Clash Royale Merge Tactics December 2025 Update: All The Details, Explained

A new month means a new update for Merge Tactics, Clash Royale's auto-battler game mode, where you duke it out with other players through a series of strategic rounds of grueling action.

The December update is, quite frankly, a massive one. However, it's an update we somewhat saw coming, as Supercell has been teasing new additions to Merge Tactics over the past few weeks — alongside other teasers for another update that's slated to hit Clash Royale on November 24th.

But, back to the Merge Tactics update. This one will introduce a brand-new Ruler, bring in familiar troops to the fray, spice up strategies with novel Traits and Modifiers, and bring in new skins.

Overall, the December update will look to end 2025 with a bang, as the changes and additions it brings will certainly shake up Merge Tactics.

New Ruler in Merge Tactics

The Master Builder from the Builder Base in Supercell's sister game, Clash of Clans, will land in Clash Royale with his trusty Battle Machine.

The Battle Machine's unique ability is called 'Building Master'. It summons one random 1/2/3/4-Star building into battle during Round 1/3/5/8. However, this ability comes with a slight drawback: your maximum team size is reduced by 1.

You can use these buildings to your advantage by distracting enemy troops or introducing a little anarchy to the match.

New Troops in Merge Tactics

Three new troops will be making their way to the Arena: Mini P.E.K.K.A, Royal Giant, and Monk.

The Mini P.E.K.K.A (Brutalist) and Royal Giant (Ranger) are 2-Elixir troops. You can rely on the former to be a strong damage dealer, while the latter would, arguably, be one of the strongest units you can find in Merge Tactics.

Monk will be a game-changing 5-Elixir troop who's a powerful Ace and Superstar. He can create a Shield that is capable of deflecting incoming damage onto the offender. It will also heal the Monk for a few seconds every few hits it receives.

Changes To Troop Traits And Troop Selection Pool

With the addition of new troops to Merge Tactics, some existing troops will be removed from the troop selection pool until the next update. This includes Archer, Baby Dragon, Bomber, Electro Dragon, Giant Skeleton, and Knight.

On top of this, a few troops will have their current Traits swapped out with another. You can find an overview of this below:

New Traits in Merge Tactics

Four new Traits will be added to Merge Tactics. Namely, they are Brutalist, Giant, P.E.K.K.A, and Superstar. You can expect them to switch up your tactics, especially Brutalist and Superstar, as their abilities are nuanced and will require a little more strategy.

That said, here's an overview of the new Traits:

Icon	Trait	Description	Troops
	Brutalist	Brutalists gain a bonus hit speed and mark enemies with each hit. Enemies will lose HP after 4 hits 2 troops: +30%, -20% of max HP 4 troops: +60%, -40% of max HP	Mini P.E.K.K.A, Goblin Machine, Skeleton King, and Valkyrie
	Giant	Giants take less damage due to their huge size 2 troops: -40%	Royal Giant and Electro Giant
	P.E.K.K.A	P.E.K.K.A troops deal extra damage, and gets healed after taking down an enemy troop 2 troops: +30% damage and heals 30% of max HP	Mini P.E.K.K.A and P.E.K.K.A
	Superstar	At the start of combat, Superstars’ ability bar is partially filled. There is also a 50% chance to recast after casting their ability 2 troops: 1/3 bar 4 troops: 2/3 bar	Electro Giant, Monk, Musketeer, and Witch

With the arrival of these new Traits, a few Traits will be rotated out: Avenger, Electric, Fire, Juggernaut, and Mage.

New Modifiers in Merge Tactics

Say hello to Building Modifiers! These Modifiers add a building to your Bench, which you can later deploy onto the Arena. They cannot move when they join a battle, aren't affected by their card level in your collection, don't lose HP over time, and don't count towards your Team Size or Ruler HP reduction at the end of a round.

Here's a look at all of December's season Modifiers:

Icon	Modifier	Description
	Elixir Collector (Bronze II)	Summon an Elixir Collector onto the Arena to generate Golden Elixir
	Inferno Tower (Diamond)	The Inferno Tower's damage increases over time when it continually attacks the same enemy
	Mortar (Gold II)	The Mortar is capable of dealing long-range damage to the farthest enemy on the Arena
	Tesla (Silver I)	The Tesla can damage nearby enemies, and will only pop out of the ground when enemies get within range
	X-Bow (Silver III)	The X-Bow takes some time to get ready, but when it does charge up, it can deal fast-firing damage to the lowest-HP enemy

New Skins in Merge Tactics

Five new skins will be introduced to Clash Royale in this update.

The Blazing Bombshell (confetti), Scheme Machine, and Zebrawood Machine skins can be unlocked on the Battle Machine's level-up reward track. Just collect Battle Machine cards on the Starsteel Road to progress through the track.

Additionally, the Forge Machine skin and Royal King skin can be purchased from the in-game shop.

You can read the full details about the December update for Merge Tactics by reading Supercell's blog post.