Shatter

An Engineer Monkey with Oversize Nails popping Frozen Bloons that were created by an Ice Monkey with Ice Shards, causing a chain reaction with the shards

Shatter is a damage type introduced in Bloons Tower Defense 2. It is defined as damage that does not affect Lead Bloons, but is able to damage any other kind of Bloon, including Frozen Bloons.

Bloons Wiki represents Shatter with , the upgrade icon for Ice Shards in Bloons TD 6.

It is a rare damage type, much rarer than Normal. Prior to BTD6, it was typically granted by upgrades as a transition between a previous tier with Sharp damage and a following tier with Normal damage.

History

Bloons Tower Defense 2

Shatter debuts in Bloons Tower Defense 2, where it is exclusively used by upgrades to allow towers with the Sharp type to pop Frozen Bloons. The only upgrades that grant Shatter are Sonic Boom, an upgrade for the Boomerang, and Laser Vision, an upgrade for the Super Monkey.

Bloons Tower Defense 3

Shatter returns in Bloons Tower Defense 3, with no changes in mechanics or distribution.

Bloons TD 4

Shatter reappears in Bloons TD 4, with the only new source of shatter being Summon Whirlwind's tornadoes; Laser Cannon, despite appearing similar to Laser Vision, deals Normal-type damage in this game. Monkey Apprentice's base attack actually deals Sharp damage despite using magical attacks.

In Bloons TD 4 Mobile, Sonic Boom and Laser Vision instead possess Normal damage, thus the only source of shatter in the mobile version is Summon Whirlwind and above's tornadoes.

Bloons Super Monkey

In Bloons Super Monkey, there are no black, frozen, or lead bloons, so all damage types effectively deal Normal damage. The powerup Freeze Out, despite the name, does not actually apply the Frozen status to bloons.

Bloons TD 5 Generation

Shatter returns in Bloons TD 5, Bloons TD Battles, and Bloons Monkey City, with wider distribution than in previous games. In the Flash series, the newly-introduced Sniper Monkey uses Shatter by default (despite what Full Metal Jacket's description implies), while in the Mobile series, it uses Sharp instead. Additionally, Laser Cannon now uses Shatter instead of Normal, with Normal now being granted by Ray of Doom.

Towers and upgrades with Shatter

• Sniper Monkey (Flash series only)
• Sonic Boom
• Ice Shards' shards (Sharp in the Flash version of Bloons TD Battles)
• Laser Blasts
• Laser Cannon
• 9-Inch Nails

Bloons Super Monkey 2

In the Flash version of Bloons Super Monkey 2, the Freeze effect does not grant Bloons any immunities, allowing the Darts and Rangs weapon types to pop Frozen Bloons. Thus, Shatter effectively replaces Sharp in this game.

In the Mobile version, Freeze now grants Bloons an immunity like in the Bloons TD series. Darts now use the Sharp type in this game, but Rangs still use Shatter. Core upgrades from the new Storm weapon type use Shatter as well, although before Version 1.1.1, they were one of the few upgrades to lack Ceramic-Popping Power on top of their Shatter damage type.

Bloons TD 6

With the introduction of the Purple Bloon in Bloons TD 6, the Shatter type was split into two types, with most laser- and energy-based attacks now being classified as dealing Energy-type damage. Energy is similar to Shatter, except it cannot damage Purple Bloons.

Some sources of non-energy Shatter-type damage from previous games have been omitted. Sonic Boom was removed from the Boomerang Monkey entirely, as it can now upgrade directly to Normal via Red Hot Rangs, and the Sniper Monkey retains its default damage type of Sharp from the Mobile versions of BTD5, BTD Battles, and BMC. 9-Inch Nails (now named Oversize Nails) and Ice Shards retain their use of Shatter.

A few upgrades have been introduced that use Shatter. Icicles and Icicle Impale both deal Shatter-type damage in a similar manner to Ice Shards. Prior to Version 28.0, Hard Thorns used Shatter as well.

Some upgrades have been reclassified as Shatter via balance changes: Spike-o-pult was reclassified from Sharp to Shatter in Version 20.0, Powerful Darts was reclassified from Sharp to Shatter in Version 29.0, and Bloontonium Reactor was reclassified from Normal to Shatter in the same update. Super Maelstrom was reclassified from Normal to Shatter in Version 41.0.

Sauda is the only Hero that can deal Shatter-type damage, replacing Sharp at Level 7 and losing it in favor of Normal at Level 13.

Monkeys and upgrades with Shatter

• Sauda (Level 7-13)
• Spike-o-pult (Version 20.0+)
• Ice Shards
• Icicles
• Icicle Impale
• Bloontonium Reactor (Version 29.0+)
• Powerful Darts (Version 29.0+)
• Hard Thorns (pre-Version 28.0)
• Oversize Nails
• Blade Shooter and above (Version 41.0+)

Bloons Adventure Time TD

Shatter appears Bloons Adventure Time TD, where it is almost exclusively used by Ice King's Ice Bolts. Max formerly had an upgrade that granted Shatter, but it was removed in Version 1.4.1. Additionally, the Dagger of Chilled Glass allows towers that deal Sharp-type damage to emulate Shatter.

An unusual property of the Missile is that it aberrantly switches to Shatter when targeting a DDT, meaning items that grant characters the ability to pop Lead Bloons will allow the Missile (if it is equipped to them) to damage DDTs, despite DDTs being immune to the Explosion damage the Missile usually deals.

Bloons Pop!

In Bloons Pop!, the Freeze effect does not grant Bloons any immunities, allowing the Dart Monkey and Ninja Monkey, among others, to pop Frozen Bloons. Thus, Shatter effectively replaces Sharp as the usual damage type for most Monkeys in this game. However, Bloonspedia still refers to some of these attacks as "sharp".

Bloons TD Battles 2

Shatter returns in Bloons TD Battles 2, with its properties and associated upgrades being carried over from Bloons TD 6. Powerful Darts was changed from Sharp to Shatter in this game, a change that was later brought into BTD6 in Version 29.0.

Bloontonium Reactor was nerfed from Normal to Shatter in 1.0.4, although it can regain Normal with Heat-tipped Darts.

Most balance changes in Bloons TD Battles 2 diverged from BTD6 Version 28.0, which also caused some damage type changes to not transfer either.

Gallery

Oversize Nails popping Frozen Bloons