Advanced map

Off The Coast

Info

Off The Coast is one of the four Advanced maps that came with the original release of BTD6 (version 1.0). It shows a sandy beach at the top, open ocean at the bottom and an old shipwreck lying in the shallows between them.

Layout and path. There is one lane. Bloons come out of the water at the bottom left, travel up onto the beach in three wide loops and head back into the water to exit at the bottom right. There are no alternating lanes, no splits and no tight loops: the curves are broad and sweeping, which is the main thing to plan around.

Water and the shipwreck. Most of the bottom half is water, so Subs, Buccaneers and Brickell have plenty of room. The wreck and its scattered junk block water placement where they sit, and they cannot be removed. Land towers can be placed on the large left and right pieces of the wreck and on the tall mast-like section in the middle, which also blocks line of sight slightly.

Line of sight and high ground. Two cliffs at the top of the beach block line of sight a little and cannot hold towers. The wreck pieces act as raised spots for land towers out in the water.

Removable objects: none.

Off The Coast is one of the easiest Advanced maps, roughly level with Another Brick and Dark Path, thanks to its long single lane and the huge amount of both land and water. Its only real challenges are the lack of compact loops for short-range towers and the fact that the start and exit are out in the water, far apart from each other.

How to beat Off The Coast

Map overview for strategy

Off The Coast rewards towers with range. The lane is long and single, but its three loops are wide, so short-range towers placed in one spot only see a small slice of the track. Towers often end up shooting across the track at right angles, which wastes pierce on non-homing projectiles.

What works well:

Homing and global attacks: Flagship planes, Comanche helicopters, Ace planes and seeking projectiles use the whole track.
Water towers: with so much ocean, a water-based build is natural, and Carrier Flagship buffs every water tower.
Placing at loop apexes: if you use land towers on the beach, put them where a loop curves back on itself so they see more track.
Exit protection with a little help: Perma-Spike works, but the exit is in the water. Either use an Arctic Wind to create ice right next to the exit or accept a spot a bit further up the track.

Best towers

Heli Pilot 2-0-4 (Comanche Defense) into 2-0-5 (Comanche Commander): strong mid-game damage that saves up easily for Commander. The mini-Comanches' patrol points land roughly on the apexes of the three wide loops.
Monkey Buccaneer 5-2-0 (Carrier Flagship): its planes cover the whole map and largely solo deep into the 80s. The attack speed buff to water towers is excellent with this much water. Destroyer (3-2-0) and Aircraft Carrier (4-2-0) are strong steps on the way.
Monkey Sub 2-0-4 or 2-4-0: Advanced Intel lets subs attack anything in range of your other towers.
Spike Factory 2-0-5 or 0-2-5 (Perma-Spike): on Arctic Wind ice next to the exit, or on land a bit earlier on the track.
Ice Monkey 0-3-x (Arctic Wind): creates ice platforms in the water and slows bloons.
Monkey Village 2-2-0: on the beach or on a wreck piece near your main towers.

Best heroes

Admiral Brickell: the obvious pick. Naval Tactics boosts your water towers, and Mega Mines handle the toughest blimps.
Captain Churchill: long range and strong blimp damage suit the wide loops.
Etienne or Psi: global coverage that ignores the lack of tight loops.

Easy and Medium

Place Brickell or a Dart Monkey near the first loop and a Monkey Sub in the water. Add a Buccaneer and a Boomerang Monkey on the beach. Get camo by round 24 with a Village or a 2-0-0 Sub with support, then a Destroyer or 0-3-2 MOAB Mauler for round 40. Flagship or Comanche Defense will carry the rest.

Hard

Go naval: Brickell, Buccaneer to Destroyer and Aircraft Carrier, a Village, and a Heli Pilot to Comanche Defense. Add Flagship in the 70s and Perma-Spike near the exit before the 90s.

CHIMPS

A water-focused CHIMPS route:

Round 1: Admiral Brickell in the water next to the first loop and a Dart Monkey on the beach.
Rounds 2 to 15: Buccaneer near the middle of the track going 2-0-0, plus a Monkey Sub for extra early damage.
Rounds 16 to 30: Buccaneer to 3-2-0 Destroyer. Village 0-2-0 on the beach or a wreck piece before round 24.
Rounds 31 to 50: Village to 2-2-0, Buccaneer to 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier before round 40.
Rounds 51 to 70: Heli Pilot on the beach towards 2-0-4 Comanche Defense. Alchemist 3-0-1 on the Destroyer or Heli.
Rounds 71 to 90: upgrade to 5-2-0 Carrier Flagship. Build an Arctic Wind near the exit and a Perma-Spike on its ice.
Rounds 90 to 100: use Naval Tactics on DDT rounds and Mega Mines on ZOMGs and round 100's BAD. If cash allows, upgrade the Heli to 2-0-5 Comanche Commander.

Impoppable

On Impoppable, the same naval plan works well; get Perma-Spike a little earlier because the exit is out in the open water and leaks are hard to stop otherwise.

Other modes

In Half Cash, lean harder on Brickell and a single Destroyer line, and delay the Heli Pilot until the Aircraft Carrier is done. In Double HP MOABs, add a 2-4-0 First Strike Capability sub in the water for burst damage, since blimps survive much longer on the wide loops.

Dangerous rounds on this map

Round 24: first camo; water towers need a Village or detection.
Round 40: first MOAB; Aircraft Carrier should be ready.
Round 63: a ceramic rush on wide loops where pierce gets wasted. Area or homing damage helps.
Rounds 90 to 100: DDTs and the BAD, mostly a matter of total blimp damage.

The BTD6 Master YouTube channel has video guides for Off The Coast if you want to watch these builds.