Think Bloons Tower Defense is a walk in the park? Feeling like you’ve conquered every map and challenge thrown your way? Prepare to have your monkey-popping prowess tested like never before with the Small Bloons Only challenge! It might sound deceptively simple, a breeze compared to the relentless assault of MOABs and DDTs you’re used to. But trust me, attempting to defeat the hordes using only small bloons can quickly transform into a hilariously frustrating experience that will have you rethinking everything you know about tower defense.
For the uninitiated, Bloons Tower Defense, or BTD, is a beloved game where you strategically place monkeys (and other towers) to pop waves of colorful balloons, or bloons. You upgrade your towers, earn cash, and ultimately try to survive until the very end. Typically, you face a varied onslaught of bloons: reds, blues, greens, pinks, blacks, whites, leads, ceramics, and then the dreaded blimps like MOABs, BFBs, and ZOMGs. However, the Small Bloons Only challenge throws a wrench into this familiar formula.
What exactly is the Small Bloons Only challenge? It’s as simple as the name suggests: throughout the entire game, you only face the smallest bloon types. That means no MOABs, no BFBs, no ZOMGs, no DDTs, and no ceramic bloons. Just reds, blues, greens, pinks, yellows, blacks, whites, and leads. Seems easy, right? Again, think again! The surprising difficulty of the Small Bloons Only challenge stems from the sheer volume of bloons, the economic impact of their lower value, and the need to drastically adjust your usual tower strategies.
Mastering this deceptively simple challenge requires a strategic approach that includes optimal tower placements, careful upgrade choices, and a deep understanding of which towers thrive when faced with a relentless stream of smaller bloons. It’s about shifting your perspective from “big damage bursts” to sustained, reliable damage that can handle the overwhelming numbers.
The Deceptive Nature of Small Bloons
Initially, facing only small bloons might feel like a vacation. After all, these are the bloons you typically one-shot with even the most basic towers. However, the illusion of weakness quickly fades as the waves progress. What starts as a trickle soon becomes a torrent, and suddenly you’re drowning in a sea of red, blue, and green.
The real kicker is the sheer number of these bloons. They come in such overwhelming waves that even the most carefully planned defenses can be overwhelmed. This is especially true in the later rounds, where the bloons spawn faster and in even greater numbers, demanding exceptional damage output to survive. This requires you to strategically set up your tower placement.
Economic Realities: The Cost of Tiny Targets
The impact of small bloons extends beyond their sheer numbers; it also hits you where it hurts: your wallet! Each small bloon grants significantly less income than their larger counterparts. This means you’ll be earning considerably less cash per round.
The reduced income creates a ripple effect that makes upgrading your towers much more challenging. You’ll need to be exceptionally efficient with your spending, prioritizing crucial upgrades that provide maximum value for your investment. This challenge significantly impacts the early game, where it’s crucial to secure a stable economy to finance your defense. A good start is essential for survival.
Re-evaluating Your Arsenal: Tower Selection Strategies
The Small Bloons Only challenge throws many standard BTD strategies out the window. Towers that typically excel against large, single targets are rendered far less effective. Instead, you need to prioritize towers that excel at dealing with dense groups of bloons.
Here are some top-tier tower choices and strategies that consistently prove effective in the Small Bloons Only environment:
The Precision of the Dart Monkey: Crossbow Master
While seemingly simple, the Dart Monkey can be a powerhouse when upgraded correctly. The Crossbow Master upgrade path provides excellent single-target damage, which can be surprisingly effective at cleaning up stray bloons that manage to slip past your defenses. Its high attack speed and pierce make it a reliable damage dealer throughout the game, especially when buffed by support towers. The main reason why Crossbow Master is so valuable is the ability to take down the lead bloons.
Boomerang Mastery: Glaive Lord and Glaive Prime
The Boomerang Monkey, especially when upgraded to the Glaive Lord or Glaive Prime, becomes a crucial asset. The Glaive Lord’s orbiting glaives wreak havoc on tightly packed bloons, while the Glaive Prime’s increased pierce and damage allow it to shred through waves with ease. Their ability to hit multiple targets simultaneously makes them incredibly efficient against the constant stream of small bloons. It is incredibly important to learn how to properly place down the Glaive Lord so the glaives reach every part of the track and pop the bloons.
The Power of Ice: Icicle Impale and Absolute Zero
The Ice Monkey provides invaluable crowd control. The Icicle Impale and Absolute Zero upgrades slow down bloons considerably, giving your other towers more time to eliminate them. The slowing effect is crucial for managing the sheer volume of bloons, and the Icicle Impale’s ability to freeze even lead bloons is essential for dealing with those pesky metallic threats. The slow it provides gives the other towers time to pop the bloons and it is very important to keep the slow consistent.
Village Support: The Primary Expertise
The Monkey Village, particularly the Primary Expertise path, provides vital buffs that can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your primary monkeys. The increased range, attack speed, and pierce buffs can transform your Dart Monkeys, Boomerang Monkeys, and Ice Monkeys into veritable bloon-popping machines. It is also very useful for giving all of your primary monkeys camo detection so you do not need to invest into getting a camo village.
Strategic Deployment: Mastering the Map
Tower placement is always crucial in BTD, but it becomes even more critical in the Small Bloons Only challenge. You need to maximize the coverage of your towers, ensuring they can target as many bloons as possible. Chokepoints and intersections are ideal locations, as they allow your towers to hit bloons multiple times. Be sure to watch some guides on where to place down your towers on the specific map you are trying to beat.
The Early, Middle, and Late Stages
The strategies that you use throughout the game are vital. At the start you need to get a good economy going by popping as many bloons as possible and placing monkeys that are able to provide high damage at a low cost. In the midgame, you need to stabilize your defense and ensure that bloons are not passing your defense. In the late game, you need to get some tier five towers that can carry your defense and help you get to the final round.
Pushing the Limits: Challenges and Variations
Once you’ve mastered the standard Small Bloons Only challenge, why not crank up the difficulty? Here are a few ways to test your skills further:
Half Cash and Small Bloons Only: A truly brutal combination that demands exceptional resource management.
Impoppable and Small Bloons Only: Only for the most dedicated BTD players, this is an exercise in pure survival.
Tower Restrictions: Limit yourself to using only certain tower types for an additional layer of challenge.
Many community members create their own challenges that can be a lot of fun and give you a good goal to aim for. Try some speedruns, low cash runs, or tower restriction challenges.
Final Thoughts: Embracing the Tiny Terror
The Small Bloons Only challenge in Bloons Tower Defense might seem deceptively simple on the surface, but it’s a surprisingly difficult and rewarding experience. It forces you to rethink your standard strategies, experiment with different tower combinations, and optimize your placements for maximum efficiency. It’s a testament to the depth and replayability of Bloons Tower Defense, proving that even the smallest bloons can pose a significant threat.
So, are you ready to take on the Tiny Terror? Will you master the art of popping countless small bloons and emerge victorious? Give it a try, share your strategies in the comments below, and let us know what other BTD challenges you’d like to see explored! Good luck, and happy popping!
