Boss Rush

Boss Rush is a team event where you fight the same Boss Bloon again and again in one long battle. Every time you pop the boss it comes straight back with more health, and each pop is worth one point. Your best scores are added to your teammates' scores to clear five islands, and every island cleared pays Monkey Money, Trophies, Powers and Insta Monkeys.

Boss Rush runs every other week, taking turns with Contested Territory, and each event lasts about five days. You enter it from the same Teams menu.

How Boss Rush works

Five islands, one team goal

Each event has five islands. Every island has its own map and its own boss, and the lineup is the same for every team that week. Only the first island is open at the start. When your team's combined score reaches the island's target, everyone who contributed gets the island rewards and the next island unlocks. The target rises with every island. Island 1 is always on a Beginner map, while later islands can roll Intermediate, Advanced and Expert maps.

You can replay an island your team has already cleared, but those scores no longer count.

The battle

• The boss spawns as soon as you start round 1, and natural bloon rounds keep running underneath it.
• Each pop scores 1 point, fully heals the boss, raises its maximum health and starts the next round at once, stacked on top of any round still in progress.
• Every pop also pays end-of-round cash, and that payout grows the more pops you have.
• Every 10 pops the boss moves up a tier. After Normal tier 5 it becomes Elite tier 1 and keeps climbing.
• Bosses have no skulls here. They trigger their special abilities every 10 pops instead.
• Boss speed adjusts to the length of the map, so a long map does not make the fight trivial.

Lives and revives

You start with 150 lives and have two revives. When your lives run out, a revive refills them, every natural bloon on screen disappears, your towers stop for a moment and the boss turns invincible while it moves further up the track. The battle ends when the boss reaches the exit, or when you run out of lives with no revives left.

Income rules

Pops and end-of-round cash pay normally, but every other source of income, such as farming towers and cash abilities, earns only a quarter of its usual amount. Banana Farms are never available. Your starting cash depends on the boss, from $1,800 against Bloonarius up to $4,000 against Dreadbloon.

Tickets and daily scores

• Every battle costs one ticket. Tickets refill every 6 hours, and you can buy more for 50 Monkey Money each.
• Up to four of your best scores per day count toward the island. A new score replaces your lowest one if it is higher.
• Once a day the counted scores are locked into the team total and your four slots reset.

Towers, heroes, Powers and relics

• On the first island your team gets a random roster of towers and one random relic. Each island cleared removes two tower types from the roster and adds another relic.
• You can bring any hero except Geraldo.
• Battles are on Medium, occasionally in Reverse.
• The only Powers allowed are Portable Lake, Pontoon, Banana Farmer and Tech Bot, and they come from your own stock.
• Continues, Double Cash, Fast Track and Hero Boosters are disabled. Monkey Knowledge is active.

Which bosses appear

Every boss except Vortex can show up: Bloonarius, Lych, Dreadbloon, Phayze, Blastapopoulos and Diamondback. Vortex is not part of the Boss Rush pool. Each boss plays a little differently here:

• Bloonarius sends extra bloons as it loses health and a bigger wave on every pop, so reliable cleanup matters as much as boss damage.
• Lych leaves a tombstone wherever it pops, and the tombstones keep sending Zombie blimps. It also cuts the sell value of your towers, so avoid plans that rely on selling.
• Dreadbloon re-shields and sends Dreadrock Bloons on every pop, and its tower-category immunity changes every 10 pops. Keep at least two tower categories able to hit it.
• Phayze is Camo, re-shields on every pop and jams Radar Scanner more often as your score climbs. Favour towers with their own Camo detection.
• Blastapopoulos heats up as you damage it and stuns your towers when it overheats. Many cheap towers work better than a few expensive ones.
• Diamondback starts with seven segments and adds Diamond Bloons to its spawns after enough pops, so bring fast-hitting cleanup.

Rewards

Each island cleared pays every team member who contributed:

• Island 1: 100 Monkey Money and 10 Trophies
• Island 2: 150 Monkey Money and 15 Trophies
• Island 3: 200 Monkey Money and 20 Trophies
• Island 4: 300 Monkey Money and 25 Trophies
• Island 5: 450 Monkey Money and 30 Trophies

Every island also gives Team Trophies, random Powers and Insta Monkeys, with better ones on later islands, plus extra items when a Collection Event is running. Clearing all five islands is worth 1,200 Monkey Money and 100 Trophies for the Trophy Store.

How to score more pops

1. Pop the boss early and often. Every pop pays end-of-round cash, so fast early pops snowball into a stronger defense.
2. Sauda is the easiest hero. Set her to Strong, or First against Dreadbloon so she ignores Dreadrock Bloons, and use Leaping Sword whenever it is ready.
3. Start with cheap single-target damage. A 2-0-3 Tack Sprayer into Overdrive, Wall of Fire into Dragon's Breath, a 0-0-2 Spike Factory near the boss spawn, or MOAB Maulers all work, depending on the roster.
4. Add support around 10 pops. Embrittlement, Glue Strike (not against Blastapopoulos), Jungle Drums or Berserker Brew all multiply your damage.
5. Move into tier 5 towers around 30 pops. MOAB Eliminator, M.A.D, Sky Shredder and The Blazing Sun are efficient choices.
6. Build cleanup before you need it. Every pop starts a new round, so natural bloons pile up quickly.
7. Plan around the relics. Check the island's relics and tower list before you place anything.
8. Talk to your team. Spend your daily attempts on the open island so the team total keeps moving before the daily reset.

Boss Rush vs other boss modes

• Boss Events are weekly solo or co-op runs through five fixed tiers, with leaderboards and tier rewards.
• Boss Challenge lets you fight any boss on any map for practice, with no rewards.
• Boss Rush is an endless score attack for your team, with random rosters, relics and maps.

For the islands of each event, see our Boss Rush guides. For full walkthroughs, see our videos on the BTD6 Master YouTube channel.

Frequently asked questions

What is Boss Rush in BTD6?

Boss Rush is a team event where you pop the same boss as many times as possible in one battle. Each pop is a point, and the team's combined scores clear five islands for rewards.

How often does Boss Rush happen?

Every other week, alternating with Contested Territory. Each event lasts about five days.

Do you need a team to play Boss Rush?

Yes. Boss Rush uses the same Teams system as Contested Territory, and your scores count toward your team's island progress.

Can you use Geraldo in Boss Rush?

No. Geraldo is the only hero you cannot pick, and Banana Farms are never on the tower roster either.

How do you get more Boss Rush tickets?

Tickets refill every 6 hours. If you run out, you can buy another ticket for 50 Monkey Money.

Which bosses are in Boss Rush?

Bloonarius, Lych, Dreadbloon, Phayze, Blastapopoulos and Diamondback. Vortex does not appear.

What happens when you lose all your lives in Boss Rush?

You use one of your two revives: your lives refill, natural bloons are cleared and the boss moves further up the track. Lose all lives a third time and the battle ends.