The Tower - Idle Tower Defense: Upgrade Strategies & Guide

Using the right The Tower - Idle Tower Defense strategy is crucial as you progress through different stages of the game. This guide covers three essential builds for your first year and key upgrades for optimal farming. Want to run The Tower 24/7 on a second device and do your upgrades from anywhere? Just download OSLink on both devices! With its remote gaming features, you can seamlessly manage your farming build running from your phone or PC with ease. 

 

The Tower: Early Game Strategy - Turtle Build

The Turtle Build is the best day-one strategy for any Tower - Idle Tower Defense beginners. This build focuses on defense and eliminating enemies using Thorns.

 

Why Thorns?

One key reason is to stack damage. Enemy damage increases by 4% for every consecutive hit, meaning that if we don't eliminate enemies quickly enough, they'll eventually deal enough damage to destroy our tower. Thorns help counter this by reflecting damage back at attackers.

Workshop Upgrades to Prioritize

For this build, the most important Workshop upgrades are:

• Defense Percent – Reduces incoming damage by a percentage.
• Health – Increases your Tower’s max HP.
• Thorns – Reflects a percentage of enemy damage back onto them with every hit (works on both melee and ranged enemies).
• Defense Absolute – Blocks a flat amount of enemy damage.

 

What to Avoid When Spending Gems

While using the Turtle Build, it's best to avoid modules and focus your gems on cards instead. During runs, you'll naturally obtain some modules from boss drops, which will be sufficient for this stage. Some best Tower cards you could go for the Turtle Build are as follows:

 

• Health – Increases max HP by up to 4x.
• Health Regen – Boosts regen by up to 2.6x.
• Extra Defense – Raises Defense Percent by up to 11%.
• Fortress – Enhances Defense Absolute by up to 2.2x.
• Cash – Increases earned cash by up to 2.4x.
• Coins – Boosts coin earnings by up to 1.45x.

 

Best Perks for the Turtle Build

Once you unlock perks, you'll have a wide variety of choices, but the best perk for any build is Wave Requirement. Wave Requirement reduces the number of waves between perks by 20%, making it a must-pick every time.

 

Another strong perk is Trade-Off Perks. These perks require trading one stat for another,  cutting enemy damage by 50% but also reducing your Tower’s damage by 50%. Since the Turtle Build is all about defense, sacrificing some attack power to halve enemy damage is a huge advantage.

Other useful perks for this build:

• Max Health
• Health Regen
• Defense Absolute
• Defense Percent

 

Laboratory Focus

When upgrading in the Laboratory, prioritize:

• Health
• Health Regen
• Defense Absolute
• Defense Percent

 

That's all you need to know to run the Turtle Build. It's great for Tier 1, but you'll need a stronger strategy after that. Next, we'll cover the Blender Build—your go-to for the next phase of The Tower!

 

The Tower Mid-Game Strategy: Blender Build

As you progress, the Blender Build takes over from the Turtle Build, adding offense through Orbs, they will be your primary method of eliminating enemies. Orbs circle your tower, instantly taking out normal enemies. 

 

To boost offense, unlock:

• Shock Wave – Pushes enemies into Orbs.
• Knockback – Keeps enemies from crashing into your tower.
• Life Steal – Heals your tower based on damage dealt.

 

Key Offensive Upgrades

• Multi-Shot & Bounce Shot – Hits multiple enemies.
• Attack Speed – Increases firing rate.
• Knockback – Helps control enemy movement.

 

Best Utility Upgrades

• Free Upgrades – Grants a free Workshop upgrade after rounds.
• Max Recovery – Boosts shield capacity.
• Enemy Attack Level Skip – Lowers enemy attack scaling, allowing for more waves.

 

When to Spend Gems on Modules

Once all Common cards reach Level 6, start investing in modules. The best picks include:

• Astral Deliverance – Expands Bounce Shot range and boosts damage per bounce.
• Wormhole Redirector – Converts health regen into shield recovery.
• Multiverse Nexus – Syncs Death Wave, Golden Tower, and Black Hole for massive boosts.
• Black Hole Digester – Grants extra coins per kill for free upgrades.

 

 

Additional Cards for Blender Build

• Extra Orbs – Adds more Orbs for better clearing.
• Free Upgrades & Wave Skip – Boosts progress speed.
• Death Ray & Landmine Stun – Adds instant elimination and crowd control.

 

The Blender Build supercharges your tower’s offense, making it perfect for mid-game. Master this strategy before moving on to late-game builds!

 

Best Tower Defence Perks for the Blender Build

Here we can build on the Turtle Build’s perk list, you should always prioritize Wave Requirement first. Then, add the following:

 

• Free Upgrade Chance – Increases the chance of receiving free upgrades.
• Orbs – Add two additional Orbs to your tower.
• Bounce Shot – Increases Bounce Shot count to a total of +6.

 

Laboratory Research Priorities

Now that the Blender Build is in full swing, it’s time to dive deeper into Laboratory upgrades. As the first upgrade Lab Speed is highly recommended, as it significantly reduces research times, saving a lot of time in the long run.

 

Attack Research

• Attack Speed – Increases firing rate.
• Light Speed Shots – Instantly removes travel time from shots, making attacks land instantly and improving game performance.

 

Defense Research

• Wall Health & Wall Rebuild Regen – Strengthens your wall’s durability and recovery.
• Thorns & Invincibility – Thorns remain useful even in the Blender Build, and Wall Invincibility grants brief damage immunity after rebuilding.
• Garlic Thorns – Deals 5% of Thorn damage to Vampire enemies, countering one of the biggest threats in higher waves.

 

Utility Research

• Coins per Elimination Bonus – Boosts coins earned per enemy eliminated.
• Enemy Attack Level Skip – Now that you’re farming above 4500+ waves, maximizing wave skips is crucial.

 

Card Research

• Extra Orbs Adjuster – Lets you customize Orb movement range.
• Extra Extra Orbs – Adds up to two additional Orbs to the Extra Orbs card.

 

Perk Research

• Perk Waves Required – Reduces the number of waves required before getting a new perk.
• Standard Perk Bonus – Increases the benefits of standard perks (such as health, coins, and game speed bonuses).
• Perk Option Quantity – Increases your perk selection pool from 2 choices to 4.
• First Perk Choice – Ensures that your first chosen perk will always be available when selecting perks.
• Improved Trade-Off Perks – Increases the positive bonus of trade-off perks without increasing their downside.

 

The Tower Advanced Strategy Orb Devo

As your The Tower - Idle Tower Defense journey progresses, you may seek a more efficient way to farm coins in the early waves. That’s where the Orb Devo Build comes in. Unlike the Blender Build, which balances offense and defense, Orb Devo is a specialized farming strategy that maximizes coin earnings by controlling enemy movement and carefully timing eliminations. While it’s not a mandatory build, the benefits can be huge, especially when preparing for higher-tier runs.

 

How Orb Devo Works

The goal is to farm Tanks (which give 4 coins per elimination) by using:

• Shock Wave to control enemy movement.
• Orbs to eliminate enemies at the right time.
• Golden Tower & Black Hole as super weapons for maximum coin bonus.

 

You’ll need recommended Ultimate Weapons, specific cards, and optimized Workshop upgrades to make this build work.

 

Orb Devo Core Requirements

As starters Golden Tower & Black Hole must have their cooldowns synced at a 1:1 ratio. This ensures Tanks stack up before elimination for maximum coins.

Essential Cards

• Required: Extra Orbs
• Helpful: Extra Defense, Health, Health Regen, Coins, Wave Skip, Wave Accelerator

 

When building Orb Devo you should Avoid: Attack Speed, Free Upgrades, Death Ray, Energy Net.

 

Lab Research (Before Starting Orb Devo)

• Must-Have: Extra Orbs Adjuster, Extra Extra Orbs, Black Hole Coin Bonus (maxed), Black Hole Damage (2%)
• Recommended: Golden Tower Bonus, Golden Tower Duration, Extra Black Hole

 

Workshop Setup

These are the Offensive Upgrades your The Tower should focus on. 

 

• Max Range (69.5)
• Avoid: Crit Chance, Multi-Shot Chance, Rapid Fire Chance, Bounce Shot Chance, Super Crit Chance, Rend Armor Chance

 

If you thinking of switching to Blender build later getting these down is also helpful (Optional): Damage, Critical Factor, Multi-Shot Targets, Bounce Shot Targets, Super Crit Multiplier

 

Defensive Upgrades

• Max: Health, Health Regen, Defense Percent, Defense Absolute, Orb Speed, Shock Wave Frequency
• Wall Users: Max Wall Health & Regen
• Thorns Strategy:

• Start with 3-5% and gradually increase as enemy health scales.
• Goal: Eliminate fast enemies while stacking Tanks.

 

• Shock Wave Settings:

• Without Wall: wKeep at 1.4
• With Wall: Increase to 1.6 (to shuffle enemies efficiently)

 

Utility Upgrades

• Max: Coins per Elimination, Enemy Attack Level Skip (prioritize upgrading in and out of runs)
• Avoid: Any Free Upgrade (Offense, Defense, Utility) – This disrupts Orb Devo.

 

Modules to Use

• Defense: Wormhole Redirector (Allows Health Regen to restore Shield)
• Ultimate Weapons: Multiverse Nexus (Syncs Death Wave, Golden Tower, and Black Hole cooldowns)
• Utility:

• Singularity Harness (Increases bot range)
• Galaxy Compressor (Reduces Ultimate Weapon cooldowns when collecting a Recovery Package)

 

Best Perks for Orb Devo

When you play The Tower advanced Orb Devo strategy you must have these perks.

 

• Wave Requirement (Always take this first.)
• Max Health, Health Regen, Defense Percent, Defense Absolute (Tiers 1-3)
• Basic Coin Bonus, Golden Tower Bonus, Black Hole Duration Increase
• 50/50 Trade-Off Perk, Coin Increase Trade-Off Perk

 

Optional Perks (After Must-Haves)

• Cash Bonus, Game Speed Boost, Random Ultimate Weapon Perks

 

Perks to Avoid

• Extra Orbs, Bounce Shot Damage, Landmine Damage
• Any Trade-Off Perk that reduces Health (except Coin Increase Trade-Off Perk)

 

Upgrade Priority in The Laboratory

As usual you can continue  Attack Speed since it gives long-term benefit

• Wall Research: This upgrade is only Important if unlocking Orb Devo around the same time as the Wall.
• Ultimate Weapons:

• Golden Tower Bonus & Duration
• Black Hole Coin Bonus & Extra Black Hole

 

• Card Research:

• Extra Orbs Adjuster
• Extra Extra Orbs

 

In-Game Strategy for Orb Devo

Your tower attacks will lower, and its effectiveness leveling up Thorns since it works both as defense and offense technique

• Start with 3-5% and increase gradually.
• Balance it so fast enemies die but Tanks survive for stacking.

 

For Handling Protectors you have two options.

• Option 1: you can Increase damage enough to eliminate Protectors without killing Tanks too early. Set Protectors as the Top Priority in Targeting.
• Option 2: Use two Black Holes (25+ second duration, 2% max HP damage) to eliminate Protectors over time.

 

With the right setup, Orb Devo is a powerful way to farm coins while controlling enemy waves. Whether you use it temporarily or as a long-term farming build, it’s invaluable for maximizing progress! To boost earnings, keep it running nonstop—but that can be a hassle if you need your device for other tasks. The best solution? Run it on a second device and set the game speed to 1x.

 

With the right perks and setup, it should run for around 8 hours without issues, though occasional interruptions may require small tweaks. For easier management, install OS Link on both devices for instant access without any login codes after setup, whether on another phone or PC. Plus, with PlayTogether, you can share access with friends to check on your build or show it off. Grab the free trial and enjoy the convenience of managing all your devices effortlessly, no matter where you are!

 

Conclusion

Mastering The Tower – Idle Tower Defense comes down to choosing the right build at each stage, from the Turtle Build’s defense to the Blender Build’s offense and the Orb Devo strategy for maximum coin farming. To keep your progress running smoothly 24/7, install OS Link on both devices for easy remote management. Download it now and take full control of your farming setup anytime, anywhere!