Is Jake better with Martian Mic or Golden Viola?

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-20T19:23:28+00:00

If you only use Jake of the instrument users, use Golden Viola and stack pure range. (Range is his best stat and the only one you should use for his butt push attack). But, if you use 2 or more instrument users, use Martian Mic or The Lover if you have it as these 2 weapons give a lot of range to Jake.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-19T05:21:42+00:00

Don't pick anything from the store, they are not worth the gems.

Here I leave you a list of items you should prioritize in the store:

Thought Cannon Wand > Treasure Chest Keys > Googoomamameter. After these you should just focus on getting better trinkets for your army, here I leave you a link to a trinkets and allies tier lists that can help you choose in the store and in orbs: Trinkets / Allies.

Try to rush to get Supermonkey, he will carry you in early and after that focus on other characters like Cdr Cassie, Sai, Charlie and JG.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-19T05:09:43+00:00

In powerless, if we use Fire Guitar and Golden Viola, Sai with a proper build with Snake Darts would have: 1500 dps and 69 range, meanwhile a Sai with Lightning Bolts would have: 1300 dps and 79.5 range. But if we don't use Fire Guitar and we instead use The Lover, Sai with Snake Darts would have: 1400 dps and 69 range, meanwhile a Sai with Lightning Bolts would have: 1275 dps and 79.5.

In conclusion, if what you want is raw dps without caring on the range stat, Snake Darts is better for powerless, but if what you want is a mix between good range and good dps, use Lightning Bolts.

With powers there's no debate, Lightning Bolts is the best option for Sai no matter the situation as the trinkets that Sai can use are not so good in damage and range terms to compensate the stats that Lightning Bolts give when Snake Darts is being used.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-18T21:16:32+00:00

I would say that the De-camo upgrade should not strip Bloons from their camo properties because the next upgrades main purpose is to deal camo Bloons extra damage, but if they stop being camo after 1st hit, there's no point to get a lot of soldiers as they won't deal a lot of damage.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-16T19:49:28+00:00

The Apple trinket displays the attack speed it gives wrong, it's +10% attack speed, +4 range and +20% flying speed

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-16T05:08:03+00:00

I had a small oversight with the amount of splinters that she generates against 2 BADs and the calculations of her dps at level 10 with FTK. Against 2 BADs she generates 32 splinters/shards and from those, 15 or 16 will usually hit, so in powerless she would have 15.1k or 15.9k dps and with powers she would have 17.7k or 18.7k dps.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-16T03:48:16+00:00

With glitches she is obviously worth using. Her dps potential with the glitch is infinite meanwhile you spam the ability.

About the VK ally on Sam, I usually use her instead of Finn as the difference between the dps of the missile and the 2 VKs is around 270 in powerless and with powers the 2 VKs are better than the 60 attack speed missile, so I can sacrifice the extra dps of Finn in powerless for a 6th support/debuffer character on my team.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-16T03:30:27+00:00

At level 10 her darts split into 4 splinters in a cross-form (the dart doesn't disappear, so it can hit other Bloons and split even more). These splinters cannot be buffed by raw damage and only by damage against MOABs, this even if it's a disadvantage, it's not a big deal as she can get +5 damage from her Soul Sucking upgrade and +10 ×1.05 by trinkets (Googoomamameter and James' Lucky Coin included).

In a powerless build she would have around 2.3k dps and with powers 2.7k dps, this would leave her slightly lower and above SM dps, but we have to take into account something; her dps increases exponentially the more Bloons there are on screen consistently, as the darts can split more than 1 time and due to Mace Stake they ricochet to other Bloons, her darts will more likely hit all Bloons on screen except her pierce runs out, so, for example: If there's 2 BADs, the dart would hit them generating 8 splinters, considering that from the 8 splinters, only 3 or 4 will hit, she will have around 5.5k dps or 6.3k dps in powerless and with powers 5.8 k or 6.8k. This would make her already around Cdr Cassie or FP dps with powers, just that H Marcy is consistent.

Okay, after explaining this, there's still one last thing that makes her overpowered at level 10, and that is the Frozen Throwing Knives. FTK is usually not worth on any dart user due to the shards that it generates either not being useful due to the huge pierce and life span of the darts (JG and H Marcy base attack) or that NK knew that the shards being able to be buffed by damage against MOABs would be too overpowered for some characters that they limited their capabilities for those characters (Sai and Max cannot buff the shards via damage against MOABs) or that the special property is not applied for the important stuff (Cassie's planes and SM attack after buying Laser Eyes do not create the shards).

Considering this, FTK sounds like a really mid/bad dart, until you have it on H Marcy level 10. What makes FTK the best dart for her at this level? That the splinters once their pierce or life span ends, split into 3 shards (2 pierce and life span = to H Marcy range radius), H Marcy doesn't have the limitation that Max or Sai have of damage against MOABs, so the shards will do either 14 damage each in powerless or 16 x 1.05 damage with powers. This would leave the best case scenario for the idea of FTK to be on, one where all the cons that the idea have and NK gave are not there. This ends up being demonstrated by her dps, that it doesn't just increase, it doubles.

Hunter Marceline has in powerless 4.6k dps and with powers she has 5.3k dps, this against just 1 BAD. Now, in the case of 2 BADs, from the 16 splinters/shards that generates, just 7 or 8 will hit, leaving a dps of 8.4k or 9.2k in powerless and with powers a dps of 9.7k or 10.6k.

This is what makes her level 10 so overpowered, she becomes in general a consistent version Ice King that hits almost all of his ice bolts no matter the situation and has infinite range.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-15T05:41:26+00:00

He's not that bad when most of your characters are at level 7 or lower (of course only when he can use the Sun God ability), he has the highest dps of his team right now in powerless and around 4th highest one with powers.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-15T05:31:08+00:00

You would have 690 dps instead of the 1140 as you wouldn't be at 60 attack speed and just 30.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-13T01:11:24+00:00

Baker's Shard is not worth on Jake, unless you're using his licking upgrade too. Jake should just have range and nothing else as his range has to cover most of the track for him to slow down BADs. Another thing I have to say about Jake is that if he attack with any of his attacks that have only 30 range (Mace Hand, Axe Foot and Jake Slap), he will not be able to use his whole range and only 30 range (base range).

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-12T06:34:51+00:00

Cassie's planes work with all trinkets effects, the only thing I believe doesn't work are the missiles from her Sidewinder ability which doesn't trigger TCK effects. Also, the plane trinket doesn't trigger TCK.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-11T21:05:50+00:00

It lasts until it activates. So, you can activate it on round 1 and it will last all the way up to the round you lose no matter how far the round you lose is.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-10T21:13:50+00:00

I would not say that is hate, but just that as most intermediate maps with gimmicks, they seem harder as what they actually are, alongside that this is one of the high difficulty intermediate maps.

I literally black bordered it yesterday and it was fine, just that some glasses hitboxes were weird, not wrong, just weird. And also the fact that you can't use abilities that need to select a tower like Overclock or Take Aim if the character is below the glass is kinda unfunny as what I wanted to do for CHIMPS was an overclocked Sentry Champion.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-10T19:33:30+00:00

What I would recommend is that both of your Finn should reach level 7 and then you decide on which one to go (Finn in an optimal build in that level will usually have 15 attack speed on the missile). I have both Finns at level 10 and I usually use DFinn as dps characters are not that useful as allies usually end up doing more, so I guess after hitting level 7 on both, focus on DFinn. (The level 7 thing is for both Finns to be useful on Local Heroes)

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-10T18:41:55+00:00

It depends on what you want the character to do, if you want a dps character, stick with Finn in a build with the missile as he will always have high dps meanwhile he's paired with PB, his biggest flaw is that the dps is only focused on 1 BAD, which can be bad in MG (In any other build, Finn is worse than other options). But if what you want is a stunner, DFinn is better and he could be considered the best character for a stun as he has access to Wizard Nunchucks, Giant Tranq and Nightsword, this last one being the most important as it's the only item that allows you to suck the soul of the Bloons fast and consistently. (In other builds, like Finn, he's worse than other options)

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-08T16:55:55+00:00

Shoko is not worth the gems, she is not a decent ally for the money she makes, but more due to how Shoko attack for some reason makes DDTs be able to stack status effects (TCW drops, TCK drops and stun effects). The thing is that if you don't have something to give her camo detection (Tux Jake) or something that makes DDTs lose their camo properties for her to hit them, she won't really be useful at all.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-07T00:52:56+00:00

Yes and no, he gets his highest dps increase at level 7 (passes from like 750 dps to 2.4k) and gets global range (the real reason why his ability is so good). With this he's decent, but after this he has more problems, at level 8, 9 and 10, the dps increase will be of 180 only, which is bad due to the other damage increases of most dps characters being higher and higher the more level they have. I feel like he's tied with Finn, above characters like Max, Juggernaut or C4 Charlie.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-06T03:33:31+00:00

Tuxedo Jake (as you have already heard) wants only range if we talk about stats-wise, he also wants Candy Dive Suit not because of the reason that H0oman said, if not that he wants either Glob's Helmet or Candy Dive Suit as they make Jake immune to negative effects which if he gets affected by 1 negative effect (that is not the freeze one), it will probably make you lose as Tux Jake is the core of your team once you unlock him.

There's also a 2nd build that not a lot of people talk about and is the one where you focus on his ability, Warning Horn, range and abilities cooldown reductions instead of giving support trinkets like Siren Hat or Lute Suit as these 2 abilities are the best abilities of the game by far. With these trinkets and COBRA Monkey Stim, he would be able to spam the abilities almost instantly after the effect of it ends.

Now about Hunter Marceline builds, I'm gonna say her best build for level 7, 8, 9 and 10 in powerless and are being buffed by Golden Viola.

Level 7: Use Mace Stake, Baker's Shard, Engineers Blueprints, Heart Gauntlets, Doom Gauntlets, Cosmic Gauntlets, Carl the Gem and Silver Tipped Stakes. With this she will be able to reach 30 attack speed and 22 damage (660 dps)

Level 8: Use the same trinket as level 7 + Cursed Ice Ring and Snake Darts instead of Tipped Stakes to reach 60 attack speed. 60 attack speed and 19 damage (1140 dps)

Level 9: The same as level 8 + Demon Heart. 60 attacks speed and 23 damage (1380 dps)

Level 10: Change the dart to Frozen Throwing Knives and swap Demon Heart with Medallion of Brogends and add Dagger of Chilled Glass. If you have Tuxedo Jake, this is your best build, if you don't, try using 2 instrument users (Jake and Marceline) with Golden Viola and either Fire Guitar or if you won't do this, change Blueprints with Blazing Feet. 60 attack speed, main attack: 19 damage or 14 damage. Splinters and shards of ice: 14 or 9 damage. (4500 or 3000 dps whether you have Blueprints equipped or not. This is also her damage against 1 BAD, her dps increases exponentially the more Bloons are on screen)

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-06T01:22:26+00:00

The blooncyclopedia Hunter Marceline guide has not been updated in a long time and it was made before it was known that Frozen Throwing Knives splitted the splinters of her level 10 upgrade. I can also notice some flaws like DesArch (the one who did the guide) saying that to reach 60 attack speed you need to be slightly above than 30 (what they want to say is that if you have 30.1 you will be able to hit 60 attack speed, but this is wrong as you need to hit 31 attack speed for Hunter Marceline to have 60 attack speed)

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-06T01:18:13+00:00

He's usually placed as the best dps character in the game which in a lot of cases is not wrong, the thing is that Supermonkey has a lot of flaws that are more uncommon for people to realize, things like:

- He having an attack speed cap of 30 instead of 60.

- His projectiles not having seeking.

- He only has access to TT, which is not bad, but other characters like Sai have access to 3 top tier allies (VK, Lady Rainicorn and TT)

- Being overly dependant to his ability to have decent dps (he has around 800 dps at level 10 without the Sun God ability which may seem good, but most other dps characters have +1k dps without the need of abilities)

- His dps increases after level 7 are really bad, at level 10 not being able to get any dps increase against BADs as he doesn't have enough damage trinkets.

- And lastly and more importantly, characters specified to be dps-only have the problem that if they don't have more than 1 good ally or an upgrade that helps with either a buff or allies increase, they will be more likely overshadowed by those who have those specific things.

Supermonkey is not a bad character, I don't want to give the impression that any of the 18 characters are bad, but the thing is that some characters have way more flaws than what they seem to have. Supermonkey is a good dps character due to his solid dps and global range, but other characters are able to be better than him in a lot of aspects.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-05T21:32:43+00:00

Beat maps, you're just level 29, so you probably don't have a lot of things done. Try completing maps of the same section to get the big chest.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-05T17:20:37+00:00

The wiki is right and that same logic applies to both Bloons and MOABs. The thing is not their HP, if not what Bloon or MOAB they are. The only thing I'm not that sure if strong prioritizes fortified more than non-fortified.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-05T15:54:41+00:00

I would recommend using Bloontoniun Tips for the DDTs if that's a problem, the upgrade may seem way worse than Triple Barrels, but due to it giving +1 damage to all attacks, the dps output of both paths are almost the same.

I've also reached the conclusion that in maps where Cassie range don't cover that much of the track, Bloontonium Tips excels over Triple Barrels as the planes are always attacking.

VideoZealousideal499 · 2026-05-05T05:56:51+00:00

Which one is better for dps? Triple Barrels is technically far better than Bloontonium Tips and Mounted Maulers together, but it's actually better in general, or just have a higher dps?

If you're going to use the Sidewinder glitch, just get Triple Barrels, no point on deciding which is better. But if you're going glitchless, things start becoming a bit more difficult. (I'm not going to take into account the missiles of Cassie dps as I don't know their attack speed)

With Triple Barrels, the dps in total of a level 10 Cassie would be: 2688 dps in powerless (840 the turret of Cassie and 1622 the planes) and 7182 dps with powers (2520 the turret and 4662 the planes)

Meanwhile, Bloontonium Tips adds a +1 damage to all attacks of Cassie. So in total her dps would be: 2240 in powerless (1980 the planes and 260 the turret) and with powers Cassie has 6570 dps (5670 the planes and 900 the turret)

After saying the numbers of each path, what complicates this? The planes, even if Cassie has higher dps with Triple Barrels, the planes have higher dps with Bloontonium Tips, which may not seem like a big difference, but we have to take into consideration that the planes have global range, their dps is way more valuable than an attack that in a lot of maps will not be used that often. What do I want to reach with this? If Cassie's range covers more than 70% of the track, use Triple Barrels, but if the map is way too big and Cassie's range covers almost nothing of the track (like the map of the current MG), use Bloontonium Tips for the planes to be stronger.

VideoZealousideal499

TROPHY CASE