Blade Maelstrom

"Blade Maelstrom Ability: Covers the area in an unstoppable storm of blades."

- Bloons TD 5 Description

 is the final upgrade on the second path of the Tack Shooter. It is unlocked upon reaching Rank 20. It is the special ability for the Tack Shooter in BTD5, which is the game that is exclusive to it. When activated, the Blade Maelstrom rapidly shoots two streams of blades, which spiral outwards. It costs $2295 on Easy, $2700 on Medium and $2915 on Hard. Its ability cooldown only lasts for 20 seconds.

Trivia

 * Blade Maelstrom will deal more damage to bloons closer to its proximity, due to the higher density of blades.
 * The Blade Maelstrom is the fastest recharging ability in BTD5, taking only 12 seconds to recharge in fast forward mode.
 * It is possible to take down the outer layer of a MOAB with this ability if you time it correctly. 10 Maelstroms can take down the outer layer of BFB.
 * Blade Maelstrom is the second cheapest Special Ability in BTD5, costing $2700 in Medium. The cheapest is the Absolute Zero from the Ice Tower, costing $2000
 * If the Blade Maelstrom is placed near a Monkey Village with High Energy Beacon, and if the Hotter Cooldown premium upgrade is purchased, the Blade Maelstrom Ability's cooldown will last only 6 seconds in Fast Forward.
 * Despite the description stating it is "unstoppable," Blade Maelstrom will be stopped by Lead Bloons. This can be prevented by a 0/3 Monkey Village.
 * Each of the blades have unlimited pierce, making it good for thick groups of bloons. ( Helpful if Regen Farming gets out of control and it's cheaper than Ground Zero.However you may need 2 or 3 to destroy all Regenerating Bloons. Several of them can destroy a whole map of regenerating Ceramic Bloons.
 * When ability is activated during the time the rings show up the game is very likely to lag a bit, however nothing happens to the gameplay.

Bugs

 * The ability will never hit Camo bloons, even if the tower is next to a tower permitting camo detection.