Beast Handler

Beast Handler
General Information
Game	Bloons TD 6 (v36.0)
Release Date	April 3, 2023
Class	Support Monkey
Unlocked at	Popping 3,000,000 (Bloons), "Unlock By Pops" selection, Level 30
Cost	$210 (Easy) $250 (Medium) $270 (Hard) $300 (Impoppable)
Activated Ability(s)	T Rex Stomp Giganotosaurus Stomp
Targeting Options	First, Last, Close, Strong Beast targeting (Place Beast) Merge (when multiple Beast Handlers combine with their beasts to upgrade)
Hotkey	I
Other Names	BHandler, BH, Beast
Statistics
Damage	1
Pierce	4
Attack Speed	1.4s
Range	20 (itself range) 50 (control beast range)
Camo Detection	Yes (x-x-2, or x-4-x ability)
Footprint	7
Default Damage Type	Energy

“	Trains land, water, or air beasts. Multiple Beast Handlers can have their own beasts, or combine efforts to train a single beast with greater beast power.	”
	~ In-game description

The Beast Handler is a Support-class tower that was introduced in update 36.0. This monkey controls increasingly powerful beasts to pop bloons, and can merge with other Beast Handlers to increase the power of their Beasts. It is unlocked by accumulating 3,000,000 pops in the same way as Dartling Gunner and Mermonkey. Before v44.0, it was unlocked after completing all 3 stages of the "Epic Beast Quest" that is unlocked at Level 40, accessible via Quests.

The base Beast Handler uses its staff to pop bloons, where it stabs up to 4 bloons with its staff every 1.4s, each hit dealing 1 damage ( energy), each attack ignores Line of Sight obstacles provided it can detect a bloon, and has 20 range, the smallest of any tower. It cannot be buffed by Alchemists and cannot be picked up by Support Chinook. It can, however, be placed on frozen water. The Beast Handler handles beasts that help stop the bloons, which are accessed by buying upgrades. Upon owning any beast, the base attack stops in order to focus on the beast(s). These beasts can be placed anywhere in its larger (50) range, essentially giving the tower two ranges. When two or more Beast Handlers are merged, the beasts can be placed inside of the range of connected Beast Handlers, similarly to Advanced Intel. Land and water beasts can share range among two or more handlers connected by being linked within range of each other, while flying beasts can fly within range of all contributing handlers across the screen.

Each upgrade path gives the Beast Handler access to different beasts: top path is water-based, middle path gives theropod beasts, and bottom path offers avian creatures. These beasts are each placed and targeted differently. Top path requires water to be placed or upgraded and can be moved anywhere, granted there is water. Middle path is placed on land and can be moved similarly to the top path. Bottom path is different; the birds can move anywhere in the Beast Handler's effective range, similarly to Etienne's drones, but can target where bloons are re-positioned. All of these actions are controlled by a green button next to the Beast Handler's portrait, the "Place Beast" button.

Beast Handlers can co-operate in a special networking system to merge weaker beasts into stronger beasts, upgrading them in the process. All beasts incorporate a unique energy system that allows merging of beasts of the same terrain, bigger and more powerful beasts costing more energy. By giving a beast more energy, it empowers all of the host beast's attacks. When at max energy, the beast gets a new skin. Beasts of the same terrain type can be merged into stronger or equal tier beasts to enhance the power of the host. 4 contributing handlers at Tier 4 are required in order to access the Tier 5 upgrades. After purchasing a Tier 5 upgrade, it is possible to keep the Tier 5 while still selling the merged Tier 4 Handlers, of course with the caveat of losing power for that Beast Handler. Having all three respective Tier 5 Beast Handlers active at maximum power will require at least 18 different Beast Handlers.

It costs $210 on Easy, $250 on Medium, $270 on Hard, and $300 on Impoppable.

Description

Beast Handler with its upgrade menu opened

The base Beast Handler carries a Beast Melee Staff and wears a colorful circular neck protector. They have their hair in dreadlocks in a ponytail that is tied back with a rope. It is a utility tower that can command beasts who fulfill different roles depending on the path. All tier 5 upgrades require a tier 4 Beast Handler merged with three of the same tier 4 Beast Handlers to purchase.

Path 1 involves increasingly large aquatic animals that require nearby water and focus on high single-target damage with some collateral damage. The first upgrade, Piranha, summons a small fish that leaps at bloons and bites them once. The next upgrade, Barracuda, deals more damage, can now hit multiple bloons, and can now slap bloons after biting with slight pushback. Great White lets it leap and bite onto MOAB-Class bloons, dealing more damage and thrashes multiple times, and can down bloons to instakill them, including MOABs at max power, once again thrashing to damage nearby bloons. Orca lets it instakill up to BFBs by default, and ZOMGs and DDTs at max power, alongside more damage and pierce. Megalodons can instakill up to BADs until round 150, and significantly improves its damage and pierce further.

Path 2 trains increasingly large land theropod dinosaurs that focus on generalized damage with a bonus against stunned bloons. The initial upgrade, Microraptor, swipes at bloons. The second upgrade, Adasaurus, lets it pop lead and improves damage and pierce. The next upgrade, Velociraptor, gives it a damage bonus to stunned bloons and improves damage, range, and pierce. Tyrannosaurus Rex gains more damage, range, and pierce, alongside the T Rex Stomp ability, which deals moderate damage to large quantities of bloons within range, hits camo, and stuns up to a ZOMG/DDT. Giganotosaurus further improves damage to stunned bloons, alongside stronger attacks and stomp gaining global range.

Path 3 handles increasingly large airborne birds with a focus on moving bloons across the track, and thus requires nearby track to upgrade. All birds will move bloons to wherever their handler's special targeting is set, allowing it to move bloons to different lanes. Tier 1, Gyrfalcon, picks up bloons and moves it to the target spot. The next upgrade, Horned Owl, gives camo detection, slightly more pierce, and lets it grab ceramic bloons, although only one at a time. The following upgrade, Golden Eagle, improves range and pierce, increases its maximum bonus damage, and the max Golden Eagle can move up to a single MOAB at a time. Giant Condor lets it move up to a BFB and makes its attack stronger. Pouākai lets it move ZOMGs and DDTs and further improves its attacks to deal much greater damage to all bloon types.

Merging

Main article: Merge

Merging process of a Microraptor into an Adasaurus

Beast Handlers can merge beasts into Tier 2 or above beasts, as these beasts each have more than 1 beast power. "Beast power" is essentially a unit of beast strength that builds up as the beast gains more tiers or is merged with more beasts of equal or lower tier (except Tier 5, which cannot accept other Tier 5 beasts).

As beasts gain higher power, their physical appearance changes at max power, and sometimes also at an intermediate amount of power not necessarily equal to halfway between min and max power. The following visual changes to the beasts occur at T2 and above:

• T2: 3/6, 6/6
• T3: 8/24, 16/24, 24/24
• T4: 16/64, 36/64, 64/64
• T5: 36/132, 100/132, 132/132

Place Beast

Main article: Place Beast

Place Beast buttons for a 0-1-1 Beast Handler

All Beast Handlers with at least one active beast each have one or two Place Beast button(s) that can be used to move around their respective beasts. It is similar to Manual Targeting. There are up to two of three targeting buttons that can be active for a Beast Handler: Place Fish, Place Dinosaur, and Target Bird. Each of these buttons place the beast of the given terrain, or repositions them if already placed. Placed beasts can be placed anywhere within range of the Beast Handler or within range of any contributing Beast Handlers. In the case of birds, the reticle controls where they fly back towards.

Repositioning aquatic or terrestrial species undergoes a 2s cooldown before the button refreshes again; this is to prevent players from abusing this button with macros. Moving the reticle of a bird has no virtual cooldown.

Targeting Priorities

The base Beast Handler uses the standard target priorities: First, Last, Close, Strong. All its attacks are dependent on its given target priority. If upgraded, the Beast Handler ceases its melee staff attack and replaces it with a networking system consisting of beasts, energy, and merging.

• 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.

Upon gaining a beast, the Beast Handler gains access to the Place Beast button, a green button that repositions a beast within valid range. Upon having at least one Tier 2+ beast, Beast Handlers can access the Merge button to merge their weaker beasts into stronger beasts of the same terrain.

Contributing handlers are treated differently in terms of how they accept targeting priorities. Essentially, they lose targeting priorities for their now-merged beast(s), and having no beasts left loses targeting priorities completely. If you merge a Beast Handler with another Handler in their Beast Placement range, you can move a beast in the combined range, essentially extending the placement range.

Upgrades

Note: Statistics listed on this section do not take into account additional stats via Beast Power.

Path 1

Piranha COST: $135 / $160 / $175 / $190 UNLOCK: 250 XP

Description: Command a small but feisty little fish to leap from the water at the Bloons. Effect: Beast Handler: Requires water terrain within tower range to be purchasable. Summons a Piranha that leaps at Bloons within range. Can reposition the beast to a valid water location at a cooldown of 2s. Has 1 base Beast Power and 1 max Beast Power. Piranha: Leaps onto bloons within range and bites them. Bites 1 target every 0.6s.

Barracuda COST: $690 / $810 / $875 / $970 UNLOCK: 500 XP

Description: The Barracuda slaps Bloons backwards and pops multiple layers with their razor sharp teeth. Base Beast Power increased to 3 and max Beast Power becomes 6. Bonus of 2 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Piranha into a Barracuda. Barracuda: Bites multiple bloons and pushes Bloons back slightly. Deals 2 damage, 4 pierce, and range increased to 30 (from 25), with a biting radius of 5(?). At max power, has 4 damage and 10 pierce, plus much more attack speed.

Great White COST: $1,710 / $2,010 / $2,170 / $2,410 UNLOCK: 1,000 XP

Description: The Great White will crush Bloons, including Lead Bloons in its jaws, dragging them back to the water if needed. At max Beast Power the Great White can drag down MOABs. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Barracuda into a Great White Shark. Base Beast Power becomes 8, max Beast Power increased to 24. Bonus of 5 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Great White: Great White latches onto any bloon target for upwards of 5 seconds, dragging it into the water if Ceramic or below. It thrashes its tail while doing so, repeatedly dealing splash damage. Attacks knock-back bloons and slow MOAB-Class, apart from BADs and bosses. Range increased from 30 to 40, splash radius of 15, hurls itself every 1.1s and splashes every 0.55s, the splash dealing 12 damage and 10 pierce. At max power, splash deals 24 damage and 30 pierce plus a much faster rate, and the Great White gains the capability to drag down MOABs (only with 1,000,000 RBE or less).

Orca COST: $10,625 / $12,500 / $13,500 / $15,000 UNLOCK: 4,250 XP

Description: The mighty Orca's huge mouth can grab and drag all but the very largest Bloons into the depths. At max Beast Power the Orca can drag down ZOMGs. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Great White into an Orca. 16 base power, 64 max power. Bonus of 8 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Orca: The Orca can drag down MOABs and BFBs (with 1,000,000 RBE or less) by default. Splash deals 30 damage over 24 radius, knocks back bloons and blimps harder, and pierce of 20 at the same attack speed as the predecessor, and range increased to 40. At max power, splash has 90 damage and 60 pierce, and Orca gains the capability to drag down ZOMGs and visible DDTs (only with 1,000,000 RBE or less).

Megalodon COST: $38,250 / $45,000 / $48,600 / $54,000 UNLOCK: 100,000 XP

Description: A truly colossal shark with a taste for Bloon. Requires 3 additional Orca Handlers to control. Effect: Beast Handler: 3 other Orca Handlers are required to be merged with this tower for the upgrade to be purchasable. Transforms the Orca into a Megalodon. Base Beast Power becomes 84 (down to 36 if Orca Handlers are sold), with a minimum of 36 power and max of 132 power. Bonus of 20 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Megalodon: Megalodon can drag down all non-Boss MOAB-Class Bloons (with 1,000,000 RBE or less), including BADs. Splash radius increased to 32 and range to 50, lashes out every 0.8s instead of 1.1s, and starts with a splash rate of 0.5s instead of 0.55s, and can knockback MOAB-class with their 50% speed. Default Megalodon has 1,400 splash damage, 70 pierce, and 0.314s splash cooldown. Max Beast Power deals 2,100 damage and 90 pierce, and 0.2281s splash cooldown.

Path 2

	Microraptor COST: $150 / $175 / $190 / $210 UNLOCK: 250 XP
	Description: Command a sharp clawed little dinosaur. Effect: Beast Handler: Summon a Microraptor onto nearby land. Can reposition the beast to a valid land location at a cooldown of 2s. Has 1 base Beast Power and 1 max Beast Power. Microraptor: Attacks bloons with its claws, deals 1 damage, attacks every 1.0s, and has 5 pierce and 20 range.

Adasaurus COST: $705 / $830 / $895 / $995 UNLOCK: 500 XP

Description: The sharp teeth of Adasaurus deal high short range damage that can tear through Lead. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Microraptor into an Adasaurus. Base Beast Power increased to 3 and max Beast Power becomes 6. Bonus of 2 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Adasaurus: Adasaurus can pop Frozen and Lead Bloons. 3 damage, 8 pierce, and 1.0s attack speed. Max Beast Power becomes 6, with 6 damage, 20 pierce, and 0.6561s attack speed.

Velociraptor COST: $1,755 / $2,065 / $2,230 / $2,480 UNLOCK: 1,000 XP

Description: Velociraptor viciously slashes and chomps, dealing more damage to stunned Bloons. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Adasaurus into a Velociraptor. Base Beast Power becomes 8, max Beast Power increased to 24. Bonus of 5 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Velociraptor: Velociraptor deals more damage to stunned Bloons. Bites deal 9 damage, 14 pierce, 1.0s attack speed, and 24 range. At max power, 27 damage, 36 pierce and 0.6561s attack speed.

Tyrannosaurus Rex COST: $8,075 / $9,500 / $10,260 / $11,400 UNLOCK: 5,000 XP

Description: The Tyrannosaurus Rex's huge jaw and sharp teeth deal a ton of damage with each bite. T Rex Stomp ability: Stuns up to ZOMG Bloons in a wide area. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Velociraptor into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. 16 base power, 64 max power. Bonus of 8 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Tyrannosaurus: Bite deals 26 damage, 8 bonus damage to stunned bloons, 24 pierce, and 30 range. Max Beast Power improves to 78 damage, 25 bonus damage to stunned bloons, 55 pierce, and damage carries over from MOAB-class to their children. Gains Stomp ability which stuns up to 400 bloons within range, including ZOMGs and DDTs, for 6 seconds, dealing 150 damage, and has a 40s cooldown. At max Beast Power, ability deals 214 damage, stuns up to 436 bloons, reduces cooldown to 17.5s, and damage and stun carry over from MOAB-class to their children.

Giganotosaurus COST: $51,000 / $60,000 / $64,800 / $72,000 UNLOCK: 90,000 XP

Description: The biggest and most fierce dinosaur of them all, Giganotosaurus can shred almost any Bloon instantly and with ease. Stomp ability hits the whole map and lasts longer. Requires 3 additional Tyrannosaurus Handlers to control. Effect: Beast Handler: 3 other Tyrannosaurus Handlers are required to be merged with this tower for the upgrade to be purchasable. Transforms the T-Rex into a Giganotosaurus. Base Beast Power becomes 84 (down to 36 if Tyrannosaurus Handlers are sold), with a minimum of 36 power and max of 132 power. Bonus of 20 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Giganotosaurus: Bites deal significantly greater damage but at a slower rate, range improved to 50, and ignores Line of Sight. Default Giganotosaurus's bite deals 1150 damage, 1533 damage against stunned bloons, 105 pierce, 1.08s attack speed. Max Beast Power improves its bites to deal 1550 damage, 2066 damage against stunned bloons, 150 pierce, and damage carries over from MOAB-class to their children. Stomp ability now hits entire map, deals 550 damage and stuns up to 645 bloons for 12 seconds (6s for MOABs, 4s for BFBs, and 3s for ZOMGs and DDTs), and has a 25s cooldown. At max Beast Power, ability deals 950 damage, pierce is 645, and cooldown is 17.5s.

Path 3

Gyrfalcon COST: $160 / $190 / $205 / $230 UNLOCK: 250 XP

Description: Command a noble little bird of prey that can grab and move Bloons to the drop-off target. Bloons up-track of the target get scratched. Effect: Beast Handler: Requires track within tower range to be purchasable. Summons a gyrfalcon that flies within range of the Beast Handler's handling range. Reposition point controls pickup of bloons versus simply damaging the bloons on the spot. Has 1 base Beast Power and 1 max Beast Power. Gyrfalcon: Flies towards bloons within range, which does 1 damage and carries up to 3 Bloons partway towards the entrance with its claws. Cannot carry Lead, Ceramic, or MOAB-class Bloons. If target(s) are further along the track than the reposition point, picks the targets up, otherwise just pecking them. Deals +1 Regrow damage. Caught bloons only spawn one child.

Horned Owl COST: $730 / $860 / $930 / $1,030 UNLOCK: 500 XP

Description: The Horned Owl is strong enough to grab Ceramic Bloons, and has keen eyes that can detect Camo Bloons. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Gyrfalcon into a Horned Owl. Base Beast Power increased to 3 and max Beast Power becomes 6. Bonus of 2 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Horned Owl: Can detect camo and pick up more bloons within a wider region. Can pick up Leads (if given Lead-popping) equal to pierce minus one; Fortified Leads consume 2 pierce each and Ceramics consume 6. Deals 1 damage, 6 pierce and 0.7s attack speed. At max power, 2 damage and 18 pierce.

Golden Eagle COST: $1,800 / $2,120 / $2,290 / $2,545 UNLOCK: 1,000 XP

Description: The Golden Eagle's huge talons make it an expert at grabbing large numbers of Bloons at once. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Horned Owl into a Golden Eagle. Base Beast Power becomes 8, max Beast Power increased to 24. Bonus of 5 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Golden Eagle: Picks many more bloons and more efficiency at picking up heavier bloons. Lead (if given Lead-popping) consumes only 1 pierce (from 2) and Ceramic consumes 2 (from 6). Deals 1 damage and 30 pierce. At max power, deals 3 damage, 90 pierce, and the capability to pick up MOABs that consume an arbitrarily high pierce. Birds can overflow on pierce, so it can pick up a single MOAB and then nothing else.

Giant Condor COST: $7,650 / $9,000 / $9,720 / $10,800 UNLOCK: 5,500 XP

Description: The huge talons of the fearsome Giant Condor can pick up smaller MOAB-Class Bloons. Effect: Beast Handler: Transforms the Golden Eagle into a Giant Condor. 16 base power, 64 max power. Bonus of 8 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Giant Condor: Can pick up smaller MOAB-class bloons, and MOABs consume 15 pierce. Can pick up to BFBs, which consume 30 pierce. If Lead properties are countered, Condors can grab DDTs, which consume 30 pierce. Deals 2 damage, 13 MOAB-class damage, and 30 pierce. Max Beast Power deals 6 damage, 23 MOAB-class damage, and 90 pierce.

Pouākai COST: $25,500 / $30,000 / $32,400 / $36,000 UNLOCK: 110,000 XP

Description: The legendary Pouākai, a bird so large that it can pick up, carry off and destroy almost any number of Bloons of almost any size. Requires 3 additional Condor Handlers to control. Effect: Beast Handler: 3 other Condor Handlers are required to be merged with this tower for the upgrade to be purchasable. Transforms the Giant Condor into a Pouākai. Base Beast Power becomes 84 (down to 36 if Condor Handlers are sold), with a minimum of 36 power and max of 132 power. Bonus of 20 Beast Power compared to predecessor. Pouākai: Picks up many more bloons in a massive region and affects any type of bloon. No longer consumes extra pierce versus Ceramics. Can naturally pop Lead and pick up ZOMGs, which consume 60 pierce. BADs and Bosses can be hit and damaged but not picked up. Default Pouakai deals 50 damage, 130 MOAB-class damage, and 300 pierce. At max Beast Power, deals 90 damage, 170 MOAB-class damage, and 450 pierce.

Total Cost

Easy:

		Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Path 1
	Base Cost	135	745	2,505	10,625	38,250
	Cumulative Cost	345	1,090	3,595	14,220	52,470
	Base Sell	94.5	521.5	1,753.5	7,437.5	26,775
	Cumulative Sell	241.5	763	2,516.5	9,954	36,729
Path 2
	Base Cost
	Cumulative Cost	210
	Base Sell
	Cumulative Sell	147
Path 3
	Base Cost	210
	Cumulative Cost
	Base Sell
	Cumulative Sell	147

Medium:

		Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Path 1
	Base Cost	160	875	2,950	12,500	45,000
	Cumulative Cost	410	1,285	4,235	16,735	61,735
	Base Sell	112	612.5	2,065	8,750	31,500
	Cumulative Sell	287	899.5	2,964.5	11,714.5	43,214.5
Path 2
	Base Cost	195	945	2,600	9,500	70,000
	Cumulative Cost	445	1,390	3,990	13,490	83,490
	Base Sell	136.5	661.5	1,820	6,650	49,000
	Cumulative Sell	311.5	973	2,793	9,443	58,443
Path 3
	Base Cost	180	915	3,000	8,000	30,000
	Cumulative Cost	430	1,345	4,345	12,345	42,345
	Base Sell	126	640.5	2,100	5,600	21,000
	Cumulative Sell	301	941.5	3,041.5	8,641.5	29,641.5

Hard:

		Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Path 1
	Base Cost	185	920	2240	13,500	48,600
	Cumulative Cost	455	1375	3615	17,115	65,715
	Base Sell	129,5	644	1568	9450	34,020
	Cumulative Sell	318.5	862.5	2530.5	11,980.5	46,000,5
Path 2
	Base Cost	210	960	2,345	10,260	64,800
	Cumulative Cost	480	1440	3785	14,045	78,845
	Base Sell	147	672	1641.5	7182	45360
	Cumulative Sell	336	1008	2649.5	9831.5	55,191.5
Path 3
	Base Cost	225	1,015	3,400	8,425	32,400
	Cumulative Cost	495	1510	4910	13,335	45735
	Base Sell	157.5	710.5	2380	5897.5	22,689
	Cumulative Sell	346.5	1057	3437	9334.5	32,014.5

Impoppable:

		Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Path 1
	Base Cost
	Cumulative Cost
	Base Sell
	Cumulative Sell
Path 2
	Base Cost
	Cumulative Cost
	Base Sell
	Cumulative Sell
Path 3
	Base Cost
	Cumulative Cost
	Base Sell
	Cumulative Sell

• Path 1 Total Cost: $63,945 / $75,235 / $81,255 / $90,280
• Path 2 Total Cost: $70,965 / $83,490 / $90,170 / $100,190
• Path 3 Total Cost: $35,995 / $42,345 / $45,735 / $50,815

Tier 5 Prices do not include the other tier 4 Beast Handlers prices required to purchase the tier 5

Full Popology

This section lists stats for the 0-0-0 Beast Handler. For full popologies of its upgrades, refer to the #Further Popology below.

Statistics

Updated as of Version 36.2

Base Stats

• Stab:
  • Melee hitscan, energy type, 20 range, 1.4s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 4 pierce.
• Handler:
  • Passive type, contains a dummy 60 range that is reserved upon gaining a beast. Upon gaining a beast, Stab ceases and Handler is activated.

Notes:

• Footprint size is 7 in circular area.
• As a Support Monkey, it can be placed on Support-only land plots and cannot damage Dreadbloon's fourth damage phase.
• For purposes of Advanced Intel, Beast Handler's range is dictated by an activation of either Stab or Handler.
• Cannot be moved by Support Chinook.

Merging Interactions:

Beast Handler requires a beast to perform merging, accessible via upgrades. Tier 2 and above beasts undergo a system of statistical enhancements that improve in different ways, depending on the amount of beast power given to that beast.

• Improvements to pierce and damage increase by a floored ratio, up to the maximum amount at max power. Knockback duration works similarly, without rounding down.
• Attack speed is increased by decreasing attack cooldown by an additive cooldown reduction in increments of power, down to the maximum cooldown scaling (i.e. the minimum cooldown).
• Ability cooldown reduction rate is affected by both attack cooldown and its reduction from merging. Also it stacks additively with Energizer but the maximum is 70%.

For purposes of simplifying the equations for beast statistics, let each variable assign a particular value of the beast. Assume that maximum beast power is greater than and not equal to minimum beast power.

• b_M: Maximum beast power
• b_c: Current beast power
• b_m: Minimum beast power
• p_M: Pierce of max-powered beast
• p_c: Pierce of current beast
• p_m: Pierce of min-powered beast

$$\text{Pierce} = p_c = p_m + floor(\frac{b_c - b_m}{b_M - b_m} * (p_M - p_m)))$$

[for obvious reasons, assume b_M > b_m]

• b_M: Maximum beast power
• b_c: Current beast power
• b_m: Minimum beast power
• d_M: Damage of max-powered beast
• d_c: Damage of current beast
• d_m: Damage of min-powered beast

$$\text{Damage} = d_c = d_m + floor(\frac{b_c - b_m}{b_M - b_m} * (d_M - d_m)))$$

[for obvious reasons, assume b_M > b_m]

• d_c: Damage of current beast
• d_m: Damage of min-powered beast
• sd_c: Bonus stunned damage of current beast
• sd_m: Bonus stunned damage of min-powered beast
• sd_v: Divisor of the bonus stunned damage

$${\text{Bonus Stunned Damage}}=sd_{c}=sd_{m}+floor((d_{c}-d_{m})/sd_{v})$$

[for obvious reasons, assume b_M > b_m]

• b_M: Maximum beast power
• b_c: Current beast power
• b_m: Minimum beast power
• k_M: Knockback duration of max-powered beast
• k_c: Knockback duration of current beast
• k_m: Knockback duration of min-powered beast

$$\text{Knockback Duration} = k_c = k_m + \frac{b_c - b_m}{b_M - b_m} * (k_M - k_m)$$

[for obvious reasons, assume b_M > b_m]

• b_M: Maximum beast power
• b_c: Current beast power
• b_m: Minimum beast power
• r_M: Attack cooldown of max-powered beast
• r_c: Attack cooldown of current beast
• r_m: Attack cooldown of min-powered beast

$$\text{Attack Cooldown} = r_c = r_m - \frac{b_c - b_m}{b_M - b_m} * (r_m - r_M)$$

[for obvious reasons, assume b_M > b_m]

Note: Upper Path 1 Beast Handlers operate on a basis of a "base rate" of a given attack cooldown value that scales by a cooldown multiplier (e.g. 8/24 Great White has 1.1x cooldown multiplier of the base 0.5s, equal to 0.55s, whereas the 24/24 Great White has a 0.72x cooldown multiplier, equal to 0.36s)

• a_c: Ability cooldown of current beast
• a_m: Ability cooldown of min-powered beast
• r_c: Attack cooldown of current beast
• r_m: Attack cooldown of min-powered beast

$$\text{Ability Cooldown} = a_c = a_m * (1 - \frac{r_m - r_c}{r_c} )$$

Additionally, some beasts may gain additional statistical benefits upon reaching certain milestones of beast power, such as:

• 24/24 Great White's instakilling of MOABs
• 24/24 Golden Eagle's pickup of MOABs
• 64/64 Orca's instakilling of ZOMGs and visible DDTs
• 64/64 Tyrannosaurus Rex damage penetration of MOAB-class bloons
• 64/64 Giant Condor’s targeting of unpickable blimps (BADs and Bosses)
• 132/132 Giganotosaurus damage penetration of MOAB-class bloons

Attack Interactions

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Support

Updated as of Version 38.3

• Stab:
  • Energy
  • Melee
  • Single Projectile
  • Straight Attack
• Handler:
  • Passive

Further Popology

• Piranha · Barracuda · Great White · Orca · Megalodon
• Microraptor · Adasaurus · Velociraptor · Tyrannosaurus Rex · Giganotosaurus
• Gyrfalcon · Horned Owl · Golden Eagle · Giant Condor · Pouākai

Strategy

See also: Beast Handler/Strategies

Summary

An upgraded Beast Handler can train a variety of beasts that help stop the bloons. It requires intense synergy and interactions with its complex networking system to optimize the power of separate weaker beasts and merged stronger beasts. As a bonus, the base Beast Handler is a semi-cheap way of popping a few bloons within close range. Crosspathing choice for Beast Handler is fairly insignificant, and mainly depends on fulfilling specific roles that the main beast(s) cannot feasibly do on their own, or just cheap merges into higher-tier beasts of different terrains. In terms of role for each stage of the game, the Beast Handler is mainly a support option, containing many unique utilities that help stop the bloons, making it helpful for all stages of the game in combination with an already strong defense.

Optimizing the beast-merging system involves careful steps in progression towards stronger beasts; the order of placing and merging beasts hugely matters. Take into account the weaker beasts that may help across the earlier rounds while taking into account the strength of the stronger beasts upon merging the weaker beasts into them. Each tier of beast has their own advantages and disadvantages depending on the amount of Beast Power added into the beasts, the number of beasts, and the general performance of the beasts in conjunction with current defenses. For Tier 2+ beasts, look for the most cost-efficient method of obtaining a beast with desirable feature(s), such as "ranged intel" (for sharing beast range) and allowing the beasts to inflict an exact amount of damage or other statistic benefit (specifically: pierce, attack cooldown, or miscellaneous benefits); note that some conditions must be met by fulfilling specific interactions with the beasts.

Tips

• The base Beast Handler can be used in the early-game for a small amount of extra popping, especially against Frozen Bloons due to its non-sharp damage type. Note that upgrading it loses that short-ranged melee attack.
• Beast Handler early-game is fairly weak on its own until an Adasaurus or Barracuda can be afforded, requiring synergy with other defenses in order to add any significant early-game prowess.
  • On most Beginner Maps, it does solo the first few rounds of CHIMPS with the 1-0-1 crosspath (requires water), or duo with two 0-0-0 Beast Handlers, though a 0-0-0 Beast Handler + 0-0-0 Dart/Sub/Sniper is generally more efficient if insisting on a Beast Handler start. Most crosspathed Beast Handler starts require some degree of micromanagement to get through the first few rounds of CHIMPS on most maps.
  • 1-1-0 and 0-1-1 crosspaths are situationally useful, as its extremely high micro requirements make it doable for a CHIMPS early-game start on hard maps such as Muddy Puddles but unwieldy compared to other starting combinations.
  • 1-1-0 and 1-0-1 are affordable on the get-go, but 0-1-1 is barely unaffordable on Round 6 CHIMPS unless the 0-1-0 can pop a few bloons before affording the 0-1-1.
• As none of the Beast Handlers have a way of popping Camo Leads without Pouākai or Tyrannosaurus Rex's Stomp ability, they will need external support to affect them.
• Beast Handler has no specific synergy with crosspathing, the beasts of multiple crosspaths simply fulfilling separate benefits. Depending on needs, crosspaths offer several benefits that aren't feasible on the main crosspath. For instance, bottom crosspath offers some early camo popping, middle offers early lead-popping, and top has quick individual damage and small knockback.
• When utilising the unique Beast Handler shared ranges, aquatic and terrestrial beasts require the contributing handlers to be within range of each other, while flying beasts always can travel within range of all contributing handlers under all circumstances.
• All Tier 1-3 upgrades have relatively similar costs to each respective upgrade tier ($160-$190, $810-$860, $2010-$2120), but Tier 4-5 widely ranging in costs.
• When doing cost-efficient merging for energy gain, T3 Handlers under discounts from Monkey Commerce are generally more space-efficient and save a good chunk of money while also being slightly more cost-effective but harder to save up, while multiple T1 Handlers are generally more accessible as gradual progressions but require much more space.
  • If there are large quantities of uncrosspathed handlers of a different upgrade path, starting with many T1 first and then T2 is generally more cost-efficient.
  • Note that adding multiple merged T1's also has the advantage of extra intel for beast placements.
  • T2 Beasts offer a middleground of both efficiencies of T1 and T3 Beasts; T2 Beasts are more cost-efficient than T1 Beasts yet directly takes more space than T3 Beasts, collectively have a modest amount of ranged intel, and still leave room for further upgrading into T3 Beasts if required.
• Water beasts and land beasts have extremely small but not zero footprint. Thus, they can fit in very tight locations that most towers cannot fit at all. Land beasts in particular can fit in extremely tight land spots, such as the gaps between Cubism's ponds and paths.
• Beast Handlers serve generally low value in Race Events due to the high micromanagement and high maintenance requirements for gathering beast powers and optimizations. However, Adasaurus and Velociraptor have acceptable amounts of group-popping, Tyrannosaurus Rex's stomp ability can act as a cheaper Tech Terror, and Orca can replace Monkey Pirates's hook in some cases.
• When it comes to merging beasts into more than one handler, note that only direct merges to the host handler count as ranged intel for the host's beast; merging a beast into a beast twice or more ignores some of the contributing handlers' ranges. This is especially important for bird merges.
• In terms of the beast power of T5 beasts, the starting 84/132 value obtained from merging three other T4 beasts is always halfway compared to the minimal 36/132 and maximal 132/132. Therefore, any calculation containing minimum and maximum values should use the middle value as the basis for judging the power of the bought T5 upgrade.
• To max a beast of a specific tier, invest power equal to the maximum power value minus the default power value.
  • T2: 3/6 is the default, so 3 power is required for a max T2. This is equivalent to x3 T1 or x1 T2.
  • T3: 8/24 is the default, so 16 power is required for a max T3. This is equivalent to x16 T1, x5 T2 plus x1 T1, or x2 T3.
  • T4: 16/64 is the default, so 48 power is required for a max T4. This is equivalent to x48 T1, x16 T2, x6 T3, or x3 T4.
  • T5: 84/132 is the default, so 48 power is required for a max T5 after obtaining the necessary extra x3 T4's. This is equivalent to x48 T1, x16 T2, x6 T3, or x3 T4.

Beast Merge Mathematics

Updated as of Version 44.0

Merge Efficiency (Cost, Power; Cost / Power)

Path 1 Beast	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
1-0-0	$345, 1 power $345.0 / power	$410, 1 power $410.0 / power	$440, 1 power $440.0 / power	$490, 1 power $490.0 / power
2-0-0	$1035, 3 power $345.0 / power	$1220, 3 power $406.6667 / power	$1315, 3 power $438.3333 / power	$1460, 3 power $486.6667 / power
3-0-0	$2745, 8 power $343.125 / power	$3230, 8 power $403.75 / power	$3485, 8 power $435.625 / power	$3870, 8 power $483.75 / power
4-0-0	$13370, 16 power $835.625 / power	$15730, 16 power $983.125 / power	$16985, 16 power $1061.5625 / power	$18870, 16 power $1179.375 / power
Path 2 Beast	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
0-1-0	$360, 1 power $360.0 / power	$425, 1 power $425.0 / power	$460, 1 power $460.0 / power	$510, 1 power $510.0 / power
0-2-0	$1065, 3 power $355.0 / power	$1255, 3 power $418.3333 / power	$1355, 3 power $451.6667 / power	$1505, 3 power $501.6667 / power
0-3-0	$2820, 8 power $352.5 / power	$3320, 8 power $415.0 / power	$3585, 8 power $448.125 / power	$3985, 8 power $498.125 / power
0-4-0	$10895, 16 power $680.9375 / power	$12820, 16 power $801.25 / power	$13845, 16 power $865.3125 / power	$15385, 16 power $961.5625 / power
Path 3 Beast	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
0-0-1	$370, 1 power $370.0 / power	$440, 1 power $440.0 / power	$475, 1 power $475.0 / power	$530, 1 power $530.0 / power
0-0-2	$1100, 3 power $366.6667 / power	$1300, 3 power $433.3333 / power	$1405, 3 power $468.3333 / power	$1560, 3 power $520.0 / power
0-0-3	$2900, 8 power $362.5 / power	$3420, 8 power $427.5 / power	$3695, 8 power $461.875 / power	$4105, 8 power $513.125 / power
0-0-4	$10550, 16 power $659.375 / power	$12420, 16 power $776.25 / power	$13415, 16 power $838.4375 / power	$14905, 16 power $931.5625 / power

Monkey Knowledge

Note: The Beast Handler has no Monkey Knowledge exclusive to itself nor any universal Support Monkey MK Points.

This section displays Monkey Knowledge that has effects on Beast Handler and its changes when compared to one by default:

• 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%.
• Global Ability Cooldowns: All Ability cooldowns for all Monkeys reduced by 3%.

Version History

Balance Changes

36.0

• Released

36.1

• [bug fix] Great White and above thrash attack cooldown when not dragging a target reduced from 0.02s -> 0.3s.

36.2

• [undocumented] Beast Handler can now be sacrificed to Sun Temples, True Sun God, and Adora.

37.0

“	As our newest tower to be added to BTD6, we went over feedback for every path and made a large number of adjustments addressing a variety of points.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Great White now benefits from speed buffs. Also affects subsequent upgrades
• Great White splash damage increased 4 → 8, maximum damage from merges increased 8 → 16
• Great White max attack rate buff from merge increased -0.20634x → -0.38x
  • [undocumented bug] Maximum attack rate bonus is accidentally much faster than intended rate. Due to the base 0.6x attack cooldown multiplier compared to -0.38x, the max Great White now attacks at a 0.22x.
• Great White extra thrash knockback duration from merged increased 0.1s → 0.2s
• Orca thrash damage increased 20 → 30
• Orca thrash max extra damage from merge increased 40 → 60
• Orca max attack rate buff from merge increased -0.37829x → -0.38x
• Orca thrash radius increased 20 → 24
• Megalodon price reduced $55,000 → $45,000
• Megalodon thrash radius increased 30 → 36
• [undocumented] Upgraded Beast Handlers that lack any beast can no longer be targeted by Overclock or Ultraboost.
• [undocumented] Flying beasts no longer accept the Overclock or Ultraboost buffs.
  • Note: Ninja Kiwi incorrectly addressed "5-x-x & x-5-x Beast handler paths are now overclockable", which implies that beasts from Paths 1 and 2 can be buffed from Overclock; from testing, the actual balance change is that birds no longer accept Overclock or Ultraboost buffs, and previously all Beast Handlers could accept the Overclock buff properly and pass them to their beasts, just now water beasts can accept the buff better by increasing rate of the splash. This also affects Ultraboost.
• Tyrannosaurus Rex and Giganotosaurus main attack and abilities now penetrates damage through MOAB-class bloons when max beast power reached
• Gyrfalcon and above upgrades now deal +1 Regrow damage (It can no longer produce infinite Regrow Farms, however.)
• Golden Eagle base pierce increased 12 → 15
• Golden Eagle grab range increased 24 → 30
• Golden Eagle ceramic extra pierce consume reduced +3 → +1
• Golden Eagle at max tier can now grab MOABs. Picking up a MOAB consumes +14 pierce.

37.2

“	Due to the number of stat values that all interact together to allow Beast Handler to work and scale in the way it does, we made a mistake in the recent top path balance changes resulting in 3xx gaining a larger merge benefit than the T4 so we have corrected this with matching rates.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Great White thrash cooldown multiplier increased 0.6x → 1.1x (i.e. cooldown increased 0.3s → 0.55s) at minimum power.

38.0

“	Compared to other T4 Beast Handlers and given the high cost of merging multiple beasts we agreed that the Orca & Megalodon’s total prices were too much more expensive for their somewhat random nature. The lower tiers on middle path Microraptor and Velociraptor are seeing all-round reductions as both have too high a base power and benefit too much from merges, gaining an overall greater attack speed benefit percentage-wise from merges than Trex does. Pouakai’s base pierce value was far too high so this along with the merge amount is being taken down.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Orca price reduced from $16,000 → $12,500
• Adasaurs attack cooldown scale 0.3439 → 0.3105
• Velociraptor raptor attack cooldown scale 0.3951 → 0.3105
• Adasaurus pierce reduced from 10 → 8
• Adasaurus pierce range reduced from 15 → 12
• Velociraptor damage 12 → 9
• Velociraptor damage range 24 → 18
• Pouakai pierce reduced from 300 → 200
• Pouakai pierce range reduced from 400 → 250

39.0

“	Our most recently added tower, the Beast Handler, is still going through growing pains with a bulk of minor tweaks and small adjustments - mainly centered around merge mechanic value, so we’ll break this down path by path.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

“	Beast Handler’s general repositioning feels far too free right now, the reposition cooldown is being increased to a more reasonably noticeable number so this feels like a meaningful cost.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Beast Handler beast reposition cooldown increased from 0.5s to 5s

“	Great White lacks a lot of pierce for an upgrade with a slower widespread AoE design for the price range. Orca we feel has both min & max power use cases, though doesn’t grow enough ‘along the way’ from un-maxed merging.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Great White pierce increased. Minimum increased from 6 to 10, maximum increased from 24 to 30.
  • Great White pierce increased (6 → 10)
  • Great White max bonus pierce from merge increased (18 → 20)
• Orca max bonus pierce from merge increased (24 → 40). Max pierce increased from 44 to 60.

“	Velociraptor performs as one of the most exceptional early tier upgrades in the game. We’ve been going tame on this path so far as we’re happy for it to stay one of the top options, however it is too far ahead still so we are smoothing out the attack rates to match T-rex.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Adasaurus attack cooldown decreased. Min power cooldown increased from 0.9s to 1s, max power cooldown increased from 0.5895s to 0.6561s.
  • Adasaurus attack delay increased (0.9s → 1s)
  • Adasaurus max attack delay reduction from merge increased (0.3105s → 0.3439s)
• Velocirator attack cooldown increased. Min-power cooldown increased from 0.9s to 1s, max-power cooldown increased (0.5895s -> 0.6561s)
  • Velociraptor attack delay increased (0.9s → 1s)
  • Velociraptor max attack delay reduction from merge increased (0.3105s → 0.3439s)
• Giganotosaurus now ignores Line of Sight
• Giganotosaurus ability cooldown reduced (35s → 25s)

“	Horned Owl’s pierce is too high in the base upgrade with very low value from merging, so more of this is shifting into the merge benefit. Condor’s pierce penalties to early MOAB Class are going up, however the max merged version will now be allowed to attack and damage targets that it cannot grab. Pouakai deals way too much moab damage right from base upgrade given how powerful it also is at controlling MOABs, base damage & pierce stats here are also seeing a shift over into higher merge benefits	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Horned Owl base pierce reduced with merge benefits increased. Minimum pierce decreased from 8 to 6 but maximum increased from 16 to 18.
  • Horned Owl pierce reduced (8 → 6)
  • Horned Owl max bonus pierce from merge increased (8 → 12)
• Giant Condor at max beastpower can now attack ungrabbable MOABs
• Giant Condor pierce penalty versus MOABs increased (10 → 15).
• Giant Condor pierce penalty versus BFBs increased (30 → 45).
• Pouakai pierce penalty versus MOABs increased (10 → 15).
• Pouakai pierce penalty versus BFBs increased (30 → 45).
• Pouakai base pierce reduced with merge benefits increased. Minimum pierce decreased from 200 to 150 but maximum pierce remaining at 450.
  • Pouakai pierce reduced from 200 → 150
  • Pouakai max bonus pierce from merge increased from 250 → 300
• Pouakai base damage reduced with merge benefits increased. Minimum damage decreased from 20 to 10 but maximum damage increased from 60 to 90.
  • Pouakai damage reduced from 20 → 10
  • Pouakai max bonus damage from merge increased from 40 → 80
• Pouakai bonus MOAB-class damage reduced from +110 → +80

40.0

“	We feel Beast Handler balance is setting down nicely overall but it feels like the reposition cooldown increasing was far more impactful and unfun than intended, we still feel the initial delay was silly but are cutting it down again a little. Orca's knockback has the same duration as the T3 so although it does gain a little increased knockback amount already it's very random in what it hits much more expensive than the T3 so this knockback duration is being increased a little for base & merge. Max merged Golden Eagle gaining the ability to grab MOABs made sense at the time although the the pierce and penalties as they were at the time that meant it jumped up from grabbing no MOABs to suddenly 3 MOABs at a time which seemed too far, so the pierce penalty on MOABs is being increased at the T3 so that this reduces from 3 to 2 MOABs at a time.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Beast Handler beast reposition cooldown reduced (5s → 3s)
• Orca minimum knockback duration increased (0.2s → 0.3s) and maximum knockback duration increased (0.4 → 0.6)
  • Orca knockback duration increased (0.2s → 0.3s)
  • Orca knockback merge bonus increased (0.2s → 0.3s)
• Golden Eagle MOAB pierce penalty increased (+14 → +29). Giant Condor MOAB pierce penalty unchanged at +14.

41.0

“	Megalodon's maximum time to drag MOABs to the depths was higher than at T4 given that it now has to account for grabbing BADs, we've now separated this out for a separate max time for BADs and reduced drag time for other MOABs to match the T4 again - along with much stronger & faster thrash knockbacks. T-Rex has been generally too strong while still sitting in a spot we like in terms of gameplay so we have slightly reduced damage and pierce. Bottom path birds up to T3 are also just a little too good for the cost and are all going up about 5% with Condor's price being reduced to compensate.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Megalodon base knockback lifespan reduced from 0.4s to 0.3s
• Megalodon base MOAB-class knockback amount increased from 0.5 to 1.5
• Megalodon "maxMOABGrabTime" value for non-BADs now caps at 6s instead of having no time cap. Does not affect BADs.
• Tyrannosaurus Rex bite damage decreased at all beast power values. Min-power damage decreased from 32 to 30, max-power damage reduced from 96 to 90.
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex bite damage reduced from 32 to 30.
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex bite damage scale reduced from 64 to 60.
• Tyrannosaurus bite bonus stunned damage reduced from a max of +29 to +28
• Tyrannosaurus Rex bite pierce decreased at all beast power values. Min-power damage decreased from 24 to 22, max-power damage reduced from 60 to 55.
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex bite pierce reduced from 24 to 22.
  • Tyrannosaurus Rex bite pierce scale reduced from 36 to 33.
• Giganotosaurus price reduced from $70,000 to $60,000
• Gyrfalcon price increased from $180 to $190
• Horned Owl price increased from $915 to $960
• Golden Eagle price increased from $3000 to $3150
• Giant Condor price reduced from $8000 to $7800

42.0

“	When first creating Beast Handler we balanced the T1-3 upgrade costs with a goal of creating a decision point between spending free playable space to save on cash or spending more cash to save on playable space. However in practice though some people have come on board with spending their playable space as a resource for more power; actual interest is much more divided between maximizing cost efficiency of these merges or simply using different towers. Given that spam of lower tier handlers already comes with the advantage of allowing them to be repositioned over a larger area, we’re changing our approach with a full cost rebalance across most T1-3 upgrades for exactly equal cost per point of merged beast power, instead leaving the nuance around understanding higher value merges & footprint advantage to depend more on discounts.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Piranha price increased from $160 to $170
• Barracuda price reduced from $875 to $850
• Great White Shark price reduced from $2,950 to $2,075
• Adasaurus price reduced from $945 to $890
• Velociraptor price reduced from $2,600 to $2,170
• Gyrfalcon price increased from $190 to $210
• Horned Owl price reduced from $960 to $940
• Golden Eagle MOAB pierce penalty increased from +29 to +44
• Golden Eagle damage decreased, base value decreased (2 → 1) and maximum value decreased (6 → 3). Does not affect Giant Condor, which remains at base 2 damage and max 6 damage.
  • Golden Eagle base damage reduced (2 → 1)
  • Golden Eagle damage bonus from merges decreased (+4 → +2)

43.0

“	In going over our large list of price changes for Beast Handler’s lower tiers in 42 this change was received very positively, however we did not realize that in making this change we killed off all chance of dual-beast handlers being used as a round 1 starting option for under $650 in hard modes – So we gotta do that math all over again and convert it for difficulty, painful 😀 All T1 beast prices changed to allow 110 & 101 beast handler combos to be placed for under $650 in hard mode, all T2 & T3 prices shifted around to keep these same cost ratios.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Piranha cost reduced from $170 to $160
• Barracuda cost reduced from $850 to $810
• Great White cost reduced from $2075 to $2010
• Microraptor cost reduced from $195 to $175
• Adasaurus cost reduced from $890 to $830
• Velociraptor cost reduced from $2170 to $2065
• Gyrfalcon cost reduced from $210 to $190
• Horned Owl cost reduced from $940 to $860
• Golden Eagle cost reduced from $3150 to $2120

“	Orca is very strong currently but Great White doesn’t do so much outside of max merge MOAB Takedowns, so damage is increasing to improve these non-maxed situations.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Great White damage increased from 8 to 12, max power damage increased from 24 to 36, and bonus damage from merges increased from 16 to 24. Does not affect Orca (30, 90, 60).

“	Similar to Sentries, Beast spawn placement will now scale closer to the track based on how much range the beast has.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Piranha now spawns within 20% of their range to the track
• Microraptor now spawns within 30% of their range to the track

“	Golden Eagle has stood out more than Condor against MOABs which has felt very wrong, last update it was nerfed against MOABs and now we are playing with the pierce & penalties to improve Golden Eagle further against non-MOAB-Class targets and for Condor more help with lower MOABs.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Golden Eagle min power pierce increased from 15 to 30, max power pierce increased from 45 to 90, and bonus pierce from merges increased from 30 to 60. Does not affect Giant Condor, which remains identical to the new Golden Eagle.
• Golden Eagle pierce penalty versus MOABs increased from +44 to an arbitrarily high number (+1089), to prevent ever picking more than one MOAB at a time. Does not affect Giant Condor (+14).
• Golden Eagle attack cooldown reduction from merges reduced from 0.28679625s to 0.28s. Max power attack cooldown increased from 0.3132s to 0.32s. Also affects Giant Condor and Pouakai.
• [undocumented] Horned Owl attack cooldown reduction from merges reduced from from 0.28679625s to 0.28s. Max power attack cooldown increased from 0.4132s to 0.42s.
• Giant Condor no longer has +1 pierce penalty versus Ceramics
• Giant Condor pierce penalty versus BFBs reduced from +44 to +29. Also affects Pouakai.
• [undocumented] Giant Condor pierce penalty versus DDTs increased from +49 to +59.
• [undocumented] Pouakai pierce penalty versus ZOMGs and DDTs increased from +49 to +59.

“	We’re slightly reducing beast reposition cooldown as the tiny range leaves movement very tight, which is especially painful for Microraptor path given the low range.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Beast Handler reposition cooldown reduced from 3s to 2s

44.0

“	Great question! We are revising the new Monkey Tower unlock system as we saw that the Beast Handler unlock was not as clear or easy for players, so we’re shifting to a pop-based system for all “new” Monkey Towers, so that will include Dartling Gunner, Beast Handler, and Mermonkey. Players will be able to select which tower they are concentrating on if they want to unlock by pops, but we will also be including an unlock IAP on non-subscription platforms for all 3 towers that will include access to the Monkey, full tier 5 XP, and an exclusive avatar and banner for players who want to get everything right away and who enjoy exclusive cosmetics.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 12th July 2024 blog

• Beast Handler is now unlocked by pops instead of the quest "Epic Beast Quest"

“	Now that the many T1-3 upgrade price changes are settling we’re looking at the next tier up. It does feel deserving of a fairly high level of power compared to other dps towers however the T-rex currently offers too much for the cost so its damage is decreasing. Condor’s value spiked quite high after being hit by buffs at the same time as big buffs to Golden Eagle so its price is being appropriately adjusted upwards, however the total pierce cost for grabbing DDTs is also being halved as previously the pierce penalty it had against DDTs was being shared with the ZOMG cost and was unintentionally nerfed along with that change.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Tyrannosaurus Rex bite min-power damage reduced from 30 to 26, damage scaling reduced from 60 to 52, and max-power damage reduced from 90 to 78
• Tyrannosaurus Rex bite bonus stunned damage reduced from a max of +28 to +25.
• Giant Condor cost increased from $7800 to $9000
• Giant Condor Ceramic pierce penalty increased from +0 to +1. Does not affect Pouakai (+0).
• Giant Condor DDT pierce penalty reduced from +59 to +29. Also affects Pouakai.

45.0

“	Base handler's beast range felt too high starting off when considering the tower is built around sharing range between multiple Handlers so this range is being reduced.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Beast Handler handling range decreased from 60 to 50. Does not affect the base stabbing attack (20).

“	Top Handler is designed around huge inconsistent power, however Megalodon feels that it should be more reliable for the investment required so we are improving both thrash radius and reducing the cooldown. Fish RBE limit before being able to devour the target instantly is being increased to last further into freeplay.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Megalodon thrash radius increased from 36 to 48.
• Megalodon grapple cooldown reduced from 1s to 0.8s.
• Megalodon splash base cooldown reduced from 1s to 0.8s. Also affects the higher degrees.
  • Min power Megalodon attack cooldown reduced from 0.5s to 0.4s.
  • Middle power Megalodon attack cooldown reduced from 0.364s to 0.314s.
  • Max power Megalodon attack cooldown reduced from 0.44805s to 0.22805s.
• Max pull RBE limit from Great White, Orca, and Megalodon increased from 250,000 RBE to 500,000 RBE.

“	Bottoms will now move slower but speed up as more beasts are merged into them, likewise they will attack slower at first but faster through their merges. This should add more merge value to lower tier birds while overall nerfing to the base level for currently overpowered higher tiers.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Gyrfalcon flight speed reduced from 110 to 80. Also affects subsequent upgrades.
• Horned Owl flight speed bonuses from merges increased from +0 to +40. New max-powered flight speed is 120.
• Horned Owl ceramic penalty reduced from +5 to +4
• Horned Owl attack cooldown increased at all beast power stages
  • Horned Owl min power attack cooldown increased from 0.7s to 1s
  • Horned Owl max power attack cooldown increased from 0.42s to 0.6s
• Golden Eagle attack cooldown increased at all beast power stages
  • Golden Eagle min power attack cooldown increased from 0.6s to 1s
  • Golden Eagle max power attack cooldown increased from 0.32s to 0.48s
• Giant Condor attack cooldown increased at all beast power stages
  • Giant Condor min power attack cooldown increased from 0.6s to 1s
  • Giant Condor max power attack cooldown increased from 0.32s to 0.48s
• Pouakai attack cooldown increased at most beast power stages
  • Pouakai min power attack cooldown increased from 0.6s to 0.8s
  • Pouakai middle power attack cooldown increased from 0.46s to 0.56s
  • Pouakai max power attack cooldown decreased from 0.32s to 0.28s

46.0

“	Max power Great White drags in MOAB's too quickly which actually causes it to thrash less from this and overall perform worse, so a minimum drag time has been set. Megalodon's 'not 1 shotting' damage feels too low compared to when it is able to 1shot, so we’re increasing this damage.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Max-power Great White minimum grab time versus MOABs increased from 0s to 6s.
  • Note: While this is a nerf to its takedown of MOABs, it is a buff to its splash consistency.
• Megalodon damage from degrees increased from 350-750 (mid-power: 550) to 700-2100 (mid-power: 1400)

47.0

“	As a quality of life improvement, Beast Handler movement cooldowns have now been separated	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Fish and Dino reposition cooldowns are now independent.

Bug Fixes and General Changes

36.1

• Fixed Great White attacking extremely fast and causing merges to not function correctly if it could not instakill the targeted Bloon
• Resolved an issue where the description for the Great White was the name of the upgrade in Danish
• Resolved an issue that Gyrfalcon Beast Handlers would continue attacking even on 0 lives
• Resolved a crash in co-op mode that could happen if the host put down a 040 Beast Handler and then left
• Resolved an issue that caused incorrect line of sight blockers to be shown when moving beasts
• Fixed a crash that could happen when buying a Tier 3 Beast Handler when there were 2 contributing Beast Handlers
• Fixed not being able to see the xp amount from the main menu support monkey tab.

36.2

• [undocumented] Beast Handler can now be sacrificed to Sun Temples, True Sun God, and Adora.

38.0

• Beast Handler merge hitbox size increased
• Resolved an issue with Beast Handler not showing path restriction UI in Challenge and Odyssey Editor

39.0

• x4x Tyrannosaurus Rex should no longer record damage incorrectly when max merged
• x4x Tyrannosaurus Rex should no longer double cooldown buffs from Energizer sub
• Resolved some missing animations with 3xx beasts
• Players should no longer be able to merge T5 beasts into other T5 beasts no matter how nicely they ask

Bugs

36.0

• [Bug]: 300 Beast Handler and above deal damage every frame, fixed in 36.1.
• [Bug]: 00x Beast Handler does not benefit from Sharpening Stone whatsoever
• [Bug]: Beast Handler cannot be sacrificed, moved with Chinook, or targeted by any Alchemist buffs. Sacrifice fixed in 36.2.
• [Bug]: xx4+ Beast Handler can remove 1/4 offspring bloons from popping MOAB-class bloons that are currently picked up

Achievements

150K	World League Training FIRST RELEASED: Version 36.0
	Description: Acquire 150,000 Beast Handler XP
	Rewards: 200

Pre-release teasers

The Beast Handler was first announced in the patch notes for Version 32.0, where only its name was given, along with a statement that projected its release in Version 34.0. However, in a blog post made shortly before the release of Version 34.0, due to testing confusion and quality issues, Ninja Kiwi postponed its release to Version 36.0.

The second mention of Beast Handler came from a question asked on Ninja Kiwi's 12th August 2022 blog. When asked about design concepts of the Beast Handler, Ninja Kiwi stated that concepts of the Beast Handler were precisely as they prepared, and no names or concepts of the Beast Handler were scrapped in production. On the third mention in the 19th August 2022 blog, the concept of Beast Handler came in many forms by Ninja Kiwi until recently as of the time of the blog, at which point its design matured.

The third mention of Beast Handler was shown in their 9th September 2022 blog, which revealed further information about the Beast Handler. Ninja Kiwi confirms that the Beast Handler can raise multiple beasts. They stated that the Beast Handler's baby beasts primarily eat bugs and a "diet of tender loving care".

In response to a question on Ninja Kiwi's 4th November 2022 blog, Ninja Kiwi stated that making entirely new towers require significant amount of working/reworking and tweaking in order for them to be ready for their debut release, whereas existing towers from previous games (such as Dartling and Mortar, as they mentioned) were focused mostly on balance since their core functionalities were already quite established.

In a reply on r/btd6, it was confirmed that the Beast Handler "name" is only a hint for the new tower, not the official name. However, in a later What's Up At Ninja Kiwi blog on 16th December 2022, it was restated that Beast Handler is indeed the official name.

Ethan Reid's video showcasing the first Beast Handler image teaser

Annotated teaser with Monklish translation

The first image teaser for the Beast Handler was revealed on 29th November 2022 , being initially distributed only to certain Bloons YouTubers, including, in no particular order, Ethan Reid, Tewtiy, ISAB, H2K Titan, HBomb, SJB, and Alukian. The image consisted of a number of different animals that correspond to a different terrain. Up to four animals of each different terrain are shown in the image with their respective name in Monklish, and each have one animal whose name is replaced with "???". These animals corresponded to different tiers of each of the tower's three upgrade paths.

The translations of the first image teaser text, plus some analysis:

• "Pirahna" [sic] (correct spelling is "piranha" with "nh")
• "Baracuda" [sic] (correct spelling is "barracuda" with an extra "r")
• "Great white" (as in "great white shark")
• "Orca" (unlike the other aquatic creatures, it is actually a marine mammal)
• "???" (The 34.0 game files say that this is a Megalodon)
• "Microraptor"
• "Adasaurus"
• "Velociraptor"
• "Tyrannosaurus" (as in "Tyrannosaurus rex")
• "???" (The 34.0 game files say that this is a Giganotosaurus)
• "Gyrfalcon"
• "Horned owl"
• "[...]en eagle" (possibly "golden eagle")
• "Giant condor"
• "???" (The 34.0 game files say that this is a Pouakai)

The first appearance of Beast Handler, in the Version 34.0 video

The Beast Handler's release was delayed from Version 34.0 to Version 36.0, which was again confirmed in the Version 34.0 patch notes. However, to compensate, the Version 34.0 video posted on Ninja Kiwi's YouTube channel showed the official artwork for the Beast Handler. Ninja Kiwi stated that there is an extremely large amount of hard work going into the Beast Handler, from entirely new interactions to unique animations and models, but ultimately decided not to release the tower into the game yet. Upon acknowledging failed last-minute playtests at the Ninja Kiwi Headquarters at both Auckland and Dundee, Ninja Kiwi decided to explain on various social medias regarding the decision to delay the Beast Handler. On their YouTube channel on the Version 34.0 update video, Ninja Kiwi stated that the Beast Handler will be ready by a minimum of Version 36.0.

The Version 34.0 in-game files has a copy of the Beast Handler icon in the in-game files, alongside multiple other related Beast Handler icons. All of its upgrades plus numerous buff icons have been found in the in-game files too, including every upgrade and their respective descriptions.

The original description for the base Beast Handler reads the following:

“	Can train dangerous beasts on land, water and air. Instead of creating more beasts, multiple handlers work together to increase the power of the existing ones.	”
	~ Original Beast Handler description in Bloons TD 6 Version 34.0 game files

When first datamined in the 34.0 in-game files, the original description names for each upgrade were much different than once finally released in 36.0. Also, the Beast Handler descriptions were almost unchanged in 35.0.

Path 1 Upgrades (original datamined descriptions)

Upgrade	Description
Piranha	Command a small but feisty little fish to leap from the water at the Bloons.
Barracuda	The barracuda's razor sharp teeth can pop multiple layers of Bloon. Requires at least 1 other Beast Handler with Piranha upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Great White	The Great White will crush Bloons, including Lead Bloons in its jaws, dragging them back to the water if needed. Requires at least 2 other Beast Handlers with Barracuda upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Orca	The mighty Orca's huge mouth can grab and drag all but the very largest Bloons into the depths. Requires at least 3 other Beast Handlers with Great White upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Megalodon	A truly colossal shark with a taste for Bloon that requires at least 4 other Beast Handlers with Orca upgrades. Max 8 contributing Beast Handlers

Path 2 Upgrades (original datamined descriptions)

Upgrade	Description
Microraptor	Command a sharp clawed little dinosaur. Grow it with more Beast Handlers with this upgrade.
Adasaurus	The sharp teeth of Adasaurus deal high short range damage. Requires at least 1 other Beast Handler with Microraptor upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Velociraptor	Velociraptor slashes and chomps Bloons with vicious speed. Requires at least 2 other Beast Handlers with Adasaurus upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Tyrannosaurus Rex	The Tyrannosaurus Rex's huge jaw and sharp teeth deal a ton of damage with each bite. Requires at least 3 other Beast Handlers with Velociraptor upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers. T Rex Stomp ability: Stuns up to ZOMG Bloons in a wide area.
Giganotosaurus	The biggest and most fierce dinosaur of them all, Giganotosaurus can shred almost any Bloon instantly with ease. Requires at least 4 other Beast Handlers with Tyrannosaurus Rex upgrades. Max 8 contributing Beast Handlers. Ability stuns up to ZOMG Bloons everywhere for longer

Path 3 Upgrades (original datamined descriptions)

Upgrade	Description
Gyrfalcon	Command a noble little bird of prey that can grab and move Bloons with its talons.
Horned Owl	The Horned Owl is strong enough to grab and pop Lead and Ceramic Bloons, and has keen eyes that can detect Camo Bloons.
Golden Eagle	Expert at grabbing large numbers of Bloons at once. The Golden Eagle is so large it requires at least 2 other Beast Handlers with Horned Owl upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Giant Condor	The huge talons of the fearsome Giant Condor can pick up MOAB-Class Bloons. Requires at least 3 other Beast Handlers with Golden Eagle upgrades. Max 4 contributing Beast Handlers.
Pouākai	The legendary Pouākai, a bird so large that it can pick up, carry off and destroy almost any number of Bloons of almost any size. Requires at least 4 other Beast Handlers with Giant Condor upgrades. Max 8 contributing Beast Handlers.

24th March 2023 teaser on Twitter

On 24th March 2023, Ninja Kiwi posted the first official teaser on their Twitter page, as shown here. It shows a series of beasts from each terrain, in the order of water (orca), land (velociraptor), and air (giant condor). The description of the post features the hashtag #BTD6.

“	So first up in this update is the one you've all been waiting for, a brand new never seen before tower, introducing the Beast Handler. The Beast Handler has a melee base attack and trains land, water, or air beasts to become powerful forces against the bloons. Multiple Handlers can have their own beasts or combine their first to train a single beast with greater beast power. [...] This update will launch with three Beginner Quests including the epic Beast Quest that you'll need to complete in order to unlock the Beast Handler.	”
	~ Sam from Ninja Kiwi, Version 36.0 preview video (0:09-0:32 and 0:52-0:59)

On March 31st 2023 at about 11:24am NZDT, a video of the Version 36.0 preview on Ninja Kiwi's YouTube channel was released. A large amount of information that confirms the Beast Handler was revealed, including a full confirmation of its release to Version 36.0. Firstly, the Beast Handler is confirmed to use a melee attack with his staff and trains different types of beasts on land, water, or air, depending on upgrades. Each Beast Handler contains their own beasts, or can utilize a special Merge button to merge their first existing beast with another much stronger beast of the same terrain. Beast Handler is confirmed to require completing the Quest "The Beast Quest" before fully unlocking it in all games. In addition, the following observations were found:

• Beast Handler costs $210 on Easy, thus its Medium price is determined to be $250, and other difficulty prices can be implied.
• Beast Handler attacks at a moderately slow speed.
• Tyrannosaurus Rex costs $8,075 on Easy, thus costing $9,500 on Medium and so on.
• Gyrfalcon costs $155 on Easy, thus costing $180 on Medium and so on.
• The UI of the Beast Handler contains many different buttons and UI widgets that accompany the beast merging system. These include: a Beast button, a "Merge" button, a quota of the "beast energy" of a certain terrain, a "Beast Handler" merge system and its selection menu, and the top path has a "Needs Water" condition if the Beast Handler's range doesn't reach water.

Version 36.0 preview artwork, confirming its official release scheduled for 36.0

Also on 31st March 2023 are preview notes for Version 36.0 on r/btd6. Further notes were discovered on that page, summarizing many of the Beast Handler's core features. A preview artwork for Version 36.0 was released on that post.

Final teaser of Beast Handler, showcasing the unique networking system

On 1st April 2023, as an April Fools' Day joke, Ninja Kiwi posted another teaser on Twitter about the Beast Handler's networking capabilities, purporting to show it controlling Trophy Store pets: "In light of recent feedback, we've decided to go in a different direction for the Beast Handler... 👀".

Quotes

Pre-Release Quotes

“	I heard about the new Beast Handler is going to come in a future update. By the way, were there any scrapped names or concepts for the Beast Handler? Nope! Beast Handler landed pretty much just like that.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 12th August 2022 blog

“	How long has the concept of the Beast Handler been around? In various forms for a while but the final design only coalesced recently	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 19th August 2022 blog

“	What are the pets opinions on the inbound beast handler? Fear? Admiration? Or something else entirely? Initially, they were unsure, but now they’re excited!	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 19th August 2022 blog

“	What does the Beast Handler enjoy feeding their beast(s)? Great question, but we see what you’re doing there, a little anthropological profiling to get more info. Clever and props. The beasts (yes will confirm that plural bit) have been in development for awhile - that means they are still in their infancy so still mainly a diet of tender loving care and bugs. Their adult diets will be very different, so we’ll try to snap some pictures when they’re older.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 9th September 2022 blog

“	Heads down on Beast Handler From the look to the variety of each path, we are putting great effort into making this all new BTD tower something special. While we’re excited to preview, we have to set realistic expectations that the work involved may not leave much time before the update for sneak peaks, but we’ll do what we can!	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, Version 33.0 update notes

“	When you guys have a really good tower idea, that you are willing to commit to make into a tower, how do you go about it? Do you have to rewrite it multiple times and do lots of reworking to make sure it isn’t op? Dartling and Mortar were already towers in BTD5, so there was lots of precedent there as to how they should work and it was mostly about balance. The Beast Handler is still in development and we have plenty of work/rework and tweaking ahead of us no doubt!	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 4th November 2022 blog

“	This tower is very unique. The Beasts were completely different from any other mechanic in the game, and they of course required 15 new models and animation sets completely separate from the normal tower model and animations. Sharing more about the tower functionality than we have before, the Beasts were also designed to synergize, so several Handlers together would combine their Beasts in order to enable higher tier Beasts. Amazing art and animations were built, signature code was written and optimized, and design was iterated. In many ways, the Beast Handler was completed, bug tested, and nearly ready to release - nearly. Up until last week, we thought the changes were making progress, but ultimately during the last playtests of the week at both Auckland and Dundee offices, we agreed there was too much confusion with the combination system and how Beasts would interact with other Handlers. Ninja Kiwi has always cared about quality and providing our players with the best possible experience and the tower just didn’t feel like it was there. It wasn’t up to the standard we set ourselves and the standard we hold the game to. While we are extremely disappointed that we won’t be able to release a new tower this year, the team felt it was the right call to make as the Beast Handler was just not quite ready to be unleashed. This was a very difficult call after all the incredibly hard teamwork that was put in to get this done - for us to simply say that it is not yet ready to play. We can and will make this better but with the amount of revision needed, we are moving the Beast Handler out at least two updates to update 36 at the earliest. This is not a set date for the release, however. We are giving ourselves a few months to go back to the fundamental design and make sure we can make good on our commitment to quality. We will be working hard to get the Beast Handlers into your hands but we want to release a tower you all find enjoyable, challenging (in a good way!) and, most importantly, fun! We really appreciate the love and support you have all provided us with this year and we hope you will understand the decision we've made and why.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, Version 34.0 patch notes explaining the delay

“	And just before we go, some of you may have seen that we had planned to introduce a new tower, the Beast Handler, this update. The Ninja Kiwi team cares more about quality and player experience, and the tower just didn't quite feel like it was there yet, so we decided to push the Beast Handler back to Update 36 at the earliest. This will give us the time needed to make the tower as awesome as you deserve it to be, and again more context behind the decision can be found in the update notes linked in the description.	”
	~ Version 34.0 YouTube video, 1:31-1:53

“	Update 36: we’ll be pushing to have Beast Handler ready for this update but we’ll continue to hold it until it’s ready; there will be extra awesome here as well but still juggling whether that would be a Paragon or Boss	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, Version 34.0 patch notes

“	Do you think you can handle these beasts? 🦈🦖🦅 Coming soon to BTD6! 🎈 #BTD6	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 24th March 2023 tweet

“	New Tower - The Beast Handler chomp, rawr, kakaw! So much to say about this tower, but mainly we so hope you enjoy it! The first never before seen tower to join the BTD universe since the Druid and Alchemist at launch almost 5 years ago. This tower plays and gains power in a completely unique way, and there are intentional tradeoffs along the way - you need to choose the right time to Merge beasts or just like any other tower whether more separate and lower-power beasts are situationally better. This is a Support class tower, so seeing how it works with your favorite builds is part of the fun. BTW making cool-looking giant beasts pop Bloons has been pretty awesome, even though it took us twice as long as expected. Thanks for your patience!!! Quests! Quests are self-contained challenges with their own special rules, difficulty, and unlock requirements. Patch joins the main menu and acts as the entry point for the Quest system. The intent along with fun gameplay is to sprinkle more story into the game, teaching certain strategies, introducing game modes, trying out items before unlocking them, as well as being a place for us to experiment with new mechanics. Did someone say special missions? No we didn’t say that for 36, but definitely downstream. [...] Beast Handler Quest - The Dartling Gunner unlocks via a basic pop target objective, but this was a simple system and had nothing to do with the tower itself. To unlock the Beast Handler with this update, rank 40+ players will take on a short adventure using the lower tiers of this tower. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, Version 36.0 preview notes

“	Will the Beast Handler handle a beast at the base tier (Tier 0)? Or will it need any upgrade in order to acquire a beast? Beast Handlers won’t have any beasts at tier 0 as you haven’t picked which path of beasts you’d like to go!	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 31st March 2023 blog

Additional Quotes

“	Now that the Beast Handler has been released, are you able to share any details on the old beast merging system? What was it like, and what part(s) of it were deemed to be inadequate? There was a lot of auto-merging and “requires X other beasts of tier Y” and craziness like that. Complicated and unfun! We feel pretty happy with how we streamlined it while still adding some fun new mechanics.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, 2023-04-28 blog

Sounds

When merging beasts:

• [energetic shine]

Specific "small" aquatic beast sounds:

• [???] (usage: Unknown)
• [???] (usage: Unknown)

Specific "medium" aquatic beast sounds:

• [???] (usage: Unknown)
• [???] (usage: Unknown)
• [???] (usage: Unknown)
• [???] (usage: Unknown)

Specific "large" aquatic beast sounds:

• [???] (usage: Orca)
• [???] (usage: Great White)
• [???] (usage: Megalodon)
• [???] (usage: Megalodon)

Specific "small" theropod beast sounds:

• [high-pitched snarl, with slight volume emphasis in the middle] (usage: Adasaurus)
• [high-pitched trilling] (usage: Adasaurus)
• [high-pitched snarl, with emphasis on trilling] (usage: Microraptor)
• [high-pitched utterance that sounds like "Brerr-uh!"] (usage: Microraptor)
• [high-pitched pterosaur-like utterance] (usage: Unused)

Specific "medium" theropod beast sounds:

• [snarl] (usage: Adasaurus, T-Rex)
• [lion's roar] (usage: Velociraptor, T-Rex)
• [rumbling growl] (usage: Velociraptor)
• [aggressive growling] (usage: Velociraptor)
• [human-imitated snarl and roar] (usage: T-Rex)

Specific "large" theropod beast sounds:

• [deeper roaring] (usage: Giganotosaurus)
• [rumbling, deep roaring] (usage: Giganotosaurus)
• [deep roaring] (usage: Giganotosaurus)

All bird beast sounds:

• [bird chirps] (usage: Gyrfalcon)
• [bird cackles] (usage: Horned Owl)
• [eagle call] (usage: Golden Eagle)
• [vulture-like screeches] (usage: Giant Condor)
• [echoing mythical snarl] (usage: Pouākai)

When activating the T-Rex Stomp or Giga Stomp ability:

• [stomp]

Gallery

All Beast Handler upgrades in the upgrades menu

Beast Handler unlock screen

Beast Handler unlock screen (4:3 ratio)

Beast Handler handling two beasts, and some yet-to-unlock T3 upgrades

Beast Handler attempting to stab a Purple

Beast Handler not popping Purple

Beast Handler range comparisons with Monkey Buccaneer (equals 60 range)

Needing track and water conditions

Maxed 0-2-4 Condor, showcasing energy systems among two crosspaths

Merge menu

Beast placement menu for an Adasaurus

Adasaurus space sharing example

Adasaurus networking example between two 0-2-0 Handlers

Selecting point in range to place Barracuda, some space shared with a contributing Beast Handler

Able to upgrade from Horned Owl into Golden Eagle, because the assisted Golden Eagle has enough energy

Upgrade cap for merged Golden Eagle

Maxed T-Rex without valid merge targets and a maxed Barracuda that is ready to be merged into

Beast Handler unlock requirement in the Monkeys menu

Shooty Turret not fitting within a gap that an Adasaurus can (small land beast footprint)

Stacking Velociraptors on the same spot

Merging a Golden Eagle into a Giant Condor: "Merged"

Upgrading a merged Golden Eagle into a Giant Condor, which itself merged into a Giant Condor: "Buffed"

Beast Handler frozen water interaction when placed on frozen water (Geraldo's Shooty Turret for reference)

Tier 4 Beast Handler with fulfilled Tier 5 requirements, allowing access to the next upgrade

Beast Handler not accepting Alch buffs at all

Beast Handler unable to be sacrificed to Adora (v36.1)

Beast Handler unable to be sacrificed by Sun Temple (v36.1)

Beast Handler able to be sacrificed to Adora (v36.2)

Beast Handlers sacrificed by Sun Temple (v36.2)

Golden Eagle Beast Handler with dark purple arrows (merged from host) and light purple arrows (merged to host)

Cannot place water beast in military water, as it doesn’t count as Military

Also cannot drag water beast into military water for similar reasons

Orca Handler trapped but able to move Orca to a different pond quadrant with passing rounds

Beast Handler merge menu but the only candidate to merge into is a trapped Beast Handler

"Merged"

Beast Handler base range and handling range, plus additional nearby towers for reference

Beast Handler Terrain Conditions

No water and no track

No track

No water

All conditions satisfied

Overclock Interactions

v37.3 Beast Handler Ultraboost targets (i.e. land and water beasts can accept UBoost buff but not flying beasts)

v36.3 Beast Handler birds are valid targets of Overclock

v36.3 Beast Handler birds are valid targets of Ultraboost

v37.3 Beast Handler birds are not valid targets of Overclock

v37.3 Beast Handler birds are not valid targets of Ultraboost

Teasers

A preview of the Beast Handler's upgrades provided to early-access YouTubers

Annotated teaser with Monklish translation

The first appearance of Beast Handler, in the Version 34.0 video

Upgrade portrait of Beast Handler in the v34.0 in-game files

24th March 2023 teaser on Twitter. Shown here is an Orca, Velociraptor, and Giant Condor.

Animation of the 24th March 2023 teaser

Version 36.0 preview artwork, confirming its official release scheduled for 36.0

Final teaser of Beast Handler, showcasing the unique networking system

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Instamonkey icon

Fish buff icon

Dinosaur buff icon

Bird buff icon

Beast Power icon

Fish buff icon (unused)

Dinosaur buff icon (unused)

Bird buff icon (unused)

Beast Handler Pack IAP

Videos

Beast Handler Path 1-2 sounds

Demonstration of various sounds from all aquatic and theropod beasts

Beast Handler Quest

Completing the Beast Handler Quest

Beast cooldown (38.3)

Beast Handler handling cooldown pre-39.0

Trivia

• Beast Handler is the first original non-hero tower in BTD6 to be released in an update.
• Beast Handler is the first original non-hero tower in BTD6 that doesn't belong to the Magic Monkeys category. It is also the second Support Monkey to be released in an update, the first being Engineer Monkey.
• Beast Handler is the first tower whose upgrades require more of the same towers that has another specific upgrade to unlock. Initially required for T2 and above, this was changed to T5 only for the final version.
• Beast Handler is the first tower who requires water to access a specific path, but not the whole tower itself.
• Beast Handler is the first monkey tower to not be a valid target for Acidic Mixture Dip and above Alchemists, and the first monkey tower to not be able to be repositioned with Chinook.
• When the Beast Handler was first released, it was first non-paragon tower that is unable to be sacrificed to any tower under all conditions. This was changed in Versions 36.2, allowing Sun Temples, True Sun Gods, Vengeful True Sun God, and Adora to sacrifice Beast Handlers.
• Some members of the r/btd6 community have spotted correlations between the Beast Handler and the Bloonchipper. For instance, many of its upgrades incorporate the stalling power of Chipper's various upgrades, the forced repositioning of bloons, and Super Wide Funnel's immense MOAB-popping power. Additionally, both towers start and end with "b" and "r", respectively; though this may be just coincidence.
  • Most notably the Path 1 starting with Great White and above, Progressively instakilling stronger bloons (Including BADs below 250k non-fortified RBE on T5).
    • If it cannot instakill, it instead damages bloons normally.
• While the Monkey Village's Monkeyopolis is the first upgrade to require tower-specific conditions to access it, the Beast Handler is the first tower where all Tier 5 upgrades require tower-specific conditions in order to access them.
• Beast Handler is the third-cheapest base tower in BTD6, after the Dart Monkey and Glue Gunner.
• In a more extreme manner to Engineer Monkey when it was first released, Beast Handler when first released has no internal crosspathing synergies at all, as none of the beasts have interactions with beasts of different terrain nor did any upgrade change the Beast Handler itself besides the unique Beast Handler networking system that only affects beasts of the same terrain type. Even the Monkey Village had some internal crosspathing synergy (Bigger Radius increasing the range of its buffs), as did the Engineer Monkey (e.g. 0-1-3 Double Gun increases range of the quick pinning gun).
• Since its release, Beast Handler is the cheapest base tower to pop Frozen Bloons and be unable to pop Purple Bloons, surpassing Wizard Monkey's $375 on Medium cost.
• Beast Handler is the only non-hero melee tower in the game.
• In terms of individual XP requirements for each upgrade, the Beast Handler's path 3 tier 5 has the highest non-paragon, non-TSG xp requirements in the game, at 110,000. Previous to the Beast Handler, the highest were Legend of the Night and the Anti-Bloon. The Beast Handler is also therefore the first tower to have a tier 5 upgrade that requires more xp than a Super Monkey tier 5.
• The sounds for aquatic and terrestrial beasts use a mixture of sounds given to "size" (Small, Medium, and Large) beast sounds, specified under Fish and Dino for respective terrains. However, the groups of dedicated upgrade and placement sounds for each beast are unique for all beasts. All Tier 2-4 upgrades use a mixture of each of the three "sound size" categories, Tier 1 upgrades exclusively use the Small category, and Tier 5 upgrades exclusively use the Large category.
• All sounds for flying beasts have unique sounds dedicated for each upgrade. Tiers 1-2 refer as PlaceBeastHandlerBirbFalcon.wav and PlaceBeastHandlerBirbOwl.wav, respectively, with a "Birb" (likely an Easter egg referring to Ninja Kiwi's programmers jokingly naming birds). Tiers 3-5 sounds describe the birds without that descriptor, although the Pouākai's sound filename lacks the "ā" phoneme and has no "a" substituted either.
• All of the Path 2 beasts are carnivorous theropods; the first three are Dromaeosauridae (including the famous velociraptor), and the last two are based on species of large theropods of unrelated family (the famous tyrannosaurus rex is in the Tyrannosauroidea family, and the giganotosaurus is in the Carcharodontosauridae family).
  • The above is technically true of Path 3 as well; all Birds are theropod Dinosaurs. All of Beast Handler's birds are also carnivores.
• All of the Beast Handler instakill methods from Great White and above are actually not true instakills, as all of them technically share a cap of 250k RBE for the affected target in order to trigger the instakill attack. This is why the Test Bloon is never affected by instakills from the Beast Handler's beasts whatsoever.
• Currently, the Beast Handler is not in Bloons TD Battles 2; However, it may be added in the future.
• Version 43.0's buff to lowering the reposition cooldown of beasts to 2 seconds is the same as Rosalia's reposition cooldown when she got first released.

Ninja Kiwi Blogs

• According to Ninja Kiwi's 28th April 2023 blog, there was a major shift in the Beast Handler's old design. They mentioned that the old merging system involved auto-merging and "Requires X" upgrades and similar, which they believed was very unintuitive for the player.
• According to Ninja Kiwi's 5th May 2023 blog, the Beast Handler's beasts can "sniff out imposters", allowing them to detect monkeys dressing up as beasts and determine the real beasts.
• According to Ninja Kiwi's 5th May 2023 blog, Adora has a ton of respect for the beast handlers and their dedication to training their beasts.
• According to Ninja Kiwi's 10th November 2023 blog, Geraldo supplies Beast Handlers with supplies for handling beasts, such as eagle gloves and food.
• According to Ninja Kiwi's 1st March 2024 blog, dinosaurs are not extinct in the Blooniverse, which allows Beast Handlers to find dinosaurs to train.