Buckshot (BTD6)

For the upgrade in Bloons TD Battles 2, see Buckshot (Battles 2).

Buckshot

Shoots blasts of deadly buckshot instead of darts.

Tower	Dartling Gunner — Path 3 — Tier 3
XP cost	3,000
Cash cost	$2,890 — Easy $3,400 — Medium $3,670 — Hard $4,080 — Impoppable

← Powerful Darts

Bloon Area Denial System →

Buckshot is the Dartling Gunner's path 3 tier 3 upgrade in Bloons TD 6. Instead of rapid-fire darts, it slowly shoots 6 buckshots per shot with more damage and pierce, faster projectile speed, and knockback on non-blimps, but much shorter projectile lifespan and increased projectile deviation.

Each buckshot does 4 damage, 4 pierce, roughly +10% projectile speed (470 to 520), but lasts for 0.25s (0.35s with 1-0-3) and a 46° projectile deviation (18.6° with 1-0-3), plus a random 0.9x-1.1x projectile speed modifier. The knockback lasts for 0.2 seconds and applies 150% speed against Ceramics and damaged Leads, 300% speed against all other non-blimps. 2-0-3 Buckshot does +3 shocked damage and applies shock damage-over-time that deals 3 damage every 0.95 seconds for 1 second.

Stats

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

This data was last updated for: version 55.1

Tower
Display range 20 units Footprint radius 7 units Targeting options Normal Locked

Attack
Cooldown 1.2s Offset (X, Y, Z) 0, 15, 6.79 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range ∞ units Rotation speed 440 deg/s Filters Cannot target Camo
Projectile Count 6 Angle 46° Pierce 4 Damage 3 Damage type Shatter Speed 520 units/s Lifespan 0.25s Radius 3 units Filters Cannot hit Camo Knockback Multiplier ×-2 Multiplier for Lead ×-0.5 Multiplier for Ceramic ×-0.5 Multiplier for MOAB-Class ×1 Duration 0.2s

1-0-3

Attack
Projectile Angle 46° → 18.4° Lifespan 0.25s → 0.35s

2-0-3

Attack
Projectile Damage to shocked (tier 2) +2 Laser Shock Damage 2 Damage type Shatter Duration 1s Interval 0.95s Layers ∞

0-1-3

Attack
Filters Can now target Camo
Projectile Filters Can now hit Camo

0-2-3

Attack
Cooldown 1.2s → 0.792s

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
0-0-3	$4,420	$5,200	$5,615	$6,240	$3,094	$3,640	$3,931	$4,368
1-0-3	$4,675	$5,500	$5,940	$6,600	$3,273	$3,850	$4,158	$4,620
2-0-3	$5,440	$6,400	$6,910	$7,680	$3,808	$4,480	$4,837	$5,376
0-1-3	$4,630	$5,450	$5,885	$6,540	$3,241	$3,815	$4,120	$4,578
0-2-3	$5,435	$6,400	$6,910	$7,680	$3,805	$4,480	$4,837	$5,376

Strategy

This section was last updated for: version 51.1

Buckshot increases the Dartling Gunner's damage and lets it knock back Bloons, but it is an unreliable tower due to its low firing speed, and Bloons can sometimes slip in between its shots if not carefully aimed. It can sometimes even be a downgrade due to its decreased projectile lifespan and attack speed. Buckshot is not recommended to buy for its own sake, but rather as a stepping stone to the stronger Bloon Area Denial System. Regardless, it should be combined with additional defenses to cover its downtime.

The best crosspath for this tower is usually 2-0-3, as the laser shock is a slightly greater DPS increase than faster firing for its subsequent upgrades. 0-2-3 improves its consistency, however the 2-0-3's extra damage and concentrated shots is often better than the improved Bloon knockback.

Update history

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

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Version 23.0

“

As our most recently added tower we are very happy with all the excitement surrounding this beloved monkey tower and the general middleground play position. We’re happy enough with its time in the wild to make some first impression changes here which we hope you’ll continue to enjoy.
— Update notes

”

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $4,000 → $3,800
•  Now applies knockback to non-MOAB-Class Bloons

Version 24.0

•  Overall cost reduced by $150 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)

Version 25.0

“

Dartling Gunner’s Rocket Storm is currently overperforming versus Buckshot, so we made slight adjustments to the price of these upgrades.
— Update notes

”

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $3,800 → $3,400

Version 28.0

“

Even though we like the theme of the slow hitting upgrade, Buckshot has struggled to live up to its potential, so attack speed has been further increased through all tiers.
— Update notes

”

•  Attack cooldown reduced ― 1.8s → 1.5s (attack speed increased by 20%)

Version 29.0

“

The bottom path Bloon Exclusion Zone on the Dartling has had a lot of talk about damage types, with points raised on the viability here due to the high price. It did recently get a strong buff from the T3 up, but in order to work more into other synergies we have decided to finally do a damage type change here as well, starting from early on in the path.
— Update notes

”

•  Damage Type changed ― Sharp → Shatter

Version 30.0

1-0-3, 2-0-3

•  Focus Firing crosspath grants +25% distance to projectiles

Version 33.0

“

Buckshot pierce has been increased to help make its attacks cut through more for a chunkier hit. Focused Firing’s distance bonus on 203 due to how it is setup with projectile speed dropoff was a bit less than this written ‘25%’ realistically closer to 18.75%, so this number has been increased enough to give it roughly a true 30% increase in distance.
— Update notes

”

•  Pierce increased ― 4 → 6
  • Note: Bloon Exclusion Zone unchanged

Version 35.0

“

While admittedly difficult to handle at T3, the recent changes made to attempt to give Buckshot an easier growth into BADS overall backfired and were a failure. Looking back, the difficult T3 required attention but was still not bad if used correctly and the improved handling at T4 was far worth this effort in the end. That seemed fine enough before and we don't like how it has ended up so walking those changes back. We have to admit when we miss and thanks for continued discussion on bottom path.
— Update notes

”

•  Buckshot pierce reduced ― 6 → 4
  • Note: Does not carry over to Bloon Exclusion Zone (8)

Version 38.0

“

We weren’t quite ever able to take Laser Shock in the direction we initially hoped to, and due to this the 203 crosspath has fallen behind in value and overall use, so we are improving some crosspath values here to fix up damage with bottom path Buckshocks
— Update notes

”

2-0-3

•  Laser Shock: Bonus damage to shocked Bloons increased ― +1 → +2
•  Laser Shock: DoT damage increased ― 1 → 2

Version 44.0

“

Faster Swivel while a nice quality of life doesn’t add any power so also ends up difficult to justify on its own, we don’t expect this will change that too much but even faster swiveling should be much nicer for when you do desperately need that accuracy.
— Update notes

”

•  Turn rate increased ― 360 → 440

Version 50.0

“

While Buckshot is powerful, the high effort requirement pushes favour to the middle crosspath to make up attack speed, so the harder to use crosspath is improving for better payoff.
— Update notes

”

2-0-3

•  Buckshot: Laser Shock damage over time increased ― 2 → 3
  • Note: Does not affect 2-0-4 Bloon Area Denial System (3)
•  Buckshot: Bonus Shocked damage increased ― +2 → +3
  • Note: Does not affect 2-0-4 Bloon Area Denial System (+3)

Version 54.0

“

Buckshot is statted high in theory but in practice requires far too much babysitting, since higher tiers are already heavy hitters we’re boosting up the base rate for the path with a damage tradeoff to make it less of a chore to use.
— Update notes

”

•  Upgrade cost reduced ― $3,400 → $3,000
•  Attack cooldown reduced ― 1.5s → 1.2s (attack speed increased by 25%)
•  Damage decreased ― 4 → 3

2-0-3

•  Laser Shock: Damage per tick over time reduced ― 3 → 2
•  Laser Shock: Bonus damage to shocked Bloons decreased ― +3 → +2

Gallery

For more Dartling Gunner images, see Gallery:Dartling Gunner.

Screenshots

• 
  Buckshot with no crosspath
• 
  Buckshot with 013 crosspath
• 
  Buckshot with 023 crosspath
• 
  Buckshot with 103 crosspath
• 
  Buckshot with 203 crosspath
• 
  Buckshot projectiles
• 
  Buckshot projectiles with Easter Eggs cosmetic

Assets

• 
  Portrait
• 
  Upgrade icon
• 
  Insta Monkey icon

In other languages

Language	Name / Description	Notes
Arabic	رصاص إطلاق انفجارات من الرصاص القاتل بدلاً من رمي السهام.	—
Danish	Spredehagl Affyrer salver af dødbringende bukkeskud i stedet for dartpile.	—
German	Schrotmunition Verschießt tödliche Schrotwolken anstatt Pfeilen.	—
Spanish	Perdigones Dispara estallidos de perdigones letales en lugar de dardos.	—
Spanish (LA)	Perdigones Dispara estallidos de perdigones letales en lugar de dardos.	—
Finnish	Haulikko Ampuu kuolettavia hauleja tikkojen sijaan.	—
French	Chevrotine Tire des explosions de chevrotine mortelles au lieu de fléchettes.	—
Italian	Fucile a pallettoni Spara raffiche di letali pallettoni anziché freccette.	—
Japanese	バックショット ダーツの代わりに致命的なバックショットの爆破を発射する。	—
Korean	산탄 다트 대신에 살벌하게 터지는 산탄을 쏩니다.	—
Dutch	Hagelschot Schiet dodelijke hagel in plaats van pijltjes.	—
Norwegian	Haggel Skyter dødelig hagleskudd i stedet for dartpiler.	—
Polish	Śrut Strzela śmiercionośnym śrutem zamiast rzutek.	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Chumbo Dispara rajadas de chumbo mortal no lugar de dardos.	—
Russian	Картечь Стреляет смертоносной картечью вместо дротиков.	—
Swedish	Hagel Skjuter salvor av dödliga hagel istället för pilar.	—
Thai	กระสุนลูกปราย ยิงกระสุนลูกปรายอันรุนแรงออกมาแทนลูกดอก	—
Turkish	Saçma Oklar yerine ölümcül saçma dalgaları fırlatır.	—
Chinese (simplified)	大型铅弹 发射致命的大型铅弹，而不是飞镖。	—
Chinese (traditional)	鉛彈 射出一波波致命鉛彈而不是飛鏢。	—
This list was last updated for: version 43.1