Cross the Streams

Cross the Streams is a fourth-row Military knowledge that creates plasma pools wherever the beams of two Dartling Gunners with Plasma Accelerator or Ray of Doom cross each other. You need 8 Knowledge Points in the Military tree, Gorgon Storm and a one-time 250 Monkey Money. It has nothing below it. It was added in version 22.

How it changes the game

Plasma Accelerator (4-x-x Dartling Gunner) fires a long continuous beam, and Ray of Doom (5-x-x) an even stronger one. With this knowledge, every point where two beams intersect (not counting the beam tips) spawns a plasma pool every 0.5 seconds:

• Pool stats: each pool deals 3 damage on contact, then applies a burn that deals 1 damage every 2 seconds for about 4 seconds. Each pool has 8 pierce and lasts up to 7 seconds.
• Hits everything: pools can damage every bloon type, including Camo, even if the Dartlings themselves have no camo detection.
• Positioning: you need at least two beam Dartlings aimed so that their beams cross on the track. Normal targeting follows your cursor, so locked or independent targeting setups are the usual way to fix a crossing point.

The damage is small next to the beams themselves, so think of the pools as extra clean-up rather than a main damage source. They do the most work against small bloons and camo leaks that slip through the beams.

Is it worth it?

Priority: situational. If you build multiple top-path Dartling Gunners, the free pools are a nice bonus. For most players, the effect is minor, and it unlocks nothing.

There is one downside: in long freeplay games with many crossing beams, the large number of pools can add visual clutter and lag. Since version 57 you can toggle single knowledges off in the Monkey Knowledge menu, so you can disable it for those games.

Compared with other fourth-row Military nodes, Trade Agreements, Quad Burst and Gun Coolant lead to much stronger knowledge, so Cross the Streams is usually one of the last Military points to buy.

Where it works

Cross the Streams works wherever Monkey Knowledge is enabled, such as Standard, Military Only and freeplay. It is disabled in CHIMPS and in challenges that switch knowledge off. Rogue Legends has its own progression, where Cross the Streams is a separate Rogue XP Shop unlock for 1,500 Rogue XP.

Frequently asked questions

What does Cross the Streams do?

Where two Plasma Accelerator or Ray of Doom beams cross, plasma pools appear that damage bloons.

Can the plasma pools hit Camo Bloons?

Yes. They damage every bloon type, camo included.

How many Dartlings do I need?

At least two with Plasma Accelerator or Ray of Doom, with beams crossing on the track.

Does Cross the Streams cause lag?

In long freeplay games with many pools it can. You can toggle it off on its own since version 57.

Is Cross the Streams worth buying?

It is a minor bonus. Buy it after the more important Military nodes.