| “ | Generates cash each round automatically. | ” |
| ~ BTD6 |
Merchantmen is the third upgrade of Path 3 for the Monkey Buccaneer in BTD6. It allows the Buccaneer to gain $200 per round ($220 with Trade Agreements or a Central Market). It costs $1,955 on Easy, $2,300 on Medium, $2,485 on Hard, and $2,760 for Impoppable.
Description
Merchantmen will allow the Buccaneer to give $200 per round ($220 with Trade Agreements or a Central Market), along with in-built camo detection and longer range from their previous upgrades.
Merchantmen upgrade changes the Monkey Buccaneer from a standard pirate to an Indian merchantman. Along with this a new orange-sailed boat design. The crow's nest remains the same shape and possesses the exact flag color and shape, but the rest of the boat is made of timber with a lighter shade compared to the original Buccaneer. No other visual changes occur, besides the fact that the per-round income will float above the tower once a round has passed.
Strategy
A Merchantmen is a bizarre upgrade for the Monkey Buccaneer, allowing him to gain no active offensive boosts at the boon of producing $200 each round. Very much, this makes him one of the most varied jack-of-all-trades tower, as the Merchantmen still has a good firepower at its base, with option of Grape Shot and Hot Shot to provide a decent popping power for its cost and Camo Lead popping power respectively.
One of the best assets that the Merchantmen provide is in maps that lack high quantities of viable land for Banana Farms. In addition to being good sources of income in water, it has a smaller footprint than the Banana Farm. In their place, a Merchantmen can fill the role quite aptly, as well as serving as a defensive asset. Obviously, Spice Islands is one of the best maps for a Merchantmen because of this.
What makes a Merchantmen a desirable option is the ease of use and ability to be used as a consequence-free secondary income while simultaneously filling the role of an offensive tower. If a player actively wants a 0/2/2 Buccaneer for early Lead and Camo coverage, a Merchantmen can be saved up for and purchased early, paying for the cost of itself during the shorter and less consequential rounds as a viable 0/2/2 Buccaneer still provides basic yet effective defense.
Compared to a Banana Farm, where it provides no offensive benefit and requires a lot of resources to upgrade and focus of the player to constantly pick up bananas, the Merchantmen sacrifices raw potential that the further upgrades of a Banana Farm possess at the benefit of a string-free revenue source, akin to the Marketplace upgrade path of said tower.
Efficiency
To purchase one Merchantmen at the lowest price will require getting a 0/0/3 Buccaneer. A 0/0/3 Buccaneer will cost the base Buccaneer tower, Long Range, Crow's Nest and the Merchantmen upgrade itself, which will provide the cheapest and most direct route for profit. However, this may change under many circumstances, specifically depending on game mode and whether Trade Empire is active or if the player owns a Central Market.
The table below indicates the game mode pricing, as well as the presence of Trade Agreements to indicate two points of Interest, the first where the upgrade effectively paid off from its own cost and the second where it paid off for the entire cost of the tower and subsequent upgrades of a 0/0/3 Buccaneer. These do not consider other Monkey Knowledge such as Advanced Logistics or Military Conscription, as well as assume there is no Trade Empire or Central Market bonuses active and increasing profit in that regard.
For reference:
- m refers to the quantity of Merchantmen, Favored Trades and Trade Empires active when a Trade Empire's revenue boost is also active. This value cannot exceed 20.
- c indicates the presence of a Central Market. The quantity of Central Markets does not matter. This value cannot exceed 1.
| Difficulty and Knowledge | Revenue | Cost (Upgrade) | Cost (Total) | Interest (Revenue/Upgrade Cost) | Interest (Revenue/Total Cost) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | ($200 + 20m) * 1.1c | $1955 | $2920 | 9.775 | 14.6 |
| Medium | ($200 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2300 | $3430 | 11.5 | 17.15 |
| Hard | ($200 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2485 | $3675 | 12.425 | 18.375 |
| Impoppable | ($200 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2760 | $4080 | 13.8 | 20.4 |
| Easy + Trade Agreements | ($220 + 20m) * 1.1c | $1955 | $2920 | 8.8863 | 13.27 |
| Medium + Trade Agreements | ($220 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2300 | $3430 | 10.45 | 15.590 |
| Hard + Trade Agreements | ($220 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2485 | $3675 | 11.2954 | 16.7054 |
| Impoppable + Trade Agreements | ($220 + 20m) * 1.1c | $2760 | $4080 | 12.54 | 18.54 |
| Banana Farm
(Easy) |
$80 | $1065 | $1065 | 15.625 | 15.625 |
Gallery
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