| “ | Shoots homing torp-e-darts at nearby bloons. Must be placed in water. | ” |
| ~ In-game description |
The Monkey Sub is a Military-class tower in Bloons TD Battles 2 introduced upon release. It's the Battles counterpart to the Bloons TD 6 version
Monkey Sub's attack is the same as Bloons TD 6, firing trop-e-darts that inflict 1 damage up to 2 Bloons per dart with the inability to pop Leads and Camos without support. Like it's counterpart, the trop-e-darts home in onto Bloons with moderate seeking.
Monkey Sub's upgrades are the same as Bloons TD 6, however, certain upgrades are not the same in terms of stats due to Battles 2 and Bloons TD 6 being balanced differently from one another.
Its targeting priorities are the same from Bloons TD 6, with the standard First, Last, Close, and Strong and also the special Submerge targeting priority that comes with Submerge and Support, Bloontonium Reactor, and Energizer.
The base price for Monkey Sub is $325. It is unlocked by spending 
500, unlocking all upgrades up to Tier 4, plus another 1,500 to unlock all its Tier 5 upgrades.
Description[]
Its appearance looks much like the Monkey Sub from Bloons TD 6, though it has several minor graphic differences and animation differences exclusive to Bloons TD Battles 2.
Path 1 is the same as Bloons TD 6, focusing on increasing the Subs range and giving support by de-camoing Bloons, popping Bloons with the Bloontonium Reactor and Energizer upgrades, buffing water towers, reducing cooldowns, and by levelling Heroes faster in the later upgrades down the path. However, it used to be exclusive to BTDB2 that the Bloontonium Reactor could not pop leads without crosspathing with Heat-Tipped Darts, this change was later added to Version 29.0 to BTD6.
Path 2 is the same as Bloons TD 6, focusing on giving the Monkey Sub better pierce and later, the ability to pop Leads and Frozen Bloons. With another upgrade, the Sub can fire missiles that inflict bonus damage to Ceramics and MOAB-Class Bloons and an ability that inflicts huge damage to the targeted Bloon, plus splash damage. A change exclusive to Bloons TD Battles 2 is that the First Strike Capability ability has no initial cooldown, allowing the ability to be instantly used upon upgrading a Monkey Sub to First Strike Capability or Pre-Emptive Strike.
Path 3 is the same as Bloons TD 6, focusing on allowing the Monkey Sub to attack Bloons faster. Upgrades in this path give the Monkey Sub extra guns to fire faster and airburst darts, which split into three upon impacting a Bloon. Then, the Monkey Sub can deal extra damage to Ceramics and MOAB-Class Bloons and with its Tier 5, it can buff all Monkey Subs on screen with extra pierce and attack speed, including itself. There are no known changes to this path besides stat changes and granting the Sub commander’s buff map-wide affect.
The Monkey Sub is classed as a Military Monkey.
Target Priorities[]
The base Monkey Sub uses the standard target priorities: First, Last, Close, Strong. With the Submerge and Support, Bloontonium Reactor, and Energizer upgrades, the Monkey Sub gains the Submerge target priority.
- Submerge: Exclusive to the Submerge and Support, Bloontonium Reactor, and Energizer upgrades. When set to 'Submerge', de-camos Bloons in range and later on gains additional benefits from upgrades.
- 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.
Upgrades[]
Path 1[]
 |
Longer Range COST: $130 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Increases attack range.
Effect: Gains +10 range. | ||
 |
Advanced Intel COST: $500 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Allows long range targeting of Bloons in radius of your other towers.
Effect: Allows the Monkey Sub to target any bloon within the range of any tower on screen. Can target Camo Bloons with the range of any tower with direct camo detection. | ||
 |
Submerge and Support COST: $950 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Adds Submerge targeting option that permanently reveals Camo bloons in its radius but does not attack while submerged.
Effect: Gains the Submerge targeting option. When active, it produces a non-damaging decamo wave every 1.5s that hits up to 75 bloons within range, but the Sub cannot use other attacks while submerged. | ||
 |
Bloontonium Reactor COST: $2,800 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Submerge to detect Camo, pop bloons and reduce ability cooldowns of nearby water-based Monkeys by 15%.
Effect: When submerged, creates a radioactive damage zone that pops up to 30 bloons every cycle, decamos much faster, and reduces ability cooldowns of nearby water-based towers by 15%. Decamo pierce is increased to 150. | ||
 |
Energizer COST: $32,000 UNLOCK: 1,500 (T5 Sub Unlocks) | |
| Description: Reduces ability cooldowns everywhere by 20%. While in radius, Heroes earn XP 75% faster and water Monkeys' ability cooldowns are halved.
Effect: Submerging allows its damage zone to deal 5 damage per cycle instead of 1, +5 versus Ceramics, reduces ability cooldowns of all towers on screen by 20%, gives nearby heroes with 75% more XP, and nearby water-based towers gain 50% reduced ability cooldowns instead of 15%. | ||
Path 2[]
 |
Barbed Darts COST: $300 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Sub's darts can pop an additional 3 bloons.
Effect: Darts pop 5 bloons per shot instead of 2. Also gives Reactors +10 pierce, plus +20% more decamo pierce. | ||
 |
Heat-tipped Darts COST: $300 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Heat tipped darts and a more powerful reactor allow popping of Frozen and Lead Bloons.
Effect: Darts can pop Frozen and Lead Bloons. Also gives Reactors +15 pierce, for a total of +25 pierce. More decamo pierce, totalling +50% decamo pierce. | ||
 |
Ballistic Missile COST: $1,600 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Missile seeks target within range and does extra MOAB and Ceramic damage.
Effect: Gains a ballistic missile attack. Missiles fly in the sky and crash onto the target bloon. Missile explosions deal 7 damage to MOAB-class and Ceramics and 2 damage to bloons. | ||
 |
First Strike Capability COST: $15,000 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: First Strike Ability: A devastating missile strike targeting the largest bloon on screen, plus splash damage.
Effect: Ability shoots a large missile that deals 7000 damage onto the strongest bloon on screen plus a splash with 200 damage onto up to 80 bloons. | ||
 |
Pre-Emptive Strike COST: $30,000 UNLOCK: 2,500 (T5 Sub Unlocks) | |
| Description: Automatically triggers an extra anti-MOAB missile whenever MOAB-Class Bloon spawns from the Bloon entrance.
Effect: Every time a MOAB-class bloon enters the screen, it will automatically inflict 800 damage to them. In addition, it gains even stronger and faster ballistic missiles and a faster ability cooldown. | ||
Path 3[]
 |
Twin Guns COST: $300 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Added twin gun doubles attack speed. Enhances Ballistic Missile and Bloontonium Reactor.
Effect: Dart gains 2x attack speed, and the attack speed of other weapons increases. | ||
 |
Airburst Darts COST: $800 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Airburst darts split into 3 on impact for massive popping power. Further enhances Ballistic Missile and Bloontonium Reactor.
Effect: Main dart now splits into 3 darts on impact, and the attack speed of alternate attacks further increases. | ||
 |
Triple Guns COST: $800 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Adds a third gun for even faster firing.
Effect: Increases attack speed by 1.5x. Retains the Airburst Darts attack. | ||
 |
Armor Piercing Darts COST: $2,800 UNLOCK: Unlock Monkey Sub | |
| Description: Special AP darts gain increased damage and popping power, plus additional damage to MOAB class Bloons.
Effect: Main dart deals 2 damage on-hit, 4 versus MOAB-class, while airburst darts have 5 pierce per dart instead of 2 and deal 2 damage versus MOAB-class. | ||
 |
Sub Commander COST: $25,000 UNLOCK: 2,500 (T5 Sub Unlocks) | |
| Description: Adds extra pierce and damage to Commander and all other Monkey Subs.
Effect: All Subs within range will deal double damage, gain +4 pierce, and +20 range. Also the Commander attacks 3x faster. | ||
Total Costs[]
 |
Disputed information accuracy The factual accuracy of this article has been disputed, possibly containing misinformation. The disputed content in question is: Double check the sellback Please use the talk page to discuss on any improvements to correct any misleading facts. |
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Path 1 | ||||||
| Base Cost | 130 | 500 | 950 | 2,800 | 32,000 | |
| Cumulative Cost | 455 | 955 | 1,905 | 4,705 | 36,705 | |
| Base Sell | 90 | 350 | 665 | 1,960 | 22,400 | |
| Cumulative Sell | 320 | 670 | 1,335 | 3,295 | 25,695 | |
| Path 2 | ||||||
| Base Cost | 300 | 300 | 1,600 | 15,000 | 30,000 | |
| Cumulative Cost | 625 | 925 | 2,525 | 17,525 | 47,525 | |
| Base Sell | 210 | 210 | 1,120 | 10,500 | 21,000 | |
| Cumulative Sell | 440 | 650 | 1,770 | 12,270 | 33,270 | |
| Path 3 | ||||||
| Base Cost | 300 | 800 | 800 | 2,800 | 25,000 | |
| Cumulative Cost | 625 | 1,425 | 2,225 | 5,025 | 30,025 | |
| Base Sell | 210 | 560 | 560 | 1,960 | 17,500 | |
| Cumulative Sell | 440 | 1000 | 1,560 | 3,520 | 21,020 |
Strategy[]
Summary[]
Monkey Sub is a versatile tower that is strong at every stage of the game in a particular strength. It has a fairly flexible early-game, methods for countering mid-game bloons, a source of decamo, single-target damage, capability for long-ranged attacks, and buffs for aquatic and terrestrial abilities. However, its dependence on water can limit its placements on certain maps.
[insert more info about summarizing the Sub]
Tips[]
- Sub is versatile across all stages of the game and has good support upgrades too in addition to damage.
- It has decent early-game, particularly with Airburst Darts.
Further Strategies[]
- Strategies
- General Strategy
- Optimization Strategy
- Countermeasures Strategy
Monkey Mastery[]
Monkey Mastery is unlocked once all of its upgrades are unlocked. Monkey Mastery gives customization which is purchased using XP and Monkey Money. Has a total of 9 customizations available.
| Item | Type | Description | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Surface |
 Placement Animation |
Emerge from the deep. | 600 75,000
|
|
Spotted! |
 Emote |
Enemy ship detected! | 16020,000
|
|
Commander Style |
 Bloon Decal |
It doesn't react well to darts. | 20030,000
|
TBA |
Fish Darts |
 Weapon Skin |
Smaller than swordfish but just as sharp. | 45060,000
|
TBA |
The Red Monkey Sub |
 Avatar icon |
The hunt is on. | 30040,000
|
|
Fishing |
 Idle Animation |
He's hooked a big one! | 45060,000
|
TBA |
 Named Monkey Subs |
 Custom Names |
Name your Monkey Subs! | 30040,000
|
Default name is Marko. |
Dive! Dive! Dive! |
 Sell Animation |
Awooga! Awooga! | 24030,000
|
TBA |
Bubbles Trail |
 Trail Effect |
Harmless bubbles following very harmful darts. | 45060,000
|
TBA |
Version History[]
Balance Changes[]
In comparison to its Battles 1 counterpart, the Sub is much more popular and widely used. The Sub is valued most for it’s versatility, as most comps will need some form of Camo support, which Sub is known quite well for as it’s Submerge and Support provides the most efficient Camo defense in the game. Especially because in this game, Camo support is almost an necessity because while most towers do indeed have an upgrade to deal with Camos, it is often on the weaker path and as such makes those towers more vulnerable to non-Camo rushes. In addition, it’s First Strike helps with high-health blimp rushes while it’s bottom path is simpily all around great damage to have, especially against lower tier MOABs. It’s efficiency and versatility continue to be some of the best in the game, and it the main reason why it is so commonly used. Popular Sub loadouts include Druid-Sub-Farm, Druid-Sub-Ice, Boomer-Sub-Ice/Glue, Bomb-Sub-Farm, and Ace-Sub-Alc. Hero choice doesnt come into play often specifically for Sub, often being reserved to help with other towers in the loadout.
- Initial release (compared to BTD6 Version 28.0)
Bloontonium Reactor damage type changed from Normal to Sharp . It now needs Heat-tipped Darts to pop Frozen or Lead.- Bloontonium Reactor costs more ($2,500 → $2,800)
- Bloontonium Reactor base pierce reduced (50 → 30). Also applies to crosspaths with Path 2.
- 4-1-0: 70 → 50
- 4-2-0: 100 → 80
- Possibly more?
- 1.0.4
- Reactor pierce decreased (30 → 26)
- 4-1-0 Reactor pierce decreased (50 → 35)
- 4-2-0 Reactor pierce decreased (80 → 50)
- First Strike Capability damage decreased (10,000 → 8,000)
- 1.0.6
- Airburst Darts cost less ($1,000 → $800)
- Triple Guns cost less ($1,100 → $950)
- Armor Piercing Darts cost less ($3,000 → $2,800)
- Ballistic Missile does more damage (1 → 2, +5 → +6 for ceramics and higher)
- Pre-emptive Strike does more damage (1 → 10, +5 → +15 for ceramics and higher)
- First Strike activated ability has no initial cooldown
- 1.1.0
- Energizer damage increased (3 → 5), and bonus ceramic damage increased (+3 → +10)
- 1.3.0
- First Strike costs more ($13,000 → $14,000)
- Pre-emptive Strike cooldown reduced (45s → 30s)
- Pre-emptive Strike anti-MOAB missile does more damage (750 → 800)
- 1.5.0
- Submerge and Support price increased $500 → $750
- Bloontonium Reactor price decreased $2,800 → $2,600
- Ballistic Missile pierce reduced 100 → 75
- 0-3-1 Ballistic Missile attack cooldown reduction reduced (0.875x → 0.90x)
- Ballistic Missile bonus damage for ceramic and above has been reduced 6 → 5.
- Monkey Sub now comes with all Tier 4 upgrades by default.
- Monkey Sub T5 upgrades now cost 1500 instead of XP
- Monkey Sub unlocks increased (75 → 500)
- 1.6.0
- Ballistic Missile $1,400 → $1,600
- Ballistic Missile pierce reduced 75 → 50
- First Strike Capability damage decreased 8k → 7k
- 1.8.0
- Energizer hero leveling buff increased (+50% → +75%)
- 1.8.2
- Submerge and Support price increased ($750 → $950)
- 1.10.0
- Sub Commander: Now increases the range of all subs by +20
- Sub Commander: Pierce increase for other subs +4 → +6
- 1.10.3
- Twin Guns: $450 → $350
- Triple Guns: $950 → $800
- 2.0
- Energizer: The cost to instantly level up heroes in range is reduced in addition to the increased leveling speed. Reduces the cost to upgrade heros by approximately 50%.
- 2.1
- Barbed Darts: $450 → $300
- Twin Guns: $350 → $300
- Airburst Darts: $800 → $700
| “ | We would love to see Monkey Sub be used more in the early game, but currently he rarely is because other towers prove to be more efficient. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 2.1.2
- 4-0-x Bloontonium Reactor pierce increased 26 → 30 (4-1-0 remains at 35 pierce)
- 4-0-1 Bloontonium Reactor pulse rate 0.32 → 0.3 (xx1 reduces by 20% → 25%)
- 4-0-2 Bloontonium Reactor pulse rate 0.224 → 0.2 (xx2 reduces by 30% → 33.3%)
| “ | For a long time now, x2x has undoubtedly been the optimal Reactor crosspath due to its lead popping power and greatly increased pierce. Ideally, we would like the xx2 crosspath to provide a valuable alternative option, if lead popping power is not required. To help with this, we have increased the base pierce while leaving the 410 Reactor pierce unchanged, and we have increased the attack speed boost that xx1 and xx2 provide. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 2.2
- Sub Commander: attacks 2x → 3x faster than Armor-Piercing Darts
- [Bug] This buff was not applied in this update
| “ | Sub Commander is a very underutilised tier 5. Since its main strength is buffing other Monkey Subs, it lacks versatility as there are often situations where it isn’t practical to build up an army of subs with it. Therefore, we opted to buff its individual strength so that it can shine more on its own. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 3.1
- First Strike Capability price increased $14,000 → $15,000
- Pre-Emptive Strike price decreased $32,000 → $30,000
- [Bugfix] Sub Commander: now correctly applies 3x attack speed instead of 2x attack speed
| “ | Sub’s First Strike ability has always been exceptional at dealing with single ZOMGs and BADs. We have opted for a small price increase so that it can still deal its high damage but just slightly less efficiently, and we also made a minor price decrease to Pre-emptive Strike. We would also like to note that we have made a bug fix to xx5 Sub Commander, which was not receiving the 2x damage buff itself. This will greatly improve Sub Commander’s strength and will hopefully provide another valuable late-game upgrade to be used in conjunction with First Strikes. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 3.2.4
- Submerge and Support: Sonar pierce decreased from infinite → 100
- 3-1-0 adds 20 pierce, and 3-2-0 further adds 30 pierce
- Bloontonium Reactor: Sonar decamo pierce decreased from infinite → 200
- 4-1-0 adds 40 pierce, and 4-2-0 further adds 60 pierce
- Energizer: Sonar decamo pierce decreased from infinite → 1000
- 5-1-0 adds 200 pierce, and 5-2-0 further adds 300 pierce
| “ | Monkey Sub has consistently been dominant in meta, with its incredibly cheap Submerge and Support upgrade being one of its strong points, efficiently nullifying all camo rushes. We also like the idea of camo rushes being more prevalent against decamo towers, therefore we have drastically reduced the pierce of Monkey Sub’s decamo sonar attack, potentially opening up room for camo rushes against it. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 3.3
- Submerge and Support: sonar pierce 100 → 75
- 3-1-0: 90
- 3-2-0: 112
- Bloontonium Reactor: sonar decamo pierce 200 → 150
- 4-1-0: 180
- 4-2-0: 224
- Bloontonium Reactor: $2,600 → $2,800
- Airburst Darts: $700 → $800
| “ | Sub still remains incredibly dominant. We previously lowered the decamo pierce and we do like the idea of making decamo options less reliable, but the change wasn’t significant enough and so we are lowering the pierce even further. With 3xx being less reliable now, this makes 4xx a more appealing option and so we have slightly bumped up its cost with that in mind. Lastly, we minimally increased xx2’s cost because Sub doesn’t need to be a great early tower given all of its other strong points. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
Bug Fixes and General Changes[]
- 1.0.4
- Reactor no longer does more damage to ceramics
- 1.1.0
- Fixed incorrect spread on xx2 Sub’s airburst darts
Gallery[]
Official artwork[]
Trivia[]
- Monkey Sub's base cost is more expensive than Twin Guns.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||