User:MasterKnightDH/Sandbox/Strategy:Rosalia (BTD6)

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Rosalia is a vibrant Hero with surprising potential that simply requires plenty of management and care to unlock. Rosalia can move around within the high range of her Workshop to handle combat at a given location of the player's choosing, uniquely using maneuverability to drive the bloons into confusion. She additionally comes equipped with weapons that can bring on the devastation in favorable circumstances, the Laser having focused Energy and the Grenade managing Explosive spread, allowing for controlling Leads, Purples, and Black Bloons without added support where the influential baseline of the Laser would have difficulty with 2 of those, an uncommon weakness among Heroes, but the correct tool for the job will fix that, allowing useful money saves earlier on, although Camo bloons remain a persistent problem. Her abilities (Scatter Missile, Flight Boost, and Kinetic Charge) can keep floods and buddy systems in check when used well to make up for the long cooldowns.

If there is anything to note above all, it is that creativity is invaluable in making the most of Rosalia's abilities. Turning her low attack search range into a strength is a good example of the gameplay befitting the spirited inventor, something to help show that well managed imagination can go a long way.

Placement

• Footprints: Rosalia's workshop has the same Footprint size as the Heli Pilot at 27x27, though it doesn't use line of sight to restrict where Rosalia can move, and Rosalia can stand on the workshop itself as needed. Rosalia's own Footprint before she gets her upgraded jetpack at Level 7 is the same as the Dart Monkey at 6, allowing herself to squeeze into a tight-knit formation or confined space early on before terrain, tower placement, and even the track are eventually no longer a concern.
• Range usage: Rosalia's movement range from the workshop is 60 units, and her own attack search range is a further 32 units, totaling 92 units, more than even Etienne's 80 at Level 16 and above. While this relies on moving Rosalia around, the high effective range allows the workshop to be placed behind a blocker or in a sniping position to keep it from obstructing other towers. For example, the map Workshop notably has a table right below the blimp lane's corner where the workshop can be placed below.

Basics

• Micromanagement: Rosalia has 4 options for her micromanagement, with ways to cover for each other to reduce stress:
  • Targeting option allows Rosalia to hit particular threats. Most tower already have targeting options, but Rosalia can be directed to fire her weapon consistently at a given location, or hit specific threats with her infinite range abilities.
  • Abilities permit burst effectiveness, with Flight Boost allowing for hunting targets and controlling potential leaks, and Scatter Missile and Kinetic Charge having heavy capability in breaking up heavy formations. All Heroes have Abilities, though Rosalia's have infinite range, usage of Rosalia's targeting option, and near-consistent usefulness in breaking up floods via incredible burst damage, with the occasional exception such as Kinetic Charge against Round 63.
  • Movement orders can be issued to direct Rosalia where she would want to manage her efforts. Good positioning with crafty handling of other available options can keep the number of needed movement orders low enough.
  • Weapon swapping is used to switch between the laser for the bigger singleton threats, or grenades for thick headcounts or specialized jobs. The player can focus on using a single weapon by default if they know what they're doing, though the other weapon is guaranteed to have consistent usefulness.
• Preferred targets Pre-Round 40: The Laser can deal with Rainbows, Ceramics, Blacks, and Zebras during Rounds before 40 and then some, thanks to its high Damage, at the cost of doing nothing to Leads or Purples and struggling against thick buddy systems such as Round 36's Pinks. The Grenade will take out Leads and Purples, and can also help against covered high-profile targets such as Pinks on Rounds 15 and 36, but it won't be effective against Blacks or Zebras, which are plentiful in the 20s and 30s.
• WARNING: Camos: Rosalia as a Hero never addresses Camo in any manner outside outside the boosts to Aces and Helis. She must have additional defenses to make sure Camo bloons are kept under control.

Levels 2 to 7 (Before Round 41)

• Weapons and positioning basics: The Laser benefits actively from Rosalia having her attacks hitting targets in a straight line. Rosalia can be placed where she would do this consistently, though will have trouble reliably hitting with it otherwise. Meanwhile, the Grenades, gained at Level 2, can hit covered high profile targets if hitting them can be a problem because of bloon density, as well as clear up weaker bloons for towers that specialized against spaced targets (Ninja and Spike Factory for example) to clean up, so Rosalia can flank against particular threats with it or simply clear crowds.
• Scatter Missile (Level 3): If the field equipment isn't enough, Scatter Missile can be used to rain a sufficiently continuous stream of Explosive Type missiles upon a target's location. If used well, the likes of Round 15's covered Yellows and Pinks, as well as Round 22's buddy system Whites, can be kept under control and prevent leaks before they can even threaten to happen. Scatter Missile's cooldown early on is not to be underestimated, so it's desirable to make the most of its firepower.
• Enhanced Laser pushback (Level 5): At Level 5, Rosalia will fire an enhanced shot with her equipped weapon. The Laser's enhanced attack will not only deal 25 Damage and destroy Leads, but it will also inflict shock and knockback to any target that survives. Early on, targets warranting its usage are few and far between, but eventually, its merits will really shine.
• Grenade bouncing (Level 5): At Level 5, Rosalia's Grenade attacks will start bouncing between targets, allowing it to devastate lines of bloons, which may help in isolating key bloons of interest. Additionally, every 10 shots when equipped, the Grenade weapon will fire extra projectiles, which can allow damage to add up.
• Enhanced attack manipulation: Chargeup is maintained for the unequipped weapon. If, for example, Rosalia swaps weapons when her current weapon has 6 shots of chargeup, when she swaps back, she will still fire the enhanced attack 4 attacks later with the original weapon. This can be used for a burst of effectiveness against particularly dangerous threats.
• Aircraft Efficiency (Level 6): When Rosalia reaches Level 6, any Aces' runways and Heli Pilots' helipads having their dead centers within range of her workshop will have their placement and their upgrades across all tiers cost 10% less. When getting their general Tier 5s, this can save about $4500 to $7000 base for each one, allowing for a useful investment as long as the terrain provides plenty of expendable tower space.
• Flight Boost (Level 7): Rosalia gets a Level 7 ability called Flight Boost, which can be used to have her chase down bloons while using both weapons at once. She can go after particular targets at a moment's notice to break the bloons' momentum, and as it has a high duration, it can be used for a more lightweight attack to save the big guns for necessity. Of course, there may be benefits to having Rosalia work with her regular attack range instead...
• Abilities VS Leads: Scatter Missile isn't foolproof at wiping out Leads, but it can reduce the pressure they involve as need be in case even Round 30 proves to be a threat. Flight Boost with Rosalia, with its availability of both weapons, can deal with the mix of Leads and Zebras on a choice between Round 37 and Round 38, allowing for potential regrouping with either Round if necessary.
• Flight Boost VS Round 40 MOAB: Rosalia can easily check the Round 40 MOAB with Flight Boost usage if she has the Laser equipped. Just in case, especially if she has the Grenade equipped, it is advised to have Scatter Missile available as a backup measure. For further measure in case the available track is still short enough that even this combination could have trouble sufficing because of the missiles' randomness, key damage support in the right place could make sure the Ceramic children will not get stunned too late.

Levels 8 to 12 (Rounds 41 to 80)

• Scatter Missile VS floods: Rounds such as 49, 70, and 79 may overwhelm the player with a screen full of dangerous bloons. Scatter Missile can thin the herd easily if it hits the bloons at the right spot, especially in the middle, and especially after Level 9's duration improvement. If necessary, Rosalia could move to the middle of the pack and let loose while having her targeting option set to Close to make sure the missiles rends the bloons' forces in twain. The player should remember, however, that any Black/Zebra Bloons won't be damaged by the missiles.
• Flight Boost VS targets: Rosalia may wish to focus her efforts on a target while avoiding usage of her other Abilities with their longer cooldowns. Flight Boost can be a workaround with this if Rosalia doesn't need to do anything else, though the erratic strafing can compromise the Laser's usage, but being able to wipe the likes of Round 63's Leads may be a worthwhile endeavor.
• Enhanced Laser VS later MOABs: Creative forward positioning can allow Rosalia to reliably shoot MOABs when she is set to First. This can make it easy for her to keep hitting them with Enhanced Laser shots and keep them from getting too far. For good measure, if she is positioned where her range is just touching the track without overlap, this will guarantee that Rosalia will leave Ceramics to later defenses while still addressing the blimps. This can especially help with Rounds like 98.
• Grenades VS later Ceramics: Grenades deal extra damage to Ceramics, eventually making them decent for Super Ceramics, although Black/Zebra bloons can become an issue. Grenades also have bouncing; while the Round 63 Ceramics are condensed enough that just managing a single additional hit against a non-spread cluster has imperfect reliability because of minimal bounce distance, any group that isn't as strict, including the Ceramic clusters on Rounds 76 and 78, become easier to hit for good damage.
• Scatter Missile VS Round 63: Scatter Missile can heavily damage a single cluster of Ceramics, although them becoming Blacks and Zebras is a possibility worth watching out for, but this shouldn't be too big a problem. The player should remember to have defenses for at least one of the other 2 clusters that wouldn't rely on Scatter Missile.
• Kinetic Charge (Level 10): Kinetic Charge provides a powerful blimp-tracking mine that deals enough damage to destroy even Fortified BFBs quickly, with attacks on its target before it goes off further increasing its might to up to threefold. However, it's best used as the start of a decisive attack, as the damage won't soak into the children that are bound to be faster, making its capability incredibly volatile.
• Kinetic Charge VS Round 64: While Kinetic Charge is completely wasted if used on Round 63 due to a lack of blimps there, on Round 64, it can be launched with timing against the front Fortified MOAB with Strong targeting. In the event of this catching all 9 MOABs, 36 Ceramic children won't be so bad when they're significantly more spaced than Round 63's heavily condensed Ceramics.
• Kinetic Charge in general: Kinetic Charge can't skip layers, making it a compromise if used poorly, but it can deal incredible amounts of damage to blimps, and if used well, it can clear the screen of the blimp layer that is the biggest threat to the player's defenses. Towers such as Pop and Awe can even help clear a MOAB farm to address this potential fatal flaw on Rounds such as 75.
• Kinetic Charge VS ZOMGs: Kinetic Charge typically has the extra damage from attacking its target be pointless against MOABs and BFBs, but ZOMGs are durable enough for the extra damage to make a difference. Scatter Missile as a damage boost can be considered for seeing to as much, though it might be more prudent to let Rosalia's laser keep the ZOMG layer from getting too far and save the power for the BFB children.

Levels 13 and above (Round 81 onward)

• Enhanced Laser explosions (Level 13): After Level 13, the enhanced Laser now has its attributes transferred to a now added explosion generated at the end of the shot's lifespan. The laser's own hits will still inflict knockback, if reduced, but the behavior can significantly affect its usage consequently and how to make the most of it.
• Grenade clusters (Level 13): If leaving Ceramics to Rosalia is found to be a worthwhile venture, her Grenades can be used to clear out Ceramics. At Level 13, the Grenade shots will even generate clusters to create some further spread damage, which can inflict surprising damage to them, especially with Damage boosts due to the extremely high potential volume of hits per target per attack.
• The calm of the 80s: Most of the big threats of the 80s are blimps, with not a single Camo to be seen. This is ideal for Rosalia's laser pushback, even making it easier to adjust to the Enhanced Laser's update at Level 13, or the player could potentially practice Grenade usage on Super Ceramics to test the waters with performance. Whatever the player wants to do, they should be ready once Round 90 comes.
• WARNING: DDTs: Rosalia's Laser attacks are her only attacks that aren't Explosion Type, heavily restricting what she can do against DDTs, even seen ones, without support. Fortunately, defenses against Rounds 95 and 99 only have to cover anything not suitably covered by the Enhanced Laser doing MOAB pushback, so a few extra defenses that actively address DDTs, such as Icicle Impale on Camo crosspath, are worth considering.
• Scatter Missile upgrades (Levels 14 and 16): At Level 14, Scatter Missile has improved damage, particularly against blimps; and at Level 16, Scatter Missile has significantly shortened cooldown allowing for more frequent usage. This allows Scatter Missile to be useful in keeping the MOAB headcount under control, see 2 uses per Kinetic Charge use, and generally contribute somewhat to the DPS.
• Rosalia VS Round 100 BAD: The mighty Big Airship of Doom cares naught about the Laser's pushback, while being too durable for Grenades to be effective. However, as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and in the BAD's case, its big size can allow Rosalia to minimize the number of times the player would move her to have her chase the BAD without Flight Boost. The BAD's durability also eliminates any need to hold back with Kinetic Charge and Scatter Missile, reducing complication with Rosalia's abilities.
• Flight Boost cooldown (Level 18): Should Rosalia reach Level 18, Flight Boost will have its cooldown reduced to 25 seconds, allowing it to be active at least 80% of the time. By this point, the player is bound to be sufficiently weighing the chasing ability for more aggression, against reduction of control from the haphazard jetpack movement and Rosalia herself not staying stationary for a more firm position.
• Level 20 benefits beyond Guardian Automaton: The 30% Discount to Anti-Bloon is mostly an extra toy to potentially be enjoyed in given challenges. Rosalia's abilities are still improved with triple firepower for Scatter Missile and heightened might for Kinetic Charge. As a result, Rosalia still has plenty of reason to get to Level 20.

Tower support

• Ice can be nice...when handled with care: Ice Monkeys provide plenty of Rosalia with plenty of options, as Frozen bloons are something Rosalia never has to worry about with any of her attacks, and Rosalia can in turn take out White and Zebra bloons in return with her laser, allowing both to potentially enforce control over a key part of the track. Still, Ice in general has underwhelming damage against blimps even when they can damage them, and especially lacks good coverage against the BAD, but further support such as Transforming Tonic can help against that when managing investment in a Tier 5 Ice tower.
  • Top path: Embrittlement Grenade support: Used well, Embrittlement can provide Rosalia with a reliable location for showering bloons with Grenade blasts, which at Level 13 can manage as many as 13 hits per target per attack if enough Grenade bouncing can be done, amplifying their power easily especially against later MOABs. Additionally, any DDTs that are hit will lose their Camo and temporarily be susceptible to explosive attacks. As long as its limited reliability in hitting key threats is accounted for, the payoff should prove worth the price point.
  • Middle path: Snowstorm lockdown: Rosalia can't focus on everything at once, but Snowstorm can help to abridge matters, keeping select Ceramic clusters from abruptly breaking through against a substitute ability that refreshes fairly quickly with Rosalia using Grenade and/or Scatter Missile if the likes of Round 63's second Ceramic cluster proves too much, as well as slowing down MOABs and helping Rosalia have Laser and/or Kinetic Charge keep them from straining later defenses as easily. The heightened focus on utility is bound to need more active backing with good damage, but it can provide salvation at critical moments and some much needed simplification.
  • Bottom path: Icicle Impale speed control: When all else fails and blimps are just moving too fast, Icicle Impale can allow for stacking Rosalia's Laser knockback with heavy slowdown, or simply give the Grenades far easier targets. With Cold Snap, it can even stop DDTs with sound reliability. Though Icicle Impale is less focused on defeating blimps over regular bloons than implied to where additional support will be warranted, most threats short of the BAD will prove to be far easier to bring down once Icicle Impale comes into play.
• Air superiority: While Rosalia and any Aces and Helis take up quite a bit of map space, Rosalia does still help to make them cost less, particularly with angled placement of towers to reduce complication with separating towers. The money saves can be used to add on additional support for checking shared weaknesses such as DDTs regardless of sighting when relying on Spectre.
  • Flying Fortress earlier purchase: Flying Fortress on top crosspath only needs clear Camo checks to be a win button in general on CHIMPS upon purchase, and even its middle crosspath only needs still highly affordable support; as such, it requires an incredibly steep saveup outpacing a tower such as Wizard Lord Phoenix even with Rosalia's Aircraft Efficiency discount. The discount, however, will reduce the full base price by $11,280 before crosspath involvement, making it possible to afford before Round 90 on a good number of maps and consequently allowing for bypassing the threat off DDTs. Additionally, Rounds 79 to 89 have no Camos, reducing complication when this saveup is feasible.
• Pop and Awe as cleanup against MOABs and Ceramics: Kinetic Charge can create a lot of MOABs that can pose problems if used when there's enough BFBs around. However, Pop and Awe can immobilize the MOAB children in front of cleanup towers to prevent any breakthroughs and help to prevent Kinetic Charge from being as unsafe to use.