Bloons TD 6 – Etienne, and How YOU Can Use Him Well!

Who IS Etienne, Anyhow?

 
 
"Ready to fly!" 
 

Basic Info: For the Newcomers

Introduced in version 20, Etienne is a French hero tower who primarily uses drones and drone-based tech to help defeat the bloons, even gaining an unmanned missile plane once his level is high enough. (Why are the bloons attacking Monkeyopolis, anyhow?) 
 
He can be bought from the Heroes store, once unlocked, for a one-off payment of $5000 Monkey Money (about two skins for Quincy, Gwendolyn, Obyn, or Striker B o n e), making him the most expensive her to unlock thus far. He also had no Hero Skins at the time of writing [January 2021], but this may change in the future. 
 

Basic Leveling Path

Etienne starts off only able to pilot one drone, though able to summon 4 of them at Level 3 (, which he can start off with given the right ‘knowledge’). He gains Camo Detection at Level 5 and extra non-ability drone at Level 7, and doesn’t seem to gain much else until Level 10, where he can summon a UCAV. After a third drone at Level 11, the only real huge upgrade he gets is at Level 16, where he gets a BIG upgrade to damage and range. At that point, the last two big upgrades for him is his Level 19 4th drone, and his Max Level perma-UCAV. 
 
This is a very simplified version of how he works and upgrades, and what you’re about to read below is why I use him in almost every game I play, save for the ones I can’t use him in. 
 
 
 

The Frenchmonkey’s True Potential

"C’est beau!" 
 

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

 
What you see to your right is one of Etienne’s most important abilites: A plane-like surveilance drone that can reveal Camo Bloons to every tower on the map, making removing camo and spending more in-game currency for an upgrade specifically designed for camo completely redundant. This works for every tower that other players in Co-op mode place too, including other heroes. This property alone makes fighting against DDTS a LOT less painful, as one of it’s most sucky properties, that it can only be detected by certain towers or a X-2-X monkey village that it can easily speed past, can easily be circumvented. Later levels give it the ability to spew missiles at bloons for a short while whilst keeping this property, cumulating in being a permanent (for as long as you have Etienne around as) part of your defense. 
 

Other Useful-ties

• Etienne’s drone(s), even at Lvl. 1, can completely ignore cover, especially useful at Lvl. 16 
• Etienne’s Drone Swarm, one past Lvl. 5, is able to get past most of the pre-60 camo waves, only needing a Drone Swarm at most 
• The UCAV, even just at Lvl. 10, is quite good at handling ceramic rushes, especially 63, 76, and 78 
• A lethality-boosted perma-UCAV can help pop DDTs, and mostly chews MOAB-classes for breakfast 
• Maybe more here!

Early Game [Round 1/3/6 – 40]

"Systems…check!" 
 

• Place Etienne down first, or as one if your first 3-5 towers if you’re playing on CHIMPS, as that will allow him more time to level his way into Lvl. 8 
• Etienne can pop purples, but not leads, pairing him up with a fire/explosive tower (fire preferred, it will help later down the line if you do) is ideal. 
• Placing down a Ninja Monkey would be rather inadvisiable, especially in CHIMPS. Instead, try to make sure the tower that’s carrying Etienne can handle whites/blacks, and then boosting him enough for the UAV. 
• If you have to sacrifice a considerable amount of your income for the UAV, don’t feel too bad about doing so, not having it when you REALLY need it could cost you an entire game. 
• Pre-UAV Etienne’s Drone Swarm can deal with Round 37’s White Camo rush, the inner ceramic rush of the first MOAB, and in theory could last you up until Round 59, where Camo Leads first appear.

 
laconic version: get him quickly, and get him to level 8 sooner rather than later 
 
 
 

Mid-Game [Round 41 – 80]

"Swarm deployed!" 
 

• If you don’t have the UAV, get it NOW. 
• The UCAV isn’t as important, but will save you time and sanity when you get it. 
• Although Etienne can weaken the mid-game ceramic rushes, be it Round 63, 76, or 78, he won’t be enough to pop them entirely. 
• You don’t need to prioritize Boosting Etienne, use your money to get more towers capable of popping Leads and Blacks. The Destroyer/Aircraft Carrier, Ultra-Juggernaut, Sun Avatar, and/or the Bloon Liquifier and good places to start. 
• Don’t be afraid to unleash a UCAV on the first ZOMG you see, it’ll recharge soon enough for you to be able to do it again.

 
laconic version: take advantage of the uav/ucav 
 
 
 

Late/Ultra-Late Game [Round 80/100+]

Pre-BAD Late Game

"DDT! DDT!" 
 

• Invest in Icicle Impale, this will help with rounds 90-99. 
• Don’t spend too much on crowd control, it won’t help you much against the BAD. 
• Remember what I said about investing in towers that specialize in leads and blacks without caring much about paths that give Camo Detection? DDTs have to be popped mostly by what Purples are immune to, and the UAV/UCAV allows a lot more towers ti either slow ’em down, and/or meet this requirement. 
• Getting the perma-UCAV is a good idea, as it not only helps deal with the lower MOAB-classes, but also help deal with the DDTs when lethality-boosted. 
• Divide and Conquer might be a better idea for aiming once Etienne reaches Lvl. 19, depending on the map you’re playing.

Post-BAD Late Game

"That’s some serious damage!" 
 

• Sun Temples and True Sun Gods do not sacrifice Etienne, so they can keep their long range AND camo detection, the latter courtesty of, well… 
• Plasma Anti-Bloons also greatly benefit from the map-wide Camo detection.

Other Etienne-Related Information

Special Game Modes

"Weapons hot!" 
 

• Deflation: If you have the knowledge for it, swallow your pride and use Monkey Money to boost Etienne to Lvl. 10. 
• Primary/Military/Magic Only: Having a Lvl. 8+ Etienne means having a free map-wide Radar Scanner, something you normally can’t get in any of these game modes. 
• Apopalype: Boosting Etienne more agressively (until he reaches Lvl. 8) might be a better idea than letting him level up normally, since more Camo Bloons appear more often. 
• Alternate Bloons Rounds: if you have to use Cash Drops/Road Spikes to tide you over until Etienne gets the UAV, then use them. It might be a good idea to aggressively boost Etienne until then as well.

""Cooperative"" Mode

"You want me to do this or not?" 
 
Co-op mode… isn’t exactly well-known for competent partners, and bringing Etienne into the battlefield won’t exactly help things. So, in an effort to desperately get people to stop wasting their in-game currency on terrible towers, here’s some things to know when you’re either using Etienne, or have someone using him as one of your partners: 
 

• RADAR SCANNERS ARE COMPLETELY REDUNDANT WHEN ETIENNE REACHES LEVEL 8, SO YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY ONE. 
• Long-Range Triple Shot not only garbage, but pointless garbage too. Why would you buy that!? 
• Unless you’re going for Hydra Rocket Pods, Darlings do NOT need the middle path when Etienne is around. 
• Same goes for the Cash Drop ability for the Sniper Monkey. 
• And the Merchantman upgrade for the Buccaneer. 
• Submerge and Support is a bad idea when the whole map gets built-in camo detection. 
• You don’t need to buy that Ninja Monkey, unless it’s a really early-game thing that you plan on selling later. 
• Stop buying Triple Shot. 
• Seriously, stop. Buying. Triple Shot. 
• No really, why would you buy Triple Shot!? The Crossbow’s a much better investment, even if it’s camo detection is rendered somewhat redundant mid-game!

Adieu, mon ami!

 
If you liked this guide, consider thumbing it up, placing it in your favorites, or even sending an award my way so that way I can make more (and even better) guides, maybe even for many other games too! 
 
This guide might also get updated, changed, skimmed, and generally rendered "not the same as when I last left it" as Bloons Tower Defense 6 updates, or when there’s a property of Etienne that could be useful in our ever-increasing battle against the Bloons that I feel needs to be updated to reflect such. 
 
And remember, "Etienne is the best tower hero in the game" is "Etienne est la meilleure tour de héros du jeu" in French! 
 

I hope you enjoy the Guide we share about Bloons TD 6 – Etienne, and How YOU Can Use Him Well!; if you think we forget to add or we should add more information, please let us know via commenting below! See you soon!