Merge Tactics 2025 Q3 Update

Table of Contents

• Playerbase
• Update schedule
• Update overview
• Season resets, ranks and badges
• New and removed Rulers
• Spirit Empress
• Goblin Queen
• Elixir Loong
• Items for purchase
• New and removed troops
• Skeleton Dragons
• Wizard
• Electro Giant
• Musketeer
• Baby Dragon
• Electro Wizard
• Witch
• New traits
• Electric
• Fire
• Mage
• New modifiers
• Trait balance
• [Rework] Throwers ➜ Blasters
• [Buff] Ace
• [Rework] Assassin
• [Rework] Avenger
• [Rework] Brawler
• [Nerf] Clan
• [Buff] Juggernaut
• [Rework] Noble
• [Rework] Ranger
• [Buff] Undead
• Troop balance
• Bandit
• Valkyrie
• Pekka
• Minor changes
• Mirrored opponents
• Random shop order
• Interactive battle results
• Ability bars
• Smaller modifier pool
• Other changes
• Additional 3D Renders
• Feedback

Playerbase

The Q3 update of 2025 will have its biggest impact in Merge Tactics, the autochess mode of Clash Royale.

After a few months of testing, Merge Tactics seems ready to jump to the next stage. Were the early results good enough to secure its future?

Playerbase estimates from August said the following:

• About 50% of active players have tried Merge Tactics

• 6 million played MT within the last week, which is around 20% of those who tried the mode

• 10 million players reached more than 500 Crystals

• 240K players reached Diamond league, at 3,500 Crystals

Based on these stats, the popularity of the mode seems modest, but significant given the limited content it had available. How well will it perform is content is maintained regularly?

This update will put this to the test, setting up regular seasons and progression resets that will give players a more visible purpose.

Update schedule

As we mentioned in the main update blog, the client update is scheduled for next Monday, September 29th.

All the changes for Merge Tactics will be introduced at that time, and the first official season will start then.

Update overview

Before we look into each of the changes in more detail, this is a summary of what we’ll be covering in this blog:

• Season resets, ranks and badges

• New and removed Rulers

• New and removed troops

• New traits: Electric, Fire and Mage

• New modifiers

• Balance changes

Season resets, ranks and badges

During the release stage of Merge Tactics, players have kept increasing their scores and many reached the last league. After that, there weren’t good incentives for them to keep playing. This was known from the start, and not meant to be a permanent state for the mode. Now we know how MT will work in the long term:

• Seasons start and end the last Monday of every month. This is always a week before the regular Clash Royale seasons. The first official season starts on September 29th, the day of the update.

• Each season, scores will be reset to 0 for everyone.

• The top players at the end of the season will get ranked badges. It’s still unclear if this will be the top 1K or 10K players.

• At RoyaleAPI, we plan to add a Merge Tactics ranked badge to profiles, which would show the best rank across all the MT seasons.

New and removed Rulers

This update will change the roster of available Rulers:

• Removed: Spirit Empress

• Added in October: Goblin Queen

• Added in November: Elixir Loong

• Kept: Royale King

Spirit Empress

Spirit Empress won’t be available among the track rewards for next season, meaning that new players won’t be able to unlock her.

Players can still use her if they have already unlocked this Ruler, and she may return in future seasons.

Goblin Queen

She has travelled across the Emerald Sea to wreak havoc in the Arena. The only thing that calms her wrath are her Baby Goblins, but they’re not here...

This is the new Ruler for October, which can be unlocked by climbing the track of this season. She is first available as a reward for reaching 650 Starsteels, in Bronze III.

Ruler ability: Greener Grin

Defeating an enemy troop grants you a 40% chance of spawning a Goblin

Ruler skins:

• Level 2: Jade Queen
• Level 3: Smothering Smog (Confetti)
• Level 4: Chaos Queen

Elixir Loong

Freshly emerged from the River of Golden Elixir, this lucky dragon brings honor to all those who fight alongside him

This is the new Ruler for November, which will be available to unlock by climbing the track of that season.

Ruler ability: Endless Spring

Gain +1 Elixir per turn and +1 Team Size

Ruler skins:

• Level 2: Spirit Loong
• Level 3: Firestorm (Confetti)
• Level 4: Lava Loong

Items for purchase

We don’t know the prices for any of this items, but this season you’ll be able to buy:

• Spirit Empress: Astral Empress skin + confetti (this offer unlocks Spirit Empress for players who don’t have her yet)

• Goblin Queen: Malevolent Queen skin + confetti

And in November, a new skin will be available:

• Elixir Loong: Aqua Loong skin + confetti

New and removed troops

This season, Bomber is the only troop that will become unavailable.

There are 7 new troops being added, all of them exist already in Clash Royale.

Skeleton Dragons

• Elixir: 2
• HP: 368
• DPS: 68
• Range: 4
• Traits: Undead & Ranger
• Description: Splits to create a new Skeleton Dragon after every few attacks

Wizard

• Elixir: 2
• HP: 492
• DPS: 78
• Range: 4
• Traits: Fire & Mage
• Description: Throws a fireball at enemies in the area

Electro Giant

• Elixir: 3
• HP: 1,163
• DPS: 65
• Range: 1
• Traits: Electric & Avenger
• Description: Summons an electric field around himself, dealing damage and stunning nearby enemies every second

Musketeer

• Elixir: 3
• HP: 984
• DPS: 59
• Range: 3
• Traits: Noble & Blaster
• Description: A tanky gunner who pushes 3 enemies back every few hits

Baby Dragon

• Elixir: 4
• HP: 883
• DPS: 66
• Range: 4
• Traits: Fire & Blaster
• Description: Burps big fireballs that deal damage in a wide area

Electro Wizard

• Elixir: 4
• HP: 771
• DPS: 53
• Range: 4
• Traits: Electric & Mage
• Description: Shoots lightning with his hands, stunning multiple enemies every few seconds

Witch

• Elixir: 4
• HP: 756
• DPS: 47
• Range: 4
• Traits: Undead & Avenger
• Description: Every few seconds, she summons Skeletons with 50% of her max HP and attack damage

New traits

Electric

After 10s, lightning strikes all enemies once and stunned troops 3x

Electric bonus:

• 2 troops: Each strike deals 15% max HP damage

Electric troops: Electro Giant and Electro Wizard

Fire

Gain stackable bonus damage upon enemies’ defeat

Fire bonus:

• 2 troops: 40%

Fire troops: Wizard and Baby Dragon

Mage

Turning foes into rabbits

Mage bonus:

• Combat Start: Strongest enemy troop is turned into a harmless rabbit for some time
• 2 troops: rabbit duration of 8 seconds

Mage troops: Wizard and Electro Wizard

New modifiers

The new modifiers for October are:

• Elixir Festival: +2 Elixir per round

• Endurance Training: all troops gain +40% HP

• Last Stand: the last troop standing gains +200% damage

• Chaos Chaos: after the first merge of a round, the merged troop becomes a random troop of +1 Elixir

• Master Arena: troops gain +100% HP and +50% damage if they stay on the same tile from round to round

• Ultimate Origins: start with a Dummy with Undead and Noble Traits

• Coaching: benched troops gain +100% damage and +50% HP next round

• Monster Drink: when combat starts, the lowest HP troop gets bigger and gains +200% HP and +100% damage

And for November:

• Swift Tile: a special tile appears on the board giving its troop +100% bonus hit speed

• One Punch: the first attack of every troop in each round deals +300% damage

• Mystery Shop: the right-most troop in the shop will always cost 3 Elixir, but be a mystery until bought

• Devil Snap: once per game, the troop in the right-most bench slot will be auto-sold for x2 Elixir and removed from the game

Trait balance

[Rework] Throwers ➜ Blasters

Throwers were:

Throwers gain +1 Attack Range and deal more Damage to distant targets

Now Blasters are:

Blasters gain +1 Range and extra damage based on distance

Blaster bonus:

• 2 Troops: +10% damage per hex
• 4 Troops: +20% damage per hex

Blaster troops: Spear Goblin, Musketeer, Executioner and Baby Dragon

[Buff] Ace

Bonus Hit Speed to all Aces, new Captain criterion and bigger captain boost.

Before:

• Combat Start: Your highest Merge Level Troop is the Captain. When the Captain defeats enemy Troops, your team gains +20% Hit Speed (4s)
• 2 Troops: Captain gains 30% bonus Damage
• 4 Troops: Captain gains 60% bonus Damage and gains +30% HP of Damage dealt

After:

• Combat Start: Aces gain +20% Hit Speed. Your strongest Ace becomes the Captain
• 2 Troops: Captain gains 40% bonus Damage
• 4 Troops: Captain gains 60% bonus Damage and gains +50% HP of Damage dealt

[Rework] Assassin

Easier trait activation, as Assassin buffs are now activated at 2 & 4 troops, instead of just 3.

Before:

• Combat Start: Assassins will leap to the enemy’s backline Troops
• 3 Troops: +35% Critical Chance and Critical Damage

After:

• Combat Start: Assassins will leap to the enemy’s backline Troops
• 2 Troops: +25% Critical Chance and Critical Damage
• 4 Troops: +50% Critical Chance and Critical Damage

[Rework] Avenger

Easier trait activation, as Avenger buffs are now activated at 2 & 4 troops, instead of just 3.

Before:

• Avengers gain bonus Damage, with the last woman standing gaining double Damage
• 3 Troops: +30% bonus Damage

After:

• Avengers gain bonus Damage, with the last woman standing gaining double Damage
• 2 Troops: +20% bonus Damage
• 2 Troops: +40% bonus Damage

[Rework] Brawler

Brawlers gain even more max bonus HP and no longer heal teammates at 4 active troops

Before:

• Brawlers gain bonus max HP
• 2 Troops: +30% bonus HP
• 4 Troops: +60% for Brawlers, +30% for the team

After:

• Brawlers gain bonus max HP
• 2 Troops: +50% bonus HP
• 4 Troops: +100% bonus HP

[Nerf] Clan

Clans no longer heal their non-Clan teammates with 4 active troops.

Before:

• Once per round, Clans rapidly heal and gain bonus Hit Speed at 50% HP
• 2 Troops: +30% of max HP and Hit Speed
• 4 Troops: +60% of max HP and Hit Speed for Clans, +30% for team

After:

• Once per round, Clans rapidly heal and gain bonus Hit Speed at 50% HP
• 2 Troops: +30% of max HP and Hit Speed
• 4 Troops: +60% of max HP and Hit Speed for Clans

[Buff] Juggernaut

Protected troops are now immune to control effects.

Before:

• Combat Start: Juggernauts and Troops behind gain a 12s Shield
• 2 Troops: +30% bonus Shield
• 4 Troops: +60% bonus Shield

After:

• Combat Start: Juggernauts and allies behind them gain a 12s Shield and are immune to control effects while shielded
• 2 Troops: +30% Shield of max HP
• 4 Troops: +60% Shield of max HP

[Rework] Noble

The effect of this trait now only targets Nobles, and a new activation starts for 6 troops in certain modifiers.

Before:

• Frontline Troops take less Damage while backline Troops gain bonus Damage
• 2 Troops: 20% less Damage and 20% bonus Damage
• 4 Troops: 40% less Damage and 40% bonus Damage

After:

• Frontline Nobles take less damage, while backline Nobles gain bonus damage
• 2 Troops: 20% less Damage and 20% bonus Damage
• 4 Troops: 30% less Damage and 30% bonus Damage
• 6 Troops: 45% less Damage and 45% bonus Damage

[Rework] Ranger

Easier trait activation, as Ranger buffs are now activated at 2 & 4 troops, instead of just 3.

Before:

• Rangers gain Hit Speed per attack, stacking up to 15x
• 3 Troops: +15% Hit Speed

After:

• Rangers gain Hit Speed per attack, stacking up to 15x
• 2 Troops: +10% Hit Speed
• 4 Troops: +15% Hit Speed

[Buff] Undead

A new activation starts for 6 troops in certain modifiers.

Before:

• Combat Start: The enemy with the highest HP is cursed, and your Undead gain 30% bonus Damage when that enemy is defeated.
• 2 Troops: Curses 2 enemy, max HP cut by 25%
• 4 Troops: Curses 3 enemies, max HP cut by 50%

After:

• Combat Start: The enemy with the highest HP is cursed, and your Undead gain 30% bonus Damage when that enemy is defeated.
• 2 Troops: Curses 2 enemy, max HP cut by 25%
• 4 Troops: Curses 3 enemies, max HP cut by 50%
• 6 Troops: Curses 4 enemies, max HP cut by 75%

Troop balance

Bandit

• Trait change: Avenger ➜ Assassin

Valkyrie

• Trait change: Avenger ➜ Juggernaut

Pekka

• Trait change: Juggernaut ➜ Avenger

Minor changes

Mirrored opponents

When scouting enemy teams, you’ll see them in the other side of the arena, which is the same position you’ll see when you face their team.

This should make it easier to understand placements and prepare correctly.

Random shop order

Troops in the Shop are now in random order and no longer rank from lowest to highest Elixir

It’s unclear to us why this change was implemented. Maybe it pushed players to stick with cheap troops and not think of the alternatives? This could add some friction to the quickest stages of battles, pushing players to pay more attention.

Interactive battle results

You can now see detailed stats of traits and troops when a battle is over, helping players understand the key features of winning lineups.

Ability bars

Ability bars have been added for Bandit, Goblin Machine, Mega Knight, Royal Ghost, Musketeer, Electro Giant, Electro Wizard, Skeleton Dragon and Witch.

Smaller modifier pool

Now every league reached will introduce 2 modifiers to the pool, instead of 3 as before.

Other changes

• Benched troops won’t be auto-deployed if your team size is below the max number of troops at combat start.

• You can now see how many Benched troops your opponent has, but not which troops they are.

• More noticeable countdown timer for the last 5 seconds of the Deploy Phase.

• Added Frenzy Time visual hint.

• Interface polishes such as the player panel at the top, troop selling and Elixir hints.

• More Ruler animations on some UIs.

• Elixir Collector from the modifier now can be sold by tapping the “Sell” button of the details page.

Additional 3D Renders

Feedback

Do you have any questions or feedback about the update? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this article and all our other content, don’t forget to use our code: RoyaleAPI to support us!

You can also get bonus rewards at the Supercell Store. Using our code RoyaleAPI before you check out at the Supercell Store will help us greatly keep our servers running, and to keep providing quality content in the future.

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