Perma-Spike/Strategies

Strategy
Perma-Spike is an easy tower to simply add to your defense. By nature of its design, it is extremely effective at exit protection, being good against fast bloons with low RBE. In some usage, this generally applies to DDTs and superceramics, and to a degree leaking MOABs. With a highly optimized stockpiling, there can be up to ~277 Perma-Spike piles on the map from a 0/2/5 Perma-Spike, provided a Perma-Spike is simultaneously buffed with Stronger Stimulant, Jungle Drums, and Overclock.

Perma-Spike increases much of its potential via the use of stat boosts, especially those that increase attack speed. Crosspathing to 0-2-5 Perma-Spike, which increases attack speed by an additional +122%, will effectively grant 2.2x more damage stockpiling than a non-crosspathed Perma-Spike. On the other hand, a 2-0-5 Perma-Spike grants only +30 pierce, which effectively only adds 1.6x more damage stockpiling at a slower refresh rate. Thus, it is better off crosspathing the Spike Factory with Path 2 prior to getting Perma-Spike.

In addition to internal upgrade boosts, Perma-Spike benefits greatly with external sources of stat boosts. This makes it a good combo with a 2-x-x Jungle Drums Village and a 3-0-2 Berserker Brew Alchemist or its upgrade Stronger Stimulant Alchemist. Besides simple attack speed bonuses, the extra damage and pierce add significantly greater damage-stockpiling potential to Perma-Spike.

Technically, the most important external buff is the Acidic Mixture Dip. The slow attack speed of Perma-Spike ensures that the Acidic Mixture Dips do not expire immediately, provided that no other towers are in range, thus producing "permanent" lead-popping power, rendering the Path 1 Perma-Spike crosspath useless when Alchemists are enabled. Do note that this does not necessarily allow Perma-Spike to pop Frozen Bloons, and a single frozen bloon can remove the whole spike pile. Another option is to use a Monkey Intelligence Bureau to guarantee lead-popping power for it and all towers nearby, but it is pricier than Acidic Mixture Dip.

Overclock can be used to further boost Perma-Spike to further increase the Spike Factory's power. For the price of approximately 40% of the cost of Perma-Spike, itself, it can substantially increase the attack speed of Perma-Spike, resulting in an incredibly tough spike stockpile. Even with Stronger Stimulant, an Overclocked Perma-Spike with nearby Jungle Drums would still be slow enough not to consume Acidic Mixture Dip faster than can be re-supplied. The only downside to Overclock is that Permaspike is a Tier 5 upgrade so Overclock only has 66% uptime. However, this combo is still often a good strategy to beating most single-path Expert maps on C.H.I.M.P.S. such as Dark Castle and Workshop.

Other methods of optimizing Perma-Spike include stalling out the rounds so that it can produce many more spikes per round in preparation for future rounds. With enough stall from the below mentioned towers, it is possible for spikes to continuously regenerate with the use of Overclock, making it possible to go headfirst even against dense RBE rounds such as 94, 96 and 98, which is usually vital for a successful Workshop C.H.I.M.P.S. run. Although, in the end, Perma-Spike still can have limited popping power, so do consider your other tower choices carefully.

Optimal Perma-Spike spots are important to consider prior to placing Perma-Spike. Important aspects to consider include whether Perma-Spike is far enough from the map to provide maximum stockpiling potential, whether the spikes avoid any potential to accidentally become consumed by incoming entrance bloons, whether sufficient exit-stopping coverage is achieved, and, in the case of multiple paths, whether all paths are covered by the spikes. All of these aspects determine how "good" of a placement a Perma-Spike is. In C.H.I.M.P.S. Mode, it is impossible to resell to re-position the Perma-Spike placement, so be sure to plan placements prior to placement.

Round Stallers

 * Maim MOAB set to Last and targeting on ZOMGs will ensure that they will be stunned so that none of the towers except a single Maim MOAB can attack the ZOMG, thereby giving Perma-Spike more time to stockpile extra spikes.
 * 0-1-2 Ice Monkeys stalling Super Ceramics are another viable method of stalling out rounds.
 * Downdraft is able to blow back super ceramics to the Ice Monkeys.
 * Always keep in mind to avoid infinite range towers with Frozen popping power such as Snipers.
 * These Ice Monkeys can allow multiple Super Ceramics to be stalled in place, giving it an easier time for Downdraft to deal with stalling Super Ceramics.
 * Try to place them far from the Perma-Spike, so as not to disrupt its spike piles.
 * Note that these Ice Monkeys should stay clear of the Perma-Spike, unless Monkey Intelligence Bureau is purchased nearby it, and know that Acidic Mixture Dip does not necessarily grant popping of Frozen Bloons.
 * Downdraft is useful for blowing back Super Ceramics, giving the Perma-Spike with more time to regenerate its spike piles.
 * While MOAB Shove may be the weakest stall because it can be difficult to control, a successful stall can become very powerful. Its advantages come from its ability to be moved and also slower killing of blimps. It may be good to note that if the MOAB Shove is targeting Frozen Bloons from the aforementioned Ice Tower it can create a very long stall.

Support Towers

 * Unstable Concoction removes a large portion of a round's RBE. With Perma-Spike, it does not need to worry about letting loose a line of superceramics as Perma-Spike is able to deal with it. Just ensure that there are enough spikes for Perma-Spike to tank; otherwise it will struggle against the hordes of incoming bloons.
 * Shattering Shells also removes a large portion of a round's RBE, helping it deal with dense rounds such as 94, 96 and 98. Try to aim it slightly further from the entrance so whatever bloon you are stalling remains fortified and at full health.
 * MOAB Press is generally a good addition to any defense, and the same applies to Perma-Spike. It helps by generally dealing lots of blimp damage, setting off Unstable Concoctions and helping with stalling the round.
 * Ezili deserves a mention as MOAB Hex can remove a ton of RBE from any hyperdense round, and her blimp damage is also the most impressive of any hero.
 * Captain Churchill has the most DPS out of any hero and does a lot of general damage. Due to the importance of his positioning he may let through some leaks which Perma-Spike will easily deal with.
 * On multipath maps, you may have to make use of Support Chinook to carefully move the Perma-Spike around. In addition this upgrade comes with Downdraft which is useful for stalling out the rounds.

Optimal Permaspike Placements

 * Note: The following sections is currently updated to acknowledge information correct as of Version 19.0. This strategy section may be out of date.

(Construction: Will add optimal Spike Factory spots later with a gallery dedicated for Spike Factory spots. Will in addition discuss best use of Permaspike, including best upgrade combinations, best towers to pair nearby, and other good tips with Permaspike.)

Beginner
For all Beginner Maps, since all of them are single-entry-single-exit maps, Permaspike is useful on all Beginner Maps. As such Support Chinook is not required for any of these maps. No special target priority adjustments are required for Permaspike as long as it is placed as close towards the most appropriate exit as possible, although it should be noted that Permaspike spikes should not cross over any entry points, such is the case for maps such as Four Circles or Winter Park.

This gallery below shows the optimal placements of a 2-0-0 Village plus a 4-0-2 Alchemist and a 0-2-5 Permaspike.

Intermediate
For most Intermediate Maps, Permaspike is useful. Some maps are single-entry-single-exit, but there are some which have multiple entries and/or multiple exits. Adjustments to target priorities may need to be made to optimize Permaspike.

There is one map where Permaspike is not at all practically viable: Bazaar. This is due to requiring a Support Chinook to transport it from one exit point to another, as well as the fact that there are many Line of Sight issues that make it harder to stall with Maim MOAB.

This gallery below shows the optimal placements of a 2-0-0 Village plus a 4-0-2 Alchemist and a 0-2-5 Permaspike.

Advanced
For only a select number of Advanced Maps, Permaspike is useful. Most maps consist of multiple exits or entries. As such, many of these maps may need a Support Chinook in order to become viable. Just like on Intermediate Maps, many maps may require adjustments to the target priorities for the Permaspike to accommodate for the added complexity of each map.

Some maps, however, are far more suitable for other forms of defense other than Permaspike, due to their structure. For instance, Spillway's circular center is a huge advantage point for The Biggest One, while the multiple split paths are a major weakness for the Permaspike.

For some Advanced Maps, Permaspike is still considered a viable option despite requiring Chinook on certain maps. For instance, Geared is still a valid optimal choice for utilizing Permaspike on CHIMPS, due to how difficult Geared CHIMPS in general is.

This gallery below shows the optimal placements of a 2-0-0 Village plus a 4-0-2 Alchemist and a 0-2-5 Permaspike.

Gallery coming soon

Expert
Expert Maps are by far the hardest category of maps. Many of these maps have been completed with Permaspike. In most particular, all pre-18.0 documented Bloody Puddles CHIMPS wins were dominated by Permaspike strategies until the release of Admiral Brickell, where Sub Commander army became the far more superior option, due to how much easier it is to utilize Sub Commander army strategies than the former option. Later, Striker Jones and MOAB Mauler strategies came to dominate the map.

Almost all Expert Maps require Support Chinook, with the exceptions of Dark Castle, Infernal, and Workshop.

All Expert Maps are viable with Permaspike, although sometimes it should be noted that sometimes the best powerful tower options for each Expert Map is not Permaspike.

Gallery coming soon