Clash Royale August 2026 Balance Changes: Every Final Card Change

What Changed From the WIP List

We covered the work-in-progress list when it dropped on July 24, so here is exactly what moved between then and the final patch. This is the useful part if you already read the WIP version.

The Spirit vote resolved to Option 1

The community picked the HP cut over the movement-speed cut. All four Spirits go from 230 to 217 hitpoints (-6%), which is enough to make them die to a single hit from cards like Archers, Musketeer and Tesla, while keeping their movement speed and dodge potential intact.

Revised since the WIP list

• Witch Evolution: overheal ratio raised to 1.73x (was 1.58x on the WIP list).
• Battle Healer: far larger damage and hit-speed swing than announced, and she no longer heals herself or other Battle Healers.
• Goblinstein: added an Ability DPS nerf on top of the Doctor damage buff.
• Goblin Machine: gained an HP buff.
• Evolved Goblin Cage: added trapped-DPS and trap-speed changes, softening the cycle nerf.
• Hero Tombstone: added Tomb Queen sight range and HP on top of the damage buff.

New since the WIP list

• Goblin Drill Nerf loses its guaranteed tower chip.
• Magic Archer Nerf normal and Hero forms lose 6% damage.
• Royal Delivery Nerf landing damage down 12%.
• Zappies Nerf slightly slower hit speed.
• Furnace Rework Spirit HP nerf offset by a faster spawn rate.
• Goblin Giant Buff Backpack Goblins throw spears faster.

Special Changes

Alongside the usual balance batch, Season 86 bundles a set of bigger swings: the Spirit nerf, a sweep across Heroes and Champions, a run of experimental reworks aimed at long-broken mechanics, and a couple of bug fixes. Supercell's stated goal is to shake up the meta and give forgotten cards a second chance.

Spirit Nerfs

This is the most meta-relevant change in the patch. A 1 Elixir card that chips towers, distracts, and enables constant low-risk pressure has been a fixture of far too many decks. The community voted between losing HP and losing movement speed, and the HP cut won. All four Spirits share the same nerf.

Card

Stat

Before

After

Change

Ice Spirit

Nerf

Hitpoints230→217-6%

Electro Spirit

Nerf

Hitpoints230→217-6%

Fire Spirit

Nerf

Hitpoints230→217-6%

Heal Spirit

Nerf

Hitpoints230→217-6%

Our read (projection): Option 1 is the softer of the two options in practice. Spirits keep the movement speed that lets them dodge projectiles, so the skill ceiling stays; they just lose the chip damage and fold to more single hits. Expect the churn to land hardest in cycle decks, where a 1 Elixir card that no longer touches the tower has to justify its slot purely as a reset. You can watch how heavily the live meta leans on them in our daily card usage and win rate data.

Heroes & Champions

Two threads here: abilities get simpler, and a few weak Champions get help.

Card

Stat

Before

After

Change

Removing Cooldowns

Nerf

Ability activationsMultiple per deploy→Single useNerf

Every ability becomes single-use, with one exception: Boss Bandit, whose design is built around rapid consecutive activations. It affects 8 of the 14 Heroes and 7 of the 8 Champions. It is a light nerf, since squeezing a second activation out of one deployment was already uncommon outside long defensive stands.

Little Prince

Buff

Hit speed kept while moving0.0s→0.3s+0.3s

Guardian melee damage217→232+7%

He keeps his charged-up hit speed for a moment after taking a step, so a single retarget no longer drops him out of his DPS tier.

Goblinstein

ReworkRevised

Doctor damage92→135+47%

Ability DPS214/s→188/s-12%

The Doctor damage buff was already on the WIP list, but the Ability DPS cut is new. Goblinstein is rarely picked yet posts strong competitive win rates, so this trims the ceiling while raising the floor.

Mighty Miner

Buff

Base damage40→43+8%

The extra base damage lets his opening hit two-shot Skeletons.

Normal Changes

The traditional part of the patch. A recurring theme: where an Evolution has been overshadowing its base card, the base gets a buff and the Evolution a matching nerf, usually until both forms share a stat. Values shown are at card Level 11. The Goblin damage buff appears in several rows because Goblins live inside nine cards, and they all inherit it.

Special Form Reworks

Pairs of cards balanced against each other, normally by buffing the base form and reworking the special form.

Card

Stat

Before

After

Change

Goblins

Buff

Damage120→125+4%

A core troop that appears inside nine other cards, so this damage buff quietly ripples through the whole Goblin family below.

Hero Goblins

Rework

Damage120→125+4%

Deploy time1.3s→1.0s-23%

Ability spawns3 Brigades→2 Brigades-33%

Gets the Goblin damage buff but pays for it with a faster deploy and a weaker ability payoff.

Evolved Goblin Barrel

Rework

Normal Goblin damage120→125+4%

Decoy Goblin damage89→66-26%

Its real Goblins inherit the damage buff, but the decoy Goblins are cut down.

Mortar

Buff

Hit speed5.0s→4.7s+6%

The base form speeds up so both Mortar forms now share a hit speed.

Evolved Mortar

Nerf

Hit speed4.0s→4.7s-15%

Goblin damage120→125+4%

Slowed to match the base Mortar, closing the gap between the two forms.

Barbarians

Buff

Hitpoints691→716+4%

Evolved Barbarians

Rework

Hitpoints691→716+4%

HP multiplier1.10x→1.00x-9%

Ability duration3.0s→5.0s+67%

The HP multiplier is removed so both forms share the same base HP. The net effect on the Evolution is roughly -6% HP, offset by a much longer ability.

Other Reworks

Reworks that only touch the Hero forms of two cards.

Card

Stat

Before

After

Change

Hero Ice Golem

Rework

3rd blast effectFreeze (-100%)→Slow (-30%)Reworked

3rd blast damage38→69+82%

The freeze on his third blast was too oppressive with Hog Rider, so it becomes a slow plus real damage. All blasts combined now kill Goblins.

Hero Mega Minion

Rework

Tower damage multiplier0.50x→0.25x-50%

Tower multiplier duration5.0s→PermanentReworked

Warp damage373→399+7%

Pushed toward killing troops rather than crumbling towers: half the tower multiplier, but now permanent, plus a small warp damage bump.

Nerfs

Eight cards take a straight power cut, led by the biggest single nerf in the patch.

Card

Stat

Before

After

Change

Evolved Mega Knight

Nerf

Special hit frequencyEvery hit→Every 2nd hit-50%

Heavy troop knockback2.5 tiles→4.0 tiles+60%

The single most impactful nerf in the patch. He now alternates uppercuts with normal hits instead of uppercutting every attack, which halves the defensive value that made the Evolution feared.

Evolved Archers

Nerf

Power shot damage168→140-17%

Evolved Goblin Cage

NerfRevised

Card cycles required1→2+100%

Trapped DPS337→366+9%

Trap cooldown0.5s→0.3s-40%

The WIP list only had the cycle nerf. The final version also raises trapped-enemy DPS and traps new enemies faster, softening the nerf into a partial rework.

Evolved Valkyrie

Nerf

Tornado damage84→42-50%

Tornado tower damage25→12-52%

Bowler

Nerf

Projectile range7.5 tiles→7.0 tiles-7%

No longer clips Crown Towers from behind the bridge.

Executioner

Nerf

Projectile range7.5 tiles→7.0 tiles-7%

Same fix as Bowler: no more clipping towers from behind the bridge.

Wall Breakers

Nerf

Death damage350→281-20%

Evolved Giant Snowball

Nerf

Projectile range4.5 tiles→4.0 tiles-11%