Update 49.0 drops next week on June 18.
Pretty much everything we do in BTD6 is a labor of love, but the inspiration for Desperado is such an awesome combination of community requests for cowboy/gunslinger Monkeys, the team’s interest in fun additions to the Bloons world and lore, and the design opportunity to push strong mechanical variance on the 3 paths while keeping crosspathing tactically compelling.
With 3 automatically alternating weapons, the Desperado starts off with a fast pistol attack that can dispatch two back to back targets at a high range before reloading. While lacking in pierce, the base attack can very reliably hit straggler Bloons. The Desperado swaps between weapons as upgrade paths progress, prioritizing shorter range weapons as Bloons come into close range.
Top path’s quickdraw fires faster the further Bloons are away, and then upgrades to a powerful revolver that fires a rapid burst of 6 shots before reload. Then they double it - ya got two hands don’t ya! Upon upgrading to The Blazing Sun, these revolvers fire so quickly that they are said to overheat in a blinding flame!
Bottom Path gains a short range Blunderbuss that fires buckshot with such force that Bloons are thrown backwards, then adds buckshot to its buckshot with a burst of shrapnel spraying out of each lead ball on impact! As a lone wolf who prefers to work on their own, this path has the grit to withstand almost anything, passively reducing the life damage taken from Bloon leaks while gaining buffs to itself and reclaiming cash from lost Bloons. Little is known of this lone specter of the wastelands but The Desert Phantom is said to be a near unassailable force, locking down swarms of MOABs with every trigger pull and cutting down countless Bloons in explosive chain reactions that leave no trace behind, not even their hats.
Middle path gains a slower firing Rifle with exceptionally high range and the skill to increase the chance of criticals the further targets are away! Their hunter’s eye never loses sight while they signal bounties on Bloons, making those targets take extra damage from any Desperado and grant more cash when popped. The mythical Golden Justice is even more adept at critical damage and it is said that once locked on, Bloons cannot escape its sight no matter the number!
Desperado comes with 2 Middle Path abilities;
Take Aim - Target any tower to grant it a massive range boost & improved accuracy along with Camo Detection, and (at Tier 4) Purple, Black & White Bloon popping for a short time
Marked to Pop - Quickly marking extra bounty targets, and then rapidly executing as many marked targets as it can
Placement hotkey has no default, this can be manually bound in Hotkey settings
Desperado is unlocked for free after popping 3,500,000 Bloons, or by purchasing the premium Desperado pack that instantly unlocks all upgrades through tier 5 and grants use of an exclusive Avatar & Banner as well as the new Cowboy Hat Bloons trophy item. The Desperado IAP helps support future content updates and is a great way to share back some of your purchase with your favorite content creator via Creator Codes.