The Heli Pilot is one of the most useful Towers players can place in all of Bloons TD 6 simply because players will be able to lead the Heli Pilot anywhere they need it to go.
While I have to admit that the Heli Pilot is very easy to use on the PC edition of BTD6, players on mobile devices tend to have a more difficult time using it as it requires a player to leave their finger on their mobile device at all times in order to properly control it.
Players on a PC will simply need to hover their mouse over whatever area they wish to affect.
The awesome thing about the Heli Pilot is the fact that players can upgrade it with Path 1 to avoid controlling it, essentially providing it with a new targeting option, Pursuit, which will follow the bloon that is furthest down the path.
While handy, The Heli Pilot is only useful on maps that feature one track, though players can still successfully use a player controlled Heli Pilot when on maps with multiple entrances or can simply lock Heli Pilots in place to deal damage to one area.
Heli Pilots are very interesting as they can also be used to transport Towers elsewhere on the map and they can help players gain more lives than the player started out with, essentially allowing players to gain a cushion of lives in case large bloons like MOAB-class bloons, essentially helping players prolong their time on a map.
The following guide will take you through everything you need to know about the Heli Pilot and which upgrade path is most recommended and in what situations.
PATH 1 TIER-5 HELI PILOT – APACHE PRIME
The Apache Prime is my most commonly used tier-5 Heli Pilot simply because I’m a lazy MF who takes pleasure in being able to AFK and grind out levels while I work on other things.
The Apache Prime is the only upgrade path that has Pursuit targeting built into it and will deal damage with Lasers and Plasma.
The Apache Prime now deals 23 pierce with it’s Laser attacks and 11 pierce with it’s Plasma Cannon.
Laser attacks will deal 6 damage and the Plasma Cannon deals 5 damage for a total of 17 damage, which is a large increase from the previous 2 damage they used to do together.
The Apache Prime also has a homing missile that deals 17 damage to MOAB-class bloons.
The one concern about the Apache Prime is the fact that it cannot deal damage to Purple Bloons using it’s Plasma Cannon and the rockets it launches will not be able to pop Black Bloons, though the laser will be able to damage both.
That being said, the Apache Prime can provide support against DDTs, however due to the speed of DDTs Apache Primes can easily become encumbered by DDTs.
In order to make the most out of the Apache Prime, players will want to place an Overclock Engineer Monkey and may want to work with towers that slow down MOAB-class bloons such as the Ice Monkey, Glue Gunner or a Ninja Monkey. While none of these towers will guarantee that the Apache Prime will be able to clear the majority of bloons, especially when it comes to MOAB-class bloons.
In reality I think that the Apache Prime is a great way to catch bloons before they leak, though I will restate that the Apache Prime is not usually strong enough to deal enough damage to completely destroy all bloons on the map, though this makes sense as having a single tower that can essentially destroy everything does not make that much sense.
When it comes to cross pathing an Apache Prime players will have the option based on whether a player needs extra speed for the Apache Prime as well as Camo detection or if they would like some extra damage.
Path 2 provides players with enough speed to chase bloons as they begin to leak, though it should be noted that players may not actually have enough speed to catch bloons while they leak even with a Path 2 upgrade, further proving how the Apache Prime should primarily be used as support.
Path 3 will provide players with more popping power to bloons, and while I prefer the Path 3 cross path, I will say that the Bigger Jets upgrade from Path 2 tends to be more useful as it will help players secure takedowns of Super Ceramic bloons, which have the chance to flood without it.
If players want to cross path with Path 3, I strongly recommend that players avoid using Pursuit, which may seem counter intuitive, but doing so will allow players to lead the Apache Prime forward on the map to ensure that stronger bloons are destroyed without the worry of the Pursuit Apache Prime constantly trying to fly between paths.
This is especially true if players have two lanes to keep track of.
The Apache Prime is most useful on longer maps as it can deal tremendous damage over time, versus on shorter maps as it cannot slow down bloons or deal true burst damage.
PATH 2 TIER-5 HELI PILOT – SPECIAL POPERATIONS
The Special Poperations Heli Pilot is by far the biggest support Heli Pilot players can purchase as it will allow players to have access to three special abilities that will provide players with a great deal of support.
Special Poperations most used ability is going to be the cash drop that now provides players with double the amount of cash and lives that the Special Poperation’s Heli Pilot drops.
The new ability the Special Poperations accesses is the ability to deploy a Marine Monkey that shoots as fast as a Super Monkey, though with the limited range of where the Heli Pilot flies.
The Marine Monkey has 6 damage and has 30 pierce per shot also being able to pop Camo Bloons and Lead Bloons.
The Special Poperations Heli Pilot moves the fastest out of all other Heli Pilots making them both useful for players who plan to use the Pursuit targeting action or even if players want to control it with their mouse.
The Heli Pilot itself doesn’t have a whole lot of damage only shooting darts that deal 1 damage, though shoot 2 at a time.
Truthfully, the Heli Pilot should only be used as a support tower that drops supplies, dispatches the Marine Monkey and picks up towers to move them elsewhere on the map.
It should be noted that Special Poperations Heli Pilots will not be able to move:
True Sun God
Aircraft Carriers
Any Temporary Towers
Players will also have the ability to pick up a Tower, other than Heroes and the Towers mentioned above and allow them to continue to attack while the ability is active.
Players will want to use this ability in order to allow a tower to gain the range around the Heli Pilot, becoming especially useful for Engineer Monkeys who can drop their Sentry Turrets anywhere the Heli Pilot leads the Tower.
While the Special Poperations Heli Pilot is useful, especially for the amount of money and lives it drops, it’s really a tower I avoid placing unless necessary.
The Special Poperations Heli Pilot does not have any “ideal” cross paths and is often left alone, though players can essentially pair it with Path 1 to gain the Pursuit targeting mode as Path 3 increases the very small amount of damage it deals.
PATH 3 TIER-5 HELI PILOT – COMANCHE COMMANDER
The Comanche Commander is a very interesting Heli Pilot to place as it has the ability to summon 3 mini-Comanche helicopters that will stay lowered at all times,
Players will be sad to note that the Comanche Commander isn’t the strongest as a base tower only dealing 2 damage from it’s main darts, which shoot two at a time, though mini-comanches are a bit stronger coming in at 3 damage and spray out 3 darts at a time, also having a rocket attack that deals 2 damage with 3 rockets sent out at a time.
Luckily mini-Comanches will also deal 2 extra damage to Ceramic Bloons and MOAB-class bloons using their rockets.
The Comanche Commander is considered to be a very damage support based Tower that can make sure that lesser bloons don’t leak, though realistically it will not help deal damage to MOAB-class bloons that make their way down the lane.
When it comes to cross pathing a Comanche Commander I strongly recommend choosing Path 2, although this means that the main Comanche Commander does not gain Pursuit.
My reason for this choice is that the mini-Comanches already have Pursuit built into them and the main Comanche Commander does not really need Pursuit, however, all of the Comanches will greatly benefit from having Camo detection which is provided by Path 2.
I truthfully don’t find the Comanche Commander to be a great Tower and don’t really choose it if I don’t need some extra support defeating lower tier bloons before they leak.
CONCLUSION
When it comes to selecting a Heli Pilot I strongly recommend using the Path 1 Apache Pilot as it deals the most damage to bloons and essentially ensures that players will follow bloons that are rapidly making their way down the lane.
Truthfully, Apache Pilots are all powerful as they can deal damage to all types of bloons and will essentially provide the most damage support than all of the other Heli Pilots.
I would strongly recommend having a Path 2 Special Poperations Heli Pilot on newer maps that players simply need more money or lives to complete as it is never a bad idea to have an extra cushion when trying out new maps.
The Special Poperations Heli Pilot is also great for players who want to help towers with smaller ranges to damage more bloons simply because of the ability to pick up towers and bring them around the map.
Not only that, it’s undeniable that having the capability to deploy the Marine monkey is also a great addition to this tower, essentially being able to damage bloons extremely rapidly in comparison to most other towers.
While players may feel like the Path 3 Heli Pilot is the most powerful as it deploys 3 mini-Comanche planes, I am personally not a huge fan of them simply because they are better at dealing with lower tier bloons and not the strong bloons which tend to be the bigger problem for players.
So I’m curious, what’s your favourite Heli Pilot? Are you also a Path 1 fan or do you love Path 3? Do you find the support of Path 2 to be “good enough” to get you to use it every time?
Let me know in the comments below!
Leave a Reply