Marceline

For the Premium Character version, see Hunter Marcy.

“	Vampire Queen, Demon, Rockstar, Marceline can do it all, and now she's ready to sink her teeth into battling the bloons.	”
	^{~ BATTD Description}

Marceline is a Character that players unlock in Bloons Adventure Time TD. She functions in a similar way to the Heli Pilot when being used in the game, being one of few towers and the only character with this movement capability. She is unlocked by clearing Glob Save the Queen on the Extreme (pre-1.6.2)/Normal difficulty.

Description

Marceline is a thin, pale Vampire, wearing a gray tanktop, deep blue denim jeans and high red boots. Her hair is pitch black and extends the length of her already tall stature. When attacking the bloons, she swipes viciously at them with her bare hands. When idle, she can be seen playing her equipped musical instrument.

Statistics

Cost: $1200
Damage Type: Sharp
Attack Speed: 1
Range: 35*
Damage: 1
Pierce: 4

* Actual range projects from Marceline's base, she can attack anywhere on the screen, regardless of this value. Instead, characters in this range receive buffs.

Upgrades

Improved Flight - $400 - Marceline flies much faster.
- Telekinesis - $1250 - Marceline uses mind powers to push bloons back
  - Pyrokinesis - $1500 - Bloons pushed by telekinesis are set on fire (Requires Star Level 7)
Necromancy - $1000 - Ability: Raises an army of skeleton archers
- Improved Necromancy - $2500 - Skeletons last longer and are much more powerful (Requires Star Level 5)
Shape Shifting - $5000 - Ability: Marceline transforms into a giant bat
- Ferocity - $1600 - Marceline attacks much faster
Eating Red - $2000 - Neutralizes red bloons and slows BFBs
Bass Expert - $400 - Increases the boosts given by Marceline's musical instrument (Requires Star Level 3)

Star Boost

Marceline will receive the following permanent boosts as she levels up:

2 stars - Base attack pierce increased by 2

4 stars - Amp range increased by 3

6 stars - Base attack speed increased by 0.2

8 stars - Base attack pierce increased by 2

9 stars - Amp range increased by 3

10 stars - Additional radial soundwave attack added to Amp

Strategy

Marceline is a rather unique character, serving as an active mixture of offensive and support when utilized properly with her attacks and her music serving either function. As an offensive tower, she bares the most resemblance to the Heli-Pilot, with Targeting Priorities directly parallel to Follow Touch, Lock in Place, Patrol, and even Pursuit priority without needing to unlock it through an upgrade like with the Heli Pilot.

Unlike the Heli Pilot, however, she is strictly a melee fighter without supporting upgrades or Trinkets, making some strategies that work for a long-ranged tower like the Heli-Pilot less effective for a close-ranged character like Marceline. As such, Pursuit (the second pip in the Targeting Priorities) is the best option for Marceline, especially since most maps only have one entrance and seldom have the Bloons split up until they reach a designated point.

When considering upgrades, Marceline's range of attacks still primarily consists of scratching, but incorporates other aspects like eating the red off of bloons. This upgrade allows her to fair well against group of B.F.Bs, especially those that are released from a popped ZOMG. Telekinesis also allows her to gain an extra ranged utility, pushing bloons back to the start akin to the Downdraft upgrade from the Heli-Pilot, which can be further upgraded to Pyrokinesis, effectively making it both a utility and extra attack.

Unlike most Characters, Marceline starts out with access to two different upgrades as soon as she is placed, in the forms of Shape Shifting and Necromancy. These two force the other to be locked when purchase, so choosing one over the other can be important.

Shape Shifting allows Marceline to become a large, powerful bat capable of doing increased damage for a limited time. It also allows the player to purchase Ferocity, an upgrade which increases Marceline's attack speed.
Necromancy allows Marceline to summon skeletons armed with crossbows across the map, who are able to attack just like Warrior Bubblegum's Candy Archers. They eventually disappear after some time.

Shape Shifting allows for a burst of activity in Marceline and a good passive to when she is not in her bat form, but the Necromancy line is better if price is a concern, being a little over half as expensive than its alternative.

There is a good gold grinding combo that can be added to her. adding the theif's dagger and the mystery pickaxe, you get 3 gold per attack that causes a bloon to pop(and 1 gold from the pickaxe even if she does not pop any bloons. meaning free gold from leads, ghost, and frozen bloons.). the banana replicator is a good addition, and with baker's shard, apple, and the golden viola, she will basically drain the gold as well as red from any bloons she finds. with an addition of dr monkey with his alchemy skill, each round can give you at least 4 digits in cash.

Quotes

When Placed:

"All right, this seems cool."
"Popping bloons? What is this, A kids game?"
"Sure, I'll stick around and jam."

When Selected:

"Yo."
*Snarls*
"Hey!"
"Let's do this."
"'Sup!"
"I'm game."
"Keep tapping me like that and I'm going to bite you!" (when annoyed)

When Upgraded:

"So much red!"
"Finally!"
"Yeah, that's cool."

When MOAB-Class Bloons Appear:

"You don't scare me; I do the scaring around here."

When a MOAB-Class Bloons are popped

"That was pretty rad!"

When Bloons Leak:

"Uh...hello? Isn't anyone going to stop them?"

When Activating Ability:

"Up and at 'em, boys!" (Necromancy)
"Wanna see something cool?" (Shape Shifting)

Gallery

Trivia

Marceline shares her unique attack methods with Ghost Princess.