This guide is now outdated, please find my new guide here:

TH7 and TH8 guide

Firstly I’ll say that this is the worst TH to stay at. Loot is reasonable, barch upgrading is good, but nothing else is good here. Perpetual waste of elixir means that you self-inflict 50% loot penalty after 3-4 weeks in TH8; no chance at defending against TH9 attacks; no new hero, no camp upgrade. As a farmer and even a war player, this TH is the one you definitely want to stay a short time at. Despite that, I spent a total of 32 days here, almost as long as my entire journey before this.

I’ll assume you have your 4th builder already. If you do not, just readjust accordingly. This TH guide will go over the steps into how to rush to TH9 efficiently and not waste time.

First priority upgrades:

  1. Lab. You’ll want to unlock lvl5 barch immediately. It takes 4 days for the building and 5 days per troop, so 14 days total.
  2. Clan castle. 5 additional troops on offense and defense is always good.
  3. Dark spell factory. The only offensive upgrade TH8 gets, better unlock it soon, upgrade it after unlocking it.
  4. New walls and structures taking less than 5min. Then upgrade your dark elixir storage using this builder. You want to have 40k capacity immediately so that you can upgrade your BK.
  5. Once clan castle is done, build all new structures so that you can build your TH8 base.

Second priority upgrades:

  1. Barbarian King. Whenever you have enough DE, upgrade him. I got mine maxed into TH9, but his level doesn’t really matter much in the end.
  2. Upgrade the new storages, these act as better defense.
  3. Max DE drill then DE storage
  4. Dark barracks. You’ll want to unlock and upgrade it using one of your builders until hopefully both are maxed. (mine were 4/2 when I reached TH9)
  5. Barracks. Use another builder to upgrade your barracks until all are maxed. (mine were 10/10/9/9 when I reached TH9)

Third priority upgrades:

  1. WT/mortar.
  2. All other defenses

Honestly, nothing will stop TH9s from stealing your loot. Better to join them and farm for your own AQ, rather than waste time letting others upgrade their AQ.

Walls:

This should be routine by now. Upgrade walls as you farm for other upgrades, never leave them last. You’re targeting full purple (lvl7) to half skulls (lvl8)

Lab:

Arch 5 > Barb 5 > giant/loons to 5 > goblins/wb to lvl5 > healers to 3 > wiz to 5

If you’re following my timeframe, you’ll upgrade earlier than you’re able to complete these upgrades, so don’t worry about it. As long as giants and loons are done, you’re all set to go to TH9.

Farming:

Still, barch is all you need. The secret here is, barch is all you ever need. Just find those collector bases >250k and hit them dry, hit drills as well. DE might be harder to come by as your needs increase, just pack cc giants/hogs/valk/bowlers/miners and bring a few of your own wallbreakers to raid other poor souls. You’re aiming 1k from a TH7 or an easy 1.2-1.6k from a fellow TH8.

Look at my journal series for more ideas on what I use to farm DE.

Recommended stay time: 14 days to 1.5 months, any more and you’re wasting time. I spent 32 days in TH8.

Minimum upgrades: all first priority upgrades, barch lvl5, BK any level.

Read my journey here:

https://clashguideswithdusk.wordpress.com/minisin-th8-journey/

Screenshot_2016-07-28-07-00-17

This was my base as I reached TH9. Defenses still looked horrendous, but I’m apathetic to loot losses. Many people personally don’t rush because of loss aversion. Loss aversion is when each loss is taken more personally and comparatively more devastating than an equivalent gain, like losing 300k each is equal to gaining 600k each. When you think about it, its stupid, because defenses are now useless. Without sniping, maxed or rushed bases are getting smashed, just by different attackers. That’s why rushing is always a good idea especially if you can raid much more than you lose.

Posted on 31 By DrTravel TH guides Posted in TH guides

DrTravel

31 Comments »

  1. Very nice guide, since i’ve read it 7 days ago everything has change for me.
    As a low lvl maxer I was sitting in TH8 with a BK10 waiting mostly for def upgrades.
    Now I’m 5 days from TH9 with full gold/elixir and 65K+ DE <- may be too much, but not sure to be able to farm enough just before the jump.

    Having a good defense as you point it can be counterproductive because either I defend too well or be well defeated, there's no middle. And when you lost Gold or Elixir, that's just one raid to be even but loosing 2K DE means 2 to 4 raids as I don't have good CC troops.

    So, as you said the good way is to tempt weaks attackers and let them do their 30% damage to gain a 10h shield.

    This said, thank you very much for the time you put in this blog.

    Like

    • Glad you realised. Now read the TH9 guide before you reach there to gain some preemptive knowledge. You already amassed the required loot, so dumping some into defenses/walls is still fine since you have 5 days to go.

      Good luck!

      Like

  2. Hello SinofDusk,
    thanks for your helpful guide.
    I need your help,my main th8.I upgraded all my Elixar troops (barch,giant,wiz..)except pekka and all DE troops.and also upgraded only lighting spell (but not healing,rage,poison,eq).

    my cannon,mortar,air dfnc are max except ht,arc tw,wiz tw.
    I can’t upgrade max my wall due to efficient gold.
    my King lvl 7…and all storeg are max.
    My question is can I upgrade my th? (without max walls and DE troops)

    Like

    • Definitely yes. If possible, farm the DE to get bk lvl10 right now. Try to get higher level troops in CC and get 2k per raid from TH8s. Make sure you have 40k ready for AQ as well when you upgrade

      Like

  3. Hello SinofDusk,
    thanks for your helpful guide.
    I need your help,my main th8.I upgraded all my Elixar troops (barch,giant,wiz..)except pekka and all DE troops.and also upgraded only lighting spell (but not healing,rage,poison,eq).

    my cannon,mortar,air dfnc are max except ht,arc tw,wiz tw.
    I can’t upgrade max my wall due to efficient gold.
    my King lvl 7…and all storeg are max.
    My question is can I upgrade my th? (without max walls and DE troops)

    Like

  4. Great site. Love all the information you have on here. Have a question and a comment.

    Q: Just got to TH8. Looks like you were in gold3 for most if not all your time in TH8. Is that what you would advise for best loot still?

    C: I personally have been a maxxer so far (remains to be seen if I will max as walls get insanely expensive) but raid similar to you cheap army comps and not worrying about shields or losses as I know I can get them back pretty easy. But it seems like there is a pretty big ‘beef’ between maxing and rushing. The reason I even bring this up is that in so many of your entries, you seem to go out of your way to justify this strategy. So my only assumption is that you have spent so much time and effort having to justify the method as not inferior, that it seems to have just become an ingrained defensive mechanism. I humbly suggest just letting the conflict go and have your results stand for themselves. It didn’t take me long to be convinced of the effectiveness of your strategy after seeing the screenshots and progress that it gave you. Just some thoughts of a newby clasher (about 4 months in) that spends a lot of time reading about and learning the game.

    Like

    • Thanks for the comment 🙂 I’ve definitely typed very defensively because I’m always in the forums where people always doubt me. I think in my own blog, I should type less aggressively. Thanks

      Like

  5. Hey SinofDusk, great guide! im at th8 now with th7 defences. I still have my AD which are all at lvl3 to upgrade but i have most defences at level 7/8 with some of teslas at 1 haha. All my walls are level 7 with afew of them at level 8. BK is at level 5. I have lvl5 archers and now upgrading level 5 wiz with plans to upgrade barbs and gaints after. Do you think its a good idea to move on to TH9?

    Like

  6. Thanks for the guide, I’m upgraded my th to 9 a few days ago after coming onto your blog. 5 more days until the upgrade is finished.

    I’ve adopted your base and have to say, it was very cleverly designed. Giant and hog players are in for a treat.

    What should I do with my builders while my TH is upgrading? I want to have all 5 of them ready one my TH upgrade finishes so I could quickly catch onto TH9. This is my account: http://imgur.com/a/wu9wf. What do you think I should upgrade in the 5 days I’m still TH8?

    Like

  7. Hello Dusk,

    I am at my 30th day in TH8. Since my clan is war focused i wanted at least to max ADs and Teslas. Have upgraded Archers/Giants to 5, Dragons to 3 & Lightning to 5 for wars and unlocked EQ dark spell. Currently upgrading DB for Golem and B for PEKKA. My walls are half purple. I am convinced that rushing to TH9 and start grinding for my AQ is the best path. Could you please check my base and share some advices?

    Roy #PGCJPJP98

    Like

    • As long as you follow the guide and finish all important stuff, you’ll be fine. Make sure you have loons lvl5 done so that you can war with lvl6 loons. Hogs are a safe skip, focus on valks instead when you are TH9

      Like

    • Oh, skip dragons. I didn’t notice that part, dragons and lightning can be skipped because you won’t use them in TH9 and you’ll be in TH8 for too short a time to benefit. Focus on laloon then valks in TH9 instead

      Like

  8. hey! loved to your guides I wanted to ask I have everything maxed in lab other than pekka, golem and valk but dont have my point defenses maxed just one lvl so just I upgrade few of my AT while upgrading th or teslas.. As cannons are the worst no worries for that….

    Like

  9. Hey Dusk,came across your guide yesterday and totally like it.Thanks for the guide :))
    I want to ask you whether should i upgrade my collectors or not.I saw a guide on cocland about rushing that said you should max your collectors because they are your main income.Is it true though?
    And also when should i break shield?I can raid 4-5 times before go offline but doing so will break my shield.Should I raid?
    Im about 70% thru TH7 and already upgrading to TH8,my dragons are lv3 but my loons are only lv3 since I thought it weren’t matter for wars :(( So should I stop a little bit at TH8 to max my troops?
    Btw last question should I build new structures asap or follow the .5 town hall strategy if i want to participate in wars?
    Thanks

    Like

    • Question 1: should you max your collectors?
      Answer: if offenses are done, then yes. If you only have collectors before upgrading TH, start upgrading TH and work on collectors while waiting for TH

      Question 2: should I break shield?
      Answer: You can only lose 300k per defense as a TH8, and only 450k as a TH11/12. One raid = at least 300-600k, why not break shield to earn much more loot? Not attacking actually results in less loot overall

      Question 3: should you stop a little bit to max troops?
      Answer: definitely no, you can upgrade those troops any time later. But staying in TH8 will only delay your progression on more important things, like archer queen

      Last question: th x.5 or no?
      Answer: if you have rushed defenses then yes. However do take note that x.5 is only beneficial if you want to do regular wars, it is 100% detrimental in farming and CWL. Also take note that regular wars invariably slow down your progress, do it at your own risk

      Like

  10. Hi dusk. I’ ve read your guides and i loved them. I’m now more accepting to rushers and i’ve been thinking to rush a little bit myself. Now my clan is a very serious war clan which makes it harder for me to progress fast through the th levels. Now here is the question:

    I’ve asked the co’s in my clan if they think it’s ok if i rush a bit using your strat. everyone exept one thinks it ok. I’m a almost maxed th8 with only the lab left which makes it kina hard for me as an avid farmer. (aspecially on the summerbreak) I think I raid 10-20 times a day. the only things i’ve left is healers (lvl3),
    pekka (lvl3), minions (lvl3,4) and goblins (lvl5). I almost never use these troops which makes it even more boring to upgrade them. I’m gonna upgrade my healers next and then i’ll see what I’ll do…

    Like

  11. Hey SinofDusk, I’m a town hall 8 and I was wondering what league i should be in to maximise my raid loot. Thank you so much for the guide, it’s been less than 4 weeks and I’m already on town hall 8

    Like

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