Step by Step TH15 Upgrade Order for Competitive Clan War Players

Introduction

What if your first 72 hours at Town Hall 15 determined your war performance for the next six months? TH15 introduces game-changing defense mechanics (Monolith, Spell Towers) and high-impact offense tools (Electro Titan, Recall Spell, new Pets, Battle Drill). For competitive clan war players, a casual upgrade path wastes weeks, while a war-first plan earns clean triples sooner and keeps your lineup dangerous every match.

This guide gives you a precise, war-focused TH15 upgrade order—what to do on day one, which upgrades to book, how to schedule heroes without benching your lineup, and how to balance defenses so your base holds against meta attacks. You will see priority lists, usage examples, time-saving tricks, and a 30-day blueprint to keep your attacks online while your base powers up.

The Mindset: War-First vs. Farm-First at TH15

• Farm-first players typically rush storages and walls, then casually lift offense and defenses. That works for casual play but sacrifices war hits.
• War-first players maximize offensive throughput (Lab, heroes, pets, sieges, spell access) while selectively unlocking key defenses to disrupt the meta. The goal is to keep two-star safety high and three-star potential alive every war.

In short: offense first, critical defenses unlocked early, and hero downtime minimized.

Pre-TH15 Preparation: What to Have Before You Press Upgrade

• Books and Hammers
  • Book of Heroes: at least two. Use to hit early hero breakpoints without being benched.
  • Book of Building or Hammer of Building: reserve for Monolith or Spell Tower if you are medals-rich.
  • Book of Fighting/Spells: accelerate Lab priorities.
  • Hammer of Heroes: if you expect back-to-back war weeks.
• Medals and Capital Gold
  • Clan War League Medals: convert into Hammers, or buy Builder Potions for marathon sessions.
  • Raid Medals: top up resources for time-sensitive upgrades.
• Max storages or near-max TH14: to start multiple big-ticket upgrades at once.
• Builders ready: aim for 6 active builders; free at least 4 the moment you hit TH15.

Day 1 TH15 Upgrade Order: Immediate Actions

1. Laboratory → Start first troop or spell instantly. Your Lab working 24/7 is the single biggest DPS gain for war.

2. Pet House → Unlock TH15 pets (Frosty, Diggy, Poison Lizard, Phoenix). Pets dramatically change hero breakpoints; you want them online early.

3. Siege Workshop → Unlock Battle Drill. This siege is a Swiss army knife for ground smash and value targeting behind walls.

4. Spell Factory → Unlock Recall Spell. Recall enables high-ceiling strategies like multi-phase Queen Charges, Titan pathing resets, and safe Warden walks.

5. Barracks → Unlock Electro Titan. Whether you run Titan smash or Titan-support for Lalo/Hybrid, this troop opens strong ground options.

6. Clan Castle → Early for stronger defense and survivability; it also increases the resilience of your war base and CC troops.

7. Unlock Defenses → Monolith and both Spell Towers

   • Drop the buildings immediately. Even at base levels, they change the defensive profile of your war base.
   • If you have a Book of Building or Hammer, consider using one on Monolith.

8. Traps (initial wave)

   • Seeking Air Mines and Air Bombs: shift to anti-blimp and anti-warden-walk spots.
   • Giant Bombs near expected Titan paths; Skeleton Traps to ground in key choke points.

Pro tip: If resources are tight, prioritize starting the Lab and unlocking Monolith/Spell Towers, then queue Barracks and Workshop after.

Laboratory Priorities for Competitive War

Meta shifts, but some upgrades consistently return value across comps. Aim to queue upgrades that immediately impact the strategies you actually run.

Top-tier war-first Lab order (adapt to your comp pool):

1. Electro Titan → Enables Titan smash and hybridization with strong aura damage versus skeleton spam and trash.
2. Healers → Buffs Queen Charges and Warden walks; a universal multiplier for almost every high-skill attack.
3. Rage Spell → Core for Charges and Titans; early spell efficiency makes everything safer.
4. Freeze Spell → Essential to control Monolith, Scattershots, Infernos, Spell Towers.
5. Poison Spell → Crucial for defending against defensive CCs and dealing with Skelly/Head Hunter traps.
6. Invisibility Spell → For blimps, charge trickery, and precision value. Ups your ceiling.
7. Recall Spell → Enables reposition plays; not mandatory for all, but a huge ceiling with practice.
8. Super Archers or Bowlers (via their base troop) → If you plan SA blimp or Bowler/Titan smash variants.
9. Ice Golem/Yeti → Tanking and pathing supports for ground.
10. Balloons and Lava Hound → If you run Lalo as a primary or secondary.

Notes:

• If your clan meta is air-heavy, bump Balloons/Hound higher and keep Rage/Freeze top-tier.
• If your war team leans into Queen Charge Hybrid, prioritize Miners and Hog Riders after Healers.

Hero Upgrade Plan: War Availability Without Sacrificing Strength

Competitive clans rarely bench all heroes. The challenge is to hit key thresholds while staying roster-ready.

Recommended Priority (flex per comp):

1. Archer Queen → Queen Charge is the backbone of most triple plans; every level matters.
2. Grand Warden → His aura and Eternal Tome are war-defining. Synergizes with Titans, Lalo, and Hybrid.
3. Royal Champion → High DPS finisher; pairs beautifully with Diggy for stuns in the back end.
4. Barbarian King → Great for funneling, tanking, and Phoenix plays; typically last, but not neglected.

Scheduling Models:

• 3-hero online rule: Keep at least three heroes available at all times. If your clan requires two attacks within 24 hours, avoid overlapping upgrades unless you have Books.
• Book-first play: Start AQ or Warden upgrade and instantly finish with a Book of Heroes if you have a war in the next 48 hours.
• Rotation example for week one:
  • Day 1: AQ upgrade; Book it. Pair with Frosty or Phoenix right away.
  • Day 2: Warden upgrade; Book if war is imminent, otherwise let it tick while you rely on King+RC-based smash.
  • Day 4: RC upgrade; aim for early breakpoints and pair with Diggy.
  • Day 6: King upgrade; Phoenix with King keeps funnels safe.

Pet Pairing Tips:

• Queen → Frosty (extra slows vs point defenses) or Poison Lizard (anti-skelly/head hunter utility).
• Warden → Frosty for slow plus pathing cleanup.
• Royal Champion → Diggy for chain stuns behind walls on back-end defenses.
• Barbarian King → Phoenix to prolong tanking and secure value dives.

Pet House Priorities at TH15

The four TH15 pets are impactful even at low levels. Suggested order:

1. Diggy → Unlock and invest early; the stun with RC changes how you finish bases.
2. Frosty → Great universal value with Warden or Queen; slows key defenses.
3. Phoenix → King synergy gives your dive extra seconds of invulnerability to finish objectives.
4. Poison Lizard → Niche but excellent vs skelly traps and enemy heroes during Charges.

Aim to rotate Pet upgrades during builder downtime or pair them with hero upgrades you plan to Book.

Siege Workshop Priorities

1. Battle Drill → First. Opens ground lanes and snipes back-end defenses under walls.
2. Stone Slammer → Air or hybrid variants value; durable tank for Lalo entries.
3. Log Launcher → Titan smash and ground setups to crack deep compartments.
4. Blimp → If your clan relies on Super Archer blimps, ensure you have a reliable stock.

Coordinate siege crafting with your clan’s war plans—your inventory should mirror the week’s strategies.

Defense Upgrade Order: War Disruption First

Unlocking and selectively upgrading key defenses will skyrocket your base’s war hold rate.

Phase 1: Unlock and Anchor

• Monolith → Drop immediately, then upgrade as early as resources allow. It punishes tanks and heroes.
• Two Spell Towers → Unlock both. Preferred early setups: Rage + Poison or Rage + Invisibility, depending on base design.
• Builder Huts → Early levels create strong healing zones and force attackers to invest spells.
• X-Bows → Early upgrades improve DPS and anti-charge potential; consider mixed ground/air modes based on base concept.

Phase 2: Core Splash and Anti-Entry

• Inferno Towers → Mix single and multi to punish Queen Charges and Titan paths.
• Scattershots → Essential splash; denies smash through cores.
• Bomb Towers → Anti-Hogs/Miners and Titan chokepoints.

Phase 3: Anti-Air and Trap Network

• Air Defenses and Sweeper adjustments → Rebase to counter common entry vectors.
• Traps →
  • Seeking Air Mines near anti-blimp corridors and around Town Hall rings.
  • Air Bombs layered to punish Warden walks.
  • Giant Bombs in Titan pathing and Hybrid split points.
  • Skeleton Traps on ground near key single-target defenses or around Monolith.

Spell Tower Usage Ideas:

• Rage Tower near core Infernos/Scatters to spike DPS during the middle 40 seconds of a push.
• Poison Tower on entry compartments to punish Charges and Titan pathing.
• Invisibility Tower near Town Hall to delay normal Kill Squadron timing; pair with air traps to force extra spells.

Builder Allocation: A War-First Template

Assuming 6 builders, aim for this distribution during the opening weeks:

• Builder 1: Laboratory nonstop.
• Builder 2: Pet House cycles.
• Builder 3: Siege Workshop and Barracks.
• Builder 4: Monolith/Spell Towers and later Infernos.
• Builder 5: X-Bows, Scattershots.
• Builder 6: Traps and opportunistic walls.

As major offense pieces finish, rotate those builders into defenses. If you only have 5 builders, combine traps with Pet House or Workshop slots.

Resource and Magic Item Strategy

• Use Books on items that bench you or bottleneck war impact: Heroes, Monolith, Lab spells/troops that gate your comp.
• Hammers of Heroes → high ROI during war weeks.
• Hammers of Building → Monolith, Spell Tower, or a critical Inferno.
• Book of Fighting/Spells → Rage, Healers, Electro Titan, Invisibility, Freeze, Poison.
• Builder Potions → When you’ve stacked multiple long defenses (Monolith + Spell Towers + Inferno).
• Power Potions → Only for crunch-time war hits while Lab is catching up; do not rely on them as a crutch.

Attack Compositions and How Upgrades Affect Them

• Electro Titan Smash: Relies on Titans, Healers, Rage/Freeze, and Warden. Early Lab focus here gives you reliable twos and triple potential against ring cores.
• Queen Charge Lalo: Healers, Rage, Freeze, Invisibility, Balloons, Hound. Queen and Warden upgrades are critical; RC with Diggy finishes the back end.
• Hybrid: Healers, Miners, Hogs, Rage/Heal/Freeze; strong on specific layouts where Charges carve value.
• Super Archer Blimp variants: Invisibility, Rage, and blimp timing; high ceiling but requires trap-aware entries and precision.

Pick two primary comps that suit your clan’s base pool and level those pieces first.

Base Building During Upgrade Windows

• Use tested war bases tailored for TH15 era with Monolith and Spell Tower logic baked in. Avoid open compartments that gift Titan pathing.
• Disguise weaknesses while upgrading:
  • If Scattershots are low, hide them deeper and protect with Rage Tower coverage.
  • If Infernos are mixed levels, place higher-level ones on the most likely attack lane.
• Rotate trap sets weekly based on what your clan faced in recent wars (anti-SAB or anti-Titan pathing).

A 30-Day War-First Blueprint

Days 1–3:

• Start: Laboratory, Pet House, Siege Workshop, Spell Factory, Barracks, Clan Castle.
• Unlock: Monolith and both Spell Towers.
• Lab: Electro Titan → Healers.
• Heroes: AQ upgrade then Book; Warden upgrade, Book if needed for war start.
• Pets: Unlock Diggy, start first levels.

Days 4–10:

• Defenses: First Monolith upgrade; X-Bows; one Inferno.
• Traps: Fatten SAM network around anti-blimp corridors.
• Lab: Rage → Freeze.
• Heroes: RC upgrade; King upgrade; keep three heroes online for match days.
• Siege: Battle Drill first craft stock; keep a couple of Blimps ready.

Days 11–20:

• Defenses: Spell Towers to favored setup (Rage + Poison or Rage + Invis). Add Scatter upgrade.
• Lab: Invisibility → Poison → your core troop branch (Balloons/Lava or Miners/Hogs).
• Pets: Frosty levels; pair with Warden for Charges.
• Offense tuning: Practice Recall integrations in friendly challenges; refine anti-trap blimp pathing.

Days 21–30:

• Defenses: Second round of Infernos; Builder Huts; Bomb Towers; trap upgrades sweep.
• Lab: Secondary comp investments (e.g., Miners/Hogs or Bowlers/Super Archers).
• Heroes: Push each toward key breakpoints; rotate Books to keep roster online.
• Pets: Phoenix for King dives; Poison Lizard for CC-skelly control on Charge bases.

By the end of 30 days, your offense is tournament-ready: Titans, Healers, core spells, two polished hero-pet pairs, Battle Drill online, and a defense anchored by Monolith and Spell Towers with tuned traps.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Delaying the Laboratory: Every hour wasted here slows your entire war plan.
• Overcommitting to walls early: Cosmetic at TH15 compared to offense and key defenses.
• Benching all heroes simultaneously: Your clan loses war edge; rotate and Book smartly.
• Ignoring traps: A few well-placed SAMs or Giant Bombs can swing a triple into a one star.
• One-size-fits-all Spell Tower setups: Adapt to your base; test Rage vs Poison vs Invisibility coverage.

Quick Reference Priority Lists

Offense first week:

• Lab → Electro Titan → Healers → Rage → Freeze → Invisibility → Poison → Recall.
• Unlocks → Pet House → Workshop (Battle Drill) → Spell Factory → Barracks.
• Heroes → Queen → Warden → Royal Champion → King (Book to avoid war benching).
• Pets → Diggy → Frosty → Phoenix → Poison Lizard.

Defense first month:

• Unlocks → Monolith → Two Spell Towers.
• Core → X-Bows → Infernos → Scattershots → Builder Huts.
• Traps → SAMs and Air Bombs → Giant Bombs → Skelly Traps.

Conclusion

TH15 rewards precision. A war-first upgrade order accelerates your lab, heroes, pets, and sieges while bringing Monolith and Spell Towers online to punish meta attacks. Follow the day-one unlocks, keep your Lab busy, rotate heroes with Books to maintain war readiness, and choose two primary comps to power-level. Pair Diggy with RC, Phoenix with King, and equip Frosty for charge stability. On defense, anchor your base with Monolith, tailor Spell Towers to your layout, and constantly refine trap placements.

Execute this blueprint and your clan will feel the difference: safer twos, more triples, and a defense that demands respect from even top-tier opponents. Now open your upgrade menu, start the Lab, and make every builder minute win you the next war.