Bloons TD 6 Tower Tier List - v39.X

The best Bloons TD 6 towers / monkeys - and their build paths - for the current BTD6 patch. Data from BTD6 Index.

Towers

Each BTD6 tower - and their skill paths - ranked for CHIMPs mode.

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Alchemist

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Stronger Stimulant provides a slightly stronger buff over Berserker Brew, but it's mainly exclusive to a main DPS tower. To maximize buff uptime on multiple towers, purchasing multiple Berserker Brew Alchemists is cheaper and better. Permanent Brew is to expensive for CHIMPs.

Stronger Stimulant skill icon

Stronger Stimulant

About

Extra strong berserker brew has even more powerful effect on the target. Lasts even longer.

Effect

Improves brew to provide further attack speed, pierce, and range. For the duration of the improved brew, gives +15% range, +17.6% attack speed, +3 pierce, and +1 damage. Lasts for 40 shots and lasts up to 12 seconds.

Perishing Potions skill icon

Perishing Potions

About

Attack potions deal more damage to MOAB-class Bloons and strip Fortified off smaller Bloons. Buff potions last longer.

Effect

Acid now can strip Fortified off non-blimp bloons, and attacks deal 5 damage to MOAB-class, 20 damage to Fortified MOAB-class. Also increases duration of Berserker Brew and Stronger Stimulant, decreases downtime of expired brews, and improves shot counts of all Alchemist buffs except Permanent Brew.

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Glue Gunner

Best Path:

0/2/5

Notes

Relentless creates a chain reaction of stuns that is very good at holding back MOABs and DDTs. It's good at activating Sauda's weakness and harming.

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Glue Splatter skill icon

Glue Splatter

About

Splatters glue across up to 6 Bloons per shot.

Effect

Converts glue attack into a splash attack, gluing up to 6 bloons per shot (equivalent to +4 pierce).

Super Glue skill icon

Super Glue

About

Glue so strong it temporarily immobilizes all affected Bloons!

Effect

Improves the glue slowdown greatly. Locks MOABs, DDTs, and non-MOAB-class bloons in place, while slowing down BFBs by 95% and ZOMGs by 90%. Increases base pierce by 6. Also can rehit the same glued bloon. Popped bloons now stun nearby BFBs and ZOMGs as well for full duration.

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Ninja Monkey

Best Path:

0/4/0

Notes

Bloon Sabotage is one of the best abilities in the game, especially against DDTs. If you choose the maximum middle path upgrade: Grand Saboteur greatly improves Gerry's Fire on shinobis, and can take out entire rounds when combined with the spawn damage and slow.

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Bloon Sabotage skill icon

Bloon Sabotage

About

Sabotage ability: Lasts 15 seconds. During the sabotage, all Bloons move at half speed.

Effect

Ability slows down all bloons on screen and any incoming bloons by 50% for 15 seconds. Cannot soak through MOAB-class layers nor affect BADs and bosses.

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Beast Handler

Best Path:

0/2/4

Notes

The best crosspath depends on the map. Giant Condor now requires 29 power to grab the second BFB. Upgrading from Golden Eagle 24 brings the Condor to 32, which is sufficient. Pouākai is a powerful global T5, but it needs more support than before as it struggles to deal enough damage in the late game.

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Adasaurus skill icon

Adasaurus

About

The sharp teeth of Adasaurus deal high short range damage that can tear through Lead.

Effect

Transforms the Microraptor into an Adasaurus. Adasaurus can pop Frozen and Lead Bloons, and changes appearance at max Beast Power. Base Beast Power becomes 3 with 3 damage, 8 pierce, and 1.0s attack speed. Max Beast Power becomes 6, with 6 damage, 20 pierce, and 0.6561s attack speed.

Giant Condor skill icon

Giant Condor

About

The huge talons of the fearsome Giant Condor can pick up smaller MOAB-Class Bloons.

Effect

Transforms the Golden Eagle into a Giant Condor. Ceramics consume 2 pierce, and MOABs consume 10 (from 15). Can pick up to BFBs, which consume 30 pierce. If made able to pop Lead, Condors can grab DDTs, which consume 50 pierce. Base Beast power becomes 16, with 2 damage, 13 MOAB-class damage, and 30 pierce. Max Beast Power becomes 64, with 6 damage, 23 MOAB-class damage, and 90 pierce.

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Boomerang Monkey

Best Path:

2/0/4

Notes

MOAB Press is very potent against dense and slow bloons. Use it with a Middle Path Glue Gunner and other slowing towers to maximize its effectiveness. MOAB Domination is a good tier 5 for its price range that functions on many maps.

Glaives skill icon

Glaives

About

Throws glaives instead of boomerangs. Glaives are bigger and faster, hitting more Bloons with each throw.

Effect

Gains +5 pierce on top of the previous upgrade, equivalent to 13 pierce for most upgrades. Also gives +50% knockback for MOAB Press.

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MOAB Press skill icon

MOAB Press

About

Heavy Kylie boomerangs hit MOAB-Class Bloons multiple times per throw and sometimes knocks them back a short way along the path.

Effect

Throws a powerful knockback boomerang at MOAB-class bloons every once in a while, dealing 1 damage to Bloons in its path, and 5 to MOABs, while pushing them backwards by a set amount of distance. These boomerangs have 200 pierce and can redamage Bloons after 0.1 seconds. Path 1 upgrades increase pierce and knockback distance.

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Ice Monkey

Best Path:

2/4/0

Notes

Arctic Wind can freeze water on maps such as Flooded if you need the space. Snowstorm's ability has a huge freeze slow on MOABS. Absolute Zero is a decent T5 that slows down the game dramatically.

Cold Snap skill icon

Cold Snap

About

Can freeze and pop Lead Bloons and Camo Bloons.

Effect

Detects camo and can freeze and pop Lead Bloons.

Snowstorm skill icon

Snowstorm

About

Snowstorm Ability: Freezes all regular Bloons on screen, briefly freezes White, Zebra, and Camo, and slows MOAB-class.

Effect

Increases range from 20 to 30. Ability will freeze all bloons on screen, including White and Zebra, except Leads unless given lead-popping power. MOAB-class, White, Zebra, and Camo are frozen for only 3 seconds, while all other affected bloons are frozen for a full 6 seconds. Ability freeze soaks through 2 non-blimp layers.

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Monkey Ace

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Sky Shredder is one of the best T5 towers, as it has amazing MOAB DPS, decent Ceramic Bloon cleanup, and global range. Centered Path gives the ace a lot more mobility and microability.

Sky Shredder skill icon

Sky Shredder

About

The bloons will wish they had never come.

Effect

Attacks 33% faster, pops any bloon type, and shoots 32 darts per volley. Darts deal 3 damage plus another +2 to Ceramics. Anti-MOAB missiles deal 150 damage and up to 6 blimps.

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Centered Path skill icon

Centered Path

About

New central flight path for maximum map coverage.

Effect

Gains the Centered Path flight path, which moves the Ace along a unified path in a circular formation. This flight path can be adjusted so it flies around a different central point.

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Mortar Monkey

Best Path:

2/5/0

Notes

Pop and Awe is amazing when paired with Striker Jones' ability reset and stunning capabilities. Pop and Awe gained a massive amount of attack speed while keeping its large bonus to stunned bloons. One ability can take out the majority of the rounds in the game. You can use this tower very effectively with Engineer Monkey's Overclock as well.

Bloon Buster skill icon

Bloon Buster

About

Smash through 3 layers of Bloon at once!

Effect

Explosions deal 3 damage instead of 2.

Pop and Awe skill icon

Pop and Awe

About

Pop and Awe has permanent rapid attack speed and enhances the BAD and Boss damage of all Artillery Batteries. Pop and Awe Ability: rains explosions over the whole screen, damaging Bloons and stunning them periodically.

Effect

Ability stuns all bloons on screen repetitively every 1 second for 8 seconds. Main attack gains its previous Bombardment ability permanently. Bonus damage to stunned bloons increased from +2 to +10 and bonus BAD and Boss damage from +4 to +10. Also now grants all Artillery Batteries +6 to BADs and Bosses damage on screen.

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Spike Factory

Best Path:

2/5/0

Notes

Spike Storm can wipe the screen of MOABs during the midgame, or handle DDTs and the BAD during the late game. While Carpet of Spikes is weak against Ceramic Bloons, it deals incredible damage to MOABs across the entire map. It easily takes out the BAD, DDTs, and a decent chunk of dense rounds.

White Hot Spikes skill icon

White Hot Spikes

About

Cuts through Lead Bloons and Frozen Bloons.

Effect

Can pop Frozen and Lead Bloons.

Carpet of Spikes skill icon

Carpet of Spikes

About

Regularly sets a carpet of spikes over the whole track.

Effect

Every 15 seconds, produces an automatic Spike Storm. Spikes also deal incredible damage to bloons and MOAB-class, gains increased attack speed and range for main attack, and storm spikes last for 20 seconds instead of 10 (30 instead of 15 with Long Reach).

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Spike Factory

Best Path:

2/0/5

Notes

Both crosspaths of Perma-Spike work.

White Hot Spikes skill icon

White Hot Spikes

About

Cuts through Lead Bloons and Frozen Bloons.

Effect

Can pop Frozen and Lead Bloons.

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Perma-Spike skill icon

Perma-Spike

About

High damage spikes become almost permanent.

Effect

Spike piles have 10 damage per spike, 50 pierce per spike pile, total active rounds increased from 3 to 4, and lasts for 300 seconds instead of 140. Reduces production speed to every 6.06s, but increases start-of-round duration to 10s.

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Bomb Shooter

Best Path:

2/5/0

Notes

MOAB Eliminator is a premium T5 that eliminates entire ZOMGs and can also skip the BAD similar to First Strike when doubled with Striker Jones’ Level 20. Use with strong cleanup towers. All middle bombs pair well with Primary Mentoring.

Heavy Bombs skill icon

Heavy Bombs

About

Heavy duty bombs can smash through 2 layers of Bloon at once and pop more Bloons.

Effect

Explosions deal +1 damage and can pop an additional +10 bloons.

MOAB Eliminator skill icon

MOAB Eliminator

About

Massive damage to MOABs and Assassinate ability deals 6x damage with a short cooldown.

Effect

Ability targets the strongest blimp on screen and deals an instant 4500 damage to the first blimp hit with 3x faster ability cooldown. Main attack deals 100 damage to MOAB-class and gains normal damage type.

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Sniper Monkey

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Maim MOAB is incredibly strong utility in the midgame and carries into the lategame well. Run alongside Bloon damage towers such as Bouncing Bullets.

Maim MOAB skill icon

Maim MOAB

About

Deals much more damage and immobilizes MOAB class bloons for a short time.

Effect

Bullets temporarily stun MOAB-class bloons and deal 30 damage instead of 20. With Shrapnel Shot, each shrapnel piece deals 6 damage instead of 4 and can stun MOAB-class bloons.

Shrapnel Shot skill icon

Shrapnel Shot

About

Damaged bloons spray out a cone of sharp shrapnel.

Effect

If a bloon is damaged, it will spray out a cone of sharp shrapnel in the same direction as the bullet. Shrapnel improves damage potential with Path 1 upgrades. Shrapnel cannot hit the bloon which spawned it.

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Monkey Sub

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Submerge and Support is the best de-camo option on many maps with water. Energizer is a premium T5 that can be used with Heroes that have powerful high levels, especially Admiral Brickell for the additional cooldown reduction. Pairs well with other water towers for the cooldown reduction.

Energizer skill icon

Energizer

About

Reduces ability cooldowns everywhere by 20%. While in radius, heroes earn XP 50% faster and water Monkey ability cooldowns are halved.

Effect

Submerging allows its damage zone to deal 5 damage per cycle instead of 1, +5 versus Ceramics, reduces ability cooldowns of all towers on screen by 20%, gives nearby heroes with 50% more XP, and nearby water-based towers gain 50% reduced ability cooldowns instead of 15%.

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Airburst Darts skill icon

Airburst Darts

About

Airburst darts split into 3 on impact for massively increased popping power. Further enhances Bloontonium Reactor.

Effect

Main dart now splits into 3 darts on impact, and the attack speed of Submerged Subs and Bloontonium Reactors further increases.

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Monkey Sub

Best Path:

0/4/0

Notes

First Strike is one of the best BAD damagers, usually used to pop the BAD on maps with water and blast away groups of MOABs before that with the splash damage. Pre-emptive Strike pairs well with Sub Commander and can instantly kill all DDTs alone, but it is not necessary and does little on other rounds.

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First Strike Capability skill icon

First Strike Capability

About

First Strike Ability: A devastating missile strike targeting the largest bloon on screen, plus splash damage.

Effect

Ability shoots a large missile that deals 10,000 damage onto the strongest bloon on screen plus a splash with 350 damage onto up to 80 bloons.

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Monkey Buccaneer

Best Path:

2/5/0

Notes

Monkey Pirates is a decent midgame T4 that deals good damage to MOABs. Pirate Lord is a premium T5 that is one of the most cost efficient towers in the game. Place between 2 parts of the track to utilize the double-sided attack such as #Ouch and Quad. On simultaneous lane maps, the hook can change which path will trigger Admiral Brickell's Mega Mines, maximizing their potential.

Double Shot skill icon

Double Shot

About

Increases ship weapons fired.

Effect

Increases the number of darts and grapes by +1, for double the straight-sprayed darts and a total of 6 grapes per shot (requires the Grape Shot crosspath).

Pirate Lord skill icon

Pirate Lord

About

Greatly increased attack speed for all attacks and can shoot 3 grappling hooks at once, plundering extra cash from each MOAB-class Bloon taken down.

Effect

Ability now shoots 3 grappling hooks at once, and can pull ZOMGs down with 2 hooks. Hooked blimps grant +100% more cash than would have been obtained by popping them normally. All attacks are 2x faster, and improves damage of grapes and bombs. Grapes deal 10 damage with 10 extra damage to Ceramic bloons with additional increased burn damage, and bombs deal massive damage to MOAB-Class.

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Monkey Ace

Best Path:

0/5/0

Notes

Ground Zero is a lesser midgame tower as it is now too expensive to reliably save up to with early game towers. However, its lategame cleanup is still good. Tsar Bomba is a premium T5 that deals a single instance of extreme damage, pairs well with slows, and somewhat stalls for itself with the stun on ZOMGs.

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Tsar Bomba skill icon

Tsar Bomba

About

A very, very large bomb. Someone put a stop to craziness!

Effect

Ability nuke deals 3000 damage, affects up to 5000 bloons on screen, and stuns all survivors of the blast except BADs. Has a shorter ability cooldown. Main bomb explosions pop any bloon type.

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Heli Pilot

Best Path:

0/3/2

Notes

Downdraft is the global option for ceramic stalling as it is able to rotate to another lane easily. Chinook enables a much larger variety of towers to be used on maps such as Geared and Muddy Puddles; however, it’s usually useless. Special Poperations is an average T5 with good cleanup.

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Downdraft skill icon

Downdraft

About

Blows Bloons away from the Heli, back toward the entrance.

Effect

Periodically blows back 2 bloons or 1 Ceramic at a time at a rate of 4.44 blowbacks per second. Can blowback even faster with Faster Firing.

Faster Firing skill icon

Faster Firing

About

Faster attack speed for all Heli attacks.

Effect

Attacks +25% faster (0.80x attack cooldown).

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Heli Pilot

Best Path:

0/2/3

Notes

MOAB Shove is a strong yet cheap midgame support which can clump or create gaps between MOABs. Comanche Defense is a solid midgame option that holds well by itself on single lane maps. Comanche Commander has many low damage projectiles and is a natural combo with Glue Storm, but it basically needs Geraldo or Gwen’s pierce and damage buffs to function.

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IFR skill icon

IFR

About

Allows Heli Pilot to detect and shoot Camo Bloons.

Effect

Allows the Heli to detect and attack Camo Bloons.

MOAB Shove skill icon

MOAB Shove

About

Can collide with and shove MOAB-Class Bloons, reversing or slowing their movement. Shove is amplified by Bigger Jets and IFR upgrades.

Effect

Shoves back against MOAB-class bloons close to it, pushing them backwards or slowing down their movement. Improves shove effect with the Bigger Jets upgrade. Also adds a slow firing missile attack.

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Mortar Monkey

Best Path:

0/2/3

Notes

Signal Flare is a decent de-camo option that can be moved across the map. Shattering Shells is a decent support against rounds like 96 and 98, but very expensive for the job it does. Blooncineration is a good T5 for the lategame for both single and multi-paths, but requires knowledge of how to micro it. Blooncineration pairs well with Striker Jones or any hero that does strong Ceramic DPS.

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Rapid Reload skill icon

Rapid Reload

About

Even faster reload.

Effect

Gains another +39% attack speed (an equivalent value from 0.72x attack cooldown), for a total of +85% attack speed (0.54x attack cooldown).

Signal Flare skill icon

Signal Flare

About

Camo Bloons popped by flares lose their camouflage permanently.

Effect

Explosions produce wide non-damaging secondary flares that strip camo properties off any bloon hit, including Camo Blacks, Camo Zebras, and DDTs. Can detect Camo Bloons.

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Dartling Gunner

Best Path:

2/0/5

Notes

Buckshot shouldn’t be used alone due to its slow attack rate. 2 / 0 / 3 is even worse. Bloon Area Denial System is a strong mid game tower that even performs well in some of the hardest maps. Laser Shock greatly amplifies the tower’s damage, but sacrifices camo and knockback. Bloon Exclusion Zone with Laser Shock is a premium T5 tower that needs little help to take out lategame. Use Acidic Mixture Dip Alchemists to give the tower the ability to pop Lead Bloons.

Lazer Shock skill icon

Lazer Shock

About

Laser tipped shots shock bloons into popping again 1 second after being struck.

Effect

Every point of damage applies an extra electric shock damage-over-time onto affected Bloons. Dartling Gunners with this upgrade also deal bonus damage to shocked Bloons.

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Bloon Exclusion Zone skill icon

Bloon Exclusion Zone

About

Upgraded to 6 barrels and massively increased damage. Bloons are excluded from existence.

Effect

Further upgrades into 6 barrels for even faster attack speed and gains even more buckshots per cannon. Buckshots deal 8 damage instead of 4, and pierce 6 bloons instead of 4. With Laser Shock, improves Laser Shock to deal 6 damage per tic instead of 3, and take +6 extra damage from Dartling Gunners with Laser Shock.

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Super Monkey

Best Path:

2/0/3

Notes

Pierce nerfs have made Dark Knight into mainly a MOAB attacker before Round 80. The knockback and good DDT damage makes it an effective lategame tower as well. Dark Champion is an expensive - but now viable - lategame DPS option. Dark Knight can save into it easily.

Plasma Blasts skill icon

Plasma Blasts

About

Super fast plasma vaporizes almost everything it touches.

Effect

Attacks 1.5x faster and pops Lead Bloons. Cannot pop Purples.

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Dark Knight skill icon

Dark Knight

About

Dark blades increase knockback and pierce and deal extra damage to MOAB-class Bloons. Gains Darkshift ability to shift to a nearby location.

Effect

Gains +2 MOAB-class damage, Leads and Ceramics slowed by 90%, and gains +3 pierce. Can teleport onto any valid land location within range with a new ability.

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Spike Factory

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Spiked Balls are a failsafe against small amounts of Ceramics and MOABs. They're a decent tank for DDT rounds despite being unhelpful without other DDT damagers. Spiked Mines is an even stronger midgame backline, consistently taking down large clumps of Bloons with the high damage explosions. Super Mines is difficult to save for - and on Expert maps, not a viable option.

Spiked Mines skill icon

Spiked Mines

About

Spiked mines explode violently when they lose all their spikes.

Effect

Increases Ceramic damage bonus from +3 to +6, and Fortified damage from +1 to +3. Pierce of each spike pile increases from 12 to 20. Mines produce explosions that deal 10 damage (+2 to Ceramics, +3 to Fortified) with 30 pierce upon depletion of its spikes or by expiration, plus a burning effect that deals 10 damage per 2 seconds for up to 6 seconds. If expired by time, explosions deal double damage (20 damage).

Even Faster Production skill icon

Even Faster Production

About

Increases production rate even more.

Effect

Produces spikes +42% faster (0.70x attack cooldown).

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Beast Handler

Best Path:

0/4/2

Notes

Ensure your T-Rex is at 64 power. T-Rex takes out regular Ceramics with ease, but requires 43 power to one-shot Super Ceramics. The max power T-Rex layerskips through MOABs with its attacks, making it a good option. Giganotosaurus is unusable unless at max power, which is virtually unobtainable.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex skill icon

Tyrannosaurus Rex

About

The Tyrannosaurus Rex's huge jaw and sharp teeth deal a ton of damage with each bite. T Rex Stomp ability: Stuns up to ZOMG Bloons in a wide area.

Effect

Transforms the Velociraptor into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Changes appearance twice at Beast Power 36 and 64. Gains Stomp ability which stuns up to 400 bloons within range, including ZOMGs and DDTs, for 6 seconds, dealing 150 damage, and has a 35s cooldown. At max Beast Power, ability deals 214 damage, stuns up to 436 bloons, reduces cooldown to 17.5s, and damage and stun carry over from MOAB-class to their children. Base Beast Power becomes 16, with 32 damage, 8 bonus damage to stunned bloons, 24 pierce, and 30 range. Max Beast Power becomes 64, with 96 damage, 29 bonus damage to stunned bloons, 60 pierce, and damage carries over from MOAB-class to their children.

Horned Owl skill icon

Horned Owl

About

The Horned Owl is strong enough to grab Ceramic Bloons, and has keen eyes that can detect Camo Bloons.

Effect

Transforms the Gyrfalcon into a Horned Owl. Can detect camo and pick up more bloons. Can pick up Leads (if given Lead-popping) equal to pierce minus one; Fortified Leads consume 2 pierce each and Ceramics consume 6. Base Beast Power becomes 3, with 1 damage, 6 pierce and 0.7s attack speed. Max Beast Power becomes 6, with 2 damage and 18 pierce.

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Dart Monkey

Best Path:

2/5/0

Notes

Triple darts is a cheap early game skill that works fine on Ravine or Dungeons. Super Monkey Fan Club is expensive, lacks mobility, and doesn't have enough damage. Plasma Monkey Fan Club is a great tower for lategame burst DPS given you have something to stall or cover downtime. Pairs well with Primary Mentoring's cooldown reduction and free tier 1 upgrades.

Razor Sharp Shots skill icon

Razor Sharp Shots

About

Can pop 2 more bloons per shot.

Effect

Gains +2 pierce, for 5 pierce by default. With Crossbow Master, gains +7 pierce instead.

Plasma Monkey Fan Club skill icon

Plasma Monkey Fan Club

About

Elite membership of this club grants the Dart Monkeys even more power.

Effect

Ability now transforms the club leader and up to 20 of the nearest non-special Dart Monkeys into Super Monkeys that shoot plasma blasts instead of darts. The plasma attacks twice as fast, deals 2 damage per hit and has 5 pierce.

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Tack Shooter

Best Path:

2/0/4

Notes

Tack Sprayer is not a good skill. Overdrive, however, does great MOAB damage - and it's even better when paired with Embrittlement and Alchemist buffs. The Tack Zone can be used on non-Expert maps as a main damage tower, and is typically used with Pat Fusty or Geraldo.

Even Faster Shooting skill icon

Even Faster Shooting

About

Shoots tacks even faster.

Effect

Attacks an additional +33% faster (0.75x attack cooldown). Blade Maelstrom ability gains a further +40 pierce (for a total of +80), and Super Maelstrom ability gains a further +100 pierce (for a total of +200).

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Overdrive skill icon

Overdrive

About

Shoots incredibly fast.

Effect

3x attack speed and +1 pierce.

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Glue Gunner

Best Path:

5/2/0

Notes

Bloon Dissolver is not a good skill. Bloon Liquefier doesn't quite have the pierce or puddle damage to handle all Ceramics. The huge buff to Bloon Solver's puddles enables it to start a chain reaction that can pop up to BFBs and Fortified MOABs. It's still weak to DDTs and ZOMGs, however, and requires another tower to cover for it.

The Bloon Solver skill icon

The Bloon Solver

About

Bloons a problem? Here's the solution.

Effect

Corrosion rate increases versus Ceramics and MOAB-class to 8 damage per 0.1s for Ceramics and 6 damage per 0.1s for MOABs. Glue attack becomes a twin splatter attack with 6 pierce per splash, greatly increased damage to popped blob of glue on the track, spreading glue even further. Attacks 3x faster.

Glue Splatter skill icon

Glue Splatter

About

Splatters glue across up to 6 Bloons per shot.

Effect

Converts glue attack into a splash attack, gluing up to 6 bloons per shot (equivalent to +4 pierce).

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Glue Gunner

Best Path:

0/5/2

Notes

Glue Strike helps a bit during the midgame (and for round 100 if you need extra DPS). Glue Storm's debuff now consistently catches Ceramics and slows them immensely. It pairs very well with any strategy that needs Lead coverage and more damage.

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Glue Storm skill icon

Glue Storm

About

Glue Storm Ability: Pelts the whole screen with glue for 20 seconds.

Effect

Ability improved, allowing the ability to glue all bloons currently on screen every 1.0s until the ability expires. Alongside effects from its predecessor, ability glue now has double slowdown and gains double lifespan.

Stronger Glue skill icon

Stronger Glue

About

Slows down Bloons even more.

Effect

Slows down bloons by 75% instead of 50%.

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Monkey Buccaneer

Best Path:

3/2/0

Notes

Destroyers have high DPS and are a good saveup where it uses the double-sided attack. Aircraft Carrier and Carrier Flagship suffer from numerous problems, including price, lack of DPS, and unreliability. Carrier Flagship is mainly used on Flooded Valley due to lack of land availability. All of them pair well with Admiral Brickell or Pat Fusty.

Destroyer skill icon

Destroyer

About

Attacks super duper fast!

Effect

Darts attack 5x faster, and grapes gain 5x attack speed.

Hot Shot skill icon

Hot Shot

About

Burning hot grape shot can pop Lead Bloons and set Bloons on fire.

Effect

Converts grapes into hot grapes of fire, popping Lead Bloons and applying napalm. Hot grapes can no longer pop Purples.

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Wizard Monkey

Best Path:

0/3+/2

Notes

Dragon's Breath is a powerful early to mid game tower that deals decent damage to MOABs. Summon Phoenix is an expensive mid game tower, but it is strong enough to easily save to Wizard Lord Phoenix. Doesn't hold as well against late game Ceramics anymore due to the main attack nerf. Wizard Lord Phoenix is a strong lategame T5 that can deal lots of damage over a long duration.

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Dragon's Breath skill icon

Dragon's Breath

About

Spews endless flames at nearby Bloons and enhances Fireball and Wall of Fire.

Effect

Rapidly spews flames at bloons. Flames deal 2 damage and sets affected bloons on fire for more damage. Fireball deals 9 damage and 14 blast radius, Wall of Fire spawns every 4.5s and gains +10 pierce, and increases tick rate of Wall of Fire.

Monkey Sense skill icon

Monkey Sense

About

Increase range slightly and allows the Wizard to hit Camo Bloons.

Effect

Wizard gains +10 range, camo detection and can access Camo Prioritization.

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Super Monkey

Best Path:

0/3+/2

Notes

Robo Monkey can serve as a good mid game option which has enough late game DPS when paired with Geraldo's Sharpening Stone and the Glue Gunner's Glue Storm. Tech Terror is a good mid-to-late game tower and can one-shot Fortified BFBs and knock back ZOMGs on Round 98, removing nearly all the danger of the round. The Anti-Bloon is likely not affordable on CHIMPs.

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Robo Monkey skill icon

Robo Monkey

About

Half Super Monkey, half killer robot of death. Shoots from 2 guns at once and can crit!

Effect

Gains +3 pierce and shoots from both arms at once. Arms have independent targeting and cannot both have the same target priorities. Does Crits every 15-20th shot that deals 10 damage.

Ultravision skill icon

Ultravision

About

Enables Super Monkey to shoot slightly further and to see Camo Bloons.

Effect

+3 range, gains camo detection and deal +1 damage to Camo Bloons. With the X-Ray Ultra MK, allows the Super Monkey to see and shoot through any blocking objects.

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Ninja Monkey

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Bloonjitsu Ninjas benefit greatly from Geraldo's Sharpening Stone or Pat Fusty's Rallying Roar, and is a very competent mid game with Shinobi Ninjas. Builds into any T5 Ninja Monkey with ease. Grandmaster Ninja is a strong black border strategy when buffed with Shinobi's, notably on #Ouch and X Factor. Also greatly benefits from Geraldo or Pat.

Grandmaster Ninja skill icon

Grandmaster Ninja

About

Throws incredibly fast, 8 shurikens per shot!

Effect

Throws 8 shurikens at once, with 2 damage and +222% faster (0.31x attack cooldown). Also gains +10 range.

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Caltrops skill icon

Caltrops

About

Throws out spiked caltrops onto the track nearby.

Effect

Regularly throws out caltrops onto nearby track. Pops up to 6 bloons per caltrop. Lasts for 1 round or 70 seconds, whichever comes first.

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Alchemist

Best Path:

0/5/1

Notes

Unstable Concoction does a lot of damage for its cost, but is hindered by creating 'conc rushes', which are the massive Ceramic or MOAB rushes it leaves behind. Perma-Spike and Snowstorm make 'conc rushes' much more manageable. Total Transformation is an interesting T5 for late game DPS - run with damage increasers and Druids (but Ninjas, Ices, and Snipers are all possible).

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Total Transformation skill icon

Total Transformation

About

Transforms five Monkeys nearby into crazy attack monsters for 20 seconds.

Effect

Ability now affects up to 5 nearby monkeys up to Tier 3 into laser-shooting monsters. Ability cooldown is decreased. Most transformed monkeys can inherit tower-exclusive buffs on top.

Faster Throwing skill icon

Faster Throwing

About

Throws potions and attacks faster.

Effect

Attacks and throws potions +25% faster (0.80x attack cooldown).

Secret message...

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Druid

Best Path:

1/5/0

Notes

Druid of the Jungle is a strong early game option on single lane maps such as Geared and Muddy as a global alternative to Wall of Fire. Use its targeting system to your advantage by maximizing damage while not dying to leaks. Spirit of the Forest's rework makes it a great option for single lane maps, but it still handles multiple lanes decently if you control when each side breaks apart.

Hard Thorns skill icon

Hard Thorns

About

Hard thorns can pop 2 bloons each and can pop all bloon types.

Effect

Druid thorns gain +1 pierce, and all thorns pop Frozen and Lead. For Druids of the Jungle and Spirit of the Forest, on-track vines now pop all bloon types.

Spirit of the Forest skill icon

Spirit of the Forest

About

Grows thorned vines along the path that deal constant damage plus bonus damage to ceramics. Vines nearest the Spirit of the Forest do more damage. Activated ability generates lives and more cash.

Effect

Continually grows thorned vines starting from its direct location and grows more vines outwards every 0.5s. Thorned vines deal constant damage to bloons passing through, and deal more damage if closer to the Druid. Also greatly strengthens most attacks. Ability also provides 25 lives per use. Gives 1000 cash every round. Also with the monkey knowledge 'Vine Rupture' the Druid gains an ability to explode all the vines in the screen, after about 5 seconds the vines will regrow.

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Druid

Best Path:

0/1/5

Notes

Druid of Wrath synergizes well with Total Transformation, as you get the extra attack speed for great late game DPS. Poplusts can boost speed even more. Unlike Grandmaster Ninja, Avatar of Wrath still has a lot of power by itself, as it can be run with just an Alchemist and a strong hero. Obyn isn't actually the best for his pierce buffs. Often significantly weaker on rounds 92, 95, and 99 due to there being not much RBE on screen. Speed buffs pair well with Gerry's Fire, but Psi and Adora also cover weaknesses.

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Thorn Swarm skill icon

Thorn Swarm

About

Shoots 8 thorns per shot instead of 5.

Effect

Self-explanatory

Avatar of Wrath skill icon

Avatar of Wrath

About

The more bloons there are, the more damage it does!

Effect

Attack speed twice as fast, +5 range and deals 4 damage per thorn by default, plus another +1 damage every 3000 RBE on screen, capped at +30. Also gives equal damage-ramping for lightning if given the Heart of Thunder upgrade.

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Engineer Monkey

Best Path:

0/4/0

Notes

Cleansing Foam is a good option for de-camoing DDTs - target it slightly off track to avoid Ceramics. Overclock is decent on a few towers, especially the highest DPS T5 towers; however, it is generally expensive compared to other supports such as slowdowns. Ultraboost takes far too long to stack up considering its high price.

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Overclock skill icon

Overclock

About

Overclock Ability: Target another tower to supercharge its attack speed for a short time.

Effect

Ability temporarily increases attack speed of tower, range of a Monkey Village, or production of a Banana Farm. Ability duration depends on tier of the selected tower. Main attack gains more pierce.

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Boomerang Monkey

Best Path:

0/5/2

Notes

Bionic Boomerang is consistent but there are much better options. Turbo Charge is a good mid game and can save to its T5 upgrade, but is not a lategame tower. Perma Charge is a decent and affordable T5 that can survive the late game. Both Turbo and Perma Charge pair extremely well with Gerry's Fire, multiplying its DPS during the ability.

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Perma Charge skill icon

Perma Charge

About

Perma Charge has a permanent super fast attack speed. Ability increases the lethality even more.

Effect

Permanently gains Turbo Charge attack speed and deals 4 damage by default. Ability now deals +8 damage for 15 seconds. With Red Hot Rangs, its attacks deal another +4 damage, and the ability damage is further increased by +2.

Red Hot Rangs skill icon

Red Hot Rangs

About

Allows boomerangs to pop Frozen and Lead Bloons and do more damage to all.

Effect

Pops any bloon type and main attack and Glaive Lord's glaive orbitals deal +1 damage. Gives even more damage with Perma Charge.

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Ice Monkey

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Ice Shards is relegated to races. Embrittlement can provide a Monkey Intelligence Bureau skip and is a good de-buffer in a small area. With Bloon Sabotage, it can consistently hit all DDTs. Pairs well with pretty much every low damage tower but especially with Overdrive Tack Shooters. Super Brittle is effectively the same as the above, except other damage increasers means the higher potency is not as preferable.

Embrittlement skill icon

Embrittlement

About

Can hit MOAB-class Bloons. All hit Bloons become brittle, take extra damage while frozen, and lose Camo properties.

Effect

All bloons, including Lead and MOAB-class affected, will become temporarily vulnerable to damage from sharp and freezing attacks, temporarily take +1 damage, and permanently lose Camo and Regrow properties. Can target MOAB-class bloons, as well as decamo DDTs and temporarily cause DDTs to become brittle.

Deep Freeze skill icon

Deep Freeze

About

Increases pierce, freezes an extra layer and freeze lasts longer.

Effect

Freezes through 2 layers of Bloon and freezes bloons for 2.2s instead of 1.75s. Pierce increases from 40 to 45.

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Ice Monkey

Best Path:

0/2/5

Notes

Cryo Cannon is heavily nerfed and is a cheap but weak Ceramic catcher. Icicles is generally only purchased if mid game help is needed, or if running Impale. Icicle Impale is a heavy stall T5 which requires another tower to deal damage. Pairs well with MOAB Press due to strengthening its MOAB pushback, and anything with high pierce due to its clumping capabilities. For dense rounds, Deep Freeze is an important upgrade to increase pierce and freeze duration.

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Deep Freeze skill icon

Deep Freeze

About

Increases pierce, freezes an extra layer and freeze lasts longer.

Effect

Freezes through 2 layers of Bloon and freezes bloons for 2.2s instead of 1.75s. Pierce increases from 40 to 45.

Icicle Impale skill icon

Icicle Impale

About

Shoots huge icicle spikes that do huge damage to MOAB-Class Bloons and freezes them.

Effect

Ice blasts deal 50 damage to MOAB-class bloons and can freeze them. Attacks slightly faster.

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Sniper Monkey

Best Path:

0/5/2

Notes

Bouncing Bullets have been greatly weakened but are usable as a mid game attacker. Don’t stop at Supply Drop, the extra bounce is not worth it. Elite Sniper is a very easy to use midgame, and its buff to snipers is amazing for sniper builds. Very good when paired with Maim MOAB, as that covers for spaced MOABs. Potent with Geraldo, as his Sharpening Stone provides huge bonuses for this path.

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Elite Sniper skill icon

Elite Sniper

About

Supply Drop gives much more cash and activates Supply Drop for other snipers. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers.

Effect

Ability gives $3000 cash when deployed cash crate is collected, and activates the abilities of all other Supply Drop Snipers that are not on cooldown. Attacks +150% faster (0.4x attack cooldown) and gives all other Snipers +33% attack speed (0.75x attack cooldown).

Even Faster Firing skill icon

Even Faster Firing

About

Shoots even faster!

Effect

Gains a further +42% attack speed (0.70x attack cooldown).

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Sniper Monkey

Best Path:

2/0/5

Notes

Semi-Automatic takes out Zebras and Leads but is too expensive to be used early. Full Auto can deal some MOAB damage and break open Ceramics in the mid game. 2/0/5 Elite Defender is a decent mid game that can break open ZOMG and DDT layers and help against the BAD. Geraldo's items can also act like a mini Permanent Brew and make 0/2/5 barely viable.

Large Calibre skill icon

Large Calibre

About

Shots can pop through 7 layers of Bloon.

Effect

Bullets deal 7 damage instead of 4. With Shrapnel Shot, each shrapnel piece deals 2 damage instead of 1.

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Elite Defender skill icon

Elite Defender

About

Fires super fast and does more damage to MOAB-class Bloons. Fires faster the further the Bloons are along the track. Gains 4x attack speed briefly on losing lives.

Effect

2x attack speed on top of previous upgrades, as well as attacking an additive percentage amount faster depending on how close the Bloons are nearing the exit. If lives are lost, attacks 4x faster for about 7 seconds (on top of other attack speed bonuses). Bullets deal +4 damage to MOAB-class Bloons.

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Monkey Sub

Best Path:

2/0/5

Notes

Triple Guns is a good early game tower that can upgrade into Armor Piercing Darts for mid game MOAB damage. Sub Commander is weak to Super Ceramics in the late game, especially on simultaneous lanes. Contrary to popular belief, Sub Commander is better when run with Ballistic Missiles. Pair with Pat Fusty or Admiral Brickell for their water tower buffs.

Advanced Intel skill icon

Advanced Intel

About

Allows long range targeting of Bloons in radius of your other towers.

Effect

Allows the Monkey Sub to target any bloon within the range of any tower on screen. Can target Camo Bloons detected in the range of any tower with direct camo detection.

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Sub Commander skill icon

Sub Commander

About

Adds extra pierce and damage to Commander and all Subs in its radius.

Effect

All Subs within range, including itself, deal double damage and gain +4 pierce. Also, the Sub Commander gains 2x attack speed.

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Heli Pilot

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Razor Rotors is decent but not good enough to save into Apache on its own. Apache Dartship is generally consistent enough to save up to Apache Prime and gets a decent benefit from Geraldo, but is still weak as a standalone tower. Apache Prime does good DPS on single lane maps, but is very expensive and very weak to DDTs. Microing the Heli behind the Bloons maximizes rotor and machine gun damage.

Apache Prime skill icon

Apache Prime

About

The Apache Prime leaves most Bloons wishing they'd never been inflated.

Effect

Quad dart replaced with lasers, dealing 6 damage and having greatly increased pierce. Machine gun replaced with plasma dealing 5 damage, and more pierce, and missiles deal 17 damage to MOAB class Bloons instead of 2. Further improves rotors to double its pierce and damage.

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Faster Firing skill icon

Faster Firing

About

Faster attack speed for all Heli attacks.

Effect

Attacks +25% faster (0.80x attack cooldown).

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Mortar Monkey

Best Path:

5/2/0

Notes

Shell Shock with Burny Stuff is a decent early that can burn through Rainbows. The Big One with Burny Stuff is good for Ceramic damage, but lacks MOAB damage. The Biggest One is a high-pierce MOAB DPS that struggles to deal point damage. The Biggest One can now be run without Overclock, but still requires another tower to handle ZOMGs and the BAD. MOAB Eliminator is the prime choice as both towers benefit from Striker.

The Biggest One skill icon

The Biggest One

About

Blasts deeply through Bloons and layers over a huge area, plus powerful Burny Stuff damage.

Effect

Creates gigantic explosions (60 to 75) that deal 25 damage per main explosion, plus +25 to Ceramics and +20 to MOAB-class, and pops 200 bloons instead of 85. Shockwave explosion deals +20 damage to Ceramics. When given Burny Stuff, deals 45 damage per tick instead of 5. In addition, Shockwave explosion now can stun MOAB-class bloons for short time.

Rapid Reload skill icon

Rapid Reload

About

Even faster reload.

Effect

Gains another +39% attack speed (an equivalent value from 0.72x attack cooldown), for a total of +85% attack speed (0.54x attack cooldown).

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Wizard Monkey

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Arcane Mastery is a good early game that is usable on many maps. Arcane Spike works fine in the midgame but isn't the main reason to use the tower. Archmage has been buffed many times and deals good damage with a fine saveup. The increased range from Monkey Sense gives these upgrades even more map control.

Archmage skill icon

Archmage

About

A true master of magical wizardry. Attack faster and does more damage to MOAB-Class Bloons.

Effect

Even higher damage bolts deal 7 damage and 26 MOAB-class damage and attack twice as fast as Arcane Spike. Additionally gains Dragon's Breath and Shimmer attacks, and all additionally attacks also gain twice as fast speed and deal double damage to MOAB-Class Bloons (including crosspathing path 2 Fireball and Wall of Fire).

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Monkey Sense skill icon

Monkey Sense

About

Increase range slightly and allows the Wizard to hit Camo Bloons.

Effect

Wizard gains +10 range, camo detection and can access Camo Prioritization.

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Wizard Monkey

Best Path:

0/2/5

Notes

The best crosspath for Prince of Darkness varies from map to map. Shimmer is a weak decamo option due to tendency to whiff and lack of consistency. Necromancer is a decent Ceramic damager that saves to Prince of Darkness, but should not be used alone. Prince of Darkness received its range back, meaning it can handle split lanes pretty well again. Pairs well with any tower that does not stall (since damage is greatly reduced without graveyard).

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Wall of Fire skill icon

Wall of Fire

About

Creates a super hot wall of fire across the track to roast the Bloons as they pass.

Effect

Creates a blaze of fire onto the closest region of bloon track. The blaze will regularly damage bloons as they pass through. Crosspathing with Guided Magic allows Wall of Fire placement to be manually adjusted, and also lasting 6.5 instead of 4.5s making 100% uptime.

Prince of Darkness skill icon

Prince of Darkness

About

Reanimate even more powerful Bloon servants to obliterate the enemy and enhances all other Necromancers.

Effect

Expands its personal graveyard greatly, Undead Bloons last longer, and can now also summon Undead MOABs and Undead BFBs that deal even more damage and pop more bloons. Improves damage and lifespan of all Undead Bloons on screen including its own. The Wizard's other attacks can now gain up to +10 damage with a full graveyard. Also gains a massive range of 80.

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Super Monkey

Best Path:

3/0/2

Notes

Sun Avatar is a decent saveup tower for its cost and can be used as a late game attacker. Range helps it deal more damage, but knockback is better at controlling Ceramics. Becomes far stronger when buffed by Permanent Brew or Geraldo's Pickles. Sun Temple would be very hard to save to, and True Sun God isn't viable to save to in CHIMPS.

Sun Avatar skill icon

Sun Avatar

About

Channels power from the core of the Sun.

Effect

Shoots three waves of sunbeams per shot. Each sunbeam pops up to 6 bloons. Can't pop Purple Bloons, unless the player has the Strike Down The False MK enabled.

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Ultravision skill icon

Ultravision

About

Enables Super Monkey to shoot slightly further and to see Camo Bloons.

Effect

+3 range, gains camo detection and deal +1 damage to Camo Bloons. With the X-Ray Ultra MK, allows the Super Monkey to see and shoot through any blocking objects.

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Druid

Best Path:

3/0/2

Notes

Druid of the storm is now able to function without straight lines, but is still inconsistent. Ball Lightning can handle mid game Ceramics due to the damage increases. Can be used with Poplusts as an Avatar of Wrath saveup; however, it's generally unnecessary. Superstorm is very difficult to save up to and struggles with DDTs and the BAD.

Druid of the Storm skill icon

Druid of the Storm

About

Gusts of wind blow Bloons off the track away from the exit.

Effect

Creates small tornadoes that home towards Bloons, blowing away up to 30 Bloons backwards.

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Heart of Vengeance skill icon

Heart of Vengeance

About

Gains 10% attack speed and 1% for every life lost from the starting value after the upgrade. Maxes at 100% and diminishes if lives are restored.

Effect

Self-explanatory

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Monkey Village

Best Path:

3+/2/0

Notes

Primary Training is useful for many Primary towers, especially ones with low pierce. Primary Mentoring is mainly bought for Primary towers with Abilities, but can also be bought to discount upgrades or provide extra range. Primary Expertise is below average for cleanup, but +3 pierce and further cooldown reduction is especially nice on certain towers, like Perma Charge.

Primary Training skill icon

Primary Training

About

All Primary Monkeys in radius get more range, pierce and projectile speed.

Effect

All Primary Monkeys in the radius of the Village gain +10% further range, +1 pierce, and around +25% projectile speed.

Radar Scanner skill icon

Radar Scanner

About

Allows all Monkeys in the radius to attack Camo Bloons.

Effect

Grants all towers in range camo detection.

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Bomb Shooter

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Despite recent buffs, Really Big Bombs is still terrible. Bloon Impact can now not die to Ceramics exiting the range, but is still pretty expensive. Better radius, rate, pierce, and duration makes it a more powerful Cryo Cannon. Bloon Crush is a free pass to Round 100 on single lanes, but is very expensive and range limited.

Bloon Impact skill icon

Bloon Impact

About

Explosions become so violent Bloons are stunned for a short time when they are hit. Range is increased and frags are even more effective.

Effect

Explosions stun affected bloons for 1.4s. Gains +3 range. With Frag Bombs, improves frag pierce, count, and lifespan.

Missile Launcher skill icon

Missile Launcher

About

Exchanges bombs for missiles, which fire faster, fly faster, and increase range.

Effect

Attacks +36% faster (0.7333x attack cooldown) on top of the previous upgrade, gains +4 range, and gains +50% projectile speed.

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Tack Shooter

Best Path:

4/0/2

Notes

Hot Shots is bad. Ring of Fire has good bloon DPS mid game and can take down weakened Super Ceramics. Inferno Ring is a below-average lategame win condition, doing enough DPS while relying on meta support. Pairs really well with an Alchemist and Monkey Village to increase the low pierce of the meteor.

Ring of Fire skill icon

Ring of Fire

About

Damages many more Bloons with a deadly ring of flame instead of tacks.

Effect

Instead of tacks, creates bursts of flame that deal 5 damage per shot against up to 30 bloons. Attacks +100% faster (0.315s attack cooldown) but can no longer pop Purples.

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Even More Tacks skill icon

Even More Tacks

About

Shoots out 12 tacks per shot and increases Ring of Fire damage further.

Effect

Shoots 12 tacks per shot instead of 10. Ring of Fire gains an extra +1 damage (total +2). Blade Maelstrom ability duration increased by a further 0.5 seconds. Super Maelstrom ability duration increased by a further 1.5 seconds.

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Tack Shooter

Best Path:

0/5/2

Notes

Blade Shooter is bad. Blade Maelstrom can be used to cheese Rounds 63, 76, and 78, but is quite expensive at this job. Super Maelstrom is an insanely price-efficient burst damage tower when paired with damage buffs such as Pat Fusty's roar. Extra duration allows it to chump through longer rounds.

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Super Maelstrom skill icon

Super Maelstrom

About

Even more powerful Maelstrom ability and lasts longer.

Effect

Ability distributes four waves of higher damage blades in a clockwise direction for 9 seconds. Can pop Frozen and Lead. Ability can also be sped up slightly.

Even More Tacks skill icon

Even More Tacks

About

Shoots out 12 tacks per shot and increases Ring of Fire damage further.

Effect

Shoots 12 tacks per shot instead of 10. Ring of Fire gains an extra +1 damage (total +2). Blade Maelstrom ability duration increased by a further 0.5 seconds. Super Maelstrom ability duration increased by a further 1.5 seconds.

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Dartling Gunner

Best Path:

4/2/0

Notes

Laser Cannon is an overly-expensive early-mid game tower. Plasma Cccelerator can serve as a decent mid game tower with high MOAB DPS, but it completely falls off past Round 80, requiring Downdraft or other Ceramic cleanup. Synergizes with Ezili's hex since the hex removes the insides of MOABs. Ray of Doom is too expensive for CHIMPS.

Plasma Accelerator skill icon

Plasma Accelerator

About

Concentrates a powerful beam of energy to a single point.

Effect

Generates a powerful beam of energy towards a single point instead of shooting fast lasers, popping bloons that make regular contact with them. Any remaining pierce from the beam itself is used to inflict greater damage at the endpoint. Affected bloons additionally will be affected by an even longer-lasting Laser Shock effect.

Faster Barrel Spin skill icon

Faster Barrel Spin

About

Makes gun fire much faster.

Effect

Attacks +50% faster (0.66x attack cooldown).

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Dartling Gunner

Best Path:

1/4/0

Notes

Hydra Rocket Pods is underwhelming as a standalone. Rocket Storm is a good tower for the mid game, as it's able to save up large amounts on single lanes; however, it's now outclassed by a variety of other towers. MAD is a powerful MOAB DPS tower paired with Snowstorms and Downdraft. Difficult to handle. All of the upgrades in the path pair well with an Alchemist due to it multiplying the explosions.

Focused Firing skill icon

Focused Firing

About

Increases accuracy of the Dartling Gun.

Effect

Decreases angular deviation from 23° to 9.6°, reducing projectile deviation by 60%. Also increases projectile lifespan for all Buckshot projectiles by +40%.

Rocket Storm skill icon

Rocket Storm

About

Rocket Storm ability: Launches a powerful storm of rockets in a wide cone.

Effect

Ability generates waves of erratically moving rockets that deal 5 damage per shot onto up to 8 bloons per explosion. Main attack gains more pierce for its main attack, increasing pierce of explosions by +2 and increasing number of explosions by +1.

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Ninja Monkey

Best Path:

1/0/5

Notes

Flash Bomb is underwhelming for its price, lacking consistency and value. It's relegated to a supporting tower in Grandmaster Ninja strategies. Sticky Bomb can be used as a mid game MOAB damager and is decent at BAD damage. Master Bomber received a massive amount of DPS, and can now solo most late game rounds by itself (and even has high BAD damage). It still struggles to hold back multiple lanes at once.

Ninja Discipline skill icon

Ninja Discipline

About

Increases attack speed.

Effect

All attacks gain +61.2% attack speed (0.62x attack cooldown).

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Master Bomber skill icon

Master Bomber

About

One Monkey MOAB demolition Machine.

Effect

Throws stronger sticky bombs over any distance that stun affected blimps and deal 3000 damage upon detonation instead of 500, damage of area explosion increases from 100 to 600. Flash bomb attack deals more damage and briefly stuns blimps too, while caltrops deal 5 damage instead of one and +5 more to ceramics.

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Dart Monkey

Best Path:

0/2/4

Notes

Crossbow loves to miss its shots, but layerskipping makes it a decent early game. Sharp Shooter is a decent early-to-mid game upgrade that comes after Crossbow, but needs something to clean up the reds and blues it leaves behind. Crossbow Master can be a weaker mid game but it falls off heavily lategame. The buffs make it less of a burden on cash, but not much stronger.

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Very Quick Shots skill icon

Very Quick Shots

About

Shoots 33% faster!

Effect

Attacks +50% faster than base Dart Monkey (attack cooldown from 0.85x to 0.67x (~2/3x)).

Sharp Shooter skill icon

Sharp Shooter

About

Sharp Shooter attacks faster and does powerful Crit shots every few shots that do a lot more damage.

Effect

Deals 6 damage per hit, attacks every 0.6s instead of 0.95s, projectile speed increased and lands a Critical Hit after every 10 shots. Crits deal 50 damage per hit. Also increases range from 56 to 60.

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Monkey Village

Best Path:

2/3+/0

Notes

MIB is only used as DDT support. Often skippable but sometimes necessary. Call to Arms is fairly expensive and is similar to an Overclock but for multiple towers. Homeland Defense is very expensive and typically not worth it. Somewhat usable with subtowers like Sentry Champion and Comanche Commander.

Jungle Drums skill icon

Jungle Drums

About

Increases attack speed of all Monkeys in the radius.

Effect

All towers in the radius of the Village attack +18% faster (0.85x attack cooldown).

Monkey Intelligence Bureau skill icon

Monkey Intelligence Bureau

About

The Bureau grants special Bloon popping knowledge, allowing nearby Monkeys to pop all Bloon types.

Effect

In addition to camo detection, all towers in the radius of the Village gain the Normal damage type. Towers with a lack of targeting of bloon properties also gain the capability to target all bloon properties aside from Ceramics and above.

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Engineer Monkey

Best Path:

3/0/2

Notes

Sprockets lacks both Camo and Lead popping power, but it's a good early game. Sentry Expert is a well-statted attacker in the mid game with good damage and pierce, but its AI actively screws it over sometimes since the reactive system means the sentries are replaced only once every 6 seconds. Sentry Champion is very weak alone, but essentially receives Village buffs twice, as Jungle Drums and Call to Arms boost both sentry deploy and attack rate.

Sprockets skill icon

Sprockets

About

Increases sentry gun and Engineer attack speed.

Effect

Nailgun and newly deployed sentry guns attack twice as fast.

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Pin skill icon

Pin

About

Pins Bloons in place for a short time when struck.

Effect

Nailgun nails pin any non-blimp bloon other than Leads and Ceramics. Can give Pin effect to sentries with Sprockets or above. Also lets Cleansing Foam slow down any non-blimp bloons.

Secret message...

C

Beast Handler

Best Path:

4/0/2

Notes

Great White can deal some MOAB damage and some splash damage mid game. Orca is a semi-expensive BFB insta-killer that deals some thrash damage around it. Orca with 64 power dragging in ZOMGs transforms it into a below average lategame attacker for 36k. Run with stalls such as Snowstorm and buffs such as Overclock to maximize its thrash damage. Megalodon is now somewhat affordable, but it's just used to flex on Round 100.

Orca (64 Power) skill icon

Orca (64 Power)

About

The mighty Orca's huge mouth can grab and drag all but the very largest Bloons into the depths. At max Beast Power the Orca can drag down ZOMGs.

Effect

Transforms the Great White into an Orca. The Orca can drag down MOABs and BFBs (Whit 250.000 RBE or less) by default. Base Beast Power becomes 16, with 30 splash damage, 20 pierce, and 40 range. Max Beast Power becomes 64, with 90 damage, 60 pierce, and the capability to drag down ZOMGs (and DDTs if Camo Detection is provided)(250.000 RBE or less).

Padlock icon

Path Closed

Horned Owl skill icon

Horned Owl

About

The Horned Owl is strong enough to grab Ceramic Bloons, and has keen eyes that can detect Camo Bloons.

Effect

Transforms the Gyrfalcon into a Horned Owl. Can detect camo and pick up more bloons. Can pick up Leads (if given Lead-popping) equal to pierce minus one; Fortified Leads consume 2 pierce each and Ceramics consume 6. Base Beast Power becomes 3, with 1 damage, 6 pierce and 0.7s attack speed. Max Beast Power becomes 6, with 2 damage and 18 pierce.

D

Secret message...

D

Dart Monkey

Best Path:

5/2/0

Notes

Spike-O-Pult is far too slow and weak. Juggernaut's knockback is way too unimpactful to be used outside of early game. Ultra-Juggernaut is very potent on a select few maps with obstacles, including Mesa, Dungeons, etc. Near useless on every other map. Despite buffs, it lacks single target which leaves it hanging after Round 80.

Ultra-Juggernaut skill icon

Ultra-Juggernaut

About

Gigantic spiked ball splits twice into 6 Juggernaut balls for even more destructive power against Ceramic, Fortified and Lead Bloons.

Effect

Hurls gigantic juggernaut balls that retains knockback effect and each dealing 5 damage, +8 to Ceramics, +20 to leads and +5 to Fortified, have 200 pierce, travel faster, and split twice into 6 mini juggernaut balls every 100 bloons hit. These mini juggernaut balls each have 2 damage, +3 ceramic damage, +2 fortified damage, and 50 pierce. Both main projectile and mini projectiles can rehit bloons if they hit any walls.

Very Quick Shots skill icon

Very Quick Shots

About

Shoots 33% faster!

Effect

Attacks +50% faster than base Dart Monkey (attack cooldown from 0.85x to 0.67x (~2/3x)).

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Path Closed

Secret message...

D

Boomerang Monkey

Best Path:

5/0/2

Notes

Glaive Ricochet's buffs didn't help it do any better against any higher tier bloons. MOAR Glaives is a decent bloon DPS mid game, but it's completely useless against MOABs. Can complement towers that completely shut down MOABs, but is usually an unnecessary cost. Glaive Lord is barely usable, but is shafted by tiny range and weakness to Fortified Super Ceramics. Without a good bend and other support, it is unable to handle anything.

Glaive Lord skill icon

Glaive Lord

About

Glaive Lord surrounds itself in 3 special glaives that shred anything that comes near. Glaive Lord's glaives now rip through MOAB-class Bloons, slowly tearing them apart from the inside.

Effect

Gains a sharp 30 range zone that deals 2 damage every 0.1 seconds to all affected bloons in radius, including Camo Bloons, +8 to Ceramics and +5 to MOAB-class, and 2 more to Fortified. Main glaive deals +7 damage and +8 to Ceramics and can now inflict a shredding damage-over-time to MOAB-class, slowly dealing 100 damage every 1.0s for 15s.

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Path Closed

Red Hot Rangs skill icon

Red Hot Rangs

About

Allows boomerangs to pop Frozen and Lead Bloons and do more damage to all.

Effect

Pops any bloon type and main attack and Glaive Lord's glaive orbitals deal +1 damage. Gives even more damage with Perma Charge.

Secret message...

D

Bomb Shooter

Best Path:

2/0/3+

Notes

A short range low DPS tower that demands a lot of other towers to help with it. Lack of single target on Cluster Bomb requires the purchase of Heavy Bombs, which necessitates Primary Expertise. Recursive Cluster can somewhat beat dense rounds again, but isn't much of an improvement over Cluster Bombs. Bomb Blitz has the same issues as Recursive Cluster but even more pronounced. The extra Fortified damage somewhat helps against Heavy Fortified rounds. Note: this Fortified damage may have been removed in Patch 40 - updates coming soon.

Heavy Bombs skill icon

Heavy Bombs

About

Heavy duty bombs can smash through 2 layers of Bloon at once and pop more Bloons.

Effect

Explosions deal +1 damage and can pop an additional +10 bloons.

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Path Closed

Cluster Bombs skill icon

Cluster Bombs

About

Throws out secondary bombs instead of sharp fragments every shot.

Effect

Produces 1 cluster of 8 smaller secondary bombs that pop up to 8 bloons per secondary bomb. Both explosions pop all bloons, including Black Bloons.

Secret message...

D

Monkey Ace

Best Path:

2/0/3

Notes

Neva-Miss Targeting is an okay early game option, but is shafted due to not transitioning to mid game well and inability to handle Ceramics for its price. Completely dependent on Alchemist buff to do pretty much anything. Spectre is an overpriced T4 that is underwhelming for its cost and is not a good tower overall. Fortress is not going to be affordable.

Lots More Darts skill icon

Lots More Darts

About

Shoots 12 darts at a time.

Effect

Each dart volley shoots 12 darts at a time. Spectres and Flying Fortress instead add +25% pierce to their darts.

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Path Closed

Neva-Miss Targeting skill icon

Neva-Miss Targeting

About

Darts automatically seek out and pop Bloons by themselves.

Effect

Darts will automatically rotate to continuously seek at nearby bloons.

Secret message...

D

Engineer Monkey

Best Path:

0/0/3

Notes

Double Gun can get an early Churchill on some hard maps, but is fringe otherwise. Bloon Trap is much worse than Spiked Balls. XXXL Trap gained some attack speed back, but is still far too slow to deal with DDTs or MOABs. The rapid ZOMG instakill doesn't justify the high price with no saveup. Trap can eat up Bloons while traveling in the air, so targeting trap far from the Engineer increases consistency.

Padlock icon

Path Closed

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Path Closed

Double Gun skill icon

Double Gun

About

Two guns for twice the fun.

Effect

Double nailgun attack speed.

F

Secret message...

F

Monkey Buccaneer

Best Path:

0/2/5

Notes

Since income generation isn't allowed in CHIMPs, this tower is not useful.

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Path Closed

Hot Shot skill icon

Hot Shot

About

Burning hot grape shot can pop Lead Bloons and set Bloons on fire.

Effect

Converts grapes into hot grapes of fire, popping Lead Bloons and applying napalm. Hot grapes can no longer pop Purples.

Trade Empire skill icon

Trade Empire

About

Generates more cash per round, increases cash earned by up to 20 other Merchantmen by the number of Merchantmen, and boosts all Merchantmen damage.

Effect

Boosts income of up to 20 Merchantmen or Favored Trades by +$10 for every Merchantman and +$20 for every Favored Trades on screen. All Buccaneers with at least the Merchantman upgrade gain +1 damage and another +1 damage to MOAB-class and Ceramic. Generates $800 per round.

Secret message...

F

Alchemist

Best Path:

1/0/5
Larger Potions skill icon

Larger Potions

About

Larger potions splash in a larger area.

Effect

Acid potion attack deals a large splash radius and can hit up to 20 bloons per shot instead of 15.

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Path Closed

Bloon Master Alchemist skill icon

Bloon Master Alchemist

About

Secret shrink potion converts all affected Bloons into Red Bloons.

Effect

Throws a shrink potion that converts up to 200 bloons into Red Bloons, including MOAB-class (up to a Z.O.M.G), although MOAB-class bloons consume more pierce. Shrink potions have unlimited range and always target the strongest transformable bloon types on screen. Does not reward extra money for converted bloons.

Secret message...

F

Monkey Village

Best Path:

2/0/5
Jungle Drums skill icon

Jungle Drums

About

Increases attack speed of all Monkeys in the radius.

Effect

All towers in the radius of the Village attack +18% faster (0.85x attack cooldown).

Padlock icon

Path Closed

Monkeyopolis skill icon

Monkeyopolis

About

Absorbs all nearby Banana Farms and their income, freeing up space for new Monkeys.

Effect

All Banana Farms within range up to Tier 4 are sacrificed to generate more income based on the monetary cost of the Banana Farm sacrifices, rounded up, at a rate of $200 per $2000 worth of sacrifices. Cost of the upgrade increases additively (+5,000) per Banana Farm within range. Gives a base $1250 per round, resulting in a minimum of $1450 per round.

Frequently Asked Questions

Some FAQs about this tier list, how it was made, etc.

How was this tier list made?

This tier list was compiled by Reddit User /u/Wish_Solid and the BTD6 Index community, so a huge thank you goes out to those players who are at the top of their game. The placements, upgrades & crosspaths, and notes all come from Wish_Solid and the BTD6 Index community. According to Wish_Solid, "[the tier list] went through many iterations before becoming what you see now."

Can I see justifications for the choices made?

Wish_Solid and the BTD6 Index community have compiled a Google Doc explaining all their choices for the tier list placements. You can view that here.

Which game mode is this tier list made for?

This tier list focuses on CHIMPS mode. Many of the choices here, however, can be translated to other game modes. Other game mode tier lists will be coming in the future!

Is this tier list finished?

Definitely no. This tier list is a work in progress, and build changes/optimizations - like including non-max-upgrade Towers and better crosspaths - should be expected in the coming week or two!