Aircraft Carrier (BTD6)

BTD5

BTD6

BTDB2

Aircraft Carrier
General Information
Game	Bloons TD 6
Tower	Monkey Buccaneer
Unlocked at	12,500 XP
Cost	$6,800 (Easy) $8,000 (Medium) $8,640 (Hard) $9,600 (Impoppable)
Activated Ability	N/A
Targeting Options	First, Last, Close, Strong, Camo Priority with Crow's Nest, (Missiles are locked to Strong)
Camo Detection	Restricted (upgradable to 4-0-2)
Popology
Damage Type(s)
Sharp Straight Spray Straight Attack Multargets
Other(s)	Ace Front Darts: Sharp Straight Spray 3 x2 Straight Attack Multitargets Full Range Ace Radial Darts: Sharp Orbital Spray 3 x8 Multitargets Full Range Missiles: Explosion Single Projectile x3 Weak Seeking Target Blimps Area of Effect Multitargets Extra Damage Full Range
Statistics
Damage	1 (main dart attacks, 2 darts per shot) 2 (frontal aircraft darts) 4 (radial aircraft darts) 15 (missiles, targets blimps) 4 / 1.5s for 3s (burn DoT, 4/2/0)
Pierce	4 (frontal aircraft darts) 9 (radial aircraft darts) 3 (missiles, targets blimps)
Attack Speed	Super Fast (main attack, every 0.15s) Super Fast (aircraft stream attack, every 0.18s) Fast (aircraft radial attack, every 1.2s) Moderately Slow (missiles, every 3.0s, targets blimps)
Range	60 (excluding additional upgrades)
Status Effects	N/A (unless 4-2-0)
Tower Boosts	N/A
Income/Life Boosts	N/A
Path Upgrades
← Previous	Destroyer
← Previous	Destroyer
Current	Aircraft Carrier
Current	Aircraft Carrier
Next →	Carrier Flagship
Next →	Carrier Flagship
Path Info
Path	1
Path	1
Upgrade Tier	4
Upgrade Tier	4
Related upgrades
Aircraft Carrier (BTD5)
[Source]

“	Launches waves of fighter planes that strafe their targets and fire missiles at MOAB class Bloons.	”
	~ In-game description

Aircraft Carrier is the fourth upgrade of Path 1 for the Monkey Buccaneer in Bloons TD 6. Along with keeping its old Destroyer attacks, the Aircraft Carrier now comes with three mini aircraft planes that rapidly shoot darts radially and forwards as well as regularly shooting anti-MOAB missiles similarly to the Fighter Plane upgrade. Radial darts come in groups of 8 like a typical Monkey Ace and are regularly shot every 1.2s (1.0s with Grape Shot), while the forward darts are strongly homing twin darts shot like Buccaneer's Double Shot and are shot 0.18s whenever bloons are in front of the planes. Anti-MOAB missiles are shot every 3.0s per plane, deal 15 damage, have 3 pierce, and have a blast radius of 30. Radial darts and forward darts deal 4 and 2 damage with 9 and 4 pierce, respectively.

With Grape Shot, the main Aircraft Carrier's Destroyer attack remains identical, but also changes the aircraft plane to shoot 90-degree sprays of 6 grapes every 1.0s in the direction of the aircraft plane. Hot Shot changes these grapes into Hot Shot grapes, which also change to the Fire damage type and inflict napalm that deal 4 damage per 1.5s, likewise for the main hot hot grapes it shoots from the ship itself.

Because of how large the Aircraft Carrier is, it can no longer be carried by Support Chinooks.

This upgrade costs $6,800 on Easy, $8,000 on Medium, $8,640 on Hard, and $9,600 on Impoppable.

Description

Overview

Aircraft Carrier

Aircraft Carrier upgrades into a stationary aircraft carrier with a singular runway covered by a hanger, with a blue flag atop the island. The edge of the entire ship is adorned with a red trim. The accompanying biplanes have a green, blue, and yellow color scheme. Its guns are now below the runway at the bow and it will not rotate whenever it attacks, but it still shoots its Destroyer attacks as normal. In the upgrade portrait, the sailor points assertively with his left hand, and has his mouth wide open as if to say "Fire!", alongside two planes coming out.

Aircraft Carrier's aircraft shoot black-colored radial and forward double-shot darts quite rapidly, in addition to the Aircraft Carrier retaining the rapid-fire Destroyer attacks. The aircraft shoot forward darts and radial darts, and its radial darts get modified from crosspaths. The forward darts come in two per shot and aggressively home at bloons, dealing high damage. In contrast, the radial darts are shot in 8 equal directions from a full circle, and deal even more damage. Crosspaths with Grape Shot modify the radial darts into 6 grapes that are fired in a spread. Hot Shot modifies those grapes into fiery grapes that apply a stronger Burn effect and can hit Lead and Frozen Bloons, but no longer damage Purple Bloons.

Crosspaths change the Aircraft Carrier's appearance. With Path 2 crosspaths, the rims of the ship and the flag are both painted from red to purple with Grape Shot, and then to orange with Hot Shot. With Path 3 crosspaths, the rims of the aircraft bay have golden outlines, obtained via Long Range, and with Crow's Nest the quarterdeck will have a radar beacon installed and the flag is now yellow with two triangular tips.

Targeting Priorities

Aircraft Carrier targets bloons using the standard target priorities. It shoots darts that are shot in a straight movement. It can also utilize multiple targeting to shoot projectiles from both ends of the boat if it detects bloons on its opposite side.

The Aircraft Carrier inherits its Destroyer and Grape/Hot Shot attacks which will fire according to the set target priority. The Planes fly in a roundabout manner, similar to the Wingmonkey pattern, strafing Bloons according to the set target priority. The missiles seek out Bloons automatically only targeting MOAB-class bloons, and are controlled by targeting priority.

• First: Targets the first bloon visible within its range.
• Last: Targets the last bloon visible within its range.
• Close: Targets the closest bloon visible within its range.
• Strong: Targets the strongest bloon visible within its range.

If given the Crow's Nest upgrade, all its attacks can prioritize Camo Bloons over other types, which is provided by the Camo Prioritization targeting.

Full Popology

Statistics

Updated as of Version 45.0

Base stats

• Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, 60 range, 0.15s attack cooldown, straight spray of 2, 1 damage, 4 pierce. Can shoot a second copy of Dart at 180° from first Dart if bloons are detected behind.
• Aircraft:
  • Flies in a direction that attempts to fly towards targets according to targeting priority. Flight speed of 60 (?). Can produce Aircraft Radial Dart, Aircraft Forward Dart, and Anti-MOAB Missile attacks.
• Aircraft Radial Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, passively attacks if bloons are within 60 range, spray of 8 in a 360-degree direction, 1.2s attack cooldown, 4 damage, 9 pierce.
• Aircraft Forward Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, aims at targets in frontal direction of plane, 250 range, aggressive seeking, straight spray of 2, 0.18s attack cooldown, 2 damage, 4 pierce.
• Anti-MOAB Missile:
  • Projectile, explosion type, infinite range, targets only MOAB-class bloons, 3.0s attack cooldown, 15 damage, 3 pierce, 30 blast radius. Moderately homes at targets.

Crosspathing interactions

• 4-1-0: Shoots spray of 6 projectiles of Grapes, which have sharp type, 60 range, 1 damage, 1 pierce, total spread unchanged at 100° with equal 16.67° angular distance. Attack cooldown of Grape reduced from 0.975s to 0.195s. Adjusts Aircraft Radial Dart to fire 6 projectiles in a 90° angle instead of 8 projectiles in a 360° angle. Reduces attack cooldown of Aircraft Radial Dart from 1.2s to 1.0s.
• 4-2-0: Grape damage type changed from sharp to fire, applies Burn that deals 4 damage per 1.5s for 3.0s. Damage type of Aircraft Radial Dart changed from sharp to fire and can set bloons on fire with equal Burn to the grapes.
• 4-0-1: Range increased from 60 to 71, projectile speed of Dart increased by 25%, pierce of Dart and Aircraft Forward Dart increased from 4 to 6, and Aircraft Radial Dart pierce increased from 9 to 11.
• 4-0-2: Gains camo detection.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

• Naval Upgrades: All Monkey Buccaneers get +1 pierce.
• Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
• Flanking Maneuvers: Attacks 10% faster when set targeting priority to "Last".
• Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
  • Monkey Buccaneer base cost from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $285, $335, $360, and $400 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
• Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
  • Monkey Buccaneer base cost reduced from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $405, $475, $515, and $570 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
    • If Military Conscription is also enabled, the base cost will be $265, $310, $335, and $370.
• Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
• Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more. Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
• Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.

Attack Interactions

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military

Updated as of Version 41.2

Base attack(s)

• Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Straight Spray (2)
  • Straight Attack
  • Multi-Target (two simultaneous attacks, can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side)
• Aircraft:
  • Passive
  • Flying
  • Self-Mobility
• Aircraft Forward Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Straight Spray (2)
  • Straight Attack
  • Aggressive Seeking
  • Flying
  • Extra Damage (2)
• Aircraft Radial Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Orbital Spray (8)
  • Straight Attack
  • Flying
  • Extra Damage (2)
• Anti-MOAB Missile:
  • Explosion
  • Target Blimp
  • Moderate Seeking
  • Area of Effect
  • Extra Damage (15)

Costs

Updated as of Version 51.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.

[Module | Data]	Purchase				Sell
Costs	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
Upgrade (4-X-X)	$6,800	$8,000	$8,640	$9,600	-
Total (4-0-0)	$10,325	$12,150	$13,120	$14,580	$7,228	$8,505	$9,184	$10,206
Crosspath (4-1-0)	$10,790	$12,700	$13,715	$15,240	$7,553	$8,890	$9,601	$10,668
Crosspath (4-2-0)	$11,215	$13,200	$14,255	$15,840	$7,851	$9,240	$9,979	$11,088
Crosspath (4-0-1)	$10,495	$12,350	$13,335	$14,820	$7,347	$8,645	$9,335	$10,374
Crosspath (4-0-2)	$10,790	$12,700	$13,715	$15,240	$7,553	$8,890	$9,601	$10,668

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: Military Conscription, Advanced Logistics, Better Sell Deals

Strategy

Summary

For greater mobility of damaging bloons, Aircraft Carrier is a viable option. The planes can deal high MOAB-class damage via anti-MOAB missiles, while the darts act as a source of cleanup and extra damage. The darts from the planes can be unreliable though, and they cannot be buffed by an Alchemist.

Tips

• If possible, crosspath the Aircraft Carrier with 4-1-0 for the added grape attack, which will allow it to perform much more damage overall. If lead-popping is required, or extra napalm is a useful addition, go for 4-2-0. A 4-0-2 Aircraft Carrier is still a very viable choice if there are many camo bloons on screen. 4-0-1 Aircraft Carrier is also useful for the increased projectile speed and slightly more pierce for all of the aircraft projectiles.
• Similar to Destroyer, pair with Berserker Brew or Stronger Stimulant for much improved overall damage, especially for a 4-1-0 or 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier. This is particularly good at enhancing the relatively low pierce of the fast-shooting grape attacks. Assume that this is simply for the main Destroyer attacks though, since Alchemist buffs will have no effect for the mini planes, as all Alchemist buffs cannot affect sub-towers.
• Aircraft Carriers are a good spam option for Boss Events, but are less cost efficient than their tier 3. Make sure to take advantage of Flanking Maneuvers by setting them to last.

Version History

Balance Changes

Buffed on various updates to increase reliability of the planes and make it more usable compared to applying tower buffs to existing Destroyers. Version 37.0 reworked crosspathing interactions with Aircraft Carrier, and Version 41.0 further improved accuracy of the Aircraft Carrier, due to some reputations of its darts missing. However, Version 44.0 nerfed the Aircraft Carrier's price to be more aligned with its DPS potential.

2.0

• Aircraft Carrier aces now have more pierce per dart (5 (?) → 9)

9.0

• Now maintains the fire rate of its previous upgrade.

12.0

• Aircraft Carrier costs less ($9,000 → $7,500).

18.0

• Aircraft Carrier planes each gain a homing MOAB missile with an attack rate of 3s, Radius 30, Pierce 3, Damage 15.

21.0

“	Aircraft carriers have ongoing trouble with missing targets, these changes can hopefully offer a few extra ways of supporting the weakness internally while we keep investigating this.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Aircraft Carrier's forward dart projectile radius increased by 2.

25.0

“	Most cases for Buccaneer currently find you better off sticking to Destroyers and adding other buffs, so we have made a couple slight nudges to this top path	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Double Shot vs Aircraft Carrier

• Aircraft Carrier price decreased ($7500 → $7200).

28.0

“	Bottom crosspath feels behind compared to others here, so in addition to the new Camo Prioritization filter Longer Range on this path will now also grant bonus pierce. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Path 3 crosspath

• 4-0-1 Aircraft Carrier main darts and aircraft darts now gain +1 pierce

37.0

“	Reworking Grape Shot crosspathing as it gains far too much crosspath value by T2 but then is lacking in purpose at higher tiers, double shot will only work as one extra grape however Destroyer will now apply its full attack rate buff to the grapes and Flagship will equip aspects of Grape Shot on the mini planes.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier's Grape Shot total projectiles reduced from 10 to 6
• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier now increases grape attack rate to matching dart attack, instead of +150%
• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier planes radial attack now fires an arc of grapes instead of darts
• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier planes radial Emission Angle decreased from 360° to 90°
• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier planes radial projectile count decreased from 8 to 6
• 4-1-0 Aircraft Carrier plane grape projectile speed increased from 100 to 200
• 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier planes radial attack now fires an arc of fire grapes also change damage type from Sharp to Fire
• 4-0-0 Aircraft Carrier plane radials dart damage increased from 1 to 2

38.0

“	Small tweaks to Buccaneer’s Long Range upgrade to improve its additional pierce benefit for a number of attacks.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• 4-0-1 Aircraft Carrier main darts and aircraft darts pierce bonus increased from +1 to +2

40.0

“	Aircraft Carrier is just a little expensive for what it offers over staying at T3, and Flagship high-end strategic value recently became a little harder due to synergies being price nerfed, so we’re doing some small cost cutting between the two of these upgrades mainly to relieve that loss for the T5 slightly but also help T4.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Aircraft Carrier price reduced ($7,200 → $6,900)

41.0

“	Aircraft Carrier has many problems in general and we could write multiple paragraphs about what went on with the decision making on this one upgrade but tldr; overhauling the feel with a big shuffle around of stats and greatly improved targeting to make the tower far more enjoyable & reliable. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier mini plane grapes can now set Bloons on fire
• Aircraft Carrier mini plane frontal darts gain a very powerful homing effect
• Aircraft Carrier mini plane frontal darts damage increased 1 to 2
• Aircraft Carrier mini plane frontal darts pierce reduced 9 to 4
• Aircraft Carrier mini plane radial darts damage increased from 2 to 4
• Aircraft Carrier mini plane radial darts range reduced from 150 to 60
• Aircraft Carrier frontal attack range increased from 200 to 250

42.0

“	General improvements made to higher tier DoT applications for Buccaneer. The pierce from bottom crosspath seems to be better after destroyer currently, so this also acts as some crosspath balancing for Flagship. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier grape's burn damage-over-time increased from 2 to 4

44.0

“	Aircraft Carrier has been performing well above its price point so this is being increased, though it is also worth noting due to a bug fix in Flagship’s AI also in this update we expect it may overall still be improved. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Aircraft Carrier cost increased from $6900 to $8000

45.0

“	Aircraft Carrier is too high power for the price so we are reducing plane attack speed but have left 420 path radials unchanged as it has been the less powerful crosspath after T3 for a while. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Aircraft Carrier forward darts attack cooldown decreased from 0.15s to 0.18s.
• 4-0-x Aircraft Carrier radial darts attack cooldown increased from 1s to 1.2s. Does not affect 4-1-0 (1s).

49.0

“	Aircraft Carrier is in a very strong position right now however it suffers from inconsistency, so we have increased the field of view for the Buccaneer Plane attacks so it can spend more time actively attacking	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Aircraft Carrier aircraft field of view increased from 60° to 90°. Does not affect Carrier Flagship (360°).

Bug Fixes and General Changes

• Description changed from "Launches waves of fighter planes that strafe the Bloons." to "Launches waves of fighter planes that strafe their targets and fire missiles at MOAB class Bloons."

Gallery

Crosspathing (Top: Path 2, Bottom: Path 3)

Aircraft Carrier with anti-MOAB Missiles

Aircraft Carrier anti-MOAB missiles exploding

Grape 4-1-0 Aircraft

Hot Grape 4-2-0 Aircraft

4-1-0 and 4-2-0 Aircraft Carriers as of v37.0

Many Aircraft Carriers shooting darts at many MOABs

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Upgrade icon

Instamonkey icon

Videos

Aircraft Carrier and Carrier Flagship demonstration 40.2

Aircraft Carrier 40.2 pre-rework

Trivia

• When BTD6 was first released, the Aircraft Carrier upgrade costed $9,000, just like in the latest version of Bloons TD Battles Flash.
• Between Version 12.0 and Version 28.0, the BTD6 Aircraft Carrier upgrade costed half of the BTD5 Aircraft Carrier upgrade's cost.
• In BTD6, an Aircraft Carrier's range is the same size as the Destroyer's range. Unlike in BTD5, this upgrade does not grant infinite range to BTD6 Advanced Intel.
• Unlike in BTD5, the Aircraft Carrier retains the Destroyer's attacks.
• Despite the fact that in the upgrade portrait, the Aircraft Carrier has its turret at its front, it somehow manages to shoot behind and at the sides of the Aircraft Carrier in a perfect circle in game.
• Aircraft Carrier is the first tower in BTD6 to ever have an upgrade cost equal to $6,900 on Medium, starting from Version 40.0.