BTD 5 Special Agents & Upgrades Guide

The Beekeeper releases swarms of bees that stick to bloons and rapidly pop all their layers. This makes it extremely effective for wiping out dense clusters and preventing Regrowth Bloons from regenerating (since a bee on a regrowth bloon continuously pops it, stopping regrowth). Limitations: Bees cannot pop Lead or frozen bloons, so pair the Beekeeper with another tower for leads. Tactical use: Great as mid-game support against regrowth bloon farms or dense rushes. Place it near the track where bloons clump up to maximize bee coverage. Pro Tip: The Beekeeper's Pro upgrade grants an activated ability to unleash 100 bees at once for a massive bloon takedown.

A cheap but quirky agent, the Angry Squirrel tosses acorns that pop one layer at a time. If any bloons leak through your defenses, the squirrel becomes enraged -- it turns green, grows in size, and starts firing acorns extremely fast (with the ability to pop Leads and detect Camo during its rage). This berserk mode lasts only a few seconds, acting as a last-resort to clean up leaks. Tactical use: The Angry Squirrel is essentially leak insurance. Place it near the exit as a safety net -- in normal state it's not very strong, but if a few stray bloons slip past your towers, the squirrel will rage and hopefully finish them off. It's especially handy in No Lives Lost attempts as a backup plan.

The Meerkat Spy itself doesn't attack, but it provides a critical support function: it grants Camo detection to all your towers within its radius. Effectively, the Meerkat acts like a portable Radar Scanner -- any tower in range can hit camouflaged bloons even if it normally couldn't. This agent is invaluable on maps where placing or upgrading a Monkey Village for camo detection is inconvenient or too costly early on. Tactical use: Hide a Meerkat Spy amidst groups of towers that lack camo detection (for example, a cluster of 4/2 Bomb Towers or Blade Maelstrom Tack Shooters) so they can all hit Camo Bloons. The Meerkat has a small footprint and can be placed in tight spots. The Pro version adds a laser eye attack, but even the base Meerkat's camo-revealing utility is game-changing.

The Bloonberry Bush functions like a regenerating spike pile or trap. When placed, it immediately grows 5 thorny brambles on the track (forming a little thorn bush) and regrows up to 5 thorns at the start of each round. Each thorn can pop one bloon layer. As bloons run into the bush, they lose layers and the thorns disappear; the bush persists even if all thorns are expended, regrowing new thorns next round. This effectively acts as road spikes that replenish every wave. Tactical use: Drop a Bloonberry Bush at a choke point or near the entrance to catch leaks and weaken rushes. It's especially useful against big spaced bloons or as a stop-gap if your towers are overwhelmed, since it can pop a few layers off every bloon that touches it. However, note that the bush's thorns cannot pop Leads (unless it's the Pro version's "creeper" vines) -- so ensure you have other Lead-popping power. Over time, the Bush can significantly slow down bloon advancement by continuously chipping away layers. Pro Bloonberry Bush grows additional creeping vines along the track every few rounds, providing even more automatic popping power.

This is essentially a panic button in agent form. Activating a Super Monkey Storm calls in 10 Super Monkeys that fly across the screen and instantly wipe out all bloons in view, including almost all MOAB-class enemies. It will destroy regular bloons and even MOABs and BFBs outright; ZOMG blimps take 1000 damage (enough to severely weaken but not fully destroy a ZOMG). In other words, it's a screen-clearing nuke. Tactical use: Save a Super Monkey Storm for emergencies -- if you get overwhelmed by a huge rush or your defenses are about to leak a deadly swarm, trigger the Storm to instantly clear the board. Because it's one-time use, you should only use it when absolutely needed (e.g. round 85+ craziness or impoppable clumps). Many players keep one handy in Impoppable or Hard mode as a clutch lifeline. Pro Super Monkey Storm will send a second wave of Super Monkeys 2 seconds after the first, effectively double-tapping the screen, though one wave is usually enough to save you.

The Bloonsday Device is the most expensive agent and behaves like a powerful temporary tower with an activated ability. When you deploy it and activate, it fires a continuous directed energy beam (a bit like the Ray of Doom) from the sky that you can aim with your mouse, melting any bloons it touches almost instantly. The beam lasts for a short duration before the device burns out. It deals extreme damage to everything except the mighty ZOMG (it can still damage ZOMGs, but not destroy one outright). Tactical use: Think of the Bloonsday Device as a superweapon for tight spots -- for example, against a fortified ZOMG or a huge cluster of BFBs and MOABs on round 85+, the Bloonsday's beam can shred them where your towers might struggle. Use it like an ability: place it, trigger the beam, and swipe across the track to vaporize bloons. Just be aware it has a one-time use (once its beam duration ends, the device self-destructs). Position it where it has clear "line of sight" along a bloon path for best effect. Pro Bloonsday Device does double damage and leaves behind a lingering trail of green plasma on the track that continues to pop bloons after the beam passes.

The Tribal Turtle is a versatile offensive agent that can be placed on land or water (or both), essentially acting as an extra tower wherever you need one. This warrior turtle alternates between throwing sharp spears and tossing explosive coconuts. The spears pop multiple bloons in a line, and the coconuts pop bloons in an area (and importantly, coconuts can pop Lead and frozen bloons). Each coconut also deals extra damage to Ceramic layers, making the turtle quite effective even in mid-game. Tactical use: A Tribal Turtle is like dropping a 0-3 Boomerang and 2-0 Bomb Tower in one package at the start of a game. It's excellent for early rounds, easily handling group bloons and popping those pesky early Leads for you. You can deploy it on water if you're short on land space (or vice versa). For example, on a water-heavy map, plop a turtle on a small island or shallow water to cover an area where you can't fit normal towers. Its ability to cover both regular and Lead bloons means it pairs well with high-pierce towers (the turtle weakens leads and ceramics, then your other towers finish them). Pro Tribal Turtle becomes even stronger, throwing spears and coconuts simultaneously for double the firepower.

The Pontoon doesn't attack at all -- instead, it's a utility agent that creates buildable land on water. Placing a Pontoon in water will create a small raft platform where you can then place any land tower on top of it. Essentially, it converts water area into usable land area for your other towers. Each Pontoon provides one land spot (large enough for even a Super Monkey or Village) and you can place multiple pontoons if space allows. Tactical use: Pontoons are invaluable on water-heavy maps. For instance, on a river or lake map where much of the track is surrounded by water, you can drop a Pontoon to station a powerful land tower (like a Sun God or a Spike Factory) in an optimal position over water. You can also use pontoons to extend your farming capability by placing Banana Farms on water. Essentially, Pontoons give you flexibility in tower placement -- turning water into land. They are cheap, so don't hesitate to deploy a few if you need more build spots. Pontoon Pro adds a 20% range boost to any tower placed on it, making your raft outpost even more effective.

The Portable Lake is the opposite of the Pontoon -- it creates a patch of water on land for placing water-based towers. Drop a Portable Lake on any clear land area, and it becomes a small pool where you can put towers like Buccaneers or Monkey Subs. This is extremely useful on maps with little or no water. Tactical use: Use Portable Lakes to exploit the power of water towers on land maps. For example, if you want to deploy a Monkey Buccaneer (which has very cost-effective DPS, especially 4/2 Aircraft Carriers or the 2/4 Monkey Pirate ability) on a desert map with no water, just create a lake and place your ship. You can also create a water patch to use the Monkey Sub's advanced intel (so it can shoot anywhere other towers can see) or to place a Water Banana Farm if you've run out of land space (farms can actually be placed on Portable Lakes!). Each Portable Lake is one small pool -- position it wisely since space is limited on it. Portable Lake Pro even grants an ability called "Activate Sea Monster!" -- a giant tentacle that lashes out 5 times to pop bloons, essentially giving your fake lake a special attack.

Also known as the Banana Farmer, this agent is a must-have for players who use Banana Farms. The Monkey Farmer does not attack bloons; instead, he automatically collects bananas produced by any Banana Farms in his radius. This means you no longer need to sweep your mouse over bananas to pick up cash -- the Farmer will gather them for you at the end of each round (or continuously as they drop). The Farmer has a modest range that can typically cover several farms if placed centrally. Tactical use: Simply place a Monkey Farmer near your cluster of Banana Farms and he will do the labor for you. This is both a quality-of-life improvement (so you can focus on defending rather than frantically collecting bananas) and can also prevent loss of bananas (since uncollected bananas rot at round-end). Strategically, a Farmer doesn't directly help you pop bloons, but it indirectly boosts your income efficiency and frees up your attention -- which can be crucial on harder difficulties. If you farm heavily in BTD5, parking a Farmer is virtually essential. Monkey Farmer Pro gains a quirky attack: he throws banana peels onto the track, which cause bloons to slip and slide backward, effectively stalling them briefly. It's a small defensive bonus on top of his main duty of collecting bananas.

Hurls a giant spiked ball (juggernaut) that can pop Lead bloons and devastates grouped bloons (it pops 18 bloons per shot and deals extra damage to Ceramic layers). The Juggernaut's huge pierce and lead-popping make it excellent for clustered waves and as a support for handling ceramics in mid-game. Position Juggernauts on long straight sections of track to maximize their bouncy spiked ball pierce.

Transforms up to 10 nearby Dart Monkeys into temporary Super Monkeys for 15 seconds. This activated ability essentially lets a pack of cheap dart monkeys unleash Super Monkey-level firepower on demand. It's incredibly powerful against MOAB rushes or huge bloon swarms -- for example, a Fan Club with 10 darts can shred a BFB wave in seconds. Use this ability when facing a dangerous bloon rush; just ensure you have enough regular Dart Monkeys in range to convert (the more, the merrier!).

Converts the tack shooter into a flame ring that continuously sprays a circle of fire instead of tacks. The Ring of Fire pops bloons in a radius with flaming attacks, giving it massive area damage ideal for clearing out bloon clusters (especially effective against dense regrow bloons as the flames pop layers faster than they can regrow). It also inherently pops Leads (since it's fire-based). Place a Ring of Fire at key choke points where bloons loop or intersect to maximize its coverage.

Grants an ability that, when activated, releases a spiraling storm of blades from the tower, hitting every bloon around it multiple times. The Blade Maelstrom ability lasts only a short time, but in that window it can annihilate huge rushes of bloons (even ceramic floods) by hitting them with dozens of blade projectiles. It's a lifesaver on rounds like 63 (ceramic hordes). Use it reactively when you see large clumps reaching the danger zone -- the maelstrom will cut them down. With a relatively short cooldown, you can often use Maelstrom multiple times in a single round if needed.

A Sniper with this upgrade fires high-caliber shots that deal massive damage and stun MOAB-class bloons briefly. Each shot from a 4/2 Sniper can permanently immobilize a MOAB for a second, greatly slowing down MOAB and BFB advances (ZOMGs cannot be permanently stunned but still take heavy damage). Cripple MOAB essentially turns the Sniper into a MOAB-killer and crowd-controller. Strategically, use it to soften big MOABs from anywhere on the map (snipers have infinite range) and stall them so your other towers have more time to destroy them.

This path gives the Sniper an ability to call down a supply crate of cash. When activated, a crate parachutes down, granting a lump sum of money when clicked. While it doesn't increase popping power, the cash drop can fuel your economy in late-game and pay for expensive upgrades or extra towers when you need them. The Sniper continues to shoot fast (with Semi-Automatic and Full Auto upgrades) in this path, so it remains a strong bloon shredder with camo detection and high pierce. Use the Supply Drop ability off cooldown to maximize your income -- over a long round it can be used multiple times.

Upgrading to Glaive Lord causes two three-blade glaives to orbit around the Boomerang monkey at all times, in addition to its normal attack. These rotating glaives automatically slice any bloons that come near, each popping multiple bloons per rotation, and the tower itself can see Camo bloons in this form. The Glaive Lord is phenomenal for cleanup at the end of maze loops or tight corners -- its spinning blades act like a shredding aura. It's also effective against Ceramics and large bloon clusters. Place a Glaive Lord where bloons pass by it for an extended distance (e.g., at a corner where the track curves around the monkey) to maximize blade contact time.

This grants an ability that makes the Boomerang thrower attack at hypersonic speed (throws boomerangs about 3x faster) for 10 seconds. While active, a Turbo Charged boomerang monkey can demolish thick rushes (even MOABs, with enough time). This ability is excellent for emergency burst damage -- for instance, when a wave of ceramics is about to overwhelm, or to rapidly chip down a MOAB bunch. You can also coordinate multiple Turbo Charge abilities (if you have several 2/4 boomerangs) to chain continuous high-speed damage. Use it when you see bloons pushing deep into your defenses.

This upgrade lets the Ninja throw 5 shurikens at once (instead of the normal 2). Each shuriken still pops 4 bloons (with Sharp Shurikens), so a single attack can hit up to 20 bloons. Bloonjitsu dramatically increases the Ninja's popping power against both swarms of bloons and even damage on MOABs (since all 5 shurikens can hit a big target). Since Ninjas inherently detect Camo, a Bloonjitsu ninja is a fantastic all-purpose DPS tower that excels against dense grouped bloons and camo rushes. It has no special weakness, though it can't pop Leads without help (you'd give it lead-popping via a village or just rely on other towers for that).

Perhaps one of the strongest support abilities in the game, this when activated halves the speed of all bloons on the screen and any new bloons spawned for 15 seconds. The Ninja throws a special smoke bomb that "sabotages" bloon movement. The effect means MOABs and bloons crawl at 50% speed, giving you twice as long to destroy them. This is incredible on tough rounds (e.g. huge rushes like Round 65+ or Freeplay chaos) -- you can essentially freeze the bloons in time for your other towers to work. Use Sabotage just as a big wave enters, or right when MOABs spawn, to maximize the duration of slow. With two Saboteur Ninjas, you can even chain the ability back-to-back (since the cooldown is shorter than the effect duration) for near-permanent bloon slow. Note: the Ninja's Flash Bomb (3/x) upgrade can stun bloons, so a 3/4 Ninja provides both stunning and sabotage, a powerful combo.

Bloon Impact causes the bomb explosions to have a stunning concussive force. Every bomb blast will stun normal bloons in its blast radius briefly (regrowth and ceramic bloons included, though MOAB-class are immune to the stun). This greatly improves the crowd-control power of the tower -- a 4/2 bomb can permanently juggle stunlock dense bloon clusters if it fires fast enough, preventing them from advancing. It still pops Leads naturally and with Frag/Cluster upgrades can shred layered bloons while keeping them in place. Use Bloon Impact bombs to hold big packs (like those Round 63 ceramic waves) in place so other towers can finish them. Having one near the end of the track as a "last defense" staller is also useful.

This upgrade path gives a special ability that, when activated, instantly destroys one MOAB-class bloon (up to a BFB) or deals a large 1000 HP damage to ZOMGs. Essentially, it's a single-target MOAB killer on a cooldown. This is extremely useful for handling high-HP threats: for example, you can one-shot BFBs on round 60 or greatly wound a ZOMG on round 85 with each click. If you have multiple 2/4 Bombs, you can eliminate multiple MOABs simultaneously or repeatedly. Use MOAB Assassin abilities as soon as tough blimps appear, to thin out MOAB rushes or finish off a ZOMG before it dumps its children bloons. The ability recharges reasonably fast, so a small cluster of assassins can carry you through MOAB heavy rounds by sequentially deleting blimps.

With Viral Frost, any bloon that is frozen will itself freeze other bloons that touch it, spreading the freeze like a virus. Additionally, the Ice Tower's freeze effect lasts longer and the tower's range is larger (thanks to Arctic Wind at 3/x). In practice, Viral Frost creates a chain reaction where a frozen bloon can pass its frozen status to others, potentially stopping entire rushes in their tracks if the bloons are clumped. This is great for crowd control -- an Arctic Wind + Viral Frost near the track entrance can halt huge streams of bloons, giving your other towers ample time to shoot them. Do note that frozen bloons are immune to sharp damage (darts, spikes, etc.) -- so have alternate damage (explosives, magic, fire) to actually pop the frozen bloons.

The ultimate ice ability, Absolute Zero freezes all bloons on the entire screen for 4 seconds when activated (MOAB-class bloons are not frozen, but do get slowed by 50% briefly). This is an emergency pause button for bloons. Use it when a swarm is getting out of hand -- everything (except big MOABs) will stop moving and be frozen in place for a moment. Combo this with heavy hitters (e.g. bomb shooters, Ring of Fire, glue) to crush the frozen bloons en masse while they're immobilized. It can literally save you from defeat by stalling until tower abilities cooldown or simply preventing leaks for a few more seconds. With a village's ability cooldown reduction, you can use Absolute Zero more frequently. It's a powerful support ability especially in late Freeplay when bloon speed gets insane.

This upgrade makes the Glue Gunner's glue extremely deadly -- each glued bloon will take continuous damage, popping 10 layers per second off the bloon until it's destroyed. In addition, the Glue Gunner immediately pops one layer upon sticking the glue. Essentially, Bloon Liquefier melts bloons very quickly. A single glue hit can outright kill a Rainbow bloon after a short duration as it strips layers. This is fantastic for weakening high-HP bloons like ceramics -- glue them and watch them dwindle to nothing. Multiple Liquefiers can melt MOAB insides rapidly too (glue doesn't affect the MOAB hull, but hits the resulting bloons). Place a Bloon Liquefier near the start of the track so that glued bloons have the maximum time to "melt" before reaching the exit.

This grants an ability that glues every bloon on the screen at once. When activated, a barrage of glue coats all visible bloons, applying whatever glue effect the gunner has to all of them instantly. If you have Corrosive Glue (2/x), for example, everything gets corrosive glue; if you have Bloon Dissolver (3/x, 2 layers per sec), everything starts dissolving. This ability essentially ensures no bloon goes un-glued, which is incredibly helpful when enormous rushes come in. For instance, on round 76 or 78 regrow farms, one press of Glue Striker can neutralize the threat by slowing and decaying all bloons. Use it at the start of tough waves so that every bloon that appears is immediately handicapped by glue. The cooldown is moderate, but combined with Liquefier it's pure carnage on bloons.

Upgrading a Buccaneer to an Aircraft Carrier equips it with a squadron of mini monkey aces on its deck. These mini-aces continuously fly around the carrier, each shooting streams of darts at bloons. In effect, the Buccaneer's DPS skyrockets -- it still shoots its cannon and grapes, but also has several flying darts doing constant damage. The carrier can cover a wide area due to the darts spreading out, making it strong against both MOABs (many darts can hit a big target) and bloon swarms. It's a favorite for late-game water-based popping power. Typically, you'll want a village with camo detection nearby, since the darts need camo vision (unless you got Crow's Nest on the buccaneer). An Aircraft Carrier in a central pond can contribute damage all over that section of the track.

This path (starting from Cannon Ship) gives the MOAB Takedown ability at tier 4, which allows the Buccaneer to instantly grapple and destroy a MOAB-class bloon (except ZOMGs; in BTD5, up to BFB) that comes within its range. When you activate Monkey Pirates, the ship will harpoon the nearest MOAB or BFB and pull it underwater, eliminating it outright. This is immensely valuable for taking out priority targets. For example, if two BFBs are approaching and your defenses can only handle one, a Monkey Pirate can simply remove the second from play. The ability has to recharge, and each Buccaneer can take down one blimp per activation. Use it smartly on the strongest bloon on screen (it won't target ZOMGs in BTD5 standard, but it will happily eat a BFB or lower). Having multiple Pirate ships means you can delete multiple MOABs instantly. Also, Pirate ability gives a cash reward for the captured blimp -- a nice bonus.

The Spectre upgrade transforms the Monkey Ace into a fearsome flying fortress. The ace will begin dropping a constant barrage of explosive bombs and shooting double darts in huge volume. The Spectre essentially becomes a one-monkey army: its darts (with Neva-Miss targeting from 3/x) will seek out bloons and its bombs will carpet-bomb the track for heavy area damage. This is one of the strongest Tier 4 tower DPS outputs in BTD5. A single Spectre can handle many rounds on its own, dealing with both hordes of bloons and also doing decent damage to MOAB-class. Its weakness is it doesn't inherently detect camo (get the 2/x upgrade or a village support) and it has a hefty price tag. But once afforded, place the Spectre on "Figure Infinite" or "Circle" flight path covering as much track as possible, and watch it obliterate bloons. It's great on long maps where the plane can bomb a lot of track length.

This gives the famed Ground Zero ability: the Ace drops a single huge bomb that blows up all bloons on screen, destroying everything up to BFBs in one shot and dealing heavy damage (around 1000) to ZOMGs. It's very analogous to the Super Monkey Storm agent, but as a reusable tower ability. Ground Zero can save you in the late game; for instance, if a fortified ceramic flood rushes threatens to overwhelm, one GZ clears the slate. In BTD5, it's excellent on round 85+ when multiple ZOMGs appear -- two Ground Zeros can finish a ZOMG by combined damage. Use the ability when bloons fill the screen or right as a huge compaction of bloons occurs (e.g., after you break a ZOMG into many children). Remember to let the Ace actually drop the bomb (it has a brief animation) -- once dropped, everything goes boom and the screen is cleared of bloons. With multiple Aces, you can chain GZs for even more devastation.

This is the ultimate upgrade of BTD5. Upgrading a Sun God to a Temple will sacrifice all towers (and agents) in its radius to empower the Temple. The result is a colossal golden Temple tower with massively increased range and attack power -- it shoots powerful energy blasts and (depending on what was sacrificed) can gain extra attacks like missiles, blades, and tornadoes. The Temple's base attack is extremely strong, capable of shredding MOAB-class bloons and annihilating bloon rushes. However, because it consumes nearby towers upon creation, you must plan carefully which towers (and how much cash worth) you leave in range to maximize its power. For a beginner, a safe bet is to sacrifice one of each category (e.g., a 4/2 Bomb, Glue, Ice, and perhaps a 4/2 Tac) to get a well-rounded strong Temple. Tactical use: The Temple is usually a late-game goal -- incredibly costly ($100,000 on Medium), but when built, it becomes your defensive powerhouse that can solo rounds that would overwhelm lesser towers. Place it centrally due to its enormous range, and keep in mind it cannot detect camo without village support. In most games, you won't build a Temple until you've got a huge economy. Once you do, it essentially replaces a large portion of your defense with its unrivaled popping power. Fun fact: sacrifices of specific tower types give the Temple special attacks -- e.g., sacrificing a maxed Bomb Tower gives it powerful exploding projectiles, Ice gives it a slowing aura, etc., but upgrade tiers don't matter in BTD5 -- only the dollar value of sacrifices.

The Tech Terror upgrade arms the Super Monkey with high-tech arm cannons (turning it into a Robot Monkey that shoots from two arms) and grants the Annihilation ability. When activated, this ability instantly destroys all bloons in a large radius around the Super Monkey and deals 1000 damage to any MOAB-class bloons in that radius. Essentially, it's a localized nuke centered on the Super Monkey (think of it as a mini Ground Zero but on the monkey's location). Outside of the ability, the Tech Terror's dual-arm attack is very strong single-target DPS, useful for melting MOABs. Tactical use: Place the Tech Terror in a spot where bloons tend to clump (for the ability effect). Use the Annihilation ability in emergencies when bloons are about to overwhelm that area -- it will clear them out, including ceramic mobs, and significantly dent nearby MOABs. With a village's cooldown reduction, Tech Terror abilities can be used more frequently. Many players like having at least one Tech Terror by round 85 to vaporize those insides of ZOMGs after they pop. It's also handy on shorter maps where you can't fit a huge Temple; a Tech Terror ability might save you at the last bend.

Upgrading to Tempest Tornado supercharges the Wizard's whirlwind. The tower will frequently generate large tornadoes that blow bloons backwards much further along the track, as well as popping one layer off as they whirl (the tempest is stronger than the base Summon Whirlwind). Essentially, it provides powerful bloon crowd control, pushing streams of bloons away from the exit. The blown-back bloons do lose any frozen or glued status (similar to whirlwinds), so be mindful if you rely on those. Tactical use: A Tempest Tornado placed near the middle or end of the track can act as a fail-safe, continuously shoving bloons back upstream and buying time for your other towers to finish them. It's especially useful against non-MOAB bloons; for MOAB-class it won't knock them back, but once a MOAB breaks into bloons, those can be sent flying. Combine Tempest with solid popping power (like a Ring of Fire or cluster bombs) so that bloons pushed back will be further damaged on their second pass.

This much-loved ability summons a giant flaming Phoenix bird that flies around the track for 20 seconds, immolating bloons with powerful flame attacks. The Phoenix attacks rapidly and can hit any bloon on screen (it's a spectral bird that seeks bloons). This ability basically adds a temporary Super tower -- the Phoenix can deal with large rushes and even helps on MOABs with continuous damage. Tactical use: Activate Summon Phoenix during dangerous rounds (like massive regrow rushes or when multiple MOABs are out) -- the Phoenix's fire will drastically increase your popping power during its duration. With good timing, you can have multiple Phoenixes active (with multiple wizards staggered or with the help of cooldown buffs). A common strategy is to have 2+ Phoenix wizards and alternate their abilities to maintain near-constant Phoenix coverage. Since the Phoenix can pop Leads and detect camos inherently (as it's an ability effect), it covers many weaknesses. Use it liberally in late-game -- it's better to clear waves early than get overwhelmed by holding it.

This upgrade allows the Village to attack bloons with a powerful energy beam and also grants a 20% faster cooldown reduction for all nearby towers' abilities. The village normally doesn't attack, but as a High Energy Beacon it will shoot a continuous zap at bloons within its radius, contributing some damage (especially useful against sneaky stray bloons that slip through). More importantly, the ability cooldown boost means abilities like Maelstrom, MOAB Assassin, Phoenix, etc., recover 20% faster for any tower in its radius. Tactical use: This upgrade is great when you have built a lot of ability-based towers in one area -- placing a 4/2 Village there lets you spam their abilities more frequently, which can be game-changing in tough rounds. The attack is a bonus -- it's not very high DPS, but every bit helps. Consider using High Energy Beacon in Impoppable or Freeplay when your strategy relies on multiple abilities (for example, multiple Tech Terror blasts or First Strikes).

The right-path village (M.I.B. upgrade) has an ability called Call to Arms that, when activated, doubles the attack speed and popping power of all towers within the village's radius for a short duration. This is essentially a frenzy boost for your entire army in range. It affects everything: a 0.5 second attack becomes 0.25, projectiles that popped 1 bloon now pop 2, etc. The effect lasts 10 seconds (and with the Beacon left-path upgrade or a second village, you could reduce its cooldown). Tactical use: Time Call to Arms during heavy onslaughts or when you need maximum DPS -- for example, as a ZOMG enters your killzone, or right when a massive regrow rush is at your defenses. All your affected towers will go into overdrive, often melting bloons that would otherwise overwhelm. This ability essentially multiplies the effectiveness of your entire defense, so it's hard to overstate its value in late game. Many tough strategies across Bloons rely on Call to Arms usage. Just be aware that it doesn't stack with itself (two villages won't give 4x power, though overlapping coverage is fine). Also, even towers without direct attacks (like Banana Farms) aren't affected -- it's purely boosting popping units.

The BRF upgrade changes the farm's output from individual bananas to 10 large banana crates each round, worth $200 each (on Easy). This significantly increases the cash per round and also makes collection easier (10 crates vs 25 smaller bananas from the previous tier). In BTD5, the Banana Research Facility is the pinnacle of farming: one Facility yields $2000 per round on Medium difficulty (more with Valuable Bananas upgrade) delivered in big chunks. Tactical use: Go for BRFs if you aim for super expensive late-game towers (like Temples) -- usually you'd convert multiple plantations into facilities by round 60+ to bankroll your end-game. Always try to pair farms with a Monkey Farmer agent or be very attentive in collecting crates, as missing a crate loses $200. Valuable Bananas (2/x) is recommended with BRF to increase crate value by +50%. Essentially, a BRF or two can finance a lot of upgrades every round, making previously impossible defenses achievable.

This upgrade turns the farm into a Bank that accumulates money internally rather than dropping bananas. A 2/4 Banana Farm generates $1000 per round which is stored, up to a maximum of $20,000 in the bank, and it earns 20% interest on the stored cash each round. You can withdraw the money at any time manually. The idea is, if you let the cash accrue for several rounds, the interest will significantly increase the payout. Tactical use: The Monkey Bank path is useful if you want a hands-off income source and potentially larger lump sums later. For example, if you have time before needing a huge purchase, you can let the bank fill to $20k then withdraw, which yields more than if you had collected each round (due to interest). However, this requires not collecting until near full for optimal use. In most cases, players prefer the immediate income of Facilities in BTD5, but banks can be part of a safe strategy since they automatically collect and you can't "lose" bananas. One nifty trick: if you plan to exit a game, withdrawing all bank money is crucial since ending a round with full bank wastes generated cash. Balance the number of banks vs facilities based on your playstyle; facilities give immediate cash each round, banks give a delayed bigger payoff.

This upgrade greatly increases the Mortar's explosion power -- the blasts become much larger and pop 5 layers of bloon per hit instead of 2. The Big One essentially lets the Mortar annihilate grouped bloons (a single direct hit can wipe out a rainbow bloon or severely damage ceramics). Its increased explosion radius also means near-misses still catch bloons. Tactical use: Set the Mortar target at the front of the bloon path or where bloons bunch up (e.g., a corner or loop) -- The Big One will make short work of dense rushes and is particularly effective against regrow farms (as it pops so many layers that regrows can't keep up). Keep in mind, Mortars have inherent weakness of not hitting camo unless you have Signal Flare (2/x) to decamo bloons. The Big One's huge popping power can compensate for many towers if aimed well. On later rounds, multiple Big Ones carpeting different points can thin out even Freeplay bloons.

The Artillery Battery dramatically boosts the mortar's rate of fire (shoots 3x as fast) and grants an ability called "Pop and Awe." When activated, Pop-and-Awe bombards the entire screen with a volley of mortar shells for 5 seconds, popping 1 layer off every bloon each second and stunning all bloons while the barrage lasts. This is an incredible crowd-control ability: it essentially freezes all bloons in place (non-MOABs) for the duration and keeps hurting them. MOAB-class bloons aren't stunned but will still take the layer damage each second. Tactical use: Use Pop-and-Awe during overwhelming waves -- it will stop fast bloons in their tracks and give your other towers breathing room to clean up. It's particularly good on rounds with massive regrow or ceramic clusters, and even for slowing down MOAB rushes so that assassins or other damage can catch up. Meanwhile, the Artillery Battery's passive attack is nothing to scoff at either -- a super fast mortar can dish out a lot of damage (plus it can keep a near-constant "Signal Flare" uptime to decamo). Placing one battery near a Village (to grant camo detection and maybe jungle drums) yields a versatile support tower that can repeatedly stun bloons every ability cooldown.

The Ray of Doom upgrade equips the Dartling Gun with a continuous, powerful laser beam that instantly pops any bloon it touches (a constant stream of damage with extremely high popping power). The RoD can pierce through and damage dozens upon dozens of bloons in a line and can also pop frozen bloons. It is one of the highest DPS upgrades in the game, capable of tearing through MOAB-class enemies given sustained contact. Tactical use: The Ray of Doom requires you to manually aim (Dartling guns always follow your cursor unless locked), so you should sweep it across the path of incoming bloons to vaporize them. It excels on straight lines -- if you align the beam down a track, it will obliterate everything coming down that line. A common strategy is to lock the Dartling's aim on a fixed spot that covers a long stretch of track, so the RoD continuously fires down that lane. Be mindful that while RoD can technically hit everything on screen (since you aim it), its effectiveness is limited by how well you can keep the beam on target. It's extremely expensive, but once you have it, very little can get past it.

This path gives the Dartling powerful Hydra Rocket Pods at tier 3, and at tier 4 it gains an ability often called Rocket Storm. When activated, the Dartling launches a salvo of missiles that instantly destroy up to 100 bloons nearest to the Dartling's targeting. It's like a smart bomb for dense bloon clusters. The passive upgrade also makes the Dartling's regular attacks quite potent: it shoots homing rockets that can pop any bloon type (with Depleted Bloontonium at 2/x), effective against group bloons and doing solid MOAB damage. Tactical use: The Rocket Storm ability is best used when a thick swarm of bloons is bearing down -- it will clear out a huge chunk (100 bloons) in one go. Since it targets the closest bloons to the cursor, aim roughly at the largest cluster when firing it. It's less overkill than Ray of Doom and cheaper, making it a good mid-late game option. A 0/4 Dartling's ability can save you on rounds like 63 or 76 when balloon counts are overwhelming standard weapons. Meanwhile, keep the Dartling aimed where its rockets will do the most good (rockets don't require as precise aim as the laser, thankfully, due to slight homing). Many players use multiple 2/4 Dartlings to spam Rocket Storms in late-game for repeated bursts of clearing power.

This turns the Spike Factory's output from regular spikes into spiked balls that explode upon depletion. Each spike pile it creates is now an explosive mine that pops 10 bloons and then detonates to pop additional layers in an area. Spiked Mines not only do more initial pops (great against big clumps and ceramics), but the explosion adds extra pop and can even damage adjacent bloons beyond the initial 10. Tactical use: Place a Spiked Mines factory toward the end of the track as a powerful last line of defense -- any bloon that manages to get that far will hit a mine and likely be obliterated. Mines are also decent against MOAB-class; while they won't one-shot a MOAB, the repeated explosions soften them up significantly. If used in the middle of the track (e.g., on a loop), the mines can actively contribute to popping during the round, but they shine as safety nets preventing any stragglers from leaking. Keep in mind the factory still produces piles periodically, so extremely fast bloons could overwhelm if too many arrive at once (mines have a short-lived explosion). Overall, Spiked Mines are hugely effective at cleanup and handling unexpected leaks or ceramic rushes that slip past your main DPS.

This grants an ability that, when activated, covers the entire track with a thick layer of road spikes all at once. Essentially, a Spike Storm dumps a carpet of spikes on every segment of the path, each pile capable of popping several bloons. This is a fantastic emergency measure for dangerous rounds -- it's like deploying a full screen of temporary Spike Factory outputs in an instant. After using the ability, the Spike Factory continues its normal production (and the ability will cool down for reuse). Tactical use: Use Spike Storm when you see that your normal defenses won't hold -- e.g., a huge surge of bloons is about to exit. The spikes will instantly appear and help shred bloons across the map. It's also very useful against fast moving bloons (Pink or Ceramic floods) or as a complement to something like a Glue Strike (glue them then spike storm to finish them off). A common strategy in later Freeplay is to have multiple Spike Storm factories and stagger their abilities to constantly refresh the spike carpeting. Even MOABs will take heavy damage running through a full Spike Storm carpet. Just remember that spikes from the ability disappear at round's end like normal spikes, so time it during the wave. With multiple spike storms, you can layer enormous popping potential in clutch moments.

The Sub can submerge in water with this upgrade, turning into a support tower that emits a radiation aura popping bloons and decamoing them. The Bloontonium Reactor rapidly pops bloons in its radius (faster than a bomb impact per tick) and allows all nearby water towers to have 15% shorter ability cooldowns. Essentially, it acts like an advanced aura in water -- a submerged reactor continuously damages any bloon that comes near. It also automatically reveals camo bloons (like Radar) while submerged. Tactical use: Position the Sub in a spot where bloons path over water -- a Reactor placed in the center of a water map can significantly soften or even outright destroy bloon waves as they pass. It's especially good at cleaning up residual bloons and annihilating grouped ones. Plus, its camo-reveal means you might not need a village for camo on water-heavy maps. The cooldown reduction helps if you have water towers like Buccaneers with abilities (e.g., Pirate Capture) nearby. Typically, keep the sub submerged; if you need extra firepower, you can always unsubmerge it to shoot normally, but the Reactor's DPS is generally more useful.

This feared ability launches a ballistic missile that hits the strongest bloon on screen (usually a ZOMG) and deals enormous damage -- enough to destroy a full ZOMG or several BFBs outright. In effect, it's a screen nuke for blimps. If there are no ZOMGs, it will clear multiple BFBs or a bunch of MOABs. After the initial strike, remaining bloons are heavily damaged. Tactical use: First Strike is your go-to "delete button" for round 100-style situations in BTD5's later rounds. Got a ZOMG on screen? One click and it's gone (or at least reduced to much weaker offspring). Ideally, fire the First Strike as soon as a ZOMG or big rush appears to thin it out quickly. The missile has global range -- the sub just needs to be anywhere in water. With multiple subs, you can chain multiple First Strikes to annihilate even ridiculous Freeplay blimp clusters. Note the ability has a long cooldown (60 seconds), so time it wisely. For example, on round 85 (ZOMGs), you might use one at the start to remove a ZOMG, then stall a bit and use another when more ZOMGs appear. This upgrade path still lets the sub fire Ballistic Missiles (3/x) normally, which are decent anti-MOAB weapons in their own right. But the main draw is that devastating first strike power.

The Engineer places a Bloon Trap on the track that sucks in approaching bloons (up to a certain RBE capacity) and then, when full, generates a cash reward when the player clicks to empty it. Essentially, it's both a removal tool and an income source -- bloons that enter the trap are completely removed from play (not even leaking if the trap is at the end) and converted to cash. Once emptied, the Engineer will deploy a new trap. Tactical use: Place the Engineer in a spot where the trap can catch a lot of bloons (early in the track to maximize capture). A well-placed Bloon Trap can eat entire waves of bloons (like all the greens or pinks of a rush), greatly easing pressure on your defenses. Plus, each full trap gives money scaled to the bloons captured, helping your economy. On later rounds, the trap fills quickly, so be prepared to click and empty it often. It's a micro-intensive but rewarding upgrade -- especially effective in modes like Apocalypse or fast rounds where constant streams feed the trap. Multiple engineers can deploy multiple traps. Also, the trap cannot catch MOAB-class bloons (they will pass over it), but all the children bloons after a MOAB pops can be trapped.

Overclock grants the Engineer an ability to target any tower and boost its attack speed by 66% for a period of time. This effectively "overclocks" the chosen tower, making it shoot much faster than normal. You can target any one of your towers (including another engineer or even a Temple of the Sun God) each time you activate it. Tactical use: Overclock is a powerful support tool for supercharging your best tower. Common targets include a Sun God/Temple (to make the sun blasts fire faster), a Glue Liquefier (to spread melting faster), or a key DPS tower. In difficult rounds, you'll want to Overclock whichever tower is your main damage dealer. For example, an Overclock on a Ray of Doom or Spectre dramatically increases its output and can be the difference between overwhelming the bloons or not. The ability cooldown is moderate, but with a village Beacon it can come up quicker. Essentially, it turns the Engineer into a valuable support hero in late game -- one Overclocked Super Monkey or a cluster of Overclocked Ninjas can hold off far more than they otherwise would. Because it is micro-targeted, ensure you trigger it on the intended tower (the game will then show a little wrench icon on that tower indicating it's Overclocked). Keep using it whenever available during tough waves.

The Bloonchipper is a unique tower that sucks in bloons and spits them out after shredding some layers. The Super-Wide Funnel upgrade massively enlarges the chipper's funnel, allowing it to suck in MOAB-class bloons (up to BFB size) for a short duration and shred them internally. Essentially, a 4/2 chipper can grab a MOAB or BFB out of the train, hold it inside while doing continuous damage (~450 per cycle to a MOAB), then eject it after a few seconds if it's not destroyed. This is incredibly useful for stalling and damaging big bloons. It also continues to insta-kill normal bloons by sucking them in and spitting them as usual. Tactical use: Deploy Super-Wide Funnel chippers to control MOAB floods -- each chipper can remove one MOAB/BFB at a time from the field, preventing it (and its cargo of bloons) from advancing. A common approach is to use multiple chippers so they tag-team MOABs, essentially halting an entire rush. Keep in mind they cannot suck in ZOMGs (those are too big; they will only be stalled briefly by the ability below). Place chippers where they have time to re-engage if multiple MOABs come (after spitting one out, they can grab another). Also note that when a chipper spits a blimp back out, it usually continues from the point it was sucked, so be ready to handle it if it wasn't fully popped. Overall, Super-Wide Funnel is one of the reasons the Bloonchipper was considered very strong -- it literally negates some MOABs for a time.

The Supa-Vac ability is a powerful support move: when activated, every bloon on the screen (including MOAB-class up to ZOMG) gets sucked slightly toward the chipper and held in place for a few seconds. For 8 seconds, all non-MOAB bloons are completely stalled (vacuumed in one spot near the chipper) and even big MOABs are drastically slowed and pulled closer. Essentially, it's a global bloon freeze like Absolute Zero, but also clumps the bloons together. After 8 seconds, the bloons are released/spread back out. Tactical use: Supa-Vac is an emergency breather -- use it when the bloon swarm is getting out of hand to stop them in their tracks for a while. It's especially useful before firing big abilities: e.g., Supa-Vac then drop a couple of Mortar "Pop and Awe" or Ground Zeros on the immobilized cluster for maximum effect. Even just buying 8 seconds can allow your cooldowns to reset or your Spike Factory to lay more spikes. In standard BTD5, it will hold BFBs for 4s and ZOMGs for 2s. That still helps a ton! With multiple chippers, you could chain vacuum times. Use Supa-Vac in tight situations -- for example, massive ceramic surges or to pause a ZOMG while you focus fire on it. It's a life-saver and rounds out the Bloonchipper as an ultimate staller. Just remember to have other towers to deal damage while everything is held in place (the chipper itself doesn't pop much during the vac; it's just sucking air).

The Apache Dartship upgrade converts the heli into an Apache Gunship, greatly boosting its weaponry. The Apache automatically fires a constant stream of darts (much like a fast dartling gun) and launches powerful homing missiles at bloons. Its overall popping power and coverage skyrockets -- it no longer relies on you directing it (though you still choose its general movement via pursuit or patrol). The Apache's continuous fire can pierce through and destroy bloons with ease, and the missiles add heavy damage especially against MOAB-class bloons. Tactical use: An Apache Dartship is a high-cost but extremely effective tower for general control. Put your Heli on Pursuit mode (with the Pursuit upgrade) once it's an Apache, and it will automatically chase bloons and obliterate most bloon waves without further micro. It's excellent on maps with space for the heli to maneuver. The Apache shines as a solo carry in mid to late-game -- one Apache can often handle rounds 60-80 reliably thanks to its mix of rapid darts and explosive missiles. Keep in mind it can chase only one bloon group at a time, so very spread-out bloons might cause it to bounce around. But usually its darts/missiles clean up strays anyway. In short, if you can afford an Apache early, it will dominate regular bloons and significantly hurt MOABs (though you might want additional MOAB-specific support for multiple ZOMGs).

This path turns the heli into a support machine with an ability to drop Supply Crates and move towers. The Chinook's ability has two components: first, it can drop a crate that yields extra cash (and sometimes lives) when opened, and second, it allows you to relocate a selected tower to a new spot on the map (pick-up and redeploy). The Chinook itself also retains an attack (downdraft rotors that blow bloons backward, plus modest darts), but it's weaker offensively than the Apache. Tactical use: The Support Chinook is more about utility. Use the Crate Drop ability to periodically boost your income or lives -- e.g., if you're low on lives or want to top up to 150, the health crates help (they give lives in certain game modes), and the money crates give a nice cash injection. Meanwhile, the ability to move towers is unique: you can reposition any tower -- for instance, take a Spike Factory from the back and move it to the front mid-round, or rescue a tower that's about to be sacrificed to a Temple by moving it out of range. This can clutch-save important towers or optimize your tower layout in late game without selling/rebuying. The Chinook is often used in coop to give cash or lives to teammates as well. In single player, it's a niche but fun tool -- not as outright powerful as the Apache, but versatile. One strat is to use Chinook to clump your towers for village buffs or move banana farms to fit more in a spot, etc. If going Support Chinook, you usually have plenty of other DPS towers; use it to augment your strategy by relocation and cash boosts. Fun note: you can even move a Portable Lake or Pontoon with the Chinook -- though that's rarely needed!