Pursuit (BTD6)

BTD5

BTD6

BTDB2

Pursuit
General Information
Game	Bloons TD 6
Tower	Heli Pilot
Unlocked at	650 XP
Cost	$425 (Easy) $500 (Medium) $540 (Hard) $600 (Impoppable)
Activated Ability	N/A
Targeting Options	Follow Touch/Mouse, Lock in Place, Patrol Points, Pursuit
Camo Detection	Restricted (can be upgraded to 2/2/0)
Popology
Damage Type(s)
Sharp Straight Spray 4x Straight Attack Self-Mobility
Statistics
Damage	1 (darts, spray of 4)
Pierce	3 (darts, spray of 4)
Attack Speed	Fast (every 0.5s, Darts)
Range	40 (darts, spray of 4)
Status Effects	N/A
Tower Boosts	N/A
Income/Life Boosts	N/A
Path Upgrades
← Previous	Quad Darts
← Previous	Quad Darts
Current	Pursuit
Current	Pursuit
Next →	Razor Rotors
Next →	Razor Rotors
Path Info
Path	1
Path	1
Upgrade Tier	2
Upgrade Tier	2
[Source]

“	A new targeting option enables Heli to seek and pursue the Bloons automatically.	”
	~ In-game description

Pursuit is the second upgrade on the first path for the Heli Pilot in Bloons TD 6. It gives the Heli Pilot a new target priority: Pursuit. Pursuit target priority allows the Heli Pilot to automatically follow bloons that are the closest to the exit, equivalent to the target "First", all without player input.

In BTD6, the Heli Pilot automatically changes to Pursuit Mode upon purchase of the upgrade. Unlike in BTD5, the Pursuit targeting has improved so that it will follow along the track as close as possible to the front of the bloon, compacting with other Heli Pilots on Pursuit in the order of whichever Heli Pilot went to Pursuit first. Also, setting a Heli with the Pursuit upgrade to the Patrol Points targeting option will set the Heli to pursue bloons between two points.

This upgrade costs $425 on Easy, $500 on Medium, $540 on Hard, and $600 on Impoppable. If this tower is nearby Level 6+ Rosalia's workshop, this upgrade costs $380 on Easy, $450 on Medium, $485 on Hard, and $540 on Impoppable.

Description

Overview

Heli Pilot set on Pursuit targeting

Pursuit retains the four guns of Quad Darts, whilst painting the heli dark grey and adding a tail rotor. Barrel tips for its guns are now red. The pilot has a cheerful expression in the upgrade portrait.

When used as a crosspath, all visual changes to the Heli are retained. The most evident visual change is the red barrel tips.

Pursuit grants the Pursuit targeting option, which causes the Heli to automatically position itself in front of the first bloon, to the best of its ability. Also, using the Patrol Points targeting option will cause the Heli to start pursuing bloons that get within close range of the heli, until there are no bloons nearby its direct detection ranges, returning to its patrol route.

Targeting Priorities

Pursuit utilizes touch-based mobility and self-mobility to move around the screen with different flight targetings. Its main attack shoots straight movement projectiles, which originate from the Heli Pilot with its independent range like an ordinary tower.

• Follow Touch / Follow Mouse: Moves to where the player taps. On desktop versions, Follow Touch instead becomes Follow Mouse, which will make the Heli Pilot move to wherever the cursor is currently at.
• Lock In Place: Stops the Heli Pilot where it is when the Target Priority is selected. Can be adjusted to choose a different locked location.
• Patrol: Patrols between two spots chosen by the player. Can be adjusted to choose different points.
• Pursuit: Equivalent to the target priority First, except the Heli Pilot will follow in front of the bloons while shooting them. It is unlocked with the purchase of the second upgrade on the first path, with the same name as the target priority. Once upgraded to the respective upgrade, it automatically switches to this target priority.

The Heli Pilot's main attacks always default on First based on the range of the helicopter's weaponry.

Full Popology

Statistics

Updated as of Version 44.0

Base stats

• Landing Base has a rectangular footprint of 27x27. "Dummy range" of 22. Upon placement, spawn Heli Pilot as the main tower.
• Heli Pilot moves at a flight speed of 40. Can be set on Follow Touch / Follow Mouse, Lock In Place, Patrol Points, or Pursuit. Creates Dart projectiles from centre of Heli Pilot if detecting bloons within range.
  • Follow Touch / Follow Mouse: move towards wherever the screen was last touched, or wherever the cursor is on screen.
  • Lock In Place: move towards the locked location, otherwise stop moving
  • Patrol Points: move between two points, and also pursue bloons within that range in a stadium-shaped formation.
  • Pursuit: move towards bloon on screen, following the first bloon
• Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, 42 range, double spray of 2 ("spray of 4"), 0.57s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 3 pierce. Projectile size of 3. Projectile speed of 260, projectile lifespan of 1s.

Crosspathing interactions

Otherwise same as 1-x-x.

• 2-0-4: Setting Heli Pilot to Pursuit targeting also affects Mini-Comanche.
• 2-0-5: Setting Heli Pilot to Pursuit targeting also affects Mini-Comanche.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

• Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
• Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
  • Heli Pilot base cost from $1,360, $1,600, $1,730, and $1,920 → $910, $1,070, $1,160, and $1,285 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
• Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
  • Heli Pilot base cost from $1,360, $1,600, $1,730, and $1,920 → $1,290, $1,520, $1,640, and $1,825 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
    • If Military Conscription is also enabled, the final cost will be $845, $990, $1,070, and $1,190.
• Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
• Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more. Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
• Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.

Attack Interactions

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military

Updated as of Version 44.0

Base attack(s)

• Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Multiple Targeting (2)
  • Straight Spray (2)
  • Straight Attack
  • Touch-Based Mobility
  • Flying

Costs

Updated as of Version 44.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.

[Module | Data]	Purchase				Sell
Costs	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
Upgrade (2-X-X)	$425	$500	$540	$600	-
Total (2-0-0)	$2,465	$2,900	$3,135	$3,480	$1,726	$2,030	$2,195	$2,436
Crosspath (2-1-0)	$2,720	$3,200	$3,460	$3,840	$1,904	$2,240	$2,422	$2,688
Crosspath (2-2-0)	$3,230	$3,800	$4,110	$4,560	$2,261	$2,660	$2,877	$3,192
Crosspath (2-0-1)	$2,675	$3,150	$3,405	$3,780	$1,873	$2,205	$2,384	$2,646
Crosspath (2-0-2)	$2,970	$3,500	$3,785	$4,200	$2,079	$2,450	$2,650	$2,940

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

Strategy

Summary

Pursuit is primarily designed as a hands-free upgrade to let the Heli Pilot automatically target bloons, which in turn may allow for less micromanagement of the Heli Pilot. In terms of practicality, it is mostly used strategically for defenses that include Banana Farms, as picking up bananas is often disturbed by manual micromanagement of the Heli Pilot. Setting a Heli Pilot to Pursuit can be very useful for allowing the player to focus on other towers instead.

Tips

• Unless hands-free defense is necessary for a special purpose, try to avoid purchasing this upgrade, as normal Heli Pilot micromanagement usually offers more efficient control over the Heli Pilot.
• Using Pursuit can be inefficient on tracks where bloons spawn out of multiple lanes, as Pursuit is always be set to "First" target priority and will constantly jitter around trying to switch between tracks.
  • This issue can be mitigated by using Patrol Points to reduce the distance the Heli will travel to pursue bloons.
• It is not recommended to use Pursuit targeting in combination with the Razor Rotors upgrade, as a Razor Rotors on Pursuit targeting tends to underperform versus Lead Bloons, even with the slight rotor range buff.
  • This has changed drastically after version 31.0; now Razor Rotors on Pursuit will place itself directly above Bloons, allowing for much more consistent Lead popping with no need for micro.
• The Pursuit upgrade can be used in combination with Downdraft to effectively blow back the Ceramics spawned from early MOABs directly after destroying them.
• If the Heli can't find targetable bloons (from not having camo sight, bloons being popped before they can come on the screen, or the round ending), it will stop wherever it is, only starting movement once bloons are targetable again. This can end up in them wasting time flying back into range, especially if not equipped with Bigger Jets. The most obvious example of this is when the bloons get close to the exit at the end of the round. This can be remediated by turning off Auto-Start, switching to Follow Touch/Follow Mouse and placing them at the entrance manually.
• Utilizing the Patrol Points of a Pursuit Heli helps focus the Pursuit targeting within a specific area, reducing some instances of chasing.

Version History

Balance Changes

Pursuit received insignificant changes since it was first released in BTD6. However, the Pursuit targeting option is now modified, its previous upgrade is now more expensive, and the Heli Pilot's base cost was slightly increased in later updates.

Initial release

• Pursuit targeting now changed to follow a few units in front of the bloon rather than simply a certain number of units away from the bloon at any angle.
• Purchasing the Pursuit upgrade now automatically sets Heli Pilot on the Pursuit target priority.

4.0

• Instamonkey Heli Pilots with this upgrade or above now automatically are set on Pursuit.

21.0

“	Heli Pilot manages on pursuit far too easily without any need to consider Bigger Jets unless camo or downdraft is required. For more crosspath variety than just 'camo' we moved more of the base Heli speed out and back into Bigger Jets with an overall buff to Bigger Jets. This should allow Bigger Jets to scale a little better than other helis through early speed ramping. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to base Heli flight speed versus Bigger Jets

• Affected by base Heli flight speed nerf versus Bigger Jets crosspathing

31.0

“	Previously Razor Rotor’s used to make the heli pursue for a further distance & this caused it to often fail to reach Lead Bloons with the rotor attack that could pop them. This overall seemed like a design flaw so that back-off distance has been moved up to the T4 instead.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Razor Rotors set on Pursuit now flies directly above the targeted bloon instead of in front. Does not apply to Apache Dartship or Apache Prime.
  • This is an overall buff to T3 Razor Rotors, whose main purpose is to utilize the razor rotor.

41.0

“	Pursuit will now interact with Patrol Points in a limited 'pursuit between points', with this now you will be able to make your pursuit heli stay on one side on multi-path maps without getting stuck in the middle. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Pursuit upgrades the Patrol Points flight pattern to a 'Pursue Between Points'

Extra Notes (Version History)

• Version 44.0 buffed Rosalia's Level 6+ discount from 5% to 10%, which changed the prices of Pursuit when buffed by her:
  • Easy: $405 → $380
  • Medium: $475 → $450
  • Hard: $515 → $485
  • Impoppable: $570 → $540

Gallery

Crosspathing (Top: Path 2, Bottom: Path 3)

2-0-0 Heli shooting all four darts

Pursuit targeting

Lots of 2-0-0 Helis on Pursuit, locking themselves to follow the first bloon

Enough XP to unlock Pursuit

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Upgrade icon

Instamonkey icon

Videos

Pursuit Patrol 41.2

Demonstration of Pursuit Heli on Patrol Points, 41.2

Trivia

• Pursuit is the only BTD6 Heli Pilot upgrade that costs less than its preceding upgrade.
• Interestingly enough, the Patrol Points detection range has the area of a stadium (i.e. "sausage shape"), because that area is constructed by a series of circles along a straight line but with all duplicate areas removed.