Quote: Why does hydra rockets and B.A.D.S even exist when the other path is so obviously superior
Sorry, are my post coming up at all?
Hydra pods are for grouped bloons, lasers for single strong bloon. What can beat infinite 3/0 dartling guns? 1 lead. Yay!
3/2 has 15 popping power, fires 50% faster and pierces bloons (22.5 popping power relativley compared to 2/3).
2/3 has 40 popping power, does not pierce bloons but is an explosion. They both have their uses, but I prefer hydra rockets because to be honest laser cannon doesn't do too hot against moabs and ceramics anyways.
If I use dartlings (which I barely ever do unless on BMC which i don't play anymore) then I usually get Laser Cannons, but I'd advise to do a 3/2 + 2/3 combo if possible - Hydra Rockets massacre the bloons so that lasers can get to the MOABs
Quote: Ray of Doom>>>>>>>>>BADS Why? Ray of doom does one layer of damage PER FRAME. BTD5 runs constantly at 30 FPS, no matter if your computer runs at 250 or 25 FPS. To put that into perspective, a BADs, without it's ability, can take down a MOAB on monkey lane in 8 seconds. For a RoD, it's 3 seconds. The BADS fires three streams of rockets, which does a fair job at eliminating grouped bloons, but the RoD's 100 penetration power, plus its amazing firerate excels at pwning grouped bloons; as of Febuary 26, 2015, a RoD can defeat infinite grouped ceramics, while the BADs is quickly overwhelmed.
As for the tier-3 upgrades, for early game the Hydra Rockets fare very well vs. most bloons, but the laser cannon is still superior when it comes to general popping power. If you like explosions, use Hydra rockets. If you want better, all-around popping power, use Laser cannon.
lasers can pop lead if they have depleted bloontonium darts
Spamming Rays of Doom could do really well, but remember to add the BADS, too (and don't forget to add at least one maxed TOTMG, the second most powerful tower in the game [maxed TOTVM is #1 most powerful])!