Bloons Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Bloons Wiki
BTD6

Blade Maelstrom ability: Covers the area in a storm of blades.
~ In-game description

Blade Maelstrom is the 4th upgrade of Path 2 for the Tack Shooter in Bloons TD 6. This upgrade grants a new activated ability that creates two rapidly shooting streams of extremely high-pierce blades that spiral outwards clockwise (anticlockwise with Path 3 crosspaths) for 3 seconds (+0.5s per Path 3 crosspath, up to 4s) at a rate of 22.22 times per second (26 times per second with 1-4-0, 30.75 times per second with 2-4-0). These blades have 200 pierce and ignore Line of Sight obstacles. Cooldown for the ability is 20 seconds, and there is a 6.67s initial cooldown before using the ability for the first time.

This upgrade costs $2,295 on Easy, $2,700 on Medium, $2,915 on Hard, and $3,240 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

Placeholder other

Blade Maelstrom ability activated

This upgrade is wider and taller compared to its predecessor, and its blue elements become a darker shade of blue. The top layer above the sawblades is now comprised of three sections: the bottom section is a thinner version of the top layer from the previous upgrade, the middle section consists of a white twelve-tooth clockwise spinning apparatus, and the top section has a grey background that replaces the black eight-pronged blade emblem with a light-gray 12-pronged blade.

Blade Maelstrom receives a new ability, one that dishes out a dual rotational spray of ultra-high pierce blades.

Activated Abilities[]

See also: Activated Abilities (BTD6)#Blade Maelstrom
BladeMaelstromUpgradeIconAA

Blade Maelstrom Ability

Blade Maelstrom gains the ability to produces two sprays of continuous blades clockwise (anti-clockwise if 0-4-1+) for the ability duration. It lasts for 3 seconds, 3.5 seconds with 0-4-1, and 4 seconds with 0-4-2. These powerful blades pierce a lot of bloons, and shoot even faster with speed crosspaths. As a purely duration-oriented ability, it cannot be reactivated while the ability is active. Cooldown of 20 seconds.

As a Primary Monkey, Blade Maelstrom can receive faster cooldowns from Primary Mentoring and Primary Expertise. Like all ability-based towers, it can have its ability cooldowns reset by Geraldo's Rejuv Potion, and cooldown reduced by the global Energizer buff and special Monkey Knowledge.

Targeting Priorities[]

Blade Maelstrom's main attack shoots a spray of projectiles in an radial spray. Its ability is a rotational spray, rotating at a constant rate as it dispenses multiple blades per shot. Technically, the Tack Shooter is locked on the Close targeting priority. However, for simplicity reasons, Blade Maelstorm has no targeting priorities.

Full Popology[]

Statistics[]

Updated as of Version 41.0
Base stats
  • Blades:
    • Projectile, shatter type, 8 per shot, 31 range, 1.19s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 6 pierce.
Ability stats
  • Blade Maelstrom:
    • Lasts for 3 seconds, 20 seconds cooldown, 6.67 seconds initial cooldown.
    • Emits 2 blades every 0.045s dealing shatter damage type, 1 damage, and 200 pierce. Dispersion continually rotates clockwise at a rate of 1 full cycle every 1.0s for 3.0s.
Crosspathing interactions
  • 1-4-0:
    • Attacks faster, 0.8925s (-25%) instead of 1.19s. Ability blades attack cooldown reduced from 0.045s to 0.03825s.
  • 2-4-0:
    • Attacks even faster, 0.669375s (-25%) instead of 0.8925s from the previous 1-3-0. Ability blades attack cooldown reduced from 0.03825s to 0.03252s
  • 0-4-1:
    • Fires 10 blades per volley instead of 8. Ability duration increased by +0.5 seconds (total 3.5s). Ability blades now spin in a counter-clockwise direction.
  • 0-4-2:
    • Fires 12 blades per volley instead of 10. Ability duration increased by +0.5 seconds (total 4s).
Monkey Knowledge interactions

Attack Interactions[]

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Primary
Updated as of Version 41.0
Base attack(s)
  • Blades:
    • Shatter Type (pops Black, White, Purple, Frozen) Shatter
    • Orbital Spray (spray of 8) Orbital Spray (8)
    • Straight Attack Straight Attack
Ability
  • Blade Maelstrom:
    • Shatter Type (pops Black, White, Purple, Frozen) Shatter
    • Rotational Spray (constantly rotate clockwise for 3 Rotational Spray (2)
    • Full Map Range () Full Map Range
    • Ignores Line of Sight Ignores Line of Sight

Costs[]

Updated as of Version 41.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.
[Module | Data] Purchase Sell
Costs Easy Medium Hard Impoppable Easy Medium Hard Impoppable
Upgrade (X-4-X) $2,295 $2,700 $2,915 $3,240 -
Total (0-4-0) $3,275 $3,855 $4,165 $4,625 $2,293 $2,699 $2,916 $3,238
Crosspath (1-4-0) $3,400 $4,005 $4,325 $4,805 $2,380 $2,804 $3,028 $3,364
Crosspath (2-4-0) $3,655 $4,305 $4,650 $5,165 $2,559 $3,014 $3,255 $3,616
Crosspath (0-4-1) $3,360 $3,955 $4,275 $4,745 $2,352 $2,769 $2,993 $3,322
Crosspath (0-4-2) $3,445 $4,055 $4,385 $4,865 $2,412 $2,839 $3,070 $3,406

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: ComeOnEverybodyIcon Come On Everybody!, BetterSellDealsIcon Better Sell Deals

Strategy[]

Summary[]

The main power of Blade Maelstrom is its incredibly high pierce. As such, it can immensely reduce the difficulty of grouped bloon rounds, as well as deal general cleanup whenever necessary. Proper placement and ability timing is required to utilize the most out of its high pierce, but it is highly effective for its price. It falls back greatly in the late-game, but due to its cost-effectiveness it remains part of an effective strategy in certain CHIMPS games. However, it sees most use on Race Events that enable it, often transitioning into a Super Maelstrom later on for even more widespread damage.

Tips[]

  • Going against the direction of the track, sometimes known as going against the grain, does more damage to bloons, so positioning the Blade Maelstrom is important. Use 0-4-1 to change the ability blades' spin direction to counter-clockwise if necessary.
  • Placing a Blade Maelstrom just below a section of bloon track allows all blades to immediately hit bloons, which when timed properly shreds a substantial amount of bloons within a tight area. There is a single point where all blades immediately spawn from, and it should appear right in the middle of the Maelstrom's blade emblem.
  • Blade Maelstrom's streams are deadlier the closer bloons are due to higher density of blades.
  • This is a cheap way to patch up defenses for Round 63, 76 and 78 which all contain dense rounds of Ceramics, due to the Maelstrom's high pierce. However, it can only handle two of the three waves of Ceramics on Round 63.
    • It is an option to get two of these, which can be able to pop all of the Ceramics on these rounds on most maps without having to wait for cooldown.
  • When under the effect of Overclock, Ultraboost, Call to Arms or Homeland Defense, the ability will shoot out much more blades.
  • During the course of the ability, up to 90 groups of 2 blades are shot. This is because blades are shot every 0.0333s, equivalent to 30 attacks per second.
  • Blades distributed from the ability are always 12 degrees apart per blade. Therefore, it takes around 1.0s to reach a full cycle from the top in a clockwise direction to the top again, excluding attack speed bonuses. If given attack speed bonuses, it will rotate at the same rate but produce blades out closer and closer together.
  • An effective use of Maelstrom into Super Maelstrom in Race Events is to activate its ability partway and then immediately purchase the next upgrade to sustain (but unfortunately not refresh) the new ability's duration. While it requires quick timing, it cuts a substantial amount of time, leading to higher race times if microed properly.
  • Crosspaths heavily affect the Maelstrom ability. In most situations, 2-4-0 is the preferable crosspath for the Blade Maelstrom, as this crosspath makes the tower shoot much faster and the ability can shred bloons quicker, making it stronger against dense bloon formations such as multiple slowed down waves of Round 63, as well as for quick DPS. However, the 0-4-2 is situationally stronger for the increased duration, for up to +33% more duration. Note that 0-4-1 and 0-4-2 also changes direction to anti-clockwise, which can be key on certain maps.
    • While Even More Tacks makes it shoot 12 blades instead of 8, meaning it would be easier to hit more surrounding Bloons or hit the same Bloon with multiple blades, Even Faster Shooting shoots more blades in less time, making it more efficient for the main attack.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

The removal of infinite pierce for the Blade Maelstrom ability in Version 24.0 was done to target Race Events, more specifically to make it more difficult to simply obliterate large quantities of bloons for a very low-cost price. However, the Version 24.0 nerf had slightly weakened the Blade Maelstrom ability in real-game scenarios, as it could no longer beat over two stacks of Round 63 Ceramic waves simultaneously, although it still could with each individual wave. Maelstrom was buffed again in Version 25.0 to make it a little more accessible in a real game scenario while still keeping true to the old balance change's intentions. Version 38.0 added crosspathing interaction to diversify Maelstrom usages.

7.0
  • BUFF Base attack speed increased (1.36s → 1.19s), as a result of base Tack Shooter attack speed buff. Does not affect Maelstrom ability.
9.0
  • BUFF Projectiles are no longer deleted as a round progresses during a Race Event
11.0
  • BUFF Blade Maelstrom ability duration increased (2s → 3s)
24.0
Maelstrom upgrades are in a good spot overall, but specifically for the low cost of this tower with such a rapid cooldown it was able to hit too many targets under race conditions. This targeted nerf is to the value of it under those race conditions and should be negligible in other game areas.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Blade Maelstrom ability now has limited pierce (infinite → 100)
25.0
[...] We liked Maelstrom's pierce change, however want to ease off a little as higher density rounds feel a lot more position & timing dependent now than they need to be. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • BUFF Blade Maelstrom ability pierce doubled (100 → 200)
37.0
Blade Shooter has always struggled to find much value without MK or as a step to Maelstrom, so to give it build value on its own we feel like this should be a part of the base value on the upgrade.
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Blade Shooter
  • BUFF Affected by Blade Shooter pierce buff
38.0
[...] Maelstrom crosspathing? Why not, feels that this could be cool to try out, and more consistency on bottom crosspath may be able to make it the preferred ability crosspath while top path which already improves the base tower more will give back the massive pierce amount for times where the greater punch per use is required.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • Change 0-4-1 Blade Maelstrom now changes rotation direction to counter-clockwise
  • NERF Blade Maelstrom pierce reduced across all crosspaths except 2-4-0.
    • NERF 0-4-x Blade Maelstrom pierce reduced 200 → 120
    • NERF 1-4-0 Blade Maelstrom pierce reduced 200 → 160
    • Change 2-4-0 Blade Maelstrom pierce remains at 200
  • BUFF 0-4-1 Blade Maelstrom duration increased 3s → 3.5s
  • BUFF 0-4-2 Blade Maelstrom duration increased 3s → 4s
41.0
[...] The recent ability crosspathing for Tack Shooter was fun but feels too lopsided as pierce concerns are very niche on Maelstrom, instead we want to shift this entire focus around for top path to be the rate crosspath for more damage in a shorter amount of time and leaving bottom mainly about greater overall uptime.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • Change Blade Maelstrom damage type changed from Sharp to Shatter
    • Note: This change blocks Flint Tips, and since Blade Shooter naturally gets frozen-popping when MK is enabled, it has no difference on MK-enabled Race Events. However, it now has natural synergy with freezing sources, especially Ice Shards.
  • BUFF Blade Maelstrom ability pierce increased on all crosspaths to match 2-4-0 crosspath
    • BUFF 0-4-x Blade Maelstrom ability pierce increased from 120 to 200
    • BUFF 1-4-0 Blade Maelstrom ability pierce increased from 160 to 200
  • NERF Blade Maelstrom attack cooldown reduced for all crosspaths but Path 1 crosspaths now offer extra attack speed.
    • NERF 0-4-x Blade Maelstrom ability attack cooldown increased from 0.03s to 0.045s.
    • NERF 1-4-0 Blade Maelstrom attack cooldown increased from 0.03s to 0.0383s, reducing attack cooldown by 15%.
    • BUFF 2-4-0 Blade Maelstrom attack cooldown increased from 0.03s to 0.0325s, reducing attack cooldown by 15%.

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

Sounds[]

When activating Blade Maelstrom Ability:

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Projectiles[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Out of all Tier 4 abilities, the Blade Maelstrom upgrade has the shortest initial cooldown out of all of them, at just 6.67s.
  • The nerf to the Blade Maelstrom ability pierce from infinite to 100 per blade back in Version 24.0 was specifically done to nerf its power in Race Event scenarios.
  • Before Version 28.0, but after Version 2.0, the Blade Maelstrom was the cheapest tower that contains an infinite pierce damaging attack. Only after Wall of Fire had its infinite pierce removed in Version 2.0 did Maelstrom become the cheapest at the time, and also the cheapest infinite pierce damaging attacker for all returning upgrades from BTD5.
  • If this tower is upgraded to Super Maelstrom while the ability is active, the ability switches from tier 4 to tier 5 and lasts for 9 seconds minus the "tier 4 period" that had already passed. This is because both abilities are connected with each other and any used ability time taken will carry over from both abilities.


Advertisement