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Dark Castle is an Expert Map in Bloons TD 6, added in Version 5.0 on October 23rd 2018, along with the Intermediate Map Haunted and Beginner Map Frozen Over.

Overview[]

The map consists of a paths leading to a dark castle. Bloons enter from the 4 left ground paths on the grass towards the confluence single path, which enters the castle drawbridge (which closes when the round ends and opens when the round begins). Towers may be placed anywhere along the 2 grassy fields, on top of the castle roof or, in the case of water towers, in the moat around the castle. However, the castle roof walls make the castle roof not ideal for towers affected by Line of Sight, especially Sniper Monkeys, so it's better to use the roof for Banana Farms, Benjamin, or other towers that ignore line of sight. It is possible to place small towers on the castle wall behind the merlons, which helps towers that shoot in a straight line. 30 trees on the left side of the map also block towers affected by Line of Sight (11 on the top, 6 in the middle and 14 on the bottom with half of 1 of them is offscreen). Each pack of trees can be chopped down for $1,000 each.

Rewards[]

Monkey Money Rewards
Btd6monkeymoney Easy[?] Medium[?] Hard[?] Impoppable[?]
First Time $300
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $330
$450
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $495
$500
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $550
$750
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $825
$800
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $880
$1200
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $1980
$1200
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $1320
$1800
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $1980
Completed $60
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $66
$90
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $99
$100
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $110
$150
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $165
$160
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $176
$240
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $264
$240
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $264
$360
MoMonkeyMoneyIcon $396

Strategy[]

Main article: Dark Castle/Strategies

Summary[]

Dark Castle is a relatively challenging map, although among the easier set of Expert Maps primarily due to its single-lane nature with no added map-specific gimmicks other than the rather short converging lanes. Because of the convergence of the lanes near the centre, a ricocheting or seeking attacker with relatively high pierce such as Glaive Ricochet or a Shinobi-buffed 5-0-1 Grandmaster Ninja can be very effective. The top of the castle allows for much of the backline defense, mainly catering to defensive Spike Factory such as Spiked Balls and Perma-Spike.

As one of the more flexible Expert Maps, many different types of strategies are viable on this map. Quick-damage defenses with good accuracy and/or effective backline cleanup generally stand out as the most optimal for this map. Additionally, the relatively good amount of usable water on this track allows for Monkey Sub strategies to flourish, particularly the Dart + Sub starts on CHIMPS, and Admiral Brickell + Sub Commander army. The relatively spacious land also makes strategies involving focused tower spam (e.g. Striker Jones + Cluster Bombs spam) viable on this map, with solid placements for placing neighboring Villages that cover most of the central space if the Villages and defenses are centered on either the top-half or bottom-half of the converged lanes.

Tips[]

  • Have a Spike Factory or a Druid of the Storm near the end of the track to secure the exit.
  • Concentrate your towers on the center-top or center-bottom corner of the map, and avoid placing towers behind the confluence of paths.
  • In the middle of the map, where all Bloons are grouped together, grouped damage on large areas combined to stalling is very effective. Cluster Bombs and Artillery Battery or Shell Shock combined with Glue Storm, Snowstorm or Bloon Sabotage are amongst the possible combinations. Do not forget to make your monkeys able to see Camo Bloons and target them later in the game.
  • Towers that have projectiles bouncing from Bloon to Bloon such as Heart of Thunder, Primary Expertise's Mega Ballista or Grandmaster Ninja crosspathed with Seeking Shuriken and boosted by a Stronger Stimulant can be very effective, as their projectiles will hit the Bloons on the center of the track as well as those behind.
  • In addition to this setup, you should have towers inflicting high single-target damage to pop the blimps as fast as possible. Amongst the possible options, there is Maim MOAB or MOAB Assassin with targeting set on Strong.
  • The stretch from the confluence of paths to the entrance of the castle is very short, as such, placing towers that can blow off the Bloons right on top of the entrance can be helpful. The most effective way to do this is by placing several 3-x-x Druids. Given that you'll eventually upgrade them to 4-x-x and possibly one to 5-x-x, they will deal massive damage to the Bloons while blowing them off the exit of the map.
  • A Bloon Trap or Obyn Greenfoot's Wall of Trees ability can bar the Bloons from passing the exit, however, this will require micromanaging, as you'll need to empty them regularly so that you won't get overwhelmed. Obyn Greenfoot (BTD6)#Wall_of_Trees_Ability
  • Out of all of the removal trees on this map, the very top trees is the best candidate to be removed, as this allows blimp-stalling options such as Maim MOAB to stall entering blimps sooner, given that the top lane is always the first lane of each round.

Sounds[]

When removing a pack of trees:

Gallery[]

Squeezing MOABs[]

Trivia[]

  • In Version 6.0, the music for Dark Castle was changed from Sunset Samba to Tribes and Tribulations.
  • This was the first Expert Map to be added to BTD6 in an update, Version 5.0.
  • M.O.A.B. class Bloons that enter the castle shrink when going through. This is probably because they were too big and need to fit inside. Although not possible currently, Boss Bloons also follow this rule.
  • This was the only Expert Map in BTD6 that has one exit, until the release of Workshop in Version 12.0.
  • The track's converging paths had confused the Elite Defender's attack speed algorithm on version 11.0, quadrupling its attack speed when targeting bloons before the paths meet. The glitch was shown off in this video. This glitch was patched on version 12.0.
  • It is possible to beat Impoppable Dark Castle with only towers placed on the castle wall. This was done by ISAB on 7th (?) October 2019 and also here on 2nd of March, 2019 by 'Impoppable is Nothing'.
  • This map seems to be the other half of the Snowy Castle map from Bloons TD Battles.
  • Due to having a single path exit and large amount of space to place towers with less intrusive line of sight blockers, this map is often considered the easiest Expert map in the game.
  • The flags on this map consist of a single banana on a red background, while Striker Jones' hat has a much more detailed design with leaves, darts, and bananas. The flag on Moon Landing is a banana on a blue background with circles around it. Admiral Brickell's hat consists of an anchor which is also the icon for Naval Tactics.
  • After the balance changes to the Necromancer and Prince of Darkness in Version 21.0, there is a bug where the Necromancer's and Prince of Darkness's undead bloons always spawn on the start of the split lanes rather than further back along the track.
  • This is the only expert map that is used for boss bloon event so far. This map was picked in Vortex event on January 21-26, 2023.
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