The workshop is where coins become permanent tower stats. It has three tabs, Attack, Defense and Utility, holding 48 upgrades that unlock in a fixed chain from free starters up to Rend Armor at 500B coins. This page lists what every upgrade does, where it caps and what it costs to max, then covers the Wall and the late-game Workshop Enhancements.
Updated
- Workshop upgrades
- 48 17 attack · 18 defense · 13 utility
- Damage and Health levels
- 6,000 the two deepest upgrades
- Defense % cap
- 98% 49.5% from the workshop
- Enhancements
- 18 unlock at Tier 12 Wave 60
How the workshop works
Every workshop stat can be bought two ways. Between rounds you pay coins and the level is permanent. During a round you pay cash and the level lasts until the round ends. The permanent levels set your starting point, and cash carries you from there.
Upgrades unlock in order inside each tab. Buying the unlock for one opens the next, and the unlock prices climb from nothing to hundreds of billions of coins. Several unlocks open two or three stats at once, such as Bounce Shot Chance, Targets and Range.
- Labs multiply the workshop. Most stat labs raise both the gain per workshop level and the cap, so a workshop value is always read together with its lab. See the Labs guide.
- Discount labs. Workshop Attack, Defense and Utility Discount each cut coin prices by up to 49.50%. The "coins to max" figures below are before that discount.
- Buy Multiplier. A four-level lab adds x5, x10, Max and x100 buy buttons. It is a convenience only and gives no discount.
- Workshop Respec. After its lab, 150 gems resets the whole workshop and refunds the coins originally spent, ignoring any discount you had. Ultimate Weapons are not touched.
Attack upgrades
Damage, Attack Speed and the two crit stats are available from the first run. Everything else is an unlock chain: Range and Damage/Meter, then Multishot, Rapid Fire, Bounce Shot, Super Crit and finally Rend Armor.
| Upgrade | What it does | Unlock | Levels | Max value | Coins to max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage | Base damage of every projectile. Land mines and Ultimate Weapons scale from it too. | Start | 6,000 | 71.11M | 816.09T |
| Attack Speed | Shots fired over time. Also sets projectile travel speed until Light Speed Shots is researched. | Start | 99 | 5.95 | 3.60M |
| Critical Chance | Chance for a projectile to crit. Starts at 1%. | Start | 79 | 80% | 1.41M |
| Critical Factor | Damage multiplier on a crit. Starts at x1.2. | Start | 150 | x16.2 | 259.20B |
| Range | Tower firing range. Starts at 30m. It also sets how far out ranged enemies stop to shoot. | 50 coins | 79 | 69.5m | 1.46M |
| Damage/Meter | Bonus damage for each whole meter between the enemy and the tower. | 50 coins, with Range | 200 | 5.9% | 315.60T |
| Multishot Chance | Chance to fire at several targets at once. | 400 coins | 99 | 49.5% | 4.26M |
| Multishot Targets | Projectiles per multishot. Starts at 2. | With Multishot | 7 | 9 | 529.95K |
| Rapid Fire Chance | Chance to fire 4x faster for a short time. | 1,500 coins | 85 | 34% | 2.79M |
| Rapid Fire Duration | How long each rapid fire burst lasts. | With Rapid Fire | 99 | 5.55s | 4.63M |
| Bounce Shot Chance | Chance for a projectile to bounce to another enemy. | 10,000 coins | 85 | 68% | 3.23M |
| Bounce Shot Targets | How many times one projectile can bounce. Starts at 1. | With Bounce Shot | 7 | 8 | 970.70K |
| Bounce Shot Range | How far a bounce can travel between enemies. Starts at 2.0m. | With Bounce Shot | 60 | 8.0m | 3.81T |
| Super Crit Chance | Chance for a crit to become a super crit. | 100M coins | 100 | 20% | 5.63T |
| Super Crit Mult | Extra multiplier on a super crit, on top of Critical Factor. Starts at x1.2. | With Super Crit | 120 | x13.2 | 214.50T |
| Rend Armor Chance | Chance on hit to permanently raise the projectile damage that enemy takes. | 500B coins | 299 | 30% | 418.97q |
| Rend Armor Mult | Damage added per rend stack. Stacks up to 800% without the lab. | With Rend Armor | 299 | 0.3000X | 418.97q |
Unlock prices are paid once and open every stat in that group.
How the attack stats combine
- Damage shown in game is Workshop x Lab x Damage card x (1 + relics) x (1 + cannon module %) x enhancement x perks, plus Berserker on top. Berserker is capped at +700% of that product.
- Attack Speed shown in game is (Workshop x Lab x card + module sub-effect) x enhancement.
- Critical Chance past 100% only helps Ultimate Weapon damage.
- Super crits multiply: a super crit deals Critical Factor x Super Crit Mult.
- Damage/Meter adds Damage x DPM% x distance, counted in whole meters. An enemy at 51.9m takes the same bonus as one at 51m.
- Bounce Shot targets can reach 14 with the Bounce Shot perk. A bouncing projectile keeps chasing its target even if it is knocked out of bounce range.
- Rend Armor only boosts tower projectiles. Other damage sources ignore it.
Range changes more than reach: it moves where ranged enemies stop and how much Damage/Meter you collect. Try values in the Tower Range Simulator before committing to the Range lab slider.
Defense upgrades
The defense tab starts with Health and Health Regen and ends with the Wall at 500M coins. The early unlocks in the chain (Thorns, Lifesteal, Knockback, Orbs and Shockwave) each cost only a few million coins to finish, so they are maxed long before Health is. Land Mine Damage and the Wall are the deep ones.
| Upgrade | What it does | Unlock | Levels | Max value | Coins to max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | Maximum tower health. | Start | 6,000 | 6.71B | 748.26T |
| Health Regen | Health restored per second. | Start | 6,000 | 10.17B | 74.83T |
| Defense % | Percent of incoming damage removed. Applied first. | 75 coins | 99 | 49.5% | 2.77M |
| Defense Absolute | Flat damage removed from each hit, after Defense %. | 75 coins, with Defense % | 5,000 | 80.21M | 1.23T |
| Thorn Damage | Enemies that hit the tower lose a percent of their max health. Half effect on bosses. | 500 coins | 99 | 99% | 2.33M |
| Lifesteal | Heals the tower for a percent of projectile damage dealt. | 2,000 coins | 80 | 4.46% | 1.48M |
| Knockback Chance | Chance for a hit to push the enemy away. | 5,000 coins | 80 | 80% | 1.60M |
| Knockback Force | How hard the push is. Heavier enemies move less. Starts at 0.4. | With Knockback | 40 | 6.08 | 184.33K |
| Orb Speed | Rotations per minute of the orbs. Starts at 0.4. | 15,000 coins | 38 | 6.10 | 342.98K |
| Orbs | Number of orbs circling the tower. Orbs kill most enemies on contact. | With Orbs | 4 | 4 orbs | 493.00K |
| Shockwave Size | Reach of the periodic wave that shoves enemies back (not bosses). Starts at 0.6. | 100,000 coins | 35 | 2.35 | 600.13K |
| Shockwave Frequency | Seconds between shockwaves. Starts at 20s. | With Shockwave | 40 | 14.00s | 973.74K |
| Land Mine Chance | Chance for an enemy to drop a land mine. | 400,000 coins | 50 | 30% | 15.46M |
| Land Mine Damage | Mine damage as a percent of tower damage, with average crit and super crit baked in. Starts at 100%. | With Land Mine | 200 | 2,100% | 2.45q |
| Land Mine Radius | Explosion radius of land mines. | With Land Mine | 50 | 1.50 | 77.52B |
| Death Defy | Chance for a killing hit to be ignored. | 1.5M coins | 75 | 30% | 1.72B |
| Wall Health | Wall health as a percent of tower health. Starts at 20%. | 500M coins | 1,800 | 200% | 3.21q |
| Wall Rebuild | Seconds for a destroyed wall to come back. Starts at 1,200s. | With Wall | 300 | 600s | 40.37T |
Damage reduction order
Defense % is applied first, then Defense Absolute is subtracted. A 100 damage hit against 25% and 50 absolute lands for 100 x (1 - 0.25) - 50 = 25. Enemies also heat up: each hit they land raises their damage by x1.04, so the number on screen can understate what a fast attacker is doing.
Defense % is hard capped at 98% across the workshop, lab, Extra Defense card, perks, sub-module effects, relics and the Vault. Chrono Field Damage Reduction, the Primordial Collapse core and Flame Bot are separate reductions that do not count toward the cap and apply after Defense Absolute.
Notes on the other defenses
- Thorn Damage deals half to bosses (49.5% at max), does not trigger Lifesteal, and is cut by 60% for enemies inside a Protector shield.
- Lifesteal works on every tower projectile, including bounces and multishots.
- Knockback weakens at high waves because enemy mass grows.
- Orbs orbit at a minimum of 60m. Up to 12 can circle clockwise: 4 from the workshop plus 2 each from the perk, an Ancestral armor sub-effect, an assist module and the Vault. Extra Orb card orbs circle the other way, up to 3. Orbs do not kill bosses, elites or protected enemies outright.
- Shockwave Frequency bottoms out at 14 seconds in the workshop. The hard cap from all sources is 7 seconds. The Shockwave Tower Range chart shows how its size relates to range.
- Death Defy is checked first when a hit would kill you, ahead of Energy Shield, Second Wind, Demon Mode and Nuke.
The Wall
The Wall is the last defense unlock, bought for 500M coins after Death Defy. It is a ring with its own health pool that stops enemies from reaching the tower. When its health hits zero it disappears and starts a rebuild timer, and enemies walk through freely until it returns. When it does return it pushes everything back outside so nothing is trapped against the tower.
- Wall Health levels
- 1,800 20% to 200% of tower health
- Wall Rebuild levels
- 300 1,200s down to 600s
- Rebuild hard cap
- 150s
- Wall labs
- 6
Wall Health gains 0.1% of tower health per level. Because it is a percentage, everything that raises tower Health raises the wall with it. Wall Rebuild removes 2 seconds per level.
| Level | Wall health | Cost of this level | Total coins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20.1% | 8.00M | 8.00M |
| 300 | 50% | 398.70M | 39.03B |
| 600 | 80% | 3.14B | 520.54B |
| 800 | 100% | 12.52B | 2.35T |
| 1,000 | 120% | 44.29B | 9.17T |
| 1,200 | 140% | 143.51B | 32.11T |
| 1,500 | 170% | 1.58T | 247.75T |
| 1,800 | 200% | 23.48T | 3.21q |
Wall Rebuild costs 40.37T coins in total for all 300 levels.
Wall labs
Six Defense Research labs turn the wall from a damage sponge into a second tower. Wall Regen and Wall Fortification work as a pair: Fortification sets how far past full the wall can heal, and Regen is the only thing that can fill that extra bar.
| Lab | Max Lv | Unlock | What it does | At max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wall Health | 50 | T8 W10 | Adds to the workshop wall health percentage. | +100% |
| Wall Rebuild | 20 | T8 W10 | Takes 10 seconds off the rebuild timer per level. | -200s |
| Wall Regen | 30 | T10 W70 | The wall regenerates a percent of the tower's Health Regen. | 300% |
| Wall Thorns | 20 | T10 W70 | Enemies hitting the wall take a percent of the tower's Thorn Damage. | 20% |
| Wall Invincibility | 10 | T12 W10 | The wall takes no damage for a few seconds after rebuilding. | 10s |
| Wall Fortification | 60 | T14 W60 | Wall Regen can overheal the wall past its maximum by this percent. | 1,200% |
With the workshop at 600 seconds and the lab at -200, the rebuild sits at 400 seconds. The Power tab of The Vault can take off up to 100 more. The Wall Health enhancement multiplies wall health by up to 5x on top.
Utility upgrades
Utility is the economy tab. The cash stats decide how fast you can buy in-round levels, the coin stats decide how fast you progress between rounds, and the late unlocks (Recovery Packages and Enemy Level Skip) are survival tools filed under utility.
| Upgrade | What it does | Unlock | Levels | Max value | Coins to max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Bonus | Multiplier on cash from every source except interest. | 40 coins | 149 | x2.49 | 14.82M |
| Cash/Wave | Flat cash paid at the end of each wave, before interest. | 40 coins, with Cash Bonus | 149 | 596 | 14.82M |
| Coins/Kill Bonus | Multiplier on coins dropped by enemies. Multiplies with every other coin bonus. | 100 coins | 149 | x2.49 | 19.47M |
| Coins/Wave | Flat coins paid at the end of each wave. | 100 coins, with Coins/Kill | 149 | 150 | 19.47M |
| Free Attack Upgrade | Chance each wave to level a random attack stat for free during the round. | 800 coins | 99 | 49.5% | 4.05M |
| Free Defense Upgrade | Same, for a defense stat. | With Free Upgrades | 99 | 49.5% | 4.05M |
| Free Utility Upgrade | Same, for a utility stat. | With Free Upgrades | 99 | 49.5% | 4.05M |
| Interest/Wave | Pays a percent of the cash you are holding at the end of each wave, up to the Max Interest cap. | 5,000 coins | 99 | 5.94% | 7.36M |
| Recovery Amount | Health granted by each recovery package, as a percent of max health. Starts at 14%. | 1.5M coins | 300 | 134% | 1.33T |
| Max Recovery | How far above max health packages can stack your health. Starts at x1.00. | With Recovery Packages | 500 | x16.50 | 15.77T |
| Package Chance | Chance for a package to spawn each wave. Starts at 6%. | With Recovery Packages | 60 | 30% | 321.28M |
| Enemy Attack Level Skip | Chance that enemy attack does not scale up after a wave. | 1B coins | 699 | 35% | 123.43Q |
| Enemy Health Level Skip | Chance that enemy health does not scale up after a wave. | With Enemy Level Skip | 699 | 35% | 123.43Q |
- Interest is paid after Cash/Wave: (current cash + Cash/Wave x Cash Bonus) x Interest %. Cash Bonus does not raise interest or its cap. The cap starts at $50 and is raised by the Max Interest lab.
- Coins/Kill Bonus multiplies with tier bonus, Golden Tower, Golden Bot and every other coin source, which is why it stays valuable all game. Coins/Wave has far fewer multipliers.
- Free Upgrades never pick a maxed stat. With the card and perk the wiki puts the maximum chance at 90.75%. Above 100%, the overflow is the chance of a second free level that wave. Wave Skip gives one extra roll per skipped wave.
- Recovery Packages apply themselves when they spawn and can push health above the maximum, which Lifesteal and Health Regen cannot. Package Chance reaches 82% with the lab (4%), the card (33%) and an Ancestral sub-effect (15%).
- Enemy Level Skip is deterministic since v26: a 50% chance skips exactly every other wave. It is rolled once for each wave that Wave Skip jumps.
Workshop Enhancements
Workshop Enhancements are a second layer of multipliers bought with coins. They open at Tier 12 Wave 60 once the one-level Workshop Enhancement lab (5B coins) is done. Each tab starts with one free enhancement, and the rest unlock as your total spending inside that tab passes 50B, 500B, 5T, 50T and 500T coins.
| Enhancement | Tab | Unlocks at tab spend | Multiplies | Levels | Max | Coins to max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage | Attack | Free | Tower damage | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Rend Armor | Attack | 50B | Rend max, chance and mult | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Critical Factor | Attack | 500B | Critical Factor | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Damage/Meter | Attack | 5T | Damage/Meter | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Super Crit Mult | Attack | 50T | Super Crit Mult | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Attack Speed | Attack | 500T | Attack Speed | 75 | x1.75 | 1.38s |
| Health | Defense | Free | Tower health | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Health Regen | Defense | 50B | Health Regen | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Defense Absolute | Defense | 500B | Defense Absolute | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Land Mine Damage | Defense | 5T | Land mine damage, 0.06x per level | 400 | x25 | 15.29s |
| Wall Health | Defense | 50T | Wall health | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Orb Size | Defense | 500T | Orb size | 200 | x3 | 11.19s |
| Cash Bonus | Utility | Free | Cash Bonus, plus Cash/Wave, interest rate and max interest | 400 | x5 | 15.29s |
| Coin Bonus | Utility | 50B | Coins/Kill and the tier coin bonus | 200 | x3 | 11.19s |
| Cells/Kill Bonus | Utility | 500B | Elite cells per kill | 200 | x3 | 11.19s |
| Free Upgrades | Utility | 5T | All three Free Upgrade chances | 100 | x2 | 16.97s |
| Packages | Utility | 50T | Recovery Amount and Max Recovery | 300 | x4 | 1.03s |
| Enemy Level Skips | Utility | 500T | Both Enemy Level Skip chances | 60 | x1.60 | 1.51s |
Every enhancement starts at x1.00 and gains 0.01x per level except Land Mine Damage. Level 1 always costs 5.00B coins.
The price curve is steep. A 400-level enhancement passes x2.00 at about 35q coins in total and needs 15.29s to finish, so the first 100 levels of several enhancements beat the last 100 of one. A short enhancement is not a cheap one either: Free Upgrades has only 100 levels but costs 16.97s in total, the most of any.
- Coin Bonus counts twice. It is applied to the tier coin bonus and to Coins/Kill, so its real effect on income is squared.
- Cash Bonus is four upgrades in one. Each level also adds 1% to Cash/Wave, the interest rate and max interest.
- Discounts exist. The Enhancement Coin Discount labs (one per tab, unlocked at Tier 21 Wave 60) reach 30%, and the Vault adds nine steps of 2.5%.
For the level-by-level costs, use the Workshop Enhancement reference.
Frequently asked questions
What is the max level of Damage and Health in the workshop?
Both have 6,000 workshop levels, as does Health Regen. Maxing Damage costs about 816.09T coins and Health about 748.26T before the workshop discount labs.
What is the Defense % cap in The Tower?
Defense % is hard capped at 98% from all sources combined. The workshop gives up to 49.5%, and the lab, Extra Defense card, perks, sub-modules, relics and Vault cover the rest.
How do you unlock the Wall?
The Wall is the last unlock in the defense tab. It costs 500 million coins after Death Defy and opens Wall Health and Wall Rebuild. Its six labs unlock between Tier 8 Wave 10 and Tier 14 Wave 60.
When do Workshop Enhancements unlock?
At the Tier 12 Wave 60 milestone, after you research the Workshop Enhancement lab for 5B coins. Damage, Health and Cash Bonus enhancements are free to open, and the others unlock by spending coins in the same tab.
Does Defense Absolute apply before or after Defense %?
After. Incoming damage is first reduced by Defense %, then Defense Absolute is subtracted. A 100 damage hit with 25% and 50 absolute deals 25.
Do I get my coins back from a Workshop Respec?
Yes. A respec costs 150 gems and refunds the original coin price of every workshop level, regardless of discounts. It does not reset Ultimate Weapons.
Sources and credits
The numbers on this page come from the community-maintained The Tower - Idle Tower Defense Wiki and were reorganized and rewritten for Towerstats.org. Wiki text is available under CC BY-SA.
- Workshop Upgrades
- Attack Upgrades
- Defense Upgrades
- Utility Upgrades
- Damage
- Attack Speed
- Critical Hits
- Range
- Damage Per Meter
- Multishot
- Rapid Fire
- Bounce Shot
- Super Critical
- Rend Armor
- Health
- Health Regen
- Defense Percent
- Defense Absolute
- Thorn Damage
- Lifesteal
- Knockback
- Orbs
- Shockwave
- Land Mine
- Death Defy
- Wall
- Wall Labs
- Cash Bonus
- Cash Per Wave
- Coins Per Kill Bonus
- Coins Per Wave
- Free Upgrades
- Interest
- Recovery Packages
- Enemy Level Skip
- Buy multiplier
- Workshop Respec
- Workshop Enhancement
- Lab/Enhancement Coin Discount
- Lab/Max Interest
- The Vault
- Wall/Cost/Wall Health
- Wall/Cost/Wall Rebuild
- Wall Labs/Wall Health
- Wall Labs/Wall Rebuild
- Wall Labs/Wall Regen
- Wall Labs/Wall Thorns
- Wall Labs/Wall Invincibility
- Wall Labs/Wall Fortification
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Damage
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Rend Max
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Critical Factor
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Damage Per Meter
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Super Crit Mult
- Workshop Enhancement/Attack/Attack Speed
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Health
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Health Regen
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Defense Absolute
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Land Mine Damage
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Wall Health
- Workshop Enhancement/Defense/Orb Size
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Cash Bonus
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Coin Bonus
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Cells Per Kill Bonus
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Free Upgrades
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Packages
- Workshop Enhancement/Utility/Enemy Level Skips