Bloon Exclusion Zone

BTD6

BTDB2

Bloon Exclusion Zone

General Information

Game

Bloons TD 6

Tower

Dartling Gunner

Unlocked at

55,000 XP

Cost

$49,300 (Easy)
$58,000 (Medium)
$62,640 (Hard)
$69,600 (Impoppable)

Activated Ability

N/A

Targeting Options

Normal, Locked, Target Independent

Camo Detection

Restricted (requires 0-1-5)

Other Names

BEZ

Popology

Damage Type(s)

Shatter

Multitargets

Shotgun Spray 12x

Aim-Based Mobility

Long Range

Erratic Movement

Extra Damage

Knockback

Statistics

Damage

8 (buckshot, spray of 12, e.a.u.)

Pierce

6 (buckshot, spray of 12, e.a.u.)

Attack Speed

Fast (buckshot, every 0.25s, spray of 12, e.a.u.)

Range

130 (0-x-5 buckshot)
182 (1-0-5 buckshot)

Status Effects

Knockback (Knocks back most non-MOAB class bloons by -300% speed, -150% for Leads and Ceramics)

Tower Boosts

N/A

Income/Life Boosts

N/A

Path Upgrades

← Previous

Current

Bloon Area Denial System

Bloon Exclusion Zone

Path Info

Path

Upgrade Tier

3

5

[Source]

“	Upgraded to 6 barrels and massively increased damage. Bloons are excluded from existence.	”
	^{~ In-game description}

Bloon Exclusion Zone (also known as BEZ) is the fifth upgrade of Path 3 for the Dartling Gunner in Bloons TD 6. Compared to Bloon Area Denial System, it increases the attack speed by +50% (every 0.25s, or 0.167s with 0-2-5) by shooting from a total of 6 barrels instead of 4, increases projectile number from 6 buckshots to 12, damage per buckshot increases from 4 to 8, and pierce increases from 4 to 6. The two top barrels additionally are tall enough to have high ground. Crosspathing with Laser Shock upgrade causes the Laser Shock status effect to now deal 6 damage instead of 3.

When set to Target Independent, the Bloon Exclusion Zone now sets barrels to, in order from top to bottom: First, Last, Close, Strong, First, Strong.

This upgrade costs $49,300 on Easy, $58,000 on Medium, $62,640 on Hard, and $69,600 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

Bloon Exclusion Zone is significantly taller than its preceding upgrade, on account of the two additional barrels; the 2nd, 4th, and 6th are also given a darker grey color, in conjunction with the entire tower being painted a darker blue. This extends to the monkey, who sees more of their body obscured, with only its head being properly visible; they wear a dark blue helmet with white stripes, yellow side guards, a yellow emblem on the forehead, and a pair of blue-tinted glasses.

Bloon Exclusion Zone fires 50% faster than Bloon Area Denial System, with an attack cooldown of 0.25s, 0.167s with 0-2-5, on account of firing from 6 barrels; the top 2 are considered tall, and thus can fire over obstacles. As with the previous upgrade, Bloon Area Denial System, the Bloon Exclusion Zone receives Target Independent as a targeting option.

The actual shots retain the knockback from Buckshot, but deal 8 damage instead of 4, have 6 pierce instead of 4, and 12 are shot at once instead of 6. Crosspathing with Laser Shock causes it to deal 6 damage instead of 3.

Targeting Priorities[]

Bloon Exclusion Zone customly aims based on direction and angle of where the Dartling points towards. It shoots straight movement projectiles controlled in a aim-based mobile style guided by touch-based mobility, albeit with some erratic angular deviation. Barrels alternate based on the turret's set targeting priority, from top to bottom.

Normal: Rotates towards the direction of where the player last tapped. On desktop versions, always rotates towards direction of the cursor inside the game.
Locked: Locks the Dartling in place. By default, locks at center of map, but can be adjusted in the same way as a Mortar Monkey. On desktop versions, using a hotkey to switch to Locked will default to wherever the mouse currently is pointing.
Target Independent: Barrels alternate in standard target priorities from top to bottom, and back to the top again for every cycle.
- Bloon Exclusion Zone alternates between First, Last, Close, Strong, First, Strong.

Since all Dartlings already attack based on custom aim, Dartlings don't receive Camo Prioritization even with Advanced Targeting.

Full Popology[]

Updated as of Version 44.2

Base stats

Dartling persistently aims towards the pointer whenever active; aims towards where last tapped (Mobile versions) or current location of cursor inside the game window (Desktop and Console versions). Rotation speed of 440 degrees per second. Creates Buckshot projectiles from centre of Dartling, with 46° deviation from the centre, and alternate between 6 guns of different heights.
Buckshot:
- Projectile, shatter type, 1.5s attack cooldown evenly distributed among 6 guns (i.e. 0.25s attack cooldown per shot), spray of 12, 8 damage, 3 projectile size, 6 pierce. 520 projectile speed, random 0.9x-1.1x speed multiplier, 0.25s projectile lifespan. On damage, inflict Knockback for 0.2s on target, inflicting a 300% knockback on light targets and 150% knockback on non-blimp heavy (Lead, Ceramic, Fortified) targets.

Crosspathing interactions

1-0-5: Projectile deviation angle of Buckshot decreased from 46° to 18.2°, projectile lifespan increased from 0.25s to 0.35s.
2-0-5: Buckshot applies Level 1 Laser Shock damage-over-time effect, dealing 6 damage every 1.0s for 1.0s, and deals +6 damage to Level 1 shocked bloons.
0-1-5: Gains camo detection.
0-2-5: Buckshot attack cooldown decreased from 0.25s to 0.1667s.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
Emergency Unlock: Unlocks special ability that boost the Dartling Gunner swivel speed for a short time.
Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
- Dartling Gunner base cost from $720, $850, $920, and $1,020 → $480, $570, $615, and $685 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
- Dartling Gunner base cost from $720, $850, $920, and $1,020 → $685, $805, $875, and $970 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
  - If Military Conscription is also enabled, the final cost will be $450, $535, $570, and $630.
Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more. Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.

Attack Interactions[]

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military

Updated as of Version 42.2

Base attack(s)

Buckshot:
- Shatter
- Shotgun Spray (12, 46-degree deviation)
- Alternating Weapons (6 guns)
- Aim-Based Mobility
- Long Range
- Tall (top guns can shoot over some obstacles)
- Erratic Movement
- Extra Damage (8)
- Knockback (light: 300%, heavy: 150%)

Costs[]

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

[Module \| Data]	Purchase				Sell
Costs	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
Upgrade (X-X-5)	$49,300	$58,000	$62,640	$69,600	-
Total (0-0-5)	$64,255	$75,600	$81,645	$90,720	$44,979	$52,920	$57,152	$63,504
Crosspath (1-0-5)	$64,510	$75,900	$81,970	$91,080	$45,157	$53,130	$57,379	$63,756
Crosspath (2-0-5)	$65,275	$76,800	$82,940	$92,160	$45,693	$53,760	$58,058	$64,512
Crosspath (0-1-5)	$64,465	$75,850	$81,915	$91,020	$45,126	$53,095	$57,341	$63,714
Crosspath (0-2-5)	$65,270	$76,800	$82,940	$92,160	$45,689	$53,760	$58,058	$64,512

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

Strategy[]

Summary[]

Bloon Exclusion Zone is a powerful option for popping grouped bloons and single-target bloons due to its high projectile count and high damage. Bloon Exclusion Zone does not necessarily require support to become usable in a real game, but for the best results, it should be buffed with supports that greatly benefit high-projectile towers. Because it shoots lots of projectiles per shot, it benefits a lot from Alchemist buffs, most specifically Stronger Stimulant, as well as from Pat Fusty and Glue Storm.

Tips[]

Bloon Exclusion Zone does not pop Lead Bloons by default, as it has the shatter damage type, so adding a Monkey Intelligence Bureau is a good idea.
In terms of crosspathing, both options have their own merits. 2-0-5 offers significantly greater raw DPS through the bonus damage from Laser Shock, whereas the 0-2-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone gains innate Camo detection (via Advanced Targeting) and has a greater rate of shooting projectiles. 0-2-5 is still very strong when paired with bloon debuffs (e.g. Embrittlement) or damage buffs (e.g. Berserker Brew).
Just like Bloon Area Denial System, Bloon Exclusion Zone greatly benefits from Alchemist buffs, especially Stronger Stimulant. It attacks quite fast, but still slower than a lower-tier Dartling Gun, so a Bloon Exclusion Zone actually will have nearly 100% uptime with Stronger Stimulant.
- However, Acidic Mixture Dip will run out between shots. For better damage vs DDTs, consider stacking 4-5 Acidic Mixture Dip alchemists next to this tower. This gives it more damage and is cheaper than an MIB.
Because of how many projectiles it produces per shot, Bloon Exclusion Zone is a good candidate with Pat Fusty, although with Pat Fusty multiple Bloon Area Denial Systems might benefit better from him.
It produces many projectiles per shot, and because of this, it should be placed a little closer to the entrance, as it deals the most damage versus MOAB-class bloons. Add some space so that it is able to clean up Super Ceramics too.
When fighting against small groups of weaker bloons, the sheer amount of projectiles will simply wipe them out clean. It takes many more hits for Bloon Exclusion Zone to take down higher-HP MOAB-class, especially BADs, but it does a decent job otherwise. Its main weaknesses, however, are densely grouped MOAB-class and DDTs.
By placing the Bloon Exclusion Zone near the bottom of the gear on Geared, it can be seen that it has slightly more range than its previous upgrade, the Bloon Area Denial System.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

Bloon Exclusion Zone's power remains fairly similar compared to when it was first released. It is strong at dealing high damage to MOAB-class and bloons, but slightly more for the former. Bloon Exclusion Zone got buffed in a few updates, but only by a slight amount.

22.0

Initial release.

23.0

“	As our most recently added tower we are very happy with all the excitement surrounding this beloved monkey tower and the general middleground play position. We're happy enough with its time in the wild to make some first impression changes here which we hope you'll continue to enjoy.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to multiple Dartling upgrades}

BEZ's projectiles now knock back non-MOAB-class bloons by a small amount on hit, similar to Super Monkey's Knockback but sends hit bloons ~33% backwards.

24.0

“	[...] Finally Bloon Exclusion Zone's price has as well been reduced slightly for edge case balance.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Bloon Exclusion Zone price decreased ($60,000 → $58,000).

28.0

“	Even though we like the theme of the slow hitting upgrade, Buckshot has struggled to live up to its potential, so attack speed has been further increased through all tiers. [...]	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Buckshot}

BEZ attack cooldown reduced from 0.3s -> 0.25s, because of the Buckshot attack speed buff.

29.0

“	The bottom path Bloon Exclusion Zone on the Dartling has had a lot of talk about damage types, with points raised on the viability here due to the high price. It did recently get a strong buff from the T3 up, but in order to work more into other synergies we have decided to finally do a damage type change here as well, starting from early on in the path.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to BEZ and Powerful Darts}

Bloon Exclusion Zone damage type from Sharp → Shatter

30.0

“	[...] Finally as the Laser Shock crosspath is not so favorable for Buckshot path dartlings, we have doubled down on the ‘Focus’ of Focussed Firing to also increase projectile travel distance.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

1-0-5 BEZ’s Focus Firing crosspath grants distance to projectiles +25%

33.0

Affected by 1-0-3 Buckshot distance buffs

34.0

“	[...] BADS on the bottom currently feels like it brings far too much power to carry the midgame for cheap so price is being shifted around from the T5 down into the T4.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Bloon Area Denial System price reduced from $58000 to $54000
- Total price adjustment is $0 due to the BADS price nerf by $4000

35.0

“	While admittedly difficult to handle at T3, the recent changes made to attempt to give Buckshot an easier growth into BADS overall backfired and were a failure. Looking back, the difficult T3 required attention but was still not bad if used correctly and the improved handling at T4 was far worth this effort in the end. That seemed fine enough before and we don't like how it has ended up so walking those changes back. We have to admit when we miss and thanks for continued discussion on bottom path.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Bloon Area Denial System price reverted ($54000 → $58000)
- Total price adjustment is $0, due to the BADS price buff by $4000.

38.0

“	We weren’t quite ever able to take Laser Shock in the direction we initially hoped to, and due to this the 203 crosspath has fallen behind in value and overall use, so we are improving some crosspath values here to fix up damage with bottom path Buckshocks	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

2-0-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone bonus Shock damage increased (1 → 6)

44.0

“	[...] Faster Swivel while a nice quality of life doesn’t add any power so also ends up difficult to justify on its own, we don’t expect this will change that too much but even faster swiveling should be much nicer for when you do desperately need that accuracy.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Faster Swivel}

Bloon Exclusion Zone turn rate increased from 360 to 440.

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

This section is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.

Extra Notes (Version History)[]

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Assets[]

Trivia[]

An "exclusion zone" is a terrestrial region where human access is forbidden.
The first Dartling Gunner 2TC was achieved by Dabloon, with 0-2-5 Prince of Darkness + 0-2-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone.^[1]
At $58,000 for the upgrade alone, Bloon Exclusion Zone was the most expensive upgrade in the game that retained the sharp damage type until Version 29.0 where it now has the Shatter damage type.
- The 2-0-5 and 0-2-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone both tied as the most expensive tower in the entire game that only has the sharp damage type.
- That status has now been passed into 0-2-5 Avatar of Wrath.
Bloon Exclusion Zone is the only Tier 5 Dartling without an appearance in the Dartling Gunner trailer video.
In one of the Dartling Gunner concept artworks, Bloon Exclusion Zone had a helmet similar to Elite Defender. It was later adapted into the Bloon Exclusion Zone's helmet by adding goggles into the operator's helmet.

References[]

↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcn7O9Jn59s&feature=emb_title

[1] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcn7O9Jn59s&feature=emb_title

[1]