

Granted they are rather expensive and need a lot of housing, but they’re worth every ounce of Elixir and are a staple of the more successful metas in the game right now. Ignore them at your own peril.

To gain access to PEKKAs you will need to upgrade the Barracks to level ten. This will require a Town Hall of level eight. Needless to say, this will take some time and a lot of resources to accomplish.

1 Worst: Goblins

  • DPS – 11
  • DPA – 11
  • DPS (Buildings) – 22
  • HP – 25
  • Training Cost – 25

Goblins have been around for a long time and have many adoring fans, but they are unfortunately considered the worst troop in Clash of Clans right now. They are decent when thrown at the enemy in hordes for farming and are capable cleanup troops, but there are other troopers better suited for those tasks, and in legitimate matches, they’re outclassed.

At the end of the day, Goblins are a lower-tier troop used heavily at the beginning of the game and quickly phased out over time. Maybe they’ll get a boost down the road, but as of right now they are throwaway units that aren’t very useful.

Goblins are unlocked by getting to level four in the Barracks.

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