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BTD6

Produces spiked balls that do extra damage to Ceramic and Fortified bloons.
~ In-game description

Spiked Balls is the 3rd upgrade of Path 1 for the Spike Factory in Bloons TD 6. Like Spiked Ball Factory, its corresponding upgrade in BTD5, the Spiked Balls upgrade replaces standard spike piles with spiked balls. Each spiked ball pops up to 11 bloons, each spike dealing 2 damage to all bloons, as well as +3 damage to Ceramics and +1 damage to all Fortified Bloons, including MOAB-class with the Fortified property.

This upgrade costs $1,955 on Easy, $2,300 on Medium, $2,485 on Hard, and $2,760 on Impoppable.

Description[]

Overview[]

Sballs (1)

Spiked Balls and its balls

The Spiked Balls upgrade converts the Spike Factory's spike piles into spiked balls. These spiked ball projectiles are light-black balls tipped with orange spikes around them. When a spiked ball falls below 10 health (i.e. less than 10 pierce left), it will slowly degrade by one spike at a time.

The body of the Spike Factory with the Spiked Balls upgrade becomes red on its upper body and grey on its lower body, with a lighter shade of grey at its front. The icon on its "belly" becomes a 9-pointed curved star, implying the shape of its new projectiles. Its "feet" are now red and are elevated by a light-grey base. Its spout is enclosed by 6 grey sector-shaped flaps that open perpetually whenever it releases spiked balls. Its "furnace holes" from the White Hot Spikes upgrade remain, surrounding its spout. The Spike Factory also gains spiked protrusions across the top of its body.

Crosspathing with Path 2 turns its "feet" purple and replaces the spikes on the side of its body with two storage depots on opposite sides, the depots becoming larger with each Path 2 upgrade. Crosspathing with Path 3 changes its lower body from grey to blue, while adding Smart Spikes changes the spikes on the side of its body into two large gears.

Spiked Balls gains 1 extra base damage, for 2, 3 additional ceramic damage, for 5, and 1 additional fortified damage, for 3 against fortified leads and MOABs, and 6 against fortified ceramics. Each spiked bal has 11 pierce.

Targeting Priorities[]

Spiked Balls defaults on Normal targeting priority, which dispenses the spiked balls onto nearby bloon track in a semi-sporadical behavior. If given Smart Spikes, it will also receive Close, Far, and Smart.

  • Normal: Targets spike piles in a somewhat sporadical way, spreading spikes as evenly as possible within its range.
  • Close: Targets the closest region(s) of track within range.
  • Far: Targets the furthest region(s) of track within range.
  • Smart: Prioritizes the track with the Bloon the farthest through it, then targets the spot on that track closest to the exit.

Full Popology[]

Statistics[]

Updated as of Version 45.1
Base stats
  • Spiked Ball:
    • Lobbed spike pile, normal type, detects and deploys on nearby track, 34 range, 1.75s attack cooldown, 2 damage, 3 bonus Ceramic damage, 1 bonus Fortified damage, 11 pierce. Lifespan of 50s.
Crosspathing interactions
  • 3-1-0: Attack cooldown of Spiked Ball reduced from 1.75s to 1.4s.
  • 3-2-0: Attack cooldown of Spiked Ball reduced from 1.4s to 1.05s.
  • 3-0-1: Lifespan of Spiked Ball increased from 50s to 100s, range increased from 34 to 42.
  • 3-0-2: At the start of a round, attacks 4x faster (0.4375s) for 3s.

Attack Interactions[]

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Support
Updated as of Version 38.0
Base attack(s)
  • Spike Pile:
    • Normal Type (pops Black, White, Purple, Lead, Frozen) Normal
    • Also affects Camo Bloons Camo Detection
    • Single Projectile Single Projectile
    • On-Track (stays onto track until depleted or expired) On Track
    • On-Track Spike (lasts for up to 50s or 1 round, whichever comes first) Spike
    • Lobbed Throw Lobbed Throw
    • Erratic Movement (moves straight in any direction within its range, directed onto any nearby track) Erratic Movement
    • Extra damage to all bloon types (1 → 2) Extra Damage (2)
    • Extra damage versus Ceramics (+3) Extra Damage to Ceramics (+3)
    • Extra damage to Fortified (+1) Extra Damage to Fortified (+1)

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 (3-X-X) $1,955 $2,300 $2,485 $2,760 -
Total (3-0-0) $3,995 $4,700 $5,080 $5,640 $2,797 $3,290 $3,556 $3,948
Crosspath (3-1-0) $4,505 $5,300 $5,730 $6,360 $3,154 $3,710 $4,011 $4,452
Crosspath (3-2-0) $5,185 $6,100 $6,595 $7,320 $3,630 $4,270 $4,617 $5,124
Crosspath (3-0-1) $4,120 $4,850 $5,240 $5,820 $2,884 $3,395 $3,668 $4,074
Crosspath (3-0-2) $4,460 $5,250 $5,670 $6,300 $3,122 $3,675 $3,969 $4,410

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: FirstLineOfDefenseIcon First Last Line of Defense, BetterSellDealsIcon Better Sell Deals

Strategy[]

Main article: Spiked Balls/Strategies

Summary[]

Spiked Balls is a powerful mid-game upgrade that can be used for tanking a considerable amount of stronger mid-game bloons, particularly against spaced to small groups of Ceramic Bloons. With its increased pierce and damage per spike, particularly versus Ceramics and Fortified Bloons, it becomes a viable option as a backup defense when placed near the end of the track. In addition, Spiked Balls is still highly valuable for late-game when it comes to cleaning up spaced Super Ceramic leaks, especially on short maps.

Similar to almost all Spike Factory upgrades, it is wise to place Spiked Balls as far back from the map track as possible to maximize the amount of its spiked ball stockpiles. Similarly, add backup defense to reduce the overload for the Spiked Balls, and it will be able to complement with good cleanup of any bloons that manage to sneak by the main defenses.

Tips[]

  • Usually, the best crosspath for Spiked Balls is to use the 3-2-0 crosspath for the overall increased attack speed. The main reason for using Path 2 crosspathing instead of Path 3 is to restore stockpiles at a faster rate. However, 3-0-2 may be used for a variety of other uses, as this crosspath will have greater spike lifespan, specific targeting options for use on multi-lane maps, and brief start-of-round attack speed boosts. 3-0-2 also costs considerably less than the other 3-2-0 crosspath.
  • Spiked Balls deals extra pierce and extra damage. The extra damage allows it to tank stronger mid-game bloons better because each spike can skip bloon layers, essentially tanking more RBE per spike against stronger bloons. On top of that, Spiked Balls deals extra damage to Ceramics, excelling against Super Ceramics, which form the majority of health of non-blimp bloons in the late-game.
  • While Spiked Balls is able to tank spaced leaks effectively, it may struggle at tanking densely packed bloons. Adding bloon-popping power and/or stalling support such as 0-1-2 Ice Monkeys, 0-3-2 Arctic Wind, or 4-2-0 Bloon Impact can help separate groups of bloons into smaller, more manageable chunks.
  • This upgrade can serve as a stepping stone to the much more powerful Spiked Mines, a handy upgrade for thinning out many densely packed bloons, especially against Round 63. Alternately, several 3-2-0 Spiked Balls can be used as effective support against spaced bloon leaks if effective grouped popping power can be managed from using other towers.
  • Unlike Perma-Spike, the Spiked Balls upgrade can be discounted by the Monkey Business and Monkey Commerce buffs. If planning to set up multiple 3-2-0 Spiked Balls to defend an exit instead of using 0-2-5 Perma-Spike plus Alchemist buffs, it would be wise to add a discount village nearby the Spike Factories prior to upgrading them, for maximum money saving.
  • Spiked Balls can work on maps even with simultaneous lanes, but it will not perform well on maps that greatly limit open space near map exit(s).
  • Spiked Balls is a useful upgrade for beating early MOABs, even the ABR Round 40 Fortified MOAB. When combined with adequate defenses, a crosspathed Spiked Balls can solo an entire MOAB on most maps.
  • Due to the fact that spikes are not affected by rounds in Apopalypse Mode, it becomes one of the best mid-game options for securing the exit. On this game mode, the balls will not disappear just because the round ended.
  • Spiked Balls have a high synergy with Alchemist buffs, not just because of the Berserker Brew or Stronger Stimulant buffs alone, but also because it attacks slow enough to have quite high uptime for Acidic Mixture Dip buffs, even with the 3-2-0 Spiked Balls crosspath.

Stockpiling[]

Graphs created by FabrizioBS. Stats accurate on Version 26.2.

The following graphs represent stockpiling potential with Spiked Balls, ignoring external buffs and only taking into account internal buffs via crosspathing. The raw 3-0-x Spiked Balls produces spike piles at a rate of every 1.75s, while a raw 3-2-0 Spiked Balls produces spike piles every 0.98s.

While the rate of producing Spiked Balls is higher with 3-2-0, the total number of spike piles becomes at least roughly equal with 3-0-1 starting from ~81 seconds, ignoring bloons already hitting stockpiles.

Maximum number of spike piles with 3-2-0 is ~52.0 spike piles, for 3-0-1 is ~61.9 spike piles, and 3-0-2 with start-of-round benefit is an additional +6.

Version History[]

Balance Changes[]

Spiked Balls has transformed from a niche Ceramic popper with incredible pierce into a higher-damage general cleanup tower, compared when it was first introduced in the game. Initially, it had nearly equal statistics to its BTD5 counterpart, later buffed across several updates but nerfed to counter its highly versatile midgame and lategame power across many map formats, including Quad, Ravine, and Dark Dungeons.

The most significant buff that Spiked Balls received was gaining +1 damage per spike, allowing it to become a solid option for mid-game defense while further improving its late-game usability. Since then, the power of the 3-2-0 Spiked Balls has been toned down considerably with an overall base projectile lifespan nerf, a slight price increase, and two pierce nerfs, but nonetheless is still considered a strong flexible tower and has made its way into the general CHIMPS meta. Similarly, the 3-0-2 crosspath has risen usage as a niche alternative to 3-2-0 on multi-lane maps.

Initial release (compared to BTD5)
  • BUFF Spiked Balls gains more pierce (16 → 17)
7.0
  • BUFF Cost of Spiked Balls reduced ($2400 → $2200)
8.0
  • BUFF Spiked Balls now deals more damage to Ceramics (3 → 4; essentially +3 damage compared to against normal bloons).
19.0
  • BUFF Spiked Balls now deals +1 damage to all bloon types.
19.2
  • BUFF Fixed a bug where crosspathing did not grant the +1 damage buff
    • There was a bug on Version 19.0 whereby crosspathing a Spiked Balls or a Spiked Mines did not grant the +1 damage buff. This was fixed on Version 19.1.
22.0
We quite liked how the lifespan changes for xx1 spikes went previously, though this still wasn't enough to make the path competitive and increasing this number further wouldn't have much of an impact since most earlier rounds aren't long enough. Spiked Balls strats have also felt too strong compared to higher tiers on top path, so touching on all of these issues slightly the base lifespan of spikes has been reduced, ceramic bonus increased on 4xx, and a new bonus added to 5xx. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to base Spike Factory projectile lifespan
  • NERF Base projectile lifespan reduced from 70s to 50s.
23.0
Like a few other towers before it, the attack speed crosspath for Spike Factory has outshined the others. We have reworked the lower Spike Factory tiers to distribute this power more evenly while keeping high tier factories at a similar level of power.
~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to base Spike Factory attack speed reworks
  • Change Affected by Spike Factory crosspath speed changes
24.0
Spiked Balls are used quite a lot, but we like their overall position right now so they have had only a slight bump up in price, along with a bigger decrease to the price of T4 Spiked Mines. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Spiked Balls cost increased ($2200 → $2300)
26.0
Pierce amounts for Spiked Balls and Mines fits their use cases too awkwardly due to super ceramics. Considering the power of Spiked Balls, their pierce has been reduced slightly to add value to the pierce focussed higher tier in addition to a price cut for Spiked Mines.
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Spiked Balls pierce reduced (17 → 14)
36.0
Spiked Balls provides incredibly powerful cleanup in all stages of gameplay, and we like the use here but for a cheap T3 it doesn't drop off enough lategame with the lower pierce requirements there. [...]
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Spiked Balls pierce reduced (14 → 12)
45.0
TBA
~ Ninja Kiwi
  • NERF Spiked Balls pierce reduced (12 → 11)

Bug Fixes and General Changes[]

Extra Notes (Version History)[]

  • Although Spiked Balls was not directly nerfed in Version 22.0, the base spike lifespan nerf greatly affects 3-2-0 Spiked Balls army strategies, as now only roughly up to 50 spiked balls (instead of 70) would be placed on the map per 3-2-0 without buffs. This is equivalent to 680 less stockpiled damage or 1700 less stockpiled damage versus Ceramics. Path 3 crosspath Spiked Balls remain unaffected, although still less efficient than 3-2-0.
    • Ninja Kiwi specifically used a base spike lifespan nerf to both indirectly nerf the 3-2-0 Spiked Balls and to indirectly buff Path 3 crosspathing. According to the description of the Version 22.0 patch notes, they even directed their intentions to nerf Spiked Balls in said version.
    • One fully stockpiled base 3-2-0 Spiked Balls in Version 22.0 can tank up to around 5950 Ceramic damage, while a fully stockpiled base 3-2-0 Spiked Balls before the Version 19.0 +1 damage buff could tank up to around 4760 Ceramic damage. So overall, while a 3-2-0 Spiked Balls now can stockpile less, it has a faster regeneration rate compared to 3-0-2.
  • Maximum bloon tanking potential with purely Ceramic damage has changed a lot in history, with assumption that the 3-2-0 crosspath is exactly 1s attack cooldown instead of negligibly faster values (technically, 3-2-0's cooldown is 0.98s):
    • Version 8.x to 18.x:
      • 3-2-0: 3730 → 4760
      • 3-0-2: ~1623 → ~2164
    • Version 19.x to 20.x:
      • 3-2-0: 4760 → 5950
      • 3-0-2: ~2164 → ~2705
    • Version 21.x:
      • 3-2-0: 5950
      • 3-0-2: ~2705 → ~3864
    • Version 22.x:
      • 3-2-0: 5950 → 4250
      • 3-0-2: ~3864
    • Version 23.x to 24.x:
      • 3-2-0: 4250
      • 3-0-2: ~3864 → ~4857
    • Version 25.x to 35.x:
      • 3-2-0: 4250 → 3500
      • 3-0-2: ~4857 → 4000
    • Version 36.x to incumbent:
      • 3-2-0: 3500 → 3000
      • 3-0-2: 4000 → ~3429
  • Ever since Version 7.0 until Version 24.0, a 3-2-0 Spiked Balls consistently costed $6000 on Medium. Even though Version 22.0 swapped the prices for Bigger Stacks and White Hot Spikes, and Version 23.0 nerfed the base Spike Factory price in exchange for some Path 2 price buffs, the cost of 3-2-0 Spiked Balls remained consistent until Version 24.0, where Spiked Balls received a small price nerf.
  • On Cornfield CHIMPS, all 9 Fortified DDTs on Round 99 can be fully tanked by a minimum of 15 3-2-0 Spiked Balls placed near the end if other towers pop all the 60 MOABs in full. This was valid between Version 19.0 until Version 26.0, when the Spiked Ball pierce got nerfed.

Gallery[]

Official artwork[]

Projectiles[]

Videos[]

Other languages[]

Upgrade Name
Language Name Meaning
English Spiked Balls
Danish Sømkugler Nail Balls
German Nagelbälle Spiked Balls
Russian Шипованные ядра Spiked Balls
Upgrade Description
Language Name Meaning
English Produces spiked balls that do extra damage to Ceramic and Fortified bloons.
Danish Producerer sømkugler der gør ekstra skade mod keramiske og forstærkede bloons. Produces nail balls that does extra damage against ceramic and reinforced bloons.
German Erzeugt Nagelbälle, die bei Keramik- und Wehrbloons viel Schaden anrichten. Creates spiked balls that do a lot of damage to Ceramic and Fortified bloons.
Russian Производит шипованные ядра, которые наносят дополнительный урон керамическим и укреплённым шарам. Produces spiked balls that deal extra damage to Ceramic and Fortified bloons.

Trivia[]

  • The price of the Spiked Balls upgrade in BTD6 decreased to the same price as the Spiked Balls Factory upgrade did for Bloons TD Battles Mobile at the time of Bloons TD 6's initial release date, specifically many updates since the Spiked Ball Factory got its first price buff on Version 3.1.
  • Assuming that Freeplay rules are off, it takes 21 spikes to fully pop a Rainbow Bloon with Spiked Balls, compared to the 47 which would be the same as the RBE of a Rainbow Bloon itself. This is because it bypasses certain grouped children bloons (i.e. in this case the Zebras, the Pinks, the Greens, and the Reds). In this way, the amount of spikes required to pop a Rainbow Bloon is more than halved.
    • Specifically speaking, 1 spike to pop the Rainbow into Blacks and Whites, 4 spikes to pop all of the Blacks and Whites into Yellows, 8 spikes to pop all of the Yellows into Blues, 8 spikes to pop all of the Blues.
  • The overall cost of any non-Path 3 variant of Spiked Balls is always cheaper than the equivalent Spiked Ball Factory crosspath, regardless of version of BTD6.
  • Unlike the Spiked Ball's BTD5 counterpart, Spiked Ball Factory, the Spiked Balls machine gains spike protrusions on its body.

Community Achievements[]

  • The popularity of Spiked Balls in difficult CHIMPS games has increased ever since gaining a +1 damage buff in Version 19.0, as it has become a versatile cleanup tower across all stages of the game. In fact, Spiked Balls has been utilized to beat CHIMPS on Dark Castle, Workshop, and even #Ouch (by Jajajosh).
    • 3-2-0 Spiked Balls is the third Spike Factory upgrade to receive a part of the major CHIMPS meta. The first was 0-2-5 Perma-Spike since initial release, and the second was 2-4-0 Spike Storm since the Version 11.0 MOAB-class damage buff with its ability spikes.
  • The current record for beating CHIMPS Mode with the most number of Spiked Balls is 41.[1]

References[]

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