User blog:Qwertyxp2000 the second/Balance change suggestions for 28.0

The wording used for these balance change reasonings are from the perspective as if I was a game developer specializing in balance changes.

Dart Monkey
As more Paragons arrive, Apex Plasma Master's damage output and overall support value may diminish in value by comparison, so its base damage has been increased to gain more super late-game value, as well as make the Crossbow Master's high damage portion make sense within the powerful merge.
 * Apex Plasma Master buff


 * Base Apex Plasma Master's base damage increased (20 --> 50). Scaling damage from the base level remains the same.
 * Base Apex Plasma Master's Ceramic damage increased (+30 --> +80). Scaling damage from the base level remains the same.
 * Base Apex Plasma Master's Boss damage increased (+80 --> +100). Scaling damage from the base level remains the same.

For newer players, who tend to explore core concepts of the game, may find the Crossbow upgrade a bit confusing with its hybridized damage + pierce. For experienced players, they tend to find Crossbow superior over its sisterly upgrade Triple Shot for a number of reasons, and the attack speed crosspath has always been seen as the superior option for Crossbow. We have removed the pierce bonus from T3 Crossbow to address these points, but in compensation a price cut has been made for both Crossbow and Triple Shot to encourage newer players to use the Dart Monkey's middle-tier upgrades.
 * Crossbow vs Sharp Shooter rework


 * Crossbow no longer provides +1 pierce. Does not apply to Sharp Shooter.
 * 0-0-3: 3 --> 2
 * 1-0-3: 4 --> 3
 * 2-0-3: 6 --> 5
 * Crossbow costs less ($625 --> $480 $540)
 * Triple Shot costs less ($400 --> $360)
 * Sharp Shooter description changed: "Sharp Shooter attacks faster and does powerful Crit shots every few shots that do a lot more damage." to "Sharp Shooter attacks faster, pierces an extra bloon, and does powerful Crit shots every few shots that do a lot more damage."

Boomerang Monkey
As the shredding rework greatly harms the 5-2-0 crosspath and only made the 5-0-2 crosspath become too dominant, main glaive attacks now deal extra damage to bloons affected by the on-hit shred effect, in a similar fashion to Dartling's Laser Shock. This will also affect Glaive Dominus as part of this buff.
 * Glaive Lord 5-2-0 buff


 * Glaive Lord's main glaive now deals +15 damage to bloons with the on-hit shred status effect. Also affects Glaive Dominus.

As MOAB Domination's anti-MOAB boomerangs consist of the majority of the MOAB Domination's power, it made no sense for the anti-MOAB boomerangs with Path 1 to only offer extra blast radius and pierce, which only further pushes for the attack speed crosspath offered by Path 2. All of Path 1's previous benefits are now moved into Improved Rangs, and Glaives now offers bonus damage to the explosion. This will also add up with Glaive Dominus's explosion.
 * MOAB Domination 2-0-5 buff
 * 2-0-5 MOAB Domination's explosion now deals more damage (100 --> 250). Also affects Glaive Dominus, dealing +150 damage per explosion.
 * 1-0-5 MOAB Domination now receives 2-0-5 MOAB Domination's old benefits.

Bomb Shooter
While Frag Bombs in its lower tiers does decent, higher tier upgrades do not benefit proportionally enough to gain value from that upgrade besides offering a slight range boost, mainly due to the frags attack being redundant by the time Bomb reaches higher tiers. Bloon Impact's position is decent, but 4-0-2 is rarely seen as a valuable option, given that its black-popping has been stripped off, frags hardly counters that black weakness, and the speed crosspath offers permastunning. An overwhelming crosspathing rework has been done to get Frag Bombs more desirable of a crosspathing option, Path 1 for general damage and pierce, and Path 2 for blimp damage. Frags now will also synergize with buffs, as it makes no sense, especially given its later upgrades accept buffs too.
 * Frag reworks


 * Frag Bombs fragments now accept all buff types from external sources, specifically bonus damage. Damage of fragments from crosspathing is independent from main explosion.
 * Frag Bombs pierce increases by +1 with Bigger Bombs (1 --> 2)
 * Heavy Bombs changes frags damage type of frags from sharp to shatter.
 * Really Big Bombs frags now adds +3 pierce on top (1 --> 5)
 * Bloon Impact frags now adds +1 pierce on top (1 --> 6) and +4 projectiles, for 12 frags per shot
 * Bloon Crush now adds +8 frag projectiles, for 16 frags per shot. Retains +1 pierce (1 --> 7)
 * MOAB Mauler frags now deal +4 damage to MOAB-class and +1 damage to Ceramics
 * MOAB Assassin frags now deal +9 damage to MOAB-class and +4 damage to Ceramics
 * MOAB Mauler frags now deal +25 damage to MOAB-class and +4 damage to Ceramics

While lower-tier Bomb Shooter clearly isn't meant to be very powerful, it is clear that it is outclassed in its roles, with Alchemist working better against Leads and Mortar against grouped bloons, all despite attacking slower than Bomb. The price of the Bomb Shooter and its less effective early upgrades have been decreased a considerable amount, becoming the true cheapest tower at countering early Leads and cost-effective at countering early grouped bloons. Note should be taken that MOAB Mauler itself will still cost very similar to before this change, in fact cheaper overall for its crosspaths.
 * Base Bomb price cuts


 * Bomb Shooter costs less ($600 --> $500)
 * Bigger Bombs costs less ($350 --> $300)
 * Heavy Bombs costs less ($650 --> $600)
 * Extra Range costs less ($200 --> $125)
 * MOAB Mauler costs more ($900 --> $1000)

The Path 1 crosspath has unnecessarily provided too much pierce value for Cluster Bombs and Recursive Cluster, and this has only dramatically increased the use case of the bottom path over the Really Big Bombs upgrade. In addition, Recursive Cluster, while designed to have huge pierce, has too much pierce on Race Event contexts that crosspath consideration hardly matters. With these changes, we aim to make Really Big Bombs counter grouped bloons better while balancing out crosspathing balance for Cluster Bombs and Recursive Cluster.
 * Pierce adjustments between Path 3 and Path 1


 * Really Big Bombs pierce increased (50 --> 60). Also affects Bloon Impact and Bloon Crush.
 * Cluster Bombs secondary cluster base pierce increased (10 --> 15). Also affects Recursive Cluster recursive secondary cluster pierce.
 * 1-0-3 Cluster Bombs secondary cluster pierce manually increased (16 --> 20). Also affects Recursive Cluster recursive secondary cluster pierce.
 * 2-0-3 Cluster Bombs secondary cluster pierce manually decreased (26 --> 24). Also affects Recursive Cluster recursive secondary cluster pierce.
 * 1-0-4 Recursive Cluster recursive tertiary cluster pierce manually decreased (96 --> 80; +36 --> +20). Pierce bonus for Bomb Blitz unaffected.
 * 2-0-4 Recursive Cluster recursive tertiary cluster pierce manually decreased (120 --> 90; +60 --> +30). Pierce bonus for Bomb Blitz unaffected.
 * Bomb Blitz recursive tertiary cluster base pierce increased (60 --> 120)
 * 1-0-5 Bomb Blitz recursive tertiary cluster pierce manually increased (96 --> 156)
 * 2-0-5 Bomb Blitz recursive tertiary cluster pierce manually increased (120 --> 180)

Tack Shooter
It is clear that Tack prefers attack speed over range in most cases, and performs too poorly without sufficient attack speed. Shifting over a considerable attack speed into the base Tack Shooter in exchange for a minor range nerf without Path 2 should make it more important to consider range upgrades, at a minimal cost of its viability in normal games. This in effect should both balance off the dominant Path 1 crosspathing while also making the range upgrade more of a noticeable benefit. In addition, price for the Long Range Tacks upgrade has been decreased, as it currently holds next-to-no real value compared to other range upgrade options from other towers.
 * Tack range versus attack speed rework


 * Tack Shooter attack speed increased (1.4s --> 1.05s)
 * Faster Shooting attack speed bonus decreased (+33% --> +25%)
 * Faster Shooting base attack speed overall increased (1.05s --> 0.84s)
 * Even Faster Shooting attack speed bonus decreased (+66% --> +50%)
 * Even Faster Shooting base attack speed overall increased (0.63s --> 0.56s)
 * Tack Shooter base range decreased (23 --> 20)
 * Long Range Tacks range bonus increased (+4 --> +8)
 * Overall range boost decreased (27 --> 28)
 * Super Range Tacks range bonus increased (+4 --> +8)
 * Overall range boost increased (33 --> 36)
 * Long Range Tacks costs less ($100 --> $75)
 * Ring of Fire attack speed increased (0.54s --> 0.40s). Does not affect Inferno Ring.

Inferno Ring is in an uncomfortable spot where its fast grouped damage during the late-game doesn't quite compare enough compared to other Tier 5's, specifically compared to multi-projectile towers due to their high synergy with Alch buffs, and in addition its single-target damage feels somewhat lacklustre and simply makes little sense because the core of a Tack Shooter is designed to primarily be based on shooting multiple projectiles. To address these issues, its meteor attacks now fire 8 per shot instead of 1 with an overall buff against both grouped targets and single-targets, and its meteors now are affected by crosspathing to add more crosspathing value. And lastly, since it always felt quite lacking of a Tier 5 overall compared to other Tier 5 Tacks, Inferno Ring now gains built-in camo detection, giving it more uniqueness as an expensive but powerful Tier 5.
 * Inferno Ring reworks


 * Instead of 1 single homing meteor, Inferno Ring now fires 8 homing meteors
 * Meteor on-hit damage decreased (700 --> 250)
 * Meteor on-hit no longer is affected by pierce buffs (currently, adding pierce buffs increases the number of on-hits before exploding)
 * Inferno Ring now fully detects Camo Bloons.
 * Inferno Ring with Path 2 now adds +10 pierce for Inferno Ring meteor explosions
 * Inferno Ring with Path 3 now adds +2 meteors for Inferno Ring's meteor spray attack
 * Inferno Ring cost increased ($45,500 --> $48,000)

As Maelstorm currently sees no benefit with crosspaths, given its ability provides it the most power, crosspathing interactions have been added to Maelstrom to add more reason to choose specific crosspaths for different needs. Pierce has been adjusted accordingly to level up with these drastic changes.
 * Maelstrom crosspathing buffs
 * 1-4-0 Blade Maelstrom ability attack speed manually increased (0.03333s --> 0.025s, 30/s --> 40/s)
 * 2-4-0 Blade Maelstrom ability attack speed manually increased (0.03333s --> 0.02s, 30/s --> 50/s)
 * 0-4-1 Blade Maelstrom ability now adds +1 projectiles for the ability (2 --> 3)
 * 0-4-2 Blade Maelstrom ability now adds +2 projectiles for the ability (2 --> 4)
 * 0-5-1 Super Maelstrom ability now adds +1 projectiles for the ability (4 --> 5)
 * 0-5-2 Super Maelstrom ability now adds +2 projectiles for the ability (5 --> 6)
 * Blade Maelstrom ability pierce decreased (200 --> 100)
 * Super Maelstrom ability pierce decreased (500 --> 300)

Ice Monkey
The lower-tier Ice Monkey packs a bit too much stalling value for its low cost, especially with the 0-1-2 crosspath. While keeping its stalling power, the price of the base Ice Monkey has been increased, and less effective aspects of this tower have been increased in power overall to give those aspects of the tower with more value.
 * Lower-tier Ice value


 * Ice Monkey costs more ($500 --> $600)
 * Ice Monkey base range increased (20 --> 23). Does not affect Snowstorm and above.
 * Deep Freeze pierce increased (40 --> 60). Also affects subsequent upgrades.
 * Metal Freeze costs less ($300 --> $250)

Glue Gunner
Glue Soak currently does not synergize well at all with MOAB Glue, as the point of MOAB Glue is to affect MOAB-class bloons. For the time-being, MOAB Glue will be reworked as a cheaper but less effective blimp slowdown option with Corrosive Glue retaining the old blimp slowdown, equalizing both crosspaths and letting them both to be usable in conjunction. Relentless Glue will retain old stats but improve its blimp slowdown with Corrosive Glue, bringing back more value at T4.


 * MOAB Glue + Path 1 reworks
 * MOAB Glue base slowdown versus blimps decreased without Corrosive Glue (-37.5% --> -25%). Does not affect Relentless Glue.
 * MOAB Glue costs less ($3400 --> $2875)
 * 2-0-4 Relentless Glue slowdown increased (-37.5% --> -50%)
 * Relentless Glue costs less ($3000 --> $2600).
 * MOAB Glue and above with Corrosive Glue is now always +1 glue level above its non-corrosive counterparts instead of awkwardly misleveled at Level 2.

Monkey Sub
Submerge and Support currently packs too much decamo value for such a low price, outweighing the value of other anti-camo options far too much. Reworking the decamo attack entirely, the decamo pulse rates have been drastically increased at the cost of much less overall pierce, and Lead + DDT decamo now requires the Heat-Tipped crosspath (or other lead-popping source) so that Path 2 can be considered better. The reduced decamo pierce will also occur for T4 Bloontonium Reactor but should not affect it much outside of Race Events. Energizer will remain the same and not be nerfed by any of these changes.
 * Submerge and Support reworks
 * Submerge and Support decamo attacks faster (1.5s --> 0.3s 0.9s).
 * No changes to the decamo animation, and will remain the same speed even before the changes.
 * Submerge and Support decamo pierce decreased (infinite --> 10 5  10 20)
 * Submerge and Support decamo pierce now increases by +10 +5 +10 with each Path 2 crosspath, but no longer infinite.
 * Bloontonium Reactor decamo pierce now follows base pierce and its crosspathing, for 50 by default, 70 with 4-1-0, and 100 with 4-2-0. Does not affect Energizer.
 * Submerge Support decamo can no longer decamo Camo Leads or invisible DDTs without the 3-2-0 crosspath or lead-popping. Does not affect Reactor.

Ballistic Missile is decent but depends a little too much from crosspathing, and given that 2-3-0 tends to underperform compared to Bottom Path Subs or 0-3-2, especially due to the 2-3-0's low synergy potential and its potential to over-target the same targets. Ballistic Missile has overall received a small price cut, attack speed bonuses further lowered with crosspathing but an overall attack speed buff, at the cost of a slightly lower pierce for the Ballistic attack. On the other hand, First Strike's ballistic missile attack is buffed to add value to choosing specific Subs to upgrade, as its ability is completely independent from range.
 * Ballistic reworks


 * Ballistic Missile base attack speed increased for ballistic missiles (1.105s --> 0.98s). Also passes on to Pre-Emptive.
 * 0-3-1 Ballistic Missile attack speed bonus decreased (0.875x --> 0.90x). Also passes on to Pre-Emptive.
 * 0-3-1 Ballistic Missile attack speed increased overall to 0.882s. Also passes on to Pre-Emptive.
 * 0-3-2 Ballistic Missile attack speed bonus decreased (0.90x --> 0.925x). Also passes on to Pre-Emptive.
 * 0-3-2 Ballistic Missile attack speed increased overall to 0.8125s. Also passes on to Pre-Emptive.
 * Cost of Ballistic Missile decreased ($1400 --> $1250)
 * T3 Ballistic Missile pierce decreased (100 --> 80). Does not affect First Strike or above.
 * First Strike's ballistic missile deals more damage (1 --> 5) and Ceramic+ damage (6 --> 10)
 * Pre-Emptive Strike's ballistic missile deals more damage (1 --> 5) and Ceramic+ damage (11 --> 25)
 * First Strike base range increased (50 --> 60). Also affects Pre-Emptive Strike.

Heli Pilot
Removing a chunk of pierce off the Marine made it worse for Special Poperations against dense rounds, so this pierce nerf back in 26.0 was reverted for the Path 1 crosspath in order to compete versus the dominant 0-5-2 crosspath, as Path 1 crosspath offers only Pursuit as a worthwhile option.
 * Marine Quad Darts buff
 * 1-5-0 Special Poperations now increases pierce for Marine (20 --> 30)

The high pierce and damage potential of the mini-Comanches feels decent, but its parent offers nothing worthwhile in return except a basic MOAB Shove. To reinforce value of the main helicopter, it will offer a stronger Shove to allow better manual (or automatic) control of the main helicopter. This will also flow into the Comanche Commander upgrade.
 * Comanche parent buff
 * Comanche Defense main helicopter now offers +50% Shove knockback than normal. Also affects Comanche Commander.

Mortar Monkey
Further crosspathing benefits for Burny Stuff to bring balance to the more underused Burny crosspaths. In addition, Heavy Shells now also deals extra burn damage and extra Ceramic+ burn damage to add more reason to go for 0-3-2, as Heavy Shells already can affect Black Bloons.
 * Burny Stuff crosspath buffs


 * Adding Bloon Buster to Burny Stuff now reduces tick cooldown by 0.5s for all
 * 2+-0-2, 2-0-3, and 2-0-4: 1.5s --> 1.0s, for a total of 3 ticks instead of 2.
 * 2-0-5: 1.0s --> 0.5s, for a total of 6 ticks instead of 3.
 * Heavy Shells now deals +1 damage to burning targets
 * Pop and Awe now deals +5 damage to burning targets
 * 0-3-2 Heavy Shells burn tick damage to Ceramic+ increased (1 --> 4)
 * 0-5-2 Pop and Awe burn tick damage to Ceramic+ increased (1 --> 30)
 * 0-5-2 Pop and Awe ability now applies a burn damage-over-time to all bloons on screen for every stun cycle with a burn equivalent to 30 damage per 1.5s for 3.0s

Dartling Gunner
Dartling Gunner's Tier 3+ upgrades feel far too dependent on the Path 2 crosspath to maximize potential, especially because Dartling Gunner attacks quite fast already for most of its upgrades. Plasma Accelerator's high pierce rather nicely balances off Dartling's otherwise low pierce on its other paths, but the Path 3 crosspath offers so little of a pierce increase that the Path 3 crosspath rarely matters. On the other hand, Laser Cannon and Buckshot have underperformed, especially considering their low pierce, and in particular Buckshot because its slow shots and high damage in combination waste shots on weak offspring too often. All of these changes are done to balance Tier 3+ crosspaths without Path 2.
 * Crosspathing cleanup for Tier 3+


 * Laser Cannon base attack speed increased (0.20s --> 0.125s)
 * Plasma Accelerator base attack speed increased (0.20s --> 0.125s). Also applies to Ray of Doom.
 * Buckshot base attack speed increased (1.8s --> 1.5s)
 * Attack speed bonus for Tier 3+ except Hydra Rocket Pods has been decreased (+50% --> +25%, or 0.66x --> 0.80x). Attack speed bonus remains unchanged for Tiers 0-2.
 * Overall, this is an increase for 3-2-0 Laser Cannon and above (0.133s --> 0.10s)
 * Attack speed for 0-2-3 remains the same.
 * Plasma Accelerator pierce without Powerful Darts reduced (50 --> 25). Plasma Accelerator with Powerful Darts remains the same pierce of 75.
 * Buckshot pierce increased (4 --> 6). Also affects BEZ (6 --> 8).

Wizard Monkey
Arcane Blast currently does not synergize well as a crosspath other than purchasing Arcane Mastery or above, and given that lower paths are quite dominant crosspaths in comparison, bottom path for fire Wizards and middle path for dark Wizards, it meant that Arcane Blast could do with some crosspathing buffs. Now, Arcane Blast will provide buffs to all alternate attacks in various ways.
 * Arcane Blast buff with alternate magic
 * Arcane Blast now adds crosspathing benefits for all alternate attacks.
 * 2-1-0 Arcane Blast now adds +1 damage for the Fireball attack
 * 2-2-0 Arcane Blast now adds +1.0s lifespan for Wall of Fire attack
 * 2-3-0 Arcane Blast now adds extra projectile speed (~300 --> ~400) and extra projectile size (~3 --> ~4) for the Dragon's Breath attack.
 * 2-4-0 Arcane Blast now adds +1 damage for the Phoenix's flame attack
 * 2-5-0 Arcane Blast now adds +5 damage for the Lava Phoenix's flame attack and +10 damage for the Lava Phoenix's meteor attacks.
 * 2-0-4 Arcane Blast now increases pierce of all undead bloons by +2, for a base of between 4-13 pierce instead of 2-11 pierce. Pierce bonus also affects Prince of Darkness.
 * Descirpiton changed from "Bigger, more powerful magic blasts pop through 2 layers of Bloon." to "Improves all magic, and produces bigger, more powerful magic blasts that pop through 2 layers of Bloon."

Use case for Wall of Fire versus Dragon's Breath is unbalanced due to the cost-efficiency of Wall of Fire's grouped damage power. Throughout history, the awkward nature of Wall of Fire means it is hard to balance out fairly, as its high bloon-popping rate and downtime do not quite scale well. To add balance to Wall of Fire, its price has been increased but its uptime is also increased to 100% uptime as a reward for players that use Wall of Fire correctly. A further buff to Dragon's Breath's Wall of Fire attack has been given too to make up for its own overall price increase and give it more mid-game value.
 * Wall of Fire vs Dragon's Breath rework
 * Wall of Fire cost increased ($900 --> $1200)
 * Wall of Fire duration increased (4.5s --> 5.5s, for 100% uptime instead of 81% uptime). Attack cooldown remains 5.5s.
 * Dragon's Breath's Wall of Fire uptime increased (4.5s --> 8.0s, for ~178% uptime instead of 100% uptime). Attack cooldown remains 4.5s.

To add more flight control over the Phoenix, as an assistance to optimizing the Phoenix's popping power, a secondary target priority is given to all Wizards with a Phoenix, which adjusts flight patterns in the similar way to what a Centered Path Ace does. This also applies to the Lava Phoenix transformation. Main target priority remains unchanged, letting its flames target based on its position.
 * Phoenix flight targeting addition


 * All Wizard Monkeys with Summon Phoenix or Wizard Lord Phoenix will now have a secondary target priority that controls flight patterns for the Phoenix, including Lava Phoenix (WLP only). Defaults on Centered Path with the same flight path size.
 * Centered Path: Uses the default flight setting.
 * Circle: Flies in an Ace-like Circle path
 * Figure-Infinite: Flies in an Ace-like Figure-Infinite path
 * Figure-Eight: Flies in an Ace-like Figure-Eight path

Super Monkey
Laser Blasts was never a useful upgrade on its own, merely only a stepping stone to Plasma Blasts without much worthwhile benefits on its own tier, especially after various buffs to other Super upgrades. A small portion of the attack speed bonus has been shifted over from Plasma Blasts into Laser Blasts in order to give the Laser Blasts upgrade some more value.
 * Laser Blasts attack speed switch
 * Laser Blasts now gains +25% attack speed (0.80x attack cooldown)
 * Plasma Blasts attack speed bonus reduced (0.50x --> 0.625x)
 * Overall attack speed with Plasma Blasts remains the same.

As the top path crosspathing felt "necessary" of an upgrade for Dark Champion, there was no point going for middle path crosspathing due to how it currently works. The pierce-and-range hybrid is now increased hugely for Dark Champion, which should add more practical use against hyperdense rounds and compete against the dominant 2-0-4 crosspath.
 * Dark Champion pierce buff balance
 * Dark Champion with Path 2 upgrades now provide more pierce (+1 --> +7). Also affects Legend of the Night.
 * 0-1-4: 8 --> 14
 * 0-2-4: 9 --> 21

Ninja Monkey
Similar to Glue Soak with MOAB Glue, Distraction currently does not synergize well with Flash Bomb, which may bring confusion among newer players attempting to explore crosspathing synergies. In addition, Distraction's effects have gained increased chance at higher tiers, given the dominance of Path 1 and 3 crosspathing and little value of higher tier Path 2 besides the abilities.


 * Distraction buffs, Flash Bomb + Distraction interaction
 * Ninja's Caltrop and Flash Bomb attacks now inflict Distraction status effect onto non-blimp bloons when crosspathed with Distraction. Does not affect the Sticky Bomb or Master Sticky Bomb attacks.
 * Bloon Sabotage's Distraction effect percentage chance increased (15% --> 25%)
 * Grand Saboteur's Distraction effect percentage chance increased (15% --> 100%)
 * 5-1-0 Grandmaster Ninja's and 0-1-5 Master Bomber's Distraction effect percentage chance increased (15% --> 25%)

Alchemist
As the Unstable Concoction explosions no longer scale by percentage health of the blimp anymore, it does not fare well with the freeplay scaling in the earlier late-game. So the damage of each explosion has been scaled higher per blimp at a more constant rate, which should balance it out better in both normal scenarios and high-HP blimp scenarios while keeping its valuable supportive damage role.
 * Unstable Concoction buff
 * Concoction explosion damage increased from base blimp health (10% --> 20%) and now gains extra damage per round beyond Round 80.
 * MOABs: 20 --> 40 + 1 * (round - 80, round > 80)
 * BFBs: 70 --> 140 + 5 * (round - 80, round > 80)
 * ZOMGs: 400 --> 800 + 20 * (round - 80, round > 80)
 * DDTs: 40 --> 80 + 1 * (round - 80, round > 80)
 * BADs: 2000 --> 4000 + 100 * (round - 80, round > 80)

Druid
To add more strategy to Druid of the Jungle's vine, Druid vines will now target based on target priority rather than locked on Strong. And since Druid vines currently feel lacklustre on anything except Ceramics, the formula for vine duration has been reworked to work better against non-heavy bloons, plus a small base attack speed increase to reduce time wasted on weaker bloons. This change will also allow these Druids to work better when paired with attack speed bonuses such as Poplust.
 * Druid of the Jungle rework


 * Druid of the Jungle's vine now uses set targeting rather than locked on Strong.
 * Druid of the Jungle's vine base attack cooldown reduced (1.4s --> 1.0s)
 * Druid of the Jungle formula has been reworked:
 * Instead of (√rbe + 2 * (isLead == true) + 1)/4), it is now (√rbe + 1)/6 + 0.75 * (isLeadorCeramic == true))
 * (sqrt(23) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(23)+1)/4 = +0.26701404s for a normal Lead
 * (sqrt(26) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(26)+1)/4 = +0.241748374s for a normal Fortified Lead
 * (sqrt(47) + 1)/6) - (sqrt(47)+1)/4 = -0.654637883s for a normal Rainbow (~1.95s --> ~1.30s)
 * (sqrt(104) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(104)+1)/4 = -0.183169919s for a normal Ceramic (... --> 2.62s)
 * (sqrt(114) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(114)+1)/4 = -0.223089854s for a normal Fortified Ceramic (... --> 2.70s)
 * (sqrt(68) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(68)+1)/4 = -0.0205176043s for a Super Ceramic (2.31s --> 2.29s)
 * (sqrt(128) + 1)/6 + 0.75) - (sqrt(128)+1)/4 = -0.2761423749s for a Fortified Super Ceramic (3.08s --> 2.80s)

Heart of Thunder currently appears awkward in how it favors the back targets more often than the front, which leads to it awkwardly missing targets. The algorithm has been reworked to address these problems.
 * Lightning algorithm rework
 * Heart of Thunder's lightning bolt now adjusts targeting based on the given target priority:
 * First: Now targets the targets closest to any exit, detected within a 50 radius from each jump, relative to the origin of the lightning bolt, rather than straying towards the last bloon on screen
 * Last: Uses the current algorithm of straying towards the last bloon on screen.
 * Close: Now targets the closest targets relative to the origin of the lightning bolt, detected within a 50 radius from each jump, rather than straying towards the last bloon on screen
 * Strong: Now targets the strongest targets, detected within a 50 radius from each jump, relative to the origin of the lightning bolt, rather than straying towards the last bloon on screen
 * Not an expert at algorithming and looking at O Notation, but should be doable, I think?

Analyzing Druids as a whole, attention to the Ball Lightning shows that it could do with a damage buff. While decent overall, it starts to fall behind in late-game gameplay a bit more than is desired due to MOAB-class bloons. These buffs should help give them a little more value in higher-round gameplay while keeping them overall stable in mid-game gameplay.
 * Ball Lightning buffs


 * Ball Lighting's ball's lightning deals more MOAB-class damage (2 --> 4)
 * Ball Lightning's thorns and lightning deal more damage (1 --> 2)

Jungle's Bounty's income production currently feels dominant due to its short cooldown and potential to synergize with other income sources. Instead of nerfing its income further, we've increased the speed of the vine's destruction rate and greatly decreased its base cooldown, which will together will make it much harder to infinitely stall rounds.
 * Jungle's Bounty multiple vines buff
 * Jungle's Bounty's vine attack speed increased (1.4s --> 0.6s). Does not affect rate of destroying bloons.
 * Jungle's Bounty's vine now destroys bloons 5x faster. Also affects Spirit of the Forest.
 * Affects Round 39 infinite stall strategies, as the 2 Regrow Rainbows would be much easier to become "accidentally" popped.

Banana Farm
For a long time it has not made any sense for a convenience-oriented income producer to be directly more cost-efficient than an income producer aimed at creating maximum income. As such, Marketplace has been reworked to produce less money overall but cost less at the same time, which should add more value as a way to place many Marketplaces as quick and easy income generation. At the same time, Banana Plantation has been given a few more bananas per round to make up for its low middle-ground value compared to other options, especially given the sheer power of Banks and to give more meaning to picking up valuables from Plantations.
 * Marketplace and Plantation income rework


 * Banana Plantation produces more bananas (16 --> 18)
 * 3-0-0 Plantation efficiency = 14.8611111 instead of 16.71875
 * 3-2-0 Plantation efficiency = 14.3333333 instead of 16.125
 * Marketplace now produces 8x $30 bananas instead of 16x $20 bananas, for $240 per round instead of $320. Additionally, Path 1 crosspaths now add +1 banana instead of +2 bananas. Does not affect Central Market.
 * Marketplace cost decreased ($2900 --> $2400)
 * Overall, cost-efficiency of 0-0-3 Marketplace is 17.0833333 instead of 14.375
 * Overall, cost-efficiency of 2-0-3 and 0-2-3 Marketplace is 17.333333 instead of 14.25

Idea taken from a user on r/btd6
 * Banana Salvage sellback idea

Banana Salvage does effectively nothing in terms of value for higher-tier Farms, especially when other paths offer pure income options. In order to add strategical value to choosing Path 3 over any other path for higher-level Farms, as well as add more value to the underused Path 3 pathway, Banana Salvage now offers more sellback for the Farm.


 * Banana Salvage now increases sellback of the Farm by +10%, for a minimum of +80% sellback. Up to +95% sellback capped.
 * Description changed: "Uncollected Bananas auto-collect for half the amount, and Banks autocollect when full." to "Uncollected Bananas auto-collect for half the amount, the Farm will refund +10% more if sold, and Banks autocollect when full."

It made little strategical sense for Banana Salvage to not collect the Bank's income as soon as the Bank becomes full, especially because Path 1 offers extra income at the expense of a lack of UI ease. In order to encourage that underused Path 3 crosspath while still keeping that path balanced, the Banana Salvage Bank's stored income will immediately be autocollected the moment it comes full
 * Banana Salvage + Banks
 * As soon as a Banana Salvage Bank becomes full, its stored income will be immediately autocollected the moment it is detected to be full
 * EZ Collect now will allow Banks to create a sound effect (perhaps use the Bounty Card SFX from BTDB Mobile or a generic bakery "ding" SFX) once full.

Just like Banana Salvage, EZ Collect remains underused due to pure income options just feeling more worth overall, especially for higher-level Farms. As a way to make EZ Collect easier to collect cash, EZ Collect will automatically collect bananas without even needing to summon the bananas towards the pointer.
 * EZ Collect easier collection idea


 * Bananas within range of the collection radius now immediately collect without needing to transport towards the center of the pointer.
 * Description changed: "The collect radius of Bananas is larger. For Monkey Banks, glows when bank is full and ready to collect." to "Banana collection radius is increased, and bananas immediately collect once nearby collection radius. For Monkey Banks, glows when bank is full and ready to collect."

Monkey Wall Street packs a punch at creating huge income compared to its footprint, but it currently doesn't seem powerful enough as a separate Tier 5, given that a Banana Central already fits that role and has a buffing option too. We've made Monkey Wall Street a lot more of a solo income-generating powerhouse to boost its solo power further, letting it stand out as a solo option at max income per round.
 * Monkey Wall Street income buff


 * Monkey Wall Street banana value increased ($70 --> $150)
 * Monkey Wall Street end-of-round cash value increased ($4000 --> $5000)
 * Monkey Wall Street cost increased ($60,000 --> $75,000)
 * Overall, 0-0-5 has 12.8648649 efficiency compared to 15.7617188.
 * Overall, 2-0-5 and 0-2-5 has 12.0375 efficiency compared to 15.1481481

Spike Factory
Removing the speed-stacking benefits from the Spike Storm has caused more trouble than good in regards to crosspath balance, stripping much of the 042 Spike Storm's former power and entirely removing that unique advantage over the more popular 240 that strongly depended on start-of-round timing. While keeping true to the balance changes from past update while partially restoring the balance of 042 Spike Storm, activating the 042 Spike Storm ability during the start-of-round bonus will now give the ability with 4x pierce instead. On the same note, Carpet of Spikes was too harshly affected by the past update's nerf by removing synergy with Overclock. Pulling crosspathing balance into account too, the abilities from Carpet of Spikes will now receive more pierce to make up for the lack of Overclock synergies. Super Mines has also received a small price buff to make it a little easier to afford when it's needed in deep freeplay.


 * Spike Storm re-balance
 * 0-4-2 Spike Storm now adds 4x pierce to the ability if ability is activated during the start-of-round benefit
 * Carpet of Spikes main attack and ability now gains +5 pierce (0-5-x: 5 --> 10, 1-5-0: 10 --> 15)


 * Super Mines price buff
 * Super Mines price decreased ($162,500 --> $150,000)

Removing attack speed benefits for the Spike Storm ability has ruined synergies with Jungle Drums and Overclock, especially impacting synergy potential for Carpet of Spikes, so now attack speed bonuses will now lump into pierce for Spike Storm abilities.
 * Lumping attack speed into pierce for Spike Storm


 * Attack speed bonuses now lump into pierce for Spike Storm abilities.
 * For example, 0.85x attack cooldown via Jungle Drums adds +17% attack speed, so the ability gains +17% pierce instead. In terms of spikes, for 1-4-0 at least, 7 of 10 spike piles gain +2 spikes while the other 3 of 10 gain +1 spikes.

MOAB SHREDR is designed specifically to be effective against MOAB-class bloons, but with use case of MOAB SHREDR so low in comparison to Spike Storm and the fact that normal bloons wear out stockpiles too quickly means its potential is overshadowed. Giving the T3+ Spike Factory's main spike attack with a Bloon Bleed versus MOAB-class bloons should make its blimp damage a little more consistent for its cost while sticking to its common anti-blimp theme.
 * MOAB SHREDR with status effect on blimps


 * MOAB SHREDR main attack now inflicts a 20 damage per 2.0s Bloon Bleed versus MOAB-class bloons (or 1 damage per 2.0s for normal bloons) that lasts for 4.1s, for a max total extra of 40 damage, functioning identically to Sauda Level Level 9+. Also affects subsequent upgrades with their non-ability attacks.

Monkey Village
The bottom path Village currently feels too middle-heavy, which made it too difficult of an investment to outcompete the effectiveness of normal Farms, so a small price adjustment from Town has been shifted into the City upgrade to let the Village's income generation start flowing sooner. This is an overall buff to Monkey City's price too.
 * Monkey Town buff
 * Monkey Town costs less ($10,000 --> $9000)
 * Monkey City costs more ($3000 --> $3750)

Engineer Monkey
As the 5-0-2 crosspath felt lacking compared to its more popular 5-2-0 crosspath, the pierce crosspath was changed to benefit greater, as a viable alternative to the straight damage buff provided by 5-2-0.
 * 5-0-2 Sentry Paragon buffs
 * 5-0-1 Sentry Paragon plasma pierce bonus increased (+1 --> +3 +5, for 8 10 pierce total)
 * 5-0-1 Sentry Paragon explosion pierce now gains +50 pierce for 100 pierce per explosion.

Crosspathing with Sentries has always felt rather finicky, and letting Sprocket Sentries only affect the Path 3 crosspath with Pin did not make much sense, so the Sprockets upgrade now lets all crosspaths give full bonus benefits to Sentries.
 * Sprockets crosspathing buff


 * 3-1-0 Sprockets sentries now have more range (+4 --> +20, total 44 --> 60 range). Range benefits pass over to Sentry Expert and above.
 * 3-0-1 Sprockets sentries now have more pierce (+1 --> +5, total 3 --> 7 pierce). Pierce benefits are left at +5 for Sentry Paragon.
 * Description changed: "Increases sentry gun and Engineer attack speed." to "Advanced engineering increases sentry gun and Engineer attack speed, and sentries receive full crosspathing benefits."
 * 4-0-1 Sentry Expert sentries pierce bonus increased (25% --> 50%)
 * Ball Sentry: 28 --> 33
 * Bomb Sentry: 38 --> 45
 * Cold Sentry: 19 --> 23
 * Energy Sentry: 10 --> 12

Ezili
Although primarily a niche hero capable of handling bloon specializations such as Regrow, Camo, and MOAB-class, Ezili's price has been cut a slight amount to make her more usable in the early-game, making her barely the second-cheapest hero behind Quincy but at the same time making up for her less reliable early-game than Sauda who currently costs the same as her.
 * Ezili base price buff


 * Ezili costs less ($600 --> $550)

Sauda
Sauda's overall power feels too lopsided, expressing too much power on easier maps and too little on harder maps. Looking back at her overall performance, her lower-level Sword Charge feels underperforming once freeplay rules hit, given that Super Ceramics possess such high health already that 20 base damage makes too little of a difference. We've re-balanced her Sword Charge to benefit better overall by letting that ability synergize with supports. This should bring her back into balance on those difficult multi-lane maps.


 * Sauda's Sword Charge synergy buffs
 * Sauda's Sword Charge base damage at Level 10-15 increased (20 --> 25)
 * Sauda's Sword Charge starting from Level 10+ now adds +25 damage to stunned targets
 * Level 13+ increases this from +25 to +50
 * Level 17+ increases this from +50 to +75.
 * Sauda's Sword Charge starting from Level 11+ now adds +25 damage to "harmed" (i.e. DoT, slowdown, immobility) targets.
 * Level 13+ increases this from +25 to +50
 * Level 17+ increases this from +50 to +75.
 * Sauda's Sword Charge base damage at Level 16-19 decreased (120 --> 100)
 * Sauda's Sword Charge base damage at Level 20 decreased (220 --> 200)

Psi
Psi's first impressions were pretty satisfactory, with a diverse power curve across their levels, distributed well enough to express Psi's starkly different attack styles. While Psi feels fairly balanced overall, their base cost has been reduced slightly so that Psi can gain some more early-game value.


 * Psi price buff
 * Psi base cost decreased ($800 --> $720)

Others
Regrow Bloons are designed to encourage players to beat bloons quickly to counter regeneration, but they have been both long abused for income and affected game performance too much. To counter this partially, Regrow Bloons now have a regeneration limit.
 * Regrow nerf


 * Regrow Bloons now have a regeneration limit of 50 25 layers instead of infinite.
 * In terms of programming, this may add more object attributes, but this should overall make game performance still not too laggy. Also shouldn't matter too much because I am pretty sure this algorithm uses O(n) or even O(1).
 * Max bloons from a single Regrow is 33554431, but shouldn't be that serious anyways.