While upgrading individual unit cards is the primary focus of combat, managing your overarching account level is equally critical.

Therefore, understanding exactly how to efficiently generate account experience points (XP) is vital for long-term survival on the ladder.

The Primary Source: Upgrading Cards

Every time you spend gold to increase a card’s level, you are rewarded with a burst of experience points.

Upgrading a card from level one to level two costs virtually nothing and provides a very high amount of XP per gold coin spent.

• Upgrade your main deck first, always.
• If you have excess gold, upgrade your level 1 cards to level 6.
• Do not upgrade useless cards to high levels just for XP.

The Guild Economy

This is a massive progression error; donating provides both gold and crucial experience points instantly.

You are essentially converting cards you will never use into base hitpoints and currency.

The Margin of Victory

If your king tower was one level higher, it would possess several hundred more hitpoints, turning that loss into a win.

Furthermore, higher level towers deal more damage per shot, altering crucial interactions against enemy swarms.