Clash Royale Balance Changes January 2026: All Buffs,…

Heroes and other Cards have been targeted in the upcoming January balance changes for Clash Royale.

Clash Royale January 2026 Balance Changes — © Supercell

It may be a new year, but Clash Royale is sticking to the same consistent update schedule that it keeps up with every season. What's that? Each season sees the refreshing of the Pass Royale, the start of novel challenges and events, the release of new Cards, and the implementation of balance changes.

As usual, these balance changes are important adjustments that are meant to improve the playing field and ensure that the meta remains fair for all players. This often manifests in a series of buffs, nerfs, and reworks.

The balance changes for the January season, Season 79, were released on January 13, 2025.

Final balance changes for Clash Royale - January 2026 Season 79. They will go live on Monday, Jan 12. https://t.co/9izQnrsCN2

Read our blog post for more details! pic.twitter.com/omjebUyWjH
— RoyaleAPI (@RoyaleAPI) January 8, 2026

January's Balance Changes Target New Heroes

January's balance changes are, quite frankly, an even mix of buffs and nerfs. Only one rework took place.

The most notable items in the list are the nerfs that impacted three out of the four new Heroes that were recently added to Clash Royale. It's been evident that they are slightly overpowered, so a nerf to some of their abilities is well justified.

On the other hand, several much-needed buffs were implemented on Cards, such as Furnace and Little Prince, to improve their effectiveness in battle. In terms of reworks, Graveyard received some small but interesting adjustments. We'll outline each of the balance changes below.

Nerfs

Card	Nerf
Boss Bandit	Hit speed increased from 1 hit every 1.2 seconds → 1 hit every 1.1 seconds Damage decreased from 268 → 245 Dash damage decreased from 537 → 491
Dart Goblin	Damage decreased from 156 → 151
Golden Knight	Ability cooldown increased from 8 seconds → 12 seconds
Mini P.E.K.K.A.	HP decreased from 1,433 → 1,390
Skeleton Army Evolution	Ghost speed decreased from 90 (fast) → 60 (medium)
Skeleton Barrel Evolution	Death damage decreased from 238 → 225
Hero Knight	Shield HP decreased from 819 → 768
Hero Mini P.E.K.K.A.	Damage healed decreased from 40% → 30%
Hero Musketeer	Turret deploy time increased from 1 second → 2 seconds

Reworks

Card	Rework
Graveyard	Skeleton count increased from 13 → 14 Spawn pattern changed from Random → Defined

Buffs

Card	Buff
Furnace	Hit speed increased from 1 hit every 1.8 seconds → 1 hit every 1.7 seconds This buff also affects the Furnace Evolution
Giant Skeleton	Hit speed increased from 1 hit every 1.4 seconds → 1 hit every 1.3 seconds
Little Prince	Damage increased from 99 → 104
Ram Rider	Hit speed increased from 1 hit every 1.8 seconds → 1 hit every 1.7 seconds

The next set of balance changes will be introduced in the following season update, which is scheduled for early February 2026.

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Clash Royale Balance Changes January 2026: All Buffs, Nerfs & Reworks

January's Balance Changes Target New Heroes

Nerfs

Reworks

Buffs

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