Tower Defense Tips: Tower Placement, Upgrades and Waves
Updated
The main tower defense tips: build where the enemy path bends so each tower covers more of it, upgrade a few well-placed towers instead of spreading coins over many weak ones, mix damage types so no kind of enemy walks through, and do your building before the wave starts. Below is how placement, upgrades and waves work, with games from the strategy games collection.
How tower defense works
Wikipedia's article on tower defense describes the genre as defending a base by placing defensive structures on or along the enemies' path. Its basic parts are a base, waves of enemies, and towers that attack on their own, plus upgrades and a currency to pay for them.
There are two layouts. In many games the path is fixed and you build beside it. In others you build the path yourself out of towers or walls, and the article calls the classic tactic "mazing": making a long, winding route so the enemies walk past your towers for longer.
| Game | Where you build | How a wave starts or ends |
|---|---|---|
| Tower Defense | Free spots; towers attack anything that comes near | Survive all the waves |
| Royal Defense | Empty build spots: archer, magic, artillery or barracks | Hold the road against each wave |
| Christmas Defense | Snowy areas beside the path | You press the start wave button |
| Spider Defense | Soldiers on the clear path areas; spiders walk the grass | Start wave button; 30 villagers lost ends the game |
| Defense Designer | Towers and walls around your castle | Waves get harder |
| Defense Base 2 | Weapon slots on your base | Endless waves |
Placement: where towers do the most
- Cover the bends. A tower beside a corner reaches the path on two sides, so it fires for longer per enemy.
- Put the first towers where they see the longest stretch of path, not at the very end next to your base.
- Slow the enemies in front of your damage. Zombie Defense: Last Stand builds its kill zones from slows, splash damage and high damage combos.
- Check range before you build. In Defense Base 2 the top slots reach farther, melee weapons hit hard up close, and special weapons pierce armor or deal damage over time.
- Build the maze where you can. Defense Designer lets you construct walls as well as towers, which is what mazing needs.
- Move what is not working. Shape Defense places with the left mouse button and removes with the right one.
Upgrade or build new?
Every tower defense game asks this, and the answer changes during a level.
- Early on, build enough to cover the whole path. One strong tower cannot stop what it never sees.
- Then upgrade the towers in the strongest spots. A tower at a bend that is already firing all the time gains the most from extra damage.
- Tower Defense gives the same order in its own instructions: build on the free spots, combine towers and elements, then use spells and upgrade towers to the maximum when you still feel pressured.
- Royal Defense lets you earn gold and upgrade during the fight, and victories bring new levels, stars and upgrades for tougher fights.
- Defense Base 2 lets you select a weapon slot to upgrade or repair it, with coins earned in battle.
- Cursed Treasure 1.5 mixes building and upgrading towers with spells and skills, to stop heroes stealing your gems.
- Fortress Defense upgrades its archers and castle in the shop with the gold from each mission, over 100 levels, with frozen, poison and lightning bonuses.
Merge tower defense
Merge games replace the upgrade button with merging: two identical towers become one stronger tower.
- Merge Tower Defense merges with a double right-click on a computer or a double tap on a phone, or you drag a tower onto an identical one. Skills such as flamethrowers, mines and airstrikes help.
- Hero Merge merges heroes into stronger units that you position on a grid to defend your wall, with unlimited waves.
Merge only when you have space to rebuild. Two towers merged into one leave a gap until the next one arrives. More on merging is in what are merge games.
Reading the waves
Wikipedia notes that each wave usually has a set number and type of enemies, and that some games add air units that ignore the path and fly straight to the end. The waves are the test of your layout.
- In Christmas Defense and Spider Defense nothing moves until you press the start wave button, so finish building first.
- Zombie Defense: Last Stand makes the zombies smarter, tougher and faster every round, with brute tanks, sprinting runners and armored enemies, and asks you to combine damage types and adapt your layout.
- Zombie Parade Defense 2 makes every wave stronger, gives you weapons, turret towers, mines and shields, and counts a win at 10 waves survived. Up to three players can defend together.
- Idle Defense Grid has towers that attack on their own while you earn resources over time, on a small grid where space is tight.
Watch the first wave of any new enemy type closely. If fast runners slip past, add a slow; if armored ones soak up damage, add something that pierces armor, like the special weapons in Defense Base 2. Keep a spell back for the moment something breaks through: Royal Defense and Tower Defense both have spells for that.
Common mistakes
- Building towers at the end of the path, right next to the base.
- Spreading coins over many level-one towers and upgrading none.
- Using one damage type against every enemy.
- Starting the next wave before the building is done.
- Spending every spell early and having none when a boss arrives.
Tower defense FAQ
Where should you place towers in tower defense?
Beside the bends of the path and where a tower sees the longest stretch of it. Put slows in front of your strongest damage so enemies stay in range longer.
Is it better to upgrade or build more towers?
Build enough to cover the whole path first, then upgrade the towers in the strongest spots. When enemies still leak through, games like Tower Defense tell you to upgrade to the maximum and use spells.
What is mazing in tower defense?
Building your towers or walls so the enemies have to walk a long, winding route past them. It works in games that let you shape the path, such as Defense Designer with its walls.
Can you play tower defense on a phone?
Yes. Royal Defense places towers with a tap on an empty build spot, Defense Base 2 uses touch on mobile, and Merge Tower Defense merges with a double tap. The site works in the browser of a phone, a tablet and a computer.
More towers, armies and base building are in the strategy games collection, and zombie sieges are in zombie games.
