Town Hall 16 Guide: Merged Defenses, Upgrades and Bases

What changes at Town Hall 16

TH16 introduces merged defenses. A Ricochet Cannon is built by merging two level 21 Cannons, and a Multi-Archer Tower by merging two level 21 Archer Towers. You can build two of each. Merging is permanent, a Cannon or Archer Tower that has been geared up in the Builder Base cannot be used, and every merge allowed at your level must be done before you can upgrade to TH17.

The Ricochet Cannon fires at a ground target and the shot bounces to a second target within 3.5 tiles for 70% of the damage. That makes it strong against a Hero followed by a pet, or a line of Root Riders. It starts with 20% more health than the two Cannons combined. The Multi-Archer Tower hits up to three targets at once and starts with 50% more health than the two Archer Towers it replaces.

Hero Hall 10 raises caps to 95 for the King and Queen, 80 for the Minion Prince, 70 for the Warden, 45 for the Royal Champion and 15 for the Dragon Duke. The Pet House reaches level 10, adding the Spirit Fox and Angry Jelly.

New offensive units are the Thrower, a long-range ground troop that hits both ground and air; the Ruin Witch, who turns rubble into Ruin Knights (up to ten since the August 2026 update); the Troop Launcher, a stationary siege machine that fires barrels of troops at your attacking army; and the Totem Spell, which drops a high-health Totem that stuns nearby buildings and troops on landing and forces defenses to retarget. Blacksmith 9 adds the Stun Blaster and lets Epic equipment reach level 27.

Upgrade priority

Merging only works on level 21 Cannons and Archer Towers, so the first job is to finish those old defenses. Do it early: they are cheap compared with TH16 upgrades, and the merged towers are much stronger.

1. Laboratory and Hero Hall 10. Research and Heroes are the slowest parts of every Town Hall.
2. Bring two Cannons and two Archer Towers to level 21, then merge them into the Ricochet Cannons and Multi-Archer Towers.
3. Clan Castle, Army Camps and the Spell Factory, which unlocks the Totem Spell at level 9.
4. Your main attack. Research the Thrower, Root Rider or air units you actually use, plus the siege machine that carries your Clan Castle troops.
5. Pets for your main attack, then Heroes in the order your war attacks depend on them.
6. Monolith, Scattershots, Eagle Artillery, Inferno Towers and the Giga Inferno. The Eagle Artillery has to reach level 7 before you can upgrade to TH17, where it merges into the Town Hall, so do not leave it for last.
7. Merged towers, Spell Towers, remaining defenses, traps and walls.

How to choose a base at TH16

For war and Clan War League, look at where the Ricochet Cannons sit relative to the likely Hero entry. A Ricochet Cannon covering the path a Queen or Royal Champion walks will hit the Hero and bounce to the pet behind it on every shot. Multi-Archer Towers work best where several troops arrive together, such as behind a funnel or near Healers and Druids supporting a dive.

Merged defenses mean fewer, stronger buildings. A base that bunches all four merged towers in one corner leaves another side light, so prefer layouts where the new towers are spread around the core and support the Monolith, Scattershots and Eagle Artillery.

Check Spell Tower coverage as well. At TH16 many bases put a Rage Spell Tower over the Eagle Artillery, Town Hall and Inferno Towers, and a Poison or Invisibility tower near the side Heroes enter.

In Ranked Battles your chosen layout is used as a snapshot with traps armed and Heroes defending even while upgrading. Trophies are split between attacker and defender based on stars and percentage, so a base that holds damage down on two-star attacks still wins trophies. For farming, a separate layout that walls in the storages is fine.

Common attack strategies at TH16

Ground armies built around Yetis or Super Yetis with Throwers behind them are common: the tanks absorb damage while the Throwers hit from range. Defenses that punish this are splash damage placed behind the first layer of walls, Scattershots whose cone hits the Throwers lined up behind the tanks, and Giant Bombs where the army bunches up.

Root Rider armies, often led by a Royal Champion or Queen with Druids for healing, remain strong. The Monolith, Ricochet Cannons and Earthquake Spell Towers are the counters, so a base where those are reachable only after the Riders take damage is ideal.

The Ruin Witch adds pressure late in an attack. She stands still until a building is destroyed, then walks to the rubble and turns it into a Ruin Knight, so attacks that destroy many outer buildings early feed her. She cannot reach rubble sealed inside closed wall compartments, which is one more reason TH16 war bases keep valuable buildings behind intact walls.

Air armies with Dragons, Balloons and the Dragon Duke still appear, and the Totem Spell is used to stun a group of core defenses for a moment while troops close in. Bases that keep high-value defenses spaced apart, rather than in one tight cluster, reduce what a single Totem or Freeze can cover.

Farming and resources at TH16

The Town Hall holds 4,000,000 Gold, 4,000,000 Elixir and 40,000 Dark Elixir that attackers can steal, more than at TH15, so a farming base should protect it along with the storages. Farm in normal Multiplayer Battles; Ranked Battles do not take loot from the defender.

Merging needs maxed Cannons and Archer Towers, which is cheap Gold compared with new TH16 defenses, so it is a good use of Gold early in the level. Use Wall Rings as you get them, since they no longer need a free builder.

Mistakes to avoid

• Gearing up the Cannon and Archer Tower you meant to merge. Geared-up defenses cannot be merged into a Ricochet Cannon or Multi-Archer Tower.
• Leaving the merges for the end of TH16. They are required for TH17 and the merged towers improve your defense right away.
• Neglecting the Eagle Artillery. It must be at level 7 before the TH17 upgrade.
• Putting all merged towers on one side of the base.
• Running Throwers without tanks in front. They have moderate health and die to splash without cover.
• Using the Totem Spell where there is little to stun. It is most useful over a cluster of core defenses.