Bigger Stacks is the 1st upgrade of Path 1 for the Spike Factory in Bloons TD 6. It increases the number of spikes per spike pile from 5 to 10, equivalent to +5 pierce. For Carpet of Spikes, the flat +5 pierce changes its number of spikes per spike pile from 10 to 15. When crosspathed with Perma-Spike, it instead increases pierce by +35, from 50 to 85 pierce.
The mouth of the Spike Factory extends upwards a small amount on a red cylinder. Crosspathing prominently shows the red cylinder color for all its crosspaths up to Tier 4.
Bigger Stacks causes the piles of spikes generated by a Spike Factory to contain 10 spikes instead of 5, functionally identical to an increase in pierce of the same amount. Perma-Spike, when crosspathed, increases its pierce from 50 to 85.
Targeting Priorities[]
Bigger Stacks defaults on Normal targeting priority, which dispenses the spike piles onto nearby bloon track in a semi-sporadical behavior. If given Smart Spikes, it will also receive Close, Far, and Smart.
Normal: Targets spike piles in a somewhat sporadical way, spreading spikes as evenly as possible within its range.
Close: Targets the closest region(s) of track within range.
Far: Targets the furthest region(s) of track within range.
Smart: Prioritizes the track with the Bloon the farthest through it, then targets the spot on that track closest to the exit.
Full Popology[]
Statistics[]
Updated as of Version 45.0
Base stats
Spike Pile:
Lobbed spike pile, sharp type, detects and deploys on nearby track, 34 range, 1.75s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 10 pierce. Lifespan of 50s.
Crosspathing interactions
1-1-0: Attack cooldown decreased from 1.75s to 1.4s
1-2-0: Attack cooldown decreased from 1.4s to 0.98s
1-3-0:Spike Pile deals +4 MOAB-class damage.
1-4-0:Spike Pile and Ability Spike Pile deal +7 MOAB-class damage. Ability Spike Pile pierce increases from 5 to 10.
1-5-0:Spike Pile damage increased from 1 to 3, and +7 MOAB-class damage, and Spike Pile pierce increases from 10 to 15. Ability Spike Pile pierce increases from 5 to 10 and damage increased from 1 to 3 and +7 MOAB-class damage.
1-0-1:Spike Pile lifespan increased to 100s.
1-0-2:Spike Pile attack cooldown reduced by 4x for 3s at the start of each round.
1-0-3:Spike Pile lifespan increased to 140s.
1-0-4:Spike Pile damage increased to 2.
1-0-5:Spike Pile pierce bonus increased from +5 to +35, increasing pierce to 85.
Bigger Stacks essentially doubles the number of spikes, with the exceptions of Perma-Spike (+70% pierce) and Carpet of Spikes (+50% pierce). The Bigger Stacks upgrade is very cost-effective in combination with crosspaths, and buying a 1-0-0 saves more money than buying two 0-0-0 Spike Factories. In addition, Bigger Stacks transitions to the White Hot Spikes upgrade to grant innate popping of all bloon types.
Tips[]
Bigger Stacks is good in combination with other upgrades, so buying this upgrade will become useful when crosspathed with another upgrade, especially with Path 2 upgrades.
Generally speaking, this upgrade is the best crosspath with Upper Path 2, specifically for Spike Storm and Carpet of Spikes, as not only is White Hot Spikes accessible, it provides a reliable source of higher overall DPS, in contrast to buying Smart Spikes, where higher ability spike DPS is map-specific.
If not planning to buy further crosspaths with Bigger Stacks, it is better to buy a second 0-0-0 Spike Factory. That way, for a similar price, the overall spike production can replenish at a faster rate. Not only that, but with two Spike Factories, spike production will be less impacted by RNG if bloons end up reaching near the Spike Factories.
Two 0-0-0 Spike Factories cost $2,000 on Medium, while one 1-0-0 Spike Factory costs $1,800 on Medium.
When it comes to Path 3 crosspathing by using the top path compared to middle path, the Bigger Stacks crosspath tends to have the superior stockpile rate but a worse refresh rate due to its slower attack speed. This even extends to the Perma-Spike upgrade, which gives +70% more spikes per unit time instead of +66.67% offered by the maximized Path 2 crosspath. In addition, Bigger Stacks grants access to the White Hot Spikes upgrade, its next upgrade, which reduces reliance on external lead-poppers such as MIB and Acidic Mixture Dip.
When it comes to Path 2 crosspathing by using the top path compared to bottom path, the Bigger Stacks crosspath offers consistently higher spikes per second, in contrast to bottom path offering longer lifespan and targeting utility, which generally is situational.
Version History[]
Balance Changes[]
Bigger Stacks in itself has been nerfed since it was first released, with not only price nerfs to the upgrade itself but also to the base Spike Factory price and decreased base lifespan of the spike piles. On the flip side, the Bigger Stacks crosspath with Perma-Spike has been buffed considerably to balance out with the more popular Even Faster Production crosspath.
8.0
1-0-5 Perma-Spike pierce increased per spike (60 → 70)
22.0
“
We quite liked how the lifespan changes for xx1 spikes went previously, though this still wasn't enough to make the path competitive and increasing this number further wouldn't have much of an impact since most earlier rounds aren't long enough. [...]
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to base Spike Factory projectile lifespan
Base projectile lifespan reduced from 70s to 50s.
Cost of Bigger Stacks increased ($600 → $800)
23.0
“
Like a few other towers before it, the attack speed crosspath for Spike Factory has outshined the others. We have reworked the lower Spike Factory tiers to distribute this power more evenly while keeping high tier factories at a similar level of power.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Spike Factory attack speed rework
Affected by Spike Factory crosspath speed changes
24.0
“
[...] In addition, Permaspike's neglected crosspath has had a small pierce increase as currently their only real use is under custom challenge rules.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to 1-0-5 Permaspike
1-0-5 Perma-Spike pierce increased per spike (70 → 80)
28.0
“
Some minor changes to a few upgrades on Spike Factory evening out some aspects of it.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to 1-0-5 Permaspike and Super Mines
1-0-5 Perma-Spike pierce increased per spike (80 → 90)
36.0
Bigger Stacks now provides a smaller pierce bonus to Perma-Spike (+40 → +20)
38.0
Bigger Stacks now provides a bigger pierce bonus to Perma-Spike (+20 → +40)
45.0
“
[...] Permaspike is seeing a small crosspath fix, as the x2x rate change threw this balance out.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to 1-0-5 Permaspike
Bigger Stacks pierce bonus to Perma-Spike reduced from +40 to +35
Bug Fixes and General Changes[]
This section is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
Extra Notes (Version History)[]
Gallery[]
1-0-0 Spike Factory (on right) dispensing a bigger stack
Crosspathing (Top: Path 2, Bottom: Path 3)
Enough XP to unlock
Official artwork[]
Upgrade portrait
Upgrade icon
Instamonkey icon
Projectiles[]
1 Spike
2 Spikes
3 Spikes
4 Spikes
5 Spikes
6 Spikes
7 Spikes
8 Spikes
9 Spikes
10 Spikes
Other languages[]
Upgrade Name
Language
Name
Meaning
English
Bigger Stacks
German
Grössere Haufen
Bigger Piles
Upgrade Description
Language
Name
Meaning
English
Creates larger piles of spikes per shot.
German
Erzeugt größere Nagelhaufen mit jedem Schuss.
Creates larger piles of nails with each shot.
Trivia[]
In BTD6, the Spike Factory gains a red larger spout instead of turning its feet red.
Following a Version 22.0 nerf for Bigger Stacks in BTD6, the cost of Bigger Stacks has always increased by $100 with each generation of BTD games.
Interestingly, the prices for the Bigger Stacks and Faster Production upgrades were swapped in BTD6 compared to BTD5, costing $700 and $800 respectively instead of $800 and $700 in BTD6, but this only happened during Version 22.0 and its mini-updates.
The upgrade icon for Bigger Stacks in BTD6 actually shows 10 spikes. In BTD5, the upgrade icon for Bigger Stacks only showed 5 spikes. In BTD4 there are also 10 spikes in the upgrade icon, but it is 5 groups of spikes arranged in a cross shape.