Merchantman

BTD6

BTDB2

Merchantman
General Information
Game	Bloons TD 6
Tower	Monkey Buccaneer
Unlocked at	3,100 XP
Cost	$1,955 (Easy) $2,300 (Medium) $2,485 (Hard) $2,760 (Impoppable)
Activated Ability	N/A
Targeting Options	First, Last, Close, Strong, Camo Priority
Camo Detection	Yes
Popology
Damage Type(s)
Sharp Camo affected Single Projectile 1-2 Straight Attack Multitargets
Other(s)	Cash Generation: Passive Spawn Bonus Income
Statistics
Damage	1 (dart)
Pierce	6 (dart)
Attack Speed	Moderate (dart, every 1.0s)
Range	71
Status Effects	N/A (except 0/2/3)
Tower Boosts	N/A
Income/Life Boosts	+$200 per round (no MK), automatic generation +$20 per round with Trade Agreements MK, automatic generation
Path Upgrades
← Previous	Crow's Nest
← Previous	Crow's Nest
Current	Merchantman
Current	Merchantman
Next →	Favored Trades
Next →	Favored Trades
Path Info
Path	3
Path	3
Upgrade Tier	3
Upgrade Tier	3
Related upgrades
Marketplace (Banana Farm)
[Source]

“	Generates cash each round automatically.	”
	~ In-game description

Merchantman is the third upgrade of Path 3 for the Monkey Buccaneer in Bloons TD 6. With this upgrade, the Buccaneer produces $200 after the end of each round ($220 with the Trade Agreements MK, +10% per Central Market, up to +100% with ten Central Markets). If a Trade Empire is present, it will gain all bonuses granted from that cargo ship, including +$10 income per Merchantman (up to +$200) and +1 damage, +1 ceramic damage and +1 MOAB-class damage for all of its attacks.

This upgrade costs $1,955 on Easy, $2,300 on Medium, $2,485 on Hard, and $2,760 on Impoppable.

Description

Overview

Several Merchantmen

This upgrade changes the Monkey Buccaneer from a standard pirate to a merchantman wearing a turban. The crow's nest remains the same shape and possesses a flag with the same color and shape as the previous tier but smaller. The rest of the boat is made of timber with a lighter shade compared to the original Buccaneer, and there is a tarpaulin cover in front of the merchantman. The per-round income will appear above the Merchantman at the end of each round.

When crosspathed with Path 2, its boat gains a pile of grapes (or flaming grapes, with Hot Shot) under its boat cover. When crosspathed with Path 1, it gains a pirate flag (Faster Shooting) and a steel-colored hull (Double Shot).

When idle, the Merchantman will occasionally look at its gold coin on his right hand. Sometimes it will toss the coin in the air.

Merchantman is just like a Crow's Nest Buccaneer except it produces $200 at the end of every round ($220 with Trade Agreements), and can be buffed by Trade Empire to deal more damage. Merchantman can also be buffed by Central Market and Trade Empire to produce more cash. Merchantman buffed by Central Market produce +10% cash per Central Market, up to 10 times for a total of +100% cash, giving a maximum of $400 per round when buffed by maximum Central Market buffs.

If a Trade Empire is present, Merchantman deals +1 damage and +1 MOAB-class damage and +1 Ceramic damage. Trade Empire also increases income generation of all Merchantmen by +$20 for every Merchantman or Favored Trades on screen, capped at 20 times (+$400). The income bonus only applies to the first 20 Merchantmen and/or Favored Trades. However, the damage buff applies to any Merchantman.

If both Trade Empire and Central Market buffs are active, the maximum income generation of Merchantman with those two buff types is $1,000, because Central Market income buffs are prioritized over Trade Empire income buffs.

Targeting Priorities

Merchantman targets bloons using the standard target priorities. It shoots darts that are shot in a straight movement. It can also utilize multiple targeting to shoot projectiles from both ends of the boat if it detects bloons on its opposite side.

• 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.

Like all Upper Path 3 Buccaneers, Merchantman produces spawns of end-of-round cash.

Because it already has the Crow's Nest upgrade, all its attacks can prioritize Camo Bloons over other types, which is provided by the Camo Prioritization targeting.

Full Popology

Statistics

Updated as of Version 42.2

Base stats

• Dart:
  • Projectile, sharp type, camo detection, 71 range, 1.0s attack cooldown, 1 damage, 6 pierce, multishot 180° if bloons are present behind. Can utilize Camo Prioritization.
• End-of-Round Cash:
  • Spawn, passive type, triggers once at the end of each round, generates $200.

Crosspathing interactions

• 1-0-3: Dart attack cooldown reduced from 1.0s to 0.75s.
• 2-0-3: Dart projectile count increased from 1 to 2 and shot in a straight spray.
• 0-1-3: Adds Grape attack that has 2 pierce and attacks every 1.3s.
• 0-2-3: Grape damage type changed from sharp to fire, and inflicts Burn damage-over-time that deals 2 damage per 1.5s for 3.0s.

Monkey Knowledge interactions

• Naval Upgrades: All Monkey Buccaneers get +1 pierce.
• Elite Military Training: All Military Monkeys get a one-off +1000 XP and earn XP in-game 5% faster permanently.
• Big Bunch: Grape Shot shoots 6 grapes instead of 5.
• Trade Agreements: Merchantman generates +$20 per round.
• Flanking Maneuvers: Attacks 10% faster when set targeting priority to "Last".
• Military Conscription: First military tower costs only ⅔ of the original cost.
  • Monkey Buccaneer base cost from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $285, $335, $360, and $400 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
• Advanced Logistics: All Military Monkeys base costs reduced by 5%.
  • Monkey Buccaneer base cost reduced from $425, $500, $540, and $600 → $405, $475, $515, and $570 on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Impoppable, respectively.
    • If Military Conscription is also enabled, the base cost will be $265, $310, $335, and $370.
• 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%.

Attack Interactions

See also: Attack Interactions/Bloons TD 6/Military

Updated as of Version 42.2

Base attack(s)

• Dart:
  • Sharp
  • Camo Detection
  • Single Projectile
  • Straight Attack
  • Multiple Targeting
• End-of-Round Cash:
  • Passive
  • Spawn
  • Bonus Income ($200)

Costs

Updated as of Version 42.0. 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-X-3)	$1,955	$2,300	$2,485	$2,760	-
Total (0-0-3)	$2,845	$3,350	$3,620	$4,020	$1,992	$2,345	$2,534	$2,814
Crosspath (1-0-3)	$3,080	$3,625	$3,915	$4,350	$2,156	$2,538	$2,741	$3,045
Crosspath (2-0-3)	$3,440	$4,050	$4,375	$4,860	$2,408	$2,835	$3,063	$3,402
Crosspath (0-1-3)	$3,310	$3,900	$4,215	$4,680	$2,317	$2,730	$2,951	$3,276
Crosspath (0-2-3)	$3,735	$4,400	$4,755	$5,280	$2,615	$3,080	$3,329	$3,696

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

Strategy

Summary

A Merchantman is a bizarre upgrade for the Monkey Buccaneer, allowing it to gain no active offensive boosts at the benefit of producing $200 each round. This theoretically makes it one of the most varied jack-of-all-trades tower, as the Merchantman can crosspath with Grape Shot and Hot Shot to provide a decent popping power for its cost and Camo Lead popping power respectively.

One of the best assets that the Merchantman provide is in maps that lack high quantities of viable land for Banana Farms. In addition to being good sources of income in water, it has a smaller footprint than the Banana Farm. In their place, a Merchantman can fill the role quite aptly, as well as serving as a defensive asset. Spice Islands is one of the best maps for a Merchantman because of this. Other good map candidates also include Spring Spring and Peninsula.

What makes a Merchantman a desirable option is the ease of use and ability to be used as a consequence-free secondary income while simultaneously filling the role of an offensive tower. If a player actively wants a 0-2-2 Buccaneer for early Lead and Camo coverage, a Merchantman can be saved up for and purchased early, paying for the cost of itself during the shorter and less consequential rounds as a viable 0-2-2 Buccaneer still provides basic yet effective defense.

Compared to a Banana Farm, where it provides no offensive benefit and requires a lot of resources to upgrade and focus of the player to constantly pick up bananas, the Merchantman sacrifices raw potential that the further upgrades of a Banana Farm possess at the benefit of a string-free revenue source, akin to the Marketplace upgrade path of said tower.

Efficiency

To purchase one Merchantman at the lowest price will require getting a 0-0-3 Buccaneer. A 0-0-3 Buccaneer will cost the base Buccaneer tower, Long Range, Crow's Nest and the Merchantman upgrade itself, which will provide the cheapest and most direct route for profit. However, this may change under many circumstances, specifically depending on game mode and whether Trade Empire is active or if the player owns a Central Market.

The table below indicates the game mode pricing, as well as the presence of Trade Agreements to indicate two points of Interest, the first is the number of rounds at which the upgrade effectively pays for its own cost and the second where it pays of the entire cost of the tower and subsequent upgrades of a 0-0-3 Buccaneer. These do not consider other Monkey Knowledge such as Advanced Logistics or Military Conscription. Equations regarding addition of Trade Empire and Central Market buffs are dealt with separately.

For reference:

• m refers to the quantity of Merchantman and Favored Trades active when a Trade Empire's revenue boost is also active. This value cannot exceed 20.
• c indicates the quantity of Central Markets. This value cannot exceed 10.

Difficulty and Knowledge	Revenue	Cost (Upgrade)	Cost (Total)	Minimum Interest (Upgrade Cost/Revenue)	Minimum Interest (Total Cost/Revenue)
Easy	$200 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$1,955	$2,920	9.775	14.6
Medium	$200 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,300	$3,430	11.5	17.15
Hard	$200 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,485	$3,675	12.425	18.375
Impoppable	$200 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,760	$4,080	13.8	20.4
Easy + Trade Agreements	$220 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$1,955	$2,920	8.8863	13.27
Medium + Trade Agreements	$220 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,300	$3,430	10.45	15.590
Hard + Trade Agreements	$220 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,485	$3,675	11.2954	16.7054
Impoppable + Trade Agreements	$220 ⋅ (1 + 0.1c) + 20m	$2,760	$4,080	12.54	18.54
Banana Farm (Easy)	$80	$1,065	$1,065	15.625	15.625

Tips

• For general cases, use the Path 2 crosspaths for the Merchantman to make the early-game easier to handle for a small price. Once the defenses are going smoothly, it is safe to just add more 0-0-3 Merchantmen, while upgrading each Merchantman to Grape Shot or Hot Shot whenever necessary.
  • 1-0-3 and 2-0-3 crosspaths help take advantage of the dart attack, but since the grapes get a large pierce boost from inheriting Long Reach's +1 pierce, the +2 pierce darts gaining benefits of Path 1 (extra attack speed and doubling side-by-side) lack any rivalry with Path 2.
• New players should prioritize unlocking this upgrade if alternative sources of income are desired. With the Monkey Buccaneer being a Military Monkey, it is in the second category of unlockable towers. This upgrade's XP Point requirement is quite low compared to alternate income-based options, and it can be unlocked much sooner by spending money into the Buccaneer to speed up XP Point generation for that tower.
  • Banana Farms might seem like the only income-generating towers, but they unlock considerably later on in the game, and will likely not be available for the first game.
• Merchantmen consume less space than Banana Farms per unit. On maps with good water space, Merchantman farming can be more efficient than Farms while requiring less micromanagement.
• Once affordable, a 2-0-4 Monkey Village is desirable for covering the range of many Merchantmen, as Merchantmen and above benefit greatly from Jungle Drums, Monkey Town, and Monkey City, considering Merchantmen have built-in camo detection and are capable of both popping bloons and generating extra income, meaning they can make use of both Monkey Town and Monkey City buffs.

Version History

Balance Changes

The effectiveness of Merchantman upgrade remains fairly similar throughout BTD6 history, although now it can gain extra damage when there is a Trade Empire on screen, and the base Merchantman is cheaper due to a slight base Buccaneer cost reduction. However, Merchantman's synergy with Trade Empire is weakened, as a Trade Empire with multiple Merchantmen could output an extremely high income efficiency alongside respectable DPS.

16.0

• If a Trade Empire is present, it deals +1 damage to MOABs and Ceramics and +1 damage to all bloon types on top.

21.0

• Affected by Long Range projectile speed buff.

28.0

“	Bottom crosspath feels behind compared to others here, so in addition to the new Camo Prioritization filter Longer Range on this path will now also grant bonus pierce. [...]	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Affected by Long Range pierce buff
• Affected by Crow's Nest granting Camo Prioritization

33.0

“	Trade Empire farming power even with the water requirement feels like it takes off too easily, so the bonus cash it provides will now require T4 Favored Trades for the full benefit.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Every Merchantman increase cash per round affected by Trade Empire reduced +$20 → +$15

34.0

“	[...] Buccaneer Farming at the base level is in-line with other farming options, slightly weaker but with enough dps to compensate, we recently experimented with lowering the benefit Trade Empire grants to T3s to slow down this early benefit & this turned out to be quite successful however they still scale too well too quickly for a low price so we’re bringing that down more.	”
	~ Ninja Kiwi

• Every Merchantman increase cash per round affected by Trade Empire reduced +$15 → +$10

38.0

• Affected by Long Range pierce buff

Gallery

Crosspathing (Top: Path 1, Bottom: Path 2)

Same as previous image but before the Version 17.0 fire graphics changes (see 0-2-3)

Merchantmen and Favored Trades earning $220 and $520, respectively

Merchantman with a separate income counter and pop counter

Merchantman holding a coin, as part of its several idle animations

Merchantman tossing a coin in the air, as part of its several idle animations

Enough XP to unlock

Official artwork

Upgrade portrait

Upgrade icon

Instamonkey icon

Trivia

• It is entirely possible to unlock the Merchantman upgrade before unlocking the Banana Farm, provided that a considerable amount of money is invested towards growing Buccaneer XP Points.