Hero Hall in Clash of Clans Explained: Levels, Hero Caps, and Upgrade Order

Quick answer: The Hero Hall is the building that manages and caps all 6 Clash of Clans heroes; its level rises from 1 at Town Hall 7 to 12 at Town Hall 18, and that level sets the maximum level every hero can reach.

The Hero Hall is the single building that controls every hero in Clash of Clans — all 6 of them, from the Barbarian King unlocked at Town Hall 7 to the Dragon Duke unlocked at Town Hall 15 — and its level, which climbs from 1 at TH7 to 12 at TH18, is the hard ceiling on how high each hero can be upgraded. Understanding the Hero Hall is understanding your account's entire offensive power curve, because heroes are the reusable, permanent damage that carries every attack you make. This guide lays out the Hero Hall level table, the exact per-Town-Hall hero caps, and the order you should upgrade heroes in.

What Is the Hero Hall in Clash of Clans?

The Hero Hall is a building, introduced in a late-2024 update, that consolidates all hero management into one place. Before it existed, each hero sat on its own altar spread around your base; the Hero Hall replaced those altars with a single structure that handles hero upgrades, skins, and equipment assignments, and links to the Blacksmith and Pet House.

The Hero Hall's most important function is that its level caps every hero. You cannot upgrade the Barbarian King past your Hero Hall's allowance no matter how much Dark Elixir you have — the building level gates the hero level. That makes upgrading the Hero Hall itself one of the highest-priority moves at every Town Hall, because it unlocks the next band of hero levels for your entire roster at once.

What Is the Hero Hall Level at Each Town Hall?

The Hero Hall level rises by exactly 1 with each Town Hall, from level 1 at TH7 to level 12 at TH18. Here is the full progression:

Because the Hero Hall level tracks the Town Hall one-for-one, the practical takeaway is simple: whenever you reach a new Town Hall, upgrading the Hero Hall to unlock the next band of hero levels should be near the top of your list. It is the gate that everything hero-related sits behind.

What Should You Upgrade at Each Hero Hall Level?

At each Hero Hall level you should push a specific set of heroes toward their new caps, because each level either raises existing hero ceilings or unlocks a brand-new hero. Here is the level-by-level walkthrough of what to prioritize:

The pattern across all 12 levels is consistent: when a new hero unlocks, get it to a usable level, but never at the expense of pushing your Barbarian King, Archer Queen, and — from Hero Hall level 5 — your Grand Warden toward their caps first. Those 3 heroes carry the most attacks at every stage, so they deserve your Dark Elixir before the specialists.

How Does the 2024 Hero Hall Rework Change Things?

The 2024 Hero Hall rework changed heroes from separate altars into one managed building, which centralized hero upgrades, equipment, and skins. Functionally, it made hero management cleaner and tied all heroes to a single level gate rather than to individual buildings.

One rule the rework did not change: a hero being upgraded is still unavailable for your attacks while the upgrade runs. You lose that hero from your army until the timer finishes, so hero upgrades need to be planned around when you can afford to attack without them. Because the Hero Hall gates the whole roster, many players time a Hero Hall upgrade and then push their heroes up through the newly unlocked levels in sequence.

Can Heroes Defend While They Are Upgrading?

Heroes being upgraded cannot be used for your own attacks or for standard Multiplayer defenses, but they can still defend in several game modes — Ranked Battles, Legend League, Clan Wars, and Friendly Challenges. This nuance matters because it changes when a hero upgrade actually costs you something.

The practical planning takeaway is that a hero upgrade hurts most on the offensive side. While a hero is upgrading, you attack without it, which is why timing upgrades around wars and pushes matters. On defense, the picture is softer: your upgrading heroes still stand guard in Clan Wars and Legend League, so an upgrade does not leave your war base defenseless of that hero.

Because upgrading a single hero can take a long time at high Town Halls, most players stagger their roster so they are never missing 2 key attackers at once. A common rhythm is to upgrade one of the secondary heroes — the Minion Prince, Royal Champion, or Dragon Duke — during a war week when you can spare it, and save the Barbarian King, Archer Queen, or Grand Warden upgrades for stretches when you are not relying on that hero to carry attacks. The Upgrade Priority Advisor helps you sequence these so no builder and no hero timer ever sits idle.

What Are the Hero Level Caps by Town Hall?

Each hero has a maximum level at every Town Hall, set by the Hero Hall. The Barbarian King and Archer Queen climb the highest, the Grand Warden and Minion Prince sit in the middle, and the Royal Champion and Dragon Duke — the two newest-tier heroes — cap lower because they were added later in the progression. Here is the complete cap table:

A dash means the hero is not yet unlocked at that Town Hall. Reading the table down a column shows how much a hero grows as you climb; reading across a row shows the full hero ceiling available to you at your current level. At Town Hall 18, a fully maxed account runs a level 110 Barbarian King, level 110 Archer Queen, level 95 Minion Prince, level 85 Grand Warden, level 55 Royal Champion, and level 25 Dragon Duke.

When Does Each Hero Unlock?

Each hero unlocks at a specific Town Hall, and knowing the unlock points helps you plan which heroes to prioritize as you climb. Here is the unlock map:

The Barbarian King and Archer Queen are your foundation heroes — they unlock earliest, cap highest, and appear in nearly every attack. The Grand Warden is the biggest single power spike at TH11 because its ability protects your whole army. The Royal Champion and Dragon Duke arrive late and cap lower, but they add real punch to top-Town-Hall attacks.

What Is the Best Hero Upgrade Order?

The best hero upgrade order prioritizes the heroes that appear in the most attacks and gate the most value: generally the Archer Queen and Barbarian King first, the Grand Warden as soon as it unlocks, then the others. Heroes are permanent power, so getting your most-used heroes to a usable level fast beats spreading upgrades thin across the whole roster.

A common approach is to keep at least one hero always upgrading whenever you have the Dark Elixir, prioritizing the queen and king, and slotting the others in as the Hero Hall unlocks their next band. Because upgrading a hero removes it from your army, some players deliberately time upgrades around slower stretches. For the deeper sequencing logic, see the hero upgrade order guide.

What Does Each Hero Do?

Each of the 6 heroes has a distinct role, and knowing those roles tells you why the upgrade order looks the way it does. Heroes are not interchangeable — a well-built roster covers ground damage, ranged carry, army-wide support, and defense-targeting, and the newest heroes add aerial pressure.

• Barbarian King is your ground bruiser — a durable melee hero that soaks defensive fire and cleans up buildings. Unlocked at Town Hall 7, he is the earliest hero and the front-line anchor of most ground attacks, capping at level 110 by Town Hall 18.
• Archer Queen is your ranged carry — high single-target damage from a safe distance, capable of carrying an attack almost by herself when well-supported. Unlocked at Town Hall 8, she caps at level 110, matching the Barbarian King as the highest-ceiling hero.
• Minion Prince is a flexible support hero unlocked at Town Hall 9. He fills gaps in your roster and caps at level 95 by Town Hall 18, sitting a tier below the king and queen.
• Grand Warden is your army-wide support, unlocked at Town Hall 11. His aura ability protects your entire army — often the single biggest offensive power spike in the game — and he can be set to walk on the ground or fly over the base. He caps at level 85.
• Royal Champion targets defenses directly, unlocked at Town Hall 13. She is a specialist at tearing down the structures that matter most, and caps at level 55 by Town Hall 18.
• Dragon Duke is the aerial hero, unlocked at Town Hall 15 and released March 1, 2026. He fights from the air and becomes enraged — dealing massively increased damage and taking half damage from traps — when no other flying troops are nearby. He caps at level 25, the lowest ceiling because he is the newest addition.

This role spread is exactly why the upgrade order favors the Barbarian King, Archer Queen, and Grand Warden: they appear in the most attacks and provide the broadest value. The Royal Champion and Dragon Duke are powerful specialists that round out a strong roster once the core three are established.

How Does Hero Equipment Fit With the Hero Hall?

Hero equipment is gear that changes each hero's abilities, and the Hero Hall is where you assign it because the Hero Hall links to the Blacksmith. Equipment is a separate upgrade track from hero levels — it uses 3 ore currencies (Shiny, Glowy, and Starry Ore) rather than Dark Elixir — so a hero has two things to grow: its level, capped by the Hero Hall, and its equipped gear, upgraded with ores.

This matters for planning because your heroes get stronger on two axes at once. A returning or newer player should not treat equipment as optional — swapping and upgrading gear can change a hero's role entirely. The hero equipment guide covers which pieces to prioritize and how to spend your rarest Starry Ore.

Why Is the Hero Hall So Important to Prioritize?

The Hero Hall is worth prioritizing because it is the single gate on your entire hero roster's ceiling. Upgrading it does not just help one hero — it raises the maximum level for every hero at once, so a Hero Hall upgrade is one of the highest-leverage builder-uses at every Town Hall.

The logic mirrors the offense-first principle that runs through all Clash of Clans progression: heroes are reusable, permanent power that improves every attack forever, and the Hero Hall is the key that unlocks more of that power. Neglecting the Hero Hall bottlenecks all 6 heroes simultaneously, which is why rushed accounts so often feel weak — their heroes are stuck below what their Town Hall could support. To get a ranked, account-specific view of whether your Hero Hall and heroes are behind, run your player tag through the Upgrade Priority Advisor.

Another way to see the Hero Hall's leverage is to compare it to a single defense upgrade. Upgrading one Cannon or Archer Tower helps only when an attacker happens to strike that exact building; upgrading the Hero Hall raises the ceiling on all 6 heroes, and every level you then add to a hero improves every attack you make from that point forward. That is why experienced players treat a Hero Hall upgrade as a near-automatic priority the moment a new Town Hall makes it available — the return compounds across your entire attacking career, not a single defended raid. The only real reason to delay a Hero Hall upgrade is a temporary one, such as finishing a critical Laboratory or hero level already in progress, or holding a builder for a specific war window when you cannot afford to lose a hero to its upgrade timer.

How Should You Level Heroes Through a Hero Hall Upgrade?

Level heroes through a Hero Hall upgrade by treating the upgrade as a gate that opens a new band of levels, then pushing your priority heroes up through that band in sequence. When you upgrade the Hero Hall — say from level 5 at Town Hall 11 to level 6 at Town Hall 12 — your caps jump for every hero at once: the Barbarian King and Archer Queen both rise from 50 to 65, the Grand Warden from 20 to 40, and the Minion Prince from 30 to 40. That is a large pool of new levels to work through.

The efficient pattern is to keep at least one hero upgrading with Dark Elixir at all times, prioritizing the Archer Queen and Barbarian King toward their new caps first, then the Grand Warden, then the rest. Because a hero is unavailable during its upgrade, stagger them so you are never missing two key attackers at once during a war. Some players deliberately push a hero the last few levels to its cap during a quieter stretch, then start the next hero.

The mistake to avoid is upgrading the Hero Hall and then leaving those newly unlocked levels unfilled for weeks. The Hero Hall upgrade only pays off once your heroes actually climb into the band it opened — an idle Dark Elixir stockpile behind an unlocked cap is wasted offensive power. Run your tag through the Upgrade Priority Advisor to see exactly how many hero levels you are currently leaving on the table.

Worked Example: A Town Hall 13 Player's Hero Hall Decisions

Consider a Town Hall 13 player whose Hero Hall is at level 7, which sets these caps: Barbarian King 75, Archer Queen 75, Minion Prince 50, Grand Warden 50, and the newly unlocked Royal Champion at 25. Suppose this player's actual hero levels are King 60, Queen 55, Prince 30, Warden 40, and Champion 0 — a common uneven spread. What should they do?

The correct sequence follows the priority order. First, push the Archer Queen from 55 toward her cap of 75, because she is the highest-impact carry and sits furthest below her ceiling. Second, bring the Barbarian King from 60 to 75 to anchor the ground game. Third, take the Grand Warden from 40 to 50, since his army-wide ability is worth more than any specialist level. Only then start the Royal Champion — she is powerful against defenses but a level 0 Champion is a lower priority than closing the 20-level gap on the Queen. The Minion Prince, at 30 against a cap of 50, comes last.

The reasoning is not simply "close the biggest gap first" — the Royal Champion has the largest gap at 25 levels but ranks 4th, because hero value matters more than raw level count. A level 60 Archer Queen in every attack is worth more than starting a brand-new hero. This player should keep one hero upgrading with Dark Elixir at all times in this order, staggering so they never lose 2 of the King, Queen, and Warden at once during a war. Once these are maxed for the level, upgrading the Hero Hall alongside the Town Hall move to TH14 unlocks the next band — King and Queen to 85, Warden to 60, Champion to 30 — and the process repeats.

What Are Common Hero Hall Mistakes?

Mistake 1 — leaving the Hero Hall behind your Town Hall. Impact: significant. An under-leveled Hero Hall caps every hero below what your Town Hall allows, weakening all 6 heroes at once. Upgrade it promptly at each new Town Hall.

Mistake 2 — spreading hero upgrades too thin. Impact: significant. Upgrading all heroes a little leaves none at a usable level. Focus the Archer Queen and Barbarian King first.

Mistake 3 — ignoring hero equipment. Impact: significant. Hero level is only half the picture; unupgraded gear leaves large power on the table. Grow both level and equipment.

Mistake 4 — upgrading a needed hero at the wrong time. Impact: small. A hero is unavailable during its upgrade, so upgrading your key attacker right before a war hurts. Time upgrades around when you can spare the hero.

Mistake 5 — rushing Town Halls past your Hero Hall. Impact: significant. Jumping Town Halls without leveling heroes creates a roster stuck far below its cap. Max your heroes before pushing up.

How Do You Use This With the Rest of Your Account?

Use the Hero Hall as the anchor of your offense plan. Once you know your hero caps and upgrade order, connect them to the rest of your progression: the upgrade priority guide shows where heroes sit against the Laboratory and defenses, the hero upgrade order guide sequences the roster, and the hero equipment guide covers the gear layer.

If you are returning to the game and the Hero Hall is new to you, start with the returning player guide, and if you are brand new, the beginner guide covers the fundamentals first. The fastest single action is running your tag through the Upgrade Priority Advisor to see exactly how far behind your Hero Hall and heroes are.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Hero Hall do in Clash of Clans?

The Hero Hall is the building that manages all 6 heroes and caps each hero's maximum level. Its level rises from 1 at Town Hall 7 to 12 at Town Hall 18, and that level sets the ceiling for every hero, so upgrading the Hero Hall raises all your heroes' caps at once.

What is the max Hero Hall level in Clash of Clans?

The maximum Hero Hall level is 12, reached at Town Hall 18. At that level a maxed account can run a level 110 Barbarian King, level 110 Archer Queen, level 95 Minion Prince, level 85 Grand Warden, level 55 Royal Champion, and level 25 Dragon Duke.

What is the max Barbarian King level in Clash of Clans?

The Barbarian King caps at level 110 at Town Hall 18. It unlocks at Town Hall 7 with a cap of 10 and climbs through 50 at TH11, 75 at TH13, 90 at TH15, and 100 at TH17 before reaching 110.

When do you unlock the Grand Warden?

You unlock the Grand Warden at Town Hall 11, where it caps at level 20. It is often considered the biggest single hero power spike because its ability protects your whole army, and it can be set to walk on the ground or fly over the base.

What are the max Royal Champion and Dragon Duke levels?

The Royal Champion caps at level 55 and the Dragon Duke caps at level 25, both at Town Hall 18. The Royal Champion unlocks at Town Hall 13 with a cap of 25, while the Dragon Duke unlocks at Town Hall 15 with a cap of 10 — both cap lower than the level-110 Barbarian King and Archer Queen because they were added later in the progression.

Should I upgrade the Hero Hall or my heroes first?

Upgrade the Hero Hall first when it is capping your heroes, because its level gates every hero's maximum. Once the Hero Hall unlocks a new band of hero levels, push your most-used heroes — usually the Archer Queen and Barbarian King — up through it.

Which hero should I upgrade first in Clash of Clans?

Upgrade the Archer Queen and Barbarian King first, because they appear in the most attacks and unlock earliest. Add the Grand Warden as soon as it unlocks at Town Hall 11, then the Royal Champion, Minion Prince, and Dragon Duke as your roster strengthens.

Can you use heroes while they are upgrading?

Heroes being upgraded are unavailable for your attacks until the upgrade finishes, so you temporarily lose them from your army. Plan hero upgrades around stretches when you can attack without that hero, and use the Upgrade Priority Advisor to sequence them.