Archer is a 1-housing-space Elixir ranged troop unlocked with Barracks level 2. The current Archer max level is 14 at TH18, where she has 46 DPS, 46 damage per hit and 76 hitpoints.
Her value comes from reach and flexibility rather than durability. Archers can hit ground and air targets, fire from 3.5 tiles away and fit into almost any army as funnel, cleanup or support troops. The tables below cover every level, Town Hall cap, upgrade cost and research time, followed by practical use, counters and the current Super Archer.
AB Ankit
Archer attacks once every 1 second, so her DPS and damage-per-hit values are the same. She uses 1 housing space, moves at 24, has a 3.5-tile range and can target both ground and air. The level table below uses the current Home Village values.
| Level | DPS | Damage / hit | Hitpoints | Laboratory | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 8 | 22 | — | TH1 |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | 26 | 1 | TH3 |
| 3 | 13 | 13 | 29 | 3 | TH5 |
| 4 | 16 | 16 | 33 | 5 | TH7 |
| 5 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 6 | TH8 |
| 6 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 7 | TH9 |
| 7 | 25 | 25 | 48 | 8 | TH10 |
| 8 | 28 | 28 | 52 | 9 | TH11 |
| 9 | 31 | 31 | 56 | 10 | TH12 |
| 10 | 34 | 34 | 60 | 12 | TH14 |
| 11 | 37 | 37 | 64 | 13 | TH15 |
| 12 | 40 | 40 | 68 | 14 | TH16 |
| 13 | 43 | 43 | 72 | 15 | TH17 |
| 14 | 46 | 46 | 76 | 16 | TH18 |
At level 14: Archer has 46 DPS, 46 damage per hit and 76 HP. Researching level 14 requires Laboratory level 16 at TH18.
Archer is available from the start of the Home Village through Barracks level 2. Research begins once the Laboratory becomes available at TH3. Most Town Hall levels raise the Archer cap, but TH2, TH4, TH6 and TH13 do not add a new Archer level.
| Town Hall | Archer max level | Laboratory |
|---|---|---|
| TH1 | 1 | — |
| TH2 | 1 | — |
| TH3 | 2 | Lab 1 |
| TH4 | 2 | Lab 2 |
| TH5 | 3 | Lab 3 |
| TH6 | 3 | Lab 4 |
| TH7 | 4 | Lab 5 |
| TH8 | 5 | Lab 6 |
| TH9 | 6 | Lab 7 |
| TH10 | 7 | Lab 8 |
| TH11 | 8 | Lab 9 |
| TH12 | 9 | Lab 10 |
| TH13 | 9 | Lab 11 |
| TH14 | 10 | Lab 12 |
| TH15 | 11 | Lab 13 |
| TH16 | 12 | Lab 14 |
| TH17 | 13 | Lab 15 |
| TH18 | 14 | Lab 16 |
The late-game climb is straightforward: level 10 at TH14, 11 at TH15, 12 at TH16, 13 at TH17 and 14 at TH18. TH13 stays at level 9 even though its Laboratory can be upgraded to level 11.
Archer research uses Elixir. The table shows the base Laboratory cost and time for each target level before any active reduction. Level 1 is the Barracks unlock and needs no Laboratory research.
| Target level | Elixir cost | Research time | Laboratory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barracks level 2 unlock | No research | — |
| 2 |  20,000 | 1h | 1 |
| 3 | 80,000 | 2h | 3 |
| 4 | 200,000 | 3h | 5 |
| 5 | 500,000 | 8h | 6 |
| 6 | 1,000,000 | 12h | 7 |
| 7 | 1,500,000 | 1d | 8 |
| 8 | 2,300,000 | 1d 12h | 9 |
| 9 | 3,000,000 | 2d | 10 |
| 10 | 4,500,000 | 3d | 12 |
| 11 | 6,500,000 | 4d | 13 |
| 12 | 9,000,000 | 4d 12h | 14 |
| 13 | 14,000,000 | 9d | 15 |
| 14 | 25,000,000 | 13d 12h | 16 |
Taking Archer from level 1 to level 14 costs 67,600,000 Elixir and takes 39 days 14 hours of sequential base Laboratory research. That total assumes every upgrade runs one after another with no reduction, magic item, helper or temporary event applied.
Archer has no preferred building target. She attacks the nearest target she can reach, but can switch to nearby defending Clan Castle troops, Heroes or Skeletons when they engage the army and are within range. Her attack can hit ground and air, which makes a single Archer useful in more cleanup situations than a ground-only troop.
The key numbers are simple: 1 housing space, 24 movement speed, 1-second attack interval and 3.5-tile range. That range lets Archers fire over Walls, but their low hitpoints mean they should not be treated as front-line troops.
Use Archers where their range and low housing cost solve a specific job. For an entry, first send a tougher troop such as a Giant or Barbarian to draw fire, then place Archers far enough behind that they can shoot without taking the first defensive hits. Against splash damage, spread Archers into smaller groups instead of stacking them on one tile.
They are especially useful for funneling and cleanup. A few Archers can remove exposed buildings on the edge so the main army has a cleaner path, while saved Archers can finish corner Builder Huts or other unprotected structures late in the attack. One Archer can also test a suspicious area for traps before a more valuable troop enters.
Giants and Barbarians are natural front-line partners because they can take defensive fire while Archers shoot from range. In mixed armies, Heroes can clear one side of a funnel while a few Archers handle exposed buildings on the other. Because Archers can target air, they can also help against defending flying troops when they are positioned safely.
Rage increases the damage of a group that is already protected, while Heal can keep a clustered group alive through sustained damage when the spell covers enough units. Freeze buys time against a dangerous defense, and Poison is useful when defending Clan Castle troops are the immediate problem. Do not spend a spell just to rescue one or two cleanup Archers unless that cleanup is essential to the finish.
At TH1–TH6, Archers are a core ranged option because they cost only one housing space and can shoot over Walls. From TH7–TH10, they remain useful for funnels, exposed buildings and support behind tanks even as heavier troops become available.
At TH11 and above, regular Archers still keep the same cheap one-space role, while level 8 also opens access to Super Archer. From TH14 to TH18, the normal Archer continues gaining one new level at each Town Hall, ending at level 14.
Archers are strongest when the job matches the unit. They are easy to overdeploy because each one costs only a single housing space, but a large clump can disappear quickly to splash damage. Keep enough for the tasks you actually need: shaping the entry, helping with defending troops, or finishing buildings that the main army may never reach.
Against Archers, splash damage is the main threat. Mortars, Wizard Towers, Bombs and other area damage can remove several at once when they are packed together. Protecting outside buildings also reduces the value of single-Archer cleanup and forces them deeper into defensive range.
In a defending Clan Castle, Archers can target both air and ground, and their small housing size allows many of them to be stored. Their weakness is the same as on offense: low hitpoints. Poison, Lightning and splash damage can clear a group quickly once it is pulled into a tight area.
Super Archer becomes available when the normal Archer reaches level 8. Super Troops are available from TH11; activating Super Archer costs 25,000 Dark Elixir or a Super Potion and lasts 3 days. She uses 12 housing space, moves at 24, attacks every 1.5 seconds and uses the Sharp Shot ability.
The big difference is reach. Super Archer targets from 6 tiles away and the projectile can travel up to 12 tiles, piercing through multiple targets in its path. The current level 14 was added alongside the TH18 content in the February 2026 update.
| Super Archer level | DPS | Damage / hit | Hitpoints | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 120 | 180 | 450 | TH11 |
| 9 | 132 | 198 | 510 | TH12 |
| 10 | 144 | 216 | 565 | TH14 |
| 11 | 156 | 234 | 605 | TH15 |
| 12 | 162 | 243 | 645 | TH16 |
| 13 | 166 | 249 | 685 | TH17 |
| 14 | 170 | 255 | 725 | TH18 |
Regular Archer: 1 housing space, 3.5-tile range, single-target shot. Super Archer: 12 housing space, 6-tile target range and a piercing projectile that can continue through several targets.
The stats and research numbers in this guide use the current values. These milestones show the main level additions and changes that explain today’s Archer progression.
| Date | Change | What it means now |
|---|---|---|
| 2 August 2012 | Archer was part of the original release with levels 1–5. | The troop has been available since the launch of Clash of Clans. |
| 5 February 2013 | Archer level 6 added. | Level 6 remains the TH9 cap today. |
| 16 September 2014 | Archer level 7 added. | Level 7 is the current TH10 cap. |
| 11 June 2018 | Archer level 8 added. | Level 8 later became the requirement for Super Archer. |
| 22 June 2020 | Archer level 9 added. | Level 9 is the current TH12 and TH13 cap. |
| 12 April 2021 | Archer level 10 added. | Level 10 is the current TH14 cap. |
| 10 October 2022 | Archer level 11 added. | Level 11 is the current TH15 cap. |
| 12 December 2023 | Archer level 12 added. | Level 12 is the current TH16 cap. |
| 10 February 2025 | Archer level 13 added. | Level 13 is the current TH17 cap. |
| 24 March 2025 | Troop training time removed. | Archers no longer wait in a troop training queue. |
| 17 November 2025 | Level 13 cost reduced to 14,000,000 Elixir and time to 9d. | Those are the current level 13 research values. |
| 23 February 2026 | Archer level 14 added. | TH18 progression now reaches level 14. |
TRAINING NOTE
Archer has no troop training wait. Laboratory upgrades still take research time, and housing space still determines how many Archers fit in an army or Clan Castle.
The current Archer max level is 14 at TH18. It requires Laboratory level 16.
Archer is unlocked by upgrading the Barracks to level 2. The troop starts at level 1.
Level 7. TH10 supports Laboratory level 8, which is required for Archer level 7.
Level 14 has 46 DPS, 46 damage per hit and 76 hitpoints.
25,000,000 Elixir with a base research time of 13 days 12 hours at Laboratory level 16.
67,600,000 Elixir and 39 days 14 hours of sequential base Laboratory research.
Yes. Regular Archers can target both ground and air.
The regular Archer has a 3.5-tile range and attacks once every second.
Super Archer requires normal Archer level 8. Super Troops are available from TH11.
She uses 12 housing space, attacks from 6 tiles away and fires a piercing projectile that can travel through multiple targets.
Yes. Archers summoned by the Royal Cloak ability use the Archer level researched in your Laboratory.
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Hero
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