Going to Town Hall 10 (and the 9.5 strategy)

Many of us are at the point in the game now where we’re considering going to TH10. If you are, you might strongly consider using the 9.5 strategy to help us get better matchups in war.

The TH 8.5 and 9.5 strategy was developed in response to the war matching system, which takes defense into account much more heavily than offense. The idea is that you mostly do NOT build the additional defenses so you’re still matched against TH9s, or at worst rushed TH10s.

The biggest disadvantage, of course, is that TH8s we be worth a lot less now if you’re attacking for loot in multiplayer, but you’ll get increased resource production with the additional mine, collector, and drill you unlock, and you’ll also be able to significantly beef up your attacking power both for war and multiplayer.

When to Upgrade to TH10

1.     You’ve done pretty much every elixir upgrade in the lab and on the base, and are dumping elixir into walls.

Without question, you should have Barbs, Archers, Giants, and Balloons 6, Wizards and Wallbreakers 5, PEKKA 3, Max Rage and Heal, and Jump 2. I’d also highly recommend doing Dragons 4, as they have become an important defensive troop again, and can also be used pretty effectively against TH9s. Goblins, Healers, and Lightning Spell are the only things you might consider neglecting.

You also definitely want both drills maxed, and your dark spell factory maxed as well. You could get away with a level 5 Dark Storage, but I’d recommend maxing that as well; the additional 300HP is helpful in war and protects your DE better in multiplayer. It’s also probably a good idea to have both dark barracks maxed, and at least 2 regular barracks.

2.     Defensive upgrades should put you at least at mid-level TH9.

I definitely think you want to have level 11 cannons, level 7 mortars and teslas, a 30 spot Clan Castle, level 2 xbows, and all walls at least level 7 before you consider going to TH10. You should be able to get at least this much accomplished while doing your elixir upgrades anyway. The rest could be done while working on TH10 elixir upgrades.

3.     DE Troops and Heroes

You really should have witches 2, golems 4, hounds 2, hogs and minions 5, at least 1 if not both heroes at level 10, and upgraded dark spells. Without witches 2 and golems 4, there doesn't seem to be much point, since you're going to need them to attack TH10s. It's also nice to have 2 or 3 options when choosing an attack strategy, so which is why hounds and/or hogs are also pretty important. Valks 4 can work well too but are the most difficult of any troop to direct and use correctly.

It probably won’t kill you if you’re missing a few things, as you can work on them while you’re making TH10 elixir upgrades before building any TH10 defenses, but remember, you'll probably be stuck with whatever level heroes you have for a while if you're going to do DE lab upgrades. 

What to Prioritize at once you reach TH10

1. The first order of business when getting to TH10 should be to build and upgrade your new mine and collector and traps (giant bomb, seeking air mine, skeleton trap, etc), and to upgrade your spell factory.  Even without upgrading army camps or troops, having an additional spell in battle will make it that much easier to 3 star TH9s. 

2. Depending on what troops and spells you can still upgrade before upgrading your lab, you might choose to hold off on this and focus on the new drill and even army camps first.  Maxing your drill as soon as possible, even before worrying about army camps, will help you speed up the process of upgrading your dark troops and heroes, particularly if you don’t spend a ton of time raiding for resources.

3. As far as gold goes, if you haven’t gotten all your defenses to TH9 max, now may be the time to focus on that. Maxing your CC is a good idea too. You may also be okay building the extra archer tower and cannon, but this has more of a chance to affect matchmaking, so you might consider dumping gold into walls for a bit while you finish upgrading your camps, or maybe doing some of those air traps you probably never got around to. Once you start noticing that the number opposite you is a TH10 with infernos most of the time, it's probably time to build your infernos and third xbow. Ideally, you want to start these on prep day so they're not counted in matching but you have them for war. 

Lab Upgrades

You probably want to upgrade your camps and drill before worrying too much about regular e lab upgrades, so your best bet is probably to focus on dark troops and spells first. If you've still got dark troops that you haven't finished at TH9...particularly hogs, golems, or hounds, now might be the time. Haste is also very effective, particularly with air attacks, and the other dark spells can be very useful as well. 

If you’re pretty much maxed on TH9 troops, getting max lava hounds may be the best way to improve your chances of 3 starring TH9s. Another option, though it is regular elixir, would be level 5 dragons, which may provide a fairly easy strategy for 3 starring most TH9s.

If you’re more comfortable on the ground, golems may be the way to go. 

Once you've got your army camps, and you're starting to put down new defenses, you're going to be expected to attack TH10s more often, so you're probably going to want to start by upgrading your freeze spell at least to level 3 before you worry about any other troops. On infernos set to multi, GoWiWi or GoWiPe with a few giants added in ca be an effective strategy, so you might want to think about PEKKAs or Giants after you do your freeze spell a couple times.