Ball Lightning (BTD6)

For other uses, see Ball Lightning (disambiguation).

Ball Lightning

Able to perceive Camo Bloons. Creates powerful balls of lightning that can freeze Bloons. Additional lightning bolts arc off main attack to nearby Bloons.

Tower	Druid — Path 1 — Tier 4
XP cost	12,000
Cash cost	$3,825 — Easy $4,500 — Medium $4,860 — Hard $5,400 — Impoppable

← Druid of the Storm

Monarch of Storms →

Ball Lightning is the Druid's path 1 tier 4 upgrade in Bloons TD 6. This upgrade grants the Druid camo detection and an additional attack that summons a slow-moving lightning ball, which quickly zaps lightning at Bloons and freezes Bloons that touch the lightning ball. This attack is shot every 6 seconds, and generates lightning every 0.35s, forks up to 5 times (up to 31 targets total), and does 3 damage. The ball does no damage, and freezes any non-White type for 4.5s through up to 4 layers of Bloon.

Additionally, the ordinary Heart of Thunder lightning bolts deal 3 damage, and tornadoes are more effective. Tornadoes now blow back Bloons +50 more units backwards (150–250 units), and has its pierce increased from 35 to 60 with no pierce penalty versus Ceramic Bloons.

Stats

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

This data was last updated for: version 55.1

Tower
Display range 35 units Footprint radius 7 units Targeting options First Last Close Strong

Attack
Cooldown 1.1s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range 35 units
Projectile Count 5 Angle 25° Pierce 2 Damage 1 Damage type Normal Speed 340 units/s Lifespan 0.3s Radius 0 units

Ball Lightning
Cooldown 6s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range 35 units
Spawning projectile Pierce 9,999,999 Damage 0 Damage type Frigid Speed 24 units/s Lifespan 3.75s Radius 8 units Filters Ignores White or Purple if its damage type cannot damage it Ignores blockers Damage does not soak through layers Freeze Multiplier ×0 Duration 4.5s Layers 4 Lightning Pierce 5 Max pierce 5 Damage 3 Damage type Plasma Bounce distance 43 units Radius 0 units Ignores blockers

Lightning
Cooldown 2.3s Offset (X, Y, Z) -3.52, 6.06, 7 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range 35 units
Lightning Pierce 5 Max pierce 5 Damage 3 Damage type Plasma Bounce distance 86 units Radius 0 units Ignores blockers

Tornado
Cooldown 2.5s Offset (X, Y, Z) -1.99, 8.17, 7 Targeting First / Last / Close / Strong Targeting range 35 units Filters Cannot target MOAB-Class
Projectile Pierce 60 Damage 0 Damage type Frigid Speed 72 units/s Seeking distance ∞ units Seeking angle 360° Seeking rotation speed 160 °/s Lifespan 1.0417s Radius 16 units Filters Ignores White or Purple if its damage type cannot damage it Cannot hit MOAB-Class Cannot hit DDTs Cannot hit Bloons with Blowback Blowback Chance 100% Min distance 150 units Max distance 250 units

4-1-0

Attack
Projectile Count 5 → 8

4-2-0

Attack
Pierce per extra life +1% Max extra lives for pierce 100
Projectile Now removes Regrow

Ball Lightning
Lightning Now removes Regrow

Lightning
Pierce per extra life +1% Max extra lives for pierce 100
Lightning Now removes Regrow

Tornado
Pierce per extra life +1% Max extra lives for pierce 100
Projectile Now removes Regrow

4-0-1

Tower
Display range 35 units → 45 units

Attack
Targeting range 35 units → 45 units
Projectile Lifespan 0.3s → 0.4s

Ball Lightning
Targeting range 35 units → 45 units
Spawning projectile Lifespan 3.75s → 5s

Lightning
Targeting range 35 units → 45 units

Tornado
Targeting range 35 units → 45 units
Projectile Lifespan 1.0417s → 1.3889s

4-0-2

Attack
Speed per life lost +1% Speed per life lost base bonus +10% Max lives lost for attack speed 40

Ball Lightning
Speed per life lost +1% Speed per life lost base bonus +10% Max lives lost for attack speed 40

Lightning
Speed per life lost +1% Speed per life lost base bonus +10% Max lives lost for attack speed 40

Tornado
Speed per life lost +1% Speed per life lost base bonus +10% Max lives lost for attack speed 40

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	$6,635	$7,800	$8,425	$9,360	$4,645	$5,460	$5,898	$6,552
4-1-0	$6,845	$8,050	$8,695	$9,660	$4,792	$5,635	$6,087	$6,762
4-2-0	$7,145	$8,400	$9,075	$10,080	$5,002	$5,880	$6,353	$7,056
4-0-1	$6,720	$7,900	$8,535	$9,480	$4,704	$5,530	$5,975	$6,636
4-0-2	$6,975	$8,200	$8,860	$9,840	$4,883	$5,740	$6,202	$6,888

Strategy

This strategy section is empty or incomplete. See the strategy guidelines for more information on how to write strategy sections.

This section was last updated for: version 51.2

Ball Lightning is a decent mid-game tower for both support and damage, controlling and popping Bloons that follow its path. However, multiple T3 Druid of the Storms are generally more versatile for blowback despite the more cost-efficient blowback of the T4. Ball Lightning's lightning balls can be used for dealing general damage to any non-Purple when placed along straight lines, however the ball is antithetical for the purpose of prolonging rounds to use abilities. The lightning ball freeze benefits Bloon control especially with Cold Front's zap freezes, but remains not enough to be a proper stall tower, and its slow attack speed and reliance on straight lines on CHIMPS prevents it from working on many map formats.

Update history

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

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Version 18.0

4-2-0

•  Heart of Oak now allows the lightning attack to remove Regrow (undocumented)
•  Heart of Oak now allows the tornado attack to remove Regrow (undocumented)
•  Heart of Oak now allows the lightning spawned by the ball lightning attack to remove Regrow (undocumented)

Version 23.0

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $6,000 → $5,500

Version 25.0

“

Druid’s top path Storm & Ball Lightning upgrades needed a value boost versus other options versus other paths of other tower choices, so these have been given a small price buff for now.
— Update notes

”

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $5,500 → $5,100
  •  Overall cost reduced by $550 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 26.0

•  Tornado attack: Blowback should correctly remove ongoing glue damage effects from Bloons when the slow is removed (bug fix)

Version 28.0

“

As an underused crosspath on this tower, Druid’s Hard Thorns will now allow them to counter all of its weaknesses instead of just frozen targets. Druid of the Storm has been reworked to more consistently blow targets back due to being stationary and slower firing compared to other upgrades that do a similar task.
— Update notes

”

•  Main attack: Damage type changed ― Shatter → Normal
•  Tornado attack: Blowback distance changed ― 33–300 → 100–200
•  Tornado attack: Projectile radius increased ― 13 → 16

Version 30.0

“

Top path has had a number of buffs to help with both price and consistency in control over regular bloons through higher tiers.
— Update notes

”

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $5,100 → $4,500
  •  Overall cost reduced by $825 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)
•  Tornado attack: Blowback distance increased ― 100–200 → 150–250
•  Tornado attack: Pierce increased ― 30 → 60
•  Lightning ball: Now has a 25% chance to freeze Bloons (same as the original effect of Cold Front)

Version 33.0

“

Top path Heart of Thunder doesn’t scale well with tiers for an upgrade with such niche use & generally feels lacking, so it is seeing general power improvements across the board to upgrades that incorporate this attack.
— Update notes

”

•  Lightning attack: Damage increased ― 1 → 3
•  Lightning ball lightning: Damage increased ― 2 → 3

Version 37.0

“

While the tornado doesn't do anything to MOABs, it still spends itself on them which wastes a relatively long cooldown, so addressing this flaw.
— Update notes

”

•  Tornado attack: No longer targets MOAB-class Bloons

Version 38.0

“

Druid of the Storm is too inconsistent due to placement causing projectiles to intersect the path and spend very little time actually touching Bloons, it is gaining some homing to keep the nados running along the track over the top of Bloons to more consistently utilize their high pierce value. We love how this is working and hope you do, too.
— Update notes

”

•  Tornado attack: Now seeks Bloons
•  Tornado attack: Max distance increased ― 80 → 100
•  Blowback no longer works on Bloons near the entrance (bug fix)

Version 39.0

•  Ball lightning main projectile: Freeze chance increased ― 25% → 100%

Version 44.0

•  Ball lightning projectile can no longer freeze White Bloons by default (bug fix)

Version 45.0

“

Now that Tornadoes are one of the more popular Bloon Stall choices we looked more into its upgrade progression, tornado projectile speed is being reduced as a benefit to Ball Lightning to prevent tornado outpacing the lightning ball so quickly, and to more suit it as a Cold/Magic themed upgrade plus differentiate from similar supports the weaknesses are changing. More directly to Ball Lightning we feel it needs a considerably higher freeze duration for the freeze to matter as it casts slowly.
— Update notes

”

•  Ball lightning: freeze duration increased ― 1.5s → 4.5s
•  Tornado: projectile speed reduced ― 90 → 72
•  Tornado: damage type changed ― Normal → Frigid
  • Note: Does not affect the mini-tornadoes of Tiny Tornadoes
•  Tornado: can blow back Lead Bloons
•  Tornado: cannot blow back White and Purple Bloons
  • Note: Projectile will ignore White and Purple properties, which it cannot target anymore

Version 48.0

“

Druid projectile lifespans are being shifted from many base weapons into the xx1 range crosspath, this is a nerf to top path lifespan when not taking the crosspath and a buff to 031 druids
— Update notes

”

•  Ball lightning attack: Projectile distance reduced ― 120 units → 90 units
•  Main attack: Max projectile distance reduced ― 136 units → 102 units
•  Tornado attack: Projectile distance reduced ― 100 units → 75 units

4-0-1, 4-0-2

•  Druidic Reach now increases the max distance of the tornado attack by 33%
  •  Stacks with nerfs to the base tornado's max distance; overall max distance is unchanged
•  Druidic Reach now increases the lifespan of the ball lightning attack by 33%
  •  Stacks with nerfs to the base ball lightning's max distance; overall max distance is unchanged

Version 54.0

“

Also expanding on the support capabilities of this path, we’ve given Ball Lightning’s freeze more than 0 radius so it can hit things, and have pulled Monarch’s Camo detection down to Tier 4 to allow early Camo assistance outside of Obyn strategies.
— Update notes

”

•  Ball Lightning main projectile: Projectile radius increased ― 0 units → 8 units
•  Ball Lightning main projectile: Damage type changed ― Cold → Frigid
•  All attacks now have Camo detection
• Description changed

Before	Creates powerful balls of lightning that can freeze Bloons. Additional lightning bolts arc off main attack to nearby Bloons.
After	Able to perceive Camo Bloons. Creates powerful balls of lightning that can freeze Bloons. Additional lightning bolts arc off main attack to nearby Bloons.

Version 54.1

•  Ball Lightning: Projectile now ignore Bloons if its damage type cannot damage them

Version 54.2

•  Ball Lightning main projectile: No longer prevents MOAB-Class Bloons from being frozen after touching them (bug fix)

Version 55.0

•  Main attack: Projectile spread can now be affected by accuracy buffs

Gallery

For more Druid images, see Gallery:Druid.

Screenshots

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Assets

• 
  Portrait
• 
  Upgrade icon
• 
  Insta Monkey icon

Trivia

• The upgrade's name may be a reference to the ball lightning phenomena.

In other languages

Language	Name / Description	Notes
Arabic	كرة البرق عمل كرات البرق قوية التي يمكنها تجميد البالونات، حيث تنطلق صواعق البرق الأخرى من الهجوم الرئيسي على البالونات القريبة.	—
Danish	Kuglelyn Skaber kraftfulde kuglelyn, der kan fryse bloons. Yderligere lyn springer fra hovedangrebet til nærliggende bloons.	—
German	Kugelblitz Erstellt mächtige Blitzschläge, die Bloons gefrieren können. Zusätzliche Blitzschläge können vom Hauptangriff ausschlagen und Bloons in der Nähe angreifen.	—
Spanish	Esfera de rayo Crea bolas de rayo poderosas que pueden congelar a los bloons. Los rayos adicionales se desvían del ataque principal hacia los bloons cercanos.	—
Spanish (LA)	Esfera de rayo Crea bolas de rayo poderosas que congelan a los bloons. El ataque principal dispara rayos adicionales a los bloons cercanos.	—
Finnish	Pallosalama Luo voimakkaita pallosalamoita, jotka voivat jäädyttää bloonit. Lisää salamoita lähtee päähyökkäyksestä läheisiin blooneihin.	—
French	Boule de foudre Crée de puissantes boules de foudre qui peuvent geler les Bloons. Des éclairs supplémentaires sont déclenchés à partir de l’attaque principale vers les Bloons à proximité.	—
Italian	Fulmine globulare Crea potenti fulmini globulari che possono congelare i bloon. Fulmini aggiuntivi si propagano dall'attacco principale ai bloon vicini.	—
Japanese	球電光 ブルーンを凍結させる強力な稲妻の球を作る。追加の稲妻がメイン攻撃から弧を描き、近くのブルーンを攻撃する。	—
Korean	번개구 풍선을 얼리는 강력한 번개구를 생성합니다. 추가 벼락을 날리는 기본 공격으로 주변 풍선을 맞힙니다.	—
Dutch	Balbliksem Creëert krachtige bliksemballen die Bloons kunnen bevriezen. Schiet extra bliksemschichten af naar nabije Bloons.	—
Norwegian	Lynkule Skaper kraftfulle lynkuler som kan fryse bloons. Ytterligere lyn går i bue og angriper bloons i nærheten.	—
Polish	Piorun kulisty Tworzy potężne kule piorunów, które mogą zamrażać blony. Dodatkowe błyskawice odbijają się od głównego ataku i trafiają pobliskie blony.	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Bola de Raios Cria poderosas bolas de raios que podem congelar Bloons. Raios adicionais saem do ataque principal até os Bloons próximos.	—
Russian	Шаровая молния Создаёт мощные шаровые молнии, способные замораживать шары. От основной атаки к соседним шарам протягиваются дополнительные молнии.	—
Swedish	Åskboll Skapar kraftfulla åskbollar som kan frysa Bloons. Fler åskbollar grenar ut från huvudattacken och träffar Bloons i närheten.	—
Thai	บอลสายฟ้า สร้างบอลสายฟ้าอันทรงพลังที่เพิ่มการยิงสายฟ้าและสามารถแช่แข็งลูกโป่งได้ สายฟ้าที่ได้เพิ่มมาจะเป็นกำลังหลักในการโจมตีบลูนใกล้ ๆ	—
Turkish	Top Şimşek Bloon’ları dondurabilen güçlü yıldırım topları oluşturur. Yakındaki Bloon’lara yapılan ana saldırıya ek olarak yıldırım topları kavis çizer.	—
Chinese (simplified)	球状闪电 发出可以冻结气球的强大闪电球。主攻击还能向附近的气球发射弧形闪电。	—
Chinese (traditional)	球型閃電 產生可以凍結氣球的強大閃電球。主閃電球還會放射出額外的閃電攻擊附近的氣球。	—
This list was last updated for: version 43.1