Dartling Nerf!??
Dartling has been one of the strongest towers in BTDB2 since launch. It's seen in most HOM strats, for very obvious reasons. The type coverage is insanely strong, the damage output with HRP can consistently handle the mid game, and it's dps scales extremely well into the late game. It's a tower that can really do it all.
However, it's made the meta rather stale. There are simply too many benefits to using dartling. This has lead to a lot of high ranking players to demand a nerf.
So here's my proposal: Simply swap the faster swivel and advanced targeting from the middle and bottom paths. This would force dartling players to buy a 041 to cover all bloon types. Since this locks them out of the top cross path, camo detection would now come at the cost of dps (230 dartling is significantly better than 032). This is similar to how the dart monkey 030 and 040 are balanced, with Attack Speed and Camo Detection being separate crosspaths. Not only would this change bring dartling in line with the design language already seen in BTD6, it would force dartling strategies to spend more on camo coverage specifically.
Since money is power in this game, having to spend money to buy two dartlings, or the ~$2000 for camo strip on a secondary tower would set a player's farming or village farming back a ton. Leaving strategies like Dart Farm Engie, or Dart Village Super as viable, but not dominant.
It would also make camo bloons a more pressing threat. Camo bloons already need a buff, so I think this would be a step in the right direction.
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 3:27 AM UTC