MOAB Assassin (BTD5)

For other uses of MOAB, see MOAB (disambiguation).

For the achievement, see MOAB Assassin (Achievement).

“	Special Ability: super deadly missile that seeks the nearest MOAB-class bloon and destroys it instantly. Does 1000 damage to ZOMGs instead of destroying them.	”
	~ Description in BMC

MOAB Assassin (BTD5) is an upgrade to the Bomb Tower that made its debut in Bloons TD 5. It is the final upgrade for Path 2 for the Bomb Tower. It is unlocked at rank 24. It costs $2720 on Easy, $3200 on Medium, and $3455 on Hard, and $3840 on Impoppable.

In BTD5, the M.O.A.B Assassin activated ability does not work as advertised in its tooltip. Here are the steps its active makes:

1. It targets the highest priority bloon anywhere on the map, be it MOAB class or regular.
2. It freezes the bloon in place and instantly deals 750 damage to that layer only. This means it pops at maximum a single layer of a bloon. The targeted bloon is frozen in place and does not die until the ability animation is complete.
3. The damage is instant, so any remaining bloons after the first layer's destruction are immediately produced, despite the animation not having been completed.
4. The ability animation concludes with the rocket exploding on the original target. The rocket itself deals 3 damage in an area upon explosion. The 3 damage penetrates through layers. This means the MOAB assassin destroys one layer instantaneously, and, if the rocket hits the bloons that spawn from that layer, can remove an additional 3 layers for a total of 4 layers.
5. In conclusion, the total damage of the entire animation is 753 damage, via 750 damage instantly to a single layer (not layer-penetrating), followed by 3 layer-penetrating damage to bloons within range of the exploding rocket on the original target. The 1000 damage stated in the tooltip is incorrect.

This means the MOAB Assassin completely destroys nearly all bloons, MOAB class or not, and deals a further 3 damage to their children bloons. The only bloon not destroyed is the Z.O.M.G., which suffers 753 damage per rocket and requires therefore 6 MOAB Assassin abilities to destroy its outer layer (4k health). However, 5 rockets will place it into critical condition, requiring only slightly more damage than a regular MOAB to finish off. There isn't any power variation between the MOAB Mauler and MOAB Assassin except its ability.

Strategy

Main article: MOAB Assassin/Strategies

Trivia

• This ability is best in rounds past 45, when blimps begin to appear.
• This is not advised to be the main defense against MOAB-Class because it can destroy only one MOAB at a time and leaves the children unharmed; it's probably a wiser choice to get a bunch of MOAB Maulers instead. It excels in those rounds where only a few very strong MOAB-Class bloons appear, such as rounds 46, 60 or 85, where a defense may initially struggle with the introduction of a MOAB or higher-tier class like a BFB or ZOMG.
• It takes exactly 26 MOAB Assassins to destroy a Z.O.M.G. (except its regular bloons).
• The MOAB Assassin's ability can pop camo bloons (if it's the strongest bloon on the screen).
• Typically, pink or yellow bloons are too fast to hit with the rocket itself if the MOAB assassin is placed too far away.
• Black bloons are immune to the explosion but not the instantaneous damage; thus, they will only appear if the ability is used on a Zebra bloon, but are destroyed otherwise.
• In BMC, the ability prioritizes D.D.T.s over other MOAB class bloons because they are the highest priority target in the game.
• Despite the fact that it can destroy a BFB's outer shell, Monkey Pirates is the better choice on a water map, because it takes out the BFB, children and all.
• There is no animation of it actually being launched, instead the missile just flies from the tower.
• Even though it changes the tower's appearance, it does not change the attack speed or damage.
• The word "assassin" means someone who kills (assassinates) high-ranking people (judges, presidents, lawyers).

Gallery

The MOAB Assassin Tower

The MOAB Assasin missile from the ability

Many M.O.A.B assassins preparing to fight a Z.O.M.G.

A missile zooming down the rink.

When the MOAB Assassin ability is activated, camo bloons suffer from a glitch & become non-camo, while a purple circle radiates from the tower shooting a ZOMG looking missile.

The screen upon unlocking MOAB Assassin

The Z.O.M.G.-like missile zooming in Z Factor. (iOS)

The MOAB Assassin Ability missile