Icicles

BTD6

BTDB2

Icicles
General Information
Game	Bloons TD 6
Tower	Ice Monkey
Unlocked at	9,000 XP
Cost	$2,335 (Easy) $2,750 (Medium) $2,970 (Hard) $3,300 (Impoppable)
Activated Ability	N/A
Targeting Options	First, Last, Close, Strong
Camo Detection	Restricted (can be upgraded to 2-0-4)
Popology
Damage Type(s)
Blast: Glacier Single Projectile Straight Attack Area of Effect Extra Damage Freeze Icicle Planted Icicles: Sharp Spike Cannot Target Frozen Extra Damage
Statistics
Damage	2 (snowballs) 2 (icicle spikes)
Pierce	40 (snowballs) 3 (icicles)
Attack Speed	Moderately fast (every 1.0s, e.a.u.)
Range	46
Status Effects	Freeze (bloons become frozen but cannot be hit by sharp objects, non-blimps) Icicled (affected non-blimp bloons produce 3-pierce icicles on top, can be refreshed)
Tower Boosts	N/A
Income/Life Boosts	N/A
Path Upgrades
← Previous	Cryo Cannon
← Previous	Cryo Cannon
Current	Icicles
Current	Icicles
Next →	Icicle Impale
Next →	Icicle Impale
Path Info
Path	3
Path	3
Upgrade Tier	4
Upgrade Tier	4
[Source]

“	Frozen Bloons grow sharp icicles that can pop Bloons that touch them.	”
	~ In-game description

Icicles is the Tier 4 upgrade on Path 3 for the Ice Monkey in Bloons TD 6. With this upgrade, any Bloons frozen by the Ice Monkey grow icicles. These icicles are sharp, deal two damage at any Bloon that touches them, and pierce up to 3 bloons. The icicle planted status effect lasts for up to ~2 seconds, and the icicles attached target only non-frozen bloons. Inheriting the properties of Cryo Cannon, its ice blasts deal 2 layers of damage too. Additionally, the Ice Monkey now attacks 20% faster (or 0.83x attack cooldown reduction), increasing its default firing rate from per 1.2s to per 1.0s. This upgrade also allows the Ice Monkey to specifically target and damage MOAB-class bloons but only get affected by damage and the icicle planted status effect, and not any associated slowdown status effects.

The icicles that form on bloons are considered the Sharp type, allowing the popping of White Bloons and Zebra Bloons but not Lead Bloons unless crosspathed with Cold Snap upgrade. Icicles are also grown on Bloons that Ice Monkey cannot normally freeze such as White and Zebra Bloons, but not Lead Bloons. Grown icicles can pop Leads if the originating tower had lead-popping by any source at the time of shooting a snowball, which otherwise destroy them completely. Grown icicles are not absorbed by other Frozen Bloons but do ignore them; this is noticeable when Icicles refreezes large clumps of bloons.

This upgrade costs $2,335 on Easy, $2,750 on Medium, $2,970 on Hard, and $3,300 on Impoppable.

Description

Overview

Icicles

This upgrade removes its sunglasses, grey earmuffs, gloves, and wristband, and replaces them with an helmet encased in ice with a fin on top. Its right arm projectile launcher is overall much larger. It now wears blue shoes. In the upgrade portrait, the Ice Monkey's left arm is completely iced, but the in-game model's arm is not; only its left hand is blue.

Icicles gains +20% attack speed, each blast causes affected bloons to grow icicles, which pop nearby bloons, including Whites and Zebras. The icicles themselves pop up to 3 bloons each, and deal 2 damage.

Targeting Priorities

Icicles targets bloons using the standard targeting priorities. It shoots a straight movement projectile.

• 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.

Adding Cold Snap (which detects camo) adds Camo Prioritization.

Full Popology

Statistics

Updated as of Version 41.3

Base stats

• Snowball:
  • Projectile, glacier type, detects centerpoint hitbox, 43 range, 1.0s attack cooldown, 2 damage, 40 pierce, freezes for 1.5s. Blast radius of 20. Adds Icicles Planted status effect on bloons for the same amount of time as freeze duration, producing Icicles. Can target MOAB-class bloons.
• Icicles:
  • Burst, sharp type, 2 damage, 3 pierce, 5 projectile size

Crosspathing interactions

• 1-0-4:
  • Snowball applies Permafrost status effect.
• 2-0-4:
  • Snowball damage type changed from glacier to metal glacier freeze (can pop all except White), and gains camo detection.
  • Icicles damage type changed from sharp to normal, and detects camo.
• 0-1-4:
  • Snowball attack cooldown reduced from 1.0s to 0.75s, freeze duration increased from 1.2s to 1.4s.
• 0-2-4:
  • Snowball freeze duration increased from 1.4s to 1.76s, pierce increased from 40 to 45.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

• Icy Chill: Freeze radius slightly increased. Increases by +3.
• 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.
• Big Cryo Blast: Cryo Cannon gets increase blast radius. Blast radius increased by +5.
• 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 37.3

Base attack(s)

• Snowball:
  • Glacier
  • Single Projectile
  • Straight Attack
  • Area of Effect
  • Extra Damage (2)
  • Freeze (1.2s)
  • Icicle Planted
• Icicles:
  • Sharp
  • Spike
  • Cannot Target Frozen
  • Extra Damage (2)

Costs

Updated as of Version 42.0. 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-4)	$2,335	$2,750	$2,970	$3,300	-
Total (0-0-4)	$5,010	$5,900	$6,375	$7,080	$3,507	$4,130	$4,463	$4,956
Crosspath (1-0-4)	$5,135	$6,050	$6,535	$7,260	$3,595	$4,235	$4,575	$5,082
Crosspath (2-0-4)	$5,430	$6,400	$6,915	$7,680	$3,801	$4,480	$4,841	$5,376
Crosspath (0-1-4)	$5,200	$6,125	$6,620	$7,350	$3,640	$4,288	$4,634	$5,145
Crosspath (0-2-4)	$5,580	$6,575	$7,105	$7,890	$3,906	$4,603	$4,974	$5,523

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

Strategy

Summary

Icicles can be used to improve mid-game potential while saving up for Icicle Impale. It is best used as a cleanup option in combination with other towers. Combined with the powerful ice blasts and icicles, this tower can deal quite good chunk amount of damage to bloons overall.

Tips

• Icicles is a cheap option to help control bloon rushes by dealing fair damage while freezing bloons.
• The high bloon damage output of Icicle can be accompanied by a tower that deals a lot of MOAB damage but struggles against bloons, such as Arcane Spike or Dark Knight.
• Because of its good combined range, damage, and attack speed, 2-0-4 or 0-2-4 Icicles are both pretty good at handling Round 63 as long as it is paired with backup defense. Both crosspaths help beat Round 63 in their own right; 2-0-4 is oriented for popping the Leads and slowing down the densely clumped Ceramics, while 0-2-4 is better for purely dealing with the densely clumped Ceramics.
• Note that Icicles can pop White Bloons if there are other bloons it has previously applied Icicles on. This is mostly useful in player-made challenges.
• Icicles can spawn on any type of non-lead bloon (unless with 2-0-4), including Whites and Zebras.
• The 0-2-4 Icicles is superior for pure damage. Use 2-0-4 only if Leads need to be popped or if target priority micromanagement is necessary.
• Compared to other mid-game options, Icicles does not fall off in the late-game to such a high extent compared to M.O.A.R. Glaives or Ring of Fire, but it still is shadowed by Bloon Impact and Spiked Balls when it comes to countering Super Ceramics.

Version History

Balance Changes

Icicles has been buffed overall since it was first released. Just like with Cryo Cannon, its previous upgrade, Ninja Kiwi had made them both stronger at damage, with intention of transforming them into hybrid damage + freeze towers.

2.0

• Icicles blast radius pierce increased (20 → 30)

21.0

“	While Icicles is quite fun for midgame cleanup, we acknowledge points raised on Cryo Cannon trading off its freeze prowess too quickly when the smaller freeze area even with such a fast rate increase still overall makes it struggle to slow as effectively. To counter this a little we have doubled the freeze radius of Cryo Cannon, but also increased damage of both the Ice Balls & Icicles to highlight more the intention of this path swapping to a damage hybrid earlier.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Ice ball damage increased (1 → 2)
• Icicles 'shard' damage increased (1 → 2)

21.1 (?)

• Blast radius (correctly) increased from 10 to 20, from the Cryo Cannon buff

25.0

• [Undocumented] Icicles can now apply shards onto White and Zebra Bloons but not freeze or damage them with the ice blasts
• [Undocumented] 2-0-4 Icicles shards now pop Lead Bloons.

30.0

“	Cryo Cannon has pulled far ahead of similar cheap Bloon control options, while leading into the also quite cheap Icicles which for most of the game offers more Bloon shredding support for cheaper than those other options.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Icicles cost increased ($2000 → $2750)

32.0

“	Ice monkey Enhanced Freeze is too good at low tiers, allowing full stunlock of ceramics for very cheap, as the fire rate increase alone of this Enhanced Freeze is a powerful addition most of the increased freeze duration has been moved up as it makes more sense to have duration with the currently less desirable T2 Deep Freeze. Permafrost was previously reduced to a lower price than we’d like to try increase desirability of this crosspath, but as the reworks to metal freeze have had more success there in pulling this path ahead we want to add a little back on here. Cryo Cannon has now been overperforming compared to any towers that perform similar roles with either of these crosspaths so is also seeing a general reduction.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to all Ice Monkey upgrades related to Cryo Cannon

• Indirectly buffed due to not being affected by attack speed nerf to Cryo Cannon.

34.0

“	Ice Monkey base pierce is too high, very easily countering large numbers of strong Bloons early, mid or late in the game for small investment, leading to very low tiers of ice monkey (below t3) being highly effective spam options over upgrading your ice. We are reworking some of this base pierce to require crosspath investment and buffing the damage Ice 3xx Ice Shards to compensate for some of its reduced pierce.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Icicles base pierce decreased (30 → 20). Does not affect 0-2-4.
• Icicles can now can target MOAB-Class Bloons but not slow them down

36.0

• Icicles pierce increased (20 → 30). Also affects 0-2-4.

38.0

“	Plenty of attention has been drawn to the high power of Ice, so we’re continuing to work on slowly dialing this back in fair ways.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Icicles freeze duration reduced 1.5s → 1.2s

39.0

• Icicles pierce increased from 30 to 40, due to base Ice Monkey pierce buffs

40.0

• Icicles icicle projectile size increased (4 -> 5)

Extra Notes (Version History)

• Version 39.0 had undocumentedly improved Cryo's pierce from 30 to 40; previously, Cryo was buffed in 36.0 to no longer have a pierce penalty. These stats also apply to Icicles.

Gallery

Frozen Green Bloon with icicles

Many bloons in a clump affected by Icicles

Crosspathing (Top: Path 1, Bottom: Path 2)

Icicles applying onto White Bloons (Version 25.0 undescribed change)

Creating ice blasts onto groups of bloons, with some Whites left intact with the status effect

Icicles targeting a MOAB

"Icicle Planted" status on a MOAB

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Upgrade icon

Instamonkey icon

Icicles as seen in the BTD6 start screen

Projectiles

Icicles spikes (without bloon)

Videos

Icicles Version 25.0

Icicles demonstration on Version 25.0. Damage types are demonstrated.

Cryo Cannon attacks slower than Icicles (33.0)

32.0 Cryo Cannon speed nerf not affecting Icicles

Trivia

• Prior to the Cryo Cannon price buff in Version 23.0, Icicles costed the same amount as Cryo Cannon, similarly to how Ice Shards costs the same as Absolute Zero in BTD5.
• The damage buffs to Icicles actually make it harder rather than easier to complete One Ice Monkey Only plus 0-2-0 Village. This is because the blasts deal too much damage for the icicle stockpiles to become retained, not to mention that icicles cannot form if bloons are already popped.
  • However, the undocumented change in Version 25.0 that allows icicles to plant onto Whites and Zebras allows this to become possible again.