User blog:Qwertyxp2000 the second/Balance change suggestions for Battles 2 (1.0.6)

Bloons and Bloon Sends
Several buffs to eco sends to make them more economically challenging. Grouped Purples have been changed to become more of a "risk vs reward" send, with more bloons per send but at a higher cost, plus more eco. In addition, health scaling for Round 35+ have been increased greatly to make it easier to end games sooner without ruining game performance so much, pairing well with the change to make Rounds 35+ gain maximum XP.
 * Grouped Blues eco increased (1.3 --> 1.4)
 * Spaced Greens cost decreased ($14 --> $12)
 * Spaced Blacks cost decreased ($33 --> $32)
 * Grouped Purples cost increased ($115 --> $140)
 * Grouped Purples bloon count increased (5 --> 6)
 * Grouped Purples eco gain increased (2.5 --> 3.2)
 * Spaced Rainbows cost less ($80 --> $75)
 * Eco penalty multiplier for Fortified BFB+ sends increased (+0% --> +25%)
 * Rounds 35+ health scaling increased per round (+25% (?) --> +50%)

XP and Chests
"Surrender farming" is still a dominant strategy, and there is no incentive to go to late-game due to both sides essentially going down by performance issues. Some of these changes have been made to give higher incentive to opt for late-game without overwhelmingly making that option the optimal XP farming option.
 * Bonus XP gained from Arenas increased
 * White Wasteland: remains at +5%
 * Lead Dungeon: +8% --> +10%
 * Ceramic Crucible: +10% --> +15%
 * MOAB Pit: +15% --> +20%
 * BFB Colloseum: +15% --> +25%
 * ZOMG Superdome: +15% --> +33%
 * Hall of Masters: +15% --> +50%
 * The normal XP Multiplier now pauses when offline. VIP remains affected by full running time.
 * Winning on Rounds 30+ gains +10% more XP per round, capped at +50%, to account for the high risk-reward

Dart Monkey
Several buffs to make Dart Monkey more viable. To compensate an exploit with Super Monkey Fan Club, we have reduced its price and cooldown to make it stronger against spaced out rushes as well as for sell-and-rebuy strategies. This has also applied to Plasma Monkey Fan Club, which while decent isn't as powerful in this game due to the limited support options.
 * Triple Shot cost decreased ($350 --> $330)
 * Super Monkey Fan Club costs less ($8000 --> $5000)
 * Super Monkey Fan Club cooldown decreased (50s --> 25s)
 * Super Monkey Fan Club can no longer allow lower-tier Dart Monkeys upgraded towards Spike-O-Pult or Crossbow to gain hypersonic speeds.
 * Plasma Monkey Fan Club costs less ($45,000 --> $42,500)
 * Plasma Monkey Fan Club main attack deals +2 damage for both triple darts and plasma.
 * Spike-O-Pult XP requirements decreased (2100 XP --> 1600 XP)
 * Triple Shot XP requirements decreased (2000 XP --> 1500 XP)
 * Crossbow XP requirements decreased (1900 XP --> 1400 XP)

Boomerang Monkey
Glaive Ricochet feels dominant, so its price and MOAR Glaives prices have been hiked up with a small buff to Glaive Lord to make that upgrade more desirable. On the other hand, other Tier 3 Boomer options feel underused, so they both got price buffs, plus a Ceramic+ bonus for Kylie to put some impact against those bloon types without feeling like just a stepping stone to MOAB Press. Domination's price is slightly lowered to give way to other late-game strategies with Boomerang.
 * Glaive Ricochet costs more ($1500 --> $1600)
 * MOAR Glaives costs more ($3200 --> $3500)
 * Glaive Lord costs less ($30,000 --> $29,000)
 * Bionic Boomerang costs less ($1600 --> $1500)
 * Kylie Boomerang costs less ($1300 --> $1200)
 * MOAB Press costs more ($2700 --> $2800)
 * Kylie Boomerang deals +2 damage to Ceramics and MOAB-class
 * MOAB Domination costs less ($60,000 --> $52,000)
 * 2-0-5 MOAB Domination explosion damage increased (100 --> 200)

Bomb Shooter
Small buffs to nicen progression of power.
 * Bigger Bombs costs less ($350 --> $300)
 * Bloon Crush costs less ($55,000 --> $47,500)
 * Extra Range grants more range (+7 --> +10)
 * Recursive Cluster costs less ($3200 --> $3000)

Tack Shooter
Hot Shots was nerfed too much by the price hikes to Even Faster Shooting, and it didn't show significant superiority compared to its sister Tier 3 upgrades, so its price was lowered. Removing the pierce bonus that was present in the earliest versions of the game felt missing, and because Long Range Tacks feels not useful due to the Tack's already short range, we have added a pierce buff to that upgrade in addition to the existing pierce buff present in Super Range Tacks but we've raised its price to avoid causing a tack meta again.
 * Hot Shots costs less ($600 --> $500)
 * Long Range Tacks grants +1 pierce. Also affects Super Range Tacks and Blade Shooter.
 * Long Range Tacks costs more ($100 --> $175)
 * 0-3-1 Blade Shooter pierce bonus increased (+0 --> +1)
 * 0-3-2 Blade Shooter pierce bonus increased (+1 --> +2)

Ice Monkey
Deep Freeze feels underpowering in the early-game, so we've lowered its cost for such a niche upgrade.
 * Deep Freeze costs less ($350 --> $250)

Glue Gunner
Compared to other options, Glue Gunner wasn't showing enough power in the early-game for its cost while still being overrushed by early grouped sends, and it does not provide enough support later on in the game to fit a tower slot. We've stripped some costs of various upgrades to make Glue more viable in loadouts.
 * Glue no longer becomes rehit by glue of the same and lower "tier", with pure exception of Super Glue.
 * The Bloon Solver costs less ($22,000 --> $20,000)
 * Glue Splatter costs less ($700 --> $600)
 * MOAB Glue costs less ($3400 --> $3200)
 * Stronger Glue costs less ($400 --> $250)
 * Relentless Glue costs less ($3000 --> $2800)
 * Relentless Glue slows bloons further (75% --> 87.5%) and blimps further (37.5% --> 50%)
 * Description changed to "''Improved glue formula causes glued bloons to leave a blob of glue on the track when popped, as well as improving slowdown even further.

Sniper Monkey
Sniper is mostly a single-target tower, so we've shifted its base cost into the Shrapnel upgrade, which should encourage more strategy with the non-shrapnel path. Supply Drop is being reworked to become more affordable but produce less cash per use, which should require more micromanagement of this farming option. Deadly Precision feels weak due to Maim MOAB providing a stun option, so some of that price is moved over into Maim MOAB for an overall price nerf.
 * Sniper Monkey costs less ($350 --> $300)
 * Deadly Precision costs less ($2800 --> $2400)
 * Maim MOAB costs more ($5000 --> $5400 $6000)
 * Shrapnel Shot costs more ($400 --> $450)
 * Supply Drop costs less ($5400 --> $4500)
 * Supply Drop produces less cash per crate ($2000 --> $1500). Does not affect Elite Sniper.
 * Elite Sniper produces less cash per crate ($5000 --> $4500)

Monkey Sub
Reactor is currently sees its Path 3 upgrade almost unviable for damage, so its pierce is increased for all paths while costing slightly more. Also, since sell-and-rebuy strategies make Energizer's benefit less helpful, Energizer's cost has been decreased to give it a little more overall value.
 * Bloontonium Reactor costs more ($2800 --> $3000)
 * Bloontonium Reactor base pierce increased (26 --> 30)
 * Bloontonium Reactor w/ Barbed Darts pierce increased (35 --> 40)
 * Bloontonium Reactor w/ Heat-Tipped pierce increased (50 --> 60)
 * Energizer costs less ($32,000 --> $26,000)

Monkey Buccaneer
Merchantman's income generation feels not worth the investment, so it has been tweaked to work more like a normal Banana Farm while still retaining a worse efficiency than Farm itself due to Merchantman having an attack option. Trade Empire currently only feels viable on water-heavy maps; keeping this type of Buccaneer farming style later on the game should be assisted by bumping up benefits per Merchantman at the cost of a lower stack limit.
 * Merchantman costs less ($2000 --> $1250)
 * Merchantman income generation decreased ($300 --> $250)
 * Favored Trades costs less ($7000 --> $6500)
 * Trade Empire reworked to give double income bonuses per Merchantman but caps at 10 Merchantmen instead of 20.

Monkey Ace
Lots More Darts is getting a tiny price cut to smoothen progression in upgrades. Also, Spectre doesn't get as much benefit from pineapples as it actually gets, so its pineapple rate is increased hugely while also increasing bomb damage, which adds a little more choice for picking crosspaths.
 * Lots More Darts costs less ($650 --> $600)
 * Spectre w/ Exploding Pineapple produces pineapples every 0.1s instead of every 2.0s
 * Spectre w/ Exploding Pineapple bomb damage increased (3 --> 4)
 * Spectre w/ Lots More Darts now shoots 1 additional separate dart stream
 * Flying Fortress w/ Exploding Pineapple bomb damage increased (5 --> 8)
 * Flying fortress w/ Lots More Darts now shoots 3 additional separate dart streams on respective targeting

Heli Pilot
Heli Pilot's Razor Rotors is receiving crosspathing benefits to reinforce the importance of crosspathing. Apache Dartship's price is lowered slightly to reinforce Heli's power in pure DPS. We've also lowered a bunch of prices on less-used upgrades to let Heli come into fruition.
 * Razor Rotors costs less ($1750 --> $1250)
 * Razor Rotors w/ Bigger Jets gains more pierce (10 --> 17)
 * Razor Rotors w/ Faster Firing gains +25% faster razor speed.
 * Apache Dartship price decreased ($19,600 --> $17,500)
 * Apache Prime attack speed increased by +25% for all attacks
 * Downdraft price decreased ($3000 --> $2500)
 * Comanche Commander price decreased ($35,000 --> $27,000)

Mortar Monkey
Target variance is frustrating in Battles 2, which combined with its slow attack speed appears to be the main detracting point for Mortar Monkey. Decreasing projectile deviation should assist this tower being added to loadouts.
 * Mortar Monkey base projectile deviation without The Big One decreased (18 --> 12). The Big One and The Biggest One remain unaffected.
 * Increased Accuracy projectile deviation without The Big One decreased (8 --> 5). The Big One and The Biggest One remain unaffected.
 * Increased Accuracy costs less ($200 --> $150)
 * Signal Flare costs more ($700 --> $750)

Dartling Gunner
Giving 3 pierce on the get-go is too much compared to the original 2 pierce, so we've removed the bonus pierce from most upgrades, but we've given a further price drop for base Dartling plus a stronger pierce bonus with Powerful Darts to lower that nerf's effect. Meanwhile, Buckshot has been given a further price drop, as it is currently the least popular Dartling upgrade at Tier 3.
 * Base Dartling pierce decreased (3 --> 2)
 * Base Dartling price decreased ($750 --> $700)
 * Powerful Darts pierce bonus increased (+3 --> +4)
 * Hydra Rocket Pods pierce decreased (7 --> 6)
 * Laser Cannon pierce remains 5.
 * Buckshot price decreased ($3400 --> $2975)
 * Ray of Doom price decreased ($95k --> $80k)

Wizard Monkey
Base Wizard's bolts aren't very powerful in this game, and much of the Wizard's current early-game power is weighted a lot into Wall of Fire. Wizard's bolts will attack faster to let it chase spaced bloons a little more efficiently, while the cost of Wall of Fire is increased because it currently sits too dominant. Wizard Lord Phoenix's price has been lowered, as it currently is a little bit too expensive for what it does in Battles 2.
 * Wizard Monkey costs less ($400 --> $375 $360)
 * Wizard Monkey bolt base attack cooldown decreased (1.1s --> 1.0s 0.85s)
 * Fireball attack cooldown decreased (3.0s --> 2.1s)
 * Wall of Fire costs more ($900 --> $1000)
 * Intense Magic costs less ($300 --> $250)
 * Wizard Lord Phoenix costs less ($54,000 --> $51,000)

Super Monkey
Too much of the Super Monkey's value weighs towards Plasma Blasts while its other lower-tiers cost too much in comparison. Price adjustments across the board have been made to adjust valuation with each upgrade. Dark Knight feels dominant, but we don't want to nerf its MOAB-class specialization too much, so it only receives a tiny price increase. Sun Avatar, while quite strong in raw power, feels underused over multiple Dark Knights, so its price is lowered slightly.
 * Super Monkey costs less ($2300 --> $2000)
 * Laser Blasts costs less ($2700 --> $2000)
 * Plasma Blasts costs more ($4500 --> $5500 $5000)
 * Knockback costs more ($2700 --> $3000)
 * Dark Knight costs more ($5500 --> $6000)
 * Sun Avatar costs less ($19,000 --> $18,000)

Ninja Monkey
Some price adjustments for slight balance. In addition, Sticky Bomb sticky stacking felt too overpowering, so it is being nerfed to not stack, plus a small price buff in compensation.
 * Ninja Monkey costs less ($450 --> $400)
 * Sharp Shurikens costs less ($300 --> $250)
 * Double Shot costs more ($650 --> $700)
 * Distraction costs less ($300 --> $250)
 * Seeking Shuriken costs more ($250 --> $300)
 * Caltrops costs less ($350 --> $280)
 * Sticky Bomb no longer stacks with the same type of Sticky Bomb. Remains to stack with Master Bomber stickies.
 * Sticky Bomb costs less ($4500 --> $4250)

Druid
Lowered the costs of several of the lesser performing Druid upgrades to let their specialties stand out better.
 * Druid of the Storm costs less ($1850 --> $1450)
 * Ball Lightning costs less ($5100 --> $4400)
 * Spirit of the Forest costs less ($35,000 --> $33,500)

Alchemist
Transforming Tonic has been lowered in cost to make Alchemist stronger at direct offense, plus benefits from crosspathing.
 * Transforming Tonic cost decreased ($4500 --> $3600)
 * Transforming Tonic w/ Bigger Potions pierce increased (6 --> 10)
 * Transforming Tonic w/ Faster Throwing attack speed increased by +25%

Banana Farm
Farm was too strong in Battles 1, but with eco being a competitive option Farm doesn't quite sit well in a tower slot, so its base cost is decreased, along with further buffs to several other upgrades. BTD6's Path 3 reworks felt nice, and much of those have been added too.
 * Banana Farm costs less ($1100 --> $1000)
 * Greater Production costs more ($600 --> $650)
 * Banana Plantation costs less ($3000 --> $2800)
 * EZ Collect and Banana Salvage now works like in BTD6, except Banana Salvage's sellback bonus is +5% sellback instead of +10% sellback.
 * Monkey Bank costs less ($5500 --> $4200)
 * IMF Loan costs less ($7500 --> $5500)

Spike Factory
Base Spike Factory fits well in Battles 2, even since it was first released, making its way into viable loadouts. However, the attack speed crosspath is almost too "needed" for crosspathing choice. Various prices have been shuffled across many upgrades so that crosspath choice is fit more carefully.
 * Spike Factory costs less ($800 --> $750 $700)
 * White Hot Spikes costs less ($600 --> $500)
 * Spiked Balls costs more ($2300 --> $2400)
 * Even Faster Production costs more ($800 --> $900)
 * Long Reach costs less ($150 --> $100)
 * Smart Spikes costs less ($400 --> $300 $250)
 * Long Life Spikes costs less ($1400 --> $1250)

Monkey Village
Some of Village's base cost has been pushed into Radar Scanner to better express its buffing potential across other upgrades, rather than simply its range bonus which does little in comparison.
 * Monkey Village costs less ($1200 --> $1000)
 * Radar Scanner costs more ($2000 --> $2200)

Engineer Monkey
Pin now gives extra effect to Cleansing Foam's lifespan to make Path 3 crosspath slightly more worth it for stockpiling more foam over a faster foaming rate. The same has been given to sentries for similar reasons. Foam currently has a little bit too low pierce to sustain against rushes, so it has received a small price buff to compensate, plus a stronger Path 3 pierce buff for better stockpiling. Like BTD6, some of the Engineer's base cost has been pushed slightly into Sprockets to give the base Engineer a better focus on support.
 * Engineer Monkey base cost decreased ($450 --> $400)
 * Sprockets costs more ($525 --> $560)
 * Cleansing Foam cost decreased ($800 --> $550)
 * Cleansing Foam pierce bonus with Path 3 increased (+5 --> +8). Non-crosspathed Foam remains at 10.
 * Pin now increases Cleansing Foam lifespan by +40%
 * Pin now increases sentry lifespan by +40%