AI Overview: Clash Royale Star Levels are a cosmetic upgrade for maxed cards. Each card can have up to 3, and they add a golden, animated look with no change to damage, hitpoints or speed. You buy them with Star Points. Guides disagree on the exact requirements, and Crystals were added in 2025 for extra copies, so check the price on your own card screen before you save.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- Star Levels are purely cosmetic: no stat changes and no effect on matchmaking.
- Each card can have up to 3 Star Levels, each with a bigger golden look.
- You pay in Star Points, which have long come from extra copies of maxed cards.
- Guides disagree on requirements and costs, so read the price on your card screen.
- Crystals are a separate currency for Shop cosmetics such as emotes.
Table of Contents
What Star Levels Do
Star Levels are looks, not power. A starred card glows gold in the arena. Nothing else changes.
Star Level 1 adds a deploy effect and a golden glow. Star Level 2 adds more golden detail. Star Level 3 gives the card a full golden look. They add no damage, hitpoints, range or speed, and they have no effect on matchmaking.
Why it matters: Star Levels never help you win. Do not spend Star Points or Gold on looks before your deck is upgraded. Our upgrade order guide covers what to level first.
Cosmetics like Star Levels and Crystal emotes are a growing part of the economy because they let Supercell sell or reward status without changing balance. The negative effect: more cosmetic currencies means more things to track, and players who feel they must collect them all may spend on looks instead of upgrades.
How Star Points Work
Star Points are the currency for Star Levels. For years they came from the extra copies of cards you had already maxed.
TrophyCoach’s 2026 guide says extra copies still convert into Star Points once a card is maxed. Other sources of Star Points include special Shop offers, some events and challenges, and some Pass Royale tracks.
Spare copies of a maxed card turn into points. The rarer the card, the more each copy is worth.
Quick math: at those older rates, five spare Legendary copies are worth 5,000 Star Points. It would take 5,000 spare Common copies to match.
The catch: the rates above come from 2025 explainers, not from a current Supercell page. Treat them as a guide.
What Star Levels Cost: Why Guides Disagree
Requirements and prices differ between sources. Here is what each says.
| Source | Card level needed | Star Points |
| This page, 2020 version | Level 13 for any Star Level | Described as 10,000, 15,000 and 45,000 |
| 2025 explainers (Esports.net, LDPlayer and others) | Levels 7, 10 and 13 for Star Levels 1, 2 and 3 | 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 (one source lists 10,000 and 15,000 for the first two) |
| TrophyCoach, June 2026 | Card must be maxed | Rises with each tier and with rarity; no numbers given |
The facts: every source agrees on up to 3 Star Levels and cosmetic only. What they do not agree on: the card level and point costs. What it means: open the Star Level screen on your card for the real price before you save up. Still unknown: whether Supercell changed the requirements when Level 16 arrived.
| Deck | Cards | Avg elixir | Win rate (sample) |
| Witch beatdown deck | 3.8 | 60.8% (1,000 battles) |
Try it yourself: open the Clash Royale Deck Builder with a Witch beatdown deck featuring Evo Witch and Evo Skeleton Army, 60.8% in the tracker sample (about 1,000 battles), already loaded. Star levels sit on top of a maxed card, so start with a deck whose cards you actually play.
Where Crystals Fit In
Crystals arrived with Level 16 on November 24, 2025. When you receive extra copies of a card that is already at Level 16, Supercell says they convert into Crystals, a currency for Shop cosmetics, starting with emotes.
The catch: Supercell’s note names Crystals for overflow copies and does not say Star Points were removed. One 2026 guide says the extra copies become Star Points. Both may be true for different cards or situations, so check your own account.
What to watch next: the Shop’s emote list, since that is where Crystals show their real value.
As Crystals grow into their own shop, expect Star Points to stay as a smaller side system or to be folded into it. The negative effect: two overlapping cosmetic currencies are confusing, and unclear rules make it easy to waste copies on the wrong one.
Go deeper: Related reading: the upgrade costs guide, how to level up fast and how to upgrade cards. Use the Clash Royale Deck Builder to compare your own eight cards against this one; it shows the average cost live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Star Levels make a card stronger?
No. They are cosmetic only.
How many Star Levels can a card have?
Up to 3.
How do you get Star Points in Clash Royale?
Mostly from extra copies of cards you have already maxed, and from some Shop offers, events and Pass Royale rewards.
What level does a card need for a Star Level?
Sources disagree. A 2026 guide says the card must be maxed. Check the card screen.
What are Crystals in Clash Royale?
A currency from extra copies of maxed cards, spent on Shop cosmetics such as emotes.
The Bottom Line
In the long run, expect the cosmetic side of the game to keep growing, with new currencies and looks. The negative effect: when cosmetics become the main reward for maxed players, those players may feel there is little else to chase.
The takeaway: star the cards you use most, and only after your deck is upgraded.
Sources
Researched from the following (no links, listed for transparency):
- TrophyCoach, “What Do Star Levels Do” (June 2026)
- Esports.net, Dexerto, Sportskeeda and LDPlayer Star Level explainers (2025), used only for the older requirement figures
- Supercell, Clash Royale blog: “Coming in the Next Update” (November 2025: Level 16, Crystals, Elite Wild Card removal)
- Timesaver.gg, Clash Royale card levels explained (September 3, 2026)
- The original clash.world guides (2016-2020), used only for the “then” comparison