Time Stop

Time Stop does not actually stop time. It slows everything down: Bloons crawl along the track at a fraction of their speed while your towers also attack more slowly. It costs 50 Monkey Money and lasts 10 seconds. Used well, it buys you time to fix a defence. Used badly, it simply weakens your towers.

What Time Stop does

For 10 seconds, or 15 with Longer Time Stop:

• Every Bloon moves at 30% of its normal speed. This includes BADs and Boss Bloons.
• Most towers attack at 70% of their normal speed, and flying towers such as the Monkey Ace and Heli Pilot also move at 70% speed.

Things it does not slow:

• Paragons, which ignore all Powers.
• Activated ability cooldowns, which keep ticking at full speed.
• Bloon spawns. New Bloons still enter the track at the normal rate.
• The Spike Storm and Carpet of Spikes spike dispersal.

You cannot use it in the break between rounds, only while a round is running.

These numbers are the current ones. In version 49.0 the Bloon slow was reduced (Bloons used to move at 10% speed) and the tower penalty was softened at the same time, so older guides overstate how strong it is.

Why Time Stop is tricky

The key is the trade-off. Bloons lose 70% of their speed while your towers lose 30% of their attack speed. That is a good deal for buying time, but a bad deal if your towers were already keeping up. Three effects make it useful:

1. More time per tower shot. Bloons spend more than three times as long inside your range, so even slowed towers fire more shots at each Bloon before it escapes.
2. Abilities come back sooner. Cooldowns run at full speed, so relative to the Bloons you get more ability activations.
3. Bloons bunch up. Because spawns are not slowed, a wave piles up near the entrance. That is great for area damage and a Super Monkey Storm, but a dense clump can also overwhelm a weak single-target defence when the slow ends.

How to get Time Stop

Buy it for 50 Monkey Money or collect it from:

• Achievements like Red and Blue Makes… (3 Time Stops plus 200 Monkey Money), Life Experience (5), Rookie of the year (2), I'll Be Back (2), 2 MegaPops (1) and Limited Run (1).
• Quests such as the Corvus, Adora, Sauda, Etienne, Geraldo and Captain Churchill tutorials, and the Least Cash, Fast Tracked quest (3).
• Daily rewards and event rewards.

Best times to use it

• When you need time to build. A sudden leak on round 63 or a surprise Camo wave? Drop Time Stop, then place, upgrade or sell while the Bloons crawl. This is its best use.
• During a long ability cooldown. If your main damage comes from abilities, Time Stop makes the Bloons wait for them.
• Against a single huge blimp. A ZOMG on round 80 or the BAD on round 100 spends much longer in your kill zone. Use it while the blimp is inside your range, not before.
• Co-op emergencies. It slows the whole map, buying every player a moment to react.

Avoid it when your defence relies on raw attack speed and is already holding, and do not combine it with Monkey Boost, which it partly cancels.

Best combos

• Ability-based defences. Tack Shooter Blade Maelstrom, Monkey Ace Ground Zero, Super Monkey Tech Terror and similar abilities keep their cooldown speed, so they effectively fire more often.
• Area damage. Bomb Shooters, Mortar Monkeys, Wizard Monkey Wall of Fire and Ice Monkeys benefit from the clumping.
• Super Monkey Storm. Use Time Stop first, let the wave pile up on screen, then hit it all with one Storm.
• Tech Bot. Linked abilities fire the moment they recharge, which pairs well with cooldowns that ignore the slow.

Where you can't use it

• Disabled in CHIMPS, Races and ranked Boss Events.
• Disabled in challenges and Quests that turn Powers off, and in the editors' test mode.
• Not usable in Contested Territory at all, because there is no Time Stop Relic.
• In Odyssey and Rogue Legends only equipped Powers can be used.

Is it worth the Monkey Money?

At 50 Monkey Money it is cheap, but it is the most situational Power. For saving a run it is weaker than Monkey Boost or a Super Monkey Storm, because it weakens your own towers. Its real value is time: it lets you react to a leak by building more towers before the Bloons reach the exit.

Use your free copies for that purpose and do not buy it in bulk. Longer Time Stop adds five seconds, a 50% increase, but only take it if you actually use Time Stop often.

Frequently asked questions

Does Time Stop stop the Bloons completely?

No. Bloons move at 30% of their normal speed for 10 seconds (15 with Longer Time Stop).

Does Time Stop slow my towers?

Yes. Most towers attack at 70% of their normal speed during Time Stop. Paragons and ability cooldowns are not slowed.

Does Time Stop work on BADs and Bosses?

Yes. Since version 27.0 it slows BADs, and Boss Bloons are slowed to 30% speed as well.

Should I use Time Stop on round 100?

Only if your defence is ability-heavy or you need time to build more towers. Otherwise Monkey Boost is the better Power for the BAD.

Can you use Time Stop in Contested Territory?

No. There is no Time Stop Relic, so it cannot be used there.

Does Time Stop speed up ability cooldowns?

Cooldowns run at normal speed while everything else is slowed, so you get more ability uses before the Bloons move on.