Bloons TD 6: Complete Guide

A strategy guide for Ninja Kiwi's Bloons TD 6: Bloon types and properties, tower roles and strong upgrade paths, heroes, Monkey Knowledge, difficulty modes, CHIMPS, events, and what's new in 2026 (the Skywarden tower, He-Man, Social Seasons).

Researched September 2026. Current as of Update 56.0 (August 6, 2026) and the Social Seasons event that went live September 2, 2026. Live games change, so check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Understand Bloon properties. Camo, Lead, Purple, Black, White, Frozen, Regrow, and Fortified decide which towers can pop what. Most losses come from a property you didn't cover.
Economy first, then defense. Banana Farms (or a hero with income) early means much more power later. In CHIMPS, Banana Farms are disabled entirely (see below).
Buy upgrades before new towers early. A 2-0-0 or 0-0-2 tower often beats two base towers.
Place a hero first. Heroes level for free as rounds pass. Quincy, Obyn, Striker Jones, and Benjamin are easy starts.
Use Monkey Knowledge (MK) points. Global and tower-specific bonuses like extra starting cash are huge.
Target priority matters. Set towers to First, Last, Close, or Strong depending on the job (for example, Strong for MOAB killers).
Save before MOAB-class rounds. A MOAB-class Bloon (MOAB, BFB, ZOMG, DDT, BAD) will leak dozens of lives if you have nothing that deals heavy single-target damage.
Play the daily and weekly events. Races, Boss Events, Odysseys, Contested Territory, and Social Seasons pay Monkey Money, Insta Monkeys, and trophies.

Bloon Properties Cheat Sheet

Property	Immune to	Answer with
Camo	Towers without camo detection	Ninja, Village (Radar Scanner 0-2-0), Wind-path Skywarden, camo upgrades such as Dart 0-0-2 or Sniper 0-1-0, camo-detecting heroes
Lead	Sharp damage (darts, tacks)	Bombs, Wizard fire, Corrosive Glue, Alchemist acid, Mortar, any "Normal" damage
Purple	Energy, fire, plasma	Sharp or explosive damage
Black	Explosions	Sharp damage or Normal
White / Zebra	Freezing (White) plus Black immunities (Zebra)	Sharp or Normal damage
Frozen	Sharp (while frozen)	Explosive or Normal
Regrow	Grows back layers	Burst damage and pierce
Fortified	Takes extra hits	Higher damage per hit
DDT	Camo + Lead + Black	Camo-detecting Normal damage

Note: Camo detection comes from specific upgrades per tower (for example, a Dart Monkey's Enhanced Eyesight upgrade). Check the upgrade tooltip. The Monkey Village's Radar Scanner gives camo detection to everything in range.

Ceramic rush rounds (roughly the 60s to 70s in standard play) need strong pierce and damage. MOAB-class milestones in standard rounds are round 40 (first MOAB), 60 (first BFB), the DDT rounds in the 90s, and round 100 (the BAD). Each one needs dedicated MOAB damage.

Tower Overview

Towers belong to four categories: Primary, Military, Magic, Support. Each has three upgrade paths. You can take up to 5 tiers in one path and up to 2 in a second.

Category	Towers
Primary	Dart Monkey, Boomerang Monkey, Bomb Shooter, Tack Shooter, Ice Monkey, Glue Gunner, Desperado
Military	Sniper Monkey, Monkey Sub, Monkey Buccaneer, Monkey Ace, Heli Pilot, Mortar Monkey, Dartling Gunner
Magic	Wizard Monkey, Super Monkey, Ninja Monkey, Alchemist, Druid, Mermonkey, Skywarden (new in 56.0)
Support	Banana Farm, Spike Factory, Monkey Village, Engineer Monkey, Beast Handler

Reliable early and mid picks

Tower and path	Why it's good
Dart Monkey 0-2-4 (Sharp Shooter), later Crossbow Master (0-0-5)	Cheap, great early. Enhanced Eyesight (0-0-2) gives camo detection
Ninja Monkey 4-0-1 (Bloonjitsu), later Grandmaster Ninja	Camo detection built in, strong DPS
Alchemist 4-2-0 (Stronger Stimulant)	Buffs nearby towers and pops Lead with acid
Monkey Village 2-2-0 (Jungle Drums + Radar Scanner)	Attack speed plus camo detection for everything in range
Wizard Monkey 0-3-2 / 0-4-2 (Dragon's Breath / Summon Phoenix)	Fire pops Lead, and Monkey Sense (0-0-2) adds camo
Sniper Monkey 0-2-4 (Full Auto Rifle), later Elite Defender (0-0-5)	Map-wide single target, and Night Vision Goggles (0-1-0) give camo
Monkey Sub 0-4-x (First Strike Capability)	A strong anti-MOAB ability
Glue Gunner 2-0-3 / 0-2-3	Slows and weakens Bloons, including MOAB-class (MOAB Glue)
Ice Monkey 4-2-0 (Embrittlement)	Makes Bloons vulnerable to everything (Lead and Black included)
Dartling Gunner 4-x-x (Plasma Accelerator), later Ray of Doom (5-x-x)	Late-game MOAB and Ceramic killer
Super Monkey 4-x-x (Sun Temple) or 0-0-5 (Legend of the Night)	Late-game endgame power

Upgrade crosspaths shift with balance patches. Use the in-game upgrade descriptions and the community's current CHIMPS strategies.

New in 56.0: Skywarden

A $205 small Magic Monkey (base price on Medium) that fires Storm Magic from Stormbows. It starts slow and attacks faster the longer it keeps firing. Its tier-3 Combo attacks grow stronger against a target the more times it's hit.

Path	Theme
Wind	Camo detection, a persistent blowback debuff, windbursts of extra arrows
Lightning	Magnetizes Bloons to pull in nearby Energy and Plasma attacks from your other towers
Ice	Increased damage to Frozen Bloons, and can instantly shatter lower-tier frozen Bloons

Try it in Sandbox first. Its ramping attack rate means it's best placed where Bloons stay in range for a long time.

Heroes

The roster has 17 standard heroes (Quincy, Gwendolin, Striker Jones, Obyn Greenfoot, Captain Churchill, Benjamin, Ezili, Pat Fusty, Adora, Admiral Brickell, Etienne, Sauda, Psi, Geraldo, Corvus, Rosalia, Silas), plus licensed IAP heroes such as He-Man (Update 55.0).

Hero	Best at
Quincy	Easy early game. Beginner-friendly
Obyn Greenfoot	Buffs Magic towers, Druids in particular
Striker Jones	Buffs Bomb Shooters and Mortars. Good vs Black Bloons
Benjamin	Generates cash. The top eco hero in many modes
Churchill	Strong MOAB damage mid-game
Adora	Late-game power (sacrifice mechanic)
Geraldo	A shop of useful items. Flexible
Sauda	Melee early-game carry on short tracks
Psi	Map-wide range. Picks off Bloons anywhere on the track
Corvus	Spell-based, high skill ceiling
Silas	Freeze and ice synergies
He-Man (IAP)	Prince Adam transforms at level 3. A base hero, Dan D'Monke, is also available

Game Modes and Difficulties

Difficulty	Modes
Easy	Standard, Primary Only, Deflation, Sandbox
Medium	Standard, Military Only, Apopalypse, Reverse
Hard	Standard, Magic Monkeys Only, Double HP MOABs, Half Cash, Alternate Bloons Rounds, Impoppable, CHIMPS

CHIMPS means no Continues, Hearts lost, extra Income (you earn only starting cash, cash per pop, and end-of-round cash; Banana Farms are disabled), Monkey Knowledge, Powers, or Selling. It's the ultimate single-player test of a map. Beating it in one session without exiting or using "Retry Last Round" earns the black CHIMPS medal instead of the red one.

Beating a map on each mode earns medals and Monkey Money. Monkey Money buys heroes, Powers, Insta Monkeys, and trophy store items.

Economy

Banana Farms are the classic income. In non-CHIMPS modes, farms (plus the Monkey Village's bottom-path Monkey Commerce and Monkey Town upgrades) snowball.
Farm selling is a standard tactic: build farms early, then sell them late for a big lump sum before hard rounds (not in CHIMPS).
Benjamin gives income without taking space.
Buccaneer merchantmen (0-0-3+) produce income, and Favored Trades (0-0-4) boosts sell value.
Druid Paragon (Update 54.0) generates cash based on your Banana Farm "empire", with a toggled Primordial Wrath ability that drains cash for damage.

Monkey Knowledge

You earn MK points by leveling your account. Spend them in six trees (Primary, Military, Magic, Support, Powers, Heroes).

Priority picks:

Starting-cash and income nodes (mostly in the Support tree)
Camo and utility helpers for the towers you rely on early
Hero XP and hero-cost nodes in the Heroes tree
Tower-specific buffs for towers you use a lot

Read each node's tooltip. Several MK nodes were reworked over the years, and the names are easier to find in-game than to memorize.

MK is disabled in CHIMPS, so don't rely on it for black borders.

Paragons

When you own three tier-5s of the same tower (one per path) plus enough upgrades, you can merge them into a Paragon, a super-tower whose degree (1 to 100) depends on your total spend, pops, and upgrades sacrificed. Recent additions include the Druid Paragon (Root of all Nature) in 54.0. Paragons are the core of Boss Event strategies and late Freeplay.

Events and Live Content

Races: Speedrun a set map and rules for leaderboard rewards.
Boss Events: Bloonarius, Lych, Vortex, Dreadbloon, Phayze, Blastapopoulos, and later bosses. There are Normal and Elite tiers.
Odysseys: A series of maps with a limited crew. Rewards include Insta Monkeys and MK points.
Contested Territory: Team-based tile-capture competition across six teams.
Social Seasons: A team goals event. The current Social Season (live since September 2, 2026) rewards a profile banner, a Campervan MOAB skin, and Bumper Stickers when the community hits its goals.
Quests: Story-driven challenges. 56.0 added "Quest of the Skywardens".
Content Browser: Community-created challenges and Odysseys.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Forgetting camo detection. Camo arrives in early rounds and leaks everything.
Only Sharp damage against Leads. Always add at least one lead-popper.
Too many small towers. Upgrades are usually a better investment than a pile of base towers.
No MOAB damage by round 40. The first MOAB is a common loss point.
Ignoring Fortified and Regrow Bloons in later rounds.
Wasting Powers on easy maps. Save them (and Insta Monkeys) for events and hard achievements.
Placing ramp-up towers where Bloons pass quickly. Towers like the Skywarden and Ray of Doom need long exposure.

Advanced Tips

Alchemist + Ninja / Sniper buffs: Stack a Stronger Stimulant Alchemist near your DPS towers.
Monkey Village crosspaths: Jungle Drums (2-0-0, attack speed) plus Radar Scanner (0-2-0, camo) is the all-purpose support village. Go further up the top path (Primary Training and beyond) when you're buffing Primary towers.
Target switching: Sniper Elite Defenders and Dartlings benefit from Strong targeting on MOAB rounds.
Abilities: Save big abilities (Super Monkey's Tech Terror, Monkey Sub's First Strike Capability, Monkey Ace's Ground Zero) for BAD and DDT rounds.
Freeplay: 56.0 adjusted existing Freeplay Bloon groups to smooth out the difficulty curve, so late Freeplay ramps more gradually than before.
Expert Insta-Monkeys: The chance of an Insta-Monkey for reaching round 100 on Expert maps was raised from 20% to 30% in 56.0.

FAQ

What's new in Bloons TD 6 right now? Update 56.0 (August 6, 2026) added the Skywarden tower, the Ascent map, the Portable Lake power, and new quests. Update 55.0 (June 2026) added He-Man.

How do I beat CHIMPS? Pick a map with good placement, lead with cheap high-value towers, cover camo, lead, and MOAB by the right rounds, and follow a proven strategy video. Practice in Sandbox first.

What's the best hero for beginners? Quincy or Obyn for early game, and Benjamin once you understand economy.

How do Paragons work? Own one tier-5 of each path of a tower, then buy the Paragon upgrade. Its degree depends on what you sacrifice.

Is He-Man pay-to-win? He-Man is an IAP hero required by the Mattel license. Ninja Kiwi also added a base hero, Dan D'Monke, which became buyable with Monkey Money like any other hero two weeks after 55.0 launched, so events stay fair.

Can I play offline? Yes. Single player works offline. Events, co-op, and cloud saves need a connection.