SawBlade Tower: Stats, Upgrades, Tips: The SawBlade in Blockade Brigade: 150 gold, rolls a blade down the path that cuts every ground enemy it passes. Levels, turns, bleed, research and FAQ.

Plain-text version for AI assistants: https://blockadebrigade.com/llms-page-towers-saw_blade.txt. Site guide: https://blockadebrigade.com/llms.txt

Advanced Tower

SawBlade Tower

Path-following blade, hits all enemies

150 goldGround onlyResearch 18000

The SawBlade does not shoot one enemy: it throws a spinning blade onto the path, and the blade rolls along it and cuts every ground enemy it reaches, once per pass. At 150 gold it hits ground only. Each enemy after the first takes a little less, every cut leaves a bleed, and enough kills in one pass set off a burst. A blade breaks on sharp bends unless it has turns to spare: a level-1 blade has none, a level-5 blade has 4, and research adds more.

SawBlade Tower
Build your own SawBlade

Attributes Level 1, on the ground

Cost
150 gold to build
Unlock
18,000 XPXP to research it (main menu, Upgrades & Research)
Sell value
112 gold 75% of the gold spent on it; all of it back within 15 seconds of placing
Can hit
Ground
Damage
35
Fire rate
0.4/s
DPS
14 damage a second, one hit on one target, before armour
Range
7 3.5 tiles
Targets at once
every enemy within 1.2 of a blade (flyers up to 2.5 above), once a pass
Power
uses 10 when firing · 1 on standby Full power only while it has a target. Switch it off to free its power.
Neighbours
+15% damage, +10% fire rate eachSame-type towers on its four sides, up to four (+60% / +40%). Connected SawBlades need 25% less power.
Platforms
+8% damage, +0.5 range a level of heightSmall +1, Medium +2, Large +3, up to 3 stacked. Hills up to 15 (above 5 is rare).
Ground
Grass: −5% damageNo penalty on rock, or on a platform (it stands on steel, even over grass)
Level parts
Base: 1 green level light, plate 01
Research
6 items, levels vary250 / 750 / 2,000 / 6,000 / 15,000 XP a level (5 items) · 100 / 250 / 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000 / 8,000 / 15,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 XP a level (1 item), 230,850 XP for all. Blade Sharpness, Motor Speed, Launch Power, Blade Flexibility, Deep Wound, Poison
Cards
Damage, Fire Rate, Range, Deep Wound, Poison, Armor Damage, Shield DamageEnd-of-wave cards: up to 5 of each a game, then Endless cards

Base numbers: no research, cards or neighbours. (+n) is the change from the level before.

How to use it

Long straight stretches

Each sharp bend costs the blade a turn, and a blade with no turns left breaks on the next one. A level-1 blade has no turns at all, so give an early SawBlade a long straight run of path.

Aim into the crowd

The blade lands where its target walks. If the target has not reached the tower yet, it rolls back toward the spawn, into the enemies coming behind; if the target is past the tower, it rolls on toward your base.

Near an end of the path

A blade that reaches the spawn or your base with a turn left bounces back at full damage and can cut the same enemies again. Out of turns, from level 3 it still comes back once, faster, at 60% damage.

Crowds and bleeding

Each enemy after the first takes 95% of what the one before took, never less than 40% of a full cut. Every cut bleeds for 20% of the hit every 0.5 seconds for 3 seconds, and the 3th kill in one pass, and every one after it, bursts for 30% damage on enemies close by.

Build in rows, go high

Each SawBlade on the four sides of another gives it +15% damage and +10% fire rate (up to four: +60% and +40%). Each level of hill or platform gives +8% damage and +0.5 range; on bare grass it loses 5% damage, unless it stands on a platform.

Pair it with air defence

It never throws at flying enemies, so build a tower that hits air beside it.

Build it

Pick a level, research, end-of-wave cards and where it stands, and see what each SawBlade blade does to the first enemy it cuts and to the ones after, worked out the way the game does it. Share the build with a link.

How the configurer works it out (formula, card values, share-link format)

How the game adds it up

  • Damage: level base x (1 + neighbours x 0.15) x (1 + height x 0.08) x ground (0.95 on bare grass, else 1) x (1 + research %) x (1 + cards % + Endless %)
  • Fire rate: level base x (1 + neighbours x 0.1) x (1 + research %) x (1 + cards % + Endless %)
  • Range: level base + height x 0.5 + level base x (research % + cards % + Endless %)
  • Dps: damage x fire rate, one hit on one target, before splash, afflictions and armour
  • Rule: Every source multiplies damage and fire rate; cards and Endless cards of one stat add into one percent. Range percents are all of the levelled base, added.

End-of-wave cards

Each wave offers 3 cards. Up to 5 cards of each stat a game, then that stat comes only as grey Endless cards (a random amount in the range shown). Percent per card:

CardNormalCommonRareEpicLegendaryMythicalEndless
Damage2%5%10%15%25%35%1-5%
Fire Rate2%5%10%15%25%35%1-5%
Range2%5%10%15%25%35%1-5%
Deep Wound1%1%2%2%3%3%1%
Poison1%1%2%2%3%3%1%
Armor Damage2%4%6%8%10%12%2%
Shield Damage2%4%6%8%10%12%2%

Research

Unlock: 18,000 XP; its upgrades: 230,850 XP for all.

  • Blade Sharpness: +10% a level, 5 levels (+50%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP
  • Motor Speed: +10% a level, 5 levels (+50%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP
  • Launch Power: +10% a level, 5 levels (+50%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP
  • Blade Flexibility: +1% a level, 10 levels (+10%), 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, 15,000, 30,000, 50,000 XP
  • SawBlade Deep Wound: +1% a level, 5 levels (+5%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP
  • SawBlade Poison: +1% a level, 5 levels (+5%), 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000, 15,000 XP

Where it stands

  • Each same-type neighbour on its four sides: +15% damage, +10% fire rate (up to 4).
  • Each level of height (hill + platforms): +8% damage, +0.5 range.
  • Bare grass: damage x0.95 (no penalty on rock, or on a platform: it stands on steel, even over grass). One tile is 2 range units.

This tower's own rule

  • Each shot throws a blade that rolls down the path and cuts every ground enemy it reaches once a pass (reach 1.2 + 0.1 a level). Each cut does 95% of the one before, never under 40%; crits x2.
  • A cut bleeds 20% of itself every 0.5 s for 3 s. A blade takes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 sharp bends (levels 1 up, more with research) and from level 3 bounces back once at the end for 60%.

Worked examples

Share-link format

A build is the page address + #build: + parts joined by ~, in any order; parts left out are 0 / none. Opening the link loads the build and scrolls here. Links shared from the page also carry ?utm_source=...&utm_medium=...&utm_campaign=tower_build&utm_content=... before the hash; they are optional.

  • l<N>: tower level 1..5
  • r.<stat>.<N>: research level 0..10 of a research item (damage, fire_rate, range_radius, turns, deep_wound, poison)
  • c.<stat>.<digits>: end-of-wave cards of one stat, one digit per card = its rarity (0 Normal, 1 Common, 2 Rare, 3 Epic, 4 Legendary, 5 Mythical); at most 5 a stat
  • e.<stat>.<amount>x<count>: Endless cards of one stat: count cards of +amount% (only once that stat has 5 cards)
  • n<N>: same-type neighbours touching it, 0..4
  • h<N>: height: hill + platform levels, 0..15
  • g: standing on bare grass (no platform)
  • s<N>: level of the Cold Snap over it, 0 = none (1..10)
  • sp0: that Cold Snap has no power (it cools nothing)
  • w<N>: water tiles beside it, 0..4 (sides not taken by neighbours)
  • k<N>: towers in its connected chain, itself included (at least neighbours + 1)
  • kw<N>: water tiles beside the whole chain

Every level

Base numbers: no research, cards, height or neighbours. Damage is one cut on one enemy, fire rate is blades thrown a second, and damage per second = damage x fire rate counts only the first enemy each blade cuts: a blade through a crowd does far more. Power is what it needs while it has a target (1 on standby).

LevelUpgradeTotal spentDamageFire rateDPSRangePower
1build 150150350.4/s14710
2255405500.45/s227.512
3433838650.5/s32814
47361,574800.55/s448.516
51,2522,826950.6/s57918

Levels 1-2A level-1 blade breaks on the first sharp bend; level 2 gives it one turn. Cheap, but best on a straight stretch.

Levels 3-5More turns, a longer reach and the last-pass ricochet at the ends of the path, so each blade stays on the path longer and cuts more enemies.

Research

Research (main menu, Upgrades & Research) makes every SawBlade you build stronger. Most items have 5 levels for 250, 750, 2,000, 6,000 and 15,000 XP (24,000 XP for all 5).

Blade Sharpness

+10% damage a level, +50% at level 5. Bleeds and bursts grow with it.

Motor Speed

+10% fire rate a level, +50% at level 5: more blades on the path.

Launch Power

+10% range a level, +50% at level 5: it can pick targets further away.

Blade Flexibility

+1 turn a level for every blade, +10 at level 10 (a longer research of its own): blades take more sharp bends before they break, and bounce back from more path ends.

SawBlade Deep Wound

Each level: enemies a SawBlade hits take 1% more damage from every tower for 4 seconds (5% at level 5). Wounds from different kinds of tower add up.

SawBlade Poison

Each level: a hit leaves poison worth 1% of the hit's damage every second for 4 seconds (5% at level 5). Poison goes straight to health, past shield and armour.

Height and ground

  • Each level of height: +8% damage and +0.5 range.
  • Hills: up to 15 levels on every map; above 5 is rare.
  • Platforms (small +1, medium +2, large +3) stack up to 3 high: up to 9 more levels, on flat ground or on a hill. Research unlocks the sizes and stacking.
  • Highest it can stand: 24 levels, +192% damage, +12 range.
  • On grass: −5% damage; no penalty on rock, or on a platform (it stands on steel, even over grass).

SawBlade FAQ

If an enemy walks along the side of the path, can a SawBlade blade miss it?

No. The blade cuts every ground enemy within 1.2 of it at level 1 (0.1 more each level, 1.6 at level 5), once per pass, wherever on the path it walks. The blade rolls down the middle, so a cut on an enemy at the side can look like a miss. Enemies don't dodge blades.

Why does my SawBlade's blade break before the end of the path?

It ran out of turns. Each sharp bend in the path costs a blade one turn, and on a bend with none left it breaks. A level-1 blade has no turns, each level adds one (4 at level 5), and Blade Flexibility research adds more. A blade also stops after 8 seconds on the path.

Which way does the blade roll?

It lands on the path where its target is, on the branch that enemy walks. If the target has not reached the tower yet, the blade rolls back toward the spawn, into the enemies behind it; if the target is past the tower, it rolls toward your base.

What happens when a blade reaches the end of the path?

With a turn left it bounces back, spending the turn, at full damage, and can cut the same enemies again. With no turns left, a level 3 or higher SawBlade still sends it back once, faster, at 60% damage. Otherwise the blade is gone.

Does a SawBlade wait for its blade to come back?

No. It throws a new blade at every shot, so several blades can be on the path at once.

Can the SawBlade hit flying enemies?

It never throws at them: it picks ground targets only. But a blade on the path cuts a flyer passing low over it, within its reach and up to 2.5 above it. Build a tower that hits air nearby for the rest.

Do SawBlade blades go through a Domeguard's bubble?

No. A blade that reaches a raised bubble from outside is destroyed at its edge: the bubble flares and loses shield as from any hit, and the enemies inside are safe from it. A blade that was already inside when the bubble went up keeps going.

Is the SawBlade good against armour?

Yes, fairly: each cut strips 20 armour plus a share of the cut's damage, and every enemy in the blade's way gets cut. Its shield damage is small (5 a cut).

How much power does a SawBlade use when it has nothing to shoot?

Only 1: with no target it stays on standby, lights and radar on. It uses its full power only while it has a target: 10 at level 1, 18 at level 5 (the tower panel says "uses N when firing, 1 on standby"). If the grid cannot give it that, it stays on standby too: it keeps tracking enemies but cannot fire (LOW POWER). The panel's Switch off button turns it off completely: it draws nothing and does nothing until you Switch on again, so you can choose which towers run when power is short.