Quick answer: at Town Hall 17, start the Laboratory first, then the Hero Hall, Clan Castle and Army Camp, and place the new Firespitter and Giga Bomb the same day. After that, keep one builder on heroes at all times (Archer Queen and Grand Warden first), upgrade the big defences next, and leave walls and small traps for last.
That order works for most accounts, but it is not the same for everyone. A war player, a farmer and a Legend League pusher should each bend it a little, and this guide shows where. Everything below is for a Town Hall 17 you want to max, not rush through.
Updated September 2026. Max levels checked against current game data: Barbarian King and Archer Queen 100, Minion Prince 90, Grand Warden 75, Royal Champion 50 and Dragon Duke 20.
What changes when you reach Town Hall 17
Town Hall 17 is not just higher numbers. The Town Hall itself changes job, and two new pieces go straight onto your defence.
- Inferno Artillery. Your Town Hall and Eagle Artillery merge into one Town Hall weapon. It fires four projectiles at once at different targets, and each one leaves a patch of damage over time that hits ground and air troops. The Town Hall no longer drops a death bomb when it falls.
- Firespitter. A new aimed defence. Like the Air Sweeper, you choose a direction and it covers a cone. Its fire rate is very fast but not precise, so shots that miss can hit the troops behind the target.
- Giga Bomb. A new trap that attackers can see before they deploy. It hits hard across a wide area and knocks troops back, so its job is to shape the attack: attackers have to route around it, and that path is one you chose.
- Thrower and Revive Spell. The Thrower is a long-range Elixir troop with high hitpoints. The Revive Spell puts a fallen hero back into the fight, and you can cast it on the same hero again if they fall a second time.
- Added since launch: the Meteor Golem troop, the Sneezy pet and the Sky Wagon siege machine can all be levelled at Town Hall 17 now.
The new pieces cost nothing to place, so drop the Firespitter and Giga Bomb into your base on day one. An empty slot helps nobody.
Day one: what each builder should start
The first hour after the upgrade matters most, because these first jobs are long and everything else waits on them.
| Builder | Start this | Why first |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laboratory to level 15 | Research is your longest queue at every Town Hall. Every day the Lab is not running is a day added to maxing. |
| 2 | Hero Hall to level 11 | Hero levels are capped by the Hero Hall. Until it is upgraded, your heroes cannot go past their Town Hall 16 caps. |
| 3 | Clan Castle to level 13 | More room for donated troops and spells makes every war attack stronger, straight away. |
| 4 | Army Camp to level 13 | More housing space helps every attack you make, war or farming. |
| 5 | First hero upgrade (Archer Queen or Grand Warden) | From here on, one builder should always be on a hero. |
| 6 (if you have it) | Blacksmith or Pet House | Equipment and pets make heroes stronger without taking a hero offline. |
If your Helper Hut is set up, use the Lab Assistant from day one as well. It adds research time every day, which adds up over a long Town Hall.
TH17 upgrade priority, in four phases
Phase 1: offence (the first few weeks)
Laboratory, Hero Hall, Clan Castle, Army Camp, then Blacksmith and Pet House. The logic is simple: offence upgrades pay off in every attack from the day they finish, while one defence upgrade changes very little on its own.
Phase 2: heroes, without stopping
Keep one builder on heroes for the whole of Town Hall 17, and never have all your main heroes down at once if you war. See the hero order below.
Phase 3: the big defences
Once offence is under way, move to the defences that decide attacks at this level: the Inferno Artillery, Firespitter, Monolith, Scattershots, Inferno Towers, X-Bows, Spell Towers, the Multi-Archer Tower and the Ricochet Cannon. These are the buildings attackers plan their whole attack around, so each level on them makes a real difference.
Phase 4: cleanup
Point defences (Cannons, Archer Towers, Mortars, Wizard Towers, Air Defences), traps, storages, and walls, which go up to level 18. Spend spare resources on walls whenever a storage is about to fill.
Change the order to fit how you play
| You mostly... | Move up | Can wait |
|---|---|---|
| War and CWL | Heroes (keep them available on war days), Clan Castle, the Laboratory for your war army, then the Inferno Artillery and Firespitter | Storages, collectors, walls |
| Farm | Army Camp, the Laboratory for your farming army, and heroes one at a time so you can keep attacking | Defences that only matter in war, walls beyond what spare loot covers |
| Push trophies or play Legend League | The defences that decide top-level attacks: Inferno Artillery, Monolith, Scattershots, Firespitter and Spell Towers | Storages and anything that only helps loot |
Whichever you pick, the Laboratory and one hero builder stay busy. That part does not change.
Hero upgrade order at TH17
The Hero Hall goes to level 11 at Town Hall 17. With one builder always on a hero, this is the order that keeps your attacks strongest while you level:
| Order | Hero | Max at TH17 | Why here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Archer Queen |
100 | She leads most strong attacks at this level. A weaker Queen makes every attack harder. |
| 2 |  Grand Warden |
75 | His ability can save an attack at the key moment, and it scales with his level. |
| 3 |  Minion Prince |
90 | A flying hero that damages and weakens defences from above. It fits most armies. |
| 4 |  Royal Champion |
50 | Strong at taking out defences in a line, especially late in an attack. |
| 5 |  Barbarian King |
100 | Useful on the ground, but he usually carries attacks less than the Queen does. |
| 6 |  Dragon Duke |
20 | He has only 20 levels, so he catches up quickly. If your main army is air, move him up. |
The one rule that matters more than the order: if you war, never have your two main heroes upgrading at the same time. A war attack with the Queen and Warden both down is an attack you have already lost.
Equipment: upgrade what you actually use
Levelling hero equipment makes a hero stronger without taking them offline, which makes the Blacksmith one of the best upgrades at Town Hall 17. Put ore into the two pieces each hero uses in your main army, not into everything. These are the pairs used in every TH17 army on ClashBuilder:
| Hero | Level these first |
|---|---|
| Archer Queen |
 Frozen Arrow and  Healer Puppet |
| Grand Warden |
 Eternal Tome and  Fireball |
| Minion Prince |
 Dark Crown and  Henchmen Puppet |
| Royal Champion |
 Seeking Shield and  Rocket Spear |
| Barbarian King |
 Giant Gauntlet and  Rage Vial |
| Dragon Duke |
 Fire Heart and  Stun Blaster |
If you do not own an epic piece yet, level the best common one that hero has instead, such as Giant Arrow for the Queen. The rule is the same: a hero a few levels lower with maxed main equipment usually hits harder than a higher-level hero with weak equipment.
Pets: pair them with the right hero
A pet follows one hero into every attack, so a levelled pet is extra strength for your most-used hero. Upgrade the Pet House to level 11 early (it is in the day-one table above), then level the pets of your two main heroes before the rest. These are the pairings used across ClashBuilder's TH17 armies:
| Hero | Pet | Max at TH17 |
|---|---|---|
| Archer Queen |
 Phoenix |
10 |
| Grand Warden |
 Spirit Fox |
10 |
| Minion Prince |
 Sneezy |
10 |
| Royal Champion |
 Diggy |
10 |
| Barbarian King |
 Frosty |
15 |
| Dragon Duke |
 Unicorn |
15 |
Sneezy is the newest pet you can level at Town Hall 17. If the Minion Prince is in your main army, bring it up with him; if not, it can wait behind the Queen's and Warden's pets.
Laboratory priority
The Lab should never be idle at Town Hall 17. Research in this order:
- The troops in your main attack. Whatever you attack with most, war or farming, gets researched first. One army at full strength beats three half-levelled ones.
- The spells in that attack, starting with the ones you use in every attack.
Revive Spell to level 4, if you use it. Bringing a hero back is often worth more than an extra troop.
Thrower to level 3, if it is in your army. Long range and high hitpoints make it easy to fit in.
Meteor Golem to level 2, if it is part of your attack.- Your siege machine, the one you actually bring.
- Clan Castle troops you donate or receive often.
- Everything else, when the list above is done.
Armies to attack with while you upgrade
Your army decides your Laboratory order, so pick it first, then research only what it uses. Three TH17 armies from ClashBuilder, each with a link that loads it straight into the game:
Queen Charge Hybrid (war and CWL): the Queen and Healers open a side, then 18 Hog Riders and 30 Miners sweep the core. Research Hog Riders, Miners and Healing Spells first.
Root Rider Thrower (war, beginner friendly): 12 Root Riders tank and break walls while 6 Throwers hit from behind. It uses the new Thrower, so it gives that research a purpose.
Zap Lalo (air, war and trophy pushing): Lightning clears the Air Defences, then 3 Lava Hounds, 40 Balloons and 25 Minions take the base. With an air army, move the Minion Prince and Dragon Duke up your hero order.
There are more on the Town Hall 17 armies page, including a Meteor Golem Smash built around the new Meteor Golem, or you can build your own in the Army Builder, which checks camp, spell and siege capacity as you go. Pick one army for war and one for farming, and research for those two until they are finished.
Where to use magic items at TH17
- Book of Heroes / Book of Building / Book of Fighting: save them for the longest upgrades, such as the last hero levels, the Laboratory and the big defences. A book on a short upgrade is a book wasted.
- Hammers: use them on the upgrade that is blocking everything else, often the Hero Hall or Laboratory.
- Builder and Research Potions: use them when every builder is on a long upgrade, so the potion speeds up as much as possible at once.
- Wall Rings: use them on walls once the rest of the base is well ahead.
You are ready for Town Hall 18 when...
- All six heroes are at, or close to, their Town Hall 17 max.
- The Laboratory has finished your main war and farming armies and their spells.
- The Inferno Artillery, Firespitter, Monolith, Scattershots and Inferno Towers are maxed.
- Clan Castle, Army Camps and the Hero Hall are maxed.
- Whatever is left is walls, small point defences and traps.
When you get there, you can see what Town Hall 18 bases look like before you commit.
5 common TH17 upgrade mistakes
- Leaving the Laboratory idle. Even a single day adds up over a whole Town Hall.
- Taking both main heroes down together. Your war attacks drop to half strength until they come back.
- Upgrading every hero equally. Two strong carry heroes are worth more than six average ones.
- Spreading ore across all equipment. Level the pieces you use; the rest can wait.
- Walls before defences. Walls are for spare resources, not for the loot your next big defence needs.
Protect your upgrades with the right base
While your base is upgrading, the right layout protects your loot and your stars. Pick by what you do most: TH17 war bases for Clan Wars and CWL, TH17 farming bases to keep loot safe, or TH17 Legend League bases for trophy pushing. Every one has a copy link. For what makes a TH17 layout hold, read our guide to the best TH17 bases.
