Strategy:CHIMPS
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CHIMPS is arguably the most difficult game-mode in BTD6, especially if Powers are used in other game modes.
For purposes of clarity, the following definitions will be made for this article:
- Early-game = Rounds 6-40
- Mid-game = Rounds 41-80
- Late-game = Rounds 81-100
General recommendations
Preparation
- If attempting to defeat CHIMPS either for the first time or on a map with unprecedented difficulty, a good idea is look up guides to beat it and take notes about the strategies in those guides. Later on, for maps of similar difficulty and layout, attempt to incorporate elements of the guides into the run without directly copying them to improve skills and prospects for future runs.
- While attempting to incorporate new strategies into harder maps or the first CHIMPS run without guides, doing some practice runs where retrying last round can be used freely is good practice that can build on the player's ability to defeat CHIMPS on their own. For maps where all parts of the game are difficult, get through the whole CHIMPS game with a red badge before going for a Black Border.
- Experiment different strategies in Sandbox (BTD6) or Challenge Editor to speed up the testing process if only a few rounds are being the roadblock.
- Remember the rounds that frequently become a roadblock, and plan ahead for those rounds later on. Rounds that are frequently challenging to CHIMPS runs are listed below.
Rounds to watch out for
| Round # | Bloons Spawned | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Blue x102 | Instead of just spaced out Greens, Blues, and Reds, this round contains a dense clump of Blues near the end of the round. Sufficient pierce is important on this round; many towers that defeat the previous rounds lose to the Blue clump at the end due to lacking pierce. |
| 15 | Red x20 | The spaced out swarms of Yellows and Pinks are problematic; most early-game defenses attempt to chase the bloons, or simply fail to keep up with them. This round is far more difficult than all rounds preceding it, making many players come to it unprepared. |
| 24 | Camo Green x1 | The Camo Green is relatively easy to deal with, but not having a Camo tower and having no money to buy one could cost the entire game. |
| 28 | Lead x6 | Without reliable Lead popping and enough money, this round could become a dead-end. |
| 33 | Camo Red x20 | There are many more Camo Bloons than Round 24, requiring much more proper defense against them. Make sure to buy it before-hand or save enough money for one. |
| 40 | MOAB x1 | The MOAB is the hardest challenge of the early game. Without the entire early-game setup being prepared to deal good single-target damage and clean up the tight, high-RBE ceramics, this round could very easily be a dead-end. |
| 54 | Ceramic x35 | The constant, fairly packed ceramics with the two MOABs make it arguably the toughest round in the early part of mid game. |
| 59 | Ceramic x20
Camo Lead x50 |
This is the first Camo Lead round. While many options exist to defeat this round, forgetting to give Camo detection to a lead-popper or put down a lead-popper that sees Camo is a common cause of defeat on round 59. |
| 63 | Lead x75 | This infamous round has 3 extremely tight Ceramic waves with 40, 40, and 42 Ceramics respectively. Unless the defense has been set up very adequately to deal with very dense Bloons, this round can pose massive troubles. |
| 64 | MOAB x6
Fortified MOAB x3 |
Nine MOABs, including 3 Fortified MOABs, spawn rapidly and can easily overwhelm defenses. Without reliable damage to groups of MOAB-class, this round can be a struggle, especially if all abilities are on cooldown from round 63. |
| 75 | Lead x14
Fortified Lead x14 |
The 6 BFBs in 3 separate packs, especially the last dense pack of 3 BFBs, the fortified MOABs, and the Leads blocking many projectiles give this round a strong case of being the hardest mid-game round. |
| 76 | Regrow Ceramic x75 | This round can become a dead-end if all abilities are on cooldown after being used to beat the difficult Round 75. |
| 78 | Rainbow x150
Ceramic x75 |
Without a solid Camo popping power or reliable decamo, the densely packed Camo Ceramics will simply pass through unscathed. |
| 82 | BFB x6 | The latter 5 fortified BFBs are difficult to break, but it is the fortified Super Ceramics from those BFBs that pose the greatest challenge, especially for towers that fall off against them, such as Crossbow Master and Bomb Blitz. |
| 89 | Fortified MOAB x20 | The unprecedented amount of Fortified blimps and especially the Fortified Super Ceramics underneath them can become a significant roadblock. |
| 90 | Fortified Camo Regrow Lead x500
DDT x3 |
With preparations, the 3 DDTs are simple, but they still pose an unprecedented challenge to defenses, due to them being fast-moving blimps as opposed to slow-moving ones with Super Ceramics as the main threat. They could easily brick an entire run if no towers that can pop Camo, Black, and Lead have been placed before-hand. |
| 91 | Fortified Ceramic x100 BFB x20 |
This round is simple on most maps, but difficult on maps with very separate Bloon & MOAB lanes, especially Cargo and Dark Dungeons. It is by far the hardest of the pre-Freeplay CHIMPS rounds that involve non-blimp bloon lanes, due to towers easily falling behind the spaced Super Ceramics when they are placed to deal with the BFBs first. |
| 92 | Fortified MOAB x50 ZOMG x4 |
Defenses that struggle to non-stop Fortified MOABs and especially their Super Ceramic insides will have severe trouble against this round. The Fortified MOABs could also divert attention from the ZOMGs, making towers not focus on them until it is too late. |
| 93 | Fortified BFB x10 DDT x6 |
The extra DDTs can pose extra challenge to towers that can beat Round 90. The Fortified BFBs may also take a long time to break, |
| 95 | Fortified Camo Regrow Lead x500
Camo Regrow Purple x250 |
The extreme amount of DDTs on this round is a monumental challenge to many strategies, making many runs a dead-end. The Fortified MOABs and their Super Ceramic insides consume the pierce of projectiles that would have damaged the DDTs, posing further challenges. |
| 97 | Fortified ZOMG x2 | Defenses that lack single-target damage will often fail to pop the Fortified ZOMG layers soon enough to deal with the insides. Commonly used towers that struggle against this round specifically include Prince of Darkness and Ultra-Juggernaut. |
| 98 | Fortified BFB x30
ZOMG x8 |
This round has the highest RBE out of any round in pre-Freeplay CHIMPS. The high amounts of health of the fortified BFBs and ZOMGs, but especially the absurd amount of Super Ceramics (including Fortified) that they contain, make this round completely stumble many strategies. |
| 99 | MOAB x60 | Many strategies that can beat Round 95 face a dead-end on this round due to them based on group-popping power that falls off the the DDTs gain double health on this round, with MOABs and their Super Ceramic insides continuing to consume pierce from DDT-popping powers. |
| 100 | BAD x1 | Many strategies that revolve around stalling and/or grouped popping powers completely fail to Round 100 due to the BAD being immune to all slowdowns from towers and requiring single-target damage options to be dealt with. |
Gameplay
- In the early-game and mid-game, attempt to place down towers that can be upgraded into solid options later on. Do not place towers that become wasteful once Super Ceramics come on round 81.
- Do not spam towers whenever feeling like doing so and leave them at low tiers into the late-game. Focus on a few, strong towers with support centered around them to have the best prospects late-game.
- Always recognize the importance of support. They include Jungle Drums, Berserker Brew, Giant Condor, Relentless Glue, and MOAB Press. They tremendously assist the main damage tower in many cases for relatively little cost.
- Use good save-up towers for the mid-game that allows for the accumulation of money for a strong, late-game tower and prevent the dropping of many towers that become redundant past Round 80. These save-up towers include Dragon's Breath, Bloon Area Denial System, and Destroyer.
Towers suited for most maps
Early game (rounds 6-40)
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- Rounds 6-8 revolve around the starting combinations of towers. After those rounds, save up for upgrades, more towers, or the selected hero.
- For most maps, the first few rounds can be completed with three 0-0-0 Darts, with at least one on Strong.
- Dart + Sniper works well on maps where a lack of range is a problem. Sniper on Strong to chip the Greens, and Dart to clean up.
- Maps containing water can use Dart + Sub, Dart on Strong to chip away the Greens, and Sub to clean up the remaining bloons.
- Most Beginner and Intermediate Maps, and several Advanced Maps, can support a Quincy or Sauda start to beat the first few rounds. Quincy is more versatile, while Sauda is generally easier to begin.
Mid-game (rounds 41-80)
Late game (rounds 81+)
Strategies for harder maps
Many Advanced and Expert maps have layouts or gimmicks that prevent many aforementioned strategies from working. For more information on the strategies of those maps, see the Strategy section for them.