Version 6.5 - Patch Notes!

Sorry for the wait.

New Stuff

• New game mode: Friendly Fire!
  • Take extra caution in this game mode! If a tower is hit by a projectile that it didn't create, it will get destroyed.
  • Once an April Fool's special, now official! Projectiles can damage both blocks and towers now... 
• 5 final power challenges
• Added more statistics

While there isn't much new content coming this update, the amount of gameplay changes and improvements add a massive amount of extra features - so let's break it down.

Game Mode Specific Changes

• Roguelite
  • Artificial Intelligence
    • Turn rate and seek distance reduced +50% → +35%
  • Frost Thermia
    • Damage bonus to cold attacks changed +1 → x1.6
    • Reworded to correctly mention all cold attacks, not just hypothermia
  • Increased Luck
    • Number of picks reduced Infinite → 1
  • Bias
    • Money required per 0.1 luck increased $150 → $200
  • Shrinkflation
    • No longer increases damage (still increases pierce and attack speed)
  • Glitched Awakening
    • Rarity increased 5 → 10
• Projectile Morph
  • Banned visual projectiles (e.g light keeper visual laser beam)
  • Just a small change that reduces the variance in this game mode.

Round Specific Changes

• Rounds 61+ now have improved spawn sets
• Rounds 101+ density scaling removed
• Random rounds 1-10 strength scaling reduced +25 → +20
• Random rounds 11-15 strength scaling reduced +65 → +40
• Random rounds 16-20 strength scaling reduced +65 → +60
• Random rounds 21-25 strength scaling reduced +160 → +90
• Random rounds 31-35 strength scaling reduced +400 → +250
• Random rounds 41-45 strength scaling reduced +1,000 → +800
• Random rounds 46-50 strength scaling increased +1,000 → +1,500
• Random rounds 51-60 strength scaling increased +2,000 → +2,500
• Rounds 81-100 strength scaling reduced +6,000 → +4,000
• Rounds 101+ strength scaling reduced +10,000 → +4,000
• Strength is now capped at 2,000,000
  • While the recent rework to random wave generation was a good step in increasing the cash flow in random mode, it was a bit too large a step, with random rounds dragging too long early on and giving too much cash. Additionally, strength is being reworked for late game as you'll see below.
• Rounds 51-60 health ramping increased +10% → +30%
• Rounds 61-80 health ramping increased +30% → +60%
• Rounds 81-100 health ramping increased +50% → +100%
• Rounds 101-125 health ramping increased +100% → +200%
• Rounds 126-150 health ramping increased +100% → +300%
• Rounds 151-200 health ramping increased +150% → +500%
• Rounds 201-300 health ramping increased +200% → +700%
• Rounds 301+ health ramping increased +300% → +1,000%
  • Lategame rounds are notorious for being extremely laggy. Looking into it, these rounds spawned way too many planets - sometimes hundreds! Scaling is being reworked to focus less on density and more on the raw health of each block.

Block Specific Changes

•  Block spawns when destroyed now spawn slightly behind the original block
  • A slight change to mirror BTD6's bloon splitting mechanic. This also fixes some issues with mines, splitters and acid pools having way less track length to work with than intended.

Boss Specific Changes

• Kukri-X
  • T1 shield speed multiplier increased 4x → 5x
  • T2 shield speed multiplier increased 5x → 5.5x
  • T4 shield speed multiplier reduced 7x → 6.5x
  • T5+ shield speed multiplier reduced 8 + 2/tier → 7 + 1/tier
    • Kukri-X scaled way too fast relative to other bosses while having a weak tier 1 and 2, so the shield scaling being lowered with the base speed being increased.

Tower Specific Changes

• Cannon
  • xx5 Smoke Blasts stun damage increased 12 → 18
  • 205 Smoke Blasts stun frag damage increased 1 → 3
    • Smoke Blasts has fallen behind, lacking stun potency and damage for the steep price. Doubling down on its hybrid identity by increasing bomb and frag damage significantly.

• Splitter
  • 5xx Meteor Shower ring attack cooldown increased 0.1s → 0.11s
  • 5xx Meteor Shower ring pierce increased 30 → 40
  • 501 Meteor Shower meteor projectile pierce reduced 2 → 1
    • Meteor Shower has become a very solid win condition after the damage over time changes and performs a bit too well in single target especially for a crowd control option, so slight attack speed is being lost in exchange for pierce.
  • Restricted Zone burn tick cooldown reduced 1s → 0.625s
  • Restricted Zone burn duration reduced 5s → 2.55s
    • Restricted Zone's meteor burn effect is being sped up so its uptime scales better with levels.
• Freezer overhaul!
  • 3xx Ice Weakening attack cooldown reduced 0.8s → 0.72s
  • 3xx Ice Weakening extra damage reduced +1 → +0.5
    • 301 Ice Weakening extra damage remains at +1
  • 4xx Skull Weakening attack cooldown reduced 0.8s → 0.64s
  • 4xx Skull Weakening extra damage reduced +2 → +1
    • 401 Ice Weakening extra damage remains at +2
  • 5xx Cold Front pierce reduced 4 → 2
    • 510 Cold Front pierce reduced 5 → 4
    • 520 Cold Front pierce remains at 8
  • 5xx Cold Front extra damage reduced +4 → +3
    • 501 Cold Front extra damage increased +4 → +5
    • Major hypothermia changes are coming! For 2 years the bottom crosspath has seen zero usage as the extra slowdown on normal blocks was never worth losing +3 pierce from the middle crosspath. So to double down on the "stronger freeze" effect of the bottom crosspath, the damage debuff is being reduced for all 3 upgrades in exchange for attack speed, while the bottom crosspath retains its old debuff values.
  • x3x Ice Surge range increased 55 → 72
  • x4x Hail Storm range increased 69 → 72
  • x5x Avalanche range remains at 72
    • Some inspiration from BTD6 glue hose changes that could work in this game too.
  • 203 Extreme Ice tick cooldown reduced 1s → 0.8s
    • 205 Elite Halt tick cooldown remains at 0.4s
  • 204 Shattering Nad explosion now deals 2 damage
  • xx5 Elite Halt impact damage increased 2 → 4
    • 205 Elite Halt impact damage increased 8 → 16
  • 205 Elite Halt tick damage increased 1 → 2
  • 205 Elite Halt explosion now deals 8 damage
    • Also following up with the top crosspath freezer buffs by increasing their damage further and allowing the explosions to deal splash damage.
  • Age of Glaciers icicle damage reduced 500 → 400
  • Age of Glaciers icicle explosion damage reduced 1,000 → 800
  • Age of Glaciers hypothermia slow on planets reduced 50% → 25%
  • Age of Glaciers hypothermia damage increased 10 → 20
  • Age of Glaciers hypothermia now scales with levels and damage multipliers
  • Age of Glaciers debuff extra damage increased +5 → +15
  • Age of Glaciers debuff extra damage planet bonus reduced +5 → +0 (+10 → +15 total)
    • The freezer galactic is getting reworked to scale much better with higher degrees while removing some power from its icicle attack, as the hypothermia never saw much action. Additionally the freeze modifier on planets was way too extreme for a $50k galactic so that is being weakened.
• Flamethrower
  • xx3 Holy Volcano attack cooldown reduced 0.07s → 0.06s
  • xx4 Megacolossal Sphinx attack cooldown remains at 0.06s
    • With the nerfs to top path freezer, Holy Volcano is getting a compensation buff as it is the weakest of the spammable low damage towers.
  • Inscrypted Corruption cost increased $200,000 → $250,000
  • Inscrypted Corruption tributes completely reworked...
    • One of the largest overhauls to a tower ever. The ultimate tower has become more ultimate. Enjoy.
• Buffer
  • [bugfix] Last Stand base no longer gives +30 damage to galactics
  • Last Stand transform no longer applies a global 0.5x attack cooldown to non-galactics
  • Last Stand transform cooldown reduced 45s → 42.58s
  • While this seems like an overall nerf, the reduced cooldown now allows Last Stand and Cyan Chimes to be perfectly synced at level 100. This should make lategame more satisfying and rewarding.
• Ship
  • 5xx Ace Carrier planes no longer get destroyed at end of round
    • Consequential buff as a result of the change below, but this tower didn't feel strong enough to justify giving a compensation nerf.
• Hangar
  • Planes no longer get destroyed at end of round
    •  Planes getting deleted at end of round made hangars incredibly inconsistent and even more unreliable than they already were, so this is finally being removed for an overall buff to this tower. To compensate, the strong top and middle paths are receiving nerfs
  • 3xx, xx3 and higher plane seeking algorithm tweaked
  • 3xx Advanced Biplane cost increased $310 → $350
  • 4xx Military Jet cost increased $600 → $660
  • 5xx Prototype B cost increased $4,150 → $4,600
  • x4x Bullet Storm radial bullet pierce reduced 4 → 3
    • 042 Bullet Storm radial bullet pierce reduced 12 → 9
  • x5x Festive Delivery radial bullet pierce remains at 4
  • xx4 Mine Field bullet auto-target angle increased 70 → 90
  • xx4 Mine Field bullet damage increased 1 → 2
    • xx4 Mine Field bullet damage increased 2 → 4
      
  • xx5 Mysterious Traps bullet auto-target angle increased 140 → Infinite
  • xx5 Mysterious Traps bullet damage increased 1 → 3
    • 205 Mysterious Traps bullet damage increased 2 → 6
    • Bottom path is still too inconsistent to be viable as a standalone. Looking into it, the bullet damage was far too low to actually catch stray blocks even with the increased targeting angle, so their damage is being increased for xx4 and higher as those upgrades also make planes spawn less frequently.
• Acid Launcher
  • Acidpools no longer get destroyed at end of round
    • Same reasoning as the plane change.
  • 5xx Chemothermal Fissure pierce increased 10 → 20
    • After the attack cooldown rework to acidpools, this upgrade isn't able to maintain permanent uptime on stuns and has taken a hit because of this. Its pierce is being doubled so it can keep larger groups stalled.
• Friskus
  • 3xx Targeted Discs rehit cooldown increased 0.45s → 0.5s
  • 3xx Targeted Discs bounce distance reduced 60 → 50
    • 301 Targeted Discs bounce distance increased 60 → 65
  • 4xx Weapons Upgrades rehit cooldown increased 0.3s → 0.5s
  • 4xx Weapons Upgrades lifespan increased 1s → 2s
  • 4xx Targeted Discs bounce distance reduced 120 → 100
    • 401 Targeted Discs bounce distance increased 120 → 130
  • 5xx Ultimate Frisbee all projectile speed increased 360 → 480
    • The rehitting mechanic has been very fun but ultimately gave top path too much single-target for a crowd control option, so its potency has been reduced. It also made the bouncing effect not as satisfying as frisbees would stick around a small cluster of blocks at the front instead of bouncing everywhere.
  • xx5 Grim Reaper cost reduced $7,500 → $6,666
  • xx5 Grim Reaper damage increased 20 → 66
  • xx5 Grim Reaper max health bonus increased 20% → 25%
  • xx5 Grim Reaper max health cap reduced +100 → +66
  • xx5 Grim Reaper missing health cap reduced +800 → +666
    • Grim Reaper's base damage was far too low for too high a price to make it remotely close to consistent against even a few GreenSkulls or Diamonds. To compensate for the base stat increase, its max potential is being slightly lowered to lower its power against bosses.

• Light Keeper
  • 5xx Hadron Collider beam damage increased 100 → 150
  • 5xx Hadron Collider beam elite bonus increased +100 → +150 (200 → 300 total)
  • 5xx Hadron Collider electron damage reduced 15 → 5
  • 5xx Hadron Collider electron elite bonus reduced 15 → 5 (30 → 10 total)
  • 5xx Hadron Collider electron pierce increased 1 → 2
    • 520 Hadron Collider electron pierce increased 2 → 4
    • It's time for a larger rework to Hadron Collider's stats. This should reduce its max power while increasing the base damage to be more reasonable for a $6k tower.
  • xx4 Optical Focusing point damage reduced 8 → 6
    • 204 Optical Focusing point damage reduced 12 → 9
    • Optical Focusing has been dodging nerfs like ultra instinct goku, but at last it's time that this overtuned upgrade gets actual nerfs.

• Airhorn
  • 5xx Mach 12 slowdown on multi-skulls increased -100% → -150% (200% → 250% slowdown)
    • Mach 12 was another stalling tower that got outclassed due to its especially low pierce. The slowdown strength is being increased to justify its $3k price tag.
  • Technological Ruins pulse attack cooldown increased 1.6s → 2.3s
  • Technological Ruins pulse damage increased 700 → 1,000
    • The airhorn galactic's knockback was very oppressive, holding back massive hordes of multi-skulls with ease especially at higher levels. The pulse now triggers less often but remains just as satisfying when it does trigger.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed xx4 Shattering Nad explosions sometimes not freezing aerial blocks
• Fixed blocks frozen by 204 Shattering Nad explosions not tracking damage dealt
• Fixed 3xx buffers not affecting x5x Cyan Chimes
• Fixed Block Factory export/import save codes not working

So, what's next?

With that, that marks the end of new Blocks TD content. I will probably still release balance patches every now and then, but they'll be much smaller than content updates.

Thank you.

For giving this game as much love as it has. This was my first game that has actually gotten attention here and on scratch.

There were a couple scratchers that I'm especially grateful for - a couple names that gave me the motivation to update this game for this long.

@ggenije

@Donutask

@Mini-ISAB

@Samukinhav08

So, what's next?

This is my second time writing these patch notes. My original one got deleted while writing it, and in that one I talked about how I wasn't happy with the state of Builatro, how Piano Tiles Remade was just a side project, and how they never had the same charm as Blocks TD. I won't repeat the exact words I used for my own sake.

I only found myself being able to work on something that had the potential to give out that charm.

Blocks TD 2.

It's in a very early stage of development right now - far from playable - but this was a fitting time to truly announce it. I'll share more announcements on scratch (@S_w0Lf) once the game begins to pick up shape.

It'll be bigger, better, neater, and cleaner.

Thank you once again for giving this passion project as much love as it has gotten.

I imagine we'll see each other again sometime in 2026 or 2027.

Until then, Merry Christmas :)

- S_w0Lf / pick