Overview
Just a basic overview of upgrades for each tower and which ones I recommend. I’m rank 60+ on there, so you should trust me on this :p (DISCLAIMER: If I copied someone, it was purely an accident and unintentional. Plus, first guide, so don’t be a hater.)The towers are in order as they appear when you pull up the list on the Main Menu, when you click on the fountain.
Teh Upgrades! (Part 1)
This section is an overview of upgrades and what they do.
*Bolded upgrades are recommended upgrades. I also explain why they’re recommended.
Remember, you can only get 1 3rd and 4th upgrade for each tower.
Dart Monkey:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Long Distance Darts (Improves tower range)
- 2nd upgrade: Enhanced Eyesight (Improves range more + camo detection. Recommended because hey, camo detection!)
- 3rd upgrade: Spike-O-Pult (Tower fires spiked balls that can pop 18 bloons. Impressive, yes?)
- 4th upgrade: Juggernaut (Tower fires a huge ball that crushes ceramics.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Sharp Shots (Darts now pop 2 bloons)
- 2nd upgrade: Razor Sharp Shots (Darts pop 3 bloons. Recommended because excellent if bought early on in the game.)
- 3rd upgrade: Triple Darts (Throws 3 darts at once. Recommended because definitely worth it if bought early on.)
- 4th upgrade: Super Monkey Fan Club (Unlocks an ability in which all nearby dart monkeys in relation to the tower go Super Monkey for 10 seconds. Only 10….)
Monkey Sub:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Barbed Darts (Darts pop up to 3 bloons each)
- 2nd upgrade: Advanced Intel (Allows targeting of bloons in range of any tower. Recommended because as long as it’s in range of ANY tower, it’ll target the bloon.)
- 3rd upgrade: Submerge & Support (Camo bloons in radius of sub are revealed to all towers)
- 4th upgrade: Bloontonium Reactor (Detects & removes camo, pops bloons, and reduces water tower costs by 15%- note, doesn’t stack)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Twin Guns (Sub now has 2 guns. Recommended because double the power!)
- 2nd upgrade: Airburst Darts (Darts split into 3 in air)
- 3rd upgrade: Ballistic Missile (Sub fires a missile that does extra damage to Ceramics & MOAB class. Recommended because pretty damn powerful.)
- 4th upgrade: First Strike Capability: (Unlocks an ability in which a missile destroys the largest bloon on the screen; anything up to a ZOMG in one go, or lots of lesser bloons.)
Bloonchipper:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Suckier (Pulls bloons in faster)
- 2nd upgrade: Heavy Duty Suction (Sucks in heavy bloons like lead. Recommended because you can shred leads and ceramics :3)
- 3rd upgrade: Dual Layer Blades (Shreds 2 layers off a bloon)
- 4th upgrade: Extra Wide Funnel (Sucks in MOAB-class bloons and actually destroys them. Recommended because your life is hella easier with this upgrade. It does take a few tries to destroy a ZOMG tho….)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Long Range Suck (Increases tower range)
- 2nd upgrade: Faster Shred (Shreds bloons faster. Recommended because the faster you shred, the more bloons will be rekt)
- 3rd upgrade: Triple Barrel (Tower now has 3 barrels instead of 1)
- 4th upgrade: Supa-Vac (Unlocks an ability in which all non-MOAB-class bloons are sucked towards the tower and shredded. Lasts only 8 seconds.)
Monkey Engi:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Sentry Gun (Creates sentries to fire at bloons. Recommended cuz more towers for free! After one purchase that is xD)
- 2nd upgrade: Faster Engineering (Builds sentries more often)
- 3rd upgrade: Cleansing Foam (Removes camo & regen and pops leads. Recommended because it makes bloons normal and makes life easier :3)
- 4th upgrade: Bloon Trap (Traps bloons for moniez. Recommended because FREE MONEY!)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: 9-inch Nails (Nails pop 8 bloons at once, including frozen bloons. Also, did anyone get the reference?)
- 2nd upgrade: Larger Service Area (Increases tower’s shooting and building range.)
- 3rd upgrade: Sprockets (Increases sentry fire rate)
- 4th upgrade: Overclock (Unlocks an ability in which a tower of your choosing becomes OP for 60 seconds.)
Tack Shooter:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Fast Shooting (Tacks shoot faster. ‘Nuff said)
- 2nd upgrade: Even Faster Shooting (Tacks shoot EVEN FASTER)
- 3rd upgrade: Tack Sprayer (Sprays 16 tacks instead of 8. Recommended because ey, more popping power!)
- 4th upgrade: Ring of Fire (Spews flames! Recommended because powerful and just plain awesome.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Extra Range Tacks (Increases tower range & how far tacks fly)
- 2nd upgrade: Super Range Tacks (Same as above)
- 3rd upgrade: Blade Shooter (Shoots blades instead)
- 4th upgrade: Blade Maelstrom (Unlocks an ability in which the entire area is covered by blades.)
Sniper Monkey:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Full Metal Jacket (Shots pop 4 layers of bloon, lead, and frozen.)
- 2nd upgrade: Point Five Oh (Shots pop 7 layers of bloon. Note: Fairly pricey…)
- 3rd upgrade: Deadly Precision (Pops 18 layers of bloon…. enough to destroy ceramics.)
- 4th upgrade: Cripple MOAB (Freezes MOAB-class bloons in their tracks for a bit. Recommended because it makes it harder for them to reach the exit.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Faster Firing (Increases fire rate)
- 2nd upgrade: Night Vision Goggles (Allows detection and shooting of camo bloons. Recommended because anything that helps with camos is gud)
- 3rd upgrade: Semi-Automatic Rifle (Multiple shots and fires 3x as fast)
- 4th upgrade: Supply Drop: (Unlocks an ability in which a crate full of cash is dropped)
Boomerang Thrower:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Multi-Shot (Boomerangs pop 5 bloons at once)
- 2nd upgrade: Glaive Thrower (Throws glaives, which are kinda like throwing stars)
- 3rd upgrade: Glaive Ricochet (Glaives now bounce from bloon to bloon)
- 4th upgrade: Glaive Lord (2 glaives permanently circle the tower)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Sonic Boom (Boomerangs/glaives smash through frozen bloons)
- 2nd upgrade: Red Hot Rangs (Boomerangs/glaives melt lead bloons)
- 3rd upgrade: Bionic Boomer (Throws boomerangs/glaives twice as fast. Recommended because OP)
- 4th upgrade: Turbo Charge (Attacks SUPER fast for 10 seconds)
Ninja Monkey:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Ninja Discipline (Increases attack range and speed)
- 2nd upgrade: Sharp Shurikens (Shurikens pop 4 bloons at once)
- 3rd upgrade: Double Shot (Throws 2 shurikens at once)
- 4th upgrade: Bloonjitsu (Throws 5 shurikens at once! Recommended cuz more pop for your buck)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Seeking Shurikens (Shurikens now target bloons intelligently)
- 2nd upgrade: Distraction (Distracts bloons. Recommended cuz it makes them go the wrong way)
- 3rd upgrade: Flash Bomb (Occasionally throws a bomb that stuns bloons)
- 4th upgrade: Sabotage Supply Lines
Bomb Tower:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Extra Range (Increases tower range)
- 2nd upgrade: Frag Bombs (Fragments of exploded bombs fly out and pop more bloons. Recommended cuz more pops!)
- 3rd upgrade: Cluster Bombs (Throws secondary bombs instead of frags. Recommended cuz, even more pops)
- 4th upgrade: Bloon Impact (Bloons become stunned for a bit when hit. Hey, that rhymes!)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Bigger Bombs (More popping power + bigger blast area.)
- 2nd upgrade: Missile Launcher (Faster firing, more velocity and range. Recommended because of the faster firing.)
- 3rd upgrade: MOAB Mauler (Does 10x damage to MOAB class bloons. Recommended cuz it’ll damage them more and make your life easier.)
- 4th upgrade: MOAB Assassin (Unlocks an ability in which a missile destroys the nearest MOAB)
Teh Upgrades! (Part 2)
Ran out of room in the last section ;~;
Ice Tower:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Enhanced Freeze (Larger freeze area keeps bloons frozen for longer)
- 2nd upgrade: Snap Freeze (Pops a layer off frozen bloons. Recommended cuz it actually makes things a little easier by taking off a layer.)
- 3rd upgrade: Arctic Wind (Slows all bloons in its radius)
- 4th upgrade: Viral Frost (Any bloon touching a frozen bloon gets frozen as well. Recommended because in later levels, it spreads like wildfire…. did I use that right? :/)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Permafrost (Bloons move slower even after thawing)
- 2nd upgrade: Deep Freeze (Slows down bloons for longer)
- 3rd upgrade: Ice Shards (Shards of frozen bloons fly out when they pop. Recommended cuz more pops!)
- 4th upgrade: Absolute Zero (Unlocks an ability in which all bloons are frozen temporarily)
Glue Gunner:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Glue Soak (Glue soaks through all layers.)
- 2nd upgrade: Corrosive Glue (A bloon layer is popped every few seconds. Recommended because some popping is actually going on)
- 3rd upgrade: Bloon Dissolver (Two layers are popped every second. Recommended cuz faster pops!)
- 4th upgrade: Bloon Liquefier (Pops a layer instantly and liquefies bloons tens times every second! Recommended because MOAR POPS)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Stickier Glue (Effect lasts longer)
- 2nd upgrade: Glue Splatter (Sprays glue across 6 bloons at once)
- 3rd upgrade: Glue Hose (Sprays glue more than 3x as fast!)
- 4th upgrade: Glue Striker (Unlocks an ability in which everything on the screen is glued)
Monkey Buccaneer:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Faster Shooting (Shoots faster)
- 2nd upgrade: Longer Cannons (Moar range)
- 3rd upgrade: Destroyer (Attacks even faster. Recommended because in this game, the faster, the better. Especially with regens.)
- 4th upgrade: Aircraft Carrier (Launches Monkey Ace pilots. Recommended because super powerful.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Grape Shot (Shoots 4 sharp grapes. Dunno how grapes can be sharp….)
- 2nd upgrade: Crow’s Nest (Allows detection and shooting of camo bloons. Recommended cuz the more you can hit them, the better)
- 3rd upgrade: Cannon Ship (Adds a powerful cannon)
- 4th upgrade: Monkey Pirates (Unlocks an ability in which the nearest MOAB is brought down. Recommended cuz one less annoying bloon to worry about)
Monkey Ace:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Rapid Fire (Shoots faster)
- 2nd upgrade: Sharper Darts (Darts pop 8 bloons each. Recommended cuz even moar pops for your buck)
- 3rd upgrade: Neva-Miss Targeting (Darts seek out bloons intelligently)
- 4th upgrade: Spectre (Bloon doom. Recommended because, once again, bloon doom.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Pineapple Present (Drops exploding pineapples every 3 seconds)
- 2nd upgrade: Spy Plane (Allows detection and shooting of camo bloons. Recommended because how many times do I have to say, the more camo detection the better)
- 3rd upgrade: Operation Dart Storm (More darts shot. Recommended because as the game puts it: more darts = win.)
- 4th upgrade: Ground Zero (Unlocks an ability in which a bomb is dropped that destroys all bloons and damages MOAB-class)
Super Monkey:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Laser Vision (Pops 2x as much)
- 2nd upgrade: Plasma Blasts (Pops pretty much everything.)
- 3rd upgrade: Sun God (Even more powerful than Plasma. Recommended because really freaking powerful.)
- 4th upgrade: Temple of the Sun God (Pricey, but it absorbs all the powers of nearby towers. Recommended because well, you can have a tower that does anything that other towers do. Good enough for ya?)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Super Range (Increases attack range)
- 2nd upgrade: Epic Range (Increases range even more)
- 3rd upgrade: Robo Monkey (Faster firing + more damage. Note: Get Plasma Blasts for max damage)
- 4th upgrade: Technological Terror (Even more powerful than Robo, plus it unlocks an ability in which every bloon in the range of the tower is destroyed. Recommended because fast destroying!
Monkey Apprentice:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Intense Magic (Shoots larger and more powerful magic bolts)
- 2nd upgrade: Lightning Strike (Strikes many bloons at once with lightning. Recommended cuz you can take out more bloons in one go.)
- 3rd upgrade: Summon Whirlwind (Blows bloons away from the exit. Recommended because you don’t want them near the exit.)
- 4th upgrade: Tempest Tornado (Pops and blows bloons away much faster. Recommended because once again, faster is better.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Fireball (Shoots a fireball)
- 2nd upgrade: Monkey Sense (Allows detection and shooting of camo bloons. Recommended because… do I really need to say it again?)
- 3rd upgrade: Dragon’s Breath (Endless flames are fired at bloons. Recommended cuz pretty dang powerful….)
- 4th upgrade: Summon Phoenix (Unlocks an ability where a superpowerful phoenix pops bloons for 20 seconds)
Monkey Village:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Monkey Beacon (Increases range of all towers in its range by 15%)
- 2nd upgrade: Jungle Drums (Towers attack 15% faster)
- 3rd upgrade: Monkey Town (Bloons popped near the village get 50% more cash per pop. Recommended cuz free moniez)
- 4th upgrade: Energy Beacon (Any nearby towers with abilities have the ability cooldowns reduced by 20%)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Monkey Fort (Increases popping power of nearby towers by 1)
- 2nd upgrade: Radar Scanner (All towers in its radius can hit camo bloons. Recommended because guess why.)
- 3rd upgrade: Monkey Intelligence Bureau (All towers in its radius can pop every bloon type. Recommended cuz lead and ceramic can be tricky.)
- 4th upgrade: MIB Call To Arms (Unlocks an ability in which all nearby towers have attack speed, range, and pop power increased for 10 seconds)
Banana Farm:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: More Bananas (3 bunches of bananas are grown each round)
- 2nd upgrade: Banana Plantation (7 bunches grown each round)
- 3rd upgrade: Banana Republic (13 bunches ground each round)
- 4th upgrade: Banana Research Facility (5 boxes of bananas grown each round. Recommended because valuable in later levels.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Long Life Bananas (Bananas last 25 seconds instead of 15.)
- 2nd upgrade: Valuable Bananas (Each bunch/box is worth 50% more cash)
- 3rd upgrade: Monkey Bank (10% interest each round and holds up to $5000 in cash.)
- 4th upgrade: Banana Investments Advisory (20% investment and holds $20000 in cash. Recommended because totally worth it. Although, in later rounds, it doesn’t earn as much.)
Teh Upgrades! (Part 3)
Mortar Tower
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Increased Accuracy (Makes shots more accurate)
- 2nd upgrade: Bigger Blast (Bigger explosion radius. Recommended cuz more bloons get popped.)
- 3rd upgrade: Bloon Buster (2 layers of bloons get smashed at once)
- 4th upgrade: The Big One (3 layers of bloon popped each explosion. Also, bonus points if you got the reference… not in game xD)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Rapid Reload (Attack speed increased)
- 2nd upgrade: Burny Stuff (Pops additional bloons a few seconds after impact)
- 3rd upgrade: Signal Flare (Any camo bloon nearby loses their camouflage. Recommended cuz now any tower can pop them, instead of just ones that have a camo detection upgrade, or a Meerkat Spy nearby)
- 4th upgrade: Artillery Battery (Unlocks an ability in which all bloons on the screen are frozen and bombarded for 5 seconds.)
Dartling Gun:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Focused Firing (Makes shots more accurate)
- 2nd upgrade: Faster Barrel Spin (Faster firing)
- 3rd upgrade: Laser Cannon (Shoots lasers! Pops 13 bloons and can pop frozen. Recommended cuz powerful.)
- 4th upgrade: Ray of Doom (A persistent laser beam of bloon destruction. Recommended because practically OP)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Powerful Darts (Darts move faster and pop 3 bloons each)
- 2nd upgrade: Depleted Bloontonium (Darts hurt any bloon type. Recommended cuz useful against lead, frozen, and ceramic)
- 3rd upgrade: Hydra-Rocket Pods (Shoots missiles! Recommended because powerful)
- 4th upgrade: Bloon Area Denial System (Unlocks an ability in which missiles are shot towards the nearest 100 bloons onscreen. Plus, three missiles are shot at once, instead of one.)
Spike Factory:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Bigger Stacks (Generates larger piles of spikes.)
- 2nd upgrade: White Hot Spikes (Pops lead)
- 3rd upgrade: Spiked Ball Factory (Creates spiked balls which do extra damage to ceramics)
- 4th upgrade: Spiked Mines (Spiked balls explode when all their spikes are lost.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Faster Production (More spikes!)
- 2nd upgrade: Even Faster Production (Even more spikes!)
- 3rd upgrade: MOAB-SHREDR Spikes (Extra damage to MOAB-class bloons. Recommended because you need all the power you can get against them.)
- 4th upgrade: Spike Storm (Unlocks an ability in which spikes are laid across the whole track. Recommended because helpful if you’re in a bit of a tight spot.)
Heli Pilot:
-Upgrade Path 1
- 1st upgrade: Quad Darts (Shoots 4 darts instead of 2.)
- 2nd upgrade: Pursuit (Follows bloons. Recommended cuz it follows bloons and pops them there, instead of just staying in one place or patrolling or whatever)
- 3rd upgrade: Razor Sharp Rotors (Rotor blades shred bloons, including frozen and lead. Recommended cuz more popping/shredding!)
- 4th upgrade: Apache Dartship (Adds a missile array and a machine gun. Recommended cuz REALLY powerful.)
-Upgrade Path 2
- 1st upgrade: Bigger Jets (Allows tower to fly faster)
- 2nd upgrade: Enhanced IFR Instruments (Allows detection and shooting of Camo bloons. Recommended because……. you get the point already.)
- 3rd upgrade: Downdraft (Blows bloons away from Heli Pilot)
- 4th upgrade: Support Chinook (Unlocks an ability in which med and cash crates can be dropped, or towers can be repositioned.)
Please note these are just suggestions. Not forcing you to do anything.
Additional Protips
This might be upgraded as I come up with more helpful tips….
- Get Double Cash mode ASAP. Pricey, but worth it. Double money for every pop, plus double money at the beginning of games.
- If you can, get the Dartling Ammo Dump (one of the specialist buildings) upgrade that allows you to lock a Dartling Gun’s position so you don’t have to guide it the entire game.
- My strategy to games is this: Start off with a Dart and Boomerang Monkey. Then add a Sniper, and set its targeting to Strong. Then add a Tack Sprayer and try to upgrade to Ring of Fire. Then add a Ninja Monkey for Camo detection. Finally, add a Bloonchipper and try to upgrade to the Extra Wide Funnel before level 46 (First MOAB). Why do I tell you this? It’s worked for me on every map, and I rarely need to resort to using Super Monkeys- unless I’m doing freeplay.
- The RBE at the bottom of the screen stands for “Red Bloon Equivalent.” It basically tells you how many pops you need to make before you go to the next level.
- When the level info warns you about a level, pay attention. They mean it.
- Level 84 on Hard, Impoppable, or Freeplay is a doozy. Careful >.<
- In the upgrades shop, try to get more starting cash or lives. The more cash/lives, the better.