Well Supercell, that was fast. After just 4 sneak peeks, today Clash of Clans (Free) is getting its first of many balancing updates and the first new unit in more than two years. We’ve already written about the Bowler, the new unit, as well as the various nerfs and buffs and the new troop levels. Let’s go quickly over them again for those who weren’t around during the weekend. The Bowler is a Dark Troop available at Town Hall 11 and hits 2 ground targets for the same damage, making him great for taking out some defenses from a safe distance. We are also getting Level 6 Hog Rider, Level 7 Goblins as well as Level 5 Valkyries (which will also see a substantial buff). Add to this Inferno Tower level 4 at TH11, and Mortar Level 9 at TH11, and you can see how the game might change after this update.

The update will bring plenty of changes, too. Grand Warden Life Aura and Eternal Tome range will be reduced slightly, Inferno Tower multi-mode acquires targets much faster, all Skeleton hitpoints will be reduced, X-Bow levels 2-4 will see a damage increase, defending troops (but not Heroes) will flee from Poison spells if not engaged in combat, all Dark Spells and Elixir Spells will see a decrease in their brewing time from Town Hall 5 and above, and Battle time limit will be reduced to 3 minutes per attack once again. And as for Clan Wars, matchmaking has been overhauled, the details of which are here.

Quite a big update, I think, and one that went from sneak peek to release much faster than usual. Not that anyone will complain, but it’s an interesting change nonetheless. The servers have just gone down, so I wouldn’t expect Clash of Clans to be up and running for probably the next few hours. Until then, go here to check out the patchnotes in detail and prepare for what’s to come. Excited, or disappointed? Sound off below.