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There’s a whole field load of Towers to choose from, each with very distinctive characteristics and are therefore suited to specific tasks. When used to correctly to create pincer points and double-backs on maps, you can create a melody of mayhem that’s a sight to behold.

New Towers are unlocked as you earn more stars for finishing maps/higher difficulties or by saving up enough in-game coins. Let’s check out each of the towers one-by-one and break each one down in detail.

Gatling Tower

Unlock Requirement: N/A Purchase Cost: $5 Upgrade Cost: $4 each Resale Value: $3 (level one), $6 (level two), $9 (level three) Damage Per Second: 35 (level one), 70 (level two), 105 (level three) Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Funneling units into finely crafted, narrow mazes of bullet-raining pain.

Machine Gun Tower

Unlock Requirement: 750 coins (iOS/Android) - 600 coins (Steam) Purchase Cost: $8 Upgrade Cost: $4 each Resale Value: $6 (level one), $9 (level two), $12 (level three) Damage Per Second: 70 (level one), 100 (level two), 130 (level three) Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Creating mazes, slowing down enemies and being really good value for their damage output. Worth using over the Gatling Tower where possible. Note: This tower was made available to iPhone and iPod users as of update 1.5!

Glue Tower

Unlock Requirement: N/A Purchase Cost: $10 Upgrade Cost: $5 each Resale Value: $7 (level one), $11 (level two), $15 (level three) Speed Reduction: 40% (level one), 60% (level two), 75% (level three) Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Single unit tracking.

Ice Tower

Unlock Requirement: 1000 coins (iOS/Android) - 800 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $15 Upgrade Cost: $10 each Resale Value: $11, $18, $26 Speed Reduction: 45%, 60%, 70% Range: 1.5 tiles Main Use: Slowing down multiple nearby units.

Oil Tower

Unlock Requirement: Seven Stars Purchase Cost: $20 Upgrade Cost: $10 each Resale Value: $15, $22, $30 Speed Reduction: 40%, 50%, 60% Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Slowing down multiple units.

Polymorph Tower

Unlock Requirement: 15000 coins (iOS) - 4800 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $20 Upgrade Cost: $10 each Resale Value: $15, $22, $30 Speed Reduction: 45%, 65%, 78% Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: This is the best speed reduction tower by far. It has a wider radius than the ice tower and it’ll target every individual unit that is within range. And if the effect wears off on a unit whilst it’s still in range, the Polymorph tower will re-attack them again! Really worth unlocking for free (and worth saving up for on Steam). And the best thing about this tower is that it affects the usually impervious ‘Stubborn Runners’! It’s the only speed reduction tower that fully affects their speed, making it near-essential on maps where they’re present. Note: You can get this tower for free by simply downloading the free version from the iOS App Store and having bought the full version. Open the free version once, then when you go back into the paid-for version, it’ll unlock! Nice!

Slow Link Tower

Unlock Requirement: 4500 coins (iOS) - 3600 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $30 (but you really need two to make any use of them). Upgrade Cost: $20 each Resale Value: $22, $37, $52 Speed Reduction: 60%, 70%, 80% Range: 1.0 tiles Main Use: Slowing down mass numbers of units that have been piled into a single tile width pathway of doom.

Missile Tower

Unlock Requirement: N/A Purchase Cost: $20 Upgrade Cost: $15 each Resale Value: $15, $26, $37 Damage Per Second: 75, 150, 225 Range: 3.5 tiles Main Use: For punching missile sized holes into the enemy units that are further away.

Sonic Blast Tower

Unlock Requirement: 1300 coins (iOS) - 1040 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $25 Upgrade Cost: $20 each Resale Value: $18, $33, $48 Damage Per Second: 112.5, 225, 337 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Popping the ear drums off any enemies within ear-shot.

Spark Tower

Unlock Requirement: 20 stars Purchase Cost: $30 Upgrade Cost: $20 each Resale Value: $22, $37, $60 Damage Per Second: 160, 320, 480 Range: 1.0 tiles Main Use: When stuck beside a speed reducing tower, these Spark Towers can do some ferocious damage to enemy units. Especially handy on the end of U-bends as they fire a blast in eight directions at once. Used in most of our map strategies.

Cannon Tower

Unlock Requirement: 1700 coins (iOS) - 1360 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $30 Upgrade Cost: $25 each Resale Value: $22, $41, $52 Damage Per Second: 100, 200, 300 Range: 3.5 tiles Main Use: Dealing multiple hit damage to straight lines of units.

Hive Tower

Unlock Requirement: Four stars Purchase Cost: $35 Upgrade Cost: $25 each Resale Value: $26, $45, $63 Damage Per Second: 126, 252, 380 Range: 3.5 tiles Main Use: Deals a bomb-like hive that delivers splash damage to all nearby units, allowing it to hurt enemies that are just outside it’s generous 3.5 tile range.

Laser Tower

Unlock Requirement: Five stars Purchase Cost: $40 Upgrade Cost: $30 each Resale Value: $30, $52, $75 Damage Per Second: 125, 250, 450 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Whilst the ‘trigger’ distance for the laser is 2.5 tiles, any units behind it that are caught in the straight beam of painful light will take damage, which means these work best at the end of long straight pathways. They’ll also turn to face the nearest unit if one is within range, so bear that in mind.

Gas Tower

Unlock Requirement: 3000 coins (iOS) - 2400 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $40 Upgrade Cost: $30 each Resale Value: $30, $52, $75 Damage Per Second: 120, 240, 360 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Hurts units over time, but Hazmat units are impervious to their gassy-charms.

Napalm Tower

Unlock Requirement: 4800 coins (iOS) - 3840 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $40 Upgrade Cost: $35 each Resale Value: $30, $46, $82 Damage Per Second: 240, 480, 720 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Spews out a burst of fiery hurt that does an initial base damage, along with a residual damage to units for a couple of seconds after.

Link Tower

Unlock Requirement: 2000 coins (iOS) - 1600 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $45 (but you really need two to make any use of them). Upgrade Cost: $35 each Resale Value: $33, $60, $86 Damage Per Second: 1000, 2000, 3000 Range: 1.0 tiles Main Use: Don’t forget there’s no point in buying just one of these as it won’t work. So make sure you have $90 left free in your wallet before buying these. In pairs these do decent damage, but in maps with looped sections (such as the map ‘Twist of Fate’), you can link nine of these together to form an obscenely effective death-trap. Note: Upgrading one tower results in your overall damage rating being halved. So for example, if you upgrade one tower to level two and leave the other at level one, your damage output = 1,000 + 2,000 divided by 2 = 1,500 damage per second. Compare this to two level two Link Towers which deals 4,000 damage (2,000 x 2). So it’s not cost effective to upgrade just one.

Flamethrower

Unlock Requirement: Five stars Purchase Cost: $50 Upgrade Cost: $40 each Resale Value: $37, $67, $97 Damage Per Second: 300, 600, 900 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: A staple Tower in many of our Heroic difficulty strategies, the Flamethrower does high-damage over a respectable range. Definitely worth using as it’s unlocked very early in the game.

Plague Tower

Unlock Requirement: 4000 coins (iOS) - 3200 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $55 Upgrade Cost: $40 each< Resale Value: $41, $71, $101 Damage Per Second: 100, 200, 300 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Injecting runners with a contagious disease. Won’t affect Hazmats, but otherwise these will drop all ground-based runners like flies running towards a light.

Plasma Tower

Unlock Requirement: Nine stars Purchase Cost: $60 Upgrade Cost: $45 each Resale Value: $45, $78, $112 Damage Per Second: 150, 300, 450 Range: 3.5 tiles Main Use: Will trigger a plasma round from each of the four sides (up, down, left and right) and the shot will travel in a straight line the entire length of the map (damaging any units it touches along the way). If you place another Plasma Tower directly in-line of another one, they’ll fire off an additional shot. If placed in a square-like grid, you can create a very effective plasma party.

Zap Tower

Unlock Requirement: 2500 coins (iOS) - 2000 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $60 Upgrade Cost: $45 each Resale Value: $45, $78, $112 Damage Per Second: 450, 600, 750 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Each zap will target a set number of units at once. Level one = two units, level two = five units and level three upgrade = eight units at once. Handy to have at choke points to mop up unit rushes.

Power Tower

Unlock Requirement: 5000 coins (iOS) - 4000 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $65 Upgrade Cost: $80 then $100 Resale Value: $48, $108, $183 Damage Per Second: N/A Range: 1.5 tiles Main Use: When placed beside a single tower, it increases the damage dealt by that particular tower. If nestled in between multiple nearby towers, then this damage increase is split evenly between the number of nearby towers.

Tesla Tower

Unlock Requirement: Two stars Purchase Cost: $70 Upgrade Cost: $50 each Resale Value: $52, $90, $127 Damage Per Second: 700, 1400, 2100 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Highly effective against air units and it can strike out at all angles within its 2.5 tile range. Used in a lot of our 3-star strategies for keeping the air clear.

Radiation Tower

Unlock Requirement: 4000 coins (iOS) - 3200 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $55 Upgrade Cost: $40 each Resale Value: $52, $93, $135 Damage Per Second: 100, 200, 300 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: Effective on all unit types bar Hazmat runners. Causes them to get radiation poisoning and damage them as they are within range of the cloud. Super effective if you can place it in the middle of any high-traffic areas.

Pyro Tower

Unlock Requirement: 14 stars Purchase Cost: $90 Upgrade Cost: $70 each Resale Value: $67, $120, $172 Damage Per Second: 366, 733, 1100 Range: 2.5 tiles Main Use: An ‘Area of Effect’ weapon that creates a circular carpet of flames. Whilst ineffective against ‘Toastmaster’ units, if you have two Pyro towers near each other, they can combine together to deliver some serious combo-inducing damage. Perfect when you’re chasing after a high-score.

Boom-Kin Tower

Unlock Requirement: 4000 coins (iOS) - 3200 (Steam) Purchase Cost: $100 Upgrade Cost: $80 each Resale Value: $75, $135, $195 Damage Per Second: 600, 1200, 1800 Range: 1.5 tiles Main Use: Very small area of affect, best used on tight U-bends in mazes as corners slow runners down. Doesn’t good damage where it does hit though.

Mine Tower

Unlock Requirement: 36 stars Purchase Cost: $110 Upgrade Cost: $80 each Resale Value: $82, $142, $202 Damage Per Second: 1500, 3000, 4500 Range: 1.0 tiles Main Use: Spews out multiple mines around nearby tiles. Whilst useful to have near enemy exits, they’re very expensive for what they do. Correctly using ‘Smart Mine’ items can prove more beneficial (if coins aren’t a concern).

Railgun Tower

Unlock Requirement: 25 stars Purchase Cost: $120 Upgrade Cost: $90 each Resale Value: $90, $157, $225 Damage Per Second: 665, 1333, 2000 Range: 5.5 tiles Main Use: Think of these as single-shot sniper rifles as they will focus on a single enemy until it’s no more (and won’t change target unless the current one is dead or out of range). Has a very long range so proves useful against Elite units, not so much on super-busy maps with loads of runners nearby.

Nuke Tower

Unlock Requirement: 70 stars Purchase Cost: $120 Upgrade Cost: $90 each Resale Value: $90, $157, $225 Damage Per Second: 400, 800, 1200 Range: 3.5 tiles Main Use: Has a wide range of effect and deals ok damage, but any units right beside it won’t be hurt. Most useful when played in Endless mode and combined with multiple Nuke Towers.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Subatomic Studios LLC
  • Platforms,
    PC
  • Genre
    Action
  • Guide Release
    25 March 2013
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    Andrew Mills

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Inside this guide:

  • How to complete all 25 maps on Heroic difficulty with three stars.
  • The tricks to earning super high-scores!
  • Which levels are the best for earning those elusive gold coins!
  • Complete all survival maps without a single enemy getting out.
  • Each and every tower and item in the game - and how to get them.
  • Hidden Easter Eggs!
  • Exclusive map data - direct from Subatomic Studios!
  • Stunning HD screenshots.
  • All solutions can been watched in HD with audio commentary.

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