How to Design a Clash of Clans Base in 2026: Compartments, Air Defense, Clan Castle and Town Hall Placement

Quick answer: The most reliable way to design a Clash of Clans base is to get 5 things right in order: decide what the base is for (War, Ranked or Farming), cut the inside into small compartments so ground armies stall, spread the Air Defenses so no side is open to Dragons or LaLo, overlap splash defenses over the core, and put the Clan Castle and Town Hall where that purpose needs them.

A Clash of Clans base is graded on 5 layout jobs (Town Hall placement, compartments, Air Defense placement, splash coverage and Clan Castle placement), and the same layout can be an S in Farming and a D in War, because the 3 base purposes reward opposite things. A War base has to stop 1 scouted attacker from taking 3 stars. A Ranked base has to give up the fewest stars across many attackers. A Farming base has to keep the loot in its storages, and its Town Hall can sit outside the walls. From Town Hall 9 (X-Bow) to Town Hall 18 (Revenge Tower, Super Wizard Tower and the Guardians), the principles below hold at every level. Only the buildings you place with them change.

If you just ran your base through the Base Analyzer and got 2 to 5 weaknesses back, each one maps to a section below. Read the section, make the one layout move the fix names, and upload again.

What Makes a Clash of Clans Base Good?

A Clash of Clans base is good when the attacker has to solve more problems than their army can carry. Every successful attack does the same 3 things: it opens a path into the core, it keeps its main force together on that path, and it kills the Clan Castle troops and point defenses before they kill it. A good base makes each of those 3 steps expensive.

Design works on 5 layers, and they map to the 5 fields the Base Analyzer reads on every screenshot:

1. Town Hall placement. Where the most valuable building sits and how many layers protect it.
2. Compartments. How the walls cut the base into cells, and whether a ground push can snowball through them.
3. Air Defense placement. Whether the Air Defenses cover every side, or leave 1 lane open for an air attack.
4. Splash coverage. Whether splash defenses overlap over the core, where an attacker's grouped troops end up.
5. Clan Castle placement. Whether the defending Clan Castle troops can be lured out early and killed for free.

Fix them in that order of damage. A clustered Air Defense set or an exposed Town Hall costs more stars than any wall gap, so those come first. The rest of this page takes each layer in turn, then covers the buildings that define each Town Hall and the parts of a base no screenshot can show.

How Do War, Ranked and Farming Bases Differ?

War, Ranked and Farming bases differ in what they defend against. The Base Analyzer asks which one you are building before it grades anything, because a layout that is right for one purpose is often wrong for the other two. Players say it all the time: "good in Legends, trash in war". They are both right, about different jobs.

Why Does a War Base Accept Two Stars?

A war base accepts 2 stars because Clan War is decided by stars and the third star is the one a planned attack fights hardest for. The attacker in war gets unlimited scouting time, knows your Town Hall level and picks an army built for your layout, so a war base cannot hide its weak side. It has to have none. That is why war layouts spend their best buildings on the core and on the funnel edges, and let the outside fall.

Why Does a Ranked Base Fear the Easy Two-Star?

A Ranked base fears the easy two-star because it defends many times and every star it gives up counts. Across many attackers, the base that loses 2 stars to half of them does worse than the base that loses 1 star to most of them and 3 to a few. A Ranked layout therefore spreads its strength more evenly than a war layout: no side should be cheap to reach 50% from.

Why Can a Farming Base Leave the Town Hall Outside?

A Farming base can leave the Town Hall outside the walls because its job is the loot, not the stars. An attacker who only wants the Town Hall takes it and leaves, and the storages inside stay untouched. Grade a farming base on how deep the storages sit and how many layers a raider has to break to reach them.

How Big Should Compartments Be in Clash of Clans?

Compartments in Clash of Clans should be small enough that a ground army has to break a wall, or walk around one, every few buildings. A compartment is a cell of wall segments with buildings inside it. Large compartments let a ground push snowball: once a Pekka, a Yeti or a Root Rider group gets inside, it walks from building to building without stopping, and the core falls in one push.

Small compartments do 3 jobs at once:

• They cost the attacker wall-breaking tools. Every wall the army has to open costs Wall Breakers, a Jump Spell, an Earthquake Spell or the time it takes to walk around.
• They split the army. Troops pathing to the nearest building peel off in different directions when the walls force them to pick a way around, and a split army is weaker than a grouped one.
• They buy time for point defenses. Each second a troop spends on a wall or a walk-around is a second the Inferno Towers, Scattershots or Monolith are hitting it.

What Is a Funnel and How Do You Break One?

A funnel is the path an attacker clears on both sides of their entry point so the main army walks straight into the core instead of wrapping around the outside. Attackers build funnels by killing the edge buildings on the left and right of where they plan to drop. A base breaks funnels by placing the edge buildings so that clearing them pulls the attacker's funneling troops away from the entry, or by putting a defense on the edge that punishes the troops sent to clear it.

The simplest funnel defense is a ring of outer buildings that is not perfectly even. Even spacing gives the attacker a clean line to clear. Buildings placed a little deeper at the funnel points make the funneling troops walk further in before they turn around, which is often the moment the main army arrives and follows them the wrong way.

What Is the Most Common Compartment Mistake?

The most common compartment mistake is an oversized core. Players put the Town Hall, the Clan Castle and every point defense inside 1 big central cell, so a single opened wall gives the attacker everything. Cut the core into at least 2 cells so that breaking in once is not enough. The Base Analyzer flags this as "oversized compartments" and names the push that exploits it.

Where Should Air Defenses Go in Clash of Clans?

Air Defenses in Clash of Clans should be spread so that each side of the base sits under at least 1 of them, and no 2 of them can be reached from the same entry point. Air Defense hits air troops only, and it is the building air attacks are planned around. Dragon spam, Electro Dragons, and LaLo (Lava Hound plus Balloon) all start by finding the side where Air Defense coverage is thinnest.

Two placement rules cover most bases:

1. Spread, not cluster. Air Defenses clustered near 1 side leave the opposite side uncovered. An air attack drops on the uncovered side and reaches the core before the Air Defenses get a shot. The Base Analyzer reads exactly this ("Air defenses are clustered near the top-right, leaving the bottom half uncovered") and ranks it among the most damaging weaknesses it finds.
2. 1 compartment in, not on the edge. An Air Defense on the outer ring can be killed early by a Lightning Spell drop, a Queen walk or a small group of Balloons. Placing each one 1 compartment deeper means the attacker has to commit real troops to reach it.

How Do You Defend Against Dragons?

Dragons are defended by spread Air Defenses plus splash that hits air. Dragons travel together and hit everything in front of them, so the base wants them to fly through splash on the way to each Air Defense. Wizard Towers, the Scattershot and the Inferno Tower in multi-target mode all hit air. Place them so that a Dragon group heading for any Air Defense crosses at least 1 of them first.

How Do You Defend Against LaLo?

LaLo is defended by forcing the Balloons and the Lava Hounds to split. LaLo attacks send the Lava Hounds ahead to tank the Air Defenses while the Balloons follow and destroy them. A base with Air Defenses spread across different compartments makes the Lava Hounds fan out, and Balloons that arrive without a tank in front of them die to Air Defense and splash. A cluster of Air Defenses does the opposite: 1 or 2 Lava Hounds tank all of them at once.

Should Air Sweepers and Air Traps Go Near Air Defenses?

Air Sweepers and air traps work best covering the lanes air troops take to reach the Air Defenses. The Air Sweeper pushes air troops back in the direction it faces, so pointing it along a likely air path delays the whole group. Seeking Air Mines and Air Bombs are traps, and traps are invisible to the attacker. That makes them the one part of your air defense no scout can plan around.

How Do You Get Splash Coverage Right?

Splash coverage is right when the splash defenses overlap over the core, where the attacker's troops end up grouped together. Splash defenses hit every troop in an area instead of 1 target. Wizard Towers, Bomb Towers, Mortars, the Scattershot, the Multi-Archer Tower and the Inferno Tower in multi-target mode are the main ones. Their damage scales with how many troops stand together, so they belong where troops gather: the core and the paths into it.

Three rules make splash work:

• Overlap them. A troop group inside the range of 2 splash defenses takes damage from both. Two Wizard Towers placed side by side in the core do far more work than the same 2 towers on opposite edges.
• Cover both ground and air. Mortars and Bomb Towers hit ground only. Wizard Towers and the Scattershot hit ground and air. A core with only ground splash is open to air swarms; a core with only air-capable splash loses value against mass ground.
• Keep them off the edge. A splash defense on the outer ring is killed by the first funneling troops before the main army arrives. The main army is the group it was placed to hit.

Why Does Splash Matter More Against Swarm Armies?

Splash matters more against swarm armies because swarm troops have low health each and rely on numbers. Witches and their Skeletons, Minions, and mass Barbarians and Archers all fall apart under overlapping splash. Heavy single troops like the Pekka or the Golem take splash as ordinary damage, so against them the point defenses (Inferno Tower in single-target mode, X-Bow, Monolith) carry more of the load.

Where Should You Place the Clan Castle?

The Clan Castle should sit in the center of the base, where an attacker cannot lure its troops out without first breaking into the core. The Clan Castle troops defend when an attacker's troops come into the Clan Castle's range. If that range reaches the edge of the base, the attacker sends 1 cheap troop to touch the edge, pulls the Clan Castle troops out to the corner, and kills them with a spell or a small group of troops before the real attack starts.

A central Clan Castle forces the attacker to deal with the defending troops in the middle of the attack, under the fire of every defense around them. That costs spells, hero abilities and time, which is exactly what a defense wants.

What Is a Clan Castle Lure?

A Clan Castle lure is a small early deployment meant only to pull the defending Clan Castle troops out to where the attacker can kill them cheaply. Lures are standard in war attacks and common in Ranked. The Base Analyzer reads "Clan Castle pull range" on every screenshot and flags a Clan Castle whose range reaches an edge the attacker can touch.

Can You See What Is Inside a Clan Castle?

The contents of a Clan Castle cannot be seen from a screenshot, and the Base Analyzer never claims to know them. An attacker finds out by luring, or by meeting the troops in the core. What you control in the layout is where the Clan Castle sits, and therefore how easy that lure is.

Where Should the Town Hall Go?

The Town Hall should go where the base's purpose needs it: deep in the core for War, protected and surrounded by even defenses for Ranked, and outside the walls if you like for Farming. In War and Ranked, destroying the Town Hall is worth a star by itself. An exposed or near-edge Town Hall gives the attacker 1 star for free and makes the 50% star easier too.

Why Does the Town Hall Fight Back Now?

The Town Hall fights back because from Town Hall 17 the Eagle Artillery is merged into it instead of standing on its own. A Town Hall at that level is a defense the attacker has to plan around, not only a star to collect, which makes its placement matter even more. Before Town Hall 17, the standalone Eagle Artillery is a separate building, and players usually protect it in the core next to the Town Hall.

What Is an Anti-Three-Star Layout?

An anti-three-star layout is a war layout that accepts losing the outside of the base in exchange for making the last part of the core very hard to reach. It puts the Town Hall, the Clan Castle and the strongest point defenses in different compartments of a deep core. Attackers usually reach 2 stars and run out of troops or time before the third. Anti-three-star is a War idea; in Ranked, the same layout can give up easy two-stars, which the Ranked grade counts against it.

Which Buildings Define Each Town Hall?

The buildings that define each Town Hall are the defenses that unlock at that level and change how a base has to be built around them. They are also how the Base Analyzer reads a Town Hall from a screenshot: each one sets a floor (the base is at least that Town Hall), and the standalone Eagle Artillery also sets a ceiling.

Each of these is a core-or-near-core building. When you add one after an upgrade, place it first and rearrange around it, rather than dropping it into the only empty spot on the edge. An edge X-Bow or Inferno Tower is the most common upgrade-day mistake, and the Base Analyzer reads it as Town Hall-defining evidence placed where it cannot do its job.

If you just upgraded and are still building out, the Upgrade Priority tool ranks what to build next for your Town Hall.

How Do You Test a Base Design?

You test a base design by attacking it the way it will be attacked, then fixing the weakest spot and testing again. Three tests cover most bases:

• Read it. Upload a screenshot to the Base Analyzer with your player tag. It grades the base S to D for your exact Town Hall and purpose, ranks 2 to 5 weaknesses from most damaging, names the attack that exploits each one and gives 1 layout move to fix it.
• Plan against it. Upload the same base to the Attack Planner as if it were an opponent's. The plan it gives back shows you the side and the army an attacker would pick. If that plan looks easy, the base is weak on that side.
• Watch the replays. Your defense log shows where real attackers dropped. If most of them start from the same side, that side is the one the base gives away.

Change 1 thing at a time. Moving 3 buildings and getting a better grade does not tell you which move helped, and the next weakness is easier to fix when you know what fixed the last one.

What Can a Screenshot Not Show About a Base?

A screenshot cannot show trap positions, building levels, Hidden Tesla positions or what is inside the Clan Castle. No base-reading tool can see them, and the Base Analyzer is built never to claim them. That is also true for the attacker scouting your base in war: traps are invisible to them as well, and the levels they see are only what they can guess from each building's look.

That gives you 3 design levers that work outside any layout read:

1. Traps. Giant Bombs, Spring Traps, Skeleton Traps, Tornado Traps, Air Bombs and Seeking Air Mines are hidden from every attacker. Place them in the gaps an attacker's troops will walk through: between compartments, at funnel points and on the paths to Air Defenses. A trap in a gap no troop walks through does nothing.
2. Hidden Teslas. They stay invisible until troops come close, so they turn an empty-looking gap into a defense the attacker did not plan for.
3. Building levels. A maxed point defense in a weak spot is still a weak spot, but an under-upgraded one in the core is a weaker core than it looks. The layout and the upgrades are separate problems. The analyzer judges the layout for your Town Hall and leaves the levels to you.

What Are the Most Common Base Design Mistakes?

The most common base design mistakes are the ones that hand the attacker a free first step. Five come up again and again:

Mistake 1 — Clustered Air Defenses: All Air Defenses on 1 side leave the other side open to Dragons or LaLo, and the attacker reaches the core before the Air Defenses fire. Fix: spread them so each side has 1, each 1 compartment in from the edge.

Mistake 2 — An exposed Town Hall in a War or Ranked base: A Town Hall near the edge gives 1 star for free and an easier 50%. Fix: move it into the core next to the Clan Castle. In a Farming base, leaving it outside can be a choice instead.

Mistake 3 — An oversized core: 1 big central compartment means 1 opened wall gives up everything. Fix: split the core into at least 2 cells.

Mistake 4 — An edge Clan Castle: A Clan Castle whose range reaches the edge is lured and killed with 1 troop and 1 spell. Fix: move it to the center so luring it means breaking in.

Mistake 5 — Splash on the outer ring: Splash defenses on the edge die to the funneling troops before the main army arrives. Fix: pull them in so they overlap over the core.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make a good base in Clash of Clans?

A good Clash of Clans base gets 5 things right: small compartments, spread Air Defenses, overlapping splash over the core, a central Clan Castle, and a Town Hall placed for the base's purpose. Decide first whether it is a War, Ranked or Farming base, since the 3 reward different Town Hall placements.

Where should I put my Air Defenses?

Air Defenses should be spread so each side of the base has at least 1, each placed 1 compartment in from the edge. Clustering them on 1 side leaves the other side open to Dragon and LaLo attacks.

Should the Town Hall be in the middle of a war base?

The Town Hall in a war base belongs in the core, because destroying it is worth 1 star by itself and a war attacker scouts for the easiest one. From Town Hall 17 the Eagle Artillery is merged into the Town Hall, so it is also a defense worth protecting.

Where should the Clan Castle go?

The Clan Castle should go in the center of the base, so its range does not reach an edge the attacker can touch. An edge Clan Castle is lured out with 1 troop and killed cheaply before the real attack.

Is a war base different from a Ranked base?

A war base is built to stop 1 scouted attacker from taking 3 stars, while a Ranked base is built to give up the fewest stars across many attackers. A war base accepts 2 stars to protect the core; a Ranked base counts an easy two-star as much as an easy three-star.

Can a base analyzer see my traps?

A base analyzer cannot see your traps, building levels, Hidden Teslas or Clan Castle troops, because none of them show in a screenshot. The TrophyCoach Base Analyzer reads the 5 layout jobs (Town Hall, compartments, Air Defenses, splash and Clan Castle) and takes your Town Hall from your player tag.

How many compartments should a base have?

A base should have enough compartments that a ground army has to break a wall or walk around one every few buildings, with a core split into at least 2 cells. A single large core lets 1 opened wall give up the Town Hall, the Clan Castle and the point defenses at once.