Half Cash/Strategies

Note: This page is updated as of Version 28.3

Useful Heroes

• Cheap, easily affordable heroes such as Quincy, Ezili & Sauda are very good heroes when needing reliable support.
• Benjamin is among the best Heroes for Half Cash, due to his income, his life-healing, and his useful Trojan attacks (especially for beating the Round 40 MOAB). His Skimming passive ability at Level 4+ is particularly useful in preventing a potentially-deadly cash starve.
• Obyn Greenfoot is also a viable option on harder maps due to his useful abilities for early-mid game.
• Sauda can be an excellent choice on most Beginner and Intermediate maps (or easier Advanced maps like Cornfield) as you may be able to afford her on Round 5 already if you are willing to lose lives on R4 and have enough Monkey Knowledge, as she has high DPS (especially when buffed with Berserker Brew and Stronger Stimulant) and can deal with camo bloons up until Round 42 or even Round 51.
• Pat Fusty and his Rallying Roar when combined with X-X-3 Sub can substitute an AP Darts one, this is useful when dealing with Round 40 MOAB.

Useful towers and upgrades

• Monkey Sub with the Naval Upgrades MK is extremely helpful for the first few rounds, as it will have 3-pierce homing darts.
• If paired with Benjamin, use 0-3-2 Triple Shot for Camos. Otherwise, 0-2-3 Crossbow is better, although 2-0-3 Crossbow has better range and pierce and works better along straight lines.
• Use 0-3-0 MOAB Mauler as a cheap early MOAB popper, although the Round 40 MOAB should be easy to beat with Ben Level 7+ because the Ceramics would not spawn out. It is still handy to keep for future MOAB rounds, especially Round 54, Round 57, and Round 58. Have some backup defense for handling the Ceramics underneath, because MOAB Maulers aren't very effective versus Ceramics.
• Use 3-0-2 Glaive Ricochet and 4-0-2 M.O.A.R. Glaives for beating grouped bloons, particularly for the middle mid-game (Rounds 50-59) to late mid-game (Rounds 60-80). A 2-0-2 Boomerang Monkey can also be valuable early game to clean up grouped bloons before Glaive Ricochet.
• Use 0-2-0 Wall of Fire for cheap cleanup and 0-2-2 Wall of Fire for beating Camo Leads. It helps especially during the middle early-game and general mid-game.
• Use 0-2-0 Counter-Espionage for stripping camo on Rounds 42 and 51, as well as a number of other rounds with spaced Camos. Utilize Camo Prioritization target priority.
• If there is available water (or just use a Portable Lake if significant enough), use 2-0-2 Airburst Darts as cheap but effective early grouped popping power, 2-0-3 Triple Guns for cheap main popping power for mid-game, and 2-0-4 Armor Piercing Darts for effective MOAB-class popping power on late mid-game.
• Berserker Brew and other Alchemist buffs may not likely be practically affordable until somewhere in mid-game, so don't rely on those too much, since most of the time of Half Cash you will most likely use multiple towers over one single powerful tower.
• On easier maps, one single 0-0-0 Spike Factory may be very useful for tanking up a small number of potentially leaking bloons per round, especially around the early mid-game (Rounds 40-49) and middle mid-game (Rounds 50-59). In conjunction with Ben, Spike Factory can tank MOABs affected by his trojan.
• A 0-4-2 buccaneer can be afforded by round 40 if nothing else is bought and with the right monkey knowledge. This is very tight so if too many bloons leak you will have to change your strategy.
• A pair of 2-0-3 Neva-Miss Targeting Monkey Aces with Berserker Brew may prove to be useful as well between R41-70.
• 2-0-4 Recursive Cluster is extremely effective at bloon cleanup, especially if bloons are clumped. Even a 2-0-3 Cluster Bombs has respectable popping power against grouped bloons.

Useful money-saving strategies

• Try to avoid buying upgrades that would only serve for the long term and focus on the short-term. This means upgrades pertaining to camo, lead and MOAB should be held off in favor of upgrades that can immediately help right now like with DPS, and only choosing to purchase the upgrade if there's a next more reliable upgrade planning to afford, like Crossbow after Enhanced Eyesight.
• Camoes do not reoccur until round 32 and the first one can be tanked. Almost every camo upgrade offers no other benefit besides additional range and one tower is all that's needed against Camoes in all rounds up to the MOAB and possible a few after that.
  • Ninja, Spactory and many heroes, all can attack camo without upgrade purchase, and some heroes have ways to attack camo without camo detect such as Obyn's brambles and Gwen's cocktails, allowing to deal with less threatening camos and save up until they do become a threat.
  • Don't count out upgrades that can de-camo too, as they can be cheap and allow every tower to attack them, so Counter-Espionage or Cleansing Foam - Signal Flare and Shimmer are bit on the pricey side but one of them leads to one of the most reliable and cost-efficient towers for this mode, making it a worthy investment. Another worthy investment: Bloontonium Reactor, it's more expensive but comes with high DPS not too dissimilar to Ring of Fire.
• MOAB-specific upgrades are similar to camo, but exacerbated by their great costs. Blimps don't reappear until round 50, and since the first one appears way back in round 40, means that any such upgrades made just to beat that single one, will have no use against regular Bloons for 9 straight rounds, making it a waste.
  • However due to this mode being more DPS-reliant and only a single defeated ZOMG is needed to finish, the entire game could be beaten with all that accumulated DPS alone, not needing the blimp upgrades.
• Lead upgrades are the least affected by this because most of them do offer other benefits, mainly popping power, so upgrades like Full Metal Jacket and Red Hot Rangs do give back for the investment.

Towers

Tower	Strategy
Dart Monkey	Cheap popping power in the early-game is undeniably super valuable, especially with Bonus Monkey! MK
Boomerang Monkey	3-0-2 Glaive Ricochet and 4-0-2 M.O.A.R Glaives are good for clustered bloons. MOAB Press is pricey for something that usually stalls blimps than outright kill, but synergize with a 2-0-4 Tack Shooter and that would make the best alternative to MOAB Maulers.
Bomb Shooter	Cluster Bombs and Recursive Cluster are both excellent options against densely grouped bloons, especially with Heavy Bombs.
Tack Shooter	Of all upgrades, Blade Maelstrom will be the most viable option, as it can wipe out dense waves of bloons when properly timed. Tack Sprayer deals decent early-game blimp damage for low cost but is placement-dependent and doesn't work well for later rounds. The same tends to apply for its higher tiers. However, paired with MOAB press, this can be the cheapest alternative to MOAB Maulers.
Ice Monkey	Embrittlement can be used against MOAB-Class bloons to weaken them, making your cheap defenses more useful.
Glue Gunner	Corrosive Glue is rather cheap and comes with both slowdown and corrosion, as well as lead-popping.
Sniper Monkey	Full Metal Jacket is valuable in the early-game for chipping down the power of mid-tier bloons, especially when set on Strong. 1-1-0 (Full Metal Jacket with Night Vision Goggles set on Strong and enabled Camo Prioritization is often sufficient for camos before Round 42, as long as there's no other camo-detecting towers to interrupt.
Monkey Sub	0-0-0 is cheap to afford and is effective for the early-game, especially with Naval Upgrades and Military Conscription. Add on to that it can have nigh-global reach with Advanced Intel for cheap too, and free camo detect if another tower can detect camo. Reactors are affordable mid-game, can DPS bloons and also decamo. This is largely map-dependent though.
Monkey Buccaneer	0-3-2 can get you to round 39 if in a good spot, although needing a small bit of support with the MOAB, but it will also help after round 40. It is a bit pricy, but it help for the first half of the game. A 3-2-0 excels in destroying large groups of anything under a Ceramic Bloon.
Monkey Ace	It is slightly too expensive for early game, making its use in mid-late game. Although, with the Military Conscription monkey knowledge, it can be made cheaper.
Heli Pilot	It is quite expensive, higher than Monkey Ace, making it hard to excel in the early game. Although, just like the Monkey Ace, can be made cheaper with the Military Conscription monkey knowledge.
Mortar Monkey	Inaccurate but works well when targeted at bends, and can act as some general popping power in the early game. It also helps that it can be afforded before Round 4's notorious waves begin if no spending was done (assuming no powers were used).
Dartling Gunner	4-2-0 Plasma Accelerator can beat Cornfield from any round to Round 80 with a 2-0-0 Monkey Village, a 4-2-0 Alchemist, and Sauda, this indicates insane potential and demands precise micro, which is the best method of play as the limit of this tower is almost non-existent within Half Cash
Wizard Monkey	Wall of Fire is very cost effective early-game for doing the majority of popping and cleaning up bloons, and there is Monkey Sense available to catch camo bloons too, but not Purples. Necromancer: Unpoped Army is good for early game too, as it can clear out groups of bloons better, is cost-effective, and can pop purple bloons.
Super Monkey	It is the most expensive tower, but it unfortunately lacks sufficient popping power to be worthy across multiple stages of the game. If playing as Geraldo, it can be made cheaper with Worn Hero's Cape and the Rare Quincy Action Figure can be sold to get its upgrades, assuming enough money was saved to buy both Geraldo and the figure at once.
Ninja Monkey	Counter-Espionage helps strip camo bloon properties, which acts as very cheap camo countermeasures. Set on Strong and Camo Prioritization enabled to get the best results. Other than that, the other debuffs, stun from Flash Bomb, slowdown from Sabotage, are far too expensive and multiple Shinobi ninjas are needed anyway for any ninja build to be effective, meaning even more money spent.
Alchemist	Cheap but effective popping power in the early-game, but attacks quite slowly. Alchemist buffs aren't going to be easy to afford in the early-game, and until the mid-game it is better off farming earlier on or just buying other towers.
Druid	Druid of the Storm combines both its extraordinary pierce and stalling for handling bloon groups at a reasonable price. Though it may be more cost-efficient to crosspath Druid of the Jungle with Heart of Thunder if one is already out. Druid of the Jungle can cheaply handle spaced Ceramics and chip damage to passing bloons, though it can be unreliable on where it targets due to the vine's hardcoded Strong targeting. Vines are also not effective against MOAB-class bloons. Poplust spam was a cost-effective strategy for CHIMPS, and it could apply for this mode too. However, the lack of Camo detect and asking price of Radar Scanner would deter players from stockpiling on them. Fortunately, Etienne can provide Camo detect to all of them for free at level 8.
Banana Farm	Cash is halved, but this doesn't take away Farms from the equation; it's still entirely possible to rack up a solid defense and still afford Farms in the early-game. Take a greedy approach by buying Farms and upgrading them to 1-0-0 and 2-0-0 at the cost of lives. Just make sure to anticipate any dangerous rounds, and avoid buying Farm and its upgrades if the rounds ahead appear difficult that pushing income further would ruin the defense. Banks are extremely effective on this game mode if enough preparation was done to conserve its bank collection. This is only viable during the later stages once solid farming and defense strategies are made. Marketplaces are useful and efficient and any mistakes in your defense can be fixed by utilizing the higher sellback of the market place.
Spike Factory	On easier maps, a 0-0-0 Spike Factory placed at the back can be used as an exit protector to tank leaks, as well as tank MOABs affected by Benjamin's Trojan. 0-3-0 MOAB SHREDR can be used along with 0-3-0 Druids for and easy MOAB kill. 0-4-0 Spike Storms can help late game with dense packs of MOABs. Can be placed before rounds get difficult, so is a good choice.
Monkey Village	Villages are quite expensive, and come with a small amount of support until its higher-tier upgrades. On Half Cash, this is not ideal until a decent flow of income is done to offset the halved income gain. Monkey Business and Monkey Commerce later in the game can save money on expensive upgrades, such as for Bomb Shooters.
Engineer Monkey	2-2-0 Faster Engineering can help early game for a moderate price and can be sold later for extra money. It also is a great help for the MOAB Bloon Trap can handle many bloons early-midgame and also generate some extra cash. Cleansing Foam is a cheap and also reliable de-camo option.

Heroes

Hero	Strategy
Quincy	Excels in the early-game but is weak in the late-game. Also doesn't help that he can't be afforded on the first round. Abilities only providing short-term offense and no buffs.
Gwendolin	Mid-ranged cost hero, who's slighter weaker and more expensive than Quincy, that can only be made up for with smart placement and use of abilities. If the skill is there, she can be a decent substitute for Tack Shooter and Wall of Fire up until enough money can be afforded for both with a buff bonus from her to boot. She also buffs non-fire towers as well if they're in her radius.
Striker Jones	Striker Jones is mainly for buffs to Bomb Shooters. But his early game is quite subpar, especially on Half Cash where every DPS counts toward a better early game. Concussive Shell can buy time to pop the round 40 MOAB.
Obyn Greenfoot	Obyn's early game is decent and comes with buffs for Druids mainly. Mostly useful in combination with Druids. Wall of Trees allows some additional income and stopping of leaks.
Captain Churchill	He is expensive and performs huge DPS, but the nature of Half Cash makes it difficult to save up for. Getting him however does mean that no money has to be spent anymore on him, effectively making him a Super Monkey that upgrades himself overtime.
Benjamin	Benjamin might seem expensive on Half Cash, but he pays off decently on Half Cash and comes with health regeneration, as well as the Trojan attack at his higher levels. He also comes with Biohack to boost damage as well as Syphon to downgrade specific undesirable rounds. On Beginner Maps, the slower leveling of Ben means he cannot reach Level 10 on time to handle the Round 60 BFB with Syphon Funding; use other defenses to counter that BFB. On Intermediate Maps, he should be able to access that level adequately.
Ezili	Niche and tends to do poorly against regular bloons, with her real strength only coming in late once she acquires the MOAB Hex ability. Then again, there's not nearly enough MOAB rounds and enough income would flow in to buy blimp-counters. Her Heartstopper can be helpful against Regrow rounds. In fact, it may save round 76 if the player is just short on popping power. The buffs she give can also be of valuable use. Reanimated Bloons gain a 50+ bonus pierce when she reaches level 11, meaning for late game, Necromancers can be spammed. Her other ability, Sacrificial Totem would further add onto the buff upon activation, since it affects Wizard Monkeys greatly. More interestingly, if one can afford an Elite Defender, which is the cheapest Tier 5 upgrade that can DPS reliably, it could effectively carry the rest of the game, provide the totem is activated to trigger its passive ability at crucial rounds.
Pat Fusty	Fusty is support-oriented, but the fact that he levels at only a moderate speed makes him not so desirable later on in the game.
Adora	As Adora requires a lot of financial investment to even make her somewhat desirable, she is not recommended on Half Cash.
Admiral Brickell	Placing Brickell near the end of the track means she has a large amount of time to build up her Mines, meaning she can be used as alternate Spike Factory. Her Naval Tactics ability could bring out the most for a 2-0-4 Sub spam.
Etienne	Etienne's free camo (which removes need of Radar Scanner) and UCAV (counter against mid-game rushes, saves money in mid-game) are quite helpful, and because of his fast leveling speed he can be useful in the mid-game once he reaches beyond Level 8. Until then, his early-game is rather weak.
Sauda	A cheap offensive hero who excels in the early-game and remains helpful later when alch buffed, being able to detect camo without upgrades. Sauda's Sword Charge ability can instantly wipe out Round 76 and Round 78's ceramic rushes in one use, allowing the player to spend more on defending against the BFBs during other rounds nearby.
Psi	Psi's main weakness is their poor grouped popping power. While the vibration attack can help support against stronger bloons, Psi attacks too slowly to be worth investing on Half Cash. Psychic Blast can buy time to pop the round 40 MOAB, with Psi itself cleaning the Ceramics inside.
Geraldo	Geraldo is similar to Adora in requiring a lot of investment to get value of, as items will need to be consistently purchased throughout the game, making him not the best option for Half Cash. However, because Geraldo has some very cheap items, is not too expensive himself, and has a fast level up curve, greeding early game and proper management of money can make him very strong in this mode.
Corvus	Corvus excels at global range popping power with its spirit in early game and his attacks cost mana instead of money, a early saveup is necesarry to place him in reasonable time. Corvus' spells dont use money to cast, making him a very powerful contender in saveups for T4s.

Paragons

Due to severe economical constraints, it simply isn't worth the bother to save up for Paragons.

Powers

[add table and go over which powers are good; also include Instas on the list]

Specific Strategies

Early Game Continue

Lose intentionally without placing any towers at the very beginning stage of the game, then use a continue to have more cash. If you think it isn't enough, then continue twice, or thrice when necessary, as continues on early game only costs $100 Monkey Money, while later on it costs more. As long as you can earn more monkey money than you spent after winning, it's not a problem at all.

Also, a single Cash Drop costs $200 Monkey Money, but if you think it's too much, then use one continue rather than a Cash Drop.

Bryson's Universal Bad Strategy (Most versions)

To start, try placing a dart monkey in a spot where it reaches the track at multiple points. If there is water on the map, a 0-0-0 sub can help as well. You will want to save for your hero (Obyn) and place them down AS SOON as possible. Remember, use his level 3 Brambles ability as MUCH as possible. A 2-0-1 Ninja is your next priority (in range of Obyn). Next, place a 2-0-0 Alchemist (out of range of the Dart (and sub if you placed one) on strong, for a little extra lead popping) to give the Ninja lead popping. After that, upgrade the ninja to 4-0-1 (4-0-2 if you are feeling rich) for straight damage. Save money and proceed to upgrade the Dart Monkey to a 0-2-3. Later, place a 4-0-2 Sniper (out of the range of the alch) so that MOABs are stalled, slowed and popped earlier. Following this, upgrade the Alchemist into a 4-2-0 so the Ninja can do more damage. A long wait later, upgrade the Dart Monkey to 0-2-5. Using a 0-2-5 Dart Monkey can deal with most mid-game threats, such as MOABs and early BFBs. Its use carries over lategame, in which it helps to do exceptional amounts of damage to normal Bloons and greatly helps with hard rounds such as 78 and the rainbows on 79. The final step is to upgrade the Ninja to a 5-0-1/5-0-2 so that you have heavy damage in general.

This strategy also works on most Beginner/Intermediate maps for pretty much every difficulty except for Chimps, Apopalypse (with bad RNG), Military Only, Primary Only and Magic Monkeys Only.

This strategy works in most, if not all game versions as tower nerfs won't affect the overall strategy.

H2K Zeus Guide

Taken from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJPTCuHbpB4

All towers should be within range of the village bought in round 45. If one won't fit, it should be the Alchemist.

Round	Action
1	Dart Monkey
5	Another Dart Monkey
11	Sauda
16	Sell dart monkeys, Buy Ace, Select Ace pattern with good map coverage
20	Upgrade Ace to 0-0-1
22	Upgrade Ace to 0-0-2
27	Alchemist, set to target strong
37/38	Upgrade Ace to 1-0-3
38/39	Upgrade Alchemist to 2-0-0
39	Upgrade Ace to 2-0-3
43/44	Upgrade Alchemist to 3-2-0
45	Village
48/49	Upgrade Village to 2-2-0
51	Upgrade Alchemist to 4-2-0
52	Bomb Shooter
53-57	Upgrade Bomb to 0-0-4
58	Upgrade Bomb to 2-0-4
59-63	Upgrade Village to 4-2-0
65-71	Another Bomb Shooter, Upgrade to 2-4-0
72-77	Wizard, upgrade to 0-3-1

This strategy is thought to work for all maps except Expert maps and maps where Sauda does not do well, such as X Factor, Mesa, Geared, and Spillway.