Monkey Apprentice

"Trained in the ancient arts of monkey wizardry. Learns new magic spells with every upgrade. This unit is flexible and will continue randomly using his old spells with his new ones."

- Bloons TD 4 Description

"Trained in the arts of monkey magic, the Monkey Apprentice weaves magical bolts that pop bloons. Each shot can pop 2 bloons. Can upgrade to cast additional spells."

- Bloons TD 5 Description

 is a tower in the BTD series, debuting in Bloons TD 4 under the name Monkey Apprentice, and continuing into Bloons TD 5. It launches a purple ball that can pop 2 bloons; it can be upgraded to add many other attacks. After its final upgrade has been purchased, it is known as a Monkey Wizard (BTD4) or a Master of Air/Master of Fire (BTD5 Flash only). In BTD6, the tower was renamed to Wizard Monkey.

Tower Costs


Bloons TD 4
The Wizard Monkey made its debut in Bloons TD 4 as the Monkey Apprentice, offering four powerful upgrades, with its final 2 upgrades gaining the ability to blow back bloons while popping them with lightning-interlaced whirlwinds and tornadoes.

Total Costs


Bloons TD 5
It launches a purple ball that can pop 2 bloons; it can be upgraded to add many other attacks. It is able to be upgraded to specialize in air or fire.

Total Costs


Differences Between BTD5 Flash and BTD5 Mobile

 * Dragon's Breath has a faster attack speed (10 shots per second → 12).
 * If the Master of Fire is sold while the Summon Phoenix ability is active, the phoenix will disappear.
 * Lightning Bolt no longer creates its lightning bolt sound.
 * Activating Summon Phoenix Ability no longer creates a phoenix call.

Update History (Bloons TD Battles Mobile)
The Monkey Apprentice (also called the Wizard by some players) has been buffed via game updates, as a lot of its upgrades have been made cheaper, most notably the Dragon's Breath upgrade. The Monkey Apprentice is still considered quite a popular tower, having good all round popping power and providing cheap Camo Lead defence. Some popular load outs include Ninja Farm Apprentice, Boat Farm Apprentice, Heli Farm Apprentice, Apprentice Farm Chipper, Apprentice Farm Ice, and Engineer COBRA Apprentice.

Strategies

 * Be advised that Apprentices are arguably the worst offensive tower in BTD5, due to their abysmal single-target damage at lower tiers, lack of pierce and overall damage with Dragon's Breath and Summon Phoenix, and potential to create unintended Regrow Farms with Lightning Bolt, Summon Whirlwind, and Tempest Tornado.
 * In BTD4 and BTD5, since they can push back bloons, it is a good idea to place the tower near loops or near the end of the track.
 * Several of them bunched together can sometimes work very well on strong bloons.
 * Apprentices with Dragon's Breath are best at the start of the track because they can pop any incoming Leads and weaker bloons with ease, especially if Lightning Bolt is purchased.
 * They can pop Lead Bloons in BTD5 even without upgrades, so if you don't have enough cash for a bomb tower by round 28+, then place an apprentice.
 * Summon Whirlwind and Tempest Tornado are useful in Regen Farming in BTD5.Camo-0.png
 * Monkey Apprentices with at least Lightning Bolt can be used in groups to quickly dispose of clustered bloons.
 * However, in BTD6, the ability to summon lightning is found exclusively in the Druid as Heart of Thunder
 * They should not be used against Ceramics or MOAB-Class bloons without Dragon's Breath, as they do little damage to them.
 * Watch out for Regrow Bloons if players rely heavily on Monkey Apprentices. Since Lightning Bolt can pop bloons practically anywhere on a track, this can potentially allow them time to regrow and start a Regrow Farm.

Quotes
"Masters of storm and fire, Monkey Apprentices work at any track position & can deal with camo-lead bloons. Powerful upgrades include: Monkey Sense, Lightning Bolt, Summon Whirlwind, Dragon's Breath."

- BMC Flash description

Trivia

 * A 4/4 version of the Monkey Apprentice is available in the BTD5 mission Wizard Lord, but it sacrifices the players most expensive tower every other round. It can use all attacks of the Monkey Apprentice and the Summon Super Phoenix ability, a more powerful version of Summon Phoenix ability.
 * In BTD4, the first upgrade to the Monkey Apprentice changes its name to Monkey Sorceror. The second upgrade changes it to Monkey Mage. The third changes it to Monkey Archmage. The fourth and final upgrade changes its name to Monkey Wizard.
 * In BTD4, the Monkey Apprentice is one of the towers that changes form upon each upgrade. The others are the Monkey Buccaneer, the Monkey Ace, the Monkey Beacon and the Banana Farm.
 * All of the upgrades for the Monkey Apprentice in Bloons TD 5 allow it to pop any type of non-Camo bloon.
 * In BTD5, the Monkey Apprentice is the only tower that can pop a Lead Bloon with no upgrades and without using explosives.
 * In BTD5, with upgrades, a Monkey Apprentice uses multiple spells at once; however, it could only shoot one at a time in BTD4.
 * This is not advised to be the main defense against many Regens, because it usually fails. It's better against bloons than MOABs.
 * In the BTD4 logo, there is a Monkey Apprentice.
 * In BTD5, the Tier 1 upgrades give the Apprentice glasses. The Tier 2 upgrades give it a bigger hat.
 * In BTD5, the Path 1 specializes in air while Path 2 specializes in fire.
 * In BTD5 the old artwork of the Monkey Apprentice is now the artwork of the Monkey Sense upgrade.
 * In BTD5 Flash, a Summon Whirlwind will have a description written "Disciple of Air". Dragon's Breath is called Disciple of Fire, Tempest Tornado is Master of Air, and Summon Phoenix is called Master of Fire.
 * The Monkey Apprentice uses the elements of the world such as wind, fire, lightning, and storms. It lacks the forces of earth and water however. Though in Bloons Super Monkey 2, the Monkey Research for the Magic abilities is labeled "Earth Magic," proving that the monkeys have a form of magic related to the element of earth, but still no references to the element of water. Also, in Chinese tradition, air isn't an element, but metal and wood are.
 * The Fireball upgrade shoots the same fireballs as the Dreadnought Premium Upgrade for the Monkey Buccaneer.
 * The Monkey Apprentice is a popular tower due to its low initial production cost, and its upgrades allowing it to hit every type of bloon without the assistance of other towers.
 * In BTD5 and Bloons Monkey City, the Monkey Apprentice is able to pop Lead Bloons, even if unupgraded; In BTD4 and BTD6 Monkey Apprentice cannot if Fireball is not bought.
 * The BMC artwork for Monkey Apprentice is similar to the BMC artwork for Ice Monkey/Tower.