Monkey Sage

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"Wise old scholars from the western temples, Sages build up shots over time before releasing them into their targets."

The Monkey Sage is a tower added in Bloons TD 7: Dark Times. It can be unlocked anytime after Rank 5, and falls into the 'Magic' category.

All art used in this page is thanks to Cutterfish12345. Page created by CrookedHorn.

Base Level[]

HP: 10 (+5 per tier)
Cost: $500 on Medium
Attack Type: While idle with no bloons in range, the Sage will in advance charge up to 3 magical purple projectiles rotating around it. Once bloons enter range, all charges will home into the preferred target, popping 1 layer each. While bloons are in range, new charges are automatically used in combat and not built up. Each charge has a 0.5 second delay between the next being fired, deemed 'unload speed'.
Attack Speed: 1.5 seconds
Range: The same as a 0/0/0 Wizard.

The Sage is better positioned in locations where it can build up attacks before bloons enter its range, allowing it burst them down quickly. Most paths of the Sage prove it most effective near the end of the track. The charges of the Sage WILL build up even between rounds. The attacks of the Monkey Sage can, by default, pop Lead Bloons.

The Sage takes the appearance of an old slightly hunched monkey with a long white beard dressed in a light blue robe adorned with white. Has a blue rounded hood up over its head and holds a large wooden staff with a purple crystal on the end in its right hand. Purple charges are released from this staff, and will build up to 3 orbiting in a circle above head height until bloons enter its range. Attacks from the Sage are considered energy for the sake of Purple Bloons.

Upgrading[]

Path 1[]

Stored Energy[]

"The longer a charge goes unused, the stronger it becomes." -Description

Every 5 seconds a charge built up around the Monkey Sage goes unused, its layer damage increases by 1, to a max of 3. Charges will change color each time its damage ups, being light purple to begin, dark purple when damage becomes 2, and dark blue when damage becomes 3.

The Sage's staff crystal turns from purple to a blue to purple gradient, and the rim of his hood becomes white.

Costs $600 on Medium

Overcharge[]

"Fully charged blasts release a wave of power!" -Description

Bolts that reach the blue stage will release a crackling blue explosion of electricity within a small area, dealing 1 damage to bloons around the target for every 8 additional seconds after reaching blue phase the charge remained, up to 3 as well. When a ball of energy hits Overcharge, it will crackle with blue electricity violently.

The Sage's staff crystal now crackles sporadically with energy.

Costs $750 on Medium

Crying Skies[]

"Charges no longer fire at bloons, but instead trigger powerful lightning strikes!" -Description

Instead of firing the magical charge as a projectile, it will consume itself and vanish, as a lightning strike descends upon the target, dealing up to 3 damage (based on Stored Energy charge time), stunning the struck bloon for 1 second, and dealing up to 3 damage (based on Overcharge time) to all bloons in a small area. MOAB-class bloons will not be effected by the stun.

The Sage's staff turns into a metal lightning rod with a sky blue shard at its tip. When a charge is consumed, it shimmers white and releases small white rings of energy for pure graphics. His beard becomes very spiky as if jolted with energy.

Costs $1500 on Medium

Volatile Storm[]

"Each charge now triggers a mighty storm that stuns tons of bloons!" -Description

When a wave of energy is fired out by Overcharge, all surviving bloons will each get struck with their own miniature lightning strike that deals 1 damage and stuns them for 0.5 seconds. Allows for intense crowd control.

The Sage will have storm clouds circling around his body, as his robes turn from bright blue and white to dark gray and yellow. His beard becomes even more jolted with electricity, and his eyes become consumed in bright blue light.

Costs $3000 on Medium

Speaker of the Tempest[]

IMG-20190327-WA0015 — Speaker of The Tempest

"His voice echoes with the might of the storm, and his whispers have all the intensity of a gust of wind." -Description

Each time a bloon is popped by the Sage, be it by charge, lightning strike, or Overcharge's clouds, they release a lightning chain striking up to 40 bloons within a close proximity of each other for 2 layers. This can make a mess of bloon rubber to clean up very very quickly. Bloons killed by the chain lightning effect of another bloon will NOT trigger another chain lightning effect. An absolute master of crowd control and bloon popping.

The lower half of the Sage's body is replaced with a swirling angry tornado. Instead of robes, the top half of the Monkey Sage's body makes way for ripped abs, as the robe is replaced with a cape made of gray and yellow fabric over the Monkey Sage's shoulders. Instead of a staff, the Sage's hands now have orbs of electricity within them. His eyes remain consumed in blue light and his beard remains ever jagged with static energy.

Costs $45000 on Medium

Path 2[]

More Charges[]

"The Monkey Sage can build more attacks at one time." -Description

The amount of charges the Monkey Sage can have built up at one time increased to five.

The Sage gains a golden necklace with a long blue crystal in it around his neck.

Costs $400 on Medium

Faster Unload[]

"The amount of time between one charges firing and the next's decreased!" -Description

The amount of time between release of stored charges decreased by 40%, to 0.3 seconds. This is NOT attack speed, but the amount of time between one charge being shot at a target and the next being fired once they're already built up.

The staff of the Monkey Sage turns gold and looks a tad more straight.

Costs $450 on Medium

Running Sparks[]

"Once buildup max is reached, the Monkey Sage will send excess charges down the track!" -Description

Once the Monkey Sage reaches all 5 charges built up and ready for use, he will continue generating new ones, sending them down the length of the track toward the entrance, popping up to 5 bloons for 2 layers before fizzling out.

The Monkey Sage now happily holds a blue electric orb in its other hand, ready to throw it down onto the track whenever he's ready. The robes of the Sage turn from blue and white to purple and white. The necklace gem turns from blue to purple as well. The chain of the necklace goes from gold to shiny silver.

Costs $2200 on Medium

Energy Sap[]

"As charges pass bloons, they sap part of their energy, increasing in speed and damage!" -Description

Each time a Running Sparks charge sent down the track pops a bloon, its speed increases by 10% and its damage increases by 1 layer. The amount of bloons the charge can pop before fizzling out increased to 15 (meaning it can deal up to 17 damage to its final target and the bloons leading up to it will take linearly higher damage than the bloons previous). Can work well against MOAB-class bloons since they're typically slower than other bloons, allowing these charges time to build up damage before hitting the blimp.

The robes become a tad more elegant and ornate, as well as deepening in the richness of the purple. The necklace turns into a full on silver clasp that surrounds the neck and upper torso of the Monkey Sage, the purple gem becoming brighter and much larger.

Costs $4400 on Medium

The Life Consumer[]

"Now drains the life force of bloons to such an extent that it leaves them on the edge of death..." -Description

Every bloon hit by a Running Sparks charge will begin slowing down by 5% every second until it hits 40% of its base speed. This also effects MOAB-class bloons up to the BFB, and effects DDTs. The base damage of a charge increases to 3 layers, and every bloon it passes ups the damage by 2 instead of 1. When the sparks fizzle away after 15 bloons, they explode into a very large energy blast that shatters Fortified armor from up to 8 targets, but deals no damage.

The Monkey Sage's robes go from dark purple and white to dark purple and deep crimson. The face of the Monkey Sage becomes far more pale, and his eyes turn a glowing lavender color. The staff goes from gold to a platinum color and the gem becomes crimson. Dark silver chains dangle from near the head of the staff. The charge held in the Sage's other hand becomes a blood red color.

Gains the Energy Converter ability, that causes all bloons that come within an area 2x the Sage's range to be subject to the effects of his normal projectile's slow down and when completely destroyed release a charge similar to his main attack down the track for the next 10 seconds. Has a 90 second cooldown.

Costs $60,000 on Medium

Path 3[]

Quicker Spells[]

"Using ancient knowledge, the Monkey Sage can summon charges faster." -Description

Attack rate/charge summon rate is now 1.2 seconds.

The head of the staff gain two horned prongs coming up and curving inward over the gem of the staff.

Costs $350 on Medium

Scholastic Eye[]

"The magical eye of the Sage can now detect and reveal Camo bloons." -Description

The Monkey Sage gains the ability to strip Camo bloons of their disguise. An eye made out of purple magic hovers over the shoulder of the Monkey Sage opposite the staff. It will stare at Camo bloons one at a time (projecting a transparent purple beam) and after 0.7 seconds, that bloon will lose Camo status. Do note this upgrade does NOT give the Sage itself Camo detection, and he too must wait for the eye to strip bloons of the property before he can attack them. The range of this eye is 2x that of the Sage's range, giving it time to reveal them for its master.

Costs $700 on Medium

Hermetic Study[]

"The knowledge of ancient libraries have made the Sage all-around a far more efficient fighter." -Description

The range of the Sage now increases to the sight range of his x/x/2 Scholastic Eye. The Scholastic Eye's range increases by 25%. The Sage now summons a new charge once every second, increasing attack rate, and each charge will now home in to pop a second bloon before dissipating.

The Sage ditches the staff for holding a large leatherbound volume open with both hands. When summoning in a charge, the text will glow for a short time. The robes of the Sage turn from blue and white to red and gold. The summoned magic eye over the Sage's shoulder becomes golden yellow.

Costs $1200 on Medium

Archaic Scholar[]

"Having read many long forgotten volumes of ancient lore, the Sage can now attack with a new degree of intensity." -Description

Instead of building up charges around him, they build up inside of his book. When bloons enter the Sage's range, he will hold his book forth and five homing magic missiles will shoot out of it at once for each charge built up in quick succession. These bolts will dance around the Sage's range, popping bloons for about 2 seconds before vanishing. Because the number of attacks effectively increases from 3 to up to 15 in a short time, the damage output of the Sage increases tremendously.

The clasps around the spine of the book turn from dark iron to shiny gold, and the book goes from leatherbound to made of red dragon scales. The text shimmers golden constantly and when firing turns bright red. The Scholastic Eye over the Sage's shoulder turns red, but the pupil remains gold.

Costs $8500 on Medium

The All-Knower[]

"The scalding eyes of the All-Knower extends to every creature deserving of scorn." -Description

The Sage now has three Scholastic Eyes, one over its left shoulder, another over its right shoulder, and a larger one overhead. It can now strip two bloons at once of Camo AND Regrow using the side eyes. The main eye instead fires a constant powerful golden beam of energy at bloons in range, popping 1 layer every 0.5 seconds and dealing 10x damage to MOAB-class bloons as well as setting them on fire. The Sage itself can now see Camo bloons before its eyes strip them of their properties, becoming a bonus for nearby towers. The amount of bolts released from the book per charge increases to 7, and each now hangs around for 1 second longer and pops up to 3 more bloons each.

The Sage becomes faceless, his head consumed by the darkness of his pointed red hood. His robes are lined with gold and on a large golden medallion around his neck sits a glowing white etching of an eye. The book held by the Sage now looks shiny golden, encrusted with black metallic clasps over the spine. The text glows red at all times. Four spiritual arms extend from the the back of the Sage, two on each side, bent skyward.

Costs $35000 on Medium

Additional Notes[]

The base tower is modeled after the Crypt from the Tower Defense game Cursed Treasure 2, but after that the upgrades run wild.
Hermetic Study is a sort of parallel to the Arcane Mastery upgrade for the Wizard in BTD 6.
Approved conception by a review from Doue. :)
Art by Cutterfish, as the top of the page says.