Spike Factory (BTDB2)/Strategies/General

TBA
 * This page is a general guide for Spike Factory. For more advanced guides, see Spike Factory (BTDB2)/Strategies/Optimization



The Spike Factory is a spike-producing machine in Bloons TD Battles 2. Spike Factory produces spikes onto nearby track, which build up units of damage over time, and pops camo by default. Spike Factory's various upgrades maximize its stockpiling power. Spike Factory relies on other towers to deal most of the damage, while Spike Factory supports the defense by generating spikes over time. It is purposed mostly for tanking bloons, but it is also viable for inflicting heaps of damage at once.

The aim of this article is a general guide for using the Spike Factory. It summarizes how to effectively use Spike Factory without going into too much intricate detail about meta strategy.

Base Tower



 * Cost: $800
 * Unlock: 250

Base Spike Factory dispenses spike piles at a moderately slow rate. Each spike pile has 5 spikes, equating to 5 pierce. An advantage of the base Spike Factory is its stockpile potential. For a moderate price, it is effective at protecting exits, especially singular exits that are far from the entrance. Be aware that spikes only last for a limited time, lasting for up to 50 seconds before automatically disappearing.

Bigger Stacks



 * Cost: $700
 * Path: 1
 * Tier: 1
 * Unlock: Default

Bigger Stacks increases the number of spikes per pile from 5 to 10, equivalent to 10 pierce. For Perma-Spike, it increases pierce from 50 to 90. After getting this upgrade, the Spike Factory produces stronger spike piles. This allows the Spike Factory to produce a stronger barrier.

White Hot Spikes



 * Cost: $600
 * Path: 1
 * Tier: 2
 * Unlock: Default

White Hot Spikes allows newly produced spikes to pop Frozen and Lead Bloons, allowing them to pop any bloon type. Its main use case is to be paired with Spike Storm as a way to damage DDTs. However, White Hot Spikes can also be added to deal with normal Leads and work better with Ice Monkeys.

Spiked Balls



 * Cost: $2,300
 * Path: 1
 * Tier: 3
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Spiked Balls greatly empowers each spike pile by producing spiked balls instead. These spiked balls have more pierce, deal 2 damage per spike instead of 1, and deal even more damage to Ceramics and Fortified. It is a very strong choice for tanking spaced bloons once a maxed stockpile is obtained.

Spiked Mines



 * Cost: $9,500
 * Path: 1
 * Tier: 4
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Spiked Mines exchanges spiked balls for spiked mines that produce violent explosions once they run out of pierce. As a small bonus, the spikes deal even more Ceramic damage. These explosions deal 10 damage each. It is quite an expensive upgrade, but it is a viable solution to handling large groups of bloons.

Super Mines



 * Cost: $130,000
 * Path: 1
 * Tier: 5
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Super Mines is extremely expensive, produces spiked mines slower, but these mines deal enormous damage upon detonation, and every spike lost automatically produces violent explosions. Unfortunately, due to the immense pricetag and the ineffective damage output for its cost, Super Mines is currently not very practical in a serious match.

Faster Production



 * Cost: $600
 * Path: 2
 * Tier: 1
 * Unlock: Default

Faster Production increases the attack speed of the Spike Factory, thus a faster production rate. This helps produce stockpiles much faster as well as refresh them quicker too.

Even Faster Production



 * Cost: $900
 * Path: 2
 * Tier: 2
 * Unlock: Default

Even Faster Production increases the attack speed of the Spike Factory even more, for an optimally fast production rate. This helps produce stockpiles much faster as well as refresh them quicker too.

MOAB SHREDR



 * Cost: $2,500
 * Path: 2
 * Tier: 3
 * Unlock: TBA XP

MOAB SHREDR causes each newly dispensed spike pile to deal +4 damage to MOAB-class bloons. Unlike other Spike Factory upgrades, it is best placed on an isolated spot away from regular bloons while being close enough to let MOAB-class bloons reach the stockpiles.

Spike Storm



 * Cost: $5,000
 * Path: 2
 * Tier: 4
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Spike Storm adds an ability that sends a wave of 200 spike piles across the entire bloon track. This deals huge damage to MOAB-class in particular, as this upgrade benefits from MOAB SHREDR's bonus MOAB-class damage. However, it also has a high tendency to waste its attack on regular bloons due to most bloons being faster than a MOAB.

Carpet of Spikes



 * Cost: $40,000
 * Path: 2
 * Tier: 5
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Carpet of Spikes regularly produces Spike Storms every 15 seconds. It will regularly maintain spikes throughout the entire bloon track. Although multiple Spike Storms generally do better than a single Carpet of Spikes at dealing high MOAB-class damage, Carpet of Spikes does greater spike damage to slightly offset that to an extent.

Long Reach



 * Cost: $150
 * Path: 3
 * Tier: 1
 * Unlock: Default

Long Reach increases range of the Spike Factory and increases spike lifespan. The spike lifespan is all that truly matters for this specific upgrade, as a properly placed Spike Factory shouldn't need more range anyway.

Smart Spikes



 * Cost: $400
 * Path: 3
 * Tier: 2
 * Unlock: Default

Smart Spikes adds specialized targeting for the Spike Factory and lets it briefly attack 4x faster whenever a round starts. Both benefits are quite small, but altogether they fulfill niches that other Spike Factory upgrades lack.

Long Life Spikes



 * Cost: $1,400
 * Path: 3
 * Tier: 3
 * Unlock: TBA XP

Long Life Spikes greatly increases lifespan of newly placed spike piles. Unfortunately, it is generally less helpful than the other paths due to its high price for what it does, and its short-term benefits are absent unlike the other upgrades. However, a fully stockpiled Long Life Spikes tanks a lot more bloons for less cost.

Deadly Spikes



 * Cost: $3,500
 * Path: 3
 * Tier: 4
 * Unlock: 9,000 XP

Deadly Spikes improves newly placed spike piles by increasing damage to 2 per spike and lasts much longer. It is a very expensive investment to make, and still lacks sufficient pierce to take care of groups of rushes while still having sufficient funds to buy grouped damage or counterrushes.

Perma-Spike



 * Cost: $30,000
 * Path: 3
 * Tier: 5
 * Unlock: 29,500 XP

Perma-Spike greatly increases damage, pierce, and lifespan of all newly placed spike piles. These spike piles deal 10 damage and have 50 pierce (or 90 with Bigger Stacks). The huge cost of Perma-Spike confines it mostly to prepping up spikes during a middle late-game stalemate. Despite the immense stockpile potential, it is not recommended to rely on Perma-Spike to do the most damage; Perma-Spike is designed for tanking bloons, especially MOAB-class and Ceramics, rather than dealing straight damage.

Unlocks
All towers including Spike Factory start off with upgrades up to Tier 2. All upgrades are unlocked with Tower XP of the respective tower's type, and can be unlocked in any order provided that previous tiers on the same path are unlocked first. In order to suit the tower's varied specialties, some upgrades are better unlocked first before others. Below is a brief guide to unlocking Spactory upgrades.

Spactory's first two tiers are designed for tanking early-game bloons and have little-to-no use in the mid-game and late-game. Until accessing either Spiked Balls or MOAB SHREDR, Spactory remains inefficient at countering the mid-game and late-game. Placing near the exit is what should be focused on for earlier tiers. Spiked Balls is more versatile for tanking bloons, particularly against spaced bloons up to MOAB and for partially tanking DDTs. MOAB SHREDR is strong against blimps but weak against regular bloons, and so should be unlocked second. Long Life Spikes offers little benefit due to the longer lifespan mechanic not being efficient in this game, so should be unlocked last.

For Spactory's Tier 4 upgrades, Spike Storm offers the most long-term use by advancing against BADs and chipping a lot of damage against DDTs, as well as simply being viable for widespread damage. Spiked Mines offers high grouped popping power. Deadly Spikes has the least versatile use as of currently, so should be bought last.

Spactory's Tier 5 upgrades don't necessarily have much necessity, unlike certain other towers, since Spactory could still be usable without any Tier 5 upgrades unlocked, but if needed Perma-Spike could have some potential long-term use. Super Mines is often unnecessarily unless in the very late-game and a serious glut of money is obtained, and doesn't necessarily have a lot of popping power unlike other expensive Tier 5 options. Carpet of Spikes is a more powerful Spike Storm, though it generally doesn't have use over multiple Spike Storms except for dealing with non-blimp bloons, and Carpet of Spikes is fairly expensive. That being said, Carpet of Spikes does have a high synergy with attack speed bonuses, like Spike Storm.

Overall, a recommended upgrade order could go something like this:
 * 1) Spiked Balls
 * 2) MOAB SHREDR
 * 3) Spike Storm
 * 4) Spiked Mines
 * 5) Carpet of Spikes
 * 6) Long Life Spikes
 * 7) Deadly Spikes
 * 8) Perma-Spike
 * 9) Super Mines