Dart Monkey (BTD6)

"Throws a single dart at nearby bloons. Short range and low pierce but cheap."

- In-game description

The Dart Monkey is a Primary-class tower that was released in the initial release of Bloons TD 6. The tower retains its name and role from the Bloons TD 4, 5, and Classic game generations, with significant additions. It was the first non-hero tower to be revealed for Bloons TD 6, introduced on around 26th April 2018. Dart Monkey, as with previous mainstream games, is the first tower to be unlocked in the game, and is introduced by Tutorial Monkey as part of the tutorial for Bloons TD 6.

Dart Monkey attacks at a moderate speed, throwing a dart every 0.95s. Darts deal 1 damage and hit up to 2 bloons per dart. It has a moderately low range of 32.

It costs $170 on Easy, $200 on Medium, $215 on Hard, and $240 on Impoppable.

Description
The Dart Monkey is a non-clothed monkey with a tuft of hair for his hairstyle. As with all monkeys in BTD6, he has got big circular eyes, thick brown eyebrows, and fur around most of his head except his face. His fur is brown and his skin is a slightly lighter tone of brown. His belly is oval-shaped with two angular ovals above, colored the same as his skin. His belly also features a small belly button. He carries a dart on his right hand.

Overall, he looks not too different compared to his BTD5 counterpart outside of having the general BTD6 art style. There are minor differences to the Dart Monkey's visual appearance, however.

Dart Monkey is one of the first towers to be teased prior to the release of BTD6. Its base tower image was displayed as part of the way to convince players of BTD5 that BTD6 is still in production. Later, the Dart Monkey was teased in future BTD6 teasers until the official release of BTD6.

Many changes have occurred for the Dart Monkey, the most significant of which is that the base 0-0-0 tower can now pop two bloons per shot instead of one and both the Sharp Shots and Razor Sharp Shots upgrades have been moved to the Spike-O-Pult path. Another significant change is that Dart Monkey now has access to new upgrades that increase attack speed permantly, a first for Dart Monkey. In addition to this is an entirely new set of higher-tier upgrades dedicated to crossbows.

Path 1 is themed around increasing the Dart Monkey's pierce. It starts with increased pierce to darts, then conversion into a Spike-O-Pult which then upgrades into a Juggernaut that can pop Lead Bloons and finally the Ultra-Juggernaut for immense grouped Bloon destruction.

Path 2 is about speed and projectile count. The first two upgrades are pure attack speed increases, something not yet given to the Dart Monkey in the Bloons TD series before. The third upgrade is Triple Shot, allowing it to shoot three darts per shot instead of one. The final two upgrades provide abilities to turn many nearby Dart Monkeys into Super Monkeys for a short time.

Path 3 focuses on more range and damage, with the second upgrade, Enhanced Eyesight, granting camo detection. Most of the upgrades provide extra range to the Dart Monkey, but the Upper Path 3 provides extra damage on top, including semi-random critical hits. The final upgrade, Crossbow Master, gives the Dart Monkey significantly more attack speed, damage, range and pierce. It can also pop any bloon type.

The Dart Monkey is a Primary Monkey.

Target Priorities
The base Dart Monkey uses the standard target priorities: First, Last, Close, Strong. All its attacks are dependent on its given target priority.

Total Cost
Note: these numbers refer to Medium Mode.

Monkey Knowledge
This section displays Monkey Knowledge that has effects on Dart Monkey and its changes when compared to one by default:
 * IncreasedLifespanIcon.png Increased Lifespan: Projectiles shot from Dart Monkey have increased lifespan.
 * x seconds → x seconds.
 * ExtraDartsPopIcon.png Extra Dart Pops: Increase projectile pierce by 1.
 * 2 pierce → 3 pierce.
 * CrossbowReachIcon.png Crossbow Reach: Increases range of the Crossbow and its further upgrades by 3.
 * Crossbow, Sharp Shooter range limit changes from 56 → 59.
 * Crossbow Master range limit changes from 76 → 79.
 * 4And4Icon.png 4 and 4: Dart Monkey's triple shot gets 4 darts every 4th shot.
 * ForceVsForceIcon.png Force vs Force: Juggernaut does +2 damage per shot to MOAB-Class Bloons.
 * Juggernaut: 2 → 4
 * Ultra-Juggernaut: 4 → 6
 * MasterDoubleCrossIcon.png Master Double Cross: Allows for the purchase of two Crossbow Masters on the same map.
 * BonusMonkeyIcon.png Bonus Monkey!: Each game starts with a Free Dart Monkey.
 * ComeOnEverybodyIcon.png Come On Everybody!: Primary towers attack 5% faster if all are below tier 3, and cost 5% less if all are tier 3 or 4.
 * MonkeyEducationIcon.png Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
 * BetterSellDealsIcon.png Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more.
 * Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
 * VeteranMonkeyTrainingIcon.png Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.
 * GlobalAbilityCooldownsIcon.png Global Ability Cooldowns: All Ability cooldowns for all Monkeys reduced by 3%.

Merchandise
So far, Ninja Kiwi has released only one merchandise item related to the Dart Monkey.

Dart Monkey Plush
Link to Campaign

Dart Monkey Plush is a plush toy version of the original BTD6 Dart Monkey. It comes with a plush dart attached to the monkey's right hand. Dart Monkey Plush was available between 25th September 2021 (?) and 15th October 2021. It is around 15 centimeters tall.

According to Ninja Kiwi's October 22nd 2021 blog, a total of 7026 Dart Monkey Plushes have sold throughout the campaign.

Message from the Creator

The original classic - Dart Monkey in its cute and cuddly Plush form! Always ready to help fend off the Bloon invasion, Dart Monkey has its dart (softly) sharpened and ready to go. Whether sitting on your desk, guarding your bookshelf, or keeping watch while you sleep, Dart Monkey will keep the Bloons away, and always with a smile.

This Tier 0 classic Dart Monkey is only available for a limited time and will not be offered again, so pre-order now to avoid missing out on the OG dart master! For more amazing content...Click Here!

Product Information

Designed by Ninja Kiwi, Dart Monkey Plush is made with an Ultra Soft Fleece exterior that feels amazing! The interior is stuffed with fluffy Polypropylene cotton filling to keep its shape for years to come. Each Plush is tagged to show exactly how many were created, making your limited edition plush even more special. Dart Monkey Plush arrives in a reusable drawstring bag and shipped in a compostable mailer to limit environmental impact. Support Ninja Kiwi by pre-ordering today!

Product Details

Dimensions


 * Height: 16cm

Some heights may vary due to hair, or additional accessories.

Materials


 * Polypropylene Cotton
 * Plush Fabric (Ultra Soft Fleece)

Care Instructions

Handwash warm or cool only. Do not machine wash or dry clean.

Trivia

 * In the middle of the Hedge map, there is a Dart Monkey statue that rotates 90 degrees when it is tapped.
 * The fifth tier on path 3 has a similar color scheme to the hero Quincy.
 * The Dart Monkey is the second tower to receive plushies of them, the first being the Super Monkey.
 * The October 8th 2021 NK blog suggests that Makeship, Ninja Kiwi's fundraising partner, will likely allow NK to fundraise other limited-time plushes other than Dart Monkey Plush, given how overwhelmingly well the Dart Monkey Plush sold.