Shell Shock (BTDB2)

BTDB2

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“	Blast shockwave stuns bloons at impact, pops bloons in a wider area, and increases Burny Stuff damage.	”
	^{~ BTDB2 description}

Shellshocks — 3-0-2 and 3-2-0 Shell Shocks on right-hand player's side

Shell Shock is the 3rd upgrade of Path 1 for the Mortar Monkey in Bloons TD Battles 2.

Two explosions are produced per shot, the main explosion a large explosion with bigger blast (36) dealing 2 damage, the secondary explosion stunning bloons close to the epicenter (19) and dealing 1 damage for those further out (57). Bloons struck by the stunning epicenter are stunned for 0.4s. The main explosion has 40 pierce but both shockwaves have 45 pierce. The outer shockwave ignores bloons within half of the blast radius. Burning effects as a crosspath deal 2 damage per 0.675s for up to 1.875s, the damage of 3 ticks adding to 6 damage.

Overall, compared to its BTD6 counterpart, it is cheaper in terms of cumulative prices but is more expensive to obtain the upgrade alone.

It costs $1300, and is unlocked with the purchase of Mortar Monkey.

Strategy[]

Summary[]

Shell Shock allows the Mortar to stun bloons, which comes in handy against Ceramics in particular, and the secondary explosion breaks apart more bloons. With the added secondary explosion, it also gains a considerable amount of extra DPS. There is a unique crosspath synergy with Burny Stuff that burns twice as quickly and dealing more damage, making the 3-0-2 crosspath helpful for destroying large high-HP bloon rushes at a somewhat slow rate. Much of its true stunning power relies on having Level 5+ Striker Jones to counter Black properties, plus slightly more attack speed to help increase stunning uptime. When combined with the right synergies, it is a solid option for handling Rounds 10-16 while carrying over as a stunning support.

Tips[]

Crosspaths for Shell Shock actually have good variety in use cases. 3-2-0 is more reliable for general purposes of stunning clumps of bloons, but 3-0-2 is stronger at destroying bloon rushes with singular shots each.
- 3-2-0 takes advantage of the stun and produces primary and secondary explosions more often.
- However, the violent Burny Stuff from 3-0-2 can prove to be useful at killing bloon rushes when positioned very carefully to strike a dense group of bloons.
In combination with Heavy Shells that perfectly timed shots right after Shell Shock’s explosions, this combo deals massive damage to rushes.

Bugs[]

Current

[1.10.3] 3-0-2 Mortar deals 4 burn DoT damage, allowing them to trivialize all rounds until Round 17 MOABs. This bug is related to a recent buff to Burny Stuff applying to Black properties, and is likely a result of fiddling around with code related to Burny Stuff. While not specific to Shell Shock, a post on r/battles2 displays a bug showcase for the 2-0-3 crosspath.

Version History[]

Shell Shock is a popular choice in conjunction with Striker/Biker to deal with mid-game rushes, given its synergy with him for black-popping and enhanced Mortar attacks. Its cumulative costs remain cheaper than its BTD6 counterpart across all updates, although the upgrade price has been raised slightly to account for its high potency against the mid-game.

Initial release (compared to BTD6 during Version 28.0)

Released

1.0.6

Shell Shock costs less ($1100 → $900)

1.1.1

3-0-2 Shell Shock's Burny Stuff now ticks twice as fast but also expires twice as fast (i.e. deals all burning damage over a shorter period)

1.4.0

Shell Shock costs less ($900 → $850)

1.5.0

No longer requires 2500 XP to unlock. Players who have unlocked this upgrade before the update will not receive a full refund.

1.9.0

Shell Shock cost increased ($850 → $950)

1.10.3

[bug] 3-0-2 Mortar burn DoT damage increased to 4

1.10.4

[bug fix] 3-0-2 Mortar burn DoT damage reduced back to 2

2.1.2

3xx Shell Shock: stun duration 0.5s → 0.4s

“	Mortar still stands out as one of the strongest defensive towers, particularly excelling in mid-game defense. We have addressed this by slightly weakening both its Shell Shock stun and its tier 4 ability.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

2.2

Shell Shock cost increased ($950 → $1100)

3.3

Shell Shock cost increased from $1100 to $1300

“	Mortar is another tower that has maintained a dominant presence in the meta for a while now. [...] 3xx also stood out as a top tier mid-game option and [...], giving Mortar too many strong points.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

???

Pierce decreased (45 -> 40)

4.1

Main explosion blast radius 38 → 36

“	Mortar Monkey still excels in the current meta. We have reduced its blast radius, but increased (and fixed) the buff that Jones and Bones give it so that it remains similarly effective when paired with either of these heroes.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Gallery[]