Trident Swiftness

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Trident Swiftness
Portrait of Trident Swiftness
Icon of Trident Swiftness
Tridents are thrown faster and travel further.
Tower Mermonkey — Path 1 — Tier 2
XP cost 580
Cash cost $210 — Easy
$250 — Medium
$270 — Hard
$300 — Impoppable

Trident Swiftness is the Mermonkey's path 1 tier 2 upgrade in Bloons TD 6. It reduces the cooldown of the trident attack by a further 25% (effectively +33.33% attack speed), for a total of exactly 40% reduced cooldown (effectively +66.67% attack speed) relative to the base tower due to it stacking with Trident Efficiency. It also increases the projectile speed of its tridents by 50%, but reduces their lifespan, so the maximum distance they can travel before expiring is effectively unchanged.

Contrary to its description, this upgrade affects other attacks when crosspathed, not just tridents.

  • Alluring Melody and above trance cooldown decreased by 10% (+11.11% attack speed), totalling 21% (+23.46% attack speed)
  • Arctic Knight's Ice Jet gains no attack speed bonus and gains +50% projectile speed without modifying its projectile lifespan, therefore having +50% projectile distance as well.

Stats

For a complete list of Mermonkey stats, see Stats:Mermonkey (BTD6).
This data was last updated for: version 55.1
Tower
Display range28 units
Footprint radius8 units
Targeting options
  • First
  • Last
  • Close
  • Strong
Attack
Cooldown0.66s
Offset (X, Y, Z)
-0.5, 3.4, 7
TargetingDepends on targeting option
Targeting range28 units
Filters
  • Cannot target Camo
Projectile
Pierce2
Speed300 units/s
Lifespan0.6667s
Radius2 units
Filters
  • Cannot hit Camo
Splash
Pierce3
Max pierce3
Damage2
Damage typeShatter
Lifespan0.05s
Radius3 units
Filters
  • Cannot hit Camo
  • Ignores blockers
Buff when in water
Range modifier×1.35

2-1-0

Attack
Projectile
Pierce2 → 3
Splash
Pierce3 → 6
Max pierce3 → 6

2-2-0

Attack
Splash
Radius3 units → 4.5 units
Freeze
Multiplier×0
Duration0.5s
Layers4

2-0-1

Attack
Filters
  • Can now target Camo
Projectile
Seeking distance80 units
Seeking angle360°
Seeking rotation speed390 °/s
Filters
  • Can now hit Camo
Splash
Filters
  • Can now hit Camo

2-0-2

Echosense Network
Range modifier+7.5%
Max. stacks10
  • Has global range

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
2-0-0 $590 $700 $755 $840 $413 $490 $529 $588
2-1-0 $760 $900 $970 $1,080 $532 $630 $679 $756
2-2-0 $950 $1,125 $1,215 $1,350 $665 $788 $851 $945
2-3-0 $2,650 $3,125 $3,375 $3,750 $1,855 $2,188 $2,363 $2,625
2-4-0 $9,450 $11,125 $12,015 $13,350 $6,615 $7,788 $8,411 $9,345
2-5-0 $53,650 $63,125 $68,175 $75,750 $37,555 $44,188 $47,723 $53,025
2-0-1 $760 $900 $970 $1,080 $532 $630 $679 $756
2-0-2 $1,000 $1,180 $1,270 $1,415 $700 $826 $889 $991
2-0-3 $2,700 $3,180 $3,430 $3,815 $1,890 $2,226 $2,401 $2,671
2-0-4 $9,160 $10,780 $11,640 $12,935 $6,412 $7,546 $8,148 $9,055
2-0-5 $30,410 $35,780 $38,640 $42,935 $21,287 $25,046 $27,048 $30,055

Strategy

This section was last updated for: version 52.0

Trident Swiftness offers the maximum attack speed benefit for the Mermonkey, in addition to extra projectile speed to more reliably catch bloons. The attack speed is usually the main reason to fully crosspath along the top path, especially for higher-tier Mermonkeys. It's not exceptional on lower-tier Mermonkeys, but still useful for 2-1-0 Sharper Prongs in Race conditions.

Update history

For a complete list of Mermonkey changes, see Update history:Mermonkey (BTD6).
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  •   Overall cost reduced by $125 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)
  •   Trident: projectile lifespan increased ― 0.3333s → 0.6667s
  •   220 Mermonkey should no longer target Camo Bloons (bug fix)
2-4-0, 2-5-0
  •   Now reduces the lifespan of Ice Jet projectiles by 33% (undocumented)
    • Note: This means the maximum travel distance of Ice Jet projectiles is now the same as without the crosspath, since this crosspath increases their projectile speed by 50%
  •   Upgrade cost reduced ― $300 → $250
    •   Overall cost reduced by $250 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)
2-1-0
  •   Trident: Pierce increased ― 2 → 3
    • Note: Does not affect splash (6)
    • X-3-X Riptide Champion unchanged (18)
Mermonkey weren’t[sic] feeling they favoured their natural habitat enough, so their Water Placement bonus is getting a boost.
— Update notes
  •   Range bonus when placed in water increased ― +25% → +35%
2-4-0
  •   Ability: Projectile lifespan increased ― 6.6667s → 10s
2-5-0
  •   Ability: Projectile lifespan increased ― 10s → 15s
Last update many players felt blindsided when Brickell stopped applying her buff to Mermonkeys since there was no mention in the balance changes section. We would like to apologize for that - it was tasked internally as a bug as it was indeed unintended to work that way. We then left the issue alone for a long time, mostly due to other more pressing matters, and this issue fell through the cracks. In retrospect, it would have been better to treat this as balance rather than a simple bug fix due to how much time had passed. Reading through your feedback, we did consider just reverting the change, however the bigger issue that the feedback reinforced to us was that players considered Mermonkey to be so bad that it was only a "good" tower when used in combination with a single, water-only hero.

This sort of forced synergy goes against our design intentions - namely that Mermonkey being our signature amphibious tower should be able to stand on its own without being balance-locked to an interaction with a single hero. With all that in mind, we feel Mermonkey's highest priority right now is large sweeping buffs to each of the paths, so most of the following changes are our first step towards this starting from the low tier crosspaths.
— Update notes

  •   Overall cost reduced by $100 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)
  •   Trident: Attack cooldown reduced ― 0.804s → 0.66s (attack speed increased by 21.82%)
    • Note: Attack cooldown reduction from 1-x-x increased from 18% to 25%. The patch notes do not specify that the attack speed buff is only for the main trident attack, all other attacks unchanged.
2-3-0, 2-4-0, 2-5-0
  •   Trident: Projectile speed increased ― 150 units/s → 165 units/s
  •   Trident: Projectile lifespan decreased ― 1.3333s → 1.1212s
    • Note: Maximum distance traveled by the projectile unchanged. Popseidon side tridents are also affected.
2-4-0, 2-5-0
  •   Ice Jet: Projectile speed increased ― 300 units/s → 330 units/s (undocumented)
2-5-0
  •   Trident and Side Tridents: Attack cooldown reduced ― 0.402s → 0.33s (attack speed increased by 21.82%)
    • Note: The patch notes do not specify that the attack speed buff is only for the main trident attack, all other attacks unchanged.
Mermonkey ended up somewhat underrated and overbuffed, mid tiers for top and middle paths have really stood out here lately and need to be reigned back in line.
— Update notes
  •   Overall cost increased by $25 (due to cost changes for previous tiers)
  •   Splash: Radius reduced ― 6 units → 3 units
    • Note: Stacks with X-2-X Tidal Chill ― 9 units → 4.5 units
    • Also affects all crosspaths up to 2-2-2.
For more Mermonkey images, see Gallery:Mermonkey.

Screenshots

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Assets

In other languages

This section was last updated for: version 55.2
Name
Language Text Notes
Arabic سرعة الرمح ثلاثي الشعب
Danish Treforkshurtighed
German Dreizack-Schnelligkeit
Spanish Rapidez de tridente
Spanish (Latin America) Celeridad de tridentes
Finnish Atraimen nopeus
French Rapidité du trident
Italian Rapidità del tridente
Japanese 三又槍の俊敏性
Korean 신속한 삼지창
Dutch Vliegensvlugge drietand
Norwegian Treforkhastighet
Polish Prędkość trójzębu
Portuguese (Brazil) Tridente Ligeiro
Russian Быстрый трезубец
Swedish Treuddssnabbhet
Thai ความคล่องแคล่วตรีศูร
Turkish Yaba Hızı
Chinese (simplified) 三叉戟迅捷
Chinese (traditional) 三叉戟速度
Description
Language Text Notes
Arabic يتم رمي الرماح ثلاثية الشعب بشكل أسرع والسفر لمسافة أبعد.
Danish Treforker kastes hurtigere og rækker længere.
German Dreizacke werden schneller geworfen und fliegen weiter.
Spanish Los tridentes se lanzan más rápido y llegan a más distancia.
Spanish (Latin America) Los tridentes se arrojan más rápido y llegan más lejos.
Finnish Atraimet heitetään nopeammin ja ne lentävät pidemmälle.
French Les tridents sont lancés plus rapidement et leur portée est accrue.
Italian I tridenti sono lanciati più velocemente e percorrono una maggiore distanza.
Japanese もっと速く遠くまで三又槍を投げられるようになる。
Korean 삼지창이 더 빠르고 더 멀리 날아갑니다.
Dutch Drietanden worden sneller geworpen en leggen meer afstand af.
Norwegian Treforker kastes kjappere og lengre.
Polish Trójzęby rzucane są szybciej i lecą dalej.
Portuguese (Brazil) Os tridentes são arremessados mais rápido e chegam mais longe.
Russian Трезубцы кидаются чаще и летят дальше.
Swedish Treuddar kastas snabbare och färdas längre.
Thai ขว้างตรีศูรเร็วขึ้นและไปได้ไกลขึ้น
Turkish Yabalar daha hızlı fırlatılır ve daha uzağa gider.
Chinese (simplified) 三叉戟投掷速度更快,射程更远。
Chinese (traditional) 可更快地向更遠處投擲三叉戟。