“ | Spikes last much longer and can carry over one round. | ” |
~ In-game description |
Long Life Spikes is the 3rd upgrade of Path 3 for the Spike Factory in Bloons TD 6. The spikes from this upgrade last much longer and can carry over an extra round. Spikes last for 2 rounds or 140 seconds, whichever comes first. Like its predecessor, Smart Spikes, it also produces spikes 4x faster for 3s at the start of each round. Altogether, this increases the Spike Factory's stockpiling potential by generating plenty of long-lasting spikes, in contrast to the increased raw DPS of other Tier 3 Spike Factories.
This upgrade costs $1,105 on Easy, $1,300 on Medium, $1,405 on Hard, and $1,560 on Impoppable.
Description[]
Overview[]
Long Life Spikes adds an additional gear to the Spike Factory, paints the entire body blue, save the feet, which remain yellow, and the space reserved for the now yellow spike logo, (and opposite it) which is painted a lighter blue. The main port for the spikes now also bears black-and-yellow hazard stripes.
This tower's spike piles now resemble Caltrops, however, they are blue instead of grey, while the tips of them are still grey. Like the Caltrops of the Ninja Monkey, the Long Life Spikes' spike piles each have four opposing points.
Crosspathing with path 1 adds a red, then black segmented rim around the spike port, and with White Hot Spikes in particular the spikes glow orange, or even white, with the heat.
Crosspathing with path 2 adds two vents above the left and right side gears, and paints the feet purple, then extends those vents higher.
Long Life Spikes increases lifespan of spikes to 140 seconds and carries over up to one round. In effect, spikes last up to 2 rounds or 140 seconds, whichever comes first. The spike carryover benefit has no effect on Apopalypse, but has effect on Boss Bloon Events. Long Life Spikes also has the benefits of Smart Spikes' start-of-round benefit, producing spikes 4x faster for 3s at the start of each round.
Targeting Priorities[]
Long Life Spikes defaults on Normal targeting priority, which dispenses the spikes onto nearby bloon track in a semi-sporadical behavior. Because it already has Smart Spikes, it will also receive Close, Far, and Smart.
- Normal: Targets spike piles in a somewhat sporadical way, spreading spikes as evenly as possible within its range.
- Close: Targets the closest region(s) of track within range.
- Far: Targets the furthest region(s) of track within range.
- Smart: Prioritizes the track with the Bloon the farthest through it, then targets the spot on that track closest to the exit.
Costs[]
- Updated as of Version 44.0. 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-3) | $1,105 | $1,300 | $1,405 | $1,560 | - | |||
Total (0-0-3) | $2,420 | $2,850 | $3,075 | $3,420 | $1,694 | $1,995 | $2,153 | $2,394 |
Crosspath (1-0-3) | $3,100 | $3,650 | $3,940 | $4,380 | $2,170 | $2,555 | $2,758 | $3,066 |
Crosspath (2-0-3) | $3,610 | $4,250 | $4,590 | $5,100 | $2,527 | $2,975 | $3,213 | $3,570 |
Crosspath (0-1-3) | $2,930 | $3,450 | $3,725 | $4,140 | $2,051 | $2,415 | $2,608 | $2,898 |
Crosspath (0-2-3) | $3,610 | $4,250 | $4,590 | $5,100 | $2,527 | $2,975 | $3,213 | $3,570 |
This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: First Last Line of Defense, Better Sell Deals
Strategy[]
Summary[]
This upgrade enhances Spike Factory's stockpiling potential and it is recommended to be used for defensive purposes to maximize its efficiency. As each spike pile will now last longer, stalling rounds greatly benefits the damage potential as it will stockpile many more spike piles. Maximizing the net popping power stockpiles is important for optimizing the power of Long Life Spikes. The Path 2 crosspaths (Faster Production and Even Faster Production) offer a greater rate of refreshment in addition to higher synergetic potential, whereas Bigger Stacks offers a higher maximum stockpile at the exchange of no increase in refreshment rate plus the benefit of internally available lead-popping via White Hot Spikes.
Similar to the much more powerful Perma-Spike, Long Life Spikes is a deadly force when combined with Berserker Brew/Stronger Stimulant and Jungle Drums. Similar strategies can be used for the succeeding upgrade Deadly Spikes. Long Life Spikes (and its successor) require external support to be closer to the viability of Spiked Balls later in the game. Berserker Brew and Stronger Stimulant are good examples of external supports, which providing it with +0/+1 damage and +2 / +3 pierce.
Tips[]
- On single-entry-single-exit maps, always place a Long Life Spikes near the end of the bloon track. Then spikes will not be used up immediately, allowing spike stockpiling to slowly make the tower more and more valuable.
- It is recommended to purchase the Path 2 Upgrades (Faster Production and Even Faster Production) over the Path 1 Upgrades (Bigger Stacks and White Hot Spikes) as Bigger Stacks only increases its pop count per spike from 5 to 10 and although White Hot Spikes allows it to pop any DDTs that may rush through the player's defense, a Monkey Intelligence Bureau or Acidic Mixture Dips can easily solve that problem while also providing it and other nearby towers with the bonus as well.
- Path 2 upgrades will add +79% extra pops with a fast refresh, while Path 1 upgrades will add +100% extra pops with a slow refresh and allows Lead-popping. While 2-0-3 is better at overall spike production, 0-2-3 is much faster and synergizes much better when paired with Alch buffs.
- Avoid leaving the game, as the stockpiled spikes do not carry over between saves.
- Long Life Spikes does NOT decrease spike amount when purchasing Bigger Stacks.[1]
- In Apopalypse Mode, Long Life Spikes outside of increased lifespan are less useful as spikes without this upgrade do not disappear at the beginning of the next round.
Version History[]
Balance Changes[]
Long Life Spikes itself wasn't ever buffed directly, but it did gain some changes based on previous Path 3 upgrades.
- 14.0
- Long Life Spikes now attacks 4x as fast for the first 2.5s of a round.
- 23.0
- Affected by Spike Factory crosspath speed changes
- 24.0
- [Undocumented] Affected by Smart target priority changes from obtaining the Smart Spikes upgrade
- 38.0
- Long Life Spikes duration of start-of-round speed bonus increased from 2.5s to 3.0s, due to the Smart Spikes buffs
- 43.0
“ | [...] Long Life Spikes can start creating a nice buildup of spikes in advance but most of the time feels fairly meh as a stepping stone into Deadly Spikes, a little price here is being shifted up to improve standalone upgrade value. | ” |
~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Long Life Spikes cost reduced from $1400 to $1300
Bug Fixes and General Changes[]
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Extra Notes (Version History)[]
Gallery[]
Official artwork[]
Projectiles[]
Trivia[]
- This spike factory appearance mostly resembles the Bloons TD 5's MOAB-SHREDR Spikes upgrade.
- Prior to the rework of Overclock's ability, double-discounting the whole 0-2-3 Spike Factory with two Monkey Commerces was used to make an Overclock on Perma-Spike last 15 seconds longer. This is because this discounting would bring down the total cost of the 0-2-3 Spike Factory to ~$3,752, thus bringing down the total cost of Perma-Spike to be ~$39,932, barely below the threshold for Overclock's duration penalty for $40,000+ towers.
- Now, Perma-Spike overclocks will only last 30 seconds.
References[]
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