Tower Defense Simulator just went through one of its busier stretches. The Gladiator Rework is live through August 28, 2026, at 12 PM ET (9 AM PT), adding new animations, rebalanced upgrades, and War Cry support for towers nearby. Right behind it, Frost Champion Arrival takes over from August 28 through September 4, bringing a new champion unit and a reworked set of Frost Mode enemies. Both events sit on top of the v2.6.0 Enforcer Update, which added the SWAT-themed Enforcer tower in mid-August and pulled in well over 130,000 players during its debut week.
That much churn moves the meta. Two towers released this cycle, Kingpin and Boomerang, already have enough playtime behind them to rank with confidence, and older staples like Golden Cowboy and Accelerator still hold their ground. If you’re picking a loadout today or updating an old one, check our Tower Defense Simulator codes first. Free coins and gems from active codes go straight toward unlocking the towers ranked below.
This list ranks towers by raw usefulness across Solo, Co-op, and Hardcore modes, not by rarity or cost alone. A few situational or Fallen-mode-specific picks are called out separately since their value swings hard depending on the mode.
How This Tower Defense Simulator Tier List Is Ranked
Rankings below weigh three things: damage output relative to cost, utility that a raw DPS number doesn’t capture (stuns, economy, buffs, detection), and how a tower performs across an entire match rather than a single wave.
Community tier lists disagree on several borderline towers this patch, so where sources conflicted, this list leans on each tower’s actual mechanics and the most recent August 2026 data rather than repeating one site’s list wholesale. Placement still matters more than tier.
A well-placed A-tier tower on a corner tile regularly outperforms a poorly placed S-tier pick on a straight path.
S Tier: Meta-Defining Towers
| Tower | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|
| Accelerator | Holds the highest raw DPS ceiling in the game. Nothing else comes close once it’s fully upgraded. |
| Commander | The strongest buffer available. It multiplies the damage output of every tower placed in its range. |
| Farm | The economy backbone of most late-game builds. Extra income compounds every wave it’s active. |
| DJ Booth | A secondary buffer that stacks with Commander, letting a single loadout stretch its damage further. |
| Engineer | Summons a sentry gun with independent DPS and detection, making it strong utility for its cost. |
| Golden Scout | Delivers roughly 6.90 DPS per 1,000 coins spent, the best cost efficiency of any golden tower. It dominates early and mid waves. |
A Tier: Reliable Core Picks
| Tower | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|
| Kingpin | The evolved form of Crook Boss, unlocked at Evolution Level 20 for 15,000 coins and 5,500 gems. Its bounty path marks enemies for cash rewards up to $60,000 each, and its combat path hits 460 DPS at level 6. |
| Golden Cowboy | A near-universal all-rounder that generates resources while dealing consistent damage, around 3.55 DPS per 1,000 coins. |
| Golden Crook Boss | Roughly 4.77 damage per 1,000 coins with goon support, useful across every phase of a match and the path toward Kingpin. |
| Golden Minigunner | The best late-game DPS-per-cost among golden towers at about 5.84 per 1,000 coins, with unlimited placement. |
| Mortar | Splash damage that clears grouped enemies efficiently, especially against Fallen-mode swarms. |
| Turret | Reliable hitscan damage with detection that covers most enemy types without extra investment. |
| Electroshocker | Stuns and locks down enemies immune to burn damage, filling a gap other DPS towers can’t. |
| Gatling Gun | High sustained fire rate that holds its own against tougher waves without needing a buff tower nearby. |
| Ranger | Solid all-around detection and damage, a common pick in loadouts built around Golden Scout. |
| Ace Pilot | A boss-wave specialist with strong single-target damage, best saved for the waves that actually need it. |
B Tier: Situational But Useful
| Tower | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|
| Freezer | Crowd control that slows enemies rather than killing them outright, most valuable paired with a hard-hitting tower. |
| Brawler | Decent melee-range damage, better in Hardcore mode where enemies bunch up near the base. |
| Militant | A budget mid-game pick that holds waves before better towers come online. |
| Hunter | Long-range single-target damage, useful but outclassed once Ace Pilot or Mortar is unlocked. |
| Sniper | High per-shot damage but a slow fire rate limits its value against fast-moving waves. |
| Golden Soldier | Around 5.62 DPS per 1,000 coins, strong early and mid-game but increasingly outclassed by newer towers. |
| Necromancer | Summons units that soak hits and chip damage, more useful in Co-op than Solo. |
| Pyromancer | Solid burn damage against non-immune enemies, weaker once burn-resistant waves show up. |
C Tier: Early-Game Fillers
| Tower | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|
| Golden Pyromancer | Only about 2.48 DPS per 1,000 coins, the weakest golden investment due to burn immunity on modern enemies. |
| Military Base | Cheap early support, but its output falls off fast once waves scale up. |
| Mercenary Base | Similar role to Military Base, useful for a few waves before it needs replacing. |
| Rocketeer | A boss-wave specialist with a tight placement limit. Strong against single targets, awkward everywhere else. |
| Demoman | Area damage on a budget, serviceable only until better splash towers unlock. |
| Medic | Keeps other towers alive but adds no damage of its own, a support pick that’s easy to skip. |
| Trapper | Its crowd control matters more in Hardcore mode than in standard runs, where it’s largely filler. |
D Tier: Skip or Starter-Only
| Tower | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|
| Boomerang | Added July 17, 2026, for 300 coins. Its piercing hit works against grouped enemies early, but it’s outgrown by wave 10. |
| Scout | A free starter tower with fast attack speed and weak damage, mainly there to teach new players the basics. |
| Paintballer | Cheap and quick to place, but its damage ceiling is too low for anything past the opening waves. |
| Soldier | Reliable but unremarkable, replaced by nearly every A-tier or B-tier pick once coins allow it. |
| Shotgunner | Short range limits it to choke points, and even there it’s outperformed by Mortar or Electroshocker. |
| Rocketeer (unupgraded) | Without early investment, its slow fire rate makes it a liability rather than an asset. |
Kingpin and Boomerang: This Cycle’s New Towers
1. Kingpin
- Unlocked via: Evolving a fully-leveled Golden Crook Boss to Evolution Level 20
- Cost: 15,000 coins plus 5,500 gems
- Placement limit: 4 per player
- Detection: Hidden, flying, and lead-type enemies
- Ability: Choose between an economy path (Bounty marks worth up to $60,000 per kill) and a combat path (Bouncer and Contractor units, up to 460 DPS)
Kingpin thrives in the mid-game, where its economy path pays back its steep cost within a few waves. Save the combat path for runs where damage matters more than income.
2. Boomerang
- Released: July 17, 2026
- Cost: 300 coins
- Detection: Flying enemies
- Ability: Throws a piercing projectile that hits every enemy in its path and returns for a second hit
Boomerang works as a cheap first purchase that buys time before better towers unlock. It doesn’t hold up once waves scale past the early game, which is why it sits in D tier despite the fanfare around its release.
Final Thoughts
This ranking reflects the game as it stands during the Gladiator Rework, right before Frost Champion Arrival begins on August 28. New champion units and reworked Frost Mode enemies tend to reshuffle crowd-control and burst-damage towers specifically, so Electroshocker, Freezer, and Mortar are worth watching once that event goes live.
Expect another pass at this list once the community has logged real playtime against the new Frost enemies.
Level a Golden Crook Boss to Evolution Level 20, then pay 15,000 coins and 5,500 gems to complete the evolution into Kingpin.
It’s a solid 300-coin starter tower for the first few waves, but it falls off quickly and belongs in D tier for anything beyond early game.
Mostly, though a few towers shift. Trapper and Brawler gain value in Hardcore thanks to tighter enemy clustering, and Mortar’s splash damage matters more against Fallen-mode swarms.
Roughly every major update reshuffles a handful of towers, and this cycle alone added Enforcer, Kingpin, and Boomerang within a few weeks of each other. Check back after Frost Champion Arrival ends on September 4 for any further changes.
