Splishy Splashy to the max. I wonder if this sorta thing technically increases effective range. Imagine someone having to pull this out for a Ranked Boss run?
Zoomed out some more to demonstrate that this one is also worthless.
At the start of the year, Ninja Kiwi mentioned they were going to try harder with marketing. But in their biggest game they aren't even trying to advertise their other games right now. I think I MIGHT'VE seen Rose and Locket in a banner ad (honestly might just be thinking of Bloons TD Battles 2 which does this stuff much better btw even if the pop-up is slightly annoying) but why would it be gone right now? IN FAVOUR OF ODYSSEY EVENT BANNER AD? Just KEEP advertising it, keep it there! Advertise Bloons TD Battles 2 as well, doesn't even have to be about its most recent update it could just have a custom banner with all of the new stuff added since launch to hook people back in! Advertise Bloons Card Storm, it's better than advertising Contested Territory right below Contested Territory, maybe that game could end up revitalized! Advertise the UPCOMING Bloons Blitz, build up some hype for it in the most popular Bloons game so that it has more eyes on it when it formally launches! I get that cross-promotion is probably not ALWAYS out, but I think it should ALWAYS be in! Besides, last time I recall seeing a Bloons TD Battles 2 banner ad it was for a specific update but wasn't even for the most recent update at that time, Bloons Monkey City is able to keep its Bloons TD 6 adverts up to date but Bloons TD 6 is going to have a banner ad specifically for an older version of Bloons TD Battles 2 instead of the most recent one? I get that Battles 2's updates haven't been stellar lately (because NK Europe is not given enough resources to handle the many projects it's working on) which is why I also suggested that earlier idea of just having a general Bloons TD Battles 2 advertisement instead (although when 5.0 comes out with some major content? [a safe assumption since they only move the first version number with major changes] That should be #1. That should be the first thing people see when they open up this menu) but it should still get SOMETHING. Second biggest NK game, same general genre, but able to target different demographics to a degree. Honestly it deserves it to the extent that I think some cross-promotion CONTENT should be added. Main thing that would come to mind is if there was a quest where Agent Jericho talked in a dialogue bubble similar to characters in other quests, and he was training your Battles skills by sending Bloons at you for the quest and stealing some money occasionally, and then the end of the quest could just straight up advertise the Bloons TD Battles 2 game to you, similar to the Legends Previews.
I HOPE I can safely assume that they'll have their new paid Bloons game being announced soon (I'm starting to really assume it to be Bloons Monkey City 2 specifically, since they had lesser success with a non-tower defense Bloons game and with a non-Bloons game and Monkey City 2 is just a very safe Bloons Tower Defense play) be number one on these banner ads. Even when it's just announced but not launched, just hype people up for an upcoming game! They might have it more on their mind since this next game will be from the team of BCS (aka people from NK's bigger, government-funded main branch that works on Bloons TD 6 itself instead of the undersized NK Europe team that I really hope would be upsized) so that's a plus in likelihood at least?
I also wonder if there should be a smaller, square version of the rotating banner ads (without that annoying sound cue that plays when they swap) that appears as a signpost behind or to the side of the Social Monkeys that specifically advertises other NK projects with a priority on Bloons and especially Bloons TD (since there's more overlap in demographic with those games in particular). Bloons TD 5 did it to great success (That's where the signpost idea even comes from), Bloons TD Battles and Bloons Monkey City were able to become big. If NK did more cross promotion, then Bloons TD Battles 2 could be much bigger than it is now (not that it's as shrimpy as people suggest but I mean Bloons TD 6 numbers are just hard to live up to and Battles 2's launch numbers show how it had the potential to be so much bigger than it is now) and it could better assure that Bloons Monkey City 2 will be as big as they likely hope for it to be (even if, despite its popularity, BMC 1 kinda flopped, stopped certain types of updates very early on because it presumably wasn't as profitable as imagined despite its heavy microtransactions. All the more reason that it's good that the next NK game will be paid, or if we get Monkey City Legends instead that that will be a paid DLC).
We still await the Beast Handler Monkey Knowledge. Beast Handler is my favourite. Here's 12 Monkey Knowledge ideas! 3 for the general tower and 3 for each path! (Considering how much Monkey Knowledge the average individual monkey gets, the more realistic interpretation of this concept would be to drop some of the ones that you personally are less interested in for one reason or another)
General:
"Jumpin' Beasts" - Beast Handler beasts can be relocated more quickly (applies to top and bottom path). I think this'd be a nice and simple flat buff that could work very well with a potential nerf to Dinosaur relocation rate while giving its damage back, just sayin' just sayin'. Prerequisite: Vigilant Sentries. Thresholds: Requires 3 points, 0 Monkey Money. (For those unaware or who have forgotten, while the Monkey Money requirement is pretty straight-forward, the "Requires 3 points" essentially means you have to have invested 3 Monkey Knowledge points into Support to get this. Since that already applies to "Vigilant Sentries", this is essentially just saying that it doesn't require the next Support threshold, which is currently at 8 points. Thresholds might be adjusted when new Knowledges are added, but for now I'm just going with the current thresholds so that you know where they would be on the chart)
"Staff Expertise" - Beast Handler keeps its stick poke attack at Tier 1 and 2 (maybe for longer than that, I just figure it might be more of a hindrance at some point since the idea isn't for it to get stronger like that one fan mod from ages ago). This allows Beast Handler's earlygame strength in Half Cash and Boss Battles to be much stronger, giving another very strong option for those (especially noteworthy for Half Cash since that one is very strict in that regard) Prerequisite: Jumpin' Beasts. Thresholds: Requires 8 points, 500 Monkey Money.
"Bonus Beast Handler" - Same as the Bonus Monkey! and Bonus Glue Gunner Monkey Knowledges, where you can choose to have a free Beast Handler instead of a free Dart Monkey or free Glue Gunner. I think this'd be justified due to Beast Handler's low price and due to it being, like Glue Gunner, situationally worse than Dart Monkey despite its higher price (much shorter range and slower attack speed). Prerequisites: Hi-Value Mines, Staff Expertise. Thresholds: Requires 14 points, 1,000 Monkey Money.
Top Path:
"Flying Fish" - Top path Beast Handler's water beasts can see and attack over walls. I think this'd be nice since water monkeys in general have very few resources for attacking over walls, and all of the Beast Handler marine life uses lob style attacks that could reasonably go over walls similar to Alchemist's attacks. Opens up some strategy variety on certain maps. Prerequisite: Jumpin' Beasts. Thresholds: Requires 3 points, 250 Monkey Money.
"Wild Thrashing" - Top path Beast Handler can hit, but not see, Camo Bloons, allowing them to accidentally hit them while attacking other Bloons. I think the trait of being able to hit but not see Camos would be an interesting mechanic to play with. It'd be very fitting for Beast Handler due to its nature theme (camo is a part of nature to some degree, plus you have the fact that a part of nature won't "follow the law" and will just do its own thing. Honestly this feels like a part of the justification for the T-Rex Stomp activated ability hitting Camo Bloons) as well as the way the thrashing at Bloons feels like it'd very much accidentally hit Bloons that aren't seen (the way I described it also opens up the possibility for Barracuda to hit Camo Bloons by accident just for fun but as the name suggests the inspiration was very much the fact that the thrashing from tier 3 and above is not an aimed, intentional attack). I could see this being interesting when trying to use a high-power water Beast Handler for an efficient Phayze run, for example, thrashing the other Bloons to hit Phayze. Prerequisites: Thicker Foams, Flying Fish. Thresholds: Requires 8 points, 500 Monkey Money.
"Fish Are Friends" - Great White and above will keep the Barracuda attack (still originates from the same beast, the subtower just keeps that attack), which will be at 3 Beast Power by default but will gain Beast Power the same as the main beast (so if you merge a piranha it'll be a 4 power barracuda, if you merge 3 or more beast power it'll be a full power barracuda). I think this'd be a convenient inclusion since Great White gives up a lot of its reliability for raw power, and Barracuda is actually very strong as a Tier 2 when merged due to its knockback, being a VERY reliable tower that could knock back Bloons so that the main beast can get to them between thrashes. It'd be sort of encroaching on the interesting design of having an upgrade have a drawback if it was a constant trait, but I think it's appropriate as a Monkey Knowledge that'd make top path Beast Handler more casually approachable (after unlocking this Monkey Knowledge). Prerequisite: Wild Thrashing. Thresholds: Requires 14 points, 1,000 Monkey Money.
Middle Path:
"Mad Dash" - Dinos (maybe restricted to certain tiers, maybe you require investment so it'd be need to be kept at higher tiers or maybe it'd be OP or weird at higher tiers and need to be kept at lower tiers) will have a smear frame as they move from one location to another, and in that path Bloons will be damaged as if they were standardly attacked (it's similar to how Geraldo's max merge bunny works, so arguably this trait could be restricted to max merge beasts). I could see this being an interesting inclusion for higher-skilled Boss Players or if we got a CHIMPS-level challenge that allows Monkey Knowledge (some sort of new gamemode maybe). Prerequisite: Jumpin' Beasts. Thresholds: Requires 3 points, 250 Monkey Money.
"Blimp Hunter" - Dinos can hit MOAB-Class Bloons from further away and deal increased damage (equal to the Ceramic Bloon buffs). If Beast Handler's damage is gonna be gutted in favour of heavy micro design it could at least still be an efficient MOAB option in Half Cash and Bosses (I don't think Giga was nerfed so this might put it in an interesting place for Boss Bloons, which I think is fair because Giga feels like it just doesn't really have a place in this game as far as I've seen. It's good at what it does, what it does is just not all that needed usually). Prerequisites: Very Shreddy and Mad Dash. Thresholds: Requires 14 points, 1,000 Monkey Money.
"Jump Start" - When a T-Rex or Giganotosaurus stomps, monkeys aside from Beast Handler (and unbuffables like Paragons) are startled into immediately progressing their ability cooldown by a certain amount depending on value (I'm thinking minimum 2% maximum 7% for T-Rex, but a range of 10% to 15% for Giga). This can't be done too rapidly, though. (I'm thinking a flat cooldown of 15 seconds since that's approximately the fastest that the Giga's ability can finish its cooldown). This'd give some interesting buff utility to the T-Rex. Prerequisites - Global Ability Cooldowns and Mad Dash. Thresholds: Requires 14 points, 1,000 Monkey Money.
Bottom Path:
"Tailwind" - For each bird you have, Monkey Aces, Heli Pilots, Mini-Aces (from top path Bucc), Drones (from Etiennes), UCAVs (also, from Etiennes), and Rosalias will gain increased flight speed up to 50% (I think an unmerged Pouakai would fill this out in its entierety. For other Beast Handlers, it's essentially tied to Beast Power, so a max merge Horned Owl has the same power as any other combination of 6 Beast Handler Beast Power. A max merged Giant Condor would probably be somewhere around 40% on its own. The Phoenix, when active, acts as if it were an unmerged Golden Eagle, and the Wizard Lord Phoenix has that constantly but upgrades to an unmerged Giant Condor when active [since this is for Beast Handler they get the better deals by far]). I think this'd introduce an interesting and unique synergy, and gives Beast Handler some interesting buff-based support. Naturally, this doesn't buff unbuffables such as Paragons, and since it'd likely feed too much into the bird handler's power on its own with the way Beast Handler's merge mechanic works it doesn't affect any birds, either. Prerequisites: None. Thresholds: No requirements
"Birds of Prey" - Beast Handler's birds gain a flat 10% flight speed boost that is increased by up to 40% (total 50%) based on how far the bird is from its current target. I think this'd make Beast Handler's bottom path very strong casually on harder maps since this is one of its main limiting factors for those maps. Prerequisites: Tailwind. Thresholds: Requires 3 points, 250 Monkey Money
"Special Delivery" - Golden Eagle and above are given an activated ability that targets a particular monkey at the Beast Handler's tier or lower, although it's actually used as a toggle in behaviour for the bird and has a negligible ability cooldown (and if you use it while this second behaviour is active it'll just cancel it with no target). The bird will stop grabbing Bloons, and will instead try to grab projectiles from the targeted monkey, targeting Bloons afterwards by slamming the projectile into them until the projectile's pierce (might have a cap based on the Beast Handler tier depending on balancing) is used up, without its usual projectile lifespan limit applying. Some projectiles will be tagged as ungrabbable, such as ones with a very low lifespan (which, on its own, filters out stuff like Ray of Doom's rapidly refreshing hitbox, Top/Middle/No path Beast Handler attacks, gunshot impacts, and explosions or certain AOEs [bombs are ok to grab but not their own explosions]) or an infinite lifespan (So that it doesn't steal Glaive Lord's glaives or try to pick up Druid's Spirit of the Forest track vines or something, if it has infinite lifespan it's supposed to always be there). I think that this would be a unique and interesting support trait to have, at the expense of Beast Handler's standard attack since it'd otherwise both be overly strong and conflicting. Arguably could be used to pick up Beast Handler's beasts themselves (or subtowers in general) as a special synergy but that's probably too strong (and doesn't make perfect sense with top path, as cool as a bird carrying around a shark would be). Could also technically apply to Banana Farm's banana projectiles, dragging them to your cursor instead of to the Bloons. Although, IDK if NK wants us to have an in-game-cash Banana Farmer that isn't a Tier 5, and I respect that because they gotta make their money somewhere, especially with all the sales they do on an already cheap game. Prerequisites: Birds of Prey, Better Sell Deals. Thresholds: Requires 14 points, 1,000 Monkey Money
LMK what you think! I doubt I'd go this ham for the other untaught Monkeys if I even felt like covering them (Beast Handler is essentially three different monkeys on its own with how its paths work, and it's also my favourite) but if you're interested in my thoughts on other potential Monkey Knowledges let me know! I tried to have a healthy balance of game-changing ones like Special Delivery (along the lines of Door Gunner) and more simple stat change ones that still have a nice impact like Blimp Hunter (along the lines of Very Shreddy).
If it loses nothing to have it be smaller, then why would you not just always go for the smallest file size?
Personally I was excited to use the perks in odysseys a lot since I don't care as much about the integrity of a run in a temporary challenge so it kind of throws a wrench in my plans in that regard. I think it's interesting as a challenge, though. I know lots of people have complained about Odysseys not having much interest. I don't think this actually tackles that issue, though. Usually the issue with Odysseys that crops in past a casual level is that they last a while with little challenge. Now the issue is just that they last a while with little challenge then have some challenge at the end that lasts a while.
(That aside, the rules for this are weird? You'd think it'd be like, ice-centric, but there's SO many monkeys that have no relation to ice, so I guess the main focus is the maps. The only emphasis on Ice Monkey is that them, Mermonkey, and Alch & Village [support options] have unrestricted upgrades unlike all others [including engi who, as you can see, isn't even allowed to have Cold Sentry???]. Plus Silas being the default hero of the crew. So I definitely wanted to avoid all the freezing monkeys as a gimmick lol).
yeah uh, gamebar is like, completely broken after an update for some reason and i'm on vacation. i was planning on just posting screenshots but u/David_TheSuperior offered to do this for me, thx! My thoughts below as usual (they'll be brief since i gotta go soon, vacation stuff)
Aside from the Ocean Obyn and Pat Fusty balance changes this was like, the only thing I was actually looking forward to in this update, among some straight up negative things about this update that would make something I like all the more important. "Oh! A Water Monkey Icon! I love Water Monkeys! That'll be fun to see!". Nah we get Buccaneer specifically (them being my favourite isn't gonna win me over on this).
At least if they had re-used the icon of one of Ocean Obyn's water based cosmetics (Tidal Wave Victory Animation, Splash Down Placement Animation, Geyser Level Up Animation, even part of the Splash Pops animation itself where it's just the splash) it'd fit the style of hero key trait icons and would properly communicate the idea of the theme of water as a whole. Like, is that obviously reusing assets? Yes. ...but this is more-so, so like??
My LOWEST expectation was that they'd just put Buccaneer, Sub, and Ice together in the frame to represent them. I've looked over other icons and realized it's actually a fairly common issue for them to just have a single tower icon to represent multiple tower buffs. However, those are for situations where they buff two full monkeys, or DJ Ben's Side Hustle which is for specific upgrades (although tbh that one's weak too, just being a supply drop icon. I just don't care about that one as much). This icon doesn't even really give a good indication of what a "Water Monkey" is, which I think is important since Ice Monkey is technically amphibious and can even be buffed while on land. It's a gray area that most monkeys don't have when it comes to these buffs, closest I can think of otherwise is biker buffing bucc mini-aces with specifically flame trail but the Level 7 description mentions the "fighter planes" separately from the Monkey Ace tower so that's accounted for.
I've tried to be optimistic about this game for a long time but I think at this point my passion is growing cold until they actually show us stuff, actually put content directly into the game, or at LEAST give us ACTUAL teasers and trailers.
It's not like I'm going to suddenly get "mad" at the developers or something (in a non-sarcastic manner anyway, i'll get sarcastically mad at them plenty, especially in clan chat). But like, this update is very disappointing overall. The new content I was hype for was a type of icon I haven't analyzed deeply on other heroes up to this point since I wasn't too terribly interested aside from the occasional original art asset, and it wasn't even something new. The map is terribad (and I'm usually more optimistic about maps than others, I like stuff like Neo Highway that many people don't like). I appreciate that it re-uses elements of other models to make developing it more efficient, but it's not like the effort saved on that went anywhere else that we get to see. And at this point I'm done with "Well guys, because of x, y, and z, they ARE planning a big update, SOON!", even if I feel like I COULD make such an argument. As I said, my passion is growing cold. If I'm going to be excited, it's going to be because they were actually given the resources to do something.
And it's not like they don't WANT to do something or that they've given up on the game or something. They're just... Too small a team for everything that's been going on. SAS 5: ZAR was supposed to be released at the end of last year, if they could do that then they'd probably get some folks back onto this game 7 months ago or so. But it was delayed unexpectedly so they're rolling with that punch, while also trying to nurture Bloons Blitz.
Just... Ninja Kiwi, as a total conglomerate. Please. Upsize NK Europe. It is managing the only new revealed Bloons spinoff, it is managing the second biggest Bloons game which has a lot of potential within a largely unique genre (this one), and it is managing the second biggest Ninja Kiwi franchise's first new game in a long, long time. It deserves to have the size to be able to handle these three important (to varying degree) projects, instead of having to leave Bloons TD Battles 2 to ROT because they just can't do anything else, even if they want to, even if this game could be huge, even if people have been willing to give it a second chance even during this content drought throughout the years. This just isn't it.
Didn't quite get the rollover period but I'm not too late
For some reason in my head when I saw that the recording was at one minute (The total video time is more like 1:03 though) I was like "OK time to wrap it up!"
This also means I didn't REALLY show off the graduation animated profile banner properly in the main video, it's pretty much the same idea but animated though (there's confetti falling and the hats are thrown upward then fall down)
https://bsky.app/profile/ninjakiwigames.bsky.social/post/3mnj5izu66g2n
Is this what happens when a Dart Monkey is automatically sold due to a change in the map
I've had a habit for a long time of trying to make it so that my first-placed monkey, the one with a monkey name, gets the most pops or cash or whatever (out of that type of tower), but in hindsight it probably tracks the pops and damage of all instances of that tower, right? No stats exclusive to the monkey named tower?
