Ray of Doom (BTD5)

"The Ray of Doom is a persistent solid beam of bloon destruction."

- Official Description

Ray of Doom is the final upgrade of Dartling Gun on Path 1, costing $46750 on Easy, $55000 on Medium, $59400 on Hard and $66000 on Impoppable. It allows the Dartling Gun to shoot a persistent beam that pops all bloons in its path. Unlike other upgrades, the Ray of Doom upgrade slows down the turning speed of the Dartling Gun, unless on the mobile or console versions.

The Ray of Doom has a pierce of 100 (infinite in Mobile and Steam), popping bloons every frame (about 30 times per sec on good devices); even Ceramic Bloons are popped in well under a second. This upgrade is probably one of the best upgrades for popping normal Bloons, being a tower with one of the highest pierce caps in the entire game.

In Bloons Monkey City, researching the Ray of Doom requires the Crystal Fusion Array. It costs 90000 and requires Phase Crystal Terrain. It takes 120 hours to research, costs 100000 for the upgrade, and requires 50.

Summary
Ray of Doom is super powerful at destroying regular bloons, but it tends to be somewhat weak at handling MOAB-class bloons. However, it has incredible attack speed to compensate, attacking fast enough to become a suitable solo tower. Paired with other Rays of Doom, they are actually quite efficient in terms of minimized lag versus high DPS.

Tips

 * There is no need to add crosspaths to a Ray of Doom, as it already possesses immense pierce and already pops any bloon type.

Differences Between BTD5 Flash and BTD5 Mobile
Ray of Doom has infinite popping power as opposed to 100 bloons per frame.

Ray of Doom has a smaller hitbox.

Trivia

 * Even though the description says that it shoots a persistent beam, it actually flashes, however this is purely cosmetic; the ray's area of effect is not affected by the flashing.
 * This upgrade might be a reference to the Star Wars movies, as the beam closely resembles a red lightsaber. This would also partially explain the flashing effect and when it's fired the dartling gun looks like a lightsaber handle.
 * This upgrade isn't the best against individual M.O.A.B. class bloons for its cost, as it has a popping pierce of 100 (again, infinite on Mobile and Steam) but only pops 1 layer per frame. This means it effectively loses 99% of its firepower. It is still more than a match for an individual M.O.A.B., B.F.B., and D.D.T. however, and indeed can take down large groups of them quickly. It only struggles against Z.O.M.G.
 * The Ray of Doom used to have infinite pierce in the Flash version. This was changed to 100 in an update. This was because it was overpowered, being able to take out nearly anything, even mass Z.O.M.Gs, and could even be more powerful than a max temple. On mobile and steam, it still has infinite pierce, likely because the Ray of Doom is thinner on mobile.
 * The Ray of Doom is actually weaker on M.O.A.B class bloons in the Steam version of BTD5 than in the Flash version.
 * This upgrade has the same pierce as a 4-0 Juggernaut Dart Monkey.
 * The Ray of Doom can pop leads but the Laser Cannon cannot even though they appear to both be lasers.
 * The Ray of Doom makes the effect of the Depleted Bloontonium Darts upgrade useless.
 * The HAZMAT suit looks like the one for a Glue Splatter and Corrosive Glue Glue Gunner, but has a gas mask like the Bloon Dissolver and Bloon Liquefier Glue Gunner's. The color is also different.
 * This is the second most expensive upgrade in BTD5, after the Temple of the Monkey God.
 * The Ray of Doom will pierce through anything, but if it has reached its pop limit, it will still pierce through but not pop.
 * When the Ray of Doom's pop limit is reached, it will prioritize bloons closer to the tower.
 * The Ray of Doom only stops shooting in between Rounds. It will constantly shoot the ray during rounds, even if there are no Bloons on screen. It will also constantly shoot in Sandbox Mode. However, with the Great Divide update, it no longer fires until a bloon exists. Also, the beam shows up in mobile no matter what, but is really thin when it should not shoot.
 * This is one of the few lasers in BTD5 that can pop Lead Bloons. The others being High Energy Beacon, Bloonsday Device, 1/3 Robo-Monkey and Meerkat Spy Pro.
 * The Ray of Doom is very heavy, signified by slower movement with the mouse than a regular Dartling Gun.
 * The Ray of Doom causes relatively low lag compared to other late game towers (e.g. Temple Of The Monkey God) and might be a valid option to use in freeplay if your computer is slow.
 * In Bloons Monkey City, it is said that this tower works with a Phase Crystal piece.
 * The gun itself could be a possible reference to the Sprtel-Wood 9700 from Fallout: New Vegas as both are gatling guns that shoot a long, continuous laser beam.
 * In Flash versions, Ray of Doom beams are unaffected by Jungle Drums and M.I.B. Call to Arms in attack speed. This is because they attack every frame (the maximum speed for any tower).
 * Ray of Doom beams are unaffected by Monkey Fort and M.I.B. Call to Arms in popping power in mobile versions. This is because in mobile versions, they have infinite pierce.
 * If there is more than one on screen, MOAB-Class bloons will take double damage even if nothing is attacking it.
 * On mobile, the ROD flashes quickly and is thinner than PC, making it weaker. However on BTDBM, it pops bloons quicker.
 * On mobile, the Ray of Doom has near infinite pierce, making it the ultimate bloon popping power tower through late game. The Temple of the Monkey also shares the ROD's infinite pierce, contrary to its PC counterpart. However, ROD is nerfed shown above, and the TOTMG's beam spread is really bad compared to flash.
 * The ROD can be overwhelmed by mass amounts of Ceramic Bloons due to its max pierce.
 * Ray of Doom might be based on the Death Ray Vision upgrade in Bloons Super Monkey, which also have a similar appearance and description.
 * In both games, they are also the second most expensive upgrade.
 * The Ray Of Doom costs less on Impoppable with the Mortar Emplacement than the TOTMG on Easy with the Super Monkey Lair.