Tsar Bomba

[Source]

For the Bloons Adventure Time TD weapon, see Bomba.

Tsar Bomba is the fifth upgrade of Path 2 for the Monkey Ace in Bloons TD 6. It grants the upgraded Monkey Ace with an improved version of the Ground Zero ability. The improved Tsar Bomba ability creates a much more damaging explosion that does 3,000 damage to up to 5,000 bloons closest to the center of the Ace's runway, additionally stunning all damaged Bloons excluding BADs and Boss Bloons (which cannot be stunned at all) for 8 seconds. Cooldown for the Tsar Bomba is 35 seconds upon activation, 10 seconds less compared to Ground Zero. Initial cooldown is also reduced from 15s to 5s.

In addition to an improved ability, Tsar Bomba regular bomb attacks now can pop any bloon type, and each bomb deals 30 damage instead of 15, plus +8 Ceramic damage to better demolish Super Ceramics.

This upgrade costs $25,500 on Easy, $30,000 on Medium, $32,400 on Hard, and $36,000 on Impoppable. If this tower is nearby Level 6+ Rosalia's workshop, this upgrade costs $22,950 on Easy, $27,000 on Medium, $29,160 on Hard, and $32,400 on Impoppable.

However, with Aeronautic Subsidy, It costs $22,950 on Easy, $27,000 on Medium, $29,160 on Hard, and $32,400 on Impoppable. If this tower is nearby Level 6+ Rosalia's workshop and affected by Aeronautic Subsidy, this upgrade costs $20,655 on Easy, $24,300 on Medium, $26,245 on Hard, and $29,160 on Impoppable.

Quick Answers

What is the damage capacity of the Tsar Bomba in Bloons TD 6?

The Tsar Bomba in Bloons TD 6, an upgrade of the Monkey Ace, has a powerful ability that inflicts 3000 damage to a maximum of 5000 bloons. It also stuns MOAB-class Bloons, except the BAD, upon impact. The ability targets bloons near the center of the Ace's runway and has a deployment delay of ~0.8s. The ability's cooldown is 35 seconds.

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How does the Tsar Bomba ability differ from the Ground Zero ability?

Tsar Bomba boosts the Ground Zero ability by raising its damage to 3,000, pierce to 5,000, and adding a stun effect for 8 seconds on surviving targets, excluding BADs and Bosses. The cooldown is reduced to 35 seconds, and the initial cooldown to 5 seconds. Additionally, its standard bombs are upgraded to the Normal type, capable of popping any Bloon. Ground Zero, on the other hand, has a longer cooldown and lower damage and pierce.

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Which bloons are immune to the stunning effect of the Tsar Bomba?

The stunning effect of the Tsar Bomba, a large bomb in the game, does not affect BADs and Black Bloons. Black Bloons are resistant to all explosive attacks, including the Tsar Bomba's, without specific upgrades or support. BADs can withstand the Tsar Bomba's blast and are not subject to its stunning effect.

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What is the radius of the Tsar Bomba's explosion in the game?

In the game, the Tsar Bomba deploys a large red nuke that inflicts damage on up to 5000 bloons across the entire screen. The exact radius of the Tsar Bomba's explosion is not specified, but it's suggested to be sufficiently large to impact bloons on the full screen.

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How does the Tsar Bomba compare to other weapons in Bloons TD 6?

In Bloons TD 6, Tsar Bomba is an enhanced Monkey Ace upgrade. It delivers a potent explosion, inflicting 3,000 damage on up to 5,000 bloons, and stuns all affected Bloons, except the BAD, for 8.2 seconds. The Tsar Bomba ability has a cooldown of 35 seconds and varies in cost depending on the game difficulty, ranging from $25,500 to $36,000.

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Description

Overview

Tsar Bomba is a large grey four-engine turboprop monoplane. Its detailing includes a black nose cone, a black leading edge length-wise along the wings, and its wing emblems are blue circles with yellow edges. Overall, it resembles most closely to the Tupolev Tu-95. Its nuke is now a much larger red nuke that briefly flashes red upon detonation.

Tsar Bomba improves the Ground Zero ability damage to 3,000, its pierce to 5,000, and grants it the ability to stun all surviving targets (except BADs and Bosses, which can't be stunned) for 8 seconds. It additionally improves the cooldown to 35 seconds and the initial cooldown to 5 seconds, down from 45 and 15, respectively. And finally, its ordinary standard bombs change to the Normal type, now able to pop any Bloon.

Tsar Bomba's main focus is its ability, so its darts are weak, dealing a measly 1 damage in a spray of 8, up to 12 with a 1-5-0. Its bombs deal 30 damage (with +8 damage to Ceramics) in an array of 4, and both attacks, darts and bombs, gain +1 camo damage. The bomb it drops deals a massive 3000 damage, with no limit to layer penetration.

Activated Abilities

See also: Activated Abilities (BTD6)#Tsar Bomba

When activated, Tsar Bomba drops a devastating bomb that deals 3000 damage to up to 5000 bloons across the whole screen and also stuns MOAB-class Bloons, excluding BADs and Boss Bloons, on impact. Although the pierce is arbitrarily high, the ability affects the bloons closest to the center of the Ace's runway. There is a delay of about 0.8s as the ability deploys the bomb. Cooldown of 35 seconds. The Tsar Bomba ability is considered an "instant" ability; it can still be re-activated immediately after usage if the ability is reset pre-emptively.

The Tsar Bomba Ability can gain reduced cooldowns from Global Ability Cooldowns (Monkey Knowledge), Abilitized (Relic Knowledge), and the global Energizer buff. Its ability can be reset with Geraldo's Rejuv Potion.

Targeting Priorities

Like all Monkey Aces, Tsar Bomba uses flight patterns as its targeting priority settings. It can also access Centered Path targeting option by purchasing the Centered Path upgrade.

• Circle: Flight pattern becomes a circular path around the runway.
• Figure Infinite: Flight pattern becomes the shape of the infinite symbol (∞). As the Monkey Ace flies, it will pass its runway during its flight, specifically at each half of the whole flight path.
• Figure Eight: Flight pattern becomes the shape of the number 8. As the Monkey Ace flies, it will pass its runway during its flight, specifically at each half of the whole flight path.
• Wingmonkey: Instead of a fixed flight path, the Monkey Ace will attempt to fly as close to the path as possible, similarly to an Aircraft Carrier Plane. Available only via the Wingmonkey MK.
• Reverse Flight: Shown by an icon of a reverse aircraft, the Ace will reverse direction of flight. Unlike other target priorities such as Change Hands, there is a cooldown of 5 seconds before being able to reverse flight direction again. It can be coupled with all flight options except Wingmonkey.

Dart volleys are zone-type sprays of projectiles shot relative to the position of the aircraft. Bomb salvos are considered on-track attacks by a spawn. Ability nuke affects the whole screen and is locked on Close relative to the landing base for pierce calculations.

Costs

Updated as of Version 46.0. Listed prices exclude external buffs, any sacrifices, and Monkey Knowledge.

This upgrade's prices (or included crosspath's prices) are affected by the following MK: Military Conscription, Advanced Logistics, Aeronautic Subsidy, Better Sell Deals

Full Popology

Statistics

Updated as of Version 47.0

Base stats

• Landing Base has a rectangular footprint of 28x18. "Dummy range" of 22. Upon placement, spawn Monkey Ace as the main tower.
• Monkey Ace moves in a fixed pathway around its base, flying above all obstacles. Creates Dart projectiles from centre of Monkey Ace, and spawns Bomb Array from centre of Monkey Ace.
  • Circle: circular loop of 80 radius, center is the runway
  • Figure-Eight: figure-eight loop of (40, 40) radii, center is the runway
  • Figure-Infinite: figure-infinite loop of (40, 40) radii, center is the runway
• Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, camo detection, spray of 8, 1.68s attack cooldown, 1 damage, +1 Camo damage, 5 pierce. Projectile lifespan of 300.
• Bomb Array:
  • Spawn, normal type, camo detection, 1.6s attack cooldown, spray of 4, 30 damage, +1 Camo damage, +8 Ceramic damage, 40 pierce, 35 blast radius. 0.8s (?) delay before detonation.

Ability stats

• Tsar Bomba Ability:
  • Cooldown of 35 seconds, initial cooldown of 11.6667 seconds, drop Tsar Bomba when activated.
• Tsar Bomba:
  • Spawn, normal type, whole screen, infinite range, 3000 damage, penetrates MOAB-class bloons, 5000 pierce. Deployment time of 0.8s.

Crosspathing interactions

• 1-5-0: Cooldown of Dart reduced from 1.68s to 1.26s, cooldown of Bomb Array reduced from 1.6s to 1.2s
• 2-5-0: Dart projectile quantity increased from 8 to 12.
• 0-5-1: Pierce of Dart increased from 5 to 8, pierce of Bomb Array increased from 40 to 52.
• 0-5-2: Gains the Centered Targeting flight path.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

• Airforce Upgrades: All T3+ Monkey Aces get +1 pierce.
  • Base pierce increased from 5 → 6.
  • Bomb pierce increased from 40 to 41
  • Nuke pierce increased from 5000 to 5001.
• Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
• Accelerated Aerodarts: Darts from Monkey Aces fly faster.
  • Darts fly 50% faster.
• Gun Coolant: Monkey Aces attack 10% faster.
• Wingmonkey: Grants all Monkey Aces with a new target priority that allows it to fly around the screen like the planes from the Aircraft Carrier.
• Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
  • Monkey Ace base cost from $680, $800, $865, and $960 → $455, $535, $580, and $645 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
• Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
  • Monkey Ace base cost from $680, $800, $865, and $960 → $645, $760, $820, and $910 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
    • If Military Conscription is also enabled, the final cost will be $420, $495, $535, and $595.
• 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 42.0

WIP Will add the GZ nuke stuff later...

Base attack(s)

• Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Camo Detection
  • Orbital Spray (8)
  • Straight Attack
  • Path-Based Mobility
  • Flying
  • Extra Damage to Camos (+1)
• Bomb Array:
  • Normal
  • Camo Detection
  • On-Track
  • Straight Spray (4)
  • Path-Based Mobility
  • Flying
  • Extra Damage (3)
  • Extra Damage to Camos (+1)

Strategy

Summary

The Tsar Bomba can be used to clear hyperdense clumps of MOABs, BFBs, and Super Ceramics, including their Fortified variants, in just a single ability use, especially during Round 94, 96 and 98. One use of the ability can also destroy Round 99, as it pops Fortified DDTs instantly, and can act as an emergency button in earlier late game. However, multiple Ground Zeroes are usually sufficient to combat most hyperdense rounds for a slightly lower cost, with exception of Fortified BFBs, while 2 Ground Zeroes outclass Tsar Bomba at eliminating Round 95 effectively. On the other hand, Tsar Bomba's main bombs are more effective against Super Ceramics for its cost; micromanagement of Tsar Bomba as Super Ceramic cleanup may be viable.

The majority of the Tsar Bomba's power comes from its ability; because of this, effective stalling strategies should be made in order to optimize its large-scale damage. Tsar Bomba's stun is useful for stalling down surviving ZOMGs and can deal high-scale crowd control. Tsar Bomba normally shines the best on custom challenges such as 2TC or 2MPC, but is still useful outside of those.

Tips

• Delay using it as much as possible to ensure as many bloons are hit by its ability while still keeping only a few blimps untouched. There is good reason to intentionally let a few blimps survive; this can stall out the round to refresh the cooldown of the ability.
  • Note that the ability itself has a 0.7-second delay when deploying.
  • An interesting trick to keeping only one ZOMG is to use Pat Fusty's Big Squeeze ability on the ZOMG to "protect" the ZOMG. This will grant at least 4 seconds of extra uptime of the ability.
• Because the ability has an arbitrarily high pierce, it is not at all necessary to worry about the ability reaching the pierce cap, even on Race Events.
• The Tsar Bomba deals with whole rounds by instantly killing almost all bloons in a single click, so if there are a few unpassable rounds that are far enough for the Tsar Bomba to clear each of them, consider using the Tsar Bomba on those rounds.
  • Note that this instance may be rare to come by in normal games. This is far more prominent in custom challenges (e.g. community-made 2MPC and 2TC combos).
• Like Ground Zero, the 1-5-0 Tsar Bomba is generally superior for its main bombing attacks, rather than 0-5-1, although 0-5-0 Tsar Bomba is sufficient because the main point of Tsar Bomba is for its ability. The only Tier 2 crosspath that is worth mentioning is 0-5-2, as Centered Path grants access to central flight pathing and a new style of micromanagement of the plane itself.
• The majority of the Tsar Bomba's damage potential comes from its ability. As such, optimizing stalling strategies is key. If not comfortable with timing abilities, alternatives such as Apache Prime or Sky Shredder are available, but Tsar is much more powerful when used correctly, and its true power does not rely on external buffs.
• Compared to multiple Ground Zeroes, Tsar Bomba is significantly more effective against hyperdense rounds like Round 96 and Round 98.

Bugs

Bug Reports

• [21.0] There was a bug during Version 21.0, the update when the Tsar Bomba ability received a slightly reduced ability cooldown, where purchasing any crosspath decreased cooldown by 5 seconds. Therefore, with any Tier 2 crosspath, its ability cooldown was decreased to 30 seconds. [fixed]

Bug Fixes

• [22.0] Tsar Bomba ability cooldown bug fixed.

Version History

Balance Changes

Bug Fixes and General Changes

This section is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.

Extra Notes (Version History)

Sounds

When activating Tsar Bomba Ability:

• [Explosion]

Gallery

In-game model

The plane that possesses the Tsar Bomba, the Tupolev Tu-95

Tsar Bomba bomb

Tsar Bomba nuke popping a limited amount of bloons

Tsar Bomba creating bombing arrays

An animated close-up explosion

Tsar Bomba in the upgrade menu, showing the Version 30.0 cost

v45.0 Tsar doing a lot of damage to Fortified Super Ceramics

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Ability icon

Upgrade icon

Instamonkey icon

Videos

Trivia

• The upgrade's name is a reference to the Soviet Union nuclear bomb Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated.
• The Tsar Bomba ability icon is the same icon as the artwork of the upgrade.
• The plane for the Tsar Bomba most likely appears to be the Tupolev Tu-95.
• This BBC news coverage about the Tsar Bomba explosion has more information about the plane that dropped the real-life Tsar Bomba.
• Using a Ground Zero ability and then upgrading to Tsar before the bomb lands will convert it into a Tsar ability.
• Several 2TC combos with Tsar Bomba were possible before the bug concerning the Tsar Bomba's ability cooldown was fixed, mostly because Tsar Bomba could deal enough damage to take down the BAD when paired with another suitable anti-MOAB damage tower.
• As of Version 46.2, this is the only non-Hero tower which has ever soloed CHIMPS mode. However, this cannot be considered a true 1TC because it requires Co-Op Mode starting cash to afford the Monkey Ace.^[1]
• The first 2TCC (2 Towers Co-Op CHIMPS) with two of the same tower belongs to Tsar Bomba + Tsar Bomba. This does not count as 2TC (2 Towers CHIMPS), as Monkey Ace is not affordable at Round 6 on CHIMPS Mode, so Co-Op Mode starting cash was required to make this combo work.^[2]
  • The 2TCC combo Tsar + Ground Zero was also done before this.
• Along with Homeland Defense, it is one of the two abilities that create a flash effect when activated.
• During the July 8, 2022 NK blog, Their response to the question, "Do the monkeys ever think the weaponry they use is a little... overkill? they drop the Tsar Bomba for goodness sake!" was, "You've met Gwen, right?
• Tsar Bomba 1TC was completed with enough cash to begin a Monkey Ace on CHIMPS, completed on Logs. A lot of micro was required for Rounds 95 and 100.
  • The first one was achieved on February 6th 2025,^[3] with an additional runthrough in real life how he performed the micromanagement required.^[4] After Version 48.0 nerfed Tsar Bomba's bombing run damage to 25 each, this 1TC (with $865 starting cash) remained still possible to beat between Rounds 95 and 100.^[5]

References