Boss Rush
Boss Rush is a bi-weekly event in Bloons TD 6, introduced in version 43.0. In this game mode, all players in a Team fight against a series of Boss Bloons and earn points each time they pop the boss. It uses the same boss mechanics as the Phayze One Quest and Mini Boss tiles in Rogue Legends. Each event has five stages represented by islands, each with a specific map and Boss Bloon. Each player can submit up to four high scores for the active stage per day, which all count towards the Team's total score for the boss (which is represented by a health bar). When the Team defeats an island's score requirement (represented by the Boss Bloon's health reaching zero), they move on to the next island and all contributing members earn rewards. The difficulty of the boss battles and the rewards increase with each island cleared.
Schedule
Boss Rush runs every other Wednesday 22:00 UTC to Monday 22:00 UTC, lasting 5 days in total. Because of this, the schedule alternates between this event and Contested Territory every week. As Boss Rush is not considered a competitive mode, updates have no impact on the schedule and updates may happen while the event is active.
Mechanics
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Islands
Each Boss Rush event has five islands. Each island is assigned a random map and Boss Bloon. Initially, players can only enter a Battle on the first island. Each time the Team completes an island, the next island becomes available. Players can Battle previously completed islands, but their scores are not recorded. Each player starts with 6 
Team Tickets and uses one each time they enter a Battle. Tickets automatically refresh every 6 hours, and the player can also redeem 
50 for a ticket with no limit. Every event per week is the same across all players and Teams.
On the first island, the Team starts with one Relic and a roster of 16 tower types, both chosen at random (though the Banana Farm is never available). Each player can also use any Hero except Geraldo. When the Team completes an island, all players that ever submitted a score for that island earn rewards, the Team unlocks the next island, the Team's roster loses two random tower types, and the Team gains one of the following Relics:
Islands always use Medium difficulty, usually in Standard mode, but they have a 15% chance to be in Reverse mode instead. All Powers except Portable Lake, Pontoon, Banana Farmer, and Tech Bot are disabled, and Powers are not supplied for free. Additionally, Continues, Hero Boosters, Double Cash Mode, and Fast Track Mode are disabled. The following maps will never appear on an island:
| Island | Map difficulty odds | Score target | Sum of scores | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced | Expert | |||
| 1 | 100% | – | – | – | 850 | 850 |
| 2 | 66.67% | 33.33% | – | – | 1,175 | 2,025 |
| 3 | 40% | 40% | 20% | – | 1,850 | 3,875 |
| 4 | 16.67% | 33.33% | 33.33% | 16.67% | 2,850 | 6,725 |
| 5 | 20% | 20% | 40% | 20% | 3,350 | 10,075 |
Boss Bloons
In a Battle, the Boss Bloon spawns immediately after starting the first round. The player's starting cash and the boss's starting health depends on the boss. During gameplay, the player only gains 25% as much income from all sources except cash-per-pop and end-of-round cash. The player has two revives that restore their lives to the starting amount (150 by default). If the player runs out of lives, they consume a revive, all towers stop attacking, all natural Bloons disappear (without generating cash), and the boss becomes invincible and moves a short distance up the track. The Battle ends when the boss reaches the exit or the player runs out of lives after consuming both of their revives.
Each time the player pops the boss, the next round starts immediately (stacking with any rounds that are still ongoing), triggering any effects that occur at the end of a round (such as Merchantman) and granting the player end-of-round cash, and the boss fully heals and its maximum health increases. The end-of-round cash starts at $1,000 and increases by 2.3% multiplicatively every pop, capped at 90 pops. The boss's max health increases by 6.5% multiplicatively each time it pops. The boss starts at Normal tier 1 and switches to the next tier every 10 pops; it loses all mutations (e.g. Glue Strike's debuff) each time this occurs. After Normal tier 5, it becomes Elite tier 1 and continues up to Elite tier 5.[fn 1]
All Boss Bloons except Vortex can appear in this event. Each boss behaves slightly differently in Boss Rush compared to other modes. They do not have skulls, though they trigger similar abilities every 10 pops.
| Boss | Starting health | Starting cash |
|---|---|---|
| Bloonarius | 400 | $1,800 |
| Lych | 300 | $2,000 |
| Dreadbloon | 130 | $4,000 |
| Phayze | 300 | $2,000 |
| Blastapopoulos | 350 | $2,000 |
| Diamondback | 500 | $2,500 |
Bloonarius
Lych
Dreadbloon
Phayze
Blastapopoulos
Diamondback
Scoring
A player earns one point each time they pop the boss in a Battle. The player's score registers on their high score leaderboard after the Battle ends. A player can have up to four high scores on their leaderboard at a time; if a player has four high scores and submits a new one, it replaces a lower high score if they have one, or simply does not count otherwise.
The island's total score is the sum of all the high scores of all the Team's players' leaderboards. Every 24 hours, starting from the first hour of the event (20:00 UTC by default), the players' high scores become permanently added to the total score, then their leaderboards reset, allowing each player to contribute up to four high scores per day. The total score is represented by a health bar (separate from the health bar that the boss has during a Battle) that drains as the score increases. The Team completes an island when their total score reaches the island's score threshold (i.e., the boss's health bar reaches zero). Completing an island resets all players' high score leaderboards and their scores do not carry over to the next island. The score requirement increases with each island cleared.
Rewards
| Island | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | 100,  10,  150,  5,  "Attack" Power ×1,  Tier 1 ×1
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| 2 | 150, 15, 300, 10, "Attack" Power ×2,  Tier 2 ×1
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| 3 | 200, 20, 500, 20, "Best" Power ×2,  Tier 3 ×1
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| 4 | 300, 25, 750, 35, "Best" Power ×2, Tier 3 ×2
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| 5 | 450, 30, 1,000, 50, "Best" Power ×3,  Tier 4 ×1
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Strategy
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This strategy section is empty or incomplete. See the strategy guidelines for more information on how to write strategy sections. The editor who added this notice elaborates: Move the extensive stuff to the Strategy:Boss Rush article (also, not very fleshed out strategy...), also pretty sure this section isn't really proofchecked by anyone other than Qwertyxp2000 |
Quickly popping the Boss is the best way to make income that will allow popping of more tiers of the Boss. During early stages, use an efficient cheap tower with good single-target damage, or the Hero if brought for that purpose. Towards the late-game, afford defenses designed with the current Boss in mind. Like with Boss Bloon Events and Contested Territory's Regular Tiles, always max out in Monkey Knowledge, and add Monkey Knowledge that focuses on maximizing single-target damage.
Keep a note of the type of Boss with the current loadout and relic(s) available on the current island; for instance, use Fighter Plane and Operation: Dart Storm if Monkey Ace is available, and if Alchemist Touch is available then dealing with natural Leads and unshielded Dreadbloon will be less of a hassle.
For Heroes, the most easy-to-use hero is Sauda, who is an excellent early-game Hero for damaging the first stages of Bosses, especially Phayze and Blastapopoulos. Just set her on Strong (or First if it's Dreadbloon, avoiding Dreadrock Bloons) and spam her Leaping Sword ability. However, some Heroes are better when seeking for late-game, though most of them should be placed after several Boss pops are beaten with other towers. Adora, Benjamin, Admiral Brickell, and Ezili become more useful going later in a boss.
An easy-to-use strategy that reliably gets at least 60 score on most Boss islands:
- Buy Sauda, set her on Strong (First if against Dreadbloon).
- Place an early-game defense. If
Bonus Monkey! is enabled, add the free Dart Monkey if not using a Primary Monkey to start. - 2-0-3 Tack Shooter: Place below the location where the Boss spawns. Buy another 2-0-3 Tack Sprayer. Sell other Tack Sprayers, and upgrade the next one to Overdrive.
- 1-2-0 Wizard Monkey: Place near location of Boss. Buy another Wall of Fire, and then towards $2000 sell one of them for Dragon's Breath.
- 0-0-2 Spike Factory: Set on Close near the track near (but not at) the spawning location of the Boss. With Sauda, upgrade to 0-1-2, then 0-2-2, then 0-3-2. Switch targeting to Smart once the Boss passes the Spike Factory.
- 1-3-0 Monkey Buccaneer: Cannon Ships can work as a decent starting tower on maps with little land space.
- Approaching about 10 pops, get a support tower, if available. Otherwise, just buy more single-target damage.
- 4-x-x Ice Monkey: Place near the Boss, and Embrittlement lets other towers do more damage, and also does some grouped damage itself.
- 2-4-0 Glue Gunner: Time Glue Strike ability when lots of projectiles attack the Boss. Avoid if it's Blastapopoulos.
- 2-x-x Village: If multiple strong towers are nearby, Jungle Drums's extra attack speed is very helpful.
- 3-x-x Alchemist: On a single tower, Berserker Brew can greatly increase total damage it can do.
- Use a cleanup tower if natural Bloons or Bloonarius's rushes start to become a problem.
- 3-0-2 and 4-0-2 Boomerang Monkey: Glaive Ricochet can be used for small volume rushes, and M.O.A.R Glaives for dealing with large rushes.
- x-3-x Druid: Druid of the Jungle on First deals with natural waves in the early stages. Use 1-3-0 versus Leads.
- 2-0-4 Bomb: Sharpsplosion can make a Recursive Cluster clear all Bloons on a lane or two.
- 4-2-0 Tack: In the event that most other towers aren't available, Ring of Fire can offer cleanup.
- Buy some strong T4 towers.
- 0-4-2 Boomerang Monkey: Turbo Charge ability with Red Hot Rangs does plenty of single-target damage, and can damage Dreadbloon without Primary immunity.
- 2-0-4 Tack Shooter: Overdrive does high single-target damage when given buffs. Place below the Boss. Sell them once they get out of Boss range and buy them ahead of the Boss.
- 0-3-2 Spike Factory: MOAB SHREDR with Smart Spikes can quickly damage a Boss if the spikes touch it. Place them close to the Boss and target on Close. The faster the Boss pops, the more that the 4x start-of-round speed boost will keep quickly killing the Boss. Try to avoid letting other bloons touch them.
- 4-x-x Monkey Ace: Operation: Dart Storm is fairly cheap and does decent single-target damage accurately. Use 4-2-0 for Phayze.
- 1/2-0-4 Heli Pilot: Comanche Defense can fly anywhere and does lots of damage with many mini-Comanches present. Only use when the Boss is getting far (about 50% or more along the track).
- Go for a powerful T5 that excels at single-target damage starting from about 30 pops.
- x-5-x Bomb Shooter: MOAB Eliminator is extremely cheap but relies on its ability to deal most of its damage.
- x-5-x Dartling Gunner: M.A.D and its ability do lots of Boss damage if pointing towards the Boss.
- 5-x-x Monkey Ace: Sky Shredder is accurate and not too expensive for single-target damage, and has decent synergy with buffs.
- 5-x-x Beast Handler: Megalodon is extremely powerful against Bosses for its cost, but has low range. Set on Strong and reposition the beast once the Boss gets past its range.
- If possible, buy some expensive supports
- 2-4-0 and 2-5-0 Village: Call to Arms and Homeland Defense multiply attack speed and pierce, which is essential if Village is enabled, unless it's Blastapopoulos. Choose 2-x-x crosspath for long-term Villages, or 0-5-0 if selling and re-buying for ability.
- 5-0-1 Alchemist: Permanent Brew greatly assists high-projectile, high rate towers by offering equivalent to +2 damage, plus extra attack speed and more. Use Faster Throwing, as this is a time-sensitive event.
- If over $150,000 is available, it's possible to buy very expensive T5's (e.g. Super Mines), and cheap Paragons (e.g. Apex Plasma Master). Support Temple is also viable.
Optionally, add some income-generating towers. Bucc's Merchantman, Alch's Lead to Gold and Rubber to Gold, and Engi's 2-0-4 Bloon Trap are some examples of viable picks. Also Spirit of the Forest for both income and large scale cleanup.
Powers are limited to ones that merely provide Quality of Life and as such are completely optional, and none except Portable Lake and Pontoon give a meaningful advantage. On maps with poor locations for Beast Handler's Megalodon, one or two Portable Lakes can assist reaching a few more boss pops than normal, but avoid them if the score gain is insignificant and the team is uncooperative.
Specific Boss strategy
- Bloonarius: Reliable cleanup is important alongside high single-target damage.
- Dreadbloon: Always have at least two tower categories available to attack the Boss at a time, avoid setting on Strong, and watch out for Dreadrock Bloons.
- Phayze: Favor innate camo detection. Only a few towers have cheap anti-Boss camo detection, such as 0-x-2 Spike Factory, x-2-0 Monkey Ace, and 0-1-2 Monkey Buccaneer. Towards the late-game, watch out for the portal's natural bloons.
- Blastapopoulos: Tower spam of weak individual towers are favorable. Have several cheap towers for meteor fodder. Account for the tower limit. If Beast Handler is enabled, Megalodon carries the late boss pops of this Boss and easily exceeds 70 score for about 90 score at best. If there's enough track length and income generation, an Apex Plasma Master is the only helpful Paragon for this, as it excels against the rocks.
- Lych: Nerfed sellback makes it important to keep the towers on screen, and Paragons are not recommended due to the need to sell much defense to afford it. Early on, have towers that consistently hit the tombstones so that the Zombie MOABs don't leak and lose all lives.
Time management during Boss Rush
Regarding the Boss islands themselves, set up and co-ordinate with a dedicated team that is prepared to beat stages. Use third-party communication to discuss the strengths and limitations of each team member, and share a plan to beat each island.
Update history
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- Added ‘replay’ functionality to previous islands of Boss Rush. Any island can be replayed as much as desired for practice & fun, these have normal entry cost but will not contribute any further to the team score
- Added an in-game alert for the current milestone being defeated by a team member
| “ | Previously we scaled Rock Bloon HP in Boss Rush faster than Dreadbloon in order to keep them relevant from start to finish within a rough 100 tier expectation. Players pushing beyond this expected range were finding obvious annoyance with this as the Rock Bloons would eventually outscale the Boss, so we’re reducing their scale to match in line with Dreadbloon but increasing the number of Rock Bloons that spawn. — Update notes |
” |
Dreadrock Bloon (Boss Rush): Health scaling reduced ― ×1.07 → ×1.055
Dreadrock Bloon (Boss Rush): Dreadrock Bloons per spawn increased ― 3 → 6
| “ | Blast has been quite unforgiving in Boss Rush events, so we’re squeezing in a reduction to both health and heat gain within this mode. — Update notes |
” |
- Blastapopoulos (Boss Rush): Heat gain on each 'pop' reduced ― 0.02 → 0.015
- Blastapopoulos (Boss Rush): Starting health reduced ― 400 → 350
- Elite Blastapopoulos should now take extra damage from paragons (bug fix)
- Boss position should no longer reset on Castle Revenge and Balance (bug fix)
| “ | Blastapopoulos’ Rocks too often end up landing on a tower which takes it out of the game for a long time and hurts the intention of favouring closer range towers over long ones, to alleviate this we are cutting the rock duration in half and also increasing the radius of this rock circle so it becomes less likely to cover closeby towers. — Update notes |
” |
- Resolved an issue where Blastapopoulos' Fireball spawn was doubled in Boss Rush (bug fix)
Gallery
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Main menu after completing the event -
Menu that appears after clearing all islands -
End-of-event menu with all islands cleared -
End-of-event menu with no islands cleared
In other languages
| Language | Text | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | اندفاع الزعامة | — |
| Danish | Boss-sværm | — |
| German | Boss-Rush | — |
| Spanish | Carrera de jefes | — |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Avalancha de jefes | — |
| Finnish | Pomoryntäys | — |
| French | Ruée de boss | — |
| Italian | Assalto ai boss | — |
| Japanese | ボスラッシュ | — |
| Korean | 보스 러시 | — |
| Dutch | Baasaanval | — |
| Norwegian | Sjefsrush | — |
| Polish | Napływ bossów | — |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Desafio de Chefes | — |
| Russian | Набег на боссов | — |
| Swedish | Bossrusning | — |
| Thai | บอสรัช | — |
| Turkish | Patron Hücumu | — |
| Chinese (simplified) | Boss冲击 | — |
| Chinese (traditional) | 頭目突襲 | — |
Footnotes
- ↑ The boss has a maximum of 300 tiers, and the maximum HP is actually the 32-bit signed max. Both are impossible in practice for Boss Rush, but not for Rogue Legends Mini Bosses, which use the same mechanics as Boss Rush. If the HP exceeds the 32-bit signed max, the Boss instead has negative HP, and can get one-shot by a single hit.
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