Converts all bloons partially into gold, giving you cash for each pop from affected bloons.
”
~ BTDB2 description
Rubber to Gold with 1-0-4 crosspath
Rubber to Gold is the 4th upgrade on Path 3 of the Alchemist in Bloons TD Battles 2. Because popped bloons do not give cash by default, instead of bonus cash like its BTD6 counterpart, affected bloons give $1.5 per layer popped. Goldifying potions can increase income from affected sent bloons and natural bloons. It throws goldifying potions every 3.8s. Main potions work just like Lead to Gold, dealing +18 Lead damage and attacking every 1.08s. Goldifying potions match pierce according to the main potions. Like Lead to Gold, Rubber to Gold's acid pools can detect Camo Bloons. Goldifying potion has 12 pierce and 12 splash radius, increased by +6 and +6, respectively, with 1-0-4.
It costs $2,500, and is unlocked after purchasing Alchemist.
Rubber to Gold's cash generation relies on splashing goldifying potions onto bloons. In practice, it works better than Bloon Trap against higher-tier bloons and if bloons are stalled, as with BTD6, and has the advantage of affecting both sent and natural bloons. However, it throws goldifying potions quite slowly. As the Rubber to Gold Alchemist has low offense, it is best used in conjunction with an already stable defense, such as the Bloonjitsu + Stronger Stimulant combo. Rubber to Gold offers a limited amount of DDT-popping if combined with a source of decamo or camo detection, thanks to Lead to Gold's bonus Lead damage.
Tips[]
Generally, the preferred crosspath is with Larger Potions, in order to gold more bloons for more money. However, Acidic Mixture Dip is not recommended since it makes it harder for Rubber to Gold to utilize its Lead to Gold upgrade against leads. Stronger Acid and Perishing Potions are discouraged, since popping the bloons faster gives them less time to be golded, although better against MOAB-class bloons especially DDTs.
Try using Rubber to Gold in the same manner as you would for Monkey Town, using it as an income generation option beyond Round 17 in conjunction with an already stable defense.
Adding Ice Monkey or Glue Gunner to the loadout makes it easier to maximize income from Rubber to Gold. It may be easier with Glue Gunner due to it being able to do zero damage, and thus easier to maximize each goldifying potion.
When using a strategy that lacks Farms, try to get Rubber to Gold or two on Round 19 to take advantage of the Leads and Ceramics on this round. This is also helpful for Boat-Alch combos without Farm, as Boat Farming can only produce cash at the end of each round, rather than during a round or at a fixed rate like Alchemist.
Some maps, especially maps with shared entrances for sent and natural bloons, allow for R14 Rubber to Gold by saving up to Lead to Gold and then buying with the amount of money available without ecoing on Rounds 12-13. This can be rather safely done if the opponent doesn't plan to rush on Round 13.
If the opponent is going true pure eco (i.e. tower-specific income generation whatsoever), you can use Rubber to Gold to syphon off their eco sends, especially if they go Grouped Blacks or above.
Bugs[]
Current
[1.1.0, possibly earlier, discovered 1.2.1] Rubber to Gold can give cash from popping MOABs with First Strike Capability.
[1.1.0, possibly earlier, discovered 1.1.1] Goldified regrowed Bloons can still give cash from getting popped
Patched
[1.1.0, possibly earlier] Rubber to Gold sometimes doesn't convert bloons into gold properly. This can happen if the bloon pops before the potion actually lands on the bloon. Fixed in 1.3.3.
[1.0?] Rubber to Gold seems to be locked on First no matter the targeting options of the Alchemist's other attacks. Fixed in a later update, but certainly not in Version 1.8.0.
Version History[]
Rubber to Gold is a popular method to increase income of various bloon sends and natural bloons alike. When first released, it was malfunctional in that it couldn't properly apply gold consistently and according to targeting. After some updates, it got some overall buffs for more general consistency of income generation. Note that its goldifying potions have pierce equal to the main potions, which also change pierce with updates.
Initial release (compared to BTD6 during Version 28.0)
Rubber to Gold now gives $2 per layer popped instead of bonus cash, to account for the Battles 2 environment
Rubber to Gold goldifying potion is now locked on First instead of current targeting priority of the Alchemist
[bug] Rubber to Gold occasionally does not goldify bloons properly.
The alchemist is showing to be very strong in the early and mid-game at group popping power. These changes should bring it slightly more in line with other towers that serve a similar role.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to lower-tier and base Alch
3.2
Rubber to Gold's acid pools now detects Camo Bloons
“
Acid Pool gets very little attention, so we thought that it’d be an interesting and logical addition to allow the pools to hit camo bloons passing over them. [...]
”
~ Ninja Kiwi
3.3.2
Base Alchemist pierce reduced from 14 to 12
Base Alchemist splash radius reduced from 14 to 12
Rubber to Gold cash per pop reduced from $2 to $1.5
“
As previously mentioned, Ninja and Alchemist have become too dominant recently. Alchemist is super effective in providing solid early game DPS despite its primary role being a support tower. Its strengths in early game DPS, buffing support, and cash generation gives Alchemist too many strong points. Therefore, we’ve decided to lower its early game DPS and money generation.
”
~ Ninja Kiwi
Gallery[]
Rubber to Gold in Battles 2
Lots of golden bloons via Rubber to Gold
Enough XP to unlock (pre-1.5.0)
Trivia[]
Rubber To Gold formerly had a very loud sound effect from goldifying bloons. The volume of that sound effect was decreased on Version 1.9.2, along with Hydra Rocket Pods's multiple explosions.
According to in-game code in JSON, Rubber to Gold's goldifying pierce is equal to the amount of pierce for main potions.
Rubber to Gold now gives $2 per layer popped instead of bonus cash, to account for the Battles 2 environment
