BTD6 guide

BTD6 CHIMPS Guide

CHIMPS is hard because it removes the safety nets that usually let a messy defense recover. The clean way to plan it is not a secret tower list. It is a spending plan that survives every rule check from Round 6 through Round 100.

Open counter checker Browse towers

Round 100 BADFinal shell

Monkey VillageShared support

AlchemistCore buffs

Spike FactoryExit safety

Quick answer

To beat BTD6 CHIMPS, build a defense that does not depend on continues, extra lives, bonus income, Monkey Knowledge, powers, or selling. Spend only on towers and upgrades that answer a known job: early rounds, camo, lead, ceramic cleanup, MOAB-class damage, DDT coverage, and the Round 100 BAD.

A beginner-safe CHIMPS plan is usually one early starter, one main damage tower or hero-supported carry, one support shell, and a clear late-game purchase. The exact towers change by map, but the checklist stays stable.

Start with reliable early placement; CHIMPS begins on Round 6 and allows no leaked lives.
Cover camo before Round 24 and lead before Round 28 without assuming Monkey Knowledge is active.
Have focused MOAB damage before Round 40, not only grouped-bloon cleanup.
Prepare ceramic control before Round 63 and Round 78.
Before Round 90, combine camo detection, lead-compatible damage, DDT speed control, and MOAB-class damage.
For Round 100, bring BAD damage and keep cleanup for the children after the BAD layer breaks.

What CHIMPS removes

The acronym matters because every missing letter changes how you spend. No continues and no hearts lost mean a single leak ends the run. No income means Banana Farms, income abilities, and cash-generation habits are not a plan here. No Monkey Knowledge means common account-wide conveniences, including cheaper or free starts, should not be assumed. No powers and no selling remove the usual panic buttons.

That is why CHIMPS rewards boring reliability. A tower that is slightly less flashy but works without selling, without farming, and without late corrections is often better than a greedier setup that looks stronger only after it has already survived.

Do not copy a normal-mode farm opening into CHIMPS.
Do not plan around selling an early tower to afford a late one.
Do not assume a Monkey Knowledge perk is available when testing an opening.
Do not leave a known leak for a continue, power, or life buffer to solve.

Build around spending windows

The most useful CHIMPS habit is to divide the run into spending windows. Early cash should stabilize the first lanes. Midgame cash should create one dependable damage core instead of many unrelated towers. Late cash should finish the specific Round 90 through Round 100 problems.

When a run fails, ask which window was underfunded. If Round 40 leaks, the main damage came too late or was placed poorly. If Round 63 leaks, the build may have blimp damage but not enough pierce or control. If Round 95 leaks, the issue is usually DDT compatibility, speed, or track time rather than generic damage.

Rounds 6-39: establish the starter, camo, lead, and first MOAB plan.
Rounds 40-79: add sustained damage, ceramic cleanup, and shared support.
Rounds 80-89: stop making luxury purchases and prepare the DDT layer.
Rounds 90-100: every purchase should answer DDTs, dense blimps, BAD damage, or cleanup.

Choose towers by jobs

CHIMPS punishes scattered upgrades. Pick a main damage plan, then support it. A Monkey Village can make several towers share camo detection or attack-speed support. Alchemist buffs can turn the right fast-attacking tower into a much stronger core. Glue, Ice, Knockback, and other control tools can buy time for anything that is not a BAD.

Do not make support the whole defense. A Village with no tower worth supporting is just delayed damage. An Alchemist buff on the wrong target is wasted cash. A stall tower near the exit may slow the leak only after the defense has already failed to damage it.

Main damage: choose a tower path that attacks the map shape well and scales into late rounds.
Detection: make sure the actual damage tower can see camo, not just a side tower.
Lead and DDT compatibility: check damage type before Round 90.
Control: place slows and knockback where they give the main damage more attack time.
Cleanup: keep high-pierce answers for ceramics and children after blimps break.

Hero choice in CHIMPS

A CHIMPS hero should be judged by damage, support, control, placement, and ability timing. Income-first reasoning does not carry over because CHIMPS disables bonus income. That makes heroes like Sauda, Quincy, Etienne, Striker Jones, Obyn, Pat Fusty, Psi, or map-specific water heroes more reasonable when their job matches the route.

The best beginner question is not which hero is strongest overall. It is whether the hero helps the first hard placement, a later support gap, or the late-game tower you are already planning to buy. If the hero needs heavy micro and you are still learning round timing, choose a simpler hero until the map is stable.

Use Sauda only when the map gives her enough close-range track contact.
Use Quincy when you want a cheap, readable early hero and straightforward abilities.
Use Etienne when global camo support simplifies the whole defense later.
Avoid Benjamin as a CHIMPS default because income is the wrong reason to pick him here.
Use high-micro heroes only when you can manage abilities without missing leaks.

Rounds that deserve extra attention

The normal round checklist matters more in CHIMPS because there is no sell recovery. Round 24 checks camo, Round 28 checks lead, Round 40 checks the first MOAB, Round 59 checks camo lead overlap, Round 63 checks ceramic cleanup, and Round 78 checks whether ceramic cleanup also works when camo appears.

The late game is stricter. Round 90 introduces standard-round DDT pressure, Round 95 asks for heavier DDT control, Round 98 is dense fortified blimp pressure, Round 99 checks fortified DDTs, and Round 100 ends Impoppable and CHIMPS with a BAD. If one of those jobs is missing, extra cash does not matter unless it is spent before the round starts.

Use the BTD6 Rounds to Watch guide as the pre-round checklist.
Use the Bloon Counter when a leak looks confusing instead of rebuilding randomly.
Use the Map Strategy Planner when tower placement, line of sight, or range overlap is the weak point.
Do not wait until Round 90 to discover that the main damage cannot hit DDTs.

Black border planning

A normal CHIMPS clear proves the defense can beat the mode. A black border attempt asks for cleaner execution because leaving and resuming, retrying rounds, or depending on save recovery can affect the medal and border outcome. Treat black border attempts as separate from practice runs.

Practice with notes first, then start the real attempt only after the weak rounds have clear buys and ability timings. Write down the exact rounds where you need to use an ability, buy a support upgrade, or stop saving for the next tier.

Practice the map before treating the run as a black border attempt.
Record purchases and ability rounds when a plan barely survives.
If you need repeated retries to pass one round, the defense needs a larger margin.
Do not refresh a page date after a patch unless the key round and mode assumptions still hold.

Common CHIMPS mistakes

Most failed CHIMPS runs are not caused by one bad tower. They are caused by spending cash on upgrades that do not answer the next rule check, placing the main damage where it has too little track time, or saving too long for a late tower while the current defense is already failing.

A better review habit is to name the exact missing job after every loss. The next attempt should change that job only, then keep the rest of the plan stable enough to learn from it.

Saving for a Tier 5 while Round 63 or Round 78 cleanup is not solved.
Buying camo detection that does not cover the main damage tower.
Using a normal economy habit in a mode where income and selling are disabled.
Overbuilding early towers that do not contribute later.
Building late-game damage at the back of the track with too little attack time.

Sources checked

Reference notes

Primary and reference pages reviewed for factual checks while writing this guide.

FAQ

Common follow-up questions

What does CHIMPS stand for in BTD6?

CHIMPS stands for no Continues, no Hearts lost, no Income, no Monkey Knowledge, no Powers, and no Selling. In practice, that means the defense must survive with normal tower purchases only.

Can you use Banana Farms in CHIMPS?

No. CHIMPS disables bonus income, so Banana Farms and income-first strategies belong to other modes rather than CHIMPS planning.

What is the hardest part of CHIMPS for beginners?

The hardest part is usually spending discipline. Beginners often save too long, skip a required camo or lead overlap, or reach DDT rounds with strong MOAB damage that cannot actually hit DDT properties.

How do I practice for a black border?

Practice the CHIMPS clear first, note the exact weak rounds, then make a separate clean attempt without relying on leaving, resuming, or retrying rounds.