Frag Bombs (BTD6)

Pre-BTD6

BTD6

BTDB2

Frag Bombs

General Information

Game

Bloons TD 6

Tower

Bomb Shooter

Unlocked at

600 XP

Cost

$255 (Easy)
$300 (Medium)
$325 (Hard)
$360 (Impoppable)

Activated Ability

N/A

Targeting Options

First, Last,
Close, Strong

Camo Detection

No

Popology

Damage Type(s)

Explosion

Single Projectile

Straight Attack

Area of Effect

Other(s)

Fragments:

Sharp

Orbital Spray

Straight Attack

Shrapnel

Statistics

Damage

1 (main explosion, frags, e.a.u.)

Pierce

22 (main explosion, e.a.u.)
1 (frags, spray of 8, e.a.u.)

Attack Speed

Moderately slow (every 1.5s, e.a.u.)

Range

54

Status Effects

N/A

Tower Boosts

N/A

Income/Life Boosts

N/A

Path Upgrades

← Previous

Current

Next →

Extra Range

Frag Bombs

Cluster Bombs

Path Info

Path

Upgrade Tier

3

2

[Source]

“	Explosions throw out sharp fragments that can pop more Bloons.	”
	^{~ In-game description}

Frag Bombs is the second upgrade of Path 3 for the Bomb Shooter in Bloons TD 6. It creates fragments that are spread out from the center of the explosion. Upon explosion, the bomb will emit 8 sharp frags that each deal 1 damage with 1 pierce. In addition, the Bomb Shooter gains +2 range, from 52 to 54. Note that a fragment cannot damage the same bloon that the parent bomb collided with, regardless of conditions. Fragments can accept external damage and pierce buffs, such as Berserker Brew.

Fragments gain more damage with Heavy Bombs, and even more damage and improved popping power with Really Big Bombs, Bloon Impact, or Bloon Crush, improving the pierce, damage, and projectile count of fragmented bombs from all Upper Path 1 upgrades.

This upgrade costs $255 on Easy, $300 on Medium, $325 on Hard, and $360 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

This upgrade replaces its wooden wheels with metal wheels. The barrel is elongated and distinct from the reinforce. The red circular pattern on top is replaced with a red explosion pattern.

Frag Bombs causes 8 frags to be produced on impact, each dealing 1 damage with 1 pierce in an Orbital Spray. These frags see their damage, pierce, and total number improve with Path 1 crosspathing.

Targeting Priorities[]

Frag Bombs 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.

Full Popology[]

Statistics[]

Updated as of Version 47.0
Base stats

Bomb:
- Projectile, explosion type, 54 range, 1.5s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 22 pierce. Blast radius of 12.
- Upon collision, release Frags that cannot affect the collided bloon (if hitting a bloon).
Frag:
- Shrapnel, sharp type, 1 pierce, 8 projectiles in a radial pattern.

Crosspathing interactions

3+-0-2: Frags improved to 6 damage, 12 projectiles, 2 pierce, 3 hitbox size, and increased +30% lifespan.
4-0-2: Range increased from 55 to 57. Compared to 3-0-2, Frags improves to 16 projectiles, 3 pierce, and increased +20% lifespan.
5-0-2: Range increased from 55 to 57. Compared to 4-0-2, Frags improves damage to 36, and pierce increased to 20.
0-2-2: Range increased from 56 to 58.
0-3-2: Range increased from 61 to 63.
0-4-2: Range increased from 63 to 68.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

Increased Lifespan: Projectiles shot from Bomb Shooter have increased lifespan.
Fraggy Frags: Frag bombs get 2 extra frags.
Come On Everybody!: Primary towers attack 5% faster if all are below tier 3, and cost 5% less if all are tier 3 or 4.
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/Primary

Updated as of Version 40.2

Base attack(s)

Bomb:
- Explosion
- Single Projectile
- Straight Attack
- Area of Effect
Fragments:
- Sharp
- Orbital Spray (8)
- Straight Attack
- Shrapnel

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-2)	$255	$300	$325	$360	-
Total (0-0-2)	$745	$875	$945	$1,050	$522	$613	$662	$735
Crosspath (1-0-2)	$955	$1,125	$1,215	$1,350	$669	$788	$851	$945
Crosspath (2-0-2)	$1,505	$1,775	$1,915	$2,130	$1,054	$1,243	$1,341	$1,491
Crosspath (0-1-2)	$955	$1,125	$1,215	$1,350	$669	$788	$851	$945
Crosspath (0-2-2)	$1,295	$1,525	$1,645	$1,830	$907	$1,068	$1,152	$1,281

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

Strategy[]

Summary[]

Frags can also be added with buffs to make them stronger and deal a bit of chip damage. Frag Bombs also slightly increases the Bomb Shooter's overall popping power in the transition to Cluster Bombs. It also has a very limited but unreliable way of popping Black Bloons.

Tips[]

Frag Bombs does increase popping power, but fragments are not reliable popping power when compared to the explosive aspects of Bomb Shooters, even at higher upgrades.
When used as crosspath to MOAB Mauler it gives a large range bonus in addition to slightly more popping power to small amounts of extra targets other than the exploded target, unlike the Heavy Bombs which is pierce-oriented and designed for dense groups.
Usually, this upgrade serves as the stepping stone to Cluster Bombs.
Although the fragments themselves can pop Black Bloons, it's not advised to rely entirely on fragments to pop these bloon types.
Because fragments can accept external pierce and damage buffs, it means they can benefit greatly from Striker Jones Level 20 Artillery Command buff to cause greater collateral damage, especially for Bomb spam strategies involving 0-3-2 Mauler or 3-0-2 Really Big Bombs.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

Until Version 28.0, most Frag Bombs buffs were just minor crosspathing benefits. Version 28.0 buffed Frag Bombs to grant explosions with black-popping power, adding better crosspath variety and reducing the Bomb Shooter's inherent weaknesses against Black properties, but reverted in v40.0 due to benefiting Cluster Bombs too much. However, v44.0, Frag Bombs got buffed again to benefit from external buffs, which now makes it more viable for buffing compared to Cluster Bombs which already can be externally buffed.

18.0

Frag Bombs fragments can now benefit from Really Big Bombs or Bloon Impact crosspaths.

22.0

Base pierce decreased (18 → 14)
Frag Bombs fragments improve further with Bloon Crush

28.0

“	[...] We've acknowledged that Frag Bombs have felt like an inconsistent crosspath both in what they add to the tower and what they lose when upgraded further on their own path, so now in addition to frags popping Black Bloons xx2+ will allow all attacks from the tower to pop Black.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

The Frag Bombs upgrade will allow all Bomb Shooter explosions to pop Black Bloons. Does not affect the frags themselves.

31.0

“	The Frags crosspath for top path Bomb Shooter has always been quite a poor choice, trying to compete with attack speed as a benefit for stun utility isn’t going to ever work out so we have instead gone the route of turning the frags crosspath into a DPS/Stun hybrid with a lot of small buffs to frag power.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Frag Bombs now increases pierce, damage, and projectile count of all frags from Really Big Bombs and above in various ways

40.0

“	[...] A while ago Frag Bombs was reworked to give Bomb normal type damage however we were not happy with the results of that change in the end, we didn’t want to go back and remove that again without giving back something nice in return so it has taken a while but now we have decided to go ahead with changing that back along with swapping out Recursive fortified damage for raw damage which we hope also improves crosspathing as the damage crosspath isn’t such a large increase over the base damage anymore.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Frag Bombs explosion damage type changed from Normal to Explosion.

44.0

“	[...] For a crosspathing trial we’re removing the limits on Frags buffability & also giving more of a range boost to Extra Range.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Frag Bombs range increased from 49 to 54. Also affects subsequent upgrades.
Frag Bombs fragment damage is now uncapped, allowing for Frag Bombs fragments to benefit from external buffs
Frag Bombs fragment pierce is now uncapped, allowing for Frag Bombs fragments to benefit from external buffs

46.0

“	Bomb Shooter’s base pierce is plenty for the early game but low enough that 1xx crosspath feels too important later, we’re shifting pierce out of crosspath into the base upgrade to alleviate this. [...]	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Base pierce increased (14 → 22)

47.0

“	[...] Frag damage is being greatly improved all the way up as there’s little reason to trade stun uptime for improved damage. [...]	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Frag Bombs damage on Heavy Bombs and above are improved
- 2-0-2: 1 -> 2
- 3-0-2: 3 -> 6
- 4-0-2: 3 -> 6
- 5-0-2: 24 -> 36

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

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

40.0

Frag Bombs description changed from "Explosions throw sharp fragments that can pop more Bloons including Black Bloons." to "Explosions throw out sharp fragments that can pop more Bloons."

Extra Notes (Version History)[]

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Projectiles[]

Videos[]

Frag Bombs No Buffed Pierce Or Damage, Version 43.0

Trivia[]

Starting from Version 28.0 but until Version 40.0, the Frag Bombs upgrade was the lowest-tier upgrade to offer black-popping power for explosives. On the outskirts of these versions, this ranking belonged to either an autoleveled Level 5+ Striker Jones or a Heavy Shells Mortar.