Ranking Every Hardcore Tower in TDS

The Hacker tower costs 5,500 gems and offers impressive damage with its synapse beams, dealing up to 555 DPS when maxed. Its 'Hologram Tower' ability allows for temporary tower cloning, which is only cost-effective in the late stages of a game. The 'Unit Conversion' ability is its main damage source, turning defeated enemies into allies, with higher difficulty modes enhancing its effectiveness. Additionally, 'Wire Fraud' provides up to 20% more cash from enemies, and it slows enemies by 15-25%. However, it has a placement limit of two, making it less versatile in multi-mode scenarios. Despite this, its strengths in difficult modes place it in S-tier.

Costing 2,250 gems, the Necromancer begins with a piercing shard attack, transitioning to an attack similar to the Hacker, damaging up to three enemies for 440 DPS. Its primary feature is spawning graves that release various 'skelly boys' when activated, including the robust 'Executioner Knight' with 3,500 HP. It boasts all three detection types and an excellent range of 42 at max level. Despite a placement limit of three, making it slightly less powerful than it could be, it is a solid all-rounder and is ranked in B-tier.

The Accelerator, priced at 2,500 gems, has recently received a buff. It has a charge-up time of 1.5 to 2.5 seconds before dealing damage, making it vulnerable to fast enemies. However, it compensates with a high DPS of 364 at max and good cost efficiency. It has lead and hidden detection early on but lacks flying detection. Its main strength lies in its placement limit of eight, the highest among hardcore towers. Its weakness is susceptibility to stuns and flying enemies. If paired with a tower like Ranger for flying enemies, it's highly effective and is placed in S-tier.

The Brawler, at 1,250 gems, is a simple yet effective tower. Despite its low range, it delivers extremely high damage and, at level two, gains the ability to knock back enemies, serving as both a damage and support tower. Its low placement cost of 600 cash makes it excellent for early-game wave clearing. At level three, it gains a reposition ability, useful for clearing leaks. It offers the best cost efficiency but suffers from short range against speedy or strong enemies, especially in hardcore modes. With a placement limit of six, it's considered one of the best towers and is awarded S+ tier.

The Engineer costs 4,500 gems and is the most versatile hardcore tower, capable of damaging all enemy types. Its base rebar launcher primarily fills a scrap bar, which is used to build sentries that deal the majority of its damage. Sentries can gain shields at level four, making them immune to stuns, a significant advantage over towers like Accelerator in end-game waves. It has excellent cost efficiency, comparable to Accelerator. Anticipating a future buff, the Engineer is placed in S-tier, as even a small buff would solidify its position.