Expert map
#Ouch
Daily challenges
More Expert maps
Info
#Ouch is one of the two Expert maps that shipped with BTD6 at launch, alongside Muddy Puddles. The track is drawn like a hashtag: two vertical lanes and two horizontal lanes cross the screen, and every round sends bloons down all four of them at the same time. Bloons travel in a straight line and leave through the exit directly opposite their entrance, so there are four entrances, four exits and no alternating pattern. Every lane is live every round.
The lanes are tiny. A red bloon crosses a vertical lane in about 4.5 seconds and a horizontal lane in under 6 seconds, which makes #Ouch one of the shortest tracks in the game. The horizontal lanes are slightly longer than the vertical ones. The lanes cross each other visually, and those crossings are the only places where a single tower can see two lanes at once.
The central pool
The square in the middle of the hashtag holds a pool of water. It fits up to 9 Monkey Buccaneers or 13 Monkey Subs, and because it sits between all four lanes it is the natural home for a water defence. If you would rather build land towers there, you can drain the pool for $1,000. You can only drain it while no water towers are standing on it, so make the decision before you place your first Sub or Buccaneer.
Other features
- No line-of-sight blockers and no high ground, so range and positioning are the only things that matter.
- Outside the centre, placement is limited to the corners and the strips between the lanes and the map edges.
- The map has not changed since release. CHIMPS was briefly impossible at launch until Dart Monkeys were fixed to hit bloons directly in front of them, and #Ouch went on to become the first Expert map beaten on CHIMPS.
Compared to other Expert maps
#Ouch feels closest to Quad, since both force you to defend four directions at once, but Quad's lanes are long and loop around while #Ouch gives you almost no track. Unlike Muddy Puddles and Bloody Puddles, nothing alternates here: a lane you neglect will leak every single round. Like other Expert maps, it unlocks after you have won on 20 different maps.
How to beat #Ouch
Why this map is hard
Every round on #Ouch is split four ways. A tower that covers one lane does nothing for the other three, so your early cash goes roughly a quarter as far as it would on a single-lane map. On top of that, each lane is only a few seconds long, so there is no room for "the first tower softens it up, the second tower finishes it". Whatever reaches a lane has to die almost immediately.
The second problem is space. The best real estate is the centre square, and big towers fight over it. You have to commit early to either a water defence in the pool or a land defence in the drained centre, because draining is impossible once a water tower is placed.
Finally, the late rounds are brutal here. Dense ceramic rushes like rounds 63 and 76 cross a lane in seconds, and on rounds 98 and 99 every lane gets blimps at the same moment. Expect to rely on towers and heroes that hit any lane, plus stalling and abilities for the worst rounds.
Best towers
- Monkey Sub (2-0-2, later 2-0-4): Subs in the pool are the backbone of the water route. Advanced Intel (tier 2 top path) lets a Sub target any bloon inside the range of your other towers, which on #Ouch means every lane. Heat-tipped Darts (tier 2 bottom) handle lead, and First Strike Capability (tier 4 bottom) gives you a huge ability hit for MOAB-class bloons, including the BAD.
- Monkey Buccaneer (0-5-2 Pirate Lord): from the pool, a Pirate Lord's hooks pull blimps off any lane. Crow's Nest (tier 2 bottom) gives it camo detection, which matters for DDTs. A 3-2-0 Destroyer is a good, cheaper damage boat before that.
- Ninja Monkey (Grandmaster Ninja plus 2-3-0 Shinobis): the best land option for a drained centre. Ninjas see camo without help, and several 2-3-0 Shinobi Tactics Ninjas stacked next to a Grandmaster Ninja give it enormous attack speed and pierce. 2-0-4 Sticky Bomb Ninjas add blimp damage.
- Alchemist (4-2-0): Berserker Brew and Stronger Stimulant buff whatever cluster you build in the middle, and Acidic Mixture Dip lets buffed towers pop lead.
- Monkey Village (2-3-0): Jungle Drums for attack speed and Monkey Intelligence Bureau so every tower in range can pop every bloon type. Only fits the land route.
- Spike Factory with Long Reach: with the first bottom-path upgrade and careful placement in a corner gap, one factory can cover both horizontal lanes or both vertical lanes. It is a cheap way to add cleanup to two lanes at once.
- Dart Monkey: the standard CHIMPS opener. Placed at a crossing, one Dart sees two lanes. A 0-0-2 Dart (Enhanced Eyesight) is also the cheapest way to give Advanced Intel Subs camo coverage.
Short-range area towers such as Tack Shooters and Ice Monkeys are weak here, because each one only touches a quarter of the round.
Best heroes
- Admiral Brickell: the best hero for the water route. She sits in the pool, her Naval Tactics ability (level 3) doubles the attack speed of water towers in range, she gains camo detection at level 7, and her Mega Mine (level 10) deletes a blimp on demand. With Subs and a Pirate Lord around her, she covers the whole map.
- Obyn Greenfoot: the partner for the Ninja route. His passive boosts Magic monkeys near him, and Ninjas count as Magic. Brambles and Wall of Trees also give you emergency cleanup.
- Psi: his attacks reach bloons anywhere on the map, so the four-lane problem simply does not apply to him. He is a strong choice if you struggle with leaks on random lanes.
Easy and Medium
On Easy and Medium you have plenty of cash compared to bloon health. A simple water build is enough: two or three Dart Monkeys at the crossings to start, then 2-0-2 Subs in the pool, then Admiral Brickell. Add a 3-2-0 Destroyer for the mid game and a 0-0-2 Dart for camo before round 24. For Medium, make sure you have solid lead popping before round 28 and enough damage for the ceramic and camo-lead mix on round 59. A 2-0-4 First Strike Sub or a 0-4-x Buccaneer covers the first MOABs comfortably.
Hard
Hard adds the regrow ceramic rush on round 76 and the rainbow, ceramic, BFB and camo ceramic mix on round 78. Your defence must hit all four lanes hard by then. Two good options:
- Water: four to six 2-0-x Subs, a Pirate Lord, an Alchemist on the edge of the pool if it reaches, and Brickell for Naval Tactics on the rushes.
- Land: drain the pool early, build a Grandmaster Ninja with two or three 2-3-0 Shinobis, a 4-2-0 Alchemist and a 2-3-0 Village.
CHIMPS
#Ouch CHIMPS is a classic black border challenge. These are two proven routes; choose one before round 10, because the drain decision locks you in.
Water route (Brickell, Subs, Pirate Lord)
- Rounds 1 to 6: start with three 0-0-0 Dart Monkeys at the lane crossings, or a Dart plus a Sub. Both openers can clear round 6 without leaking.
- Rounds 7 to 15: add Subs in the pool and take them to 2-0-0 for Advanced Intel. Place Admiral Brickell in the pool as soon as you can afford her.
- Before round 24: upgrade one Dart to 0-0-2. Its camo range lets your Advanced Intel Subs shoot the camo green.
- Before round 28: take your Subs to 2-0-2 so their darts pop lead.
- Rounds 30 to 50: add more 2-0-2 Subs and a 3-2-0 Destroyer. Get one Sub to 2-0-4 before round 40 so First Strike can handle the first MOAB.
- Rounds 50 to 80: build a 0-5-2 Pirate Lord and add a second First Strike Sub. Use Naval Tactics on 63, 76 and 78.
- Rounds 80 to 100: keep adding 2-0-4 Subs, time First Strike and Mega Mine for 95, 98 and 99, and save every ability for the BAD on round 100. Pirate Lord cannot hook the BAD, so your First Strikes and Mega Mine are what kill it.
Land route (Obyn, Ninjas, Alchemist)
- Rounds 1 to 6: same Dart start at the crossings.
- Rounds 7 to 20: place Obyn Greenfoot, then a Ninja in the centre. Drain the pool for $1,000 as soon as it will not cause leaks.
- Rounds 20 to 40: build the main Ninja towards 4-0-2 Bloonjitsu and add a 2-0-4 Sticky Bomb Ninja for the first MOAB. Ninjas already see camo, so round 24 is free, but get an Alchemist with Acidic Mixture Dip before round 28 so the Ninjas can pop leads.
- Rounds 40 to 70: add two or three 2-3-0 Shinobi Ninjas next to the main Ninja and a 4-2-0 Alchemist.
- Rounds 70 to 100: upgrade to Grandmaster Ninja, add a 2-3-0 Village, more Shinobis and more Sticky Bombs. Keep Obyn's Wall of Trees for the ceramic rushes and use Sticky Bombs and the Grandmaster's burst on the BAD.
Impoppable
Impoppable has the same bloons as CHIMPS with higher costs, but you keep income, selling and Monkey Knowledge. Banana Farms fit in the corners and are worth it early if you can defend. Both CHIMPS routes work; the water route is more forgiving because Brickell's abilities fix mistakes on any lane. Check our Impoppable guide for general rules.
Other modes
- Deflation: spend the starting cash on a drained centre with a Grandmaster route, or a full water fleet with Brickell.
- Half Cash: the Brickell and Sub route is the cheapest way to cover four lanes.
- Apopalypse: stack range in the centre and avoid anything that only covers one lane.
Dangerous rounds on this map
- Round 24: one camo green. Without camo coverage on its lane, it leaks.
- Round 28: six leads spread across the lanes.
- Round 40: the first MOAB, with only a few seconds of track.
- Round 63: a large ceramic rush that crosses each lane almost instantly.
- Round 76: a dense rush of regrow ceramics.
- Round 78: rainbows, ceramics, a BFB and camo ceramics.
- Round 90: camo regrow fortified leads followed by three DDTs.
- Rounds 95, 98 and 99: DDTs, fortified blimps and super ceramics on every lane.
- Round 100: the BAD, with very little track to kill it on.
For full walkthroughs of these rounds, the BTD6 Master YouTube channel has video guides for #Ouch.
Frequently asked questions
Is #Ouch the hardest map in BTD6?
It is one of the hardest, but most players rate Bloody Puddles as harder, with Quad and Dark Dungeons also in the conversation. #Ouch is the hardest of the two Expert maps from launch.
How do you beat #Ouch CHIMPS?
Start with Dart Monkeys at the lane crossings, then build either Advanced Intel Subs, Admiral Brickell and a Pirate Lord in the pool, or drain the pool for a Grandmaster Ninja with Shinobis, Obyn and Alchemists. Save your big abilities for rounds 98 to 100.
What is the best hero for #Ouch?
Admiral Brickell is the strongest pick for a water build. Obyn Greenfoot is best for a Ninja build, and Psi is the easiest pick if you want damage that reaches every lane.
Should you drain the water on #Ouch?
Only if your plan is land-based, such as Ninjas with a Village. Draining costs $1,000 and is impossible once a water tower is placed, so for Sub or Buccaneer builds keep the pool.
Do bloons alternate lanes on #Ouch?
No. All four lanes are used every round, and bloons go straight across and out the opposite side.
Can Spike Factories work on #Ouch?
Yes, as support. A Long Reach factory placed in a corner gap can cover two parallel lanes, but it cannot replace your main damage.
