The Spike Factory is a Supporttower in Bloons TD 6. It attacks by passively dispensing piles of spikes onto the nearby track that damage Bloons on contact. Each pile contains 5 spikes (6 with One More Spike), and each spike deals 1 damage. Each spike pile disappears at the end of the round or after 50 seconds, which allows it to build up a thick layer of spikes over time. It can't damage Lead Bloons or frozen Bloons, which destroy its spike piles without being damaged.
It can be upgraded to dispense explosive spiked mines, MOAB-class-Bloon-shredding spikes with drastically increased attack speed, as well as laying spikes over the whole track, or increasing the duration and damage of the spikes.
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: Base Spac with 5-spike piles, and clearing out some stray bloons
The Spike Factory's basic attack places a pile of spikes onto a random point on the track within its range every 1.75 seconds. It can attack even if there are no Bloons within its range, and it can deploy spikes onto parts of the track that are behind line of sight blockers, but it can't deploy spikes if there is no point on the track within its range. Each pile is a projectile that can re-hit Bloons every frame,[fn 1] and the number of spikes in the pile represents the amount of pierce it has. If its pierce is increased, it displays more spikes in the pile accordingly; it can only visually show up to 20 spikes, but it has no pierce cap. By default, each pile contains 5 spikes (6 with One More Spike) that each deal 1 sharp-typedamage. Spike piles expire on their own at the end of each round (except in Apopalypse mode, Race Events, CT Time Attack, and Boss Rush), after a Boss Bloon spawns, or 50 seconds after being deployed.
Although the Spike Factory's spikes can hit Camo Bloons, its attack is not considered to have Camo detection. This means that the Spike Factory does not allow Advanced Intel to target Camo Bloons in its range, nor does it allow Gerry's Fire to target or hit Camo Bloons if used on it.
When Support Monkeys are sold, an Area of Effect explosion deals 250 damage to all nearby Bloons. Spike Factory, Engineer, and Beast Handler placement cooldown reduced 1 round(s)
When Support Monkeys are sold, an Area of Effect explosion deals 500 damage to all nearby Bloons. Spike Factory, Engineer, and Beast Handler placement cooldown reduced 1 round(s)
When Support Monkeys are sold, an Area of Effect explosion deals 900 damage to all nearby Bloons. Spike Factory, Engineer, and Beast Handler placement cooldown reduced 2 round(s)
Spike Factory's capability to stockpile makes it a versatile cleanup option, and its higher-tiers are capable of dealing high damage to MOAB-class bloons. Generally, it serves as a last line of defense, to be placed at the end of the track so there's enough time to build up spikes. Base and lower-tier Spike Factory assist cleanup, especially early Camos, allowing it to tank all Camos up to round 37 on single-lane maps.
The first path is pierce-oriented, and its higher tiers are mainly for cleanup against stray Ceramics, as well as groups with Spiked Mines and above. These higher tier upgrades are generally preferred at the back of the lanes, but can sometimes be used for direct DPS. For crosspaths, White Hot Spikes offers innate popping of Leads, especially DDTs, in addition to additional direct strength of stockpiles.
The second path is speed-oriented and its higher tiers specialize in single-target damage to MOAB-class. Its activated abilities are an excellent option against single targets, with Spike Storm being a potent support against the Round 100 BAD, and Carpet of Spikes excelling against most non-dense rounds and fighting off Boss Bloons. When used as a crosspath, it offers consistent production, refreshing spike piles quicker.
The third crosspath focuses on utility, and higher tiers improve lifespan and the efficiency of stockpiles. In addition to long-lasting spikes, Smart Spikes enables focused targeting of spikes, which is important on multi-lane maps or to micromanage spike placements. Starting from Long Life Spikes stalling out rounds is important to maximize spikes for the next round(s).
If Smart Spikes cannot be bought, it is advised to place Spike Factory such that it has barely enough range to reach the track, in order to minimize random placement of spikes.
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Like a few other towers before it, the attack speed crosspath for Spike Factory has outshined the others. We have reworked the lower Spike Factory tiers to distribute this power more evenly while keeping high tier factories at a similar level of power. — Update notes