Crosspathing/Banana Farm (2024)

In Bloons TD 6, it is important to choose the best crosspathing for a specific tower in order to receive the best benefits out of that tower type. Towers have special roles to play for each stage of the game. The Banana Farm in its core is to provide additional income, allowing the player to afford the more expensive upgrades or afford upgrades sooner.

Introduction[]

The core of the Banana Farm is to make money. It is completely one-dimensional in its underlying goal; invest, look after the income business, and profit. When it comes to crosspathing, the best Farm is usually the one that provides the greatest income per round, but occasionally the extra conveniences via the Path 3 upgrades pack convenience for the player. The player may not necessarily have enough time and energy to look after farming fully, so sometimes Path 3 upgrades can end up being more profitable overall.

Upgrades[]

Tier 2 and below[]

Base Tower and Tier 1 Crosspaths[]

• 0-0-0: Base Banana Farm is a cheap income generator that produces 4 bananas per round. Should be bought as early as possible to make the most of profiting during the earlier rounds.
• 1-0-0: Increased Production improves income by increasing bananas from 4 to 6 per round. Increases efficiency of the Banana Farm, and useful in the early rounds too because of this.
• 0-1-0: Long Life Bananas increases lifespan of each banana, allowing the bananas to last longer on the map before expiring. Usually a stepping stone to a 0-3-0 Monkey Bank, or sometimes to make it less of a frustration to pick up bananas so quickly. It is merely a convenience option.
• 0-0-1: EZ Collect is a convenience option that makes it easier to do simpler controls to pick up bananas or utilize a small amount of income compensation for expired bananas. Usually a stepping stone to 0-0-3 Marketplace.
• 1-1-0: Increased Production with the benefits of longer lifespan of bananas. Not usually a cost-efficient option unless also utilizing the increased lifespan that Long Life Bananas provides.
• 1-0-1: Increased Production with the benefits of EZ Collect's compensatory collection and easy pickup. It is generally seen as a conveniency crosspath in combination with Increased Production.
• 0-1-1: Increased banana lifespan with the benefits of EZ Collect's compensatory collection and easy pickup. It is a rather cheap convenience crosspathing choice at the cost of an inefficient income production.

Tier 2 Crosspaths[]

• 2-0-0: Increased Production further improves income by increasing from 6 to 8 bananas per round. Usually more cost-efficient to get a 2-0-0 than to wait for another 0-0-0 Farm, as the extra few bananas that a 2-0-0 may produce may outspeed the rate of producing natural income from pops.
• 0-2-0: Usually a stepping stone to a 0-3-0 Monkey Bank. Not as cost-efficient compared to 0-0-0 Farms, even though it makes more money per round.
• 0-0-2: Gives +10% sellback for this Farm, which can save money when wanting to sell it later. This is in addition to a bigger compensatory autocollection and prior EZ Collect benefits. Usually a stepping stone to 0-0-3 Marketplace, or sometimes to make it easier to do guarantee a generation of income if the player ends up idle. Besides the strategical use of the bonus sellback, it is merely a convenience option.
• 2-1-0: Greater Production with the benefit of longer lifespan of bananas. It focuses on utilizing the increased lifespan that Long Life Bananas provides in combination with Greater Production.
• 2-0-1: Combines many bananas with the benefits of EZ Collect's compensatory autocollection and easy pickup.
• 1-2-0: Increased Production with increased banana value. It can be used to slightly increase income generation for the short-term, although quite cost-inefficient. Less efficient than 2-2-0 but more efficient than 0-2-0.
• 1-0-2: Gives +10% sellback for this Farm, and hybridizes with the production rate of 1-0-0, saving more money when sold compared to not buying Banana Salvage. Aside from that benefit, it serves Banana Salvage's improved income compensation.
• 2-2-0: Greater Production with increased banana value. It can be used to slightly increase income generation for the short-term, although quite cost-inefficient but more efficient than 1-2-0.
• 2-0-2: Gives +10% sellback for this Farm, and hybridizes with the production rate of 2-0-0, saving more money when sold compared to not buying Banana Salvage. Aside from that benefit, it serves Banana Salvage's improved income compensation.
• 0-2-1: Combines increased banana value with the benefits of EZ Collect's compensatory autocollection and easy pickup.
• 0-1-2: Combines increased banana lifespan with the benefits of Banana Salvage's extra sellback and compensatory autocollection. It maximizes the convenient side of Banana Farm but at the cost of inefficient spending.
• 0-2-2: Combines increased banana value with the benefits of Banana Salvage's extra sellback and compensatory autocollection. It is typically seen as a transition into 0-2-3 Marketplace or 0-3-2 Bank more than an actually viable income-generating crosspath.

Upper Path 1[]

Banana Plantation[]

• 3-0-0: Doubles the banana production from 8 to 16 bananas. Less cost-efficient than multiple 0-0-0 Farms but more space-efficient. Less cost-efficient compared to a 0-0-3 Marketplace.
• 3-1-0: Basically packs the power of four 0-1-0 Long Life Bananas Farms together into one Farm. Adding just this upgrade is merely a convenience option.
• 3-2-0: Produces more income per round, and is the only way to do so for this Farm.
• 3-0-1: Unless using a Banana Farmer to let it reach the bananas from further, it is not very useful overall unless wanting a clutch for uncollected income. This crosspath locks out getting 3-2-0 for the extra income.
• 3-0-2: Higher sellback is useful, but this is still worse than Marketplace, which comes with increased income crosspaths and still sells for a similar amount.

Banana Research Facility[]

• 4-0-0: Instead of bananas, Banana Research Facility produces 5 crates worth $300 each. Less cost-efficient without crosspathing, but 4-2-0 is far more cost-efficient than multiple 3-2-0 Farms excluding discounts. Buy the Path 2 crosspath for greater cost-efficiency.
• 4-1-0: Crates last longer, but since less of them are produced its cash items will not need to be collected as often. Adding just this upgrade is merely a convenience option.
• 4-2-0: It is far more important for this Farm because of how much income Banana Research Facility produces each round. Produces a lot more income per round, and is the only way to do so for this Farm.
• 4-0-1: Unless using a Banana Farmer to let it reach the bananas from further, it is not very useful overall unless wanting a clutch for uncollected income. This crosspath locks out getting 4-2-0 for the extra income.
• 4-0-2: While 4-0-2 misses out on extra income, unlike 4-2-0, 4-0-2 has a higher sellback, which can sometimes be useful if feeling that income production within a short period is too risky.

Banana Central[]

• 5-0-0: Banana Central produces much more valuable crates in addition to buffing all Banana Research Facilities on screen. The buff is not affected by crosspathing, but the Banana Central's own income generation is. Treat Banana Central as you would for a Banana Research Facility.
• 5-1-0: Crates last longer, but since less of them are produced its cash items will not need to be collected as often. Adding just this upgrade is merely a convenience option.
• 5-2-0: It is far more important for this Farm because of how much income Banana Central produces each round, even more than Banana Research Facility. Produces a lot more income per round, and is the only way to do so for this Farm.
• 5-0-1: Unless using a Banana Farmer to let it reach the bananas from further, it is not very useful overall unless wanting a clutch for uncollected income. This crosspath locks out getting 5-2-0 for the extra income.
• 5-0-2: As 5-2-0 already has the highest collectable income per unit, and only one 5-2-0 can be bought per player, so it should not be too hard to simply lock a pointer/cursor at a 5-2-0 to collect its income, which outclasses 5-0-2's benefits. In addition, since a Banana Central itself produces huge amounts of income per round, a reasonably large income flow would rush anyway, which makes the higher sellback redundant.

Upper Path 2[]

Monkey Bank[]

• 0-3-0: Monkey Bank takes its income and stores it into its bank account. The money stored there be increased by a flat 15% interest (or more with Benjamin's Level 5+ or 9+) per round. When it comes to crosspathing, Monkey Bank prefers crosspathing on a basis of use cases. The progression of opting for a Monkey Bank crosspath depends on circ*mstances, and usually is started from a 2-3-0 from a 2-2-0 Farm and several 2-0-0 Farms for maximum income potential. 0-3-0 alone may be useful if getting close to purchasing IMF Loan.
• 1-3-0: Normally a stepping stone to 2-3-0. Can sometimes be manipulated to produce slightly extra cash, for purely challenge purposes.
• 2-3-0: Generally better crosspath for pure generated income. The more automatic depositing via each pocket of cash, the more potential for exponential growth of income.
• 0-3-1: This crosspath can be used to manually remind players to pick up income of Banks. It is purely a visual aid. Notably, a 0-3-1 Bank can be used among 2-4-0 IMF Loans to automatically remind the player to pick up 2-4-0 IMF Loans, as both produce max capacity at roughly the same round.
• 0-3-2: User-friendly automation can come in handy for efficient withdrawal of deposited income. The loss of income compared to 2-3-0 is small, but it does miss out on pure income efficiency outside of automated assistance. As a small bonus, the higher sellback makes it easier to sell it off for better defense or income sources whenever necessary.

IMF Loan[]

• 0-4-0: IMF Loan increases its own bank account capacity and gives an ability that grants an instant $9,000 ($10,000 with Backroom Deals) at the cost of creating in-game debt. Debt is not detrimental, as it is just a pure 50% income penalty. In addition, Bank Deposits is available to the IMF Loan, which is useful for depositing cash and accruing interest before cashing out the deposit. Crosspathing for IMF Loan is more about utilizing the Bank's potential for interest exponentiality, although even non-crosspathed Banks are more efficient than a single crosspathed IMF Loan without taking advantage of bank deposits. Besides the ability, which remains unaffected by crosspathing, IMF Loan is basically the same as a Monkey Bank but with more bank capacity. Typically, when building up to a fresh IMF loan, it is better to leave it without crosspaths to save the money for more deposits.
• 1-4-0: See 2-4-0
• 2-4-0: Generally better crosspath for pure generated income. More income per round to snowball the income generation further is better, and even more so for IMF Loan. Multiple 2-3-0 Banks are still more cost-efficient than a single 2-4-0 IMF Loan in terms of the bank functionality without using Bank Deposits, so it is typically better to leave IMFs with no crosspath.
• 0-4-1: This crosspath can be used to manually remind players to pick up income of Banks. It's purely a visual aid. Unlike 0-3-1, this crosspath in itself doesn't have a special strategical benefit, and merely is only viable as a visual aid for reminding the player to withdraw multiple IMF Loans.
• 0-4-2: Generally better crosspath for pure Bank Deposits, as the user-friendly automation can come in handy for efficient withdrawal of deposited income. Each maximum deposit per transaction is pretty high, however, meaning it is pretty difficult to split deposits among different IMF Loan Banks. As a small bonus, the higher sellback makes it easier to sell it off for better defense or income sources whenever necessary. This crosspath is typically purchased by ranked boss players when they are about to sell all their IMF Loans for defeating the boss quickly, after using the final IMF abilities on r39 (or even r40!

Monkey-Nomics[]

• 0-5-0: The Monkey-Nomics upgrade changes the IMF Loan ability into a new ability that allows it to give an instant $10,000 (or $12,000 with "Backroom Deals") without a loan upon activation, with a shorter cooldown. Statistically, Monkey-Nomics is otherwise the same as an IMF Loan.
• 1-5-0: Same principles as 1-4-0
• 2-5-0: Same principles as 2-4-0
• 0-5-1: Same principles as 0-4-1
• 0-5-2: Unlike 0-4-2, there may be some uses out of 0-4-2 other than just Bank Deposit income collection convenience. If needing to buy-and-resell a Monkey-Nomics for the ability, this crosspath offers a cheap way to gain more sellback to refresh a Monkey-Nomics that has run out of uses. While less viable with various nerfs to income-generation abilities in general, the option is still there.

Upper Path 3[]

Marketplace[]

• 0-0-3: Marketplaces produce large amounts of income that do not need to be manually collected by the player. Normally, a crosspathed Marketplace is better off to start after early-game farming with 1-0-0 and 2-0-0 Farms, but if spamming Marketplaces across the map with loads of money then it's a good idea to start with 0-0-3 first and upgrade to 2-0-3 or 0-2-3 as soon as possible. 0-0-3 is also viable for purely gaining the extra lives via "Healthy Bananas" MK.
• 1-0-3: Produces more bananas per round. Often a stepping stone to 2-0-3 once a Marketplace is established.
• 2-0-3: As it produces maximum number of bananas per round, it is generally seen as the best crosspath in a practical situation, due to easily transitioning from 2-0-0 Farm into a Marketplace.
• 0-1-3: Completely useless because bananas are automatically picked up anyway. Functions the same as a 0-0-3 Marketplace except locked at Path 2. Normally only a stepping stone to 0-2-3. In most time-sensitive situations, it's better off going to 1-0-3 and then 2-0-3.
• 0-2-3: Has the same cost and cost-efficiency as 2-0-3 without the "More Valuable Bananas" MK, but has a very slight income-per-round edge with said MK. Start off with an effective early-game Farm setup and then spam 0-2-3 Farms.

Central Market[]

• 0-0-4: Just like Marketplaces, Central Markets produce automatic income, albeit much higher value, and therefore do not need player interaction to collect its income. Again, crosspathing is much desired for Central Market in order to give it the most income possible. But since Central Market also comes with the +10% Merchantmen income buff, it may be useful to go quickly to 0-0-4 to quickly profit with the masses of Merchantmen currently on screen, just before the round ends.
• 1-0-4: Produces more bananas per round. Often a stepping stone to 2-0-4.
• 2-0-4: As it produces maximum number of bananas per round, it is generally seen as the best crosspath in a practical situation, due to easily transitioning from typical Marketplace strategies.
• 0-1-4: Completely useless because bananas are automatically picked up anyway. Functions the same as a 0-0-4 Central Market except locked at Path 2. Normally only a stepping stone to 0-2-4. In most time-sensitive situations, it's better off going to 1-0-3 and then 2-0-3.
• 0-2-4: Has the same cost and cost-efficiency as 2-0-4 without the "More Valuable Bananas" MK, but has a very slight income-per-round edge with said MK. Start off with an effective early-game Farm setup and then spam 0-2-4 Farms.

Monkey Wall Street[]

• 0-0-5: Aside from its +$4000 bonus end-of-round income and +10 bonus lives at the end of each round, it is just a Central Market by all other means. As with Central Market, crosspathing still matters for the maximum income. However, the end-of-round cash is not at all affected by crosspathing. That being said, unlocking its crosspaths are too cheap not to opt for any crosspath. Also, since Monkey Wall Street's range does not change with crosspaths, its autocollection (like a Banana Farmer) is unaffected by crosspaths.
• 1-0-5: Same principles of 1-0-4
• 2-0-5: Same principles of 2-0-4
• 0-1-5: Same principles of 0-1-4
• 0-2-5: Same principles of 0-2-4

Strategy[]

Crosspathing for this tower is simple: Unless needing path 3 conveniences, choose whatever makes the most amount of money per round for each upgrade. This is because the Banana Farm doesn't do anything else and thus crosspathing should focus on optimizing the only thing it does.