Part of the Troops & Combat Series:
- Troops Hub: Types, tiers and training buildings.
- SotF Scoring: Calculate the points for your current task.
Quick Answer
Train when you need more troops; upgrade when you need existing troops at a higher unlocked tier. Upgrading changes quality without increasing headcount. Its resource and time requirement reflects the move between tiers, rather than purchasing a new troop from scratch.
Two distinctions matter: Combat Manuals supply hero EXP, not troop upgrades, and troops do not passively consume food while sitting in your settlement. Choose between training and upgrading by your usable army, time, resources and event rules, not an invented upkeep bill.
Start With the Shortage
| Your situation | Useful first choice | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Not enough infantry to fill an assigned march | Train infantry | Upgrading the existing infantry does not add bodies |
| Enough troops, but many are below the newly unlocked tier | Upgrade a planned batch | Improves the troops already occupying march slots |
| Recovering from a battle | Check Hospital, marches and recovery first | Missing from the march selector does not always mean permanently dead |
| New tier available, lower-tier troops at home | Upgrade directly if eligible | You do not need to train a seed batch of the new tier first |
| Event milestone is the immediate goal | Compare points per minute and per resource | Neither action universally wins every task |
Count the troops needed across simultaneous marches, not just one maximum-capacity march. An account may fill its main rally march yet still lack enough infantry for a second assigned march. Use the march capacity guide to separate capacity from troop availability.
How to Upgrade Troops
Open the building for the relevant type: Barracks for Infantry, Range for Hunters, Garage for Riders. Select the lower-tier troops and the upgrade action. The troops must be available in your settlement; soldiers already deployed cannot be used in that batch.
Inspect the destination tier, number of troops, resource cost and timer before confirming. Higher-tier access must already be unlocked for that troop type. Unlocking one training building or research branch does not automatically unlock the corresponding tier for all three types.
Upgrades can process different batch sizes from fresh training. Compare the actual previews under the same buffs, rather than assuming two batches with the same count take the same time.
If displayed power falls while a batch is upgrading, do not immediately conclude the troops were destroyed. The documented upgrade process can temporarily remove their previous contribution before the upgraded batch finishes. Check the active queue and completed army count.
What You Pay For
Training pays for new troops. Upgrading pays the required step from the existing tier to the destination tier. If you deliberately train a low-tier batch just to upgrade it later, include both steps when comparing the total cost.
The lower tier's earlier cost does not disappear because it was spent yesterday. That distinction matters when someone compares a short upgrade timer with the full timer to train a new high-tier troop and calls the entire two-step process free.
Check Chief Talents, research and training capacity before a large batch. War talents include training benefits. Start-time buffs and a larger batch limit can change your queue plan without changing how many event points each eligible troop earns.
Event Points: Full Value or the Difference?
For a task that awards training points by tier and scores upgrades by the difference:
Fresh training points = troop count × destination-tier points.
Upgrade points = troop count × (destination-tier points − starting-tier points).
Illustration only: suppose a stage assigns 15 points to T9 and 20 to T10.
| Action | Calculation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Train 1,000 new T10 | 1,000 × 20 | 20,000 |
| Upgrade 1,000 T9 to T10 | 1,000 × (20 − 15) | 5,000 |
| Train those T9, then upgrade them, with both actions eligible | 15,000 + 5,000 | 20,000 |
The upgrade could still be attractive per minute or per resource. It simply does not earn the full destination value again under that rule. Nor is the two-step sequence an automatic way to double points.
For speedup-consumption or power-growth tasks, use that task's unit instead. A troop-training task and a speedup task can reward the same session differently. Test a small completion and inspect the score before spending a large reserve.
Event Timing Without Losing Normal Progress
Use naturally available queue time between events. Reserve discretionary speedups for a useful scoring window when it does not delay a more valuable unlock or leave the alliance short for an upcoming operation.
Do not hold an empty queue for days simply because an upgrade event might arrive. Conversely, do not train an unnecessary army just to keep every timer busy when you need those resources for healing or a prerequisite. The purpose is a usable army, not activity for its own sake.
Free players should compare the next guaranteed reward with the required stockpile. Spending players face the same calculation with a larger budget; a leaderboard position that keeps moving is not a fixed-price reward.
Common Problems
Upgrade button unavailable: check troop location, current queue, training-building unlock and research requirements. A borrowed hero level cannot unlock a troop tier.
Troop count did not increase: that is expected after an upgrade. The same number of troops moved to the higher tier.
Still cannot fill the formation: inspect shortages by troop type. A total army count can hide a missing frontline.
Lost troops after fighting: use the Hospital and Enlistment guide before purchasing replacements.
FAQ
Should I train or upgrade troops first? Train to fill a troop-number shortage; upgrade available lower-tier troops when quality is the shortage. Compare the event's actual scoring rule if points are the goal.
Do troop upgrades need Combat Manuals? No. Combat Manuals are for hero EXP. Use the troop building's resource and time preview for upgrade costs.
Do more troops consume more food every hour? Troops do not passively consume food in the settlement. Training and healing can spend food, which is different from ongoing upkeep.
Do I need to train one new-tier troop before upgrading older troops? No seed batch is required. You need the destination tier unlocked and eligible lower-tier troops available to upgrade.
Does upgrading troops double event points? No. Under difference-based scoring, the upgrade earns the destination tier's value minus the old tier's value. Read the current task before calculating.
Key Takeaways
- Training increases numbers; upgrading improves existing troops.
- Compare full costs, available queues and actual event units.
- Combat Manuals and passive food upkeep are not troop-upgrade costs.