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Adds 2 cannons to the ship and attacks do more damage. MOAB Takedown Ability: harpoons a MOAB class Bloon and brings it down.
~ In-game description

Monkey Pirates is the fourth upgrade of Path 2 for the Monkey Buccaneer in Bloons TD 6. Along with gaining the MOAB Takedown ability, which allows it to instakill the strongest MOAB-class bloon on-screen (up to a BFB, visible DDT, or non-military Rock Bloon) with a single hook, this upgraded Cannon Ship now shoots 3-bomb sprays in 75° lateral angles and they each deal 3 damage and an extra +3 to MOAB-Class Bloons, and its grapes deal 2 damage for each and +2 damage to Ceramics.

This upgrade costs $4,165 on Easy, $4,900 on Medium, $5,292 on Hard, and $5,880 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

Pirate destruction

Monkey Pirates shooting three powerful fraggy bombs per side, causing a lot of explosive mayhem

The boat of the Monkey Pirates is upgraded into a proper pirate ship. Two greyish-blue skull pirate flags on two newly installed masts, one in front, are placed in the middle of the ship. Three cannons now appear on each side of the ship, with the game portrait showing a large metal hook. The ship now features a greyish-blue painted rim around it and its bow. There is a cabin at the back, although not so visible. The pirate grows a brown spiky beard, sort of shaped like cartoon depictions of Blackbeard. In the upgrade portrait, the pirate smiles menacingly, and the monkey's golden tooth is visible.

Boatpull

Monkey Pirates separately hooking down a MOAB, a DDT, and a BFB

Monkey Pirates' signature mechanic is its MOAB Takedown ability which allows it to instakill the strongest MOAB on screen, up to a BFB, visible DDT, or a Rock Bloon with a single hook. This ability has a cooldown of 50 seconds.

Additionally, it adds 2 more Cannon Ship cannons to either side of the ship, thus firing 3 cannonballs per shot, each also dealing +2 damage, for 6 total damage. It also deals an additional 6 damage to MOAB-class bloons. Its grapes gain double the damage (from 1 to 2), and deal an additional 2 damage to Ceramics, for a total of +4 damage against Ceramics.

Activated Abilities[]

See also: Activated Abilities (BTD6)#Monkey Pirates
MonkeyPiratesUpgradeIcon

MOAB Takedown Ability

MOAB Takedown Ability is the Activated Ability for Monkey Pirates; it has a 50-second cooldown. Upon activation, the ship hooks in the strongest MOAB-Class Bloon on screen, up to a BFB or visible DDT, with a harpoon and destroys it completely.

The player is rewarded an equivalent amount of money as if the whole blimp was destroyed in its individual parts. Adding Monkey Town adds +50% (+60% with "Inland Revenue Streams" MK) more income, and Monkey City increases it by an extra +20%. A blimp affected by Rubber to Gold adds +200% income.

This table shows the income earned for different blimps, considering no cash bonus was applied.

Bloon Monkey Pirates Income
Rounds
1-50
Rounds
51-60
Rounds
61-85
Rounds
86-100
Rounds
101+
BTD63DMOAB M.O.A.B. BTD63DDDT D.D.T. 381 190.5 76.2 38.1 7.62
BTD63DBFB B.F.B. 1525 762.5 305 152.5 30.5

Monkey Pirates' MOAB Takedown is considered an instant ability; if the ability is pre-emptively reset, then the ability can be activated again immediately. It also has a cooldown of 50 seconds, with an initial cooldown of 16.67s.

The cooldowns of the MOAB Takedown ability can accept cooldown reduction buffs from a nearby Bloontonium Reactor, as well as both the local and global Energizer buffs. It can also accept the cooldown reset of Geraldo's Rejuv Potion. It also accepts cooldown reduction bonuses from Monkey Knowledge and Relic Knowledge.

Targeting Priorities[]

Monkey Pirates targets bloons using the standard target priorities. It has multiple types of attacks that are shot in different styles. It can also utilize multiple targeting to shoot projectiles from both ends of the boat if it detects bloons on its opposite side.

  • First: Targets the first bloon visible within its range.
  • Last: Targets the last bloon visible within its range.
  • Close: Targets the closest bloon visible within its range.
  • Strong: Targets the strongest bloon visible within its range.

Darts are shot in a straight movement, grapes are straightforwardly projectiles shot in an angular spray, and bombs are also straightforwardly projectiles shot in an angular spray. Harpoons from its ability are locked on Strong and only targets MOAB-class bloons up to BFB and DDT.

When given the Crow's Nest upgrade, all its attacks can prioritize Camo Bloons over other types, which is provided by the Camo Prioritization targeting.

Full Popology[]

Statistics[]

Updated as of Version 41.2
Base stats
  • Dart:
    • Projectile, sharp type, 60 range, 1.0s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 4 pierce. Can shoot a second copy of Dart at 180° from first Dart if bloons are detected behind.
  • Grape:
    • Projectile, fire type, 60 range, 1.3s attack cooldown, spray of 5 in a 100° spread with equal distribution, 2 damage, +2 Ceramic damage, 1 pierce. Can shoot a second copy of Grape at 180° from first Grape if bloons are detected behind. Upon hit, apply Burn that deals 2 damage per 1.5s for 3.0s, and cannot burn Purples.
  • Cannonball:
    • Projectile, explosion type, 60 range, 1.3s attack cooldown, spray of 3 in a 75° spread with equal distribution 40 blast radius, 3 damage, +3 MOAB-class damage, 28 pierce. Can shoot a second copy of Cannonball at 180° from first Cannonball if bloons are detected behind. Upon hit, create Frags.
  • Frags:
    • Shrapnel, sharp type, spray of 8 in a 360° spread with equal distribution, 1 unbuffable damage, 1 pierce.
Ability stats
  • MOAB Takedown:
    • Instant ability, 50 seconds cooldown, 16.67 seconds initial cooldown.
    • Triggers Hook.
  • Hook:
    • Lock-on behavior, normal type, infinite range, infinite blimp-penetrating damage, 1 impact, can only target smaller MOAB-class bloons (MOAB, BFB, visible DDT).
Crosspathing interactions
  • 1-4-0: Dart attack cooldown reduced from 1.0s to 0.75s, Grape attack cooldown reduced from 1.3s to 0.975s, Cannonball attack cooldown reduced from 1.3s to 0.975s.
  • 2-4-0: Dart quantity changed from 1 to 2, and shot in a straight spray. Grape quantity increased from 5 to 6, total spread unchanged at 100° but spread per projectile changed from 20° to 16.67°.
  • 0-4-1: Dart pierce increased from 4 to 6, Grape pierce increased from 1 to 2, Cannonball pierce increased from 28 to 35, Frags pierce increased from 1 to 2.
  • 0-4-2: All new attacks gain camo detection, including the hook.
Monkey Knowledge interactions
  • NavalUpgradesIcon Naval Upgrades: All Monkey Buccaneers get +1 pierce.
  • EliteMilitaryTrainingIcon Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
  • BigBunchIcon Big Bunch: Grape Shot shoots 6 grapes instead of 5.
  • FasterTakedownsIcon Faster Takedowns: MOAB Takedown Ability has 5 second faster cooldown.
  • FlankingManeuversIcon Flanking Maneuvers: Attacks 10% faster when set targeting priority to "Last".
  • MilitaryConscriptionIcon Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
    • Monkey Buccaneer base cost from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $285, $335, $360, and $400 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
  • AdvancedLogisticsIcon Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
    • Monkey Buccaneer base cost reduced from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $405, $475, $515, and $570 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
      • If Military Conscription is also enabled, the base cost will be $265, $310, $335, and $370.
  • MonkeyEducationIcon Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
  • BetterSellDealsIcon Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more. Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
  • VeteranMonkeyTrainingIcon Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.

Attack Interactions[]

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military
Updated as of Version 40.2
Base attack(s)
  • Dart:
    • Sharp Type (pops Black, White, Purple) Sharp
    • Single Projectile Single Projectile
    • Straight Attack Straight Attack
    • Multiple Targeting (Can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side, but not fully independent) Multi-Target (two simultaneous attacks, can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side)
  • Grape:
    • Fire Type (pops Black, White, Lead, Frozen) Fire
    • Angular Spray (spray of 5) Angular Spray (5)
    • Straight Attack Straight Attack
    • Multiple Targeting (Can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side, but not fully independent) Multi-Target (two simultaneous attacks, can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side)
    • Extra damage to all bloon types (2) Extra Damage (2)
    • Extra damage versus Ceramics (+2) Extra Damage to Ceramics (+2)
    • Burn (standard bloons, 2 damage per 1.5s for 3 Burn (2 / 1.5s for 3.0s)
    • Burn (MOAB-Class Bloons, 2 damage per 1.5s for 3 Burn Blimp (2 / 1.5s for 3.0s)
  • Cannonball:
    • Explosion Type (pops White, Purple, Lead, Frozen) Explosion
    • Straight Attack Straight Attack
    • Multiple Targeting (Can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side, but not fully independent) Multi-Target (two simultaneous attacks, can attack from 180° from front if there are bloons on the opposite side)
    • Extra damage to all bloon types (3) Extra Damage (3)
    • Extra damage versus MOAB-class Bloons (+3) Extra Damage to Blimps (+3)
    • Area of Effect Area of Effect
  • Frags:
    • Sharp Type (pops Black, White, Purple) Sharp
    • Shrapnel (Produced upon bomb explosion) Shrapnel (origin: Cannonball)
    • Straight Attack Straight Attack
    • Orbital Spray (spray of 8) Orbital Spray (8)
Ability
  • Hook:
    • Normal Type (pops Black, White, Purple, Lead, Frozen) Normal
    • Impact Impact (1)
    • Target Blimp(s) (unspecified types of bloons targeting, and quantity) Target Blimp
    • Target up to BFB(s) Target Up to BFB
    • Target up to DDT(s) Target DDT
    • Instakill Blimp(s) (unspecified types of bloons targeting, and quantity) Instakill Blimp

Costs[]

Updated as of Version 41.0. 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-4-X) $4,165 $4,900 $5,290 $5,880 -
Total (0-4-0) $6,245 $7,350 $7,935 $8,820 $4,372 $5,145 $5,555 $6,174
Crosspath (1-4-0) $6,480 $7,625 $8,230 $9,150 $4,536 $5,338 $5,761 $6,405
Crosspath (2-4-0) $6,840 $8,050 $8,690 $9,660 $4,788 $5,635 $6,083 $6,762
Crosspath (0-4-1) $6,415 $7,550 $8,150 $9,060 $4,491 $5,285 $5,705 $6,342
Crosspath (0-4-2) $6,710 $7,900 $8,530 $9,480 $4,697 $5,530 $5,971 $6,636

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: MilitaryConscriptionIcon Military Conscription, AdvancedLogisticsIcon Advanced Logistics, BetterSellDealsIcon Better Sell Deals

Strategy[]

Summary[]

Monkey Pirates combines exceptional damage with an added ability to take down a MOAB, BFB, or DDT when necessary. Its overall grouped bloon damage is extremely strong for its price, allowing it to deal massive damage against regular bloons. Each grape fired deals a significant amount of damage to Ceramics, for general destruction of these bloon types, and its bombs dealing high MOAB-class damage helps clear out clumps of MOAB-class Bloons. While Monkey Pirates is often purchased for its ability to instakill early MOABs and early BFBs, this upgrade provides such a massive increase in DPS that taking advantage of its ability is not vital.

Tips[]

  • Monkey Pirates needs external camo detection or the Crow's Nest upgrade to hook in DDTs. For most cases, the 0-4-2 crosspath should be sufficient for that purpose, but a Radar Scanner is recommended with other crosspaths because a temporary Camo detector such as Brickell’s Level 8+ Naval Tactics would be dependent on timing.
  • Just as with all Monkey Buccaneers, if it can shoot on both sides, its DPS will be effectively doubled.
  • By using MOAB Takedown, if acquired before round 40, it can be a way around having to defeat a MOAB, and can also be used on the round 60 BFB. It can easily be upgraded to Pirate Lord before round 80 for the ZOMG. Thus, it is a decent way to save time on said rounds, especially when rushing to complete multiple game modes.
  • Unless Camo Bloons are an issue, the 2-4-0 crosspath tends to be superior over 0-4-2, in order to make its improved bomb attacks shoot much faster and to increase the amounts of grapes per shot at a faster rate.
  • 0-2-2 Monkey Buccaneers later upgraded to 0-4-2 provide great assistance in ABR thanks to being able to instakill MOABs, BFBs and DDTs, even fortified ones.
  • Adding a Bloontonium Reactor nearby can decrease the ability cooldown, but it's probably better to simply buy a second Monkey Pirates.
  • Admiral Brickell is a great hero to pair with Monkey Pirates to make use of its enhanced attacks, in addition to mitigating its low pierce for its upgraded grape attacks.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

Monkey Pirates received both buffs to the main attacks and to the ability's cooldown reduction. The Version 15.0 and 17.0 buffs have made it both stronger at damaging grouped bloons and more reliable at hooking in stronger early-to-mid-game blimps. Version 33.0 reworked Monkey Pirates to become much stronger with base attacks but more expensive to compensate.

Initial release.
  • NERF Monkey Pirate Ability undergoes initial cooldown before usage.
  • Change Ability can no longer be used if no MOABs are on screen. However, this can be advantageous, because then the ability would not be wasted on bloons.
15.0
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates cooldown reduced from 60s to 50s.
  • BUFF Bomb attack damage increased from 1 to 2.
17.0
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates now shoots 3 bombs per shot instead of 1.
  • BUFF Affected by 2-1-0 Grape Shot double grapes buff.
  • [Bug] Bombs cannot hit camo bloons even with Crow's Nest crosspath.
17.1
  • BUFF [Bug fix] Extra bombs now can (correctly) pop Camo Bloons when given camo detection.
18.0
  • Description changed from "MOAB Takedown Ability: grapples a MOAB class bloon and brings it down. Main attack adds two more cannons." to "Adds 2 cannons to the ship and cannon attacks do more damage. MOAB Takedown Ability: harpoons a MOAB class Bloon and brings it down."
19.0
  • BUFF [Bug fix] x4x MOAB Takedown abilities from 2 separate buccaneer should no longer sometimes target the same target when activated at the same time.
25.0
  • Change [Undocumented] Monkey Pirates and above when targeting blimps of the same rank will now targets blimps that are the most first rather than the most damaged.
28.0
  • BUFF Affected by 0-1-1 Grape Shot +1 pierce buff
31.0
The base Grape attack of T4 MOAB Takedown has had a ceramic bonus added to lead up to the T5 a little better.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates grapes now deal +1 to Ceramics. Does not carry over to Pirate Lord.
33.0
Monkey Pirates is great for the first couple MOABs but with the long ability cooldown it very quickly falls off after that point, we have pushed it and Pirate Lord’s base stats up to feel more competitive especially with possible Brickell synergy. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates Grapes damage increased from 1 to 2
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates Grapes ceramic bonus increased from 1 to 2
  • BUFF Bomb attack damage increased from 2 to 3
  • BUFF Monkey Pirates Bomb attack now grant bonus damage to MOAB-Class Bloons from +0 to +6
  • NERF Monkey Pirates price increased $4500 -> $4900
34.0
35.0
  • BUFF [Bug Fix]: MOAB Takedown ability no longer crashes the game when a rock bloon is on screen, and can now hook in rock bloons.
36.0
We wanted to do a little general lower tier balancing of costs, as things work a bit better at higher tiers but on the lower end with T1-2 upgrades cost for power doesn’t compare well. We’ve realized that the 130 crosspath just hasn’t even been working for cannons, so we wanted to correct this so that people get all that they pay for with that crosspath, however middle path buccaneer at higher tiers has been overperforming significantly so in addition to this attack speed buff we have also balanced back out that difference in the opposite direction with a damage reduction.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Monkey Pirates cannonball bonus to MOABs +6 -> +3
  • BUFF 1-4-0 Monkey Pirates now increases attack speed of cannon bombs
  • BUFF Affected by Hot Shots DoT buff
38.0
Small tweaks to Buccaneer’s Long Range upgrade to improve its additional pierce benefit for a number of attacks.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • BUFF 0-4-1 Monkey Pirates now gains +7 pierce to bombs (28 → 35) and +1 pierce to fragments (1 → 2)
41.0
[...] As noted earlier, Middle Path was identified as not having weakness to justify the power and is seeing changes related to that.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Monkey Pirates' frags attack interaction changed from Burst to Shrapnel (i.e. frags spawned from the cannon bombs no longer targets the parent bloon)
  • NERF Monkey Pirates' MOAB Takedown ability no longer has innate camo detection, now requiring the 0-4-2 crosspath for the MOAB Takedown ability to see Camo innately.

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

17.0
  • Description changed to "MOAB Takedown Ability: grapples a MOAB class bloon and brings it down. Main attack adds two more cannons."
33.0
  • Change Changed "cannon attacks" to "attacks" in the description.
35.0
  • BUFF [Bug Fix]: MOAB Takedown ability no longer crashes the game when a rock bloon is on screen, and can now hook in rock bloons.
    • [Note]: This does not work if the rock bloon has military immunity.

Extra Notes (Version History)[]

  • It is not quite known how the Monkey Pirates algorithm has changed exactly in history, but the Monkey Pirates tested in Version 26.0 appears to now always target the first of the same rank. Priority tree currently operates as follows: blimp type (DDT, BFB, MOAB), fortification (yes or no), and order of appearance (always first).

Sounds[]

When activating MOAB Takedown Ability:

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Assets[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Monkey Pirates' MOAB Takedown Ability can actually add to the damage count, unlike BTD5.
  • In BTD5, the description says that it takes down MOAB-Class Bloons, but can hook normal Bloons instead if no MOABs are present. In BTD6, it in fact can only hook in MOAB-Class Bloons, similar to the description.
    • As of v35.1, Monkey Pirates can hook in Rock Bloons, which resemble normal bloons, but are technically classified as a Boss-Class bloon.
  • In Version 17.0, the three-bomb buff now matches the visual artwork of the Monkey Pirates, which always had three rows of cannons per side.
  • A few hours after Version 17.0 was released, Monkey Pirates became the 69th unique 2MPC tower upgrade listed on the fan-official 2MPC spreadsheet.
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