To TH-9 or Not - That is the Question

[ArchFiend]

Ok fellow Clashers! Here is the issue....... please bare with me as I describe some background.

I am at TH-8 and nearly everything is maxed, the only thing remaining is Tesla's, Barracks, Tier 3 troops and Dark Troops and my pumps/mines (I can not make Golems yet ) . 80% of my walls are lvl-7 (Purple Crystal) and the other 20% are lvl-8 (Skulls - Black Crystal)..... I upgrade these when I can.
I am the Clan Leader of a small Clan (only 12) and there are 3 of us (all TH-8) are the highest and donate all the best troops we can for War Base defenses and raiding. I wanted to go to TH-9 so I can build a better base and provide even better troops for WAR and Resource raiding.

However lately I have had second thoughts.

• My concern is Loot Penalty for attacking lower TH's (7 or 8), does it have a big impact?
• How difficult is it to raid in higher League's? I have gone up to Crystal 2, but there was a large dry area where my average raid was 120-170K in resources (not good)...... I dropped back down to Silver 1 and Gold 3, the Raids are easier and my personal best is in Silver 1 with 950K combined resources.
• Obviously in lower Leagues, DE is hard to find..... I very rarely steal 1,000 or more. Usually in the hundreds..... and of course as soon as I build up any DE (over 15K) I get raided more and more.

I would really like to hear from fellow Clashers that made the TH-9 leap and can speak from experience..... the Pro's and Con's.

Do I go for it and go to TH-9 ? This is to also aid my Clan with troop donations.
If I am TH-9, how important is it to go up in Leagues ?
What is the suggested Trophy count for a TH-9 ?
Or would I be better off staying at TH-8 and just continue the upgrades?


Any feedback is much appreciated.

[dave5872]

You will have to go up to at least 1800 b/c of the loot penalty. Go up there for a while and see how much you are offered while searching. Keep in mind that after you have been there long enough to get your offense upgraded (1-3 months depending on how often you play), you will be able impose your will mightily on the TH8s.

[BigPapiSolis]

Do I go for it and go to TH-9 ? This is to also aid my Clan with troop donations.

The troops you gain going to TH9 are lvl 6 barbs, archers, bloons, giants for elixir and max hogs and witches that are DE. Those would be the beneficial troops to donate to your clan as a TH9.

If I am TH-9, how important is it to go up in Leagues ?

As a new TH9 you try to stay where the good TH8's are at so around gold 2-3 and then as you get your troops/defenses upgraded go up to Gold 1 or Crystal 3.

Or would I be better off staying at TH-8 and just continue the upgrades?
In order to donate those troops you are going to need to upgrade DE barracks and make sure you have all other barracks to at least one or two at 10 for pekkas and the rest 9. You do notice a loot difference going from TH8 to TH9 so the more stuff you can upgrade at TH8 the easier TH9 will become.

As far as staying at TH8 or going to TH9 it really matters what is important to you and how much you play the game. More active players can make the jump earlier since raiding a lot is not a big a problem as getting bored can be. The upgrades start getting expensive at TH9 so the less work you have to catch up would be more ideal but it's up to what you want to do.

[dave5872]

please bare with me

By the way, this is an invitation to undress.

[ILoveC0c]

what TH levels do you loot on the reg?

if they are mostly TH7, then do not upgrade. If they are TH8, then it you can upgrade if you want to.

Loot penalty for TH of your level minus one is 10%, if they are 2 levels lower, it is a penalty of 50% (I think these numbers are right but if not someone else will chime in).

For example:
If you are TH8 and raided a TH7 for 300k gold and 300k elixir. If you raided that same base as a TH9, you would only get 150k gold and 150k elixir.

[RollTide1995]

Loot penalty for TH of your level minus one is 10%, if they are 2 levels lower, it is a penalty of 50% (I think these numbers are right but if not someone else will chime in).

Yea these numbers are correct

[RollTide1995]

I am on the way to maxing TH8, and since you need much more gold (around 225m) than elixir to max at TH8, I am going to upgrade my town hall after my barb king is maxed, and after I have done all of my elixir upgrades. It sounds like you are getting pretty close to those marks

[Trogdor99]

Do I go for it and go to TH-9 ? This is to also aid my Clan with troop donations.

Papi covered this pretty well, but do consider the ones you upgrade first. Max barb and arch both take 14 days in the labso I'm doing those last. What I am upgrading to max are loons and giants as they only have a 10 day cook time and give a bigger bang for your buck HP/DMG wise and are a bit cheaper. Max hogs and Witches will also greatly help your clanmates in wars, at your clan's level two max witches in all/most their CCs could prove bothersome for your opponents.
If I am TH-9, how important is it to go up in Leagues ?
As a TH9 you don't need to worry about what league you need to farm in changing too much. Instead of farming high silver 1 to low gold 3 as a TH8 you just go up a little and farm in mid-high gold 2 and low gold 1, or even low crystal 3 if you're looking for more DE. I've even had success finding good collector raids in mid gold 3 as a th9 from time to time.

What is the suggested Trophy count for a TH-9 ?
See above.

Or would I be better off staying at TH-8 and just continue the upgrades?
The main thing I tell a lot of my clanmates is this: if your defenses are decent and your offense is maxed or near maxed (at least as far as farming troops) then don't fret about moving up to th9. A lot of my clanmates still go off the mantra of 'I MUST max EVERYTHING at TH8 before I go to TH9' which just seems silly to me. I upgraded to TH9 a bit early, and by the time they upgrade to TH9 with their maxed TH8 buildings/troops I'll have the same thing if not better. My main consideration when I went to TH9 were the following things: I could upgrade all my camps and up my army space from 200 to 220, great for raiding and for CW. I could get a second DE drill and max both as well as max my de storage. I could upgrade my spell factory, get a fourth spell and unlock jump spell. I could max my dark barracks and unlock witches. Overall, sure, I'll get my defenses caught up and eventually maxed for TH9, but while they're waiting and maxing for TH8 I'll be at the same level just with a much stronger offense.

[BigPapiSolis]

Good post trogdor. ^^^

I did giants first and then bloons over barbs and archers just like you said and it has been paying off.

lvl 6 giants are tanks and lvl 6 bloons are beasts

[Misthaufen]

I have two th9 accounts, one on my phone and one on my ipad. They were about equal at th8. After I maxed defenses besides archers (but not every barracks or wall), I took my phone account, I took the leap to th9. I kept my ipad account as a th8 and finished all the defenses and all but one pekka barracks, but didn't get the walls done. So my ipad account stayed at th9 for almost an extra month.

My opinion is don't max th8. Th9 is so much better. Archer Queen, xbows, extra wiz tower and AD, bigger camps, better troops, more spells, etc.

I was mostly raiding th8 bases as a th8, going after storages and DE. It didn't change as a th9. Life is great and I am looking at finishing my defenses soon.

I am so glad I saved the archer towers on my phone account--it gave me cheap upgrades.