Ninja Monkey (BTD5)

"Stealthy tower that can see Camo Bloons and throws sharp shurikens rapidly"

- Bloons TD 5 description

Ninja Monkey is a relatively fast, moderately damaging, Camo detecting monkey tower that can be downright fatal to many bloons if used correctly. This tower made its debut in Bloons TD 5 and makes appearances in Bloons TD 5 Deluxe and other portable versions of Bloons TD 5. It also is in Bloons Monkey City and Bloons TD Battles. In BTD5, its Specialty Building is named the Ninja Academy, and in BMC, it has an upgrade building that is named the Ninja Dojo.

A 0/0 Ninja Monkey may be worth its cost, acting like a 1/1 Dart Monkey except it fires slightly faster and is a little more expensive than it as well as providing cheap Camo detection. On its own, Lead popping power can be quite a nuisance to get up early as the x/3, the only upgrade that allows the Ninja Monkey to pop leads, costs a hefty $2750 on medium. It is good to have a 0/1 Bomb Tower or a Monkey Apprentice which costs less and works very well with Ninjas. As for the last few upgrades on either path, they both help the Ninja stall bloons for other towers to pop them. A 4/2 Ninja has a very large distraction chance (Though still not 100%) and a 2/4 Ninja has its ability to slow down bloons, a flash bomb to stun bloons as well as the usual Distraction upgrade to send bloons back to the start.

Total Costs


Differences Between BTD5 Flash and BTD5 Mobile

 * Flash Bomb has more contact area, as the stun grenade instead appears as a Bigger Blasts bomb.
 * After the Sabotage Supply Lines ability wears off, the affected bloons will recover and once again move at full speed.
 * Shuriken hitbox is smaller.
 * Seeking Shuriken homing targetting area decreased, making shurikens less able to detect backwards targets.
 * Shadow Double Ability (from Ninja Academy Specialty Building) now only creates a 0/0 regardless of upgrades of any Ninja.

Update History (Bloons TD Battles Mobile)
The Ninja Monkey is a pretty popular tower. With its versatility, it is able to counter most early-game bloons pretty well, as well as being all-round Camo-detectors. In particular, the Sabotage Supply Lines ability is still popular among the late-game, where sent MOAB-class bloons can be a pain for many towers, where slowing them would be of great help. On the other side, Bloonjitsu is a very popular all-round popper (except Leads of course), and spamming them can often defeat most bloon rushes.

Popular strategies for the Ninja Monkey include the Ninja-Mortar strategy, the Ninja-Bomb strategy, the Ninja-Apprentice (this one is especially so among newer players), and Ninja-Boomerang strategy. The most powerful combination currently is the Ninja-Mortar, which can become almost unstoppable until Round 18 if played correctly, while also being a good counter to the COBRA.

The Ninja in general is overall nerfed in terms of cost, with Sabotage Supply Lines becoming directly more expensive than in other games. (The overall cost to get a 4/x Ninja used to be cheaper compared to BTD5 but after 4.9 it's now the same.)

Quotes
"Ninja Monkeys are trained to see all camo bloons and can hold off early rounds single handedly. Powerful upgrades include: Seeking Shuriken, Distraction, Flash Bomb, Bloonjitsu."

- BMC Flash description

"Gotta love all things ninja."

- Bloons TD 5's Big Bloon Sabotage Description

Trivia

 * The Ninja Monkey with x/3 throws a stun grenade on every fourth throw.
 * With the Hot Magic Monkey Knowledge, a Ninja Monkey can pop frozen bloons without any upgrades.
 * The old artwork for the Ninja Monkey in BTD5 is the artwork that is now Double Shot but wears a black outfit instead.
 * Ninja Monkey is the only tower that has two skins for 2/2 upgrades; white and purple and black and blue. But in sandbox there is a glitch where 2/2 only only shows up as black and blue.
 * When using a 4/x Monkey Village next to a Ninja with Shadow Double Ability reduces the time from 24 seconds to 19 seconds.
 * Both 4/2 and 2/4 Ninjas are in the same stance in the bottom left corner and both have a red belt.
 * There was a glitch when you put a 2/2 Ninja Monkey and put 1/0 Monkey Village on it the ninja will change its color from purple and white to blue and black.
 * There is a glitch where the range slightly increases upgraded from 2/1 to 2/2, but if you upgrade the tower it will decrease slightly.
 * The Ninja Monkey is one of three Bloons TD 5 towers that can detect Camo Bloons without support, the others being the Dartling Gun and Spike Factory.
 * The Ninja Monkey is the only tower non-exclusive Bloons TD 5 tower that can have 2 abilities (Sabotage Supply Lines and Shadow Double Ability from Ninja Academy).
 * If the Ninja Monkey has Seeking Shuriken, it can throw like a Glaive Ricochet, albeit with fewer pops and a different attacking style.
 * Two Bloonjitsus placed on the sockets of power in The Crucible can complete the entire mission.
 * Path 1 upgrades give the Ninja Monkey a lighter color while Path 2 upgrades give it a darker color.
 * It is possible to complete Monkey Lane or Park Path on Easy with only this tower.
 * A single Ninja Monkey by itself can last about 25 rounds without any bloons leaking on most tracks.
 * If very lucky, a 4/2 Ninja Monkey with support for Lead Bloons can survive 45 rounds without any bloons leaking in a short track.
 * This, along with the Monkey Ace, are the only monkeys whose sideburns are not visible.
 * Flash Bomb, along with Glaive Riccochet, are one of the best "Monkey pairs" possible.
 * In BTD5, Flash Bomb is the only upgrade that allows the Ninja Monkey to pop Lead. This is not recommended due to its cost, unless it's the only way to pop Camo Leads.
 * The Ninja Monkey during game play, throws shurikens with only one hand. With Bloonjitsu it throws 5 shurikens with a single hand.
 * The Bloonjitsu ninja has no red headband on BTD5 Mobile and steam.
 * The Ninja Monkey in monkey team event wears a red shirt and a red headband. (No ninja clothing)