Clash of Clans Balance Changes - Dragon Duke, Ruin Witch & More

Clash of Clans is getting a round of balance changes, announced by Supercell on October 17, 2026. The goal is to bring some of the strongest options back in line and give troops and equipment that have fallen behind a bit of a boost.

Supercell says the numbers come from TH18 attacks against TH18 bases in Clan Wars and CWL over the last four weeks. We will go over every change below, from Dragon Duke's equipment to the underused troops, along with the reasons Supercell gave.

Clash of Clans Balance Changes Highlights

• Dragon Duke: Fire Heart no longer adds damage, and bonus HP is lower.
• Ruin Witch: Ruin Knights get lighter, slower and a bit weaker.
• Underused troops: Hog Rider, Miner, P.E.K.K.A and Meteor Golem get buffs.
• Equipment: Frozen Arrow slows more, and Portal Pendant gains bonus HP.

Nerfs to Dragon Duke and Ruin Witch

Dragon Duke: Fire Heart

Fire Heart shows up in almost 40% of all attacks, and in more than half of attacks with Dragon Duke. Attacks with Dragon Duke and Fire Heart three-star about 66% of the time. Without it, that drops to 56%, and the overall average is 53%. Supercell wants Duke's other equipment to be just as competitive, so here's what changes:

• Bonus HP is around 8% lower at every level
• Fire Heart no longer adds damage
• Healing is slightly lower at higher levels, going from 150 to 140 per second at max level

Ruin Witch: Ruin Knights

Ruin Witch attacks three-star about 76% of the time, the highest of any troop that sees meaningful use. Ruin Knights were also too heavy for Spring Traps to launch, so they could trigger traps and walk away unbothered. The changes are:

• Ruin Knights' housing space goes from 20 to 18, so Spring Traps can launch them
• Ruin Knights move a little slower and have slightly less HP and damage

Buffs for Underused Troops

Hog Rider, Miner, and P.E.K.K.A each show up in fewer than 3% of attacks, with three-star rates between 20% and 35%. Super Hog Rider and Super Miner barely get picked either, and Meteor Golem is still below average. These are the changes:

• Hog Rider and Super Hog Rider: increased HP
• Miner and Super Miner: increased HP at max levels
• P.E.K.K.A: increased damage
• Meteor Golem: increased HP, which also increases Meteormite HP

Equipment Buffs

Frozen Arrow is in around 7% of attacks and three-stars about 31% of the time. It gets some extra chill:

• Slow increases by 5 percentage points at every level
• Damage increases at levels 21-27, with max level going from 168 to 175

Portal Pendant now gains bonus HP, reaching 1,200 at max level. Minion Prince's other equipment already gives bonus HP, so leaving it off Portal Pendant was an oversight.

And that covers all of the changes in this Clash of Clans balance update. Supercell says it will be watching how attacks shake out and tweaking again if needed. You can read the original post on the Supercell website. For more, check out our Druid balance changes explained and our guide to Hero Equipment.