[Source]
- For the other similarly named Tier 5 Sniper upgrade, see Elite Defender.
| “ | Supply drop gives much more cash. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers. | ” |
| ~ In-game description |
Elite Sniper is the fifth and final upgrade of Path 2 for the Sniper Monkey in Bloons TD 6. It improves its Supply Drop ability to activate all available x-4-x Supply Drop abilities simultaneously and increases cash value of its own ability from $1,100 to $3,000, as well as allowing all Snipers (including itself) to gain a new "Elite" targeting option along with improving attack cooldown for all other snipers by x0.75 (+33% attack speed), while giving itself a x0.4 attack cooldown (equal to +150% attack speed). The Elite Sniper itself retains its normal Supply Drop Sniper attack but with the built-in faster attack speed.
This upgrade costs $11,900 on Easy, $14,000 on Medium, $15,120 on Hard, and $16,800 on Impoppable.
Quick Answers
What benefits does the Elite Sniper provide to other snipers in Bloons TD 6?
How does the Elite targeting option improve the Sniper Monkey's attack?
What is the increase in cash value from the Supply Drop ability when upgraded to Elite Sniper?
How does the Elite Sniper's reload speed compare to other snipers in BTD6?
What is the function of the 'Elite' targeting option in BTD6?
Description
Overview
The Elite Sniper gains a more complex set of goggles, a pair of black gloves, along with a full-black disguise wig. The radio backpack changes from brown and green to entirely black. The black hood loses the orange accents.
Elite Sniper will gain an improved Supply Drop ability for itself, which upgrades its ability to give extra cash per ability from itself and automatically trigger all Supply Drop abilities of any other Supply Drop Snipers. It gives approximately +150% attack speed boost for itself, a +33% attack speed buff to all other Snipers on screen, and a new "Elite" target priority.
Elite Targeting
- See also: Elite
This upgrade allows all Snipers (including itself) to gain the Elite targeting setting.
The elite targeting option saves the players from microing too often; when set to elite, Snipers will target Strong Bloons normally and then change targeting to First when bloons are near the exit, specifically once bloons reach at least 75% of the bloon track. Snipers set to Elite will also prioritize Ceramic Bloons over MOAB-Class Bloons.
Activated Abilities
- See also: Activated Abilities (BTD6)#Elite Sniper
This is the 5th tier activated ability for the Sniper Monkey. It calls an Operation: Dart Storm that flies in and drops a crate full of cash worth a straight $3,000 per crate. In addition, it will trigger all other Supply Drop Snipers' abilities if they are available. It will stop attacking temporarily as it deploys the ability. It has a cooldown of 90 seconds, and it takes ~3 seconds before the crate arrives to pick up.
Like most income-only abilities, Elite Supply Drop Ability has a full initial cooldown. In addition, Elite Supply Drop can only be used up to 3 times per round. Starting from Version 28.0, Elite Supply Drop abilities are disabled after 3 minutes in a single round.
Elite Sniper's ability cooldowns can accept cooldown reduction buffs from the global Energizer buff. It can also accept the cooldown reset of Geraldo's Rejuv Potion. It also accepts cooldown reduction bonuses from Monkey Knowledge and Relic Knowledge.
Targeting Priorities
Elite Sniper targets bloons using the standard targeting priorities. Its main attack shoots a snipe attack.
- First: Targets the first bloon visible within its range.
- Last: Targets the last bloon visible within its range.
- Close: Targets the closest bloon visible within its range.
- Strong: Targets the strongest bloon visible within its range.
- Elite: Targets on First if bloons are past 75% of the bloon track, Strong if bloons are up to 75% of the bloon track, and will prioritize Ceramics and any weaker multi-child bloon type over any other bloon type if bloons are not past 75% of the bloon track.
Elite Sniper's ability produces a crate as a spawned collectable that can be manually picked up by the player. Placement of the crate is erratic. Elite Sniper's global Sniper buff targets all towers on screen as an influence tower buff. Neither the ability nor its global Sniper buff have any interaction with any targeting priorities.
Because it is an upgrade above Night Vision Goggles, Elite Sniper receives Camo Prioritization, allowing it to prioritize Camo Bloons over other types when active.
Full Popology
Statistics
- Updated as of Version 45.3
- Base stats
- Bullet:
- Snipe projectile, normal type, infinite range, 0.636s attack cooldown, 2 damage, +2 (4) Camo damage, 4 impact pierce, bounces within 40 range from target. Upon damage, creates Shrapnel parallel to bullet direction, before bouncing again if Bullet contains sufficient leftover pierce.
- Shrapnel:
- Shrapnel (derives from Bullet, cannot hit parent bloon), sharp type, spray of 5, 1 damage, +2 (3) Camo damage, 5 pierce.
- Sniper Buff:
- Tower buff, passive type, targets all Snipers on screen, gives buffed monkeys +33% attack speed (0.75x cooldown multiplier) and the Elite targeting priority.
- Ability stats
- Elite Supply Drop Ability:
- Cooldown of 90 seconds, initial cooldown of 90 seconds, max 3 times per round per Sniper, can only be used within 3 minutes from the start of each round. Also activates all other Supply Drop Sniper Crate Drops. When activated, summon Crate Drop.
- Crate Drop:
- Spawn, passive type, Sniper stops attacking briefly and generates a Crate within about 0-50 units from the Sniper.
- Crate:
- Collectable spawn, passive type, generates $3000 when picked up. Lifespan of about 15 seconds.
- Crosspathing interactions
- 1-5-0: Shrapnel damage type changed from sharp to normal. Bullet damage increased from 2 to 4. Shrapnel damage increased from 1 to 2.
- 2-5-0: Bullet damage increased from 4 to 7 and bounce distance increased from 40 to 80. Shrapnel damage increased from 2 to 3.
- 0-5-1: Bullet attack cooldown reduced from 0.636s to 0.445s.
- 0-5-2: Bullet attack cooldown reduced from 0.445s to 0.312s.
- Monkey Knowledge interactions
Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
Ceramic Shock: Ceramic Bloons shot by all Snipers are slowed down for 2 seconds.
Flanking Maneuvers: Attacks 10% faster when set targeting priority to "Last".
Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
- Sniper Monkey base cost from $300, $350, $380, and $420 → $200, $235, $255, and $280 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
- Sniper Monkey base cost from $300, $350, $380, and $420 → $285, $330, $360, and $400 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
- If Military Conscription is also enabled, the final cost will be $185, $215, $235, and $260.
- Sniper Monkey base cost from $300, $350, $380, and $420 → $285, $330, $360, and $400 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
Monkey Education: All Monkeys XP earn rate increased by 8%.
Better Sell Deals: All Monkeys sell for 5% more. Increases sell potency from 70% to 75%.
Veteran Monkey Training: All Monkeys reload time reduced by 3%.
Global Ability Cooldowns: All Ability cooldowns for all Monkeys reduced by 3%.
Attack Interactions
- See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military
- Updated as of Version 37.3
- Base attack(s)
- Bullet:
Normal
Camo Detection
Single Projectile
Snipe
Impact (4)
Full Map Range
Ricochet
Aggressive Seeking
Extra Damage (2)
Extra Damage to Camos (+2)
- Shrapnel:
Sharp- Camo Detection
Shrapnel
Angular Spray (5)- Extra Damage to Camos (+2)
- Sniper Buff:
Passive
Target Tower (target: all Snipers on screen)
Tower Buff (target: all Snipers on screen)
Influence
Whole Screen
- Ability
- Crate:
- Passive
- Single Projectile
Spawn
Erratic Movement
Bonus Income ($3000)
Costs
- Updated as of Version 46.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.
| [Module | Data] | Purchase | Sell | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable | Easy | Medium | Hard | Impoppable |
| Upgrade (X-5-X) | $11,900 | $14,000 | $15,120 | $16,800 | - | |||
| Total (0-5-0) | $21,030 | $24,750 | $26,735 | $29,700 | $14,721 | $17,325 | $18,715 | $20,790 |
| Crosspath (1-5-0) | $21,325 | $25,100 | $27,115 | $30,120 | $14,928 | $17,570 | $18,981 | $21,084 |
| Crosspath (2-5-0) | $22,430 | $26,400 | $28,520 | $31,680 | $15,701 | $18,480 | $19,964 | $22,176 |
| Crosspath (0-5-1) | $21,410 | $25,200 | $27,220 | $30,240 | $14,987 | $17,640 | $19,054 | $21,168 |
| Crosspath (0-5-2) | $21,790 | $25,650 | $27,705 | $30,780 | $15,253 | $17,955 | $19,394 | $21,546 |
This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: Military Conscription, Advanced Logistics, Better Sell Deals
Strategy
Summary
Alone, the Elite Sniper offers a marginally high grouped popping power, further improved by giving crosspathing and simple buffs to efficiently counter mid-game grouped bloons across any range. Its main power, however, comes from buffing the attack speed of all other Snipers on screen, as well as its higher value cash crates. Since the Elite Sniper increases the firing speed of all Sniper Monkeys on screen, this upgrade is extremely useful for players with many Sniper Monkeys, especially with Maim MOABs, Cripple MOAB, Full Auto Rifles, and Elite Defender. Its ability to trigger all other Supply Drop Sniper abilities through one push of a button also makes it a very useful quality-of-life upgrade for Sniper farming.
On CHIMPS, Elite Sniper is actually a viable option despite not generating income. It handles mid-game rushes with relative ease, improves all Snipers especially 4-2-0 Maim MOABs and Bouncing Bullet armies, and deals rather effective Super Ceramic cleanup when paired with Downdraft. It costs remarkably less than other Tier 5 options, which does give it an edge over other mid-to-late-game options.
Tips
- A 2-5-0 Elite Sniper has shrapnel that deals 3 damage and bullets that deal 7 damage; however, the 0-5-2 Elite Sniper, despite less base Shrapnel and bullet damage (1 and 2 respectively), attacks 2.04x faster, making it have increased DPS potential when tower buffs (such as 3-x-x Alchemist) or bloon debuffs (such as 5-x-x Sniper) are being used, with the added benefit of having an easier time catching fast bloons.
- Without support, the 2-5-0 is able to damage both leads and frozen with its bullets and Shrapnel, while 0-5-2 is only able to damage leads and frozen with its bullets.
- 2-5-0 has the benefit of an additional +10 maximum bounce distance, which may be the difference between interweaving across split lanes and not.
- One 2-5-0 Sniper can solo Round 63, because the huge pierce from each 3 damage shrapnel combined with 7 damage per bullet allows for a lot of overall damage to grouped bloons. On multi-lane maps with lack of Line of Sight, the same 2-5-0 Sniper can solo Round 63 if given Stronger Stimulant.[1]
- Combining Elite Sniper with Downdraft can be used to clean up Super Ceramics adequately.
- In most cases, you should not use the default Elite targeting option and immediately switch to First. This is because the bouncing bullet attack from the Elite Sniper generally benefits from consistently targeting the front-most bloons.
Version History
Balance Changes
Initially considered one of the weaker Tier 5 upgrades in the game, Elite Sniper has evolved to specialize at both combatting mid-game and buffing other Snipers while producing a regular flow of income. Various buffs to this upgrade have been added, enough to make it practical in a CHIMPS game for combatting dense mid-game rounds such as Round 63.
- 2.0
Added global reload speed boost to all Sniper Monkeys when an Elite Sniper is purchased.
- 3.0
Elite Sniper automatically changes target priority to Elite upon purchase.
- 7.0
- Elite Sniper price reduced ($16,000 → $13,000).
- 8.0
Elite Sniper's Supply Drop (along with other income-based abilities) now undergoes the full initial cooldown before initial ability usage.
- 11.0
- Main bullets from the Elite Sniper now deal +2 damage to Camo Bloons.
- 17.0
- Shrapnel Shot reworked to eject in a 45 degree arc instead of 360.
- Shrapnel Shot now shoots 5 shrapnel pieces instead of 8.
- Shrapnel Shot now produces shrapnel whenever the bullet damages bloons instead of only when entire bloon is destroyed.
- 20.0
| “ | This tower felt like it's [sic] strength too heavily required the xx2 upgrade, and that this harmed crosspath choices. So we increased the base attack rate while nerfing the increase from these upgrades. This is a slight overall buff | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to base Sniper |
- Affected by base Sniper attack speed buff.
- 22.0
| “ | [...] Bouncing Bullet has also had its shrapnel pierce increased as it was the only T3 sniper that did not have 3 pierce shrapnel. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Bouncing Bullet |
- Elite Sniper's shrapnel pierce increased (2 → 3).
- 23.0
| “ | Small improvements for underloved sniper upgrades with respective path specialties intact. As bottom path sniper has proven superiority for group damage dealing in many situations and middle T4 on the group-damage path has only offered a farming option, the pierce of shrapnel has been doubled at this T4 to add offensive value as well. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi, referring to Supply Drop |
- Elite Sniper's shrapnel pierce increased (3 → 6)
- 28.0
| “ | No wrist enjoys spamming cash drops, so sniper's random cash drop has been standardized around a higher amount with slower cooldown for an overall buff. As middle path sniper has been feeling to be in a good spot with alchemist buffs, but other uses of sniper shrapnel weak due to lack of alchemist buff, we have decided to swap alchemist buffability over from the number of bounces to the power of the shrapnel itself. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Affected by Night Vision Goggles granting Camo Prioritization
- Supply Drop: Cash Generating abilities now have a 3 minute timeout
- Supply Drop ability cooldown increased from 60s to 90s
- Elite Sniper cash produced increased from a range of $1,500-$3,000 to a flat $3000
- Shrapnel Shot, shrapnel on all crosspaths is now able to receive any external buffs
- Pierce buffs no longer increase the amount of bounces that a bouncing bullet can make.
- 30.0
| “ | Elite Sniper bouncing bullet jump distance has been reduced so that it can't quite bridge small track splits so easily, however to change up use this lost distance has been added back to crosspathing. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Elite Sniper bounce distance reduced slightly from 50 to 40, unless it is crosspathed with Large Calibre, which restores the distance cap to 50.
- 32.0
| “ | Sniper middle path is too strong for how easy to use it is, while having infinite range & cash production as well. We have removed the free +1 pierce increase shrapnel gains at T3 in addition to the added bounce. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Elite Sniper shrapnel pierce reduced from 6 to 5
- 33.0
| “ | After the lower tier nerfs Elite Sniper still remains just a bit too good even without considering its cash production. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Elite Sniper price increased from $13,000 to $14,500
- 38.0
| “ | Sniper farming gets a bit, er, very tedious in lategame when you reach large numbers of x4xs. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- Elite Sniper's Elite Supply Drop will now also trigger all other Supply Drop Abilities
- Elite Sniper's Elite Supply Drop no longer shares button space in the ability quickbar with other Supply Drop abilities.
- 42.2
- Elite Sniper’s Elite Supply Drop now shares button space in the ability quickbar with other Supply Drop abilities, now that T4 Supply Drop already activates all Sniper abilities
- 43.0
| “ | Lower tier Shrapnel crosspathing balance doesn’t feel great currently, so the damage crosspath benefits at T1 & T2 are improving. [...] | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 1-5-0 Elite Sniper shrapnel damage increased from 1 to 2
- 2-5-0 Elite Sniper shrapnel damage increased from 2 to 3
- 44.0
- Indirect buff, as Supply Drop's crate value decreased by $100 but not for Elite Sniper ($3000).
- 45.0
| “ | … and more on that now, the improved bounce distance crosspathing hasn't ever been as useful as we hoped, so this benefit is being greatly improved. | ” |
| ~ Ninja Kiwi |
- 2-5-0 Elite Sniper bounce distance increased from 40 to 80
- Note: Intended old value was 50 but was not properly incorporated.
Bug Fixes and General Changes
 |
This section is incomplete. You can help by expanding it. |
- 2.0 (?)
- Description changed to include mention of "faster reload to all snipers".
- 38.0
- Description changed from "Supply Drop gives much more cash. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers." to "Supply Drop gives much more cash and activates Supply Drop for other snipers. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers."
- 43.0
- Changed description from "Supply Drop gives much more cash and activates Supply Drop for other snipers. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers." to "Supply drop gives much more cash. Grants Elite targeting prio and faster reload to all snipers."
Extra Notes (Version History)
- Elite Sniper was very slightly slower than a Sniper with Even Faster Firing prior to the reworks of the Sniper attack speed, but now it is very slightly faster than a Sniper with Even Faster Firing.
- Multiple balance changes for Elite Sniper have caused many shifts in "favorable" crosspath.
- The reworked Shrapnel Shot attack in Version 17.0 made 0-5-2 superior.
- The Version 19.0 shrapnel damage buff favored Large Calibre.
- Version 20.0 base attack speed buff improved 2-5-0 again.
- Version 22.0's shrapnel pierce buffs have further enhanced the 0-5-2 crosspath.
- Version 23.0's shrapnel pierce buffs have improved both crosspaths in different ways.
- Version 28.0's rework to shrapnel accepting external buffs in exchange for bullet bounces via pierce buffs has shifted favor to 0-5-2.
- Version 30.0's bounce distance nerf has shifted favor to 2-5-0 slightly.
- Version 32.0's shrapnel pierce nerfs have weakened the 0-5-2 crosspath slightly.
- Version 43.0's shrapnel damage buffs with Path 1 has shifted favor slightly to 2-5-0.
- Version 45.0's increased max bounce with 2-5-0 has shifted favor slightly to 2-5-0.
Sounds
When activating Supply Drop Ability:
- [Jet flyby]
When collecting cash from the Cash Crate:
- [Cash sound]
Gallery
Official artwork
Videos
Trivia
- Following a price reduction to Elite Sniper in Version 7.0, its upgrade price alone became the lowest-costing among all Tier 5 upgrades, although Ultra-Juggernaut remained the cheapest Tier 5 in the game. However, a price increase in Version 33.0 has made it only the second-cheapest by upgrade price alone, next to Elite Defender, now equalling in cost since Version 34.0 with a price increase to that upgrade.
- Just like with normal Supply Drop, the "Elite Supply Drop" ability plane is the Monkey Ace's Dart Storm.
Community achievements
- Elite Sniper is the 75th unique 2MPC tower upgrade listed on the fan-official 2MPC spreadsheet.[2] This is the second time a new unique Sniper 2MPC was achieved. The 0-5-2 Elite Sniper crosspath was used to achieve this, not the 2-5-0 Elite Sniper.
- The 157th unique 2TC combo belongs to 0-5-2 Wizard Lord Phoenix + 2-5-0 Elite Sniper. This combo has broken the 36 consecutive 2TC appearances streak that Captain Churchill once had.[3]
- The 2TC combo Elite Sniper + Ray of Doom was made possible on Version 43.0 with the 2-5-0 Elite Sniper's shrapnel dealing extra damage. The completer of this 2TC, u/Tooprood88 on r/btd6, says that Round 91 would be impossible without that buff. The title of that post on r/btd6 was named "Elite Sniper+Ray Of Doom 2TC!".
References
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||