Arcane Spike (BTD6)

For the upgrade in Bloons TD Battles 2, see Arcane Spike (Battles 2).

Arcane Spike

	Faster firing magic does huge damage to most Bloon types, especially to MOABs.

Tower		Path	Tier
Wizard Monkey		1	4

XP cost	11,000
Cash cost	$8,500 — Easy $10,000 — Medium $10,800 — Hard $12,000 — Impoppable

← Arcane Mastery

Archmage →

Arcane Spike is the Wizard Monkey's path 1 tier 4 upgrade in Bloons TD 6. It doubles the attack speed of Wizard Monkey's main attack, and increases its damage from 3 to 6, with +10 additional MOAB-Class damage (or +11 with Arcane Impale). With Arcane Impale, this upgrade grants +1 Ceramic damage. This upgrade allows the main attack to damage Lead Bloons, but not Purple Bloons.

Additionally, when crosspathed with the middle path this upgrade grants +6 bonus MOAB damage to Fireballs and +2 damage to Wall of Fire. Like Arcane Mastery, Arcane Spike's fireballs have 19 pierce.

Stats

For a complete list of Wizard Monkey stats, see Stats:Wizard Monkey (BTD6).

This data was last updated for: version 55.1

Tower
Display range 60 units Footprint radius 7 units Targeting options First Last Close Strong

Attack
Cooldown 0.275s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range 60 units Filters Cannot target Camo
Ignores blockers
Projectile Pierce 7 Damage 6 Damage to MOAB-Class +10 Damage type Plasma Speed 200 units/s Seeking distance 80 units Seeking angle 360° Seeking rotation speed 360 °/s Lifespan 1.4s Radius 6 units Filters Cannot hit Camo Ignores blockers

4-1-0

Fireball
Cooldown 2.2s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting First / Last / Close / Strong Targeting range 60 units Filters Cannot target Camo
Ignores blockers
Projectile Pierce 1 Max pierce 1 Damage 1 Damage type Fire Speed 200 units/s Lifespan 1.4s Radius 3 units Filters Cannot hit Camo Ignores blockers Explosion Pierce 19 Damage 2 Damage to MOAB-Class +6 Damage type Explosion Lifespan 0.1s Radius 10 units Filters Cannot hit Camo Ignores blockers

4-2-0

Wall of Fire
Cooldown 6.5s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting Locked / Track or Default Targeting range 60 units Filters Cannot target Camo
Ignores blockers
Projectile Pierce 10 Damage 1 Damage to MOAB-Class +2 Damage type Fire Lifespan 6.5s Radius 15 units Rehit interval 0.15s Refresh pierce interval 0.15s Filters Cannot hit Camo Ignores blockers

4-0-1

Attack
Projectile Pierce 7 → 12 Speed 200 units/s → 400 units/s

4-0-2

Tower
Display range 60 units → 70 units

Attack
Targeting range 60 units → 70 units Filters Can now target Camo
Projectile Filters Can now hit Camo

Costs and sell values

Note: this list does not factor in Monkey Knowledge or other discounts.

Tiers	Total cost				Sell value
	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
4-0-0	$10,470	$12,325	$13,310	$14,790	$7,329	$8,628	$9,317	$10,353
4-1-0	$10,725	$12,625	$13,635	$15,150	$7,508	$8,838	$9,545	$10,605
4-2-0	$11,405	$13,425	$14,500	$16,110	$7,984	$9,398	$10,150	$11,277
4-0-1	$10,725	$12,625	$13,635	$15,150	$7,508	$8,838	$9,545	$10,605
4-0-2	$10,980	$12,925	$13,960	$15,510	$7,686	$9,048	$9,772	$10,857

Strategy

This section was last updated for: version 51.2

Arcane Spike is used as a transition to Archmage, with decent MOAB-class damage but poor performance against normal bloons. It should be used for blimp damage with cleanup support from other towers, especially since this pattern extends to Archmage. Against normal bloons, its low pierce and damage leaves it entirely unable to handle dense rushes such as 63. Berserker Brew is a useful buff against blimps, but can lead to popping Ceramic Bloons into Yellow Bloons in mid-game, which can hurt cleanup options that depend on layer skipping such as Velociraptor. This only really matters when using 4-0-2 in CHIMPS runs, however, and there's still many high pierce bloon control options such as Really Big Bombs that can handle these dense rushes.

4-2-0 does more single target damage and is the better stepping stone to Archmage. 4-0-2's extra pierce is rarely relevant against blimps during mid-game, and does not improve its performance against bloon rushes enough to justify the tower for that role, especially since itself has precise layer-skipping concerns. 4-2-0 also gets much more value out of Alch buffs boosting Wall of Fire.

Update history

For a complete list of Wizard Monkey changes, see Update history:Wizard Monkey (BTD6).

This article or section uses Cargo to generate its content. It will automatically fill up as other articles are completed. To add to this section, create the articles it is looking up. Do not add content to this section manually and do not remove this notice until you are sure this section is complete.

Version 2.0

•  Pierce increased ― 2 → 6
  • Stacks with Intense Magic: 7 → 11

Version 4.0

4-2-0

•  Wall of Fire: Now ignores walls

Version 7.0

•  Overall cost reduced by $100 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 14.0

•  Description changed ― "Magic does extra damage to MOAB-Class Bloons." → "Magic does huge damage to most bloon types."

Version 18.0

4-2-0

•  Now uses tower targeting priority to guide the Wall of Fire

Version 19.0

•  Upgrade cost increased ― $10,000 → $10,900

Version 21.0

•  Overall cost reduced by $50 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 30.0

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $10,900 → $10,000
  •  Overall cost reduced by $925 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 31.0

•  Overall cost reduced by $150 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 33.0

“

Wall of Fire’s exceptional T2 power needs to be moved around for improved crosspathing, along with a slight nerf to Phoenix as it is currently performing too well, and both of these upgrades are shifting some of their power into Dragon’s Breath so it can stand out as more than just a buff to WoF & a stepping stone to Phoenix. — Update notes

”

4-2-0

•  Wall of Fire duration increased ― 4.5s → 5.5s
•  Wall of Fire no longer auto-targets but gains a target marker (like Cleansing Foam Engineer)

Version 35.0

“

Arcane Spike is seeing 1 damage shifted from MOAB bonus to regular damage to improve layer skipping issues. — Update notes

”

•  Arcane Spike damage increased ― 5 → 6
•  Arcane Spike MOAB bonus reduced ― 11 → 10

4-0-2

•  Range increased ― 60 → 70

Version 39.0

“

We set up for this Wall of Fire change quite a while ago, however finally it feels that Wall of Fire has cooled off enough to smooth out the curve a little more, granting it seamless uptime with crosspathing and a lower price tag. — Update notes

”

4-2-0

•  Wall of Fire: duration increased ― 5.5s → 6.5s

Version 43.0

•  Overall cost increased by $50 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

4-1-0, 4-2-0

•  Fireball: Crosspathed damage increased ― 1 → 2

Version 48.0

“

Arcane Spike is now seeing some of the crosspathing benefits that Archmage recently received, although Archmage’s Wall of Fire is being reduced in power. — Update notes

”

4-1-0, 4-2-0

•  Fireball: Gains bonus MOAB-class damage ― +0 → +6
  • Note: Does not affect 5-1-0 Fireball

4-2-0

•  Wall of Fire: Gains bonus MOAB-class damage ― +0 → +2

Gallery

For more Wizard Monkey images, see Gallery:Wizard Monkey.

Screenshots

• 
  Arcane Spike with no crosspath
• 
  Arcane Spike with 410 crosspath
• 
  Arcane Spike with 420 crosspath
• 
  Arcane Spike with 401 crosspath
• 
  Arcane Spike with 402 crosspath

Assets

• 
  Portrait
• 
  Upgrade icon
• 
  Insta Monkey icon

In other languages

This section was last updated for: version 48.0

Name

Language	Text	Notes
Arabic	أركان سبايك	—
Danish	Mystisk Søm	—
German	Arkannägel	—
Spanish	Clavo arcano	—
Spanish (Latin America)	Clavo arcano	—
Finnish	Mystinen piikki	—
French	Herse ésotérique	—
Italian	Aculeo arcano	—
Japanese	アーケインのスパイク	—
Korean	마력 스파이크	—
Dutch	Mysterieuze stekel	—
Norwegian	Mystisk spidd	—
Polish	Tajemniczy kolec	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Lança Arcana	—
Russian	Мистический шип	—
Swedish	Hemlig spik	—
Thai	หนามเวทลี้ลับ	—
Turkish	Gizli Çivi	—
Chinese (simplified)	奥术尖刺	—
Chinese (traditional)	奧術針刺	—

Description

Language	Text	Notes
Arabic	يعمل سحر إطلاق النار بوتيرة أسرع على إحداث أضرار جسيمة لمعظم أنواع البالونات، وخاصة لمنطايد MOAB.	—
Danish	Hurtigere magi gør stor skade på de fleste bloon-typer, især MOABer.	—
German	Magie schneller feuern fügt den meisten Bloon-Arten enormen Schaden zu, besonders MOABs.	—
Spanish	La magia de disparo más rápido hace un daño enorme a casi todos los tipos de Bloons, en especial a los MOAB.	—
Spanish (Latin America)	Magia de disparo más rápido hace un daño enorme a casi todos los tipos de bloons, en especial los MOAB.	—
Finnish	Nopeammin ammuttava taikuus tekee valtavaa vahinkoa useimmille bloonityypeille, erityisesti MOABeille.	—
French	Les tirs de magie plus rapides infligent des dégâts énormes à la plupart des types de Bloons, surtout aux MOAB.	—
Italian	La magia a fuoco rapido infligge gravi danni alla maggior parte dei tipi di bloon, specialmente ai MOAB.	—
Japanese	より高速な発射魔法が、ほとんどの種類のブルーンに大ダメージを与え、特にMOABに絶大なダメージを与える。	—
Korean	마법 공격 발사가 빨라지며 대부분의 풍선 유형, 특히 MOAB 풍선에 어마어마한 피해를 줍니다.	—
Dutch	Sneller vurende magie doet enorme schade aan de meeste soorten Bloons en met name MOAB's.	—
Norwegian	Raskere avfyringsmagi gir mer skade på de fleste bloon-typer, spesielt mot MOAB-er.	—
Polish	Szybsze magiczne strzały zadają ogromne obrażenia większości typów blonów, zwłaszcza MOAB-om.	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Magia de disparo mais rápida causa dano enorme na maioria dos tipos de Bloons, especialmente aos MOABs.	—
Russian	Скорострельная магия наносит огромный урон большинству типов шаров, особенно MOAB.	—
Swedish	Snabbare avfyrad magi åsamkar stor skada på flesta Bloonstyper, i synnerhet MOAB:er.	—
Thai	เวทมนตร์ยิงเร็วขึ้น ทำดาเมจรุนแรงกับบลูนเกือบทุกประเภท โดยเฉพาะ MOAB	—
Turkish	Daha hızlı sihir atışı, başta MOAB'lar olmak üzer birçok Bloon türüne büyük hasar verir.	—
Chinese (simplified)	魔法攻击速度加快，对大多数类型气球造成海量伤害，MOAB级气球受创尤其严重。	—
Chinese (traditional)	魔法攻擊速度加快，對大多數類型氣球（特別是對MOAB級氣球）造成大量傷害。	—