Splash Damage

Splash Damage is a mechanic applied to certain towers, units and consumables, allowing the tower to deal damage to enemies within the explosion radius. While some towers can inflict damage on multiple enemies, such as the Gladiator or the Archer, they are not considered Splash Damage Towers as they do not create an explosion. Prior to the MEGA Update and Frost Invasion Update, there were two entirely different systems of explosion damage. This is elaborated on detail below.

Present

Currently, these towers use the Splash Damage mechanic:

Starter
Paintballer	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic. Does not bypass defense and has no damage drop off.
Demoman	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Slime Trooper	Projectile-based, from Level 4 Damage is linked to the stated statistic. Does not bypass defense and has no damage drop off.
Intermediate
Rocketeer	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic. Has no damage drop off.
Trapper	Projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to tower statistic.
Ace Pilot	Non-projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Military Base	Projectile-based, cannon, from Level 4+ All forms of damage are independent from one another.
Advanced
Ranger	Non-projectile-based, from Level 4 Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Mortar	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Projectile-based, cluster bombs, from Level 4+ Regular damage is linked to the stated statistic; cluster bomb damage is not linked to the stated statistic.
Pursuit	Projectile-based, from Level 3+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Mercenary Base	Projectile-based, from Level 1+ All forms of damage are independent from one another.
Hardcore
Necromancer	Non-projectile-based, from Level 4 Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Engineer	Projectile-based, from Level 6 Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Exclusive
Commando	Projectile-based, from Level 3+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent Has no damage drop off.
Archer	Projectile-based, from Level 5 Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Swarmer	Projectile-based, stings all those in the splash radius and deals full damage regardless of enemy distance, ability only, from Level 3+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic. Has no damage drop off.
Elf Camp	Non-projectile-based, explosion on collision, from Level 2-3 Projectile-based, snowballs, from Level 4 Projectile-based, gift bombs, from Level 4 All forms of damage are independent from one another.
Jester	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Regular damage is linked to the stated statistic Has no damage drop off and does not ignore defense.
Hallow Punk	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic Has no damage drop off.
Snowballer	Projectile-based, from Level 3 Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Firework Technician	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic Has no damage drop off.
Biologist	Projectile-based, from Level 1+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic for the Ivy unit Has no damage drop off and does not ignore defense.
Mecha Base	Projectile-based, rocket launcher, from Level 1+ Non-projectile-based, explosion on collision, from Level 0+ All forms of damage are independent from one another.
War Machine	Projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Consumables
Grenade	Projectile-based Has no damage drop-off and does not bypass defense.
AirStrike	Projectile-based Has no damage drop-off and does not bypass defense.
Nuke	Projectile-based Has damage drop-off which starts from the center of the explosion and does not bypass defense.
Pumpkin Bomb	Projectile-based Has no damage drop-off and does not bypass defense.
Present Cluster Bomb	Projectile-based Has no damage drop-off and does not bypass defense.
Molten Monster	Projectile-based Damage is linked to the stated statistic Has no damage drop-off.
Ducky Squad	Explosion on collision from units Damage is linked to the stated statistic Has no damage drop-off.

In general, towers use their displayed damage statistic for their splash damage. Some towers, such as the Ace Pilot and Swarmer, use a splash damage statistic that is detached from their main damage. Each explosion has an explosive radius that inflicts damage on all enemies caught in it. There are two ways the damage is dealt. There are two main methods in which towers deal splash damage, first being creating an explosion with two spheres, one where damage is 100% of the stated damage and the second has damage decrease linearly, and the second has the damage always be 100% regardless of distance.

For the first method, the actual damage will vary based on which sphere of the explosion the enemy is in. Enemies in the inner sphere will be dealt 100% of the stated damage, while the damage in the outer sphere decreases linearly. The inner sphere takes up about 45% of the explosion, while the outer sphere takes up about 55% of the explosion. Examples of such towers include the Trapper, Mortar or War Machine.

For some towers, like the Commando, Hallow Punk or Paintballer, the damage is always the same, regardless of enemy distance from the center of the explosion.

For projectile-based sources, the epicenter of the explosion is where the tower was originally aimed at (the enemy it was initially targeting). Due to the delay in reaching that point, the enemy it was aiming at may have moved out of the way and may not have been dealt 100% splash damage. Some towers, such as the Rocketeer use path-based movement prediction, which helps these towers hit quick enemies or enemies that are far away from the tower more accurately. This, however, is not the case for other towers, such as the Ace Pilot or Pursuit.

Enemies that have defense (Fallen Giant, Elite Abnormal, etc.) will not reduce the damage of the explosion from most towers. However, this only applies to explosions which deal damage that bypasses defense. Generally, this happens when a tower's explosion creates orange Damage Indicators, as that most often displays the tower dealing explosion damage. Other than just removing their defense bypass, they also lose other perks such as lead detection if they do not have it set on the tower/unit/consumable itself or the different damage type selected does not come with lead detection by default.

Enemies that have the Splash Damage Immunity (Gold Titan, 24 Karat, etc.) cannot be damaged by towers which deal explosion damage. This means that, while the Rocketeer or Mortar are unable to damage them, something like the Paintballer can damage them despite their immunity.

Prior to the Frost Invasion Update

This part of the page describes the situation prior to the 8th of May 2021.

These towers used the Splash Damage mechanic:

Demoman	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Rocketeer	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Mortar	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Paintballer	Projectile-based, from Level 0+ Damage is linked to the stated statistic.
Commando	Projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Ace Pilot	Non-projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Swarmer	Projectile-based, stings all those in the splash radius, ability only, from Level 4+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic.
Military Base	Projectile-based, cannon, from Level 4+ Non-projectile-based, explosion on collision, from Level 4+ All forms of damage are independent from one another.
Pursuit	Projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.
Mecha Base	Projectile-based, rocket launcher, from Level 1+ Non-projectile-based, explosion on collision, from Level 0+ All forms of damage are independent from one another.
War Machine	Projectile-based, from Level 2+ Damage is not linked to the stated statistic, as splash damage is independent.

In general, towers used their displayed damage statistic for their splash damage. Some towers, such as the Ace Pilot and Swarmer, used a splash damage statistic that was detached from their main damage. Each explosion had an explosive radius that inflicted damage on all enemies caught in it. Actual damage would vary based on how far an enemy was away from the center of the explosion radius. For enemies in the epicenter of the explosion radius (where the projectile was intended to land), they would be dealt 100% of the stated damage. Damage dealt to enemies not in the epicenter of the explosion decreased linearly.

For example, taking a hypothetical tower that has an explosion radius of 6 and a damage of 10:

• Enemies where the projectile exactly lands will be dealt 100% of the stated damage.

  In this example, the damage dealt is 10.

• Enemies at distance of 25% away from the explosion center will be dealt 75% of the stated damage.

  In this example, 25% away is 1.5 studs away, and 75% of the damage will be 7.5, rounded down to 7.

• Enemies at distance of 50% away from the explosion center will be dealt 50% of the stated damage.

  In this example, 50% away is 3 studs away, and 50% of the damage will be 5.

• Enemies at distance 75% away from the explosion center will be dealt 25% of the stated damage.

  In this example, 75% away is 4.5 studs away, and 25% of the damage will be 2.5, rounded down to 2.

• Enemies not in the explosion radius will be dealt no damage.

For projectile-based sources, the epicenter of the explosion is where the tower was originally aiming (the enemy it was initially targeting). Due to the delay in reaching that point, the enemy it was aiming at may have moved out of the way and may not have been dealt 100% splash damage.

Enemies that are immune to splash damage (Ghost, Nuclear Fallen King, etc.) were not affected in any way by the splash damage tower, even if they were the ones that were directly attacked.

Prior to the MEGA Update

This part of the page describes the situation prior to the 13th of October 2019.

50% Rule

These towers followed the general rule for splash damage towers:

Demoman	Paintballer	Outlaw	Rocketeer

In the case of the Outlaw, it could only deal Splash Damage at Level 4 and Level 5. All other towers dealt splash damage from Level 0.

For these towers, the rule was that Splash Damage was half of the Direct Damage. Direct Damage was the damage listed for the tower and was only inflicted on the enemy that the tower was specifically targeting. For example, a tower with a quoted damage of 4 had a Direct Damage of 4. This damage was only dealt to the specific enemy that the tower had targeted. Since Splash Damage was half of that, the Splash Damage for this tower would be 2. This Splash Damage was applied to all enemies within the explosion radius, including the targeted enemy. This meant that the targeted enemy was dealt with 6 damage, while all other enemies in the explosion radius were dealt 2 damage.

Exceptions

These towers did not follow the general rule for splash damage towers:

Commando	Military Base

In these cases, Splash Damage was detached from the main damage. All enemies within the explosion radius are dealt the same damage, no matter if they were targeted or not.