The April 2021 update for Clash of Clans is live and introduces Town Hall 14, Battle Builder Huts, Pets and a number of new levels for existing troops and structures.

This post will summarise what has been added/changed in once place, however full patch notes can be viewed here:

Town Hall 14

Town Hall 14 was expected during 2021 due to it falling within the 18 month timeframe given by Supercell for new Town Hall levels, although it arriving as the first update for the year was a surprise. The Battle Builder Huts are the flagship defense added and the introduction of Pets helps boost your heroes capabilities.

New Items

The following structures/changes are unlocked:

• The Giga Inferno has it’s freeze bomb replaced with a poison bomb.
• 25x new Wall pieces
• 1x Air Bomb
• 1x Seeking Air Mine
• 1x Skeleton Trap
• 1x Bomb
• 1x Giant Bomb
• 1x Pet House

Hero Levels

New hero levels available:

• Barbarian King - Levels 76 - 80
• Archer Queen - Levels 76 - 80
• Grand Warden - Levels 51 - 55
• Royal Champion - Levels 26 - 30

New abilities are available at each level that is a multiple of 5 as usual.

Structure Levels

The following structures have received new levels:

• Builder's Hut - Level 4
• Laboratory - Level 12
• Clan Castle - Level 10
• Gold Storage - Level 15
• Elixir Storage - Level 15
• Dark Elixir Storage - Level 9
• Cannon - Level 20
• Hidden Tesla - Level 13
• Bomb Tower - Level 9
• Inferno Tower - Level 8
• Eagle Artillery - Level 5
• Scattershot - Level 3
• Bomb - Level 10
• Wall - Level 15

Troop Levels

The following troops have received new levels:

• Barbarian - Level 10 (Super Barbarian level 10)
• Archer - Level 10 (Super Archer level 10)
• Wall Breaker - Level 10 (Super Wall Breaker level 10)
• Healer - Level 7
• Baby Dragon - Level 8 (Inferno Dragon level 8)
• Minion - Level 10 (Super Minion level 10)
• Valkyrie - Level 9 (Super Valkyrie level 9)
• Ice Golem - Level 6

Spell Levels

The following spells have received new levels:

• Poison - Level 8
• Clone - Level 7

The Giga Inferno

The Giga Inferno at Town Hall 14 receives an upgrade, remaining as a multi target Inferno with an additional 5 upgrade levels. It still does a large amount of damage upon destruction, however the frost effect has been replaced by a Poison Bomb that slows down and damages troops and heroes within its radius, similar to the Poison Spell.

Battle Builder Huts

The Builder Hut finally has the ability to fight back. Once upgraded to level 2, the Builder Hut becomes weaponised with a single target attack that is able to damage both air and ground targets. In addition to this, the Builder repairs damaged structures within the attack range of the Builder Hut. Once the Builder Hut is destroyed, the Builder will no longer repair the damaged structures.

Hero Pets

Hero Pets are here and help boost your heroes offensive capabilities. Once the Pet House has been constructed, with a new pet being unlocked with each upgrade until all 4 are unlocked. Each Hero can be assigned a pet, allowing you to decide which Pet is most suitable for your attack strategy.

Each Pet can be upgraded up to level 10 and similar to Heroes, cannot be taken into battle whilst they are being upgraded. They can be upgraded within the Pet House, which functions in a similar way to the Lab. One Pet can be upgraded at a time and can be immediately completed using a Book of Heroes or Hammer of Heroes.

L.A.S.S.I

Unlocked with the initial construction of the Pet House, L.A.S.S.I is a ground based pet that attacks nearby targets and is able to jump over walls.

Electro Owl

Unlocked once the Pet House has been upgraded to level 2, the Electro Owl is a flying pet that has a ranged attack that chains onto nearby structures, similar to the Electro Dragon. The Electro Owl is capable of attacking both air and ground based targets.

Mighty Yak

Unlocked once the Pet House has been upgraded to level 3, the Mighty Yak is a ground based pet with a damage boost against walls. The Yak’s attack does splash damage to the target it is attacking.

Unicorn

Unlocked once the Pet House has been upgraded to level 4, the Unicorn is a ground based healer that follows the Hero it is assigned to and heals them when they are stationary.

Clan Castle Donation Changes

A cap is being introduced when donating Clan Castle troops to lower Town Hall level players based on the level of their Clan Castle. The table below outlines the caps that will be effective once the update goes live:

These changes will also affect defending Clan Castle troops for wars. If someone donates a higher level troop/spell than the clan castle is able to receive, it will be downgraded to the appropriate level.

Currently, there is a checkbox on the donation request that reads “Only allow max level donations”. This will be changed in the update to say “Only allow highest level donations you can receive”, but will otherwise function in the same way.

Balance Changes, Quality of Life Improvements and Cost Reductions

A number of changes affecting players other than those upgrading to TH14 are coming in this update:

Starter Challenges

Starter challenges are being added for players that are Town Halls 2 - 6 to help speed up their progression by completing challenges, similar to the Silver/Gold Pass. The challenges are free to play with additional challenges unlocked at each Town Hall level with a Rune of Gold and Book of Building available at the end of the reward track.

Recruitment Tool

A number of changes are being made to help improve the user experience for the recruitment tool:

• It is now possible for players to receive invites without also being suggested in the Find New Members feature. The Invites preference in the player profile now offers 3 settings.
• Players who chose to be suggested in the Find New Members feature must confirm that they are still looking for a Clan every week to continue being suggested.
• Invites to join a clan now expire after 2 weeks. This will prevent cases where someone joins a clan unexpectedly from a very old invite.
• There is now an info popup in Find New Members that gives some detail on how the feature works and explains what controls clans have over the recommendations.
• Clans can now set a language in their settings.

Cost Reductions

Upgrade costs and times are being reduced, primarily affecting Town Halls 4 to 11, with some changes at TH12:

Clash Ninja Upgrade Tracker

If you are looking for a tool to show you remaining upgrades for your village and help you plan your upgrade order, check out the Clash Ninja Upgrade Tracker.