Royale
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Guide / Deck / Card
Royale
Tracker
Player
Clan
Guide / Deck / Card
By the RoyaleTracker Team@RoyaleTrackerGGUpdated July 14, 2026
Star levels in Clash Royale are purely cosmetic. They add golden glow effects and golden skins to your cards in battle, but they do not change damage, hitpoints, or any interaction. You unlock Star Points at King Level 6 and earn them passively, so what does star level do in Clash Royale? It makes your cards look good. Nothing more.
That golden star button on your cards is not a power upgrade. A lot of players hold onto their Star Points for months because they are scared of wasting them on the wrong card. You are not wasting anything.
So what does star level do in Clash Royale? It changes how your cards look in battle and nothing else. A Star Level 3 Balloon drops the same bomb as a regular one. A golden P.E.K.K.A with two swords still swings one.
This guide covers everything about star levels: what they actually do, how to earn Star Points, what each upgrade costs, and which skins are worth grabbing first. Five minutes from now you will know exactly where to spend the points sitting in your account.
Star levels add cosmetic golden effects to your cards in battle. Star Level 1 gives a card a golden glow when deployed. Star Levels 2 and 3 add golden clothing, weapons, and particle effects to the card itself. Star levels have zero effect on gameplay. Damage, hitpoints, hit speed, and every interaction stay exactly the same.
That is the whole answer. Supercell built star levels as a way to show off progression without touching balance. Your opponent sees the gold, but the battle plays out the same either way.
There is one exception worth knowing. Spells do not get skins. Cards like Fireball and Zap only show the golden deploy glow at Star Level 1, so troops and buildings are where the visual upgrades actually live.
Star levels unlock in three tiers tied to your card levels. Star Level 1 requires the card to be Level 7, Star Level 2 requires Level 10, and Star Level 3 requires Level 13. You need to reach King Level 6 before the feature switches on at all.
Not every card has all three tiers. Most cards have at least one star level, many have two, and a smaller group has three. Champions are the exception, they have no star levels at all.
No Star Level
Star Level 1
Star Level 2
Star Level 3
Hog Rider at no star level, then Star Level 1, 2 and 3, showing the golden glow and armor upgrades at each tier.
Once you buy a star level, it stays unlocked forever. You can change which star level a card displays from its card screen, so if you prefer the original look you can switch back any time. Spent Star Points are never refunded, but as you will see below, that does not matter much.
You can browse every card and its stats on our card database, which covers all 125 cards with live win rates from real battle data.
Star Points are earned automatically once you hit King Level 6. Whenever you gain Experience from donating or upgrading cards, you gain the same amount of Star Points. Extra copies of cards you have already maxed also convert into Star Points on top of the usual Gold.
The conversion rates for maxed card copies scale with rarity. Each extra Common is worth 1 Star Point, each Rare is worth 10, each Epic is worth 100, each Legendary is worth 1,000, and each Champion is worth 2,000.
There is also a trick for players deep into the endgame. Using Trade Tokens on maxed cards converts them into Star Points at a better rate than buying Level 14 cards from the Shop. According to the Clash Royale wiki's Star Points page, trades work out to roughly 1 Star Point per 1 Gold for non-Legendary cards, compared to 1 per 5 Gold through the Shop.
The cap is 5,000,000 Star Points. If you are anywhere near that, spend them. They do nothing while sitting in your account.
Each star level has a fixed Star Point cost, and it is the same for every card regardless of rarity. The cost listed for each tier is the total price to reach it from zero, not an amount added on top of the previous tier. Star Level 1 costs 5,000 Star Points total. Star Level 2 costs 10,000 total. Star Level 3 costs 20,000 total, which is also the most you will ever pay to fully max a single card.
| Star Level | Total Cost (from zero) | Extra Cost If Already at Previous Level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,000 | N/A (first tier) |
| 2 | 10,000 | +5,000 |
| 3 | 20,000 | +10,000 |
If you have enough Star Points saved up, upgrading a card jumps straight to the highest tier you can afford. Have 10,000 or more banked and hit upgrade on a fresh card? It goes straight to Star Level 2 for 10,000, not Star Level 1 first. If you only have, say, 7,000, it upgrades to Star Level 1 for 5,000 instead. From there, going from Level 1 to Level 2 only costs the difference, an extra 5,000, not another full 10,000.
Here is the thing about these costs: Star Points cannot be spent on anything else. There is no card upgrade, no chest, no Gold conversion. They exist for star levels only. Saving them has no benefit, so the usual “should I save my resources” logic from Gold and Gems does not apply here.
Active players who donate daily generate Star Points fast. Most players at King Level 10 and above can max the star levels on their main deck without ever thinking about it.
Some star level skins barely change anything. Others completely transform the card. If you want the most visual impact for your points, start with these.
P.E.K.K.A (Star Level 2). She gets a second sword. She never swings it, but a dual-wielding golden P.E.K.K.A walking across the bridge is one of the best looks in the game.
Rocket (Star Level 3). A Goblin rides on top of the Rocket as it flies. Easily the funniest skin in the game and a reason people star level a spell's launch animation.
Royal Giant (Star Level 2). His cannon turns into a golden version that resembles the Level 10 Cannon from Clash of Clans. One of the most noticeable in-battle upgrades.
Goblins and Spear Goblins (Star Level 3). Red mohawks, straight from Clash of Clans. The mohawks even carry over to Goblins spawned by Goblin Barrel, Goblin Gang, Goblin Hut, and Goblin Giant, so one upgrade changes several cards visually.
Balloon (Star Level 3). The skin recreates the classic Level 3 Balloon from Clash of Clans. If you play LavaLoon or LumberLoon, this one is a fan favorite.
Several other skins are throwbacks to Clash of Clans designs, including the Archers' tiara, the Wizard's Level 10 look, and the golden Hidden Tesla. If you grew up on both games, those hit different.
P.E.K.K.A (Star Level 2)
Rocket (Star Level 3)
Royal Giant (Star Level 2)
Goblins (Star Level 3)
Balloon (Star Level 3)
Want to show off your collection once it is golden? Our Card Maker generates a shareable image of your cards, levels, and evolutions from just your player tag.
Yes, always. Star Points have exactly one use, they regenerate through normal play, and hoarding them provides zero benefit. The only real question is which cards to upgrade first.
Prioritize the cards you actually play. Star level your main deck first, since those are the cards on screen every battle. After that, go for the standout skins from the list above, then whatever you have left over goes to favorites.
One thing star levels cannot do is win games. If your deck feels stuck at the same trophy count, the problem is the deck, not the shine. Golden cards lose to better decks every day.
Star levels are Clash Royale's way of letting you flex progression without touching balance. They are purely cosmetic, they cost a resource that has no other use, and the King Level 6 unlock means most active players have thousands of points ready to spend right now.
Spend the points, start with your main deck, and grab the P.E.K.K.A and Rocket skins when you can. Then make sure the deck under all that gold is actually worth playing. Browse the current best decks ranked by real win rates from millions of ladder battles, updated daily. Already running your own build? Run it through our free deck rater and see how it scores on win condition, air defense, and synergy.
No. Star levels are purely cosmetic and have zero effect on damage, hitpoints, hit speed, or any card interaction. A Star Level 3 card performs identically to the same card with no star levels.
You unlock Star Points at King Level 6. Before the Champions Update in October 2021, the requirement was King Level 13, so older guides often list the wrong number.
Star Level 1 costs 5,000 Star Points, Star Level 2 costs 10,000, and Star Level 3 costs 20,000, each as a total from zero rather than stacked on top of the previous tier. Fully maxing a single card out at Star Level 3 costs 20,000 Star Points total, not 35,000.
No. Champions like Skeleton King and Archer Queen have no star levels. Almost every other card in the game has at least one star level available.
You can change which star level a card displays from its card info screen, including switching back to a lower tier. Spent Star Points are not refunded, but unlocked star levels stay available forever.
