Bloons Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Bloons Wiki
BTD6

Ninja attacks can strip camo from Bloons they damage.
~ In-game description

Counter-Espionage is the second upgrade of the second path for the Ninja Monkey in Bloons TD 6. It removes camo from all bloons that the Ninja Monkey damages, regardless of projectile type. Like most camo-stripping options, a Counter-Espionage Ninja can also remove camo from Camo Leads and DDTs, provided it can deal damage to them. Sticky Bombs with this upgrade (0-2-4 and 0-2-5) will remove camo from DDTs immediately after attaching to them, not requiring damage.

This upgrade costs $425 on Easy, $500 on Medium, $540 on Hard, and $600 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

Decamo

Counter-Espionage decamoing Ceramics

Compared to its previous upgrade, the Ninja's jumpsuit is now black, with moderately grey gloves and shoes, and the shuriken icon on its head as well as the ring around it are green. All crosspaths up to Tier 4 consistently add the aforementioned gloves, shoes, and icon-and-ring emblems.

Counter-Espionage can remove camo from damaged bloons (via decamo). For Camo Leads and Frozen Camo, as well as DDTs, shurikens and caltrops (with 0-2-2) will need external buffs such as MIB or Gwen's Heat It Up effect to strip the camo property, though flash bombs (with 0-2-3) will have no trouble with this. Distraction effects may also apply from attacks that damage non-blimp bloons.

Targeting Priorities[]

Ninja Discipline targets bloons using the standard targeting priorities. It shoots straight movement projectiles.

  • First: Targets the first bloon visible within its range.
  • Last: Targets the last bloon visible within its range.
  • Close: Targets the closest bloon visible within its range.
  • Strong: Targets the strongest bloon visible within its range.

All Ninja Monkeys can access Camo Prioritization. While Camo Prioritization is active, it allows all its attacks to prioritize Camo Bloons over other types.

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-2-X) $425 $500 $540 $600 -
Total (0-2-0) $1,145 $1,350 $1,460 $1,620 $802 $945 $1,022 $1,134
Crosspath (1-2-0) $1,400 $1,650 $1,785 $1,980 $980 $1,155 $1,250 $1,386
Crosspath (2-2-0) $1,695 $2,000 $2,165 $2,400 $1,187 $1,400 $1,516 $1,680
Crosspath (0-2-1) $1,355 $1,600 $1,730 $1,920 $949 $1,120 $1,211 $1,344
Crosspath (0-2-2) $1,695 $2,000 $2,160 $2,400 $1,187 $1,400 $1,512 $1,680

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: BetterSellDealsIcon Better Sell Deals

Strategy[]

Summary[]

Counter-Espionage allows the Ninja Monkey to fill a supportive role besides direct combat, decamoizing all bloons that it successfully damages with its various attacks, as well as sending them back with Distraction and can be upgraded to Shinobi Tactics to increase the fire rate of nearby Ninja Monkeys. Considering that the next upgrade benefits greatly from increased range, adding in Path 1 for increased fire rate, range, and doubling pierce is not a bad option to choose. With enough Shinobi Tactics around high-level Ninja Monkeys (especially Grandmaster Ninja or Master Bomber), Shinobi Tactics are able to provide enough Distraction power and Counter-Espionage power to improve defenses against Ceramics and below to a significant extent, even if surrounding Ninjas do not have Path 2 crosspaths.

Note that the camo-stripping effects are not limited to just shurikens. Flash Bomb with Counter-Espionage (0-2-3 Ninja Monkey) will produce an Area of Effect stun attack that breaks lead, as well as decamoizes all those in the blast, allowing Counter-Espionage to perform at its most optimal. Decamoization by a 0-2-3 Ninja can also be done against DDTs, since Flash Bombs can damage both Lead and Black properties that DDTs possess.

Tips[]

  • This upgrade is a good choice for rather cheap decamoization against Rounds 42 and 51. At a price even cheaper than the Submerge and Support, when set to target the camo bloons the Counter-Espionage can quickly strip camo off the spaced camo bloons to let the other stronger towers deal with the rest of the bloons.
  • Counter-Espionage is able to strip off the Camo property from DDTs if the Counter-Espionage Ninja has lead-popping power (e.g. by adding Flash Bomb) or is otherwise supported with lead-popping power, such as from Monkey Intelligence Bureau, Acidic Mixture Dip, or Level 4+ Gwendolin.
  • 0-2-3 Flash Bomb can be used to decamo large groups of bloons, including Camo Leads and DDTs, although it is more costly and slower than a 0-0-3 Shimmer just to decamo. However, like all Ninja Monkeys, a 0-2-3 Flash Bomb can be paired with Shinobi Tactics to increase the decamo rate of DDTs.
  • To make the most of the camo-stripping upgrade, increase attack speed and/or extra pierce or add additional attacks. Often a Ninja with Upper Path 1 upgrades (Double Shot, Bloonjitsu, Grandmaster Ninja) would reliably remove camo off any bloon other than Leads or DDTs, allowing more powerful camo nondetectors towers to attack stronger bloons that once were stronger camo bloons. Enable Camo Prioritization, so it will avoid throwing at non-camo bloons where this upgrade would have no effect.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

Counter-Espionage has not received any major balance changes since it was first released, although a few bug fixes were made when interacting with other towers. It's worth a small note that the Camo Prioritization target priority given for all Ninjas has made it a bit more reliable as part of Camo Bloon stripping strategies.

6.0
  • BUFF Counter-Espionage without Flash Bomb or above can now strip camo from Camo Leads or DDTs when given Acidic Mixture Dip or other lead-popping grant.
28.0
As ninja is the 'Camo Specialist' and has been since inception, it is the only tower that will unlock Camo Prioritization on the base tower. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi
29.0
  • BUFF Affected by Distraction alternate attacks buff
40.0
For an early game Distraction improvement the consistency of blowbacks is being averaged out more with increased minimum distance but reduced maximum, in many cases there would not actually be 250 units of track length in front of defenses to be blown back across anyway so the overall average distance is slightly lower. More at the mid to endgame we are also weakening distraction distance against Ceramics specifically as by this point Ninja have stacked so much speed and projectiles the consistency doesn’t matter anymore. Finally, distraction values for secondary projectiles are being modified, as Distraction chance as it has existed was never balanced around more than the main attack
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • Change Affected by the Distraction rework

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

5.0
  • Change Description changed from "Shurikens strip Camo from Bloons they hit." to "All attacks strip Camo from Bloons they hit."
24.0
  • Change Description changed from "All attacks strip Camo from Bloons they hit." to "Ninja attacks can strip camo from Bloons they damage."

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Trivia[]

  • The cheapest way to decamo a DDT via Counter-Espionage is to combine a 0-2-0 Ninja with Acidic Mixture Dip.
  • 0-2-3 Ninja is the fifth cheapest tower that can decamo DDTs on its own (lead-popping power is required for the Ninja Monkey to decamo DDTs), fourth being 4-0-0 Bloontonium Reactor, third being 0-0-3 Shimmer, second being 0-3-0 Cleansing Foam, and first being 3-0-0 Submerge and Support.
  • According to Ninja Kiwi's 16th September 2022 blog, Ninja Kiwi suggests that Counter-Espionage can decamo by slicing the Camo property from affected bloons, which let other towers see such bloons. This corresponds to its upgrade icon, which depicts exactly that.
  • According to Ninja Kiwi's 23rd June 2023 blog, the Monkeys acknowledge the co-operative teamwork provided by the 0-2-0 Ninja revealing the Camo Bloons, rather than a traitor for creating bloons out of nowhere.
Advertisement