Strategy:Bloonarius (BTD6)

Bloonarius has simple mechanics, high health, low speed and its only special trait is the Bloons it spawns. In lower tiers, separate defenses might be needed to deal with Bloonarius and his minions, in later tiers, the bleed and skull Bloons are dealt with the pierce, splash damage and range of the main attack towers, and because of this, many defenses don't need additional towers to defend the spawns.

This strategy page only covers dealing with Bloonarius itself and not the farming required to afford the defenses, for such guide consult Strategy:Boss Bloon Event.

Normal Bloonarius

Bloonarius

Tier 1

In the low tiers, Bloonarius defense usually splits between towers that damage the Boss directly and towers which defend the bleed Bloons and specially the ones that are spawned upon reaching a skull. Regular rounds will be easily handled by either defense.

To damage the boss the following options can be used.

• 2× 2-0-4 Overdrive and 4-0-0 Embrittlement
• 2× 0-4-0 MOAB Assassin, spam their abilities
• 2-0-5 Elite Defender
• 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier or 3× 3-2-0 Destroyer (even 2 can be used if the Boss can stay long enough in their range).
• 0-4-0 First Strike Capability, requires better defenses for the spawns as two skulls can be triggered from the ability.
• 4-2-0 Plasma Accelerator
• 1-0-4 Sticky Bomb
• 2-0-3 Dark Knight, use the Darkshift ability to keep Bloonarius in range.
• 4× 0-1-4 Poplust and 4-0-0 Embrittlement
• 2-4-0 Spike Storm and 4-0-0 Embrittlement
• There are many other towers that can defeat Bloonarius, but are more expensive compared to the options mentioned here, includes Crossbow Master

A combination of at least two (can be the same) of the options listed below can handle the spawns.

• 2× 4-2-0 Juggernaut
• 4-0-2 M.O.A.R Glaives
• 4-2-0 Ring of Fire
• 4-2-0 Bloon Liquefier, don't use two of these at the same time.
• 4-0-2 The Big One
• 4-0-0 Ball Lightning
• 0-4-0 Jungle's Bounty if the Boss isn't too far into the track or with help of the main defense.
• With a second tower that can handle the bleed Bloons, Geraldo's Blade Trap or 0-4-2 Blade Maelstrom can deal with the Bloons spawned during a skull, a single Blade Maelstrom can do the job if Bloonarius isn't damaged too quickly to allow the ability to recharge between skulls.

Tier 2

Tier 2 is defended in the same way as Tier 1 for the most part. Options to damage the boss include:

• 0-5-0 MOAB Eliminator
• 2-0-5 The Tack Zone with 5-0-0 Super Brittle
• 2× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability
• 1-5-0 M.A.D
• 1-0-5 Master Bomber
• 0-1-5 Avatar of Wrath
• 2-5-0 Carpet of Spikes
• 0-2-5 MOAB Domination, 2-0-5 Elite Defender, 5-2-0 Carrier Flagship and 5-2-0 Sentry Champion in a longer map or with the support of a 2-0-0 Monkey Village and/or a 4-2-0 Stronger Stimulant.

The spawns are handled in the same way as Tier 1, but with three towers instead of two.

Tier 3

For this tier non-paragon singular tower solutions start to struggle, so support them with 2-0-0 Monkey Village, Permanent Brew, Call to Arms, Homeland Defense alongside debuffs for the boss like Super Brittle, Glue Storm and Cripple MOAB :

• 1-5-0 M.A.D
• 5-2-0 Ray of Doom
• 1-0-5 Master Bomber
• 0-1-5 Avatar of Wrath with 5× Poplust.
• 2-0-5 Legend of the Night
• 2-5-0 Carpet of Spike with at least two 2-4-0 Spike Storm, and keep Super Brittle always in range by using Support Chinook.
• 5-2-0 Super Mines
• Sun Avatar, Shinobi Tactics or Overdrive spam.
• A 4-2-0 Sun Temple with maximum sacrifices in three categories (or only in support if a spam strategy is used).
• Any Degree 1+ Paragon

And for defending the spawns:

• 5-0-2 Glaive Lord
• 5-2-0 The Bloon Solver
• 2-5-0 Special Poperations (Keep the Marine deployed)
• 1-5-0 Spirit of the Forest
• 5-1-0 Lord of the Abyss
• 2-0-5 Perma-Spike

Tier 4

Two or three of the Tier 3 options can be used or any Paragon (Degree 1 is enough but 20 is recommended). The spawns at this point can be handled by the main defense but is recommended to still have a back defense just in case.

Tier 5

Using many of the options of Tier 3 at the same time can handle this tier with the buffs and Boss debuff towers, but a Paragon is recommended. Apex Plasma Master and Glaive Dominus can defeat Bloonarius at Degree 40. Nautic Siege Core, Navarch of the Seas at Degree 20. And finally, Ascended Shadow and Goliath Doomship at Degree 1 or a VTSG can also defeat Bloonarius. Magus Perfectus can do it at Degree 1 if two Metamorphosis can be used with nearly full Graveyard while the Boss is in range, otherwise it need Degree 20. Master Builder is similar, it needs some rounds before to self-overclock and prepare the Paragon Sentries to defeat Bloonarius at Degree 1.

Bloonarius spawns a BAD at a skull, make sure the back defense can handle it if it get outside of the range of the main defense.

Elite Bloonarius

Elite Bloonairus

Tier 1

Just like Normal, the defense splits between damaging the boss and defending the spawns. The first half of the defense are centralized on damaging the Boss itself:

• 4× 2-0-4 Overdrive or The Tack Zone and a 4-0-0 Embrittlement
• 2-0-5 Elite Defender
• If the map is long enough other options include First Strike Capability, Plasma Accelerator, Dark Knight, Sticky Bomb, Spike Storm (if you can keep a Embrittlement on range).

To defend the spawns is recommended to use a combination of at least three (depending on how the other half of the defense can help) of the options listed below.

• 2× 4-2-0 Juggernaut
• 4-0-2 M.O.A.R Glaives
• 4-2-0 Bloon Liquefier, don't use two of these at the same time.
• 4-0-2 The Big One
• 4-0-0 Ball Lightning
• 0-4-0 Jungle's Bounty
• 4-0-1 Stronger Stimulant to buff the previous towers
• With a second tower that can handle the bleed Bloons, Geraldo's Blade Trap or 0-4-2 Blade Maelstrom can deal with the Bloons spawned during a skull, a single Blade Maelstrom can do the job if Bloonarius isn't damaged too quickly to allow the ability to recharge between skulls.

Tier 2

Tier 2 is defended in the same way as Tier 1 for the most part. Options to damage the boss include:

• 2-0-5 The Tack Zone with several 2-0-4 Overdrive, helped by Super Brittle, Stronger Stimulant and/or Jungle Drums.
• 1-5-0 M.A.D
• 0-1-5 Avatar of Wrath with 5× Poplust
• On longer maps Master Bomber and Carpet of Spikes can also be used.
• If the player can afford them, Ray of Doom and Flying Fortress are also strong options.
• Several 3-2-0 Destroyer and/or 2-0-3 Triple Guns can also be used, specially when paired with Admiral Brickell.

And for defending the spawns:

• 5-0-2 Glaive Lord
• 5-2-0 The Bloon Solver
• 2-5-0 Special Poperations (Keep the Marine deployed)
• 1-5-0 Spirit of the Forest
• 5-1-0 Lord of the Abyss
• 2-0-5 Perma-Spike

Tier 3

At Tier 3, a Paragon is recommended as it can deal with Bloonarius and its spawns, Apex Plasma Master and Glaive Dominus are usually affordable at this point of the game.

A Degree 1 Dart Paragon is barely enough to defeat Elite Bloonarius on most maps, but Degree 20 is recommended. Its effectiveness in dealing with the bleed and skull Bloons are mostly placement and map dependent. Boomerang Paragon has an easier time in this regard at higher cost, even at Degree 1. If Bloonarius' spawns get past the Paragon's range, the back defense must be ready to deal with BADs and DDTs.

In the case Paragons are not available, placing some options of the Tier 2 defenses can deal with Tier 3, and at this point Sun Temple (with only Support sacrifices or in 3 categories in preparation for a VTSG), Super Mines and Legend of the Night can also be afforded. Other defensive options include Sun Avatar or Shinobi Tactics spam. Using buff towers such as Permanent Brew, Call to Arms and Homeland Defense alongside debuffs for the boss like Super Brittle, Glue Storm and Cripple MOAB is very important.

Tier 4

Adding a second paragon is recommended at this point. Degree 20 Dart and Boomerang Paragon can defeat Tier 4 Elite Bloonarius, and if those can, any combination of stronger Paragons are also capable of doing it. A VTSG can also be used in place of any paragon.

Without challenge modifiers, Apex Plasma Master can defeat the Boss without help at Degree 60, Glaive Dominus also at 60 (or 40 on some maps). Nautic Siege Core, Navarch of the Seas, Magus Perfectus and Ascended Shadow at Degree 20. Master Builder can also do it at Degree 20 but is recommended to place it several rounds before for its self-overclock and doing Sentry micro during the fight. And finally, Goliath Doomship can beat it at Degree 1.

It is recommended to not have the Paragons too close to each other so they can cover most of the map to deal with Bloonarius's spawns.

Tier 5

In preparation for this Tier, it is recommended to sell any Paragon with a Degree lower than 40, because, for this tier, at least 4 Paragons of at least Degree 40 or 3 of Degree 60 are needed (a Ultraboosted VTSG can also be used as one). Also, Goliath Doomship can defeat the boss alone at Degree 60 with enough micro. Having the usual debuff towers for a boss such as Super Brittle, Glue Storm and Cripple MOAB is always helpful.

Boss Rush

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Tips and recommendations

• Contrary to the other bosses, Bloonarius doesn't have any protection against receiving damage after a skull is reached, so several First Strike Capability and explosions from Master Builder's Sentry Paragons can defeat Normal Bloonarius and the lower tier Elite Bloonarius in a few seconds. Players should use extreme caution with this strategy as Bloonarius still spawns all the Bloons it would normally do, but this time at the same time which can easily overwhelm any defense, even Blade Traps and Maelstrom abilities.
• If the player doesn't want or can't afford to place all the defense at once, is better to place the bleed/skull defense first before the main attacker to avoid getting overrun by the Bloons.
• On normal circumstances, the regular bloon spawns can be ignored while the Boss is on the screen, as the regular rounds are usually much weaker than Bloonarius skull spawns.
• Bloonarius bleed spawns avoid the end of the track (75%+ approximately) and they will always spawn in the same path as the Boss, so no need to cover multiple tracks.
• Skull spawns happen in front of Bloonarius, so if a skull is triggered really late, the defenses might not have enough time to deal with them as they also have a brief period of immunity.
• The bleed spawn mechanic makes very difficult to stall rounds as the bleed Bloons can be mixed with the regular bloon spawns, making it very difficult to select specific bloons to slowdown.
• Depending on the specific defensive setup, it might be important to micro the targeting of the main boss attackers to either avoid distraction with the spawns or in the other end, helping with the cleanup.

Gallery

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