Desperado (BTD6)

For the Desperado in general, see Desperado.

Desperado
No Monkey claims to know the Desperado well, and no rumor matches the accuracy of the iron on that swaggering hip. Attacks in 2 shot bursts.
Category Primary Cost $255 — Easy $300 — Medium $325 — Hard $360 — Impoppable Introduced Version 49.0

The Desperado is a Primary tower in Bloons TD 6, introduced in version 49.0. It is unlockable by popping 3,500,000 Bloon layers or by purchasing the "premium Desperado pack" from the Shop, which also instantly unlocks all upgrades.

The Desperado uses a pistol that fires twice in rapid succession each time it attacks. It has high range, but low pierce and damage, and it cannot pop Lead Bloons, frozen Bloons, or Camo Bloons. Its upgrades focus on other weapons with different attacking styles. Its first path uses revolvers that fire multiple times per attack, and can be further upgraded to fire even more quickly. Its second path uses a long-range rifle that can land crits and is more likely to land them the further Bloons are from it, with further upgrades being able to place bounties on Bloons that increases the damage they take and generate cash when they are popped, and use two Activated Abilities for support. Its third path uses a shotgun that pushes Bloons back, with further upgrades reducing lives lost from leaking and generate cash from leaked Bloons.

Mechanics

The Desperado's pistol attack fires multiple shots in quick succession before it starts its cooldown. The delay between shots is not affected by attack speed modifiers, and the cooldown does not start until after it fires all shots. If it fires a shot, but there are no targetable Bloons within range while it still has shots left, it waits until it can fire its next shot and does not start its attack cooldown. If it reaches the end of a round, it instantly reloads its shots.

The 0-0-0 Desperado fires two shots per attack with a 0.1-second delay between shots and a 1.2-second attack cooldown. Each shot deals 1 Sharp-type damage to its target. Its shots hit the Bloon instantly, without any travel time, and it cannot hit more than one Bloon at a time (even with pierce buffs). Its path 1 upgrades affect the cooldown, shot count, and shot interval of its pistol.

Upgrades

Path 1

Quickdraw XP cost: 200
	Attacks faster the further Bloons are from Desperado. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $170 $200 $215 $240

Standoff XP cost: 450
	Attacks faster the fewer Bloons are in range. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $170 $200 $215 $240

Big Iron XP cost: 2,100
	Upgrades pistol to a 6-shot revolver. Attacks even faster the fewer Bloons are in range. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $1,020 $1,200 $1,295 $1,440

Twin Sixes XP cost: 9,500
	Gains twin higher damage revolvers. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $4,930 $5,800 $6,265 $6,960

The Blazing Sun XP cost: 29,000
	They say Desperado shoots so fast them revolvers catch alight. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $14,025 $16,500 $17,820 $19,800

Path 2

Eagle Eye XP cost: 200
	Desperado can see Camo Bloons. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $125 $150 $160 $180

Bullseye XP cost: 650
	Shots get a chance to Crit. Chance to Crit goes up when target Bloon is further away. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $295 $350 $380 $420

Deadeye XP cost: 3,750
	Take Aim ability: target Monkey gains improved range, accuracy, and Camo detection. Desperado gains a long range rifle to use against distant targets. Rifle shots excel against Fortified targets and can pop Lead Bloons. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $2,550 $3,000 $3,240 $3,600

Bounty Hunter XP cost: 18,000
	Marked to Pop ability: Marks extra Bloons, then proceeds to attack all Marked Bloons. Marked Bloons take more damage and give more cash. All Desperados can target Marked Bloons. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $5,100 $6,000 $6,480 $7,200

Golden Justice XP cost: 40,000
	They say Desperado's longarm can hit clean through an army of Bloons. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $35,700 $42,000 $45,360 $50,400

Path 3

Wanderer XP cost: 150
	A Wanderer works best alone. Desperado attacks much faster, but less so when more Monkeys are in each weapon's attack range. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $185 $220 $235 $265

Nomad XP cost: 600
	Attacks faster the more Bloons are in range. When lives are lost gets temporary range and attack speed increase, plus a small amount of cash if a Bloon leaked. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $240 $280 $300 $335

Enforcer XP cost: 3,000
	Uses a shotgun that can knock back Bloons when they get within close range. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $1,785 $2,100 $2,270 $2,520

Avenger XP cost: 14,000
	Shotgun hits release shrapnel and can even knock back MOABs. When lives are lost, weaker Bloons only take 1 life each for a short time. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $8,075 $9,500 $10,260 $11,400

The Desert Phantom XP cost: 29,000
	They say Desperado hits so hard it's like a mine blast. Easy Medium Hard Impoppable $26,350 $31,000 $33,480 $37,200

Stats

For a complete list of Desperado stats, see Stats:Desperado (BTD6).

This data was last updated for: version 55.1

Tower
Display range 60 units Footprint radius 7 units Targeting options First Last Close Strong

Attack
Burst count 2 Burst interval 0.1s Cooldown 1.2s Offset (X, Y, Z) 0, 12.65, 11.25 Targeting Depends on targeting option Targeting range 60 units Filters Cannot target Camo
Projectile Pierce 1 Damage 1 Damage type Sharp Radius 2 units Filters Can only hit the target Ignores blockers

Costs and sell values

Note: this list does not factor in Monkey Knowledge or other discounts.

Tiers	Total cost				Sell value
	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable	Easy	Medium	Hard	Impoppable
0-0-0	$255	$300	$325	$360	$179	$210	$228	$252
1-0-0	$425	$500	$540	$600	$298	$350	$378	$420
1-1-0	$550	$650	$700	$780	$385	$455	$490	$546
1-0-1	$610	$720	$775	$865	$427	$504	$543	$606
0-1-0	$380	$450	$485	$540	$266	$315	$340	$378
0-1-1	$565	$670	$720	$805	$396	$469	$504	$564
0-0-1	$440	$520	$560	$625	$308	$364	$392	$438
2-0-0	$595	$700	$755	$840	$417	$490	$529	$588
2-1-0	$720	$850	$915	$1,020	$504	$595	$641	$714
2-2-0	$1,015	$1,200	$1,295	$1,440	$711	$840	$907	$1,008
2-0-1	$780	$920	$990	$1,105	$546	$644	$693	$774
2-0-2	$1,020	$1,200	$1,290	$1,440	$714	$840	$903	$1,008
0-2-0	$675	$800	$865	$960	$473	$560	$606	$672
1-2-0	$845	$1,000	$1,080	$1,200	$592	$700	$756	$840
0-2-1	$860	$1,020	$1,100	$1,225	$602	$714	$770	$858
0-2-2	$1,100	$1,300	$1,400	$1,560	$770	$910	$980	$1,092
0-0-2	$680	$800	$860	$960	$476	$560	$602	$672
1-0-2	$850	$1,000	$1,075	$1,200	$595	$700	$753	$840
0-1-2	$805	$950	$1,020	$1,140	$564	$665	$714	$798
3-0-0	$1,615	$1,900	$2,050	$2,280	$1,131	$1,330	$1,435	$1,596
3-1-0	$1,740	$2,050	$2,210	$2,460	$1,218	$1,435	$1,547	$1,722
3-2-0	$2,035	$2,400	$2,590	$2,880	$1,425	$1,680	$1,813	$2,016
3-0-1	$1,800	$2,120	$2,285	$2,545	$1,260	$1,484	$1,600	$1,782
3-0-2	$2,040	$2,400	$2,585	$2,880	$1,428	$1,680	$1,810	$2,016
0-3-0	$3,225	$3,800	$4,105	$4,560	$2,258	$2,660	$2,874	$3,192
1-3-0	$3,395	$4,000	$4,320	$4,800	$2,377	$2,800	$3,024	$3,360
2-3-0	$3,565	$4,200	$4,535	$5,040	$2,496	$2,940	$3,175	$3,528
0-3-1	$3,410	$4,020	$4,340	$4,825	$2,387	$2,814	$3,038	$3,378
0-3-2	$3,650	$4,300	$4,640	$5,160	$2,555	$3,010	$3,248	$3,612
0-0-3	$2,465	$2,900	$3,130	$3,480	$1,726	$2,030	$2,191	$2,436
1-0-3	$2,635	$3,100	$3,345	$3,720	$1,845	$2,170	$2,342	$2,604
2-0-3	$2,805	$3,300	$3,560	$3,960	$1,964	$2,310	$2,492	$2,772
0-1-3	$2,590	$3,050	$3,290	$3,660	$1,813	$2,135	$2,303	$2,562
0-2-3	$2,885	$3,400	$3,670	$4,080	$2,020	$2,380	$2,569	$2,856
4-0-0	$6,545	$7,700	$8,315	$9,240	$4,582	$5,390	$5,821	$6,468
4-1-0	$6,670	$7,850	$8,475	$9,420	$4,669	$5,495	$5,933	$6,594
4-2-0	$6,965	$8,200	$8,855	$9,840	$4,876	$5,740	$6,199	$6,888
4-0-1	$6,730	$7,920	$8,550	$9,505	$4,711	$5,544	$5,985	$6,654
4-0-2	$6,970	$8,200	$8,850	$9,840	$4,879	$5,740	$6,195	$6,888
0-4-0	$8,325	$9,800	$10,585	$11,760	$5,828	$6,860	$7,410	$8,232
1-4-0	$8,495	$10,000	$10,800	$12,000	$5,947	$7,000	$7,560	$8,400
2-4-0	$8,665	$10,200	$11,015	$12,240	$6,066	$7,140	$7,711	$8,568
0-4-1	$8,510	$10,020	$10,820	$12,025	$5,957	$7,014	$7,574	$8,418
0-4-2	$8,750	$10,300	$11,120	$12,360	$6,125	$7,210	$7,784	$8,652
0-0-4	$10,540	$12,400	$13,390	$14,880	$7,378	$8,680	$9,373	$10,416
1-0-4	$10,710	$12,600	$13,605	$15,120	$7,497	$8,820	$9,524	$10,584
2-0-4	$10,880	$12,800	$13,820	$15,360	$7,616	$8,960	$9,674	$10,752
0-1-4	$10,665	$12,550	$13,550	$15,060	$7,466	$8,785	$9,485	$10,542
0-2-4	$10,960	$12,900	$13,930	$15,480	$7,672	$9,030	$9,751	$10,836
5-0-0	$20,570	$24,200	$26,135	$29,040	$14,399	$16,940	$18,295	$20,328
5-1-0	$20,695	$24,350	$26,295	$29,220	$14,487	$17,045	$18,407	$20,454
5-2-0	$20,990	$24,700	$26,675	$29,640	$14,693	$17,290	$18,673	$20,748
5-0-1	$20,755	$24,420	$26,370	$29,305	$14,529	$17,094	$18,459	$20,514
5-0-2	$20,995	$24,700	$26,670	$29,640	$14,697	$17,290	$18,669	$20,748
0-5-0	$44,025	$51,800	$55,945	$62,160	$30,818	$36,260	$39,162	$43,512
1-5-0	$44,195	$52,000	$56,160	$62,400	$30,937	$36,400	$39,312	$43,680
2-5-0	$44,365	$52,200	$56,375	$62,640	$31,056	$36,540	$39,463	$43,848
0-5-1	$44,210	$52,020	$56,180	$62,425	$30,947	$36,414	$39,326	$43,698
0-5-2	$44,450	$52,300	$56,480	$62,760	$31,115	$36,610	$39,536	$43,932
0-0-5	$36,890	$43,400	$46,870	$52,080	$25,823	$30,380	$32,809	$36,456
1-0-5	$37,060	$43,600	$47,085	$52,320	$25,942	$30,520	$32,960	$36,624
2-0-5	$37,230	$43,800	$47,300	$52,560	$26,061	$30,660	$33,110	$36,792
0-1-5	$37,015	$43,550	$47,030	$52,260	$25,911	$30,485	$32,921	$36,582
0-2-5	$37,310	$43,900	$47,410	$52,680	$26,117	$30,730	$33,187	$36,876

Related Monkey Knowledge

A list of Monkey Knowledge that are specific to the Desperado. Does not include Monkey Knowledge that are specific to the Primary class or all towers. Although not mentioned in-game, these Monkey Knowledge upgrades affect the Desperado. Template:BTD6 mk list by name

Rogue Legends

Starter parties with Desperados

Item	Insta Monkey 1	Insta Monkey 2	Artifact
Etienne	2-0-0 Desperado	0-0-2 Heli Pilot	Splody Darts Rare
Psi	1-0-0 Ninja Monkey	0-2-0 Desperado	Ability Stacking Legendary
Rosalia	0-0-2 Desperado	0-0-0 Super Monkey	Homing Projectiles Legendary

While not explicitly part of their starter parties, Dread Pirate Brickell also starts with a Desperado because she starts with the What In Tarnation Common.

Artifacts that add Desperados

Artifact	Common	Rare	Legendary
What In Tarnation	1-0-1 Desperado	1-0-2 Desperado	0-0-2 Desperado

Artifacts that affect Desperados

This section is incomplete. You can help out by expanding it. The editor who added this notice elaborates: Add the artifacts that affect this tower

Strategy

For more in-depth strategies, see Strategy:Desperado (BTD6).

The Desperado is useful for early game, even on many hard maps. Two Desperados or a Dart Monkey and a Desperado are viable starting choices for CHIMPS runs. Base Desperados can be used to chip strong bloons and snipe strays, using mostly Strong and First targeting. They also work as "spotters" for Advanced Intel Monkey Subs due to their large range and cheap Camo detection upgrade.

The top path focuses on single-target damage, with the Blazing Sun being able to serve as a mid-game carry or a T1 boss solution. After round 80, however, it struggles against Super Ceramics and requires cleanup support.

The middle path has plenty of utility for farming and Desperado support. Deadeye's Take Aim ability is widely useful, allowing a range and Camo detection buff. Bounty Hunter can mark bloons for extra cash per pop, as well as upgrading Take Aim into an MIB skip. Lastly, Golden Justice has excellent crowd control while not lacking in single-target damage, but is rather expensive.

The bottom path excels at crowd control. The knockback on weaker MOAB-Class Bloons and shrapnel damage on Avenger makes it a solid pick for assisting defenses, and is a clean stepping stone to The Desert Phantom, which is an effective blimp staller that is very receptive to buffs.

Pre-release

Development

The Desperado was originally planned to be released alongside the Frontier Legends DLC (while it was still named Desperado Legends); however, due changes in the game's development pipeline, Ninja Kiwi decided to release the tower first and release the DLC towards the end of 2025.

“

The Desperado Monkey Tower, while thematically aligned with Frontier Legends, will still drop in June. Desperado is just too cool to hold back, with three very distinct paths, weapons, and play styles, so we are super excited to get them into play this northern hemisphere summer, currently planned for mid-June. Of course, Desperado will have a fun role to play in Frontier Legends, but there will be a new sheriff in town when that drops. — Update notes for version 48.0

”

“

This Monkey is a gun-slinging, Bloon-poppin’ buccaroo. Starting with a humble pistol, each path upgrades into a different weapon alongside the pistol, giving significant variety to play style and effectiveness against different Bloons. Range factors strongly into each path, emphasizing the characteristics of each path’s weapon upgrade. Design and implementation on this new tower is moving ahead strongly, it has already been in testing and balance loops for a couple of weeks, and we are concentrating on how that balance flows through into all game modes. We are genuinely excited about how awesome this tower is looking and playing! — The First BTD6 Dev Diary!

”

Early access videos

• ISAB
• MackanRules
• Ethan Reid
• Dabloon
• Boltrix
• Tewtiy
• Mehalic Pops
• SJB
• FroStee Mate
• Punji
• HBomb
• TheNeoGod

Update history

For a complete list of Desperado changes, see Update history:Desperado (BTD6).

This article or section uses Cargo to generate its content. It will automatically fill up as other articles are completed. To add to this section, create the articles it is looking up. Do not add content to this section manually and do not remove this notice until you are sure this section is complete.

Version 49.2

•  Desperado no longer gains Camo Prioritization when granted Camo detection from external sources (bug fix)

Version 51.0

•  Pistol now reloads at the end of the round

Gallery

Screenshots

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: All animations

• 
  0-0-0 Desperado
• 
  All upgrade combinations
• 
  A Desperado gaining Camo Prioritization from a Camo detection buff (pre-49.2)
• 
  Pre-release teaser screenshot
• 
  Pre-release teaser screenshot

Assets

• 
  Portrait
• 
  Insta Monkey icon

In other languages

This section was last updated for: version 49.2

Name

Language	Text	Notes
Arabic	المجرم الطائش	—
Danish	Desperado	—
German	Desperado	—
Spanish	Desperado	—
Spanish (Latin America)	Forajido	—
Finnish	Desperado	—
French	Desperado	—
Italian	Fuorilegge	—
Japanese	デスペラード	—
Korean	데스페라도	—
Dutch	Desperado	—
Norwegian	Desperado	—
Polish	Desperado	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Pistoleiro	—
Russian	Десперадо	—
Swedish	Desperado	—
Thai	เดสเปราโด	—
Turkish	Desperado	—
Chinese (simplified)	亡命猴	—
Chinese (traditional)	亡命之猴	—

Description

Language	Text	Notes
Arabic	ما من قرد يدّعي معرفة المجرم الطائش جيدًا، ولا توجد شائعة تضاهي دقة المسدس الذي يحمله ذلك المتبختر. يهاجم في دفعات من طلقتين.	—
Danish	Ingen abe påstår at kende Desperadoen godt, og intet rygte matcher præcisionen af jernet på den selvsikre hofte. Angriber i 2-skuds skudsalver.	—
German	Kein Affe kann sagen, dass er den Desperado gut kennt, und kein Gerücht kommt der Präzision des Schießeisens an seiner Seite nahe. Greift in zwei Schusssalven an.	—
Spanish	Ningún mono afirma conocer bien a Desperado, y ningún rumor iguala la precisión de la pistola en esa cadera arrogante. Ataca en ráfagas de dos disparos.	—
Spanish (Latin America)	Ningún mono conoce bien al forajido y ningún rumor le hace justicia a la precisión de su puntería. Ataca en ráfagas de 2 disparos.	—
Finnish	Kukaan apina ei tunne desperadoa hyvin, eivätkä huhut vastaa sitä tarkkuutta, millä heiluvalla lanteella pidettävä reikärauta osuu. Hyökkää 2 laukauksen purskeilla.	—
French	Aucun singe ne connaît vraiment ce desperado de légende, à la démarche aussi emblématique que son talent de pistolero. Attaque par rafales de 2 tirs.	—
Italian	Non esiste scimmia che possa affermare di conoscere bene Fuorilegge e nessuna voce è all'altezza dell'arma che gli spunta arrogantemente dal fianco. Attacca con raffiche di 2 colpi.	—
Japanese	どのモンキーに聞いても、デスペラードのことはよく知らないと言う。彼の腰から吊るされた正確無比な鉄の塊に関する噂も、当てにならないものばかりだ。2連発で攻撃する。	—
Korean	데스페라도에 관해 잘 아는 원숭이는 아무도 없습니다. 그 어떤 소문도 그 허리춤에 달린 권총의 명중률보다 정확하지는 않고 말이죠. 공격할 때마다 빠르게 2발을 쏩니다.	—
Dutch	Geen enkele aap beweert de Desperado goed te kennen en geen enkel gerucht kan tippen aan de precisie van het ijzer op die zelfverzekerde heup. Valt aan in salvo's van 2 schoten.	—
Norwegian	Ingen aper hevder å kjenne Desperado godt, og ingen rykter passer presisjonen til jernet som skytes. Angriper i 2 raske skuddsalver.	—
Polish	Żadna małpka nie przyzna, że dobrze zna Desperado, a nawet najdziksze plotki nie oddają zabójczej precyzji gnata dyndającego przy tym biodrze. Atakuje w seriach po 2 strzały.	—
Portuguese (Brazil)	Nenhum macaco conhece bem o Pistoleiro, e nenhum rumor é tão preciso quanto os ferros nos coldres daquele quadril. Ataca em disparos duplos.	—
Russian	Обезьяны мало что знают о десперадо, а о меткости его оружия ходят невероятные слухи! Атакует 2 залпами.	—
Swedish	Ingen Apa hävdar att de känner Desperado väl och inget rykte överensstämmer med precisionen hos skjutjärnen vid de självsäkra höfterna. Attackerar med 2 skottsalvor.	—
Thai	ไม่มีลิงตัวใดอ้างว่ารู้จักเดสเปราโดเป็นอย่างดี และไม่มีข่าวลือใดเทียบได้กับความแม่นยำของเหล็กที่สะโพกอันโอ่อ่าของเขา โจมตีด้วยชุดกระสุน 2 นัด	—
Turkish	Hiçbir Maymun Desperado'yu iyi tanıdığını iddia edemez ve o havalı kalçasındaki silahın isabetliliğine hiçbir söylenti yetişemez. İki atışlık seriyle saldırır.	—
Chinese (simplified)	没有猴子敢说自己了解亡命猴，也没有什么传闻能比得上他腰间那把嚣张手枪的准头。每次攻击会连续射出2发子弹。	—
Chinese (traditional)	沒有猴子敢說自己真正瞭解亡命之猴，也沒有哪個傳言比得上其腰間那把槍的精準。每次攻擊會連射2發子彈。	—