Airburst Darts (Battles 2): Difference between revisions

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'''Airburst Darts''' is the [[Monkey Sub (Battles 2)|Monkey Sub]]'s path 3 tier 2 [[upgrade]] in ''[[Bloons TD Battles 2]]''. It reduces Monkey Sub's main darts to 1 unbuffable pierce each. However, they instantly split into 3 airburst projectiles upon impact that each each deal 1 [[damage]] with 2 [[pierce]]. These airburst projectiles cannot damage [[Lead Bloon (Battles 2)|Lead]] or [[Frozen Bloon|Frozen Bloons]] unless the original dart could.

'''Airburst Darts''' is the [[Monkey Sub (Battles 2)|Monkey Sub]]'s path 3 tier 2 [[upgrade]] in ''[[Bloons TD Battles 2]]''. It reduces Monkey Sub's main darts to 1 unbuffable pierce each. However, they instantly split into 3 airburst projectiles upon impact that each each deal 1 [[damage]] with 2 [[pierce]], being increased to 5 pierce per dart with the [[Barbed Darts (Battles 2)|Barbed Darts]] upgrade. These airburst projectiles cannot damage [[Lead Bloon (Battles 2)|Lead]] or [[Frozen Bloon|Frozen Bloons]] unless the original dart could.

Additionally, it adds a further attack speed buff for the Sub's non-Dart attacks on top of [[Twin Guns (Battles 2)|Twin Guns]]:

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==Strategy==

The Airburst Darts upgrade's increase to Monkey Sub's popping power is generally good for transitioning to handling heavier eco [[Bloon send (Battles 2)|Bloon sends]] in the earlygame such as spaced [[White Bloon (Battles 2)|White Bloons]] and spaced [[Black Bloon (Battles 2)|Black Bloons]] since it does triple the effective damage with its attack. Airburst Darts is a big step-up in power against [[MOAB-Class Bloon|MOAB-Class]] targets since they are large enough to take 4 hits from each attack, or 3 hits for additional MOAB-Class Bloons that were not impacted by the initial darts. It has a strong crosspath benefit to assist the slower Ballistic Missile attack on the x3x Monkey Sub since the dart attack rate is quick. As a crosspath for Submerge and Support, it increases its reliability at decamoing Bloons, which is mainly needed for maps where the Monkey Sub's natural range has poor coverage, such as [[Off-Tide]], and the increase on attack speed for the Bloontonium Reactor and Energizer is very beneficial to their total popping power. For Energizer in particular, the high tick rate allows it to deal significant damage to the tight MOABs bloonsend, defeating it with support while also buffing the hero.

While it is technically a sidegrade since the homing stops after the first target is hit in favour of the split dart, the powerful increase in stats means that performance issues compared to the Twin Guns Monkey Sub are negligible. It can utilize its pierce better in a situation where Bloons will be behind the targeted Bloon compared to the Monkey Sub. For example, it will be targeted on last in the earlygame on some maps such as [[Star]] or [[Magma Mixup]]. If a Sub is mainly being used to catch leaks in the earlygame, however, it may be more efficient to keep it at Twin Guns, with defensive issues being covered with other, cheaper tactics, such as upgrading the core defense or placing another base Sub. Airburst Darts is fairly expensive for that job. You also don't usually need Airburst Darts if you are using Monkey Sub to pop off a single layer in earlygame, such as popping Black Bloons for [[Captain Churchill (Battles 2)|Captain Churchill]] or [[Sentai Churchill (Battles 2)|Sentai Churchill]], since the reliably homing shots are generally superior for the job unless you are popping multiple layers off, such as with [[Zebra Bloon (Battles 2)|Zebra Bloons]].

An Airburst Darts Monkey Sub generally prefers the middle crosspath since the Barbed Darts upgrade increases the pierce of its three darts each from 2 to 5, which is a grand increase in total popping power. You can also use this crosspath to get popping power for frozen and lead Bloons if needed since it upgrades into [[Heat-tipped Darts (Battles 2)|Heat-Tipped Darts]]. The benefits of top path include more coverage and the ability to hit [[Camo Bloon (Battles 2)|Camo Bloons]] in the range of Monkeys who already detect Camo Bloons, as well as building into the Submerge and Support and further upgrades. More coverage is mainly beneficial to damage against a single target, such as MOAB-Class Bloons. Since the Monkey Sub serves a powerful decamo role, its camo detection using [[Advanced Intel (Battles 2)|Advanced Intel]] is not helpful in most strategies and is very unreliable at contributing to camo popping.

Airburst Darts benefits heavily from damage buffs due to its increased projectile count per attack and high attack rate being balanced out by low base damage per projectile. In situations where [[Alchemist (Battles 2)|Alchemist]] and Monkey Sub are used in a loadout together, Airburst Darts also has efficient uptime with the [[Berserker Brew (Battles 2)|Berserker Brew]] buff since it only uses one attack per four projectiles. It might not be the most efficient option in the strategy for that particular buff, though. The multiple projectiles can also pair well with flat pierce buffs such as [[Gwendolin (Battles 2)|Gwendolin]]'s or [[Scientist Gwendolin (Battles 2)|Scientist Gwendolin]]'s Heat It Up or the aforementioned Berserker Brew, and [[Ocean Obyn (Battles 2)|Ocean Obyn]]'s percentage pierce buff is strong on this tower since the three darts per shot will triple this Monkey Sub's effective pierce assuming they all hit.

==Update history==

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 |cost =800
 }}
-'''Airburst Darts''' is the [[Monkey Sub (Battles 2)|Monkey Sub]]'s path 3 tier 2 [[upgrade]] in ''[[Bloons TD Battles 2]]''. It reduces Monkey Sub's main darts to 1 unbuffable pierce each. However, they instantly split into 3 airburst projectiles upon impact that each each deal 1 [[damage]] with 2 [[pierce]]. These airburst projectiles cannot damage [[Lead Bloon (Battles 2)|Lead]] or [[Frozen Bloon|Frozen Bloons]] unless the original dart could.
+'''Airburst Darts''' is the [[Monkey Sub (Battles 2)|Monkey Sub]]'s path 3 tier 2 [[upgrade]] in ''[[Bloons TD Battles 2]]''. It reduces Monkey Sub's main darts to 1 unbuffable pierce each. However, they instantly split into 3 airburst projectiles upon impact that each each deal 1 [[damage]] with 2 [[pierce]], being increased to 5 pierce per dart with the [[Barbed Darts (Battles 2)|Barbed Darts]] upgrade. These airburst projectiles cannot damage [[Lead Bloon (Battles 2)|Lead]] or [[Frozen Bloon|Frozen Bloons]] unless the original dart could.
 Additionally, it adds a further attack speed buff for the Sub's non-Dart attacks on top of [[Twin Guns (Battles 2)|Twin Guns]]:
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ==Strategy==
 {{Strategy needed}}
+The Airburst Darts upgrade's increase to Monkey Sub's popping power is generally good for transitioning to handling heavier eco [[Bloon send (Battles 2)|Bloon sends]] in the earlygame such as spaced [[White Bloon (Battles 2)|White Bloons]] and spaced [[Black Bloon (Battles 2)|Black Bloons]] since it does triple the effective damage with its attack. Airburst Darts is a big step-up in power against [[MOAB-Class Bloon|MOAB-Class]] targets since they are large enough to take 4 hits from each attack, or 3 hits for additional MOAB-Class Bloons that were not impacted by the initial darts. It has a strong crosspath benefit to assist the slower Ballistic Missile attack on the x3x Monkey Sub since the dart attack rate is quick. As a crosspath for Submerge and Support, it increases its reliability at decamoing Bloons, which is mainly needed for maps where the Monkey Sub's natural range has poor coverage, such as [[Off-Tide]], and the increase on attack speed for the Bloontonium Reactor and Energizer is very beneficial to their total popping power. For Energizer in particular, the high tick rate allows it to deal significant damage to the tight MOABs bloonsend, defeating it with support while also buffing the hero.
+While it is technically a sidegrade since the homing stops after the first target is hit in favour of the split dart, the powerful increase in stats means that performance issues compared to the Twin Guns Monkey Sub are negligible. It can utilize its pierce better in a situation where Bloons will be behind the targeted Bloon compared to the Monkey Sub. For example, it will be targeted on last in the earlygame on some maps such as [[Star]] or [[Magma Mixup]]. If a Sub is mainly being used to catch leaks in the earlygame, however, it may be more efficient to keep it at Twin Guns, with defensive issues being covered with other, cheaper tactics, such as upgrading the core defense or placing another base Sub. Airburst Darts is fairly expensive for that job. You also don't usually need Airburst Darts if you are using Monkey Sub to pop off a single layer in earlygame, such as popping Black Bloons for [[Captain Churchill (Battles 2)|Captain Churchill]] or [[Sentai Churchill (Battles 2)|Sentai Churchill]], since the reliably homing shots are generally superior for the job unless you are popping multiple layers off, such as with [[Zebra Bloon (Battles 2)|Zebra Bloons]].
+An Airburst Darts Monkey Sub generally prefers the middle crosspath since the Barbed Darts upgrade increases the pierce of its three darts each from 2 to 5, which is a grand increase in total popping power. You can also use this crosspath to get popping power for frozen and lead Bloons if needed since it upgrades into [[Heat-tipped Darts (Battles 2)|Heat-Tipped Darts]]. The benefits of top path include more coverage and the ability to hit [[Camo Bloon (Battles 2)|Camo Bloons]] in the range of Monkeys who already detect Camo Bloons, as well as building into the Submerge and Support and further upgrades. More coverage is mainly beneficial to damage against a single target, such as MOAB-Class Bloons. Since the Monkey Sub serves a powerful decamo role, its camo detection using [[Advanced Intel (Battles 2)|Advanced Intel]] is not helpful in most strategies and is very unreliable at contributing to camo popping.
+Airburst Darts benefits heavily from damage buffs due to its increased projectile count per attack and high attack rate being balanced out by low base damage per projectile. In situations where [[Alchemist (Battles 2)|Alchemist]] and Monkey Sub are used in a loadout together, Airburst Darts also has efficient uptime with the [[Berserker Brew (Battles 2)|Berserker Brew]] buff since it only uses one attack per four projectiles. It might not be the most efficient option in the strategy for that particular buff, though. The multiple projectiles can also pair well with flat pierce buffs such as [[Gwendolin (Battles 2)|Gwendolin]]'s or [[Scientist Gwendolin (Battles 2)|Scientist Gwendolin]]'s Heat It Up or the aforementioned Berserker Brew, and [[Ocean Obyn (Battles 2)|Ocean Obyn]]'s percentage pierce buff is strong on this tower since the three darts per shot will triple this Monkey Sub's effective pierce assuming they all hit.
 ==Update history==