Update history:Dartling Gunner (Battles 2)

This is a list of changes to the Dartling Gunner in Bloons TD Battles 2 and Bloons TD Battles 2+ post-release.

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Tiers Changes
0-0-0 base tower
1-X-X Focused Firing
2-X-X Laser Shock
3-X-X Laser Cannon
X-1-X Advanced Targeting and further upgrades
X-X-1 Faster Swivel and further upgrades
  •   Pierce increased by 1
2-X-X Laser Shock
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $800 → $750
X-2-X Faster Barrel Spin
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $700 → $500
X-X-2 Powerful Darts
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $800 → $700
Tiers Changes
0-0-0 base tower
  •   Cost increased ― $750 → $825
X-4-X Rocket Storm
  •   Ability: bonus damage reduced ― +5 → +4
  •   Ability: duration reduced ― 10s → 8s
X-5-X M.A.D
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $95,000 → $80,000
  •   Main Missile: MOAB-Class damage increased ― 450 → 500
  •   Main Missile: size increased
Tiers Changes
X-3-X Hydra Rocket Pods
  •   Upgrade cost increased ― $5,250 → $5,600
X-5-X M.A.D
  •   Ability missiles: bonus MOAB-Class damage decreased ― +18 → +12
X-X-3 Buckshot
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $3,400 → $3,200
X-X-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $58,000 → $53,000
Dartling has always had a decent presence in the meta, however it’s also always had some subpar upgrades, such as Laser Cannon and Ray of Doom. Since the top path leads on to 4xx Plasma Accelerator which already has no spread in its aim, we have passed down this accuracy to 3xx Laser Cannon, so that it can be more precise in its long distance accuracy. The Ray of Doom change has been made to provide a general buff to the upgrade and also to even out the crosspaths for it. Previously, it barely benefitted from the bottom path crosspaths since the beam already has high pierce, whereas the middle path crosspaths were massively more enticing, providing faster attack speed and camo detection. This Ray of Doom change offers the interesting possibility of xx2 now being the stronger crosspath when dealing with certain scenarios, such as defending multiple BADs. Lastly, xx2 provides regular x3x rockets with +3 pierce so it makes sense for this to also be the case for the ability rockets, especially since this crosspath option is not as appealing as the top path.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
3-X-X Laser Cannon
  •   Projectiles no longer have any spread
5-0-2 Ray of Doom + Powerful Darts
  •   Powerful Darts increases beam tip pierce ― 1 → 3
0-4-2 Rocket Storm + Powerful Darts
0-5-2 M.A.D + Powerful Darts
  •   Powerful Darts increases Rocket Storm missile pierce more ― +2 → +3
We noticed that Ray of Doom’s pierce was remaining at 40 (the pierce that 4xx has), however this was never intended. We have brought its pierce up to its intended value and given it another small damage buff on top.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
5-X-X Ray of Doom
  •   Beam: pierce increased ― 40 → 1,000
  •   Beam: damage increased ― 30 → 35
xx4 and xx4[sic] are at similar price points but 4xx far outshines xx4. We’ve upped xx4’s damage and price slightly so that it can offer a stronger alternative against certain rushes.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
X-X-4 Bloon Area Denial System
  •   Upgrade cost increased ― $14,500 → $16,000
  •   Damage increased ― 4 → 5
    • Note: Does not carry over to Bloon Exclusion Zone
X-X-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $53,000 → $50,000
We are buffing the Rocket Storm ability to make it more capable of handling mid game rushes like tight leads and MOABs.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
X-3-X Hydra Rocket Pods
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $5,600 → $5,100
X-4-X Rocket Storm
  •   Upgrade cost increased ― $5,100 → $5,500
X-4-X Rocket Storm
X-5-X M.A.D
  •   Ability: rocket explosion base damage increased ― 4 → 5
  •   Ability: duration increased ― 8s → 10s
This change from BTD6 should help the M.A.D. ability feel more impactful.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
X-5-X M.A.D
  •   Main attack rocket: damage to MOAB-Class reduced ― +500 → +450
  •   Ability rocket: damage to MOAB-Class increased ― +12 → +60
Dartling is hindered by a expensive early game. Decreasing its base cost will make it viable in more strategies.[sic]
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
0-0-0 base tower
  •   Cost reduced ― $800 → $700
The Dartling’s bottom path struggles to keep pace with the more powerful bloons in the later game. We are adding a knockback effect to its tier 4 and 5 to help it deal with these later rounds. In addition, we are allowing the bottom path tier 5 to hit lead so that it can be used to tackle DDTs.
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
X-X-4 Bloon Area Denial System
  •   Knockback now affects MOABs and BFBs
X-X-5 Bloon Exclusion Zone
  •   Knockback now affects MOABs, BFBs, ZOMGs, and DDTs
  •   Damage type changed ― Shatter → Unstoppable
We found Dartling’s early game is a little bit too strong currently. This little nerf should slow its early game down but keep it very viable. The later upgrades were performing very well against tight rushes for very little investment. These changes will make these upgrades less efficient
— Update notes
Tiers Changes
0-0-0 base tower
  •   Cost increased ― $700 → $800
1-X-X Focused Firing
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $250 → $200
4-X-X Plasma Accelerator
  •   Upgrade cost increased ― $12,000 → $14,000
X-4-X Rocket Storm
  •   Ability: explosion pierce reduced ― 8 → 7
X-X-1 Faster Swivel
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $150 → $100
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