Trade Empire (BTDB2)

BTDB2

“	Generates more cash per round, increases cash earned by up to 20 other Merchantmen by the number of Merchantmen, and boosts all Merchantmen damage.	”
	^{~ BTDB2 description}

Empirical buff — Trade Empire, a Trade Empire buff, and increased income-per-round

Trade Empire is the 5th upgrade of Path 3 for the Monkey Buccaneer in Bloons TD Battles 2. Like its BTD6 counterpart, it generates money, but it gives $3000 instead of $800 to account for the shorter rounds. In addition, while the Trade Empire is on the screen, all Merchantmen and Favored Trades make extra money (+5% times the number of Merchantmen or Favored Trades, capping at +100% extra). On top of that, all Upper Path 3 Buccaneers (Merchantmen, Favored Trades and Trade Empires) gain +1 damage to all attacks and +1 damage to Ceramics and MOABs. Unlike its BTD6 counterpart, however, Merchantmen benefit equally to the power of merchant stacks compared to Favored Trades.

It costs $19,000, and is unlocked with the other tier 5 Monkey Buccaneer upgrades for 1500.

Strategy[]

Summary[]

The Trade Empire is primarily for maximizing income for Merchantmen and Favored Trades. The Trade Empire itself can be a strong choice alone, giving 3.09287x more money than Favored Trades while costing ~3.2x more, even when not taking into account the bonus sellback benefit from Favored Trades. It does gain a slight boost in damage, but this is very negligible.

The real magic of this upgrade comes from its extra cash and damage for each Merchantman. If the player manages to get a Trade Empire and the maximum of 20 Favored Trades, each of them will generate a whopping $2,000, or $43,000 total! Not only that, but each Merchantman gains a large increase in damage, which adds up. This means that this upgrade is best used on maps with plenty of water like Docks, so that the maximum amount of Merchantmen can be placed.

Tips[]

The 0-2-5 crosspath is generally better on the Trade Empire for the extra damage it provides.
Using this upgrade on a map with plenty of water like Docks or Sands of Time will allow it to reach its fullest potential.
The Trade Empire becomes more efficient than more Merchantman once you have 5 other Merchantmen.
- However, the Trade Empire needs 8 other Merchantmen to be more efficient than the Favored Trades buccaneer.

Version History[]

Initial release (compared to BTD6 during Version 28.0)

Trade Empire gives more income per round ($800 → $2000)
Income bonus for Merchantmen and Favored Trades are now +5% income per Merchantman or Favored Trades instead of a flat $20
- Extra Merchantman income decreased ($20/merchantman → $15/merchantman)
- Extra Favored Trades income increased ($20/favored → $50/favored)