Quick answer: Crafted Defenses Season 4 opened August 1, 2026 with three new defenses — Cake-A-Pult, Hero Hunter and Hot Candle — available from Town Hall 11 this season. Each starts at Level 3 with three independently upgradeable modules (each module levels 1 to 10, taking a defense to Level 30), all keep defending while upgrading, and you can switch between them at any time. The current Crafting Phase runs to roughly the end of December 2026, so this set is your defensive furniture for about five months rather than one.
The Crafting Station opened on August 1, 2026 with three new Crafted Defenses — Cake-A-Pult, Hero Hunter and Hot Candle — available from Town Hall 11 this season, which is lower than the usual gate as a 14th-Clashiversary concession. Each starts at Level 3 with exactly three upgrade modules that upgrade independently from level 1 to level 10 (defense Level 3 to Level 30), each paid in Gold, Elixir or Dark Elixir depending on the module, with build times from 4 hours at the first level to 10 days at the top and 67 days 13 hours to max one defense. All three share a base of 1,600 hitpoints. The current Crafting Phase timer reads about 149 days from the start of August, placing the phase end around the end of December 2026 — so this is a five-month decision, not a monthly novelty.
What Are the Three Crafted Defenses?
| Defense | Hitpoints | Damage | Third module | Flavor text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Candle | 1,600 | DPS 80 per flame | Seconds Active: 95 (melt threshold) | "Goes blow for blow with any troop!" |
| Hero Hunter | 1,600 | DPS 145 (290 vs heroes) | Poison spell level: 3 | "Heroes are dealt a bad hand." |
| Cake-A-Pult | 1,600 | Damage per hit: 195 (2.5-tile splash) | Explosion Damage: 400 (delayed bomb) | "Face-seeking Frosting!" |
All values above are the Level 3 starting stats, read from the in-game panels on 2026-08-03 and cross-checked against the Clash of Clans Wiki's per-level tables. Supercell's blog posts publish no stat table for these, so if you have seen numbers elsewhere, check where they came from.
Each defense has three modules and you choose which to upgrade; each module runs from level 1 to level 10. Two are always Hitpoints and Damage; the third is what makes each defense distinct.
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The third module is the whole decision, because Hitpoints and Damage are common to all three.
Hot Candle — the one that melts as the clock runs
Seconds Active: 95. This is the most misread number in the set, so read it precisely: it is not a shut-off timer, and the Hot Candle keeps firing for the whole attack.
The Seconds Active module sets the candle's melt thresholds. At level 1 it hits 6 targets for the first 59 seconds of the attack, 4 targets from 60 to 94 seconds, and 3 targets from 95 seconds onward — at 80 DPS per flame throughout. So a fresh candle is worth 480 DPS spread across six troops, and the same candle after the 95-second mark is worth 240 DPS across three.
The planning consequence: the earlier troops reach it, the more of it they meet. Placed where the first wave arrives inside the opening minute, it burns six troops at once during the funnel; buried in a core that attackers reach at two minutes, it is the 3-flame version by the time it matters. It still fires — it is simply a weaker building late than early.
That makes Hot Candle the most placement-sensitive defense in the set, and a candidate for the outer ring rather than the core.
Hero Hunter — the anti-Queen-Charge pick
Poison spell level 3, and DPS 145 — the highest sustained damage of the three.
Hero Hunter poisons every ground and air unit it hits — it fires from 9.5 tiles at a 0.6-second attack speed — but heroes are its favourite target and take 2× damage: 290 DPS on a hero at level 1 against 145 on anything else. That matters far more than the headline number suggests. Modern high-Town-Hall attacks are built around hero funnels: Queen Charges, hero dives, Warden walks. A defense that retargets onto heroes and doubles its output against them degrades the exact part of an attack that most compositions depend on, and the level-3 Poison it applies on top slows and ticks through the ability windows heroes rely on.
If you expect Queen Charge or hero-dive attacks — which is to say, if you are at TH13 and above — Hero Hunter is the default pick.
Cake-A-Pult — the splash option
Damage per hit 195, plus Explosion Damage 400. The flavor text calls it "Face-seeking Frosting," and the two-part damage profile is what to plan around. The cake itself lands every 3 seconds from 3 to 12 tiles and deals 195 damage in a 2.5-tile splash to ground or air. It then leaves a bomb behind that detonates after a 3-second delay for 400 damage, hitting ground and air.
Both halves splash, so the value is against grouped troops rather than single targets — and the delayed bomb punishes armies that keep walking through the landing spot. Against mass compositions where troops arrive in a clump, that 400 is doing far more work than the 195.
How Do Crafted Defenses Work?
Supercell's system rules, verbatim from the in-game screens:
- "You can switch between them anytime" — the choice is not permanent within a phase. If Hero Hunter is not earning its slot against the attacks you actually face, swap it.
- "Strategize by choosing which stats to upgrade! Crafted Defenses will defend even while upgrading" — unusual and important. Almost every other building in Clash of Clans is offline while it upgrades. These are not, so there is no defensive downside to starting an upgrade.
- "Defenses last until a Crafting Phase ends. A new set is released with the next phase" — a Crafted Defense is scoped to its phase, not permanent.
- Normally available only at the highest Town Hall level (currently TH18); the Crafting Station was opened to Town Hall 11 for this season on August 1, 2026.
A Defense Overview screen also exists, showing your current set.
How Should You Sequence the Upgrades?
Because the modules upgrade independently — 4 hours at the first level, stretching to 10 days at the top (Hot Candle's Damage level 10), and 67 days 13 hours to max a defense — and the defense keeps working while upgrading, there is no reason to wait for a quiet moment: the calendar, not gold, is what runs out.
Start on August 1, not in September. With a phase ending around the end of December, upgrades started early compound across roughly five months of war and ladder defense. Upgrades started late do not.
Upgrade the distinctive module first. Hitpoints and Damage are the same on every defense — they are what you would get from any building. The third module is the reason you chose this defense over the other two, so it is the module with the highest marginal value.
Do not spread across all three defenses. You can switch anytime, but upgrades are per-module and gold is finite. Pick the one that matches the attacks that actually three-star you and invest there.
Match the pick to your attackers, not to the tier list. If your war log is full of hero-led attacks, Hero Hunter. If it is mass-troop compositions, Cake-A-Pult. If your base funnels attackers into a specific early corridor, Hot Candle meets them at its 6-flame strongest.
Is This a One-Month Event?
No, and this is the most common misreading. This is Crafted Defenses Season 4, a recurring rotation, and the in-game Crafting Phase timer places this phase's end at roughly the end of December 2026.
Two consequences:
- The investment horizon is about five months. Treating these like a monthly event and skipping them means going without three defensive buildings for most of the rest of the year.
- A new set arrives with the next phase. Whatever you build now does not carry forward — Supercell's own wording is that "defenses last until a Crafting Phase ends."
For the rest of the August calendar — Clash of Cards, the Awesome Medal Event, the August 9–10 mass-troop window — see the August 2026 season guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Town Hall do you need for Crafted Defenses in August 2026?
Town Hall 11 and above. Supercell describes the three new defenses as available "starting from TH 11" this season, which is lower than the usual Crafted Defenses gate — a 14th-Clashiversary concession rather than a permanent change.
What are the three new Crafted Defenses?
Cake-A-Pult (195 splash damage per hit plus a 400-damage delayed bomb), Hero Hunter (DPS 145, 290 against heroes, level-3 Poison module) and Hot Candle (DPS 80 per flame, 6 targets down to 3 as the attack passes 60 and 95 seconds). All three start at Level 3 with 1,600 hitpoints and three independently upgradeable modules.
What does "Total Seconds Active: 95" mean on Hot Candle?
It is a melt threshold, not a shut-off timer. At level 1 the Hot Candle hits 6 targets for the first 59 seconds of an attack, 4 targets from 60 to 94 seconds, and 3 targets from 95 seconds onward, at 80 DPS per flame throughout. It keeps firing all raid; it is simply strongest against troops that reach it early.
Which Crafted Defense is best?
It depends on the attacks you face. Hero Hunter is the default at TH13 and above, because it prioritises heroes and deals them 2× damage (290 DPS at level 1) with a level-3 Poison on top, degrading Queen Charges and hero dives that most high-Town-Hall compositions depend on. Cake-A-Pult is stronger against grouped mass-troop attacks thanks to its 2.5-tile splash and 400-damage delayed bomb. Hot Candle rewards a base that funnels attackers past it inside the first 60 seconds, while it still has 6 flames.
Do Crafted Defenses work while upgrading?
Yes. Supercell states explicitly that "Crafted Defenses will defend even while upgrading," which is unusual — almost every other building goes offline during an upgrade. There is no defensive cost to starting one.
Can you switch between Crafted Defenses?
Yes — "you can switch between them anytime." The choice is not locked in for the phase, so a defense that is not earning its slot can be swapped.
How long do Crafted Defenses last?
Until the current Crafting Phase ends: "a new set is released with the next phase." The in-game timer places this phase's end at roughly the end of December 2026, so the August 2026 set is about a five-month asset.
How long do Crafted Defense modules take to upgrade?
From 4 hours at level 1 to 10 days at level 10, paid in Gold, Elixir or Dark Elixir depending on the module; maxing all three modules of one Season 4 defense totals 67 days 13 hours. Each module upgrades independently, so you can prioritise the one that makes your chosen defense distinctive rather than levelling all three evenly.