Long Life Spikes (BTD6): Difference between revisions

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==Strategy==

Long Life Spikes ~~is mostly valued~~ by the ~~capability to carry over rounds~~, ~~and~~ not ~~the extra 40-second lifespan~~, ~~which its T1 [[Long Range (BTD6)|Long Range]] mostly covers. For this reason, Long Life Spikes~~ is ~~almost no better than the T2 [[Smart Spikes (BTD6)|Smart Spikes]]~~ on Apopalypse and other ~~game~~ modes that ~~remove round lifespan~~. ~~Additionally, it suffers from spikes~~ not ~~being~~ saved when ~~re-~~loading game ~~states~~.

Long Life Spikes covers Spike Factory's typical weakness at the start of rounds by carrying over its stockpile from the previous round. It works best when it spends most of its time building up spikes, not being pressured by Bloons, and is generally not worth it on Apopalypse and other modes that preserve spikes between rounds by default. Spike piles are not saved when retrying last round in CHIMPS, using a Continue, nor when loading a saved game, making them weaker outside of a Black Border context.

~~Aside from just a transition to~~ [[~~Perma-Spike~~ (BTD6)|~~Perma-Spike~~]], ~~Long Life Spikes~~ can be ~~used as~~ a ~~niche method of stockpiling more single-target damage for round 100~~. ~~This is achieved optimally with an end~~-of-~~round stall on round 99 (usually from~~ [[~~Absolute Zero~~ (BTD6)|~~Absolute Zero~~]] ~~and [[MOAB Shove (BTD6)|MOAB Shove]])~~, ~~and~~ Long Life Spikes ~~receiving [[Berserker Brew (BTD6)|Berserker Brew]]~~ buffs ~~and debuffing~~ the ~~BAD with~~ [[~~Embrittlement~~ (BTD6)|~~Embrittlement~~]] ~~and~~ [[~~Glue Strike~~ (BTD6)|~~Glue Strike~~]]~~; the spikes can generate high damage~~ for ~~cheap (about 7k-8k damage). Berserker Brew in particular has decent synergy with Long Life Spikes~~.

The tower prefers the 1-0-3 crosspath for lower cost, slightly higher damage in most contexts, and reducing the number of [[Acidic Mixture Dip (BTD6)|Acidic Mixture Dips]] needed for full uptime if Alchemists can't be isolated properly. [[Berserker Brew (BTD6)|Berserker Brew]] is a very important buff for the tower, cheaper than Long Life Spikes while quadrupling its damage output with both buffs active, making the tower stronger than [[Deadly Spikes (BTD6)|Deadly Spikes]] for less cost. [[Stronger Stimulant (BTD6)|Stronger Stimulant]], however, is still too expensive for what it offers at this tier.

~~Top crosspath~~ is ~~preferred~~ for ~~the bigger stockpiles, however middle crosspath's stockpiles become greater than 1~~-0-3 in the ~~presence of at least +3 flat pierce~~, ~~which~~ is ~~not enough~~ with ~~Berserker Brew~~ (+2).

Long Life Spikes is typically used as a stepping stone for [[Perma-Spike (BTD6)|Perma-Spike]], but in the meantime it effectively blocks fast and aggressive early game rounds such as 36 and 40, as well as camos up through 50, as long as the pile is kept safe the round before or stalling is used. Manual targeting can also let the tower dump spike piles onto blimp layers in mid-game, but without heavy stalling it falls short in this role compared to [[MOAB SHREDR (BTD6)|MOAB SHREDR]].

Late game, manual targeting combined with stalling and damage debuffs can be used to snipe [[DDT (BTD6)|DDT]] layers and the round 100 [[BAD (BTD6)|BAD]] layer to serve as a mini-Perma-Spike. With [[Embrittlement (BTD6)|Embrittlement]] and 2-4-0 [[Glue Strike (BTD6)|Glue Strike]] active as Bloons enter the pile, a fully stalled spike pile deals 7k-9k damage per Long Life Spikes for a very cheap kill.

==Update history==

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ==Strategy==
-{{BTD6 last updated|50.2|section=y}}
+{{BTD6 last updated|51.1|section=y}}
-Long Life Spikes is mostly valued by the capability to carry over rounds, and not the extra 40-second lifespan, which its T1 [[Long Range (BTD6)|Long Range]] mostly covers. For this reason, Long Life Spikes is almost no better than the T2 [[Smart Spikes (BTD6)|Smart Spikes]] on Apopalypse and other game modes that remove round lifespan. Additionally, it suffers from spikes not being saved when re-loading game states.
+Long Life Spikes covers Spike Factory's typical weakness at the start of rounds by carrying over its stockpile from the previous round. It works best when it spends most of its time building up spikes, not being pressured by Bloons, and is generally not worth it on Apopalypse and other modes that preserve spikes between rounds by default. Spike piles are not saved when retrying last round in CHIMPS, using a Continue, nor when loading a saved game, making them weaker outside of a Black Border context.
-Aside from just a transition to [[Perma-Spike (BTD6)|Perma-Spike]], Long Life Spikes can be used as a niche method of stockpiling more single-target damage for round 100. This is achieved optimally with an end-of-round stall on round 99 (usually from [[Absolute Zero (BTD6)|Absolute Zero]] and [[MOAB Shove (BTD6)|MOAB Shove]]), and Long Life Spikes receiving [[Berserker Brew (BTD6)|Berserker Brew]] buffs and debuffing the BAD with [[Embrittlement (BTD6)|Embrittlement]] and [[Glue Strike (BTD6)|Glue Strike]]<!--cripp kills eor stall on most maps, also 240 glike https://www.reddit.com/r/btd6/s/sVnZAimP9K-->; the spikes can generate high damage for cheap (about 7k-8k damage). Berserker Brew in particular has decent synergy with Long Life Spikes.
+The tower prefers the 1-0-3 crosspath for lower cost, slightly higher damage in most contexts, and reducing the number of [[Acidic Mixture Dip (BTD6)|Acidic Mixture Dips]] needed for full uptime if Alchemists can't be isolated properly.<!-- Comparing the crosspaths is fairly simple to calculate and the numbers are on this page to work with to check the comparison, I don't think specific numbers are needed here. The not-isolated Alch thing is also a bit silly, but can be a nice bonus. --> [[Berserker Brew (BTD6)|Berserker Brew]] is a very important buff for the tower, cheaper than Long Life Spikes while quadrupling its damage output with both buffs active,<!-- Not even rounding this lol, it's 4.000...x --> making the tower stronger than [[Deadly Spikes (BTD6)|Deadly Spikes]] for less cost. [[Stronger Stimulant (BTD6)|Stronger Stimulant]], however, is still too expensive for what it offers at this tier.
-Top crosspath is preferred for the bigger stockpiles, however middle crosspath's stockpiles become greater than 1-0-3 in the presence of at least +3 flat pierce, which is not enough with Berserker Brew (+2).<!--7×1.17×1.66=13.6 1dp, 13×1.17=15.2 1dp, but 8×1.17×1.66=15.5 1dp maths worth adding?-->
+Long Life Spikes is typically used as a stepping stone for [[Perma-Spike (BTD6)|Perma-Spike]], but in the meantime it effectively blocks fast and aggressive early game rounds such as 36 and 40, as well as camos up through 50, as long as the pile is kept safe the round before or stalling is used. Manual targeting can also let the tower dump spike piles onto blimp layers in mid-game, but without heavy stalling it falls short in this role compared to [[MOAB SHREDR (BTD6)|MOAB SHREDR]].
+Late game, manual targeting combined with stalling and damage debuffs can be used to snipe [[DDT (BTD6)|DDT]] layers and the round 100 [[BAD (BTD6)|BAD]] layer to serve as a mini-Perma-Spike. With [[Embrittlement (BTD6)|Embrittlement]] and 2-4-0 [[Glue Strike (BTD6)|Glue Strike]] active as Bloons enter the pile, a fully stalled spike pile deals 7k-9k damage per Long Life Spikes for a very cheap kill.<!--cripp kills eor stall on most maps, also 240 glike https://www.reddit.com/r/btd6/s/sVnZAimP9K-->
 ==Update history==