Artillery is one of the four main tower types in Kingdom Rush, displaying the technological advances of Linirea's dwarven race. They launch large-caliber ordinances at the enemy, doing splash damage to all caught in the blast radius. In Kingdom Rush: Origins the artillery tower remains the same in terms of usage, but are referred to as Druids, which feature ancient beings throwing stones at enemies.
Tower Properties
Some characteristics shared by all Artillery towers are:
- Artillery Towers deal damage to a number of enemies at once
- Artillery Towers cannot directly attack flying units, with the exception of a few towers
- Artillery Towers are the slowest attacking towers, and the most expensive
Artillery towers only do physical damage, but they can still do major damage to armored troops . No need to fear when this tower is around: your enemies will soon rest in pieces.
There are five Artillery Towers in all Kingdom Rush games:
- Three non-specialized towers
- Two specialized towers
The three non-specialized towers differ in each game but have the same purpose. Each upgrades a stage further before offering a split choice between two new towers with additional upgrades to further boost the towers offensive and defensive capabilities.
Tower Summary
Kingdom Rush
| Towers (Level) | Damage | Fire Rate | Range | Build Cost | Specials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dwarven Bombard (Level 1) | 8-15 (9-17) | Very Slow | Average | 125g (112g) Flash: | None |
 | Dwarven Artillery (Level 2) | 20-40 (22-44) Flash: | Very Slow | Average | 220g (198g) | None |
 | Dwarven Howitzer (Level 3) | 30-60 (33-66) | Very Slow | Long | 320g (288g) | None |
 | 500mm Big Bertha (Level 4.a) | 50-100 (55-110) | Very Slow | Long | 400g (360g) | Dragonbreath Launcher Cluster Launcher |
 | Tesla x104 (Level 4.b) | 60-110 (66-121) Steam: | Very Slow | Average | 375g (337g) Flash: | Supercharged Bolt Overcharge |
- Damage and cost values in parentheses are due to Upgrades.
Armed with ludicrously-sized cannons, these dwarves are more than willing to launch their explosives at enemy hordes. They are the slowest and most expensive out of all the towers, so explosion-happy generals must plan carefully before putting themselves under the heavy money commitment.
At Level 4, the engineering prowess of the dwarves really comes into play. The 500mm Big Bertha siege weapon launches long-ranged rockets and other fancy ordinances at enemies, while the Tesla x104 harnesses the power of electricity to shock troops into submission.
Kingdom Rush: Frontiers
| Towers (Level) | Damage | Fire Rate | Range | Build Cost | Specials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dwarven Bombard (Level 1) | 8-15 (9-17) | Very Slow | Average | 125g | None |
 | Dwarven Artillery (Level 2) | 20-40 (22-44) | Very Slow | Average | 220g | None |
 | Dwarven Howitzer (Level 3) | 30-60 (33-66) | Very Slow | Long | 320g | None |
 | DWAARP (Level 4.a) | 25-45 (28-50) | Very Slow | Long | 400g | Core Drill Furnace Blast |
 | Battle-Mecha T200 (Level 4.b) | 25-55 (28-61) | Average | Short | 375g | Wasp Missiles Waste Disposal |
- Damage values in parentheses are due to Upgrades.
DWAARPs completely annihilate oncoming hordes of foes and burn them with Furnace Blast while the Battle-Mecha T200 blasts enemies into pieces with its mortar and targets enemies with its Wasp Missiles and slows enemies that get stuck in the garbage it produces.
Kingdom Rush: Origins
| Towers (Level) | Damage | Fire Rate | Range | Build Cost | Specials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Stone Circle (Level 1) | 7-12
(8-14) | Very Slow | Short | 125g | None |
 | Boulder Circle (Level 2) | 18-30
(20-33) | Very Slow | Average | 220g | None |
 | Menhir Circle (Level 3) | 30-50
(33-55) | Very Slow | Long | 320g | None |
 | Arch-Druid Henge (Level 4.a) | 30-50
(33-55) | Slow | Long | 375g | Sylvan Curse Runed Bears |
 | Weirdwood (Level 4.b) | 62-106
(69-117) | Very Slow | Great | 400g | Fiery Nut Clobber |
- Damage values in parentheses are due to Upgrades.
The Arch-Druid Henge blast enemies to pieces with fast shooting rocks of doom while keeping them in place with Runed Bears and applying horde-destroying curses. Weirdwoods, the wrath of the forest, throw the biggest nuts known to man and even ones that have caught on fire while stunning and damaging the groups around it with its big hands.
Tower Tactics
General Tips
- Artillery Towers are most suitable for dealing with overwhelming groups of low-to-medium health ground-based enemies (The Tesla x104 is an exception: its strength lies more in damage and not so much 'overwhelming' amounts). Artillery is less effective against enemies with sheer high health (Swamp Things, Pillagers, Saurian Brutes) and are absolutely powerless to Bloodshells.
- In original Kingdom Rush, a way to approach levels is to blitz Artillery and Barracks. The idea is for Artillery to make short work of enemies while Barracks hold them in one place. This means that you can focus few and strong towers in one area, especially good if you purchase the Field Logistics and Industrialization upgrades for artillery. Specializing tower types means you can purchase upgrades in fewer paths and make the most of your stars and money. However, Flying enemies are a major flaw, where Teslas are unlocked very late in the game and even then are insufficient against Rocket Riders and Imps . The Javelin Throw Upgrade and Barbarians are the only way to compensate while practicing this strategy.
- Artillery works best when enemies are grouped. Rally Barracks and Reinforcements in one place and place Towers in intersections to ensure effectiveness.
Advantages
- Artillery ignores 1/2 of the enemies' armor. For example, if an enemy has 50% armor, it will be treated as 25% when targeted by artillery. But the player should keep in mind that physical damage immunity still has its full effect.
- Artilleries can damage more than one enemy at a time, but it must be close to the enemy that the artillery is planning to target at. It is very useful to kill weak enemies such as goblins.
- Unlike other towers, artillery will deal its high damage when the enemy is targeted at the center of the bomb. To make this happen more often, place soldiers to block them so that the artillery has no trouble targeting them at its highest damage.
Disadvantages
- Artillery is the most expensive tower type. In Kingdom Rush, there is a reduction to the cost of artillery, but it is still pretty expensive, when compared to other towers at least.
- Artillery cannot target flying enemies like Gargoyles. The main point of artillery is to blast off enemies from the bottom, not blast off enemies flying. However, if there is any enemy below a flying enemy and the artillery is about to target that enemy, then the flying enemy will take damage as well. The only exception to this is the Tesla x104. Its bolt of electricity can arc from a ground enemy to a flying enemy and vice versa.
- Artillery has the longest reload time of all towers. Exceptions to this are the Battle-Mecha T200 and the Arch-Druid Henge
- Artillery isn't good at targeting fast enemies like wulf, worg, etc. To prevent this, place Reinforcements in front of these enemies and the artillery will have no problem targeting the enemies without missing them.
- Even though artillery ignores 1/2 of armor, it still does fairly low damage against enemies with high and great armor like the Dark Slayer and Raider. On the other hand, in Kingdom Rush: Origins, artillery has an Upgrade that makes it completely ignore any physical armor, even physical damage immunity.
Related Upgrades
Kingdom Rush
Concentrated Fire (1 Star): Increases artillery attack damage.
- Range Finder (1 Star): Increases artillery attack range.
- Field Logistic (3 Stars): Artillery construction and upgrading costs are reduced by 10%.
- Industrialization (3 Stars): Artillery special abilities costs are reduced by 25%.
- Smart Targeting (3 Stars): Artillery suffers no reduction of splash and chain lightning damage.
Kingdom Rush: Frontiers
- Smoothbore (1 Star): Increases artillery attack range.
- Alchemical Powder (1 Star): Artillery has a chance of dealing maximum damage with no splash reduction.
- Improved Ordnance (2 Stars): Increases artillery attack damage.
- Gnomish Tinkering (3 Stars): Reduces artilleries' special abilities reload times.
- Shock and Awe (3 Stars): Artillery towers have a chance of stunning their targets on every attack.
Kingdom Rush: Origins
- Hardened Boulders (1 star): Increases Druid attack damage.
- Sharp Splinters (1 star): Increases boulder explosion area.
- Earth Mastery (2 stars): Increases Druid attack range.
- Heavy Load (3 stars): Boulder explosions ignore physical armor
- Shocking Impact (3 stars): Boulder explosions slow enemies for a short time.
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Rotten Forest (Tower) -
Melting Furnace -
Goblin War Zeppelin -
Rocket Riders -
Battle-Mecha T200 -
Weirdwood -
Tesla x104 -
Arch-Druid Henge
All items (16)
