Regular bloon
Lead Bloon
Daily challenges
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Info
The Lead Bloon is a heavy metal bloon that cannot be popped by sharp attacks. In Bloons TD 6 it has one layer of its own and releases two Black Bloons, giving it an RBE of 23. A leaked Lead costs 23 lives.
Leads are slow: they move at 1x, the same speed as a Red. They are immune to Sharp, Shatter, Cold and Energy damage. That covers basic darts, tacks, boomerangs, shurikens, thorns, spikes, Sniper bullets, Engineer nails, the Ice Monkey's freeze and the Wizard Monkey's bolts. Explosions, fire, plasma, acid and normal damage pop them. Because their children are Blacks, which are immune to explosions, a Lead is a two-step problem: you need something that is not sharp for the shell and something that is not explosive for what comes out.
Where you meet them. Leads first appear on Round 28 (6 Leads) and Round 30 (9 Leads). Round 37 has 15, Round 38 has 14, and Round 63 sends 75 Leads with 122 Ceramics. Leads stay common through the late game, and DDTs share the Lead property, so your Lead answer matters all the way to Round 100.
Variants
- Fortified Lead: has 4 health instead of 1 (RBE 26). The first ones arrive on Round 45 (4 Fortified Leads), then 8 on Round 50, 40 on Round 69 and 14 on Round 75.
- Camo Lead: first sent on Round 59 (50 Camo Leads). Needs camo detection plus lead popping.
- Camo Regrow Fortified Lead: Round 90 sends 50 and Round 95 sends 250, which are serious late-game tests in CHIMPS and Impoppable.
- Regrow Lead: only appears in Alternate Bloons Rounds.
Freeplay. From Round 81 a Lead releases only one Black (RBE 7, or 10 when Fortified).
Alternate Bloons Rounds. In Alternate Bloons Rounds the first 2 Leads come on Round 10. Round 24 is a single Camo Lead, Round 28 sends 6 Regrow Leads, Round 30 sends 9 Camo Leads and Round 44 brings 10 Fortified Leads.
How to pop Lead Bloon
Lead Bloons are immune to sharp, shatter, cold and energy damage. Bombs, fire, plasma, acid and normal damage pop them. Most early towers in BTD6 are sharp, so Round 28 is where many games stall for the first time. For a full walkthrough of early lead rounds, see our videos on the BTD6 Master YouTube channel.
Which damage types work and fail
Cannot pop Leads without an upgrade: Dart Monkey, Tack Shooter, Boomerang Monkey, Ninja Monkey, Sniper Monkey, Druid, Spike Factory, Engineer Monkey, Monkey Sub, Monkey Buccaneer darts, the base Ice Monkey and the base Wizard Monkey. Heroes Quincy and Geraldo cannot pop Leads at all, and Psi cannot target them until higher levels.
Pop Leads out of the box: Bomb Shooter, Mortar Monkey, Alchemist (its acid pops every bloon type) and the Dartling Gunner's 0-3-0 Hydra Rocket Pods. Among heroes, Gwendolin (fire), Striker Jones (explosions), Captain Churchill (explosive shells), Adora (plasma), Pat Fusty (normal damage) and Obyn Greenfoot's wolf spirit all pop Leads.
Lead upgrades for each tower
If you want to keep your current towers, these upgrades let them pop Leads:
- Dart Monkey 4-x-x Juggernaut: giant spiked ball that pops Lead and deals extra damage to Ceramic and Fortified bloons.
- Tack Shooter 3-x-x Hot Shots: superhot tacks that pop Lead and Frozen bloons.
- Boomerang Monkey x-x-2 Red Hot Rangs: boomerangs pop Lead and Frozen and gain +1 damage. This is one of the cheapest lead answers in the game.
- Sniper Monkey 1-x-x Full Metal Jacket: 4-damage bullets that pop Lead and Frozen. A tier 1 upgrade, so very cheap.
- Ice Monkey 2-x-x Cold Snap: freezes and pops Lead and gains camo detection.
- Wizard Monkey x-1-x Fireball: an explosive fireball that pops Leads.
- Super Monkey 2-x-x Plasma Blasts: plasma pops Leads, but not Purples.
- Druid 1-x-x Hard Thorns: thorns pop Lead and Frozen.
- Spike Factory 2-x-x White Hot Spikes: spikes pop Lead and Frozen.
- Monkey Sub x-2-x Heat-tipped Darts and Monkey Buccaneer x-2-x Hot Shot: both pop Lead.
- Glue Gunner 2-x-x Corrosive Glue: acid damage over time that pops Leads.
- Alchemist 2-x-x Acidic Mixture Dip: buffs nearby towers so they can pop Lead and deal extra damage to Ceramics and MOABs.
- Alchemist x-x-3 Lead to Gold: destroys a whole Lead, even a Fortified one, in a single hit and generates cash.
- Monkey Village x-3-x Monkey Intelligence Bureau: every tower in range can pop all bloon types.
Early game: Round 28 and Round 30
Round 28 is 6 Leads and Round 30 is 9 Leads. They move slowly, so you do not need much. A base Bomb Shooter, a 1-0-0 Full Metal Jacket Sniper, a 0-0-2 Red Hot Rangs Boomerang or a base Alchemist is enough. Do not stop there: 6 Leads become 12 Black Bloons, and a Bomb Shooter cannot pop Blacks. Make sure a sharp tower is waiting behind your lead popper.
Mid game: Rounds 37 to 59
- Round 37: 15 Leads plus 25 Blacks, 25 Whites, 7 Camo Whites and 10 Zebras.
- Round 45: the first 4 Fortified Leads. Each needs 4 damage to break.
- Round 50: 8 Fortified Leads, 20 Ceramics and 2 MOABs.
- Round 59: 50 Camo Leads, 20 Ceramics and 10 Regrow Ceramics. Your lead popper now also needs camo detection. A 0-2-0 Radar Scanner Village next to Bomb Shooters or Mortars, or a 2-0-0 Cold Snap Ice Monkey, solves both at once.
Late game
- Round 63: 75 Leads and 122 Ceramics, one of the hardest rounds before Round 80. Leads hit the same towers that are busy with Ceramics, and 75 Leads become 150 Blacks. Mortar Monkey 0-3-0 Heavy Shells is a strong fit because its shells deal normal damage plus extra damage to Leads, Ceramics and Fortified bloons.
- Round 69: 40 Regrow Blacks, 40 Fortified Leads and 50 Ceramics.
- Round 75: 14 Leads and 14 Fortified Leads with Fortified MOABs and 7 BFBs.
- Round 90 and Round 95 (CHIMPS and Impoppable): 50 and then 250 Camo Regrow Fortified Leads. You need camo detection, regrow control and lead popping with real pierce.
Hero picks
Gwendolin's fire pops Leads and her level 3 Cocktail of Fire burns everything that crosses it. Striker Jones pops Leads and, from level 5, helps explosives pop the Blacks that come out. Captain Churchill's shells pop Leads and, from level 3, deal normal damage. Obyn Greenfoot's wolf pops Leads from level 1.
Knowledge and powers
- Road Spikes pop Lead and Camo bloons, up to 20 per pile. An easy emergency answer for Round 28.
- Fraggy Frags adds frags to Frag Bombs, helping with the Blacks released by Leads.
- Hard Tacks only adds frozen popping for Tack Shooters, not Lead popping.
Powers and Monkey Knowledge are off in CHIMPS.
Common mistakes
- Reaching Round 28 with only sharp towers.
- Popping Leads with Bomb Shooters and leaking the Black Bloons inside them.
- Forgetting camo on Round 59, when 50 Camo Leads arrive.
- Using Laser Blasts (energy) and expecting it to pop Leads. You need Plasma Blasts.
Frequently asked questions
What round do Lead Bloons appear in BTD6?
Round 28, with 6 Lead Bloons. Round 30 follows with 9. In Alternate Bloons Rounds the first Leads come on Round 10.
What pops Lead Bloons in BTD6?
Explosions, fire, plasma, acid and normal damage. Bomb Shooters, Mortars and Alchemists pop Leads without upgrades, and many towers get lead popping from a single upgrade.
What is the cheapest way to pop Lead in BTD6?
A base Bomb Shooter or a 1-0-0 Full Metal Jacket Sniper. Add a sharp tower behind it for the Black Bloons inside.
Can Boomerang Monkeys pop Lead?
Yes, with the x-x-2 Red Hot Rangs upgrade.
What is a Fortified Lead Bloon?
A Lead with 4 health instead of 1. The first Fortified Leads appear on Round 45.
What round do Camo Lead Bloons appear?
Round 59 sends 50 Camo Leads. In Alternate Bloons Rounds a single Camo Lead arrives as early as Round 24.