“ | Launches an exploding mortar shell to a fixed location anywhere on the screen. | ” |
~ Bloons TD 6 Description |
“ | Targets a specific bit of ground anywhere on the screen. Launches explosive mortar shells to that spot. Useful for placing far away from the track to make room for other towers. | ” |
~ Bloons TD 5 Description |
“ | Targets a specific area of ground over any distance with an explosive attack. | ” |
~ Bloons TD 4 Description |
Mortar Monkey is a tower operated by a monkey that attacks slowly by shooting mortar shells at a pre-selected target on the map. It is one of the few towers with infinite attack range. Its target area can be selected by first clicking on the Mortar Tower before clicking on any area on the map you want it to attack. On the Mobile/Steam version, the target can be re-aimed by tapping the tower once, tapping TARGET and then tapping where you want it to aim. It will continue to attack the selected target area every 2-3 seconds.
This tower is effective at bombarding the beginning area to thin out bloons and also when shooting at areas such as U-shaped tracks and in between two close tracks due to its area effect. Once it has its Bloon Buster upgrade, it can destroy two layers of bloons, although it is still ineffective against Black Bloons and Zebra Bloons until it is upgraded to Burny Stuff or The Big One in BTD5, or Heavy Shells or The Big One in BTD6.
Contents
Upgrades (Bloons TD 4)[edit | edit source]
Upgrade |
Easy | Medium | Hard |
---|---|---|---|
Tower Cost |
$700 | $825 | $890 |
Greater Accuracy |
$170 | $200 | $215 |
Rapid Reload |
$170 | $200 | $215 |
Bloon Buster |
$680 | $800 | $865 |
Mortar Battery |
$1700 | $2000 | $2160 |
Total Sell Amount |
$2736 | $3220 | $3472 |
Total Cost |
$3420 | $4025 | $4345 |
Upgrades (Bloons TD 5)[edit | edit source]
Tower Cost:
- Easy $640
- Medium $750
- Hard $810
- Impoppable (iOS only) $900
Path 1[edit | edit source]
Upgrade |
Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable |
---|---|---|---|---|
Increased Accuracy |
$170 | $200 | $215 | $240![]() |
Bigger Blast |
$510 | $600 | $650 | $720![]() |
Bloon Buster |
$680 | $800 | $865 | $960![]() |
The Big One |
$8500 | $10000 | $10800 | $12000![]() |
Total Sell Amount | $8432 | $9879 | $10716 | $11856 ($12576 with path 2 upgrades) |
Total Cost | $10500 | $11600 | $13395 | $14820 ($15720 with path 2 upgrades) |
Path 2[edit | edit source]
Upgrade |
Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rapid Reload |
$215 | $250 | $270 | $300![]() |
Burny Stuff |
$425 | $500 | $540 | $600![]() |
Signal Flare |
$425 | $500 | $540 | $600![]() |
Artillery Battery |
$7650 | $9000 | $9720 | $10800![]() |
Total Sell Amount | $7484 | $8800 | $9504 | $10560 ($11328 with path 1 upgrades) |
Total Cost | $9355 | $11000 | $11880 | $13200 ($14160 with path 1 upgrades) |
Differences Between BTD5 Flash and BTD5 Mobile[edit | edit source]
Explosions are generally nerfed in mobile, and like the Bomb Tower, the Mortar Tower is no exception to this nerf.
Explosions from the Mortar Tower are smaller.
If a 3/x Mortar Tower attacks a Rainbow Bloon, it will not be popped down to Black and White Bloons. This happens even if the tower is under the influence of an x/3 Monkey Village.
Update History (Bloons TD Battles Mobile)[edit | edit source]
Previously, the Mortar Tower was not a popular tower. This was because compared to its flash counterpart, the Mortar Tower had a much smaller blast radius, which drastically hurt its reliability. Over the years, however, it has gained popularity through a set of buffs, particularly with Version 4.1's update, and has now become part of the meta. Even with a somewhat major nerf in Version 4.6, it still remains as one of many popular towers in the game. Popular loadouts include Ninja Farm Mortar, Tack Farm Mortar, and Bomb COBRA Mortar.
Initial Release
Artillery Battery's Pop and Awe ability cannot damage or stun MOAB-class Bloons.
- 3.1
Bigger Blast radius size increased.
Bloon Buster price decreased ($800 → $650).
Signal Flare price increased ($500 → $700).
- 3.2
Artillery Battery's Pop and Awe ability now damages and stuns MOAB-class Bloons, causing them to receive 5 seconds of burning damage and stunning MOABs for 5 seconds, BFBs for 2 seconds, and ZOMGs for 0.5 seconds.
- 3.9
Signal Flare price decreased ($700 → $550).
- 4.1
Bigger Blast price decreased ($600 → $400).
The Big One price decreased ($10000 → $6000).
Artillery Battery price decreased ($9000 → $7000).
Blast radius size increased by 15% (Both 0/0 and 2/0).
- 4.3.1
The Big One price increased ($6000 → $7500).
- 4.6
Signal Flare price increased ($550 → $750).
Artillery Battery price increased ($7000 → $8000).
Bloons Tower Defense 6[edit | edit source]
The Mortar Monkey returned in the Version 6.0 update. In BTD6, several changes have occurred from BTD5, the most significant example being that it can no longer apply Burny Stuff to Black Bloons nor remove camo from Black Bloons via Signal Flare, both of which without MIB would simply not work.
Like other versions of it, the Mortar Monkey still has one yellow stripe on the green military helmet it also wears in other games (which doesn't have a chin strap on it like actual helmets do). The mortar, however only has one yellow line instead of two like in the artwork of BTD5 and BMC, making it a lot closer to the model in the game. The base of the mortar has screws, but it still has the ability to turn around freely when the players "micro" it like in other games. Another thing can be spotted is that while in other games, the monkey is always to the left of the mortar, this game however, has the monkey to the right. The tower itself also no longer has a reload animation. Instead, it now has a lever to pull, which will automatically reload and shoot the mortar in just a few seconds (with Heavy Shells and further upgrades, it presses a button on a remote control to launch attacks, particularly with faster upgrades such as Artillery Battery and Pop and Awe).
It is a Military class tower.
Path 1[edit | edit source]
Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable | Unlock XP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bigger Blast |
$425 | $500 | $540 | $600 | 180 |
Bloon Buster |
$555 | $650 | $700 | $780 | 600 |
Shell Shock |
$925 | $1,100 | $1,190 | $1,320 | 2,500 |
The Big One |
$6,800 | $8,000 | $8,640 | $9,600 | 15,000 |
The Biggest One |
$23,800 | $28,000 | $30,240 | $33,600 | 36,000 |
Total Sell Amount |
Tier 4: $6,545 Tier 5: $23,205 |
Tier 4: $7,700 Tier 5: $27,300 |
Tier 4: $8,316 Tier 5: $29,484 |
Tier 4: $9,240 Tier 5: $32,760 |
N/A |
Total Cost |
Tier 4: $9,350 Tier 5: $33,150 |
Tier 4: $11,000 Tier 5: $39,000 |
Tier 4: $11,880 Tier 5: $42,120 |
Tier 4: $13,200 Tier 5: $46,800 |
52,420 |
Path 2[edit | edit source]
Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable | Unlock XP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Faster Reload |
$255 | $300 | $325 | $360 | 150 |
Rapid Reload |
$425 | $500 | $540 | $600 | 600 |
Heavy Shells |
$765 | $900 | $970 | $1,080 | 2,300 |
Artillery Battery |
$4,675 | $5,500 | $5,940 | $6,600 | 12,500 |
Pop and Awe |
$25,500 | $30,000 | $32,400 | $36,000 | 32,000 |
Total Sell Amount |
Tier 4: $7,497 Tier 5: $17,017 |
Tier 4: $8,820 Tier 5: $20,020 |
Tier 4: $9,527 Tier 5: $21,623 |
Tier 4: $10,584 Tier 5: $24,024 |
N/A |
Total Cost |
Tier 4: $10,710 Tier 5: $24,310 |
Tier 4: $12,600 Tier 5: $28,600 |
Tier 4: $13,610 Tier 5: $30,890 |
Tier 4: $15,120 Tier 5: $34,320 |
47,550 |
Path 3[edit | edit source]
Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable | Unlock XP | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Increased Accuracy |
$170 | $200 | $215 | $240 | 140 |
Burny Stuff |
$425 | $500 | $540 | $600 | 650 |
Signal Flare |
$595 | $700 | $755 | $840 | 2,200 |
Shattering Shells |
$9,350 | $11,000 | $11,800 | $13,200 | 12,000 |
Blooncineration |
$38,250 | $45,000 | $48,600 | $54,000 | 35,000 |
Total Sell Amount |
Tier 4: $7,231 Tier 5: $36,981 |
Tier 4: $8,505 Tier 5: $43,505 |
Tier 4: $9,184 Tier 5: $46,984 |
Tier 4: $10,206 Tier 5: $52,206 |
N/A |
Total Cost |
Tier 4: $10,330 Tier 5: $52,830 |
Tier 4: $12,150 Tier 5: $62,150 |
Tier 4: $13,120 Tier 5: $67,120 |
Tier 4: $14,580 Tier 5: $74,580 |
49,990 |
Version History (BTD6)[edit | edit source]
- 6.0 (compared to BTD5)
Initial release
Burny Stuff no longer applies napalm to Black Bloons or Zebra Bloons.
Signal Flare no longer removes camo from Black Bloons, Zebra Bloons, or DDTs. Additionally, an MIB or other black-popping grant is required to decamo Black Bloons or Zebra Bloons.
Signal Flare costs more ($500 --> $700)
Bigger Blast costs less ($600 --> $500)
Several changes in path placement of the upgrades; some upgrades are moved to different paths. Increased Accuracy, Burny Stuff, and Signal Flare are now Path 3 upgrades starting from Tier 1 to Tier 3. Bigger Blasts is now a Path 1 Tier 1 upgrade. Bloon Buster is now the Path 1 Tier 2 upgrade. Bigger Blasts and Rapid Reload are now mutually exclusive for Signal Flare. New upgrade Shell Shock is the Path 1 Tier 3 upgrade. New upgrade Heavy Shells is the Path 2 Tier 3 upgrade.
Artillery Battery no longer has an ability. Instead, it has moved to the new succeeding upgrade Pop and Awe.
Artillery Battery no longer detects camo without support.
Artillery Battery explosions can pop Black Bloon properties but no longer has Burny Stuff.
Artillery Battery costs less ($9000 --> $5500)
Cost of Bloon Buster decreased ($800 --> $650)
Rapid Reload is now a Tier 2 upgrade; Faster Reload is now the former Rapid Reload upgrade. New Rapid Reload upgrade costs $500 on Medium.
Faster Reload (the new version of the BTD5 Rapid Reload) costs more ($250 --> $300)
Mortar Monkey's Footprint is now the size and shape of the mortar turret prior to placement, regardless of where it turns. This footprint is used instead of an unclear "center" spot between the monkey and the mortar turret.
Balance Changes[edit | edit source]
- 7.0
5xx The Biggest One damage increased from 10 to 20
- 8.0
1xx Bigger Blast radius has been increased slightly
4xx The Big One cost reduced $10k to $8k
4xx The Big One blast radius increased
5xx The Biggest One cost reduced $30k to $24k
5xx The Biggest One blast radius increased by a big amount
x3x Heavy Shells now deals extra damage to MOAB class bloons +1
xx5 Blooncineration can now damage all Bloon types
xx5 Blooncineration price reduced $55k to $50k
xx5 Blooncineration now creates a wall of fire at impact location
- 9.0
5xx The Biggest One deals 3x damage to any Ceramic or higher.
- Note: It is presumed the damage is additive, or +40 damage instead of multiplicative.
5xx The Biggest One price increased from $24k to $28k
2x5 Blooncineration's Wall of Fire will now benefit from the Radius, Pierce and Damage buffs that the top crosspath offers.
- 10.0
xx4 Shattering Shells price increased from $10k to $11k
- 11.0
5xx The Biggest One larger shockwave radius now deals +20 damage to ceramics
5xx The Biggest One bonus damage to ceramics and higher reduced from 40 to 20
x5x Pop and Awe ability damage increased from 2 to 10
xx5 Blooncineration can now remove camo from DDTs without knowledge being required
xx5 Blooncineration price reduced from $55k to $45k
- 12.0
5xx The Biggest One bonus ceramic damage decreased from +20 to +10
x4x Artillery Battery speed buff improved from 3x to 4x
x5x Pop and Awe damage per second during ability increased from 10 to 20
x5x Pop and Awe cost reduced to 30k
- 17.0
x3x Heavy Shells now deals additional damage to 'Stunned' Bloons +2
x5x Pop and Awe now deals additional damage to 'Stunned' Bloons +10
...
- 21.0
Explosion random deviation radius increased (18 --> 30)
Attack speed without Path 2 upgrades increased (2.2s --> 2.0s)
Attack speed with Faster Reload increased (1.54s --> 1.5s)
Attack speed with Rapid Reload decreased (1.07s --> 1.08s)
Bug fixes and other changes[edit | edit source]
- 7.0
5xx The Biggest One has had a bug fixed where the range was not increasing upon purchasing
032 Heavy Shells should now apply Burny Stuff to Black bloons
- 8.0
4xx The Big One should now correctly damage DDTs when given detection
xx4 Shattering Shells now counts damage dealt from fortifications being stripped
xx5 Blooncineration burn duration fixed, it will now deal 1 extra tick of damage over time
- 8.1
On desktop versions, Mortar Monkey can now pick a new location upon pressing the "change targeting" hotkey (Tab ↹ by default)
- 9.0
xx5 Blooncineration should be able to apply burn to DDTs
- 10.0
5xx The Biggest One can now deal damage to non-camo DDTs
- 13.0 (?)
Mortar Monkeys displays Line of Sight (Mortar isn't affected by them though).
- 14.0
Mortar Monkeys no longer display Line of Sight.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Mortar Monkey/Strategies
Gallery[edit | edit source]
BTD5[edit | edit source]
TBA
BTD6[edit | edit source]
Trivia[edit | edit source]

Mortar Tower in Bloons Tower Defense 4 Expansion
- The monkey next to the Mortar Tower when players upgrade to Bloon Buster and The Big One wears the same clothes as the Glue Striker and Glue Hose.
- After upgrading to Bigger Blast, the explosion will not be heard.
- In the towers fountain on the main menu, the picture of the Mortar Tower doesn't have smoke coming out of its cannon, but if players click it, the big picture has smoke coming out of its cannon.
- In Bloons TD 4 this tower can detect camo bloons without upgrades. In BTD5, it won't be able to detect camo bloons without Signal Flare. This is weird because you could clearly see shells hitting bloons.
- This is one of the three towers in BTD5 that can remove Camo status, with the other two being the Monkey Engineer (only BTD5 Deluxe and all mobile versions) and Monkey Sub (only BTD5 Flash and all mobile version).
- Even with the Bigger Blast upgrade, sometimes the explosions won't be bigger. That's because the explosion reaches its popping limit before the animation ends.
- The artwork of an unupgraded Mortar Tower and one with Signal Flare both show the monkey with his fingers in his ears.
- Bloons with monkey napalm can be frozen and the flame still pops while they are frozen.
- A 2/4 Mortar Tower under the influence of its specialty building fully upgraded can stun nearly every non-MOAB-class Bloon.
- Due to the slow-mo in Battles, it is possible to stall MOAB Class Bloons forever by activating the ability as fast as possible.
- The monkey with closed ears is the same in defense mode image in BTD Battles
- In Bloons TD 5, on Co-op mode, you can aim it to be set to pop bloons on your ally's side.
- Although it says that the Pop and Awe ability doesn't affect MOAB Class Bloons, It does stun them for a short amount of time.
- Mortar Tower is much like the Dartling Gun as it shoots where the player wants it to, however unlike the Dartling Gun, it is not directly controlled by the player.
- Oddly in BTD4, when upgraded to Bloon Buster, the Mortar Tower and the Monkey's helmet becomes red. When upgraded to Mortar Battery the monkey disappears and the 3 Mortars turn back into green. In Mortar Battery, the Bloon Buster upgrade is not suppressed.
- In BTD5 mobile, with a tier 4 specialty building, the mortar can be prioritized to first, last, close, or strong like any other BTD tower.



- The Mortar Tower is one of only 2 towers to have its BTD4 3rd and 4th upgrades to be in completely separate paths in BTD5. A player could have Bloon Buster or Artillery Battery in BTD5, but not both. It shares this trait with the Tack Shooter. In BTD6, Artillery Battery and Bloon Buster can once again be possessed by the same mortar monkey, since Bloon Buster is now a tier 2 upgrade and thus can be attained as a crosspath.
- In the BTD4 logo and title screen there is a Mortar Monkey.
- The Mortar tower in BTD4 takes up much less space when placing it than in BTD5.
- In BTD5 and BMC, its footprint its the shape of its barrel before the tower have been placed.
- This shows that the mortar in BTD5 only takes up the lower half of the space of the big square..
- It could aim following mouse by clicking on the tower twice and hold to aim anywhere the mouse is. But this has been patched.
- The Big One explosion sound is slightly different and has larger boom sound (not louder).
- The circle in the middle of all "target circles" of the Mortar Tower represents the whole possible areas where the center of the explosion may hit. It may hit closer to or further away from the complete target center, but will not stray away from the target circle in the center. The Increased Accuracy upgrade allows the "target circle" to be smaller and therefore stay shooting around the center of the target.
- Strangely in the flash version of BMC, it faces at the right side when you try placing it and same applies with the Dartling Gun in BMC Mobile.
- In BMC, the tower is named Mortar Monkey.
- In BTD5, the tower will try to pop Camo Bloons by aiming at the Camo Bloons, but in BMC it doesn't until it's upgraded to Signal Flare.
- There was a bug BTD5 where you could hold the mouse on set target, which will make the mortar do shots whenever you hold it! However, this has been patched.
- This tower is one of the 4 towers that were not reinstated in BTD 6 when it launched, the other three being the Bloonchipper, Dartling Gun and Engineer. However, the Mortar Monkey was added later in the 6.0 update.
- This is the only tower so far in BTD6 where the x/4/x does not have an ability. However, the x/5/x does.
- In BTD5, the Burny Stuff upgrade would apply to black bloons. However, this is no longer the case in BTD6.
- In BTD5 web and mobile is one of the 3 towers in mobile and one of 3 on web that have 2 upgrades which remove their weakness,in the Mortar's case are black and zebra bloons which are burny stuff and the big one. The other 2 towers are the Bomb Tower with Frag Bombs and Bloon Impact, and Super Monkey with Plasma Blasts and Tech Terror for lead.
- The Big One slightly increases attack speed in BTD5 Mobile & Steam.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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