Strategy:Apopalypse (BTD6)

This article was last updated for: version 46.3

Apopalypse has randomly-generated rounds, with them generally being more difficult than standard rounds. Many different Bloon types with new immunities come out earlier than usual, and more information on these rounds can be found on the main Apopalypse article linked at the start. The rounds continuously arrive, forcing all actions to take place mid-round and making stalling redundant unless for the purposes of making money from more Bloons before backing out.

For purposes of clarity, the following definitions will be made for this article:

Early-game = Rounds 1-20
Mid-game = Rounds 21-40
Late-game = Rounds 41-60

General tips

• There is a simple, although somewhat tedious, way to breeze through Apopalypse. On Round 1, let the first few Bloons get through, and then drop down a 0-0-0 Dart Monkey near the start of the track. When Round 2 is all popped, the end-of-round cash will be given, the round is still 1, and the game can be re-loaded and the procedure repeated for infinite money. This procedure takes a long time, so it is not recommended if simply attempting to complete Apopalypse as fast as possible, and the rest of this article assumes that this procedure is not performed.
• Backing out has other benefits as well, such as pushing near-leaking Bloons back to the start and counting the money earned from popping Bloons on future rounds before the last round ended.
• The downside of the backing out is that lives lost from Bloons on not-yet-finished rounds and ability usages while the last finished round is ongoing will be counted when loading saves. Therefore, be careful about ability usage and losing lives at the end of rounds.
• Since harder Bloon types with more immunities appear early, make sure to have a defense that covers every Bloon type (namely Camo, Lead, Zebra, and Purple).
• Berserker Brew and Stronger Stimulant are particularly pivotal to the best damage towers on the screen.

Towers & heroes suited for most maps

Name	Portrait	Reasoning & how to use
Benjamin		Ben's money generation greatly aids in affording strong towers faster, especially in the mid-game and late game. With him, light to moderate farming can also be done to afford a tower that guarantees victory, such as Spectre. Attempt to place down Ben as early as possible, even if some selling is required.
Geraldo		Geraldo's shop has a variety of items that grant him versatility for Apopalypse on nearly all maps. Rare Quincy Action Figure's income is particularly useful, as placing Geraldo on Round 1 allows the NFT to generate nearly $20,000 by Round 41, which is the earliest round that dangerous MOAB rushes may appear on, granting enough money for expensive guaranteed wins such as Spectre. In addition, See Invisibility Potion allows one tower to hold off early-game Camos, Sharpening Stone greatly improves low-pierce, sharp towers such as Triple Guns and Overdrive, and Tube of Amaz-o-Glue holds off MOAB insides.
Destroyer, Aircraft Carrier		Destroyer's solid damage to all Bloon types when given Berserker Brew, given Camo support, and using the 3-2-0 crosspath wipes out Apopalypse on most maps. To practically guarantee victory, Destroyer can be upgraded into Aircraft Carrier, whose planes perform well against Bloons and blimps and further amplify its power.
Airburst Darts, Triple Guns, Armor Piercing Darts		Airburst Darts is one of the best options for the mid-game on nearly every map with water. It can obtain nearly map-wide coverage and Camo detection from other Camo-seeing towers with the 2-0-2 crosspath, and Berserker Brew maximizes its potential. Triple Guns improves its power by 50%, making its power able to be carried further into the game. Armor Piercing Darts's extra pierce and extra MOAB and Ceramic damage to all darts, in addition to bonus overall damage on the non-airburst darts, takes out the late-game on most maps.
Dragon's Breath		Dragon's Breath, with the 0-3-2 crosspath, pops all Bloons except for Purples extremely reliably, in addition to dealing some MOAB damage. Berserker Brew greatly enhances its MOAB damage, and allows it to mostly take down Apopalypse on its own on most maps.
Artillery Battery		Artillery Battery does exceptionally well against Bloons and also dents MOABs. Its Bombardment ability grants it a large burst in power, making it able to take down large MOAB rushes with ease. Heavy Shells grants it the ability to pop Black Bloons, so they are covered well. Artillery Battery's best crosspath is 2-4-0, which grants it +1 damage, extra pierce, and extra blast radius. The ability to re-target it grants it flexibility and makes few rounds true dead-ends. Berserker Brew helps it a solid amount, significantly increasing its MOAB and Ceramic damage.
Neva-Miss Targeting		Neva-Miss, when given Berserker Brew, using the 2-0-3 crosspath, and given Camo detection, does very solid overall damage to both Bloons and blimps. Neva-Miss can also overcome the obstacles and spaced-out layout of many difficult maps (such as Dark Dungeons and Ravine), thereby making it a good choice no matter the map.
Lead to Gold		In most cases, there will be an abundance of lead bloons throughout the game which can make Lead to Gold more efficient than Banana Farms for money generation. The extra money gained from stripping the lead layer does not get scaled down in rounds 51+, making it easily profitable in late game when lead bloons come out in larger numbers, even if a decamo or camo detection is needed to hit them.

Early game (rounds 1-20)

• In the first few rounds, attempt to obtain the hero as early as possible.
  • Start with the hero if possible.
  • If the money is not there for a hero start, obtain one or two 0-0-0 Darts depending on the map's difficulty to start off.
  • When the hero can be afforded, sell the Dart Monkey(s) to afford them. If the hero cannot cover all tracks on the map, the hero is Benjamin, or the hero is Geraldo, keep 1 Dart Monkey.
• On Rounds 6-20, solidify the defense for all Bloon types.
  • Black Bloons may first come on Round 12, Purple Bloons on Round 14, White Bloons on Round 16, Camo Bloons on Round 19, and Lead Bloons on Round 20. The defense would ideally be equipped for each of these Bloons on those respective rounds.
  • Airburst Darts covers nearly all types of Bloons with the 2-0-2 crosspath and Camo Intel, covers Lead as well with Acidic Mixture Dip, and performs exceptional defense with Berserker Brew.
  • 1-3-0 Druid of the Jungle covers all Bloon types except for Camo, and deals exceptional damage on maps with one lane per round.
  • Wall of Fire easily pops all Bloons that go through its fire in this part of the game except Purples. 1-2-0 grants it reliability, while 0-2-2 grants it Camo and is more optimal for Dragon's Breath.

Mid-game (rounds 21-40)

• The early mid-game, Rounds 21-30, necessitates further solidification of the defense.
  • One way to do so is to build another tower listed in the Rounds 6-20 recommendations section above, further covering all types of Bloons.
  • Upgrading the towers recommended there also works.
  • If Airburst Darts is present, obtain Berserker Brew for it.
  • If farming for an expensive tower or the late-game, attempt to get a Monkey Bank before Round 30 ends so that it fills up before the first MOAB arrives. Getting it later is also alright, but the possibility of Round 41 MOABs may force an early withdrawal.
• During Rounds 31-40, attempt to start working on the final set-up to defeat the late-game.
  • Wrap up the farming by Round 35 if not going into Freeplay.
  • Dragon's Breath easily pops all non-MOABs going through its fire (except Purples). Giving it Berserker Brew further amplifies its power.
  • Triple Guns and Armor Piercing Darts each significantly improve the power of Airburst Darts.
  • 3-2-0 Destroyer easily wipes out the mid-game and also takes care of the late-game rounds on most maps. Pair it with Berserker Brew and give it Camo support.
  • 2-0-3 Neva-Miss Targeting is a solid option on practically all maps. As with Destroyer, give it Camo support and Berserker Brew.

Late game (rounds 41+)

• The late game rounds spawn in extremely rapidly, with MOAB rushes from multiple rounds often arriving in quick succession. Towers should be able to destroy them and their insides quickly.
  • Unless venturing into freeplay, sell all farms when the first MOAB appears for defense.
  • Spamming towers listed in the recommendations for the 30s can work in most situations.
  • Artillery Battery easily wipes out all Bloons passing through its blast and can wipe out large amounts of MOABs as well with its Bombardment ability.
  • Aircraft Carrier deals solid damage to Bloons and blimps.
  • Comanche Defense is very solid on all maps with one lane per round, and benefits from its mini-Comanches not suffering from the usual limit of 1 summon per round.
  • 0-2-4 Bloon Area Denial System can be afforded with selling or earlier farming and trivializes the late-game with Berserker Brew.
  • If moderate farming has been performed, Spectre can be purchased in the 40s-50s to guarantee victory.