Polyphemus

[Source]

Polyphemus is a Intermediate map in Bloons TD 6. It was added in update 36.0 on April 3rd, 2023, alongside the Beast Handler.

Overview

Polyphemus is a scenic, bullet-shaped island, which is similar to the shape of the flat surface of a clothes iron. There are many coconut trees along the perimeter, blocking water towers with line-of-sight when players allocate them outside. You can place towers on a large grass field and in a glittering eye-shaped pond inside this island. There is a Roman numeral "VI" on the edge of the pond, a hint of the mechanism that the pond closes on rounds ending with 6.

When towers are placed in the eye-shaped pond, they will get 3 buffs: 15% discount (similar to the Easy Difficulty prices), +17.6% attack speed, and camo detection. The discount buff is better than Monkey Commerce as it provides a discount on all monkeys and upgrades instead of tier 3 and below, with the only exception being Paragons.

At the end of every round number that ends in "5" (5, 15, 25, etc.), the pond will be covered with tiles like an eye closing, and all towers in the pond will be disabled and hidden. If there are water beasts from a beast handler whose range extends to the outside ocean, their beasts will be relocated into the ocean. You cannot place any land tower on the eyelid's surface, but you can open the eye to reactivate the towers immediately for a monetary cost. Every 10 rounds costs $500 more, regardless of whether the eye was previously re-opened or not, so rounds 6-15 cost $0, 16-25 cost $500, 26-35 cost $1000, and so on. The increase in cost is applied at the end of the round after all bloons from previous rounds have been popped. There appears to be no limit on how expensive opening the eye can be.

Additionally, there are 8 areas with trees and a blue and white wall segment which can be removed for $500 each, opening line-of-sight for water towers as well as allowing land-based monkeys to be placed on the sand.

The bloons go travel from both edges around the island, loop once around the eye, and then exit towards the opposite entrance.

Rewards

Monkey Money Rewards
	Easy^[?]	Medium^[?]	Hard^[?]	Impoppable^[?]
First Time	$150 $165 $225 $247 $262 $288	$250 $275 $375 $412 $437 $481	$400 $440 $600 $660 $700 $770	$600 $660 $900 $990 $1050 $1155
Completed	$30 $33 $45 $49 $52 $57	$50 $55 $75 $82 $87 $96	$80 $88 $120 $132 $140 $154	$120 $132 $180 $198 $210 $231

Strategy

Main article: Polyphemus/Strategies

WIP
This section or article is currently a work in progress (WIP), and therefore under construction. Please bear with us while our editors improve the page.

Feel free to replace the "TBA" with some basic strategies that optimize the given map

Summary

Polyphemus can be quite a difficult map given the simultaneously moving lanes, but its general difficulty is offset by a pond that provides multiple buffs and much of the necessary central coverage. Utilize the central pond for a powerful buff to water towers. Beast Handlers have a great synergy with the map because they are the only towers that can bypass the pond's disabling features, provided proper positioning. Use Arctic Winds to put Beast Handlers in the Pond and have them merge with other Handlers outside of the Pond. This can save a lot of expense when trying to get high-tier Handlers.

Tips

Do not put Arctic Winds in the Pond! When the Pond closes, it will disable the Arctic Wind and force-sell all towers supported by it.
The total expense to keep the Pond active through 80 Rounds would be $14,000. If kept active until Round 100, it would cost $22500.
It may be helpful to set the game with Auto Start turned off, as the sudden closure of the pond may disturb an otherwise well-run defense; with Auto Start turned off, you can have more time to open the pond again if necessary.
While the interweaving lanes with poor short-range locations may look daunting, the eye's water provides a decent location for Subs and Buccaneers, plus the eye's provided extra buffs slightly outweigh the map's difficulty.

Version History

36.0

Released

44.0

Unlock requirement changed from directly unlocking the map with an available Beginner Map to a flat completion of 5 unique map wins

45.0

[bug fix] The eye-shaped pond no longer incorrectly closes sometimes when retrying a previous round.

48.0

“	Polyphemus annoyed me in Rogue one time too many; so now Bloons will loop once around The Eye before exiting the track. This is purely to give them more time to think about what they have done and does not mean they are forgiven.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi}

Polyphemus lane extended: Bloons also travel once around the eye

Quotes

“	Polyphemus map: tying in with both Beast Handler and Lotus Island; Monkdysseus’ [sic] journey continues!	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, in version 35.0 patch notes}

“	No, Lotus Island was never going to be the only stop on that epic journey. Your next adventure is Polyphemus, whose one great eye closes over any towers in its site. Never fear, unlike Monkdyseus, your crew is not dead, just out of play until you can open the eye again. Another one made with challenges in mind, and yes, we’ll look for other uses for this mechanic in the future.	”
	^{~ Ninja Kiwi, Version 36.0 preview note}

Sounds

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When eye closes:

[moving tiles]

When eye opens:

When removing a tree and a nearby stone tile:

Gallery

Trivia

The name "Polyphemus" is the same name as the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa from Greek mythology. Polyphemus was a savage giant who was featured in Homer’s Odyssey.
Polyphemus is a rare instance where a map references another map - in this case, Lotus Island.
The eye-shaped pond has many unique features. It is the only map feature that can Disable towers(instead of selling them). It can also Disable Paragons and Sun Temples/Sun Gods. Disabled towers will lose any existing ability, including but not limited to the ability to attack, the ability to apply buffs, the ability to use skills, etc. All sub-towers will also be disabled if the main tower was in the pond. (Verified for Sentry, Sun Temple and Geraldo.)
The Pond buff seems only to work for towers that are "in the water." Any tower that is elevated above water won't be able to get the buff, like towers placed on Pontoons, Carrier Flagships, etc. Only water towers and towers on Arctic Wind can get the buff. Sadly, even if these towers don't get buffed, they will still be disabled by the Pond.
On Round 296, the cost to open the eye is $14,500.