Spike Storm (BTD6)

"Spike Storm ability: Shoots out a thick layer of spikes over the entire track."

- In-game description

Spike Storm is the fourth upgrade for Path 2 for the Spike Factory in Bloons TD 6. It grants an ability that produces a total of 200 piles over every lane on screen, evenly shot within the span of 1s. Unlike most attacks, the Spike Storm ability cannot be affected by attack speed buffs, with exception of the start-of-round benefit from Smart Spikes. Just like MOAB SHREDR, the previous upgrade, all spikes from this Spike Factory including those from the ability will deal +4 damage to MOAB-class bloons, inflicting 5 damage to them per spike. Cooldown for this ability is 40 seconds, and each spike pile spawned from the ability last for up to 10 seconds or 2 rounds before disappearing, whichever comes first.

Spike Storm ability has a few special interactions with crosspathing. Bigger Stacks increases the pierce of each spike by +5, and White Hot Spikes allows it to damage Frozen and Lead. Long Reach increases the lifespan of the ability spikes by 50% (from 10 to 15 seconds). Smart Spikes makes the Spike Storm ability only target active lanes and is able to be affected by the start-of-round benefit from that upgrade.

It costs $4,250 on Easy, $5,000 on Medium, $5,400 on Hard, and $6,000 on Impoppable.

Appearance
This upgrade removes the two rectangular protrusions from the side, resulting in an tapering cylindrical shape. It loses its white three-tack decal on its side. The black opening becomes a black-gray swirl, it gains two curved lime-colored openings on its side, and four circular vents are situated at its base.

Tower Prices

 * Updated as of Version 29.4

Summary
Spike Storm is a powerful option for covering spikes across the screen for widespread damage. Due to inheriting the properties of MOAB SHREDR, which allows it to deal increased damage to MOAB-class bloons, its ability is a good option for severely hurting the HP of small groups of weaker MOAB-class. Although most effective at breaking down MOAB-class layers, it still serves a purpose as an emergency stopper against leaking bloons. The Spike Storm ability is less weak versus normal bloons compared to MOAB SHREDR, but it is not a fully reliable option for handling normal bloons.

The main use for Spike Storm is its incredible power at breaking down MOAB-class bloons, most especially on rounds where the main issues are spaced blimps. Both crosspathed Spike Storm options are equally viable versus singular BADs in their own right, with the 2-4-0 being more effective overall but 0-4-2 more reliable in specific scenarios and against just the BAD's tough layer. When paired with Bigger Stacks and White Hot Spikes, the Spike Storm's main strength comes from countering DDT layers and countering the DDT offspring of singular BADs, provided that other defenses handle all other bloon types so that its spikes do not waste on much weaker bloons, as well as for handling singular BADs themselves.

Tips

 * It is usually recommended to go for Path 1 crosspathing, as the extra spikes and Lead-popping power typically outweigh the benefits of increased spike lifespan and early-round speed boost. However, adding Smart Spikes allows the ability to only target active lanes, which is useful on maps like Chutes, Muddy Puddles, and Bloody Puddles, but this special interaction will not work on maps with only simultaneous lanes, such as #Ouch or Cargo. With Workshop, this map should be taken with extra caution when using 0-4-2.
 * Certain maps are very suitable for utilizing 0-4-2 Spike Storm's directed spike storms against MOAB-class bloons. These include, but are not limited to: Chutes, Bazaar, High Finance, Infernal, Bloody Puddles, Muddy Puddles, and Ravine. The directedness of 0-4-2 Spike Storm is also affected by Adora's Temple, but only very insignificantly.
 * 0-4-2 Spike Storm lane targeting has strange interactions with Workshop.
 * In Version 23.0, the 0-4-2 Spike Storm ability went to 90% MOAB chute and 10% bloon path.
 * Starting from Version 24.0, the 0-4-2 Spike Storm ability now targets the entire main conveyor and the blimp chute, but still have a large enough bias towards the chute to still be good.
 * 0-4-2 Spike Storm ability can never target on track extensions, so that can be a detriment in some cases.
 * 2-4-0 Spike Storm is useful for countering DDTs and inflicting large damage against singular BADs.
 * Alchemist buffs without Permanent Brew are ineffective for boosting the Spike Storm ability, as each individual spike dispensed during the ability deducts shot counts, thereby not adding much boost to any of its stats overall due to using up the Alch buffs too quickly. At best, up to 50 spikes out of the 200 spikes will receive the Alch buffs, and even worse with using up Acidic Mixture Dips.
 * The Spike Storm ability is more effective on shorter maps and maps with no multiple entries and/or exits, as the spike storms are densely packed. This makes it a very viable option for maps like #Ouch or Geared.
 * Spike Storm and its ability is weak against Super Ceramics, so use this with caution in the late-game.
 * External damage buffs such as Pat Fusty's Rallying Roar, Gwendolin's Heat It Up (preferably the global buff induced by Firestorm) and Benjamin's Biohack are extremely potent on Spike Storms, as the increase in damage per individual spike will make each spike pile far more powerful.
 * Spike Storm's rate of dispersal of storm spikes is completely unaffected by Time Stop. It will still produce at the same rate and for the same duration.
 * The 0-4-2 is stronger against single-target bloons and one-off rounds, as this start-of-round attack speed boost is only usable at the start of a round. Also, to ensure the start-of-round bonus to the Spike Storm ability is reliable, be sure to turn Auto Start off before the necessary rounds while the ability is at ready.

Sounds
When activating Spike Storm Ability:
 * [Spikes producing]

Trivia

 * Spike Storm cooldown was decreased overall since initial release of BTD6. Instead of 60 seconds in BTD5, it is now 40 seconds.
 * On earlier versions of BTD6, particularly on initial release, Spike Storm with Bigger Stacks or White Hot Spikes only featured a larger spout with a black color instead of red, without the change in the body color.
 * There is a bug with 0-4-2 Spike Storm that causes all Spike Storms to distribute at the beginning of the bloon track on the Workshop map.