Long Life Spikes (BTDB2)

BTDB2

“	Spikes last much longer.	”
	^{~ BTDB2 description}

Lls stacks — Long Life Spikes stockpiles with 1-0-3

Long Life Spikes is the 3rd upgrade on Path 3 of the Spike Factory in Bloons TD Battles 2. The spikes from this upgrade last much longer. Spikes last for up to 170 seconds instead of 100 seconds compared to Long Reach; this is 30 seconds longer than Long Life Spike's BTD6 counterpart. At the start of the round, its start-of-round speed boost will boost its production by 4x and lasts for 5 seconds. As this speed boost is an improvement of the Smart Spikes, the Long Life Spikes speed boost is only available if the upgrade was bought before a round starts. 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.

It costs $750, and is unlocked with the purchase of Spike Factory.

Strategy[]

Summary[]

For a considerably costly price, Long Life Spikes provides only a moderate amount of bonus lifespan, which may not prove to be game-defining unless rounds are stalled greatly and spikes avoid getting touched by the opponent's eco bloons while stockpiling. However, it does have a higher synergy potential compared to some of Spike Factory's more expensive options. It also is less impacted by anti-stalling compared to other Spike Factory upgrade paths, as the longer start-of-round bonus more than compensates for its lack of specialist damage (unlike Spiked Balls and MOAB SHREDR).

Tips[]

In terms of crosspath choice, the 1-0-3 is better in most cases, as the stockpile potential is greater and doesn't depend too much on external buffs. 0-2-3 is generally better in the presence of external buffs. The faster start-of-round benefit via 0-2-3 crosspath provides a slight boost in spike count per round, although 2-0-3 counters Lead and Frozen.
Unlike when using Spiked Balls, Long Life Spikes significantly improves its overall power with external buffs. Benjamin's Biohack, Berserker Brew, and Gwendolin are among several of the cheap high synergy supports to pair with it.
If desiring the extended start-of-round boost, be sure to buy the Long Life Spikes upgrade before a round starts, not right after the start of the round. Otherwise that start-of-round boost will not be upgraded for that round.
Buying a Long Life Spikes in advance for Round 12 and then selling it for more income generators (especially Farms) can be quite helpful in an Etienne-Spactory loadout. The spikes last extremely long, and a healthy pile can tank a good chunk of bloons before Etienne reaches his camo-granting upgrade at Level 7. Beware of Camo Regrow Rushes, however, as Etienne may pop more than the Long Life Spikes can tank due to the Regrow property.

Version History[]

To rival the more expensive 3-0-2 Spiked Balls crosspath, Long Life Spikes got buffed in lifespan and price. Since its extended speed boost in conjunction with the very low cost, the Long Life Spikes has become a more popular Spactory option for its buffability and general reliability of tanking large quantities of bloons when allowed to stockpile over long periods.

Initial release (compared to BTD6 during Version 28.0)

Long Life Spikes no longer has a round-based duration

1.5.0

No longer requires 2100 XP to unlock. Players who have unlocked this upgrade before the update will not receive a full refund.

1.8.2

Long Life Spikes cost decreased ($1400 → $1000)
Long Life Spikes lifespan increased (140s → 170s)

2.1.0

Long Life Spikes cost decreased ($1000 → $600)

“	This upgrade simply increases the spike duration without adding any other benefit, so it didn’t deserve to be so expensive.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

3.2

Long Life Spikes start-of-round speed boost duration increased (2.5s -> 6.0s)

“	Spike Factory’s bottom path has potential but often is not the best option because it must be bought in advance to build up a decent pile. Since the bottom path is all about longer durations, we’ve increased the duration of the speed boost at the start of each round, allowing slightly beefier spike piles to be built up in the short term.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

3.3

Long Life Spikes start-of-round speed increase decreased from 6s to 5s

“	We liked the previous change to xx3 and are glad to see this upgrade frequently being used now. However, it’s a bit too strong and so we would like to slightly lower the duration of the speed boost.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

3.3.2

Long Life Spikes: $600 -> $750

“	We’re shuffling some prices around primarily to nerf Long Life Spikes, which still remains to be a top tier upgrade.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Long Life Spikes is the first Spike Factory upgrade in BTDB2 that was reduced in price after initial release.