Strategy:Monkey Buccaneer (BTD6)

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Buccaneers are difficult to use on many maps because they can only be placed in water. However, on maps with good water placement, they are extremely valuable, as they have powerful upgrades that are much cheaper than many land towers’ upgrades of the same power level. They are, however, weak to DDTs, as they can only pop them with Hot Shot or Carrier Flagship, requiring other towers to either handle the DDTs themselves or buff the Buccaneers to do it.

Base

The base tower has good pierce and range, with an average attack speed and relatively large footprint. It has the unique ability to attack from both sides of the tower at once at fixed 180 degree angles, which makes placement important to extract the most from this tower. Each shot is counted as a separate attack, which means it uses up Alchemist buffs quicker than most towers. Considering its advantages, it’s low price point makes it a viable starting tower, specifically by using Military Conscription.

Path 1

Path 1 focuses on DPS. Faster Shooting and Double Shot increase early damage and attack speed. Destroyer is easy to acquire early game and provides high damage for a relatively low price, and has great synergy with buffs like Berserker Brew or Overclock or towers like Embrittlement, and thanks to this synergy the Tier 3 is a prime example of a tower that can be spammed as a viable strategy.

Aircraft Carrier additionally allows it to launch small fighter aircraft that quickly shoot lots of darts and fire homing Anti-MOAB missiles, increasing the Buccaneer’s usefulness on maps where the water is far from the track or obstructed by Line of Sight blockers. Spamming Aircraft Carriers is also a viable strategy with a higher firepower, but much higher price compared to Destroyers but remains effective because the missiles easily destroy MOAB-Class Bloons, while the other weapons handle the insides.

Carrier Flagship further presses this advantage, increasing its own pierce and damage as well as that of its fighter aircraft, allowing the planes’ forward darts to shoot Bloons no matter which direction the plane is facing, and allowing the anti-MOAB missiles to damage DDTs, provided they have camo detection. It also buffs all onscreen Monkey Aces and Monkeys placed in water (Buccaneers, Subs, Mermonkeys and Ice Monkeys placed on water). The buff also applies to heroes, namely Brickell, Pat, and Silas, but only if the latter two are placed in water. It applies to Sun Temples and True Sun Gods placed on water as a Insta-Monkey or by using an Arctic Wind platform. It also provides two medium-sized platforms to place land towers on. These platforms can help these land towers see above Line of Sight blockers, making it good for long-range attackers such as Snipers and Dartling Gunners. If spamming Carriers, it is ideal that one is upgraded to Carrier Flagship so that they are all buffed.

In terms of crosspaths, Path 2 is usually the better option, especially if intending to utilize all of the tower’s weapons or if focusing on single target damage. Double Shot grants an extra grape for Grape/Hot Shot, and grapes are fired just as quickly as darts from Destroyer and above. This makes spamming Hot Shot Destroyers effective for both DPS and group popping. Hot Shot allows both the main tower and planes to pop Lead and frozen Bloons and set targets on fire, as the planes replace their radial darts with forward-fired grapes when given Grape Shot. Aircraft Carrier and Carrier Flagship each buff the tower’s own Hot Shot grapes’ damage as well, and they can even make short work of DDTs if they are given Camo detection or if the DDTs are decamoed.

However, if the water is far away from the track, Path 3 is a better option, as the planes are granted innate camo detection by Crow’s Nest and extra pierce and projectile speed by Long Range. Long Range even increases the main tower’s effectiveness if the water isn’t too far away from the track.

Path 2

Path 2 focuses on group popping and damage per hit. Grape Shot greatly improves the base tower, allowing it to pop many Bloons at once, while Hot Shot provides very cheap power against Leads and further increases damage with the DoT effect. Cannon Ship is very powerful early game, especially given the bombs’ shrapnel burst, and is particularly useful for Least Tiers tiles in Contested Territory. Spamming these is incredibly useful for taking out dense Bloon rushes due to their cheap price.

Monkey Pirates increases damage and fires 2 extra bombs. The bombs also deal extra damage to blimps, allowing it to easily destroy smaller blimps even without its ability. The grapes also deal extra damage to ceramics, making ceramic rushes very easy to destroy. While spamming these isn’t nearly as effective as spamming Destroyers with Hot Shot, it still can be useful to take out many small blimps with the Takedown ability without worrying about their child Bloons. The grapes’ fire deals more damage as well, finishing off stragglers as long as they get hit by the grapes.

Pirate Lord further increases all weapons’ damage, in addition to further increasing the grapes’ and bombs’ ceramic and blimp damage, respectively. It also doubles its attack speed, quickly obliterating Bloon rushes and blimps. Additionally, its Takedown ability has a shorter cooldown and can take out many blimps at once. In specific, up to:

• 6 MOABs/BFBs/DDTs (if given camo detection)
• 2 ZOMGs (Taking down one ZOMG costs three of their six hooks)
• 1 ZOMG + 3 MOABs/BFBs/DDTs

This allows the Pirate Lord to delete many blimps that would otherwise spawn child Bloons, allowing it to tank the remainder of the Bloons. Additionally, each blimp taken down earns extra money, allowing it to support other towers’ purchases and upgrades. However its utility falls in the very late game as its bombs can't damage DDTs and its ability is not enough to hook all of them in rounds like 95.

In terms of crosspathing, Path 3 is generally better for group popping, giving it extra range and pierce. Crow’s Nest gives it innate camo detection, and a 0-5-2 Pirate Lord can solo a Hard-difficulty game as long as it has good water placement. The extra pierce also allows it to pop thick rushes. If going for DPS, Path 1 is better, particularly if Cannon Ships are being spammed, as even without the extra dart, Double Shot still gives an extra grape. However, this extra grape becomes mostly useless at Monkey Pirates and above, so to save cash when going for these upgrades, it is usually better to just get Faster Shooting and ignore Double Shot.

Path 3

This path allows the Buccaneer to make extra income, and as such is mostly useless on CHIMPS where its only use are the Tier 1 and 2 upgrades to crosspath with Paths 1 or 2.

Long Range grants more buffs than the name implies, as it grants increased pierce and projectile speed in addition to range. Crow’s Nest gives it innate Camo detection, making it an excellent crosspathing choice if the damage drop compared to the other two crosspaths is not a problem.

Merchantman is where it starts generating cash, allowing it to generate $200 per round. Spamming these can be more cost-efficient than Banana Farms, given their small footprint and contribution to defense. Their value is increased by higher-tier Buccaneers of the same path and Central Market Banana Farms.

Favored Trades doubles its attack speed, makes $500 a round, and increases the sell price of towers in its range, said price raise stacking up to three times. Due to its high price, Favored Trades is less cost-efficient than Merchantmen at making money, so it is better to wait until 21 Merchantmen have been purchased to upgrade one to this tier, then to Trade Empire. Then, the rest may be gradually upgraded to this tier. It is also a good idea to buy lots of Central Markets to go with the Favored Trades. Selling towers using the buff is usually worth it with one or two Favored Trades and this benefit can be extended out of the water using a Special Poperations with Door Gunner.

Trade Empire buffs the cash generation of up to 20 other Merchantmen/Favored Trades, boosting their damage, ceramic damage, and blimp damage by +1 each. It also produces $800 per round. Trade Empire is best when paired with many Merchantmen, Favored Trades, and Central Markets, allowing you to earns loads of cash each round. On its own, it’s not even close to worth its high price. The other disadvantage is that it takes a lot of water space the maximize its potential, only working on maps with lots of water, like Spa Pits and Spice Islands. Still, its powerful cash generating abilities will allow for powerful upgrades, particularly useful for Bosses.

Crosspathing with Path 2 is far superior to Path 1, as it allows for easy Camo Lead popping, and the high-pierce burning grapes outdo the darts.