The Bloons Tower Defence 3 Tower/Item Guide

[Masamune]

The following list features the 11 towers, monkeys and non-tower weapons that can be used in Bloons Tower Defence 3. The placement and upgrade costs are as quoted on the Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty modes. For each tower, monkey and item, I have compiled info on their placement and upgrade costs, attack properties, the upgrades and their effects, and their respective strengths and weaknesses. (This thread contains spoilers, so if you don't want to know the details of each tower, monkey or item, or if you already know what each of them does, you don't have to click on the spoiler tabs.)

Dart Monkey

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 215
  • Medium: 255
  • Hard: 270
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 200
• Firing Speed: Fast
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Fires darts that can pop one bloon at a time.
• Attack Properties: Sharp, Piercing (with Piercing Darts & Razor Darts)
• Pros: Tower and upgrades are the least expensive. Several fully upgraded Dart Monkeys can mow down large numbers of bloons with ease.
• Cons: Cannot pop lead or frozen bloons. May struggle with large numbers of bloons if placements are spread out.
• My comments: A good early tower for beginners and especially useful for dealing with the stragglers once the main bulk of the wave of bloons are taken out.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Long Range Darts
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 75
    • Medium: 90
    • Hard: 95
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy:60
    • Medium: 72
    • Hard: 76
  • Effect: Increases the attack range.
• Extra Long Range Darts
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 75
    • Medium: 90
    • Hard: 95
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 60
    • Medium: 72
    • Hard: 76
  • Effect: Further increases the attack range.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Piercing Darts
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 120
    • Medium: 145
    • Hard: 150
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 96
    • Medium: 116
    • Hard: 120
  • Effect: Allows the Dart Monkey to pop up to two bloons with a single dart.
• Razor Darts
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 100
    • Medium: 120
    • Hard: 130
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 80
    • Medium: 96
    • Hard: 104
  • Effect: Allows the Dart Monkey to pop up to three bloons with a single dart.

Tack Shooter

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 305
  • Medium: 360
  • Hard: 390
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 288
• Firing Speed: Medium
• Range: Short
• Attack: Fires tacks in eight directions. Each tack can pop up to three bloons at a time.
• Attack Properties: Sharp
• Pros: Can pop large numbers of bloons with a single attack. Relatively easy to upgrade.
• Cons: Some tacks or blades may miss a bloon. Cannot pop lead or frozen bloons.
• My comments: This tower becomes much more deadly than before thanks to the Blade Shooter upgrade. A great tower for taking down large swathes of bloons and is a force to be reckoned with when combined with cannons. Place these near corners to maximise the effectiveness of the Tack/Blade Shooters.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Faster Shooting
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 170
    • Medium: 205
    • Hard: 215
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 136
    • Medium: 164
    • Hard: 172
  • Effect: Increases the firing speed.
• Upgrade to Blade Shooter
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 155
    • Medium: 185
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 124
    • Medium: 148
  • Effect: Slightly increases firing speed, and each blade can pop up to five bloons at a time.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Extra Range
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 85
    • Medium: 100
    • Hard: 110
  • Increase to Resale Value
    • Easy: 68
    • Medium: 80
    • Hard: 88
  • Effect: Increases the attack range.
• Super Range
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 85
    • Medium: 100
    • Hard: 110
  • Increase to Resale Value
    • Easy: 68
    • Medium: 80
    • Hard: 88
  • Effect: Further increases the attack range.

Boomerang

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 440
  • Medium: 525
  • Hard: 555
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 412
• Firing Speed: Moderate
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Throws a boomerang in an arc that can pop up to two bloons.
• Attack Properties: Sharp, Piercing
• Pros: Can potentially pop virtually any kind of bloon.
• Cons: Some bloons may escape altogether if placement is inadequate. Cannot pop lead or frozen bloons unless the Sonic Boom and Thermite upgrades are bought.
• My comments: A good all-rounder that brings another way of popping lead bloons.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Multitarget
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 230
    • Medium: 275
    • Hard: 290
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 184
    • Medium: 220
    • Hard: 232
  • Effect: Each boomerang cann now pop up to five bloons at a time.
• Upgrade to Glaive Thrower
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 240
    • Medium: 285
    • Hard: 300
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 192
    • Medium: 228
    • Hard: 240
  • Effect: Can pop up to eight bloons at a time.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Sonic Boom
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 130
    • Medium: 155
    • Hard: 160
  • Increase to Resale Value: 104
    • Easy: 104
    • Medium: 124
    • Hard: 132
  • Effect: Allows boomerangs and glaives to pop frozen bloons.
• Thermite
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 100
    • Medium: 120
    • Hard: 130
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 80
    • Medium: 96
    • Hard: 104
  • Effect: Allows boomerangs and glaives to pop lead bloons.

Spike-o-Pault

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 510
  • Medium: 610
  • Hard: 650
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 480
• Firing Speed: Moderate
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Launches a spiked ball that travels in a straight line through bloons and can pop up to six bloons at a time.
• Attack Properties: Sharp, Piercing
• Pros: Effective against brown bloons, especially with Juggernaut upgrade
• Cons: Cannot pop lead or frozen bloons. Juggernaut and Multishot upgrades are expensive. Accuracy is poor against individual bloons.
• My comments: Spike-o-Paults can be useful for attacking lines of bloons when the Target Priority is set to Last. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the cost of buying the tower and its upgrade could be recouped on its own, so tacks, cannons and boomerangs are a better choice.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Longer Range
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 215
    • Medium: 255
    • Hard: 270
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 172
    • Medium: 204
    • Hard: 216
  • Effect: Increases the attack range.
• Juggernaut
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 700
    • Medium: 840
    • Hard: 890
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 560
    • Medium: 672
    • Hard: 712
  • Effect: Increases the distance of the spikey balls, and can pop up to 20 bloons per attack.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Faster Reload
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 215
    • Medium: 255
    • Hard: 270
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 172
    • Medium: 204
    • Hard: 216
  • Effect: Increases the firing speed.
• Multishot
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 490
    • Medium: 585
    • Hard: 620
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 392
    • Medium: 468
    • Hard: 496
  • Effect: Can launch three spikey balls at a time.

Cannon

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 615
  • Medium: 740
  • Hard: 785
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 580
• Firing Speed: Moderate
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Launches a bomb that explodes on impact, popping bloons over a splash radius.
• Attack Properties: Splash, Explosive
• Pros: Can pop lead bloons. Frag bomb upgrade enables it to pop black bloons with bomb fragments
• Cons: Explosives cannot pop black bloons. Bomb fragments cannot pop lead bloons.
• My comments: In earlier Bloons TD games, cannons were the only tower capable of popping lead bloons, and players doing cannon only challenges had to rely on road spikes to pop the black bloons since black bloons cannot be popped with explosives. Now, the Frag Bomb upgrade reduces the reliance on road spikes since the bomb fragments can pop lead bloons. Even now though, cannons are still a very good way of popping large numbers of bloons and lead bloons in paticular.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Bigger Bombs
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 365
    • Medium: 440
    • Hard: 465
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 292
    • Medium: 352
    • Hard: 372
  • Effect: Increases the splash radius of bombs and missiles.
• Frag Bombs
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 185
    • Medium: 225
    • Hard: 240
  • Increase to Resale:
    • Easy: 148
    • Medium: 180
    • Hard: 192
  • Effect: Each bomb and missile fire out fragments that travel in eight directions and can pop up to two bloons. Fragments take on the attack properties of sharp objects.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Extra Range Bombs
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 170
    • Medium: 205
    • Hard: 215
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 136
    • Medium: 164
    • Hard: 172
  • Effect: Increases the attack range.
• Upgrade to Missile Launcher
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 180
    • Medium: 215
    • Hard: 225
  • Increase to Resale Value: 144
    • Medium: 172
    • Hard: 180
  • Effect: Increases the projectile speed and slightly increases firing speed.

Ice Ball

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 360
  • Medium: 435
  • Hard: 460
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 340
• Firing Speed: Slow
• Range: Short
• Attack: Launches a cold blast in the area around the Ice Ball, freezing bloons in place for a limited time.
• Attack Properties: Freeze, Slow (with Permafrost)
• Pros: Helps to control the flow of bloons along the path
• Cons: Cannot freeze white bloons. Cannot directly pop bloons.
• My comments: Useful for buying yourself time to clear the wave of bloons, and the Snap Freeze upgrade provides an alternative way of popping bloons. However, in the Bloons TD games and many other TD games, attack is the best form of defence, and the Ice Ball is not designed with direct and aggressive attacks in mind.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Longer Freeze
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 215
    • Medium: 255
    • Hard: 270
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 172
    • Medium: 204
    • Hard: 216
  • Effect: Increases the duration of the freeze effect.
• Permafrost
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 215
    • Medium: 255
    • Hard: 270
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 172
    • Medium: 204
    • Hard: 216
  • Effect: Bloons inflicted with freeze effect that has worn off move at a slower pace.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Wider Freeze Radius
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 170
    • Medium: 205
    • Hard: 215
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 136
    • Medium: 164
    • Hard: 172
  • Effect: Increases the effect range.
• Snap Freeze
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 245
    • Medium: 295
    • Hard: 315
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 196
    • Medium: 236
    • Hard: 252
  • Effect: Gives the Ice Ball a chance to pop some bloons before applying the freeze effect.

Monkey Beacon

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 850
  • Medium: 1020
  • Hard: 1080
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 800
• Firing Speed: None
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Has no attacks. Instead, it increases the attack range of all towers and monkeys within range.
• Attack Properties: Support
• Pros: Helps other towers and monkeys clear waves of monkeys more easily.
• Cons: No direct attacks. Upgrades are very expensive.
• My comments: A useful support tower that can strengthen the attack force of existing towers and monkeys that are currently in play. Super Monkey Storms are very useful as it clears the bloons in play for other towers and monkeys to concentrate their firepower on the MOABs, but should be used only as a last resort.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Stronger Signal
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 425
    • Medium: 510
    • Hard: 540
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 340
    • Medium: 408
    • Hard: 432
  • Effect: Increases the effect range.
• Jungle Drums
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 1275
    • Medium: 1530
    • Hard: 1620
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 1020
    • Medium: 1224
    • Hard: 1296
  • Effect: Increases the attack speed of all towers and monkeys within range.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Upgrade to Monkey Storm Beacon
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 2125
    • Medium: 2550
    • Hard: 2700
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 1700
    • Medium: 2040
    • Hard: 2160
  • Effect: Increases the attack range.
• Call Super Monkey Storm
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 850
    • Medium: 1020
    • Hard: 1080
  • Increase to Resale Value: None
  • Effect: Summons a group of Super Monkeys to pop all bloons in play except MOABs. When used, receive money equal to half the number of bloons popped using this ability. Can be activated as many times as the player can afford to by clicking on the Upgrade pane when green, or by clicking on the black icon with the lightning and Super Monkey symbols.

Super Monkey

Details

• Cost:
  • Easy: 3400
  • Medium: 4080
  • Hard: 4320
• Resale Value without Upgrades: 3200
• Firing Speed: Extreme
• Range: Medium
• Attack: Fires a constant stream of darts that pop one bloon at a time.
• Attack Properties: Sharp, Rapid Fire, Piercing (with Laser Vision & Plasma Vision)
• Pros: Has the longest range of all towers and monkeys with the upper rung upgrades. Has the fastest firing speed. Able to pop large numbers of bloons.
• Cons: Placement and upgrade costs are the most expensive of all towers.
• My comments: The ultimate bloon popping machine that has become even more powerful. It is extremely useful for finishing off the stragglers, and the Plasma Vision upgrade enables it to take down virtually any bloon with ease. It certainly doesn't come cheap, but you'll certainly need at least one of these when you decide to go onto Freeplay Mode after you clear the standard fifty levels.

Upper Rung Upgrades

• Super Range
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 850
    • Medium: 1020
    • Hard: 1080
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 680
    • Medium: 816
    • Hard: 864
  • Effect: Greatly increases the attack range.
• Epic Range
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 1190
    • Medium: 1430
    • Hard: 1510
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 952
    • Medium: 1144
    • Hard: 1208
  • Effect: Extends the attack range to almost the whole map.

Lower Rung Upgrades

• Laser Vision
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 2975
    • Medium: 3570
    • Hard: 3780
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 2380
    • Medium: 2856
    • Hard: 3024
  • Effect: Each laser beam can pop up to two bloons and can pop frozen bloons.
• Plasma Vision
  • Cost:
    • Easy: 3400
    • Medium: 4080
    • Hard: 4320
  • Increase to Resale Value:
    • Easy: 2720
    • Medium: 3264
    • Hard: 3456
  • Effect: Each plasma bolt can pop up to three bloons and can pop frozen and lead bloons.

Non-tower Weapons

The following items are placed on the pathways. Use them carefully to maximise their effectiveness.

• Road Spikes
  
  Details

  • Cost:
    • Easy: 25
    • Medium: 30
    • Hard: 30
  • Effect: Pops bloons each time they touch the road spike. Each road spike can pop a maximum of ten bloons.
  • Attack Property: Sharp
  • Pros: Useful for when bloons manage to escape your defences.
  • Cons: You pay more for each road spike than you get back.
  • My comments: Best used for preventing bloons from reaching the end of the path and taking away your lives, but if your defences can easily handle the increasingly tougher wave of bloons, you may not need road spikes.
• Monkey Glue
  
  Details

  • Cost:
    • Easy: 30
    • Medium: 35
    • Hard: 40
  • Effect: Reduces the movement speeds of bloons that pass over the blobs of monkey glue. Each blob of monkey glue can slow down a maximum of twenty bloons.
  • Attack Property: Slow
  • Pros: Makes it easier for your towers and monkeys to pop bloons.
  • Cons: Does not affect bloons that are inside other bloons.
  • My comments: Ideal for slowing the bloons long enough for your defences to take them down.
  
  
• Pineapple
  
  Details

  • Cost:
    • Easy: 20
    • Medium: 25
    • Hard: 25
  • Effect: Pops bloons with a large splash radius when the timer reaches zero.
  • Attack Property: Splash, Explosive
  • Pros: Can pop large numbers of bloons.
  • Cons: Cannot pop black bloons.
  • My comments: Useful for popping large numbers of bloons, but require timing and strategic placement for maximum effectiveness.