Understanding Towers in Tap Defense

The towers in Tap Defense are each unique in their own right both because of their numerical differences in the basic tower elements and their own unique characteristics. All towers cost the enemies a certain number of damage points, each have a certain rate at which they shoot their ammunition, each has its own price, and all of them have a range at which they can hit a target. Each tower type has its own relative numbers for each category. To give this a little context you can easily look at the opening three tower types. Arrows cost the least at twelve gold, but their damage is only at an eight and it has no “splash”. Bomb is the most expensive of the three at 25 gold, but has a damage of 12 and a large splash rating. This splash rating can be important when it comes to enemies that are grouped tightly together. Water has the same high price as the bomb tower, but has a much lower damage rate. It makes up for this by having a slowing mechanism. Though it may seem that bomb is by its very nature superior, it should be noted that its firing range is less than that of the arrow.

With this you can then understand that each tower, though it may not be equal in your specific strategy, holds its own value in coordination with its gold cost. Magic towers have a high hit point ratio and can hit targets at a far distance. Ice tower can stop many enemies completely in their tracks, and storm towers can take a quarter of a targets life in each individual shot.

All of these factors need to be thought about in the context and particularities of each individual enemy. Many enemies are resistant to certain types of tower, or more vulnerable to them. For example, the Devil, which shows up on certain levels and ends up awarding you halos depending on performance, is resistant to arrows but also very much slowed down by water. Since you will not lose if the Devil makes his way to the other side on these levels, you may not want to over build water towers in preparation for his arrival. Ice and storm towers are often resisted by many enemies, especially ones with a quick moving ratio.

The most interesting tower, and least used, is the earthquake tower. The tower actually lets you shake your iPod to control the playing field. The “earthquake” will then damage select enemies. This tower is at the very end of your research and costs 500 gold right from the beginning without any sort of upgrade. The use of this simply depends on the strategy you have crafted for your game.