Ground Zero (BTDB2)

BTDB2

“	Increases effectiveness of bomb drops. Ground Zero Ability: drops a huge bomb that destroys most things on screen.	”
	^{~ BTDB2 description}

Ground Zero is the 4th upgrade on Path 2 of the Monkey Ace in Bloons TD Battles 2. It is similar to its BTD6 counterpart, with some differences. Its ability lacks an initial cooldown and has the old BTD6 cost, and the nuke has a shorter deployment cooldown.

The nuke ability drops a nuke, taking about 0.3s to drop the nuke, and once detonated it deals 700 damage across up to 1000 bloons, an arbitrarily high amount of bloons. The nuclear explosion affects the whole screen, starting with the bloons closest to the Ace's runway, and can penetrate blimp layers. The Ground Zero ability's cooldown is 35s.

The main bomb arrays deal 10 damage each, exploding over a 35 radius and a pierce of 30 (37 with 0-4-1), a +20 pierce improvement from Bomber Ace.

It costs $15,000, and is unlocked with purchase of Monkey Ace.

Strategy[]

Summary[]

The main part of Ground Zero that makes it special is its nuke ability, which near-immediately nukes the screen with huge damage at an extremely high pierce. The stronger bomb arrays can deal extra damage too as a bonus, more than tripling its damage. Ground Zero is particularly useful if your opponent rushes with hordes of Fortified MOABs, as the ability will erase everything on sight.

Tips[]

1-4-0 is generally better because of the attack speed bonus, though the ability does not gain improvements with crosspaths.
0-4-1 increases the pierce of the bomb arrays, which may help clear dense rushes more effectively, albeit at a slower rate. 0-4-2 also allows it to fly at a specified location.
Make sure to have at least two Ground Zeros up at any given time past Round 26, as fortified DDTs require two abilities to destroy, and of course, be weary of the 0.8s deploy time, as to not have the DDTs clear the exit before the nuke lands.
Against early fortified DDTs, you can use quick, heavy hitters such as two Operation Dart Storms or Ezili to weaken the them enough so that you’ll only need to use one Ground Zero to destroy them completely. This trick falls off due to heavy ramping, but can still be used if a second ground zero can not be afforded.
While Ground Zero micro is expensive, it is extremely effective against Tight MOABs and Tight BFBs. Two usages are required against Tight BFBs. If the opponent insists on spacing out Tight MOABs, a Spectre can suffice for MOAB-popping power.

Version History[]

Initial release (compared to BTD6 during Version 28.0)

Ground Zero initial cooldown decreased (15s → 5s)
Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (40 → 35)
0-4-1 Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (52 → 45)

1.0.6

Ground Zero no longer has an initial cooldown (5s → 0s)

1.5.0

No longer requires 15,000 XP to unlock. Players who have unlocked this upgrade before the update will not receive a full refund.

1.9.0

Ground Zero ability animation shortened to allow a more rapid activation.
x-4-0 Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (35 → 32)
0-4-1 Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (45 → 40)

3.2

Ground Zero ability cooldown reduced (45s -> 35s)

“	The x4x ability cooldown now matches the x5x ability cooldown. This change has been made for the same reasoning as the change made to Monkey Buccaneer.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

4.1

x-4-0 Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (32 → 30)
0-4-1 Ground Zero bomb pierce decreased (40 → 37)

4.2

Ground Zero: $14,000 -> $15,000

“	We’ve raised Ground Zero’s price because it is extremely cost effective, offering a top tier ability as well as pretty solid defense with its high-damage bombs. [...]	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Ground Zero ability does double the damage compared to in BTD5, and 75% than in BTDB1 Mobile.
Ground Zero's mini-bomb pierce is calculated in the in-game code to be x+20, and thus is affected by the pierce changes of Bomber Ace's bombs.