Clash of Clans update now available; patch notes here

After a week of teasing, the new Clash of Clans update is finally here. While we've had a week of sneak peeks at some of the update's new features and improvements, Supercell today actually detailed the official patch notes. You should already be familiar with many of the things on the list, but there are a few more surprises as well.

Below are the full patch notes for today's Clash of Clans update (version 6.253.4). Click through the links to find out more details about each new feature.

Brand New Dark Elixir Unit: Lava Hound!

• This faithful flying unit cannot resist chasing after fireworks, and will go straight after the nearest Air Defense
• The Lava Hound's massive hitpoints makes all the incoming damage seem like mere playtime
• Though the unit deals very low damage, it will erupt upon death into many tiny Lava Pups that attack any nearby buildings
• Available at Dark Elixir barracks level 6, Town Hall level 9

New Upgrades

• Barbarian & Archer level 7
• Archer Tower level 13
• Dark Elixir Barracks level 6

Wall Upgrading Improvements

• Walls level 6+ can now be upgraded with Elixir instead of Gold – your choice!
• Select a row of walls to upgrade all pieces with one button press (so long as the cost is not over the maximum possible storage amount)

Replay Improvements

• Pause button added to replays (except live replays in Clan Wars)
• Replays and live replays now show the attacker's available troops so you can see exactly what does and doesn't get deployed, and when
• Live replay screen now shows the time remaining in battle so you can watch the timer tick down just like the attacker

Balancing

• Hero regeneration time has been greatly reduced on all levels
• Valkyrie training time has been greatly reduced
• Healers have been trained to avoid distraction: now they will always try to stick with and protect the same group of friendly troops
• Defending Clan Castle troops now use all 4 Castle doors when coming out (overall speed of deploying is still the same as before)

Other Improvements

• Troops can be dismissed from Army Camps and Clan Castle
• Removed spell production cancellation penalty
• Spells are now produced in the same order as they are selected