Strategy:Phayze

This article was last updated for: version 50.2

Phayze is an elusive boss that counters compact defenses and forces the player to spread towers across the map thanks to is Warp and Slow aura abilities allowing it to travel large sections of the track unimpeded upon reaching the Skull and taking less and less damage overall by increasing the cooldown of the player's towers. Also the boss has the Camo property, which forces many towers to take less efficient single target crosspaths (ex. Elite Defender) to get the camo detection or just accept they will only be able to attack half of the time thanks to the Radar Jam ability.

A lot of the difficulty of Phayze comes from the map, being extremely easy in tracks that makes it pass over the same point many times (ex. Monkey Meadow, Four Circles) making compact and spam strategies extremely powerful as Phayze is slower than Bloonarius, making the Wrap less impactful as it will end over the same towers again. However in more difficult tracks (ex. Off The Coast, Another Brick) where towers are most likely going to have only one chance to damage Phayze, the boss becomes very difficult as it will keep warping forward ahead of the defenses which will be unable to fight, not even against regular spawns. This makes towers with global range almost a necessity.

This strategy page only covers dealing with Phayze itself and not the farming required to afford the defenses; for such guide, consult Strategy:Boss Bloon Event. The tower selection also assumes all challenge modifiers are at standard values.

Normal Phayze

Phayze

Tier 1

In general defenses against Phayze must have inherent camo detection and global range as Phayze can easily skip half of the track during warps.

• 0-2-5 Elite Defender.
• 4-0-2 Aircraft Carrier.
• 4-2-0 Plasma Accelerator.
• 2× to 3× 1-0-4 Sticky Bomb to cover most of the track.
• 2× 1-4-0 Spike Storm.

• 0-2-5 Crossbow Master if Phayze can stay long enough in its range.
• 2× 0-2-4 Full Auto Rifle.
• 0-5-0 MOAB Eliminator or 4× MOAB Assassin with additional camo support (ex. 0-2-0 Radar Scanner).
• 2× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability.
• 2-0-5 Sub Commander or 2× 2-0-4 Armor Piercing Darts. Make sure the towers that are giving vision to the subs can see camo natively like a 0-0-2 Dart Monkey / Monkey Buccaneer.
• 2× 4-2-0 Operation: Dart Storm.
• 0-2-4 Spectre.
• 0-2-4 Bloon Area Denial System.
• 2× 4-0-2 Arcane Spike o 2× 0-4-2 Wizard Lord Phoenix place them to cover as much of the track as possible.
• 2-0-3 Dark Knight, use Darkshift to chase Phayze around.
• 4-0-2 Bloonjitsu with some 0-3-2 Shinobi Tactics if Phayze can stay long enough in their range.

Tier 2

Tier 2 doesn't change much, the majority are upgrades of the Tier 1 options or some new towers that can be afforded at this point.

• 5-2-0 Golden Justice on open maps. Make sure to mark Phayze by using Marked to Pop ability with its targeting set to Strong. Range boosts like Take Aim and Primary Mentoring are recommended.
• 5-0-2 Carrier Flagship on longer maps, otherwise combine it with 2× 4-0-2 Aircraft Carrier.
• 5-2-0 Sky Shredder.
• 1-5-0 M.A.D.
• 1-0-5 Master Bomber.
• 1-5-0 Carpet of Spikes.

• 0-5-0 MOAB Eliminator with additional camo support (ex. 0-2-0 Radar Scanner). Be careful with the ability and make sure it is only used while Radar Jam is off, otherwise the shot can be wasted on a MOAB.
• 2× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability.
• 2-0-5 Sub Commander + 2× 2-0-4 Armor Piercing Darts.
• 2-0-5 Blooncineration.
• 3× 4-2-0 Plasma Accelerator.
• 2-0-4 Dark Champion.
• 5-0-2 Grandmaster Ninja with some 0-3-2 Shinobi Tactics if Phayze can stay long enough in their range.

Tier 3

Any strategy should use buff towers (Permanent Brew, Call to Arms / Homeland Defense, Jungle Drums) and debuffs for the boss (5-2-0 Cripple MOAB, Super Brittle and Glue Storm) at this point, specially on spam strategies, which also benefit from a 4-X-X Sun Temple with only Support sacrifices.

• Grandmaster Ninja + Bloonjitsu + Shinobi Tactics spam if Phayze can stay long enough in their range.
• 1-4-0 Spike Storm spam.
• 1-5-0 M.A.D.
• A combination of Tier 2 options.

• 5× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability. Use Energizer in shorter maps or two groups of 5 subs.
• 2-0-5 Sub Commander + 2-0-4 Armor Piercing Darts or 5-0-2 Carrier Flagship + 3-0-2 Destroyer spam, specially when paired with Admiral Brickell.
• 3-0-2 Sun Avatar spam.
• 2-0-5 Legend of the Night.

Any Paragon has the damage needed to clear this Tier, however only Apex Plasma Master, Crucible of Steel and Flame and Glaive Dominus are typically affordable at this point. Dart and Boomerang Paragon should be able to defeat Phayze before it gets out of range, even at Degree 1 except in really bad map situations. Tack Paragon should not be used due lack of camo detection but if there is no other option, it should be paired with towers that can remove the camo property from Phayze.

Tier 4

If a Primary Paragon was used for Tier 3, it should be sold for farming setup in order to afford another better suited to fight Phayze. Nautic Siege Core, Ascended Shadow or Navarch of the Seas are the most common defenses for this stage and can defeat Tier 4 and 5 Phayze by their own in almost any situation at Degree 20+ using their global range attacks. Other options for this tier include a combination of the Tier 3 towers.

Tier 5

A second Paragon is recommended but not needed if the one for Tier 4 is strong enough. Apex Plasma Master, Crucible of Steel and Flame and Glaive Dominus can be used at Degree 40+ to cover more track, but Tack Paragon should be paired with Ascended Shadow for camo detection (it is unaffected by Phayze's Radar Jam). Magus Perfectus, Master Builder (if allowed to self utlraboost for a few rounds) and Goliath Doomship can defeat Phayze at Degree 1 with good micro for the former two.

Mega Massive Munitions Factory can defeat it at Degree 1 in very long maps to allow Spikeageddon ability to take all but one of the skulls while being out of range and finish it with its regular spikes when it gets into range. Otherwise it needs Degree 40+ to defeat the boss with no help at all in maps of around 20+ RBS in Medium difficulty. But in that case is better to go for Goliath Doomship instead or leave it at Degree 1 at the back of the track to pop any Bloon that reaches the exit.

Elite Phayze

Elite Phayze

Tier 1

• 0-2-5 Elite Defender.
• 5-0-2 Carrier Flagship.
• 2× 4-2-0 Plasma Accelerator.
• Enough 1-0-4 Sticky Bomb to cover most of the track.
• 4× 1-4-0 Spike Storm.

• 0-5-0 MOAB Eliminator with additional camo support (ex. 0-2-0 Radar Scanner).
• 4× 4-2-0 Operation: Dart Storm or 5-2-0 Sky Shredder if the player can afford it.
• 2-0-5 Sub Commander Make sure the towers that are giving vision to the subs can see camo natively like a 0-0-2 Dart Monkey / Monkey Buccaneer.
• 2× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability if the map is long enough.

If possible, support those towers with a 4-2-0 Stronger Stimulant and a 2-X-X Jungle Drums, specially in shorter maps.

Tier 2

• 1-5-0 M.A.D.
• Grandmaster Ninja + Bloonjitsu + Shinobi Tactics spam if Phayze can stay long enough in their range.
• 1-4-0 Spike Storm spam.
• A combination of strong towers like Sky Shredder, Carrier Flagship, Master Bomber, Dark Champion, Carpet of Spikes, etc.

• 5-2-0 Ray of Doom.
• 5× 0-4-0 First Strike Capability. Use Energizer in shorter maps or two groups of 5 subs.
• 2-0-5 Sub Commander + 2-0-4 Armor Piercing Darts or 5-0-2 Carrier Flagship + 3-0-2 Destroyer spam, specially when paired with Admiral Brickell.
• 0-2-5 Flying Fortress.

A single tower solution is not recommended in shorter maps as they might not damage Phayze fast enough before it reaches the exit. Any strategy should use buff towers (Permanent Brew, Call to Arms / Homeland Defense, Jungle Drums) and debuffs for the boss (5-2-0 Cripple MOAB, Super Brittle and Glue Storm) if affordable, specially on spam strategies

Tier 3

A Paragon is heavily recommended at this point, however, the cheaper Paragons don't have a a particularly good matchup against Phazye. As, depending on the map, Apex Plasma Master and Glaive Dominus might not be able to defend alone as the Boss can get out of range and Crucible of Steel and Flame lacks camo detection which can't be reliably overcome at this point. So in those circumstances, if the player has farmed well enough or is able to ignore Phayze for a few rounds, it might be more reliable to skip the Primary Paragons in the first place and go straight for a Nautic Siege Core or Ascended Shadow. If this is not possible, then a combination of the Tier 2 towers can account for the missing damage. Any Paragon at Degree 1 is able to deafeat Tier 3 (except Mega Massive Munitions Factory due short range and Phayze's warp), but it is more reliable to get at least Degree 20+.

Tier 4

It is recommended to sell the Paragon used for the previous tier for farming setup (Sub and Ninja Paragons can be kept for Tier 4 and 5 if their Degree is at least 40). Phayze can be defeated at this tier by one or two paragons. Nautic Siege Core, Ascended Shadow, Navarch of the Seas, and Magus Perfectus can defeat Phayze alone at Degree 40+, or use two of them at Degree 20. Degree 40+ Primary Paragons can still be used in combination with a non-Primary one (Crucible of Steel and Flame should only be paired with Ascended Shadow). A 5-0-2 VTSG can be used in place of any Paragon.

Tier 5

A combination of 3 or 4 Paragons across the map is the most reliable defense against Phayze, the recommended Degrees for a combination of 4 Paragons are:

• Degree 40+ Nautic Siege Core.
• Degree 40+ Navarch of the Seas.
• Degree 40+ Magus Perfectus, use its Metamorphosis ability with full graveyard.
• Degree 40+ Ascended Shadow, it might be useful to not use any decamo towers (such as Super Brittle) as they remove the extra damage from this Paragon against Camo bloons.
• Degree 40+ Master Builder, get it earlier if possible for the self-ultraboosts and micro the Sentry Paragons during the fight.
• Degree 20+ Goliath Doomship, can defeat Phayze alone at Degree 80+.
• VTSG (with 10 stacks of Ultraboost if possible).
• Mega Massive Munitions Factory is not recommended for directly damaging Phayze as with its short range combined with Phayze's Warp means it won't stay on the Paragon's range for long, and the only way to damage it from afar is via the Spikeaggedon ability which will always require 2 charges to lay out a new set of mines as some of them will never get triggered as they will fall behind Phayze's portal. This paragon can still be used at Degree 1+ at the end of the track to catch any Bloon that might try to leak, but all other paragons should be 20 degrees higher as it was a 3 Paragon setup.

For 3 paragons, or in a shorter map Paragons might need 20 more Degrees to beat Phayze. A Support Chinook is useful to move a tower like Super Brittle around.

Boss Rush

This section is incomplete. You can help out by expanding it. The editor who added this notice elaborates: More info is needed, the info here was copied from the main article before the strategy section there was shortened.

In Boss Rush, the first pops of Phayze can be achieved by using Sauda, x-2-0 Monkey Aces and x-3-x or x-x-2 Spike Factories, constant buying and selling of towers is needed to keep damaging Phayze and defending the rest of the bloons, Druid of the Jungle can be used to handle regular Bloon spawns moving further and further into the track. Towards the mid-game, getting a M.A.D and spamming 3-0-2 Sun Avatars are good options and so are Merchantman / Favored Trades with the intention of going into a Paragon for the endgame with Apex Plasma Master and Glaive Dominus being common options.

Tips and recommendations

• In general is better to use a crosspath with inherent camo detection (ex. 0-2-5 Elite Defender over 2-0-5) rather than granting it from other tower, because the affected monkey will still only be able to attack Phayze half of the time.
• Ascended Shadow can grant camo detection to Crucible of Steel and Flame that can't be disrupted by Phayze. This might not be enough to make the Tack Paragon viable against Phayze as it still suffers from range problems just like other compact / spam defense solutions.
• Spam strategies such as Shinobi Tactics or Sun Avatar spam should only be used if the map forces Phayze to pass over the towers several times, otherwise it will just warp after triggering the skull making the defense useless against the boss and even regular spawns. Other spam or compact defenses like Overdrive or Avatar of Wrath, while still useful, there are outclassed by the options mentioned earlier and even weaker than Plasma Accelerator and Spike Storm spam due having only 50% uptime against the boss.
• Reglular spawns will be advancing into the track as the fight against Phayze progresses, so is important to have defenses in the back to handle them. For Tier 1,towers like 0-3-2 Dragon's Breath, 3-0-2 Destroyer or 4-0-2 M.O.A.R Glaives can be used with another tower that cover their weakness (Purples, Lead, Camo, respectively). Camo detection is necessary due Radar Jam granting Camo property to the Bloons Phayze pulls and in the case the defensive tower doesn't have detection, it should be given in the form of stripping camo from Bloons (ex. Submerge and Support, Shimmer) rather than granting it (ex. Etienne, Radar Scanner) as the later can be disrupted by Phayze leaving the player defenseless against the Camo Bloons . In later tiers, the pierce of the main attackers or using dedicated towers such as Perma-Spike can be enough to handle regular spawns, but if Phayze's last skull are triggered too late, there is a risk of leaking as the defense will have too little time to defeat the regular spawns, making Fortified ZOMGs and DDTs extremely dangerous especially against Elite Phayze due the Slow Aura ability.
  • Dangerous rounds presenting Fortified ZOMGs are 129, 131, 132, 133 and 135, and Fortified DDTs will appear in 128, 130, 135 and 138. So additional defenses or clever ability timing might be needed from such positions.
• Phayze should not be stalled for long as if the player starts defending it when is very ahead in the track, they risk Phayze reaching the exit during a Warp.

Gallery

This article or section needs more screenshots. See the screenshot guidelines for more information on what screenshots are needed and how to add them. The editor that added this notice elaborates: Images of example defensive setups