New Desperado Tower!
Update: Bloons TD 6 v49.0 - Update Notes!
Available now for most platforms please restart your storefront or be patient if it does not appear for you, these updates can take some time to be rolled out to every region due to how the storefronts are set up.
Update Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbilbLrWpk
Rogue Legend
For this update we have mainly made an effort to improve the early game performance of some towers before tier 3, worked on quality of life changes, and added or changed some things in order to improve tower synergies. These changes are mostly in response to many popular player requests and suggestions we have received.
While we’ve had fun with Bomb Blitz recently, it has been pushed too far, and especially as more use has started coming out for its passive ability
Middle Tack has always been ability heavy, so the base tower damage is improving with higher tiers to get more than just the ability. Tack Paragon’s abilities on the other hand are both seeing an improvement to help support their roles and highlight that strong ability use case
Someone’s been teaching the Ice Monkey some new tricks because now they can be placed on either Land or Water! However you’ll still need Arctic Wind to support other towers on water. Ice Monkey value is limited at low levels where quick & spaced Bloons are the main trouble, so the cost for many low tier upgrades is moving up to higher tiers instead. Absolute Zero is also reducing in price as we are enjoying its current functionality but it's still a large investment for a heavily support focus upgrade
Our previous crosspath buff tipped favour too much in the opposite direction, so Glue Storm’s storm duration and glue duration are being tweaked to keep 052’s total glue uptime the same as before while reducing 250 duration. MOAB Glue’s duration on MOAB-Class Bloons is being reduced as for such a powerful slow it is so easy to keep a high number of targets glued that the Glue Splatter crosspath still doesn’t feel necessary much of the time
Along with its concentrated AoE the base impact damage for Cripple MOAB now feels excessive and is being cut back
Some feedback was convinced this would be enough to solve many concerns, so ok 👍
Aircraft Carrier is in a very strong position right now however it suffers from inconsistency, so we have increased the field of view for the Buccaneer Plane attacks so it can spend more time actively attacking
We have shifted up top upgrade costs into Operation Dart Storm to improve the early game upgrade flow for Monkey Ace. Long ago Tsar Bomba was given normal damage type to allow for more interesting 2TC combos at the time, however this no longer feels needed with its current power level so instead we have lowered the upgrade cost and shifted some base bombing run damage into Ceramic bonus
In order to improve potential synergies, we have finally decided to do away with the pierce cap on Downdraft. This means that, yes, you can now properly Alch buff your Downdraft support. For improved quality of life Support Chinook has been enabled for use between rounds, we have concerns with this but will give it some time to see how things settle. As its utility is impressive throughout the entire game for the relatively low cost MOAB Shove’s price is increasing
Mortar BAD/Boss bonus was introduced to help with some concerns that have been more effectively solved through other means, so as a simplification to understanding these upgrades we are removing the bonuses
Archmage’s MOAB bonuses are a little overkill and being lowered so we can justify a QoL buff with Dragon’s Breath’s scaling adjusting to match more crosspath improvements, meaning it will now benefit from Archmage’s range increase as well as bottom path’s projectile speed increase. As more quality of life, Wall of Fire’s startup delay is also being halved
The faster attack rate improved Rubber To Gold’s average cash generation too much, so this multiplier is being reduced to bring it more in line
Mermonkey’s low tiers also have early game trouble and are seeing a price shift to improve this. Riptide Champion’s damage type is being made consistent with the rest of the path to grant Mermonkey earlier Lead popping, and the rest of the path is also seeing a damage increase. For fun Echosense Network will now be able to apply to Alchemist Transformed Mermonkeys, and Alluring Melody’s DoT Detonation mechanic can now apply to any targets that are already tranced although the damage cap per detonation has been reduced to compensate for this.
This update we’ve finally decided to nerf Permaspike by completely removing the ‘Far’ target priority from the earlier Smart Spikes upgrade. We know that this loss will be incredibly painful to deal with for the many spike factory enjoyers out there, so we have also included a couple other minor QoL adjustments to the Smart Spikes upgrade in a hopeful attempt to offset this.
As a much requested quality of life change for Boss events the Call To Arms ability can now be activated in between rounds.
We may return to this again later, but for now due to the clear desire for more Paragon synergy options the Engineer Paragon is trading in some of its main attack damage in exchange for a new AoE Overclock ability
The previous range reduction for Beast Handler broke fun starting strategies that weren’t ever able to fully recover, so this range is being given back again. Shark latch-on lifespan for targets that are not 1shot is being reduced so it has to let go and re-target more frequently as an overall range reduction, and as Megalodon is currently overperforming particularly against Bosses its attack rate is being lowered to match Orca. Velociraptor path is too much of an all-round powerhouse so with the larger range returning it is also reducing in damage
Adora’s max level form is intended to be very powerful due to the investment required in pushing her up to that point, but right now all of the top heroes are performing much stronger than the rest so we are looking to settle her around a lower top-end.
As Etienne’s Drone power level is designed to be lower, his starting cost is being reduced so that he is able to come online earlier
As Corvus is vastly outperforming other heroes his high-end performance is being nerfed in several ways but with an effort made to also improve his lower-end performance at the same time. Mana generation’s maximum potential scaling has been targeted as a part of this since it is too easy to maintain high levels of mana, but his passive mana regeneration and low-mana bonuses have also been improved so he also doesn’t run out to 0 too easily. Along with this other improvements should make him easier to use in general. There is a lot changing here, so we have broken it down into further sections
Corvus - Quality of Life
Corvus - Mana Sustain
Corvus - Spirit & Spells
For consistency Rosalia’s Kinetic Charge will now last through 1 end of round or for 60 seconds, whichever comes first
Dreadbloon’s difficulty has been due too much to the Rock Bloons, so their strength is being reduced in favour of a more linear speed increase on the boss itself. Also Tier 1 Normal Dreadbloon’s damage reduction is being removed as we felt this hitting immediately was far too limiting to starting strategies, particularly in Rush game modes
Lych’s speed is being reduced across the board, also into a smoother increase over time, as this Boss has been very punishing without giving much time to deal with it
Now that BIastapopouIos is not as effective at stunning towers its own speed is also being scaled up giving a steady increase through the tiers
Time Stop will not slow Bloons as much anymore as this Bloon speed reduction was overall too powerful that it caused a negative impact to the powered freeplay experience, towers will also not be slowed by as much to reduce the impact of the nerf
Many thanks to the stalwarts for reading this far. We're nearly halfway through the year and there is so much we want to do next. We just held our mid-year retrospective and one general theme was refreshing game elements. We’re taking it as a challenge to look at Achievements, Daily Rewards, Challenges, Trophy Store, and rewards overall to see if we can make those features more exciting and motivating, while continuing to build content that players are most excited about. We also talked about better ways of getting player feedback, so hopefully a question or two about what you want to see more of won't be unwelcome in future updates.
But now let's get right into the latest news on upcoming development:
All of this means a very busy rest of the year, focused on fun and invention. We hope you see many things you are looking forward to, and right now we hope you enjoy the heck out of Desperado. We can't wait to see your feedback and best runs!
Available now for most platforms please restart your storefront or be patient if it does not appear for you, these updates can take some time to be rolled out to every region due to how the storefronts are set up.
Update Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbilbLrWpk
Key New Features
- It’s HIGHNOON with the Desperado!
- Pretty much everything we do in BTD6 is a labor of love, but the inspiration for Desperado is such an awesome combination of community requests for cowboy/gunslinger Monkeys, the team’s interest in fun additions to the Bloons world and lore, and the design opportunity to push strong mechanical variance on the 3 paths while keeping crosspathing tactically compelling.
- With 3 potential automatically alternating weapons, the Desperado starts off with a fast pistol attack that can dispatch two back-to-back targets at a high range before reloading. While lacking in pierce, the base attack can very reliably hit straggler Bloons. The Desperado swaps between weapons as upgrade paths progress, prioritizing shorter-range weapons as Bloons come into close range.
- Top path’s quickdraw fires faster the further Bloons are away, and then upgrades to a powerful revolver that fires a rapid burst of 6 shots before reload. Then they double it - ya got two hands don’t ya! Upon upgrading to The Blazing Sun, these revolvers fire so quickly that they are said to overheat in a blinding flame!
- Bottom Path gains a short-range Blunderbuss that fires buckshot with such force that Bloons are thrown backwards, then adds buckshot to its buckshot with further shrapnel bursting out on contact! As a lone wolf who prefers to work on their own, this path has the grit to withstand almost anything, passively reducing the life damage taken from Bloon leaks while gaining buffs to itself and reclaiming cash from lost Bloons. Little is known of this lone specter of the wastelands but The Desert Phantom is said to be a near unassailable force, locking down swarms of MOABs with every trigger pull and cutting down countless Bloons in explosive chain reactions that leave no trace behind, not even their hats.
- Middle path gains a slower firing Rifle with exceptionally high range and the skill to increase the chance of critical the further targets are away! Their hunter’s eye never loses sight while they signal bounties on Bloons, making those targets take extra damage from any Desperado and grant more cash when popped. The mythical Golden Justice is even more adept at critical damage and it is said that once locked on, Bloons cannot escape its sight no matter the number!
- Desperado comes with 2 Middle Path abilities;
- Take Aim - A Tier 3 ability granting any target tower Camo Detection, increased range & improved accuracy for a short time. At Tier 4 this is enhanced to also grant Purple, Black & White Bloon popping
- Marked to Pop - After quickly marking extra targets, the Desperado will rapidly fire shots at any distance at as many marked targets as possible in the remaining time. Can also hit pre-marked Bloons!
- Placement hotkey has no default, this can be manually bound in Hotkey settings
- Desperado is unlocked for free after popping 3,500,000 Bloons, or by purchasing the premium Desperado pack that instantly unlocks all upgrades through tier 5 and grants use of an exclusive Avatar & Banner as well as the new Cowboy Hat Bloons trophy item. The Desperado IAP helps support future content updates and is a great way to share back some of your purchase with your favorite content creator via Creator Codes.
New Awesome
- New Advanced Map, Sunset Gulch
- A trainline north of the road is under Bloon attack! Rally the monkeys to defend this critical canyon crossing and the valley below
- New Quests
- Ezili Hero Trial - Discover Ezili’s strengths and abilities
- Desperado Trial - Try out the new Desperado tower
- One Hero Solution - Beat the Rogue Legends Rounds with a One Monkey Army
- New Trophy Store Items
- Monkeys: Bomb Shooter Fireworks Projectile swap,
- Bloons: Cowboy Hat Bloon Decal
- Game & UI: Tinkerfairy Avatar, Enchanted Glade banner
Game Changes / Additions
- Tower Placement Snapping accessibility option added (in-game accessibility option)
- Improvements made to Track Arrow indicator length & refresh on map changes
- VTSG now becomes available in Sandbox after being built in a normal game first
- Added a Rogue XP Store respec option
- A number of profile stats have been separated between Rogue & Base Game stats
- Tower placement hotkeys now cycle between different instas of a tower
- Least Cash tiles are now always 10 rounds & grant 1 Boost every round
- 2 New Artifacts to find
Bug Fixes & General Changes
- Resolved a number of UI issues
- Geraldo action figure can no longer be used in the ABR Chimpoppable quest
- Shared profile stats now update when changed without requiring a page refresh
- Rich Presence now shows ‘Playing Quests’ rather than Browsing when playing a quest
- Resolved an issue where many un-selectable items were selectable during Map Review
- Resolved an issue with fractional pierce not calculating correctly on sub projectiles
- Resolved a crash on entering map editor before the preview finished loading
- Blastapopoulos Boss Shadow now appears on main menu during events
- Children of Bloons pulled by Phayze no longer zoom to the track early
- Lych’s Soul can no longer be slowed incorrectly by some towers
- First time loss tutorial will no longer activate in Challenge Editor
- Resolved some tower layering issues with their range circles
- a… seriously?
Events
- Toggling Ranked on then back off again should no longer leave Fast Track/Powers/Double Cash disabled
Map Specific
- Spa Pits should no longer scale Bloon speed too high in Reverse mode
- Towers placed on frozen platforms are now sold when Spa Pits is transformed
- Castles Revenge & Balance should no longer reset boss position in Boss Rush
- Track items no longer display above Bloons on Ravine bridges
- Corrected line of sight blocking visual issues on Spillway
Rogue Legend
- Some general UI tidy up
- Stage Bosses will now play a Boss Music Track
- Game Master feat should update correctly again
- Resolved some issues with incorrect pre-placement range display
- Party Members can now be removed even when team is not yet full
- Resolved an issue where some accounts were unable to claim Legends Feats
- Resolved some cases in which the game would unpause while still claiming Boosts
- Discord will no longer crash the game by grabbing Rock Bloons with MOAB Takedown
- Players should no longer be softlocked when selecting the ‘No Rerolls’ and ‘Choice Starved’ Curses and then using the 'No More Please' Artifact to remove the only choice from selections. Instead these players will receive the super-ultra-hidden achievement ‘Why’ which has no indication it exists, and probably doesn’t
Tower Specific Fixes
Monkey Sub
- x3x Ballistic Missile no longer ignores line of sight blockers
- The Centered Path hotkey will now work for Goliath Doomship
- Airforce Upgrades knowledge now correctly applies from Tier 3 onwards
- x4x Support Chinook no longer requires extra pierce to blow back Bloons after crosspath
- x4x Support Chinook should no longer sell Mermonkeys that it attempts to redeploy if they were placed on a Magic tile on One Two Tree
- 4xx Sun Temple’s mini avatars should be correctly vision blocked by obstacles
- x3x Unstable Concoction no longer crashes with One Monkey Army artifact
- 020 Tidal Chill now freezes after dealing damage
- 502 Crosspath no longer gains a lower Echosense range buff when placed in water
- 5xx Lord of the Abyss water platform no longer extends beyond tower radius
- 3+xx Resolved a build order issue that could override higher tier Mermonkey buffs
- Spikes from a sold Spike Paragon will no longer ignore Dreadbloon's Support Immunity
- Spikeageddon ability no longer spawns drastically less Mines on short tracks
- Ahh okay. So, Beast Handlers could fail to respawn their fish after crosspath upgrading in a specific order, then creating a save, loading it again and then redeploying the handler? Something like that, it shouldn’t happen anymore though
Hero Specific Fixes
Striker Jones
- Lv5 should now correctly allow Mortars to set Black/Zebra Bloons on fire
- She-Ra Adora Skin should now have the correct title when viewed in her Quest
- Resolved a softlock that could occur when placing Geraldo then priming a new tower for placement and using the hero hotkey
- Soul Barrier should now prevent life damage being taken with Cats Meow Artifact
- [Epic] Resolved a crash that could occur on launch
- [Epic] Attempting to Backup when not logged in should no longer say ‘Success’
- [Netflix] Heroes can now swap back to default skin
For this update we have mainly made an effort to improve the early game performance of some towers before tier 3, worked on quality of life changes, and added or changed some things in order to improve tower synergies. These changes are mostly in response to many popular player requests and suggestions we have received.
Tower Balance
Bomb ShooterWhile we’ve had fun with Bomb Blitz recently, it has been pushed too far, and especially as more use has started coming out for its passive ability
- xx5 Bomb Blitz passive ability cooldown increased 40 > 60
- xx5 Bomb Blitz attack cooldown increased 0.75 > 0.9
Middle Tack has always been ability heavy, so the base tower damage is improving with higher tiers to get more than just the ability. Tack Paragon’s abilities on the other hand are both seeing an improvement to help support their roles and highlight that strong ability use case
- x4x Blade Maelstrom tack damage increased 1 > 2
- x5x Super Maelstrom tack damage increased 2 > 5
- Paragon Meteor Impact ability cooldown 90s > 60s
- Paragon Eruption ability pierce increased 60 > 80
Someone’s been teaching the Ice Monkey some new tricks because now they can be placed on either Land or Water! However you’ll still need Arctic Wind to support other towers on water. Ice Monkey value is limited at low levels where quick & spaced Bloons are the main trouble, so the cost for many low tier upgrades is moving up to higher tiers instead. Absolute Zero is also reducing in price as we are enjoying its current functionality but it's still a large investment for a heavily support focus upgrade
- 000 Ice Monkey tower can be placed on Land or Water
- 000 Ice Monkey price reduced $500 > $400
- x1x Enhanced Freeze price reduced $225 > $200
- x2x Deep Freeze price reduced $450 > $300
- xx1 Larger Radius price reduced $175 > $150
- xx2 Refreeze price reduced $225 > $200
- 4xx Embrittlement price increased $2200 > $2300
- x3x Arctic Wind price increased $2500 > $2750
- xx3 Cryo Cannon price increased $1750 > $1900
- x5x Absolute Zero price reduced $19,200 > $16,000
Our previous crosspath buff tipped favour too much in the opposite direction, so Glue Storm’s storm duration and glue duration are being tweaked to keep 052’s total glue uptime the same as before while reducing 250 duration. MOAB Glue’s duration on MOAB-Class Bloons is being reduced as for such a powerful slow it is so easy to keep a high number of targets glued that the Glue Splatter crosspath still doesn’t feel necessary much of the time
- x5x Ability Glue duration 22 > 11
- 051 Ability Glue duration remains 22
- x5x Ability Glue Storm total application duration reduced 20s >10
- 051 Ability Glue Storm total application duration remains 20s
- xx3 MOAB Glue duration on MOAB-Class reduced from 24s > 12
Along with its concentrated AoE the base impact damage for Cripple MOAB now feels excessive and is being cut back
- 5xx damage reduced 280 > 140
Some feedback was convinced this would be enough to solve many concerns, so ok 👍
- 3xx Submerge and Support: submerge toggle cooldown reduced 1s > 0.5s
Aircraft Carrier is in a very strong position right now however it suffers from inconsistency, so we have increased the field of view for the Buccaneer Plane attacks so it can spend more time actively attacking
- 4xx Aircraft Carrier mini-plane field of view increased 60 > 90
We have shifted up top upgrade costs into Operation Dart Storm to improve the early game upgrade flow for Monkey Ace. Long ago Tsar Bomba was given normal damage type to allow for more interesting 2TC combos at the time, however this no longer feels needed with its current power level so instead we have lowered the upgrade cost and shifted some base bombing run damage into Ceramic bonus
- 1xx Rapid Fire price reduced from $650 > $450
- 2xx Lots More Darts price reduced from $650 > $550
- 4xx Operation Dartstorm price increased from $3000 > $3300
- x5x Tsar Bomba bombing run 25 > 20
- x5x Tsar Bomba bombing run Ceramic bonus 8 > 10
- x5x Tsar Bomba damage type Normal > Explosion
- x5x Tsar Bomba price reduced from $30,000 > $26,000
In order to improve potential synergies, we have finally decided to do away with the pierce cap on Downdraft. This means that, yes, you can now properly Alch buff your Downdraft support. For improved quality of life Support Chinook has been enabled for use between rounds, we have concerns with this but will give it some time to see how things settle. As its utility is impressive throughout the entire game for the relatively low cost MOAB Shove’s price is increasing
- x3x Downdraft pierce cap removed
- x4x Support Chinook can activate between rounds
- xx3 MOAB Shove price increased $3100 > $3400
Mortar BAD/Boss bonus was introduced to help with some concerns that have been more effectively solved through other means, so as a simplification to understanding these upgrades we are removing the bonuses
- x4x Bonus damage to BAD/Boss 1 > 0
- x5x Bonus damage to BAD/Boss 2 > 0
Archmage’s MOAB bonuses are a little overkill and being lowered so we can justify a QoL buff with Dragon’s Breath’s scaling adjusting to match more crosspath improvements, meaning it will now benefit from Archmage’s range increase as well as bottom path’s projectile speed increase. As more quality of life, Wall of Fire’s startup delay is also being halved
- 510 Archmage fireball MOAB bonus reduced 36 > 24
- 5xx Archmage's Dragon Breath MOAB bonus reduced 10 > 8
- 5xx Archmage's Dragon Breath range increased 40 > 60
- x2x Wall of Fire initial startup delay reduced 1s > 0.5s
- 031 Dragon’s Breath projectile speed increased 125 > 250
The faster attack rate improved Rubber To Gold’s average cash generation too much, so this multiplier is being reduced to bring it more in line
- xx4 R2G gold cash value multiplier reduced 3x > 2x
Mermonkey’s low tiers also have early game trouble and are seeing a price shift to improve this. Riptide Champion’s damage type is being made consistent with the rest of the path to grant Mermonkey earlier Lead popping, and the rest of the path is also seeing a damage increase. For fun Echosense Network will now be able to apply to Alchemist Transformed Mermonkeys, and Alluring Melody’s DoT Detonation mechanic can now apply to any targets that are already tranced although the damage cap per detonation has been reduced to compensate for this.
- Mermonkey price reduced $475 > $375
- 1xx Trident Efficiency price reduced $250 > 150
- 2xx Trident Swiftness price reduced $300 > 250
- 3xx Abyss Dweller price increased $1300 > 1600
- x1x Sharper Prongs price reduced $300 > 200
- x2x Tidal Chill price reduced $400 > 300
- x3x Riptide Champion damage type Energy > Frigid (Weak to White & Purple)
- x4x Arctic Knight damage increased 6 > 8
- x5x Popseidon damage increased 12 > 15
- xx2 Echosense Network now works with Mermonkey converted by Total Transformation
- xx3 Alluring Melody damage over time detonation can now trigger on tranced Bloons
- xx3 Alluring Melody DoT Detonation damage limit reduced 200 > 50
- xx4 Symphonic Resonance DoT Detonation damage limit reduced 500 > 125
This update we’ve finally decided to nerf Permaspike by completely removing the ‘Far’ target priority from the earlier Smart Spikes upgrade. We know that this loss will be incredibly painful to deal with for the many spike factory enjoyers out there, so we have also included a couple other minor QoL adjustments to the Smart Spikes upgrade in a hopeful attempt to offset this.
- xx2 Smart Spikes target priority list changed to:
- Normal, Close, Smart (unchanged)
- Automatic: Attempts to directly target the ‘First-most Bloon’ in radius (whiffily)
- Far: Replaced with Set Target - Target spikes to an exact location in radius
- xx5 Permaspike unchanged
As a much requested quality of life change for Boss events the Call To Arms ability can now be activated in between rounds.
- x4x Call To Arms ability can now be activated between rounds
We may return to this again later, but for now due to the clear desire for more Paragon synergy options the Engineer Paragon is trading in some of its main attack damage in exchange for a new AoE Overclock ability
- Nail gun attack bonus damage to Boss reduced 500 > 300
- New Paragon Overclock ability
- Can target other paragons
- Additionally overclocks all towers in a small area around the target for 15sec
The previous range reduction for Beast Handler broke fun starting strategies that weren’t ever able to fully recover, so this range is being given back again. Shark latch-on lifespan for targets that are not 1shot is being reduced so it has to let go and re-target more frequently as an overall range reduction, and as Megalodon is currently overperforming particularly against Bosses its attack rate is being lowered to match Orca. Velociraptor path is too much of an all-round powerhouse so with the larger range returning it is also reducing in damage
- 000 Beast Handler range increased 50 > 60
- 3xx Great White latch lifespan reduced 5s > 3s
- 5xx Megalodon attack cooldown increased 0.8s > 1.1s
- 5xx Megalodon attack cooldown scale increased 0.3439s > 0.38s
- x3x Velociraptor damage reduced 9 > 8
- x3x Velociraptor damage scale reduced 18 > 16
Hero Balance
AdoraAdora’s max level form is intended to be very powerful due to the investment required in pushing her up to that point, but right now all of the top heroes are performing much stronger than the rest so we are looking to settle her around a lower top-end.
- Lv20 Ball of Light damage reduced from 20 > 15
- Lv20 Ball of Light fort damage reduced from 20 > 15
- Lv20 Blood Sacrifice max buff stacks reduced from 40 > 30
As Etienne’s Drone power level is designed to be lower, his starting cost is being reduced so that he is able to come online earlier
- Etienne reduce price $850 > 650
As Corvus is vastly outperforming other heroes his high-end performance is being nerfed in several ways but with an effort made to also improve his lower-end performance at the same time. Mana generation’s maximum potential scaling has been targeted as a part of this since it is too easy to maintain high levels of mana, but his passive mana regeneration and low-mana bonuses have also been improved so he also doesn’t run out to 0 too easily. Along with this other improvements should make him easier to use in general. There is a lot changing here, so we have broken it down into further sections
Corvus - Quality of Life
- Corvus can now de-activate passive spells between rounds
- Lv13 Overload spell can now gain camo detection from external buffs
Corvus - Mana Sustain
- Lv1 Mana passive gain increased 1 > 2
- Lv1 Haunt mana per RBE reduced 3 > 2
- Lv8 Spiritual Balance’s maximum mana bonus is earlier 25% > 10%
- Lv8 Spiritual Balance minimum mana bonus is earlier 65% > 35%
- Lv8 Spiritual Balance maximum mana multiplier increased x2 > x3
- Lv10 Dark Ritual duration reduced 12s > 10s
- Lv11 Soul Harvest damage 35 > 30
- Lv11 Soul Harvest ceramic bonus 35 > 10
Corvus - Spirit & Spells
- Lv1 Spear projectile pierce 10 > 5
- Lv1 Spear explosion delay 0.15s > 0.3s
- Lv12 Spear projectile pierce remains 10
- Lv5 Frostbound Mana cost 190 > 220
- Lv5 Frostbound Duration 8 > 10
- Lv5 Frostbound Cooldown 50 > 60s
- Lv9 Frostbound MOAB Pierce penalty +4
- Lv8 Storm ongoing mana cost reduced 15 > 12
- Lv9 Spirit damage reduced from 5 > 4
- Lv14 Spirit damage remains 10
- Lv13 Overload damage reduced 1150 > 700
- Lv20 Overload damage reduced 2250 > 1400
- Lv20 Ancestral Might damage reduced 300 > 270
For consistency Rosalia’s Kinetic Charge will now last through 1 end of round or for 60 seconds, whichever comes first
- Lv10: Kinetic Charge drone projectile lasts through 1 round ending
- Lv10: Kinetic Charge drone projectile now lasts for 60sec
Boss Changes
Dreadbloon’s difficulty has been due too much to the Rock Bloons, so their strength is being reduced in favour of a more linear speed increase on the boss itself. Also Tier 1 Normal Dreadbloon’s damage reduction is being removed as we felt this hitting immediately was far too limiting to starting strategies, particularly in Rush game modes
- Rock Bloon speed reduced 22 > 18
- Rock Bloon Normal HP: (300,600,900,9000,22500) > (250,500,750,8000,20000)
- Rock Bloon Elite HP (600,2500,9000,22000,45000) > (500,2200,8000,19500,40000)
- Dreadbloon Normal speed increased (1.25,1.25,1.25,1.5,1.5) > (1.25,1.3,1.4,1.5,1.6)
- Dreadbloon Elite speed changed (1.3, 1.3, 1.3, 1.5, 1.5) > (1.25, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6)
- Dreadbloon Normal Tier 1 damage reduction reduced 1 > 0
Lych’s speed is being reduced across the board, also into a smoother increase over time, as this Boss has been very punishing without giving much time to deal with it
- Lych Normal speed reduced (2.3, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7, 2.7) > (2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6)
- Lych Elite speed reduced (2.5, 2.7, 2.9, 3, 3.1) > (2.4, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9)
- Lych Soul speed reduced 25 > 23
Now that BIastapopouIos is not as effective at stunning towers its own speed is also being scaled up giving a steady increase through the tiers
- BIastapopouIos speed increased (1,1,1,1,1) > (1, 1.05, 1.1, 1.15, 1.25)
Time Stop will not slow Bloons as much anymore as this Bloon speed reduction was overall too powerful that it caused a negative impact to the powered freeplay experience, towers will also not be slowed by as much to reduce the impact of the nerf
- Time Stop slows Bloons by 90% > 70%
- Time Stop slows tower attacks by 40% > 30%
Legends Changes
- New Artifact What In Tarnation! - for the Desperado
- New Artifact Heroic Specialty - All heroes are given a tower class categorization
- x5x Grand Sabotage ninja monkey’s damage is now capped to a true 25%
- Target tracking will now take priority over curvy projectile travel pattern
- Boomerang Projectiles now have a maximum age of 5sec so projectiles don’t last forever when projectile speed is reduced (It’s still quite lenient)
- Stage Boss health scales up by more with each stage
- Mini Boss tiles start off with much less health, but health scales up faster.
- Base health 300 > 200
- Base shield health 100 > 65 (for bosses that have a shield)
- HP Scale per kill increased 1.1x > 1.15x
- Mini-Boss base stage 1 goals reduced (10, 25, 35)
- Mini Game/Mini Boss tiles will no longer grant Account XP
Legends Artifact Balance
- Mystic Twister: Also increases projectile lifespan by (50,100,200)%
- Malicious Mauling: attack rate reduction now also increases ability cooldown
- Explosive Economics: Also reduces Spike Factory, Engineer Monkey & Beast Handler placement cooldowns by (1,1,2)
- Swiftest to Business: Also reduces placement cooldowns for Ninja Monkey by (1,1,2)
- Dream Teams: tower placement cooldown reductions (1,2,3) > (1,1,2)
- Ability Stacking cooldown increase: (20/20/20)% > (20,10,0)%
- Splody Darts: The Devs have remembered Darts are basically a type of Baguette
- Divine Intervention: Should no longer be overridden by other Crit artifacts
- Essence of Dreadbloon: T4 Towers & Heroes of Lv15 count as all categories
- Essence of Phayze: T4 Towers & Heroes of Lv15
- Essence of Vortex: T4 Towers & Heroes of Lv15
- Essence of Blastapopoulos: T4 Towers & Heroes of Lv15
Rogue Starter team changes
- Geraldo: Unspoken Heroes > Extra Change
- Quincy: Splody Darts > Heroic Specialty
- Obyn: Enchanted Rebuttal > BB Gatling
- Scientist Gwendolin: Frosted Tips > Alchemic Engineering
- Scientist Gwendolin: Engineer 010 > Glue Gunner 300
- Fusty The Snowman: Esoteric Elementalist > Frosted Tips
- Kaiju Pat: Swiftest to Business > Duckageddon
- Sauda: x2x Tack Shooter > 002 Monkey Ace
- Brickell: x3x Monkey Buccaneer > 021 Monkey Buccaneer
- Rosalia: 1xx Sniper Monkey > 2xx Desperado
- Galaxilli: BB Gatling > Quantum Leap
- Galaxilli: xx2 Boomerang Monkey > 2xx Tack Shooter
- Psi: x1x Mermonkey > x2x Desperado
- Lifeguard Brickell: Portability > Summer Fun
- Lifeguard Brickell: 020 Ice Monkey > 011 Mermonkey
- Etienne: Absolute Ability > Splody Darts
- Etienne: 1xx Engineer > xx2 Desperado
- Book Wyrm Etienne: Overwhelming Synergy > Absolute Ability
- Voidora: Unification > Enchanted Rebuttal
- Voidora: 2xx Glue Gunner, x3x Dart Monkey > 2xx Ninja Monkey, 2xx Wizard Monkey
- Dread Pirate Brickell: Full Broadside > What In Tarnation!
Many thanks to the stalwarts for reading this far. We're nearly halfway through the year and there is so much we want to do next. We just held our mid-year retrospective and one general theme was refreshing game elements. We’re taking it as a challenge to look at Achievements, Daily Rewards, Challenges, Trophy Store, and rewards overall to see if we can make those features more exciting and motivating, while continuing to build content that players are most excited about. We also talked about better ways of getting player feedback, so hopefully a question or two about what you want to see more of won't be unwelcome in future updates.
But now let's get right into the latest news on upcoming development:
- Update v50
- Actually our 49th content update but still an awesomer number!
- Vanilla Ice Ice Hero! While ice powers tend to create bugs galore, the possibilities for fun gameplay are too compelling. Start skating on what you think we'll do with this chilling new Hero.
- Powers Pro: We had fun with Pros in BTD5, and we're keen to do even more for BTD6. Keys to us are variability of play and keeping Pros impactful even in late rounds and Freeplay.
- Update v51
- Actual 50th update! We’re so grateful to the awesomer players who have supported us getting to this amazing milestone!
- Bossin: No names or properties to reveal, but a new Boss is on the way.
- Skeletor Hero Skin: Obyn is practicing his maniacal laughs already.
- Game Editor: stretch goal for this update. Major progress has been made to include almost every game item, script, and behavior. We’re focused on making it powerful, flexible, and accessible.
- Social Goals: We're excited to add new ways to play together, chase goals with other players, and win more rewards.
- Update v52
- Frontier Legends: Already looking amazing, this western-themed DLC will feature another brand new way to play BTD, complete with integrated minigames
- Hero Skin or Paragon - which one depends on your feedback and the art team’s bandwidth. We lean toward new functionality for a Paragon, but between us and the community there are so many great Hero Skin ideas. Which would you prefer?
- Console
- Switch is making progress but it is proving to be a challenge, with several months still to go. Switch development remains essential for further Xbox and PlayStation content updates, so those are on the same timetable. We apologize for the long wait for our console players - this is a priority for us.
All of this means a very busy rest of the year, focused on fun and invention. We hope you see many things you are looking forward to, and right now we hope you enjoy the heck out of Desperado. We can't wait to see your feedback and best runs!
