| “ | A true master of magical wizardry. Attacks faster and does more damage to MOAB-Class Bloons. | ” |
| ~ In-game description |
Archmage is the Tier 5 upgrade of Path 1 for the Wizard Monkey in Bloons TD 6. It shoots much stronger bolts, gains the flame attack from Dragon's Breath and dark blasts from Shimmer at double the speed, and much more MOAB-class damage for all damaging attacks. Bolts attack two times faster than Arcane Spike, pop up to 11 bloons instead of 7 (12 to 16 with 5-0-1), deal 27 damage to MOAB-class bloons instead of 16, and 8 damage to other bloons instead of 6. The basic flame attack is shot every 0.0675s and deals 2 damage and +10 MOAB-class damage. Shimmer occurs every 1s instead of 2s, and triggers within 60 range and decamo within 75 range. However, Archmage does not receive the Fireball or Wall of Fire attacks without Path 2 crosspaths, nor does it gain further range via Shimmer.
If crosspathed with any Path 2 crosspath, fireballs deal 9 damage and +36 MOAB-class damage and shoot 3 fireballs every time, and blazes deal +6 MOAB-class damage, applied on top of lower-tier stats and the doubled attack speed (1.1s and 3.25s, respectively), with exception of Fireball which has 1 base collision damage, gains 9 explosion damage, and is shot in an angular spray of 3. Path 3 crosspaths grant +5 pierce to each bolt and +2 pierce to each flame, and +10 range (70 range) with 5-0-2.
This upgrade costs $27,200 on Easy, $32,000 on Medium, $34,560 on Hard, and $38,400 on Impoppable.
Quick Answers
What is the Tier 5 upgrade of Path 1 for the Wizard Monkey in Bloons TD 6?
How does the Archmage's attack compare to the Arcane Spike?
What is the damage capacity of Archmage against MOAB-class bloons?
What additional attacks does the Archmage gain from the Dragon's Breath and Shimmer?
How does the Archmage's basic flame attack work in Bloons TD 6?
Description[]
Overview[]
Archmage shooting bolts and flames rapidly versus MOABs
Archmage's clothing converts from blue color into completely white, it eyes also completely white, with no eyeballs. The beard has grown dramatically, to the point in which it is tied with a black beard ring. The metal cane now has 2 blue orbs with one of them in the crescent with lightning, with the staff branching off and grabbing the crescent. The belt and the numerous shapes disappears on Archmage's hat which also appears to be stitched together.
Archmage producing shimmers plus the aforementioned bolts and flames versus DDTs
Just in the same way as the Arcane Spike, the upgrade portrait is holding the staff in its right hand but in-game the tower holds it in its left hand. The upgrade portrait features the Archmage in a pose that shines the electrical power in his wand, and a blue forcefield originating from his left hand.
Archmage's bolts now go one step further increase attack speed and bonus damage to MOAB-Class Bloons. He obtains combination with Dragon's Breath and Shimmer upgrade attacks, both of which acquire double attack speed, and the breath attack from Dragon's Breath gains +2 MOAB-class damage. Any fire-based spells acquired via Path 2 will also gain greater benefits on top of doubled attack speed. Fireballs from the Archmage via 5-1-0 will deal 9 damage and an extra +9 MOAB-class damage, whereas the Walls of Fire will match the 1-2-0 WoF but also deal +1 MOAB-class damage.
Targeting Priorities[]
Archmage base attack and Dragon's Breath attack targets bloons using the standard targeting priorities. It shoots straight movement projectiles.
- 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.
Shimmer decamo bloons blast in a zone-like style, in regards to determining pierce consumption. Technically, is locked on the Close targeting priority.
Full Popology[]
Statistics[]
- Updated as of Version 47.2
- Base stats
- Bolt:
- Projectile, energy type, 60 range, ignores Line of Sight, 0.1375s attack cooldown, 8 damage, +19 MOAB-class damage, 7 pierce. Moderately homes at bloons at a 200 linear speed and 360 angular speed, with a seeking radius of 31.83. Projectile lifespan of 0.8s.
- Breath Flame:
- Projectile, fire type, 40 range, ignores Line of Sight, 0.0675s attack cooldown, 2 damage, +10 MOAB-class damage, 3 pierce, 6 projectile size, 125 projectile speed, 0.8s lifespan. Apply 1 damage per 1.5s for 3.0s DoT fire effect.
- Shimmer:
- Zone, normal type, camo detection, 60 range, 1.25x radius (75), ignores Line of Sight, 1s attack cooldown, 0 damage, 500 pierce, decamos all affected bloons. Lifespan of 0.05s.
- Crosspathing interactions
- 5-1-0: Gains improved Fireball attack.
- Fireball: Projectile, fire type, 60 range, ignores Line of Sight, spray of 3, 1.1s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 1 impact. Upon collision, produce Fireball Explosion.
- Fireball Explosion: Burst, explosion type, 14 blast radius, 9 damage, +36 MOAB-class damage, 15 pierce.
- 5-2-0: Gains improved Wall of Fire attack.
- Wall of Fire: Spawn, fire type, 60 range, 15 radius, 1 damage, +8 MOAB-class damage, 10 pierce, 0.15s rehit cooldown, 0.15s pierce refresh, 3.25s attack cooldown. Lasts for 6.5s. Defaults on Close targeting, can be repositioned on any valid location within range.
- 5-0-1: Pierce of Bolt increased from 7 to 12, pierce of Breath increased from 3 to 5.
- 5-0-2: Range of Bolt increased from 60 to 70, range of Breath increased from 40 to 50.
- Monkey Knowledge interactions
Lingering Magic: Projectiles fired from all Wizard Monkey have longer lifespan.
- Bolt with 5-x-x lasts 20% longer, from 0.8 seconds to 0.96 seconds.
- Flame Jet: Dragon's Breath flame projectiles fly 50% faster.
- Arcane Impale: Arcane Spike (and by extension Archmage) does +1 extra damage to MOAB-Class and Ceramic Bloons.
- 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/Magic
- Updated as of Version 44.2
- Base attack(s)
- Bolt:
- Plasma
- Single Projectile
- Straight Attack
- Ignores Line of Sight
- Weak Seeking
- Extra Damage (8)
- Extra Damage to Blimps (+19)
- Breath:
- Fire
- Single Projectile
- Straight Attack
- Ignores Line of Sight
- Extra Damage (2)
- Extra Damage to Blimps (+6)
- Burn (1 damage / 1.5s for 3.0s)
- Burn Blimp (1 damage / 1.5s for 3.0s)
- Shimmer:
- Normal
- Camo affected
- Area of Effect
- Decamo
Costs[]
- Updated as of Version 46.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.
| [Module | Data] | Purchase | Sell | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable | Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable |
| Upgrade (5-X-X) | $27,200 | $32,000 | $34,560 | $38,400 | - | |||
| Total (5-0-0) | $37,670 | $44,325 | $47,870 | $53,190 | $26,369 | $31,028 | $33,509 | $37,233 |
| Crosspath (5-1-0) | $37,925 | $44,625 | $48,195 | $53,550 | $26,548 | $31,238 | $33,737 | $37,485 |
| Crosspath (5-2-0) | $38,605 | $45,425 | $49,060 | $54,510 | $27,024 | $31,798 | $34,342 | $38,157 |
| Crosspath (5-0-1) | $37,925 | $44,625 | $48,195 | $53,550 | $26,548 | $31,238 | $33,737 | $37,485 |
| Crosspath (5-0-2) | $38,180 | $44,925 | $48,520 | $53,910 | $26,726 | $31,448 | $33,964 | $37,737 |
This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: 
Magic Tricks, 
Better Sell Deals
Strategy[]
Summary[]
Archmage deals considerable damage against groups of MOAB-class bloons, alongside an added decamo and a low amount of damage to Super Ceramics. Against larger clumps of blimps, it can easily demolish them into much weaker bloons, but large clumps of Ceramics may spawn out of them. It is a good overall source of damage versus ordinary DDTs, and therefore can be used to beat Round 95 with minimal trouble, especially when paired with Overclock. The Archmage's incredible grouped blimp destruction is comparable to Pre-Emptive Strike, which also has the potential to spawn lots of Ceramics from destroyed weaker blimps, but without the single-target high-HP damage potential and is weak at cleaning up Super Ceramics.
At best, Archmage works as a moderately expensive supporting DPS versus grouped MOAB-class as an accompany to the majority of more superior DPS towers. Since the Archmage mostly specializes at demolishing groups of MOAB-class bloons, it should be paired with defenses that possess adequate Ceramic-popping and single-target damage. Adding Archmage to work well with a current defense can be difficult to do in practical CHIMPS games especially on Advanced and Expert Maps unless proper cleanup towers are added to balance its quick grouped MOAB-class damage with better Ceramic cleanup and high-HP blimp damage. However, certain crosspaths of the Archmage may partially counter some of its major weaknesses, especially the middle crosspath which aids its cleanup and general DPS. In addition, speed and pierce buffs tend to work the best for optimizing the Archmage's total potential in comparison to other external buffs.
Tips[]
- Archmage's crosspath choice depends on the needs of the defense. General DPS increases are appreciated with the improved Fireball and Wall of Fire attacks via 5-2-0, whereas 5-0-2 improves pierce of its bolts and flames, and assists in destroying massive groups of MOAB-class bloons without as much cleanup potential.
- While the Archmage's Shimmer attack already decamos bloons, the +5 pierce from Intense Magic increases the potential for the bolts to maximize the massive MOAB-class damage bonus. With the +5 pierce to the magical bolts, they become far more powerful at wiping out multitudes of blimps.
- Archmage can use its own Shimmer to decamo nearby bloons, but it is often still worthwhile to add Monkey Sense regardless, as Shimmer can be unreliable and may miss bloons, even with the doubled attack speed. Additionally, Phayze has partial immunity to decamos.
- On most occasions, the position of where the Archmage is placed should be based on track coverage, although preferably one where there is also a straight line around to make good use of the seeking curves.
- A 5-0-2 Archmage excels at popping DDTs with relative ease on its own, though good Ceramic popping power is needed to clean up the remains.
- Place the Archmage at a spot that allows the Dragon's Breath to become optimized, as the Dragon's Breath attack can deal a lot of overall damage.
- Archmage is useful for the 2TC challenge when paired with Apache Prime since Archmage can fully counter the MOAB-class layer and especially DDTs which is one of Apache Prime's biggest weakness, while the Apache Prime itself can handle the large groups of super ceramics Archmage produces from popping MOAB-class bloons.
- Archmage can work with Tsar Bomba, M.A.D, and even Captain Churchill, though those three are not recommended for the achievement.
- Combine Archmage with effective grouped Super Ceramic cleanup, as Archmage is prone to producing dense clumps of Super Ceramics in the late-game thanks to its high grouped blimp-popping power but comparatively low Ceramic popping power. Archmage is actually one of the best options at popping many blimps at once. In practice, however, this phenomenon can be a nuisance to deal with especially on Round 98 where the majority of blimps are fortified and bloons become much faster.
- The Biggest One is a solid option for such a synergy, especially on a map such as Moon Landing.
- While Archmage tends to lack effective synergy potential, its DPS can be boosted by Overclock to improve its capability at handling MOAB-class bloons and Ceramics.
Version History[]
Balance Changes[]
Most buffs for the Archmage in earlier updates are inherited from those that benefit the secondary Dragon's Breath attack, although Version 2.0 had made its main bolt attack considerably stronger as a counter to grouped blimps. However, in Version 34.0 they buffed Archmage with heavy focus on balancing crosspath choice with aim for a favorable 5-2-0 crosspath. Overall, it is stronger than it was when first released, and remains a popular option among newer players.
- 2.0
- Archmage adds more pierce (+0 → +4, 10 in total).
- 8.1
- Archmage's Dragon's Breath attack range is now (correctly) correspondent to the Archmage's current range.
- 10.0
- Archmage's Dragon's Breath now applies a burn Damage Over Time equal to Mortar's Burny Stuff to any Bloon it touches.
- 21.0
- Archmage's Dragon's Breath now gains +1 bonus damage versus Ceramics.
- Archmage's Dragon's Breath now lasts longer (0.6s → 0.8s, as +50% range increases lifespan automatically).
- Archmage bolt has more pierce (10 → 11, from base Wizard buff).
- 31.0
| “ | [...] along with more MOAB damage at the T5 to give it a little more value over Arcane Spikes. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Archmage bonus damage to MOABs increased (+17 → +19)
- 32.0
| “ | Polishing some crosspaths, 130 Dragons Breath is the only crosspath for Guided Magic that doesn't yet attack through walls, [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to 1-3-0 Dragon's Breath |
- Archmage's Dragons Breath attack now goes through walls.
- 33.0
| “ | Wall of Fire’s exceptional T2 power needs to be moved around for improved crosspathing, along with a slight nerf to Phoenix as it is currently performing too well, and both of these upgrades are shifting some of their power into Dragon’s Breath so it can stand out as more than just a buff to WoF & a stepping stone to Phoenix. Shimmer is prone to missing a lot of camo Bloons due to the low attack rate, we do want it to be slower than other decamos to account for the larger radius and better T5 so we are making the radius benefit more noticable and lowering price | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Dragon's Breath and Shimmer |
- Archmage's Dragons Breath base damage increased (1 → 2)
- Archmage's Shimmer radius increased (70 → 80)
- 34.0
| “ | Wizard Archmage currently doubles the attack speed of the main attack along with adding a sizable MOAB damage bonus, but these benefits are not applied to the extra attacks that it gains as a 533 tower, which specifically makes the 520 crosspath benefits feel disappointing and the base dragon's breath it gains quite insignificant to the main tower. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 5-1-0 Archmage's Fireball damage increased to match x3x bonus fireball damage 1 → 9
- Archmage base attack rate increases now applies to secondary attacks
- 5-1-0 Fireball rate 2.2s → 1.1s
- 5-2-0 Wall of Fire rate 6.5s → 3.25s
- Dragon's Breath rate 0.1s → 0.05s
- Shimmer rate 2.5s → 1.25s
- Archmage now also adds bonus MOAB damage to extra attacks
- Dragon's Breath MOAB bonus added +2
- 5-1-0 Fireball MOAB bonus added +9
- 5-2-0 Wall of Fire MOAB bonus added +1
- 35.0
- Archmage bolt damage to non-blimp bloons increased (7 → 8). Also affects Blimp damage.
- [undocumented] Archmage's Dragon's Breath range decreased (60 → 40)
- 36.0
- Archmage flame no longer deals +1 Ceramic damage and attack speed decreased (0.05s → 0.0625s).
- Note: This is another Dragon’s Breath balance change inheritance.
- 41.0
- Archmage flame attack speed decreased (0.0625s → 0.0675s).
- Note: This is another Dragon’s Breath balance change inheritance.
- 43.0
| “ | Wizard has a weaker base tower so the base cost is going down in exchange for a small price increase to the cost to value ratio for the effective Arcane Mastery. As Fireball becomes very forgotten at higher tiers and is hard to even see at Dragon’s Breath, we’re improving the crosspath and adding even more projectiles at T3 for wider explosive coverage. As Shimmer is the slowest de-camo in the game it is important that it not miss when it does trigger, so pierce is greatly increased. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Archmage's Shimmer decamo pierce increased from 200 to 500.
- 5-1-0 Archmage's Fireball projectile count increased from 1 to 3, shot in an angular spray.
- Archmage's Dragon's Breath pierce decreased from 4 to 3.
- 46.0
| “ | Archmage’s secondary attacks are gaining bonus MOAB damage increases as due to Archmage’s unique mechanics, nerfs building up from Dragon's Breath have also indirectly caused an impact for the Archmage. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 5-1-0 Archmage fireball bonus to MOAB-class increased from +9 to +27
- 5-2-0 Archmage blaze bonus to MOAB-class increased from +1 to +4
- Archmage Dragon's Breath bonus to MOAB-class increased from +2 to +6
- 47.0
| “ | Archmage still seems to prefer the 502 crosspathing, so the fire attacks are being taken even further. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 5-1-0 Archmage fireball bonus to MOAB-Class increased from +27 to +36
- 5-2-0 Archmage Wall of Fire bonus to MOAB-class increased from +4 to +8
- Archmage Dragon's Breath bonus to MOAB-class increased from +6 to +10
- [undocumented] Archmage's shimmer attack cooldown decreased from 1.25s to 1s
- 48.0
| “ | [...] Arcane Spike is now seeing some of the crosspathing benefits that Archmage recently received, although Archmage’s Wall of Fire is being reduced in power. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 5-2-0 Archmage's Wall of Fire bonus MOAB-class damage decreased from +8 to +6
Bug Fixes and General Changes[]
 |
This section is incomplete. You can help by expanding it. |
- 34.0
- Description now added "Attacks faster and does more damage to MOAB-Class Bloons." after its current description.
Extra Notes (Version History)[]
Gallery[]
.png "Archmage 36 (1).png (443 KB)")
.png "Archmage 36 (2).png (1.56 MB)")
.png "Fiery 45 (5).png (619 KB)")
.png "Fiery 45 (6).png (792 KB)")
Official artwork[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- During the 2.0 update, the Archmage received a major pierce and damage buff to MOAB-class bloons and Ceramic Bloons.
- In the upgrade artwork it shows the wizard holding the staff in its right hand but the actual tower holds it in the left hand.
- Most of the instances of buffs to Archmage are inherited from buffs for Dragon's Breath.
- Due to a Version 25.0 bug with Pat Fusty allowing him to grant normal type to all nearby towers temporarily, Archmage APC (All Pops CHIMPS) was possible on Version 25.0.[1]
- However, during Version 29.0, the 5-2-0 crosspath could achieve APC without bugs thanks to buffs to Fireball's attack speed.
- Archmage takes slight resemblance to Gandalf the Wizard known from Lord of the Rings.
- Archmage is considered the first tower to have its "mysterious" description modified, in which Version 34.0 added further details related to Archmage's bonus attack speed and further bonus MOAB-class damage. Archmage's BTDB2 counterpart has yet to have its description updated.
- One could see this tower as a "budget M.A.D" as they both heavily excel in taking down MOAB-class bloons at the cost of creating tons of super-ceramics in which they both are much less effective against.
- Consider this upgrade could be defined as 5-3-3, as Archmage uses both attacks from Path 2 and 3 Tier 3 upgrades.
References[]
- ↑ Reddit post "Archmage APC" by u/Bowzie221
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