Available now for most platforms,  please restart your storefront or be patient if it does not appear for you, these updates can take some time to be rolled out to every region due to how the storefronts are set up.
Update Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Uweu4vFds

New Awesome

• New Hero & Skin Introduction
  • As the final piece of our collaboration with Mattel, we are excited to welcome the newest Hero - He-Man, the most powerful man (err, Monkey) in the universe!
  • As all well-versed Masters of the Universe fans know, He-Man is the alter ego of the noble Adam, Prince of Eternia. While He-Man is the eponymous hero, Prince Adam plays a huge role in the classic and more recent cartoons, so we went above and beyond to create 2 heroes in one with distinct attacks and abilities and the ability to transform between them!
  • Prince Adam is always the deployed hero, who attacks quickly as a large melee style sword wielder and is immune to negative effects like Stuns from Bloons or Bosses. But you don’t have to wait long (or at all with the right Knowledge), as the real magic happens at level 3 when he unlocks his iconic Transformation ability, allowing him to hold aloft his magic sword and swap to his super-powered alter ego who trades the attack speed for sheer devastating damage, by the power of Grayskull!
  • Now as many of you know from community discussions on She-Ra and Skeletor, the Mattel items must be presented as in-app purchases (IAPs) to fulfill our license obligations and do justice to this awesome, long-standing He-Man universe. We feel this full hero does that justice, and brings fun and exciting new mechanics that we want to make sure can be fairly used in all of our events and competitive modes.  After much discussion, we made the only logical and (in)sane conclusion - instead of doing 2 heroes in 1, let’s do 4 heroes in 1!
  • So we’re also introducing the noble Monkey of the Court, Dan D’Monke, and his secret identity, The Masqued Macaque! Technically identical for game balance but with entirely different 3d models, animations, descriptions, and voiceovers, Dan D’Monke fills the base Hero position on which the He-Man skin is applied, just as Adora and Obyn provide the base for She-Ra and Skeletor.
  • To support the release of the major motion picture release of He-Man, we are presenting the He-Man and Dan D’Monke bundle pack exclusively for 2 weeks only upon release of v55. After two weeks, Dan D’Monke will become available for Monkey Money purchase like any other Hero. Until Dan D’Monke is available for Monkey Money unlock, he will not be enabled in any events or competitive modes.
• The Hero & Abilities
  • Level 3 Transformation - Activation will blast nearby Bloons with crackling lightning and leave a short lingering attack speed bonus while swapping him back and forth between a quick supportive base form and a solo wrecking ball with alternate attacks and abilities.
  • Level 7 Strategically allows another target tower to be teleported to another location. But when he’s transformed, he takes matters into his own hands and leaps across the battlefield to smash down at the target location himself in a devastating, stunning impact.
  • Level 10 Ability rallies nearby towers, inspires them to shrug off negative Bloon effects and deal increased damage for a short time (at the cost of a slower attack speed) and the cry even activates the effects of passive abilities in radius as if a life were just lost. While transformed however he unleashes a Berserk Warcry that sends him into a hyper-speed frenzy, dashing wildly between Bloons across a huge range, shredding them into confetti (that you definitely shouldn’t let your cats play with).
• Hero Ultimate Survival Kit
  • While certain attacks and effects are limited to one form or the other, this hero is tough as nails built to survive the densest Bloon rushes.
  • Some of the mechanics that make this work are: the Net Trap catches and slows small groups of Bloons, the Magic Barrier where escaping Bloons cause a magical shield to burst out from the exit to reduce lives lost while shoving the Bloons back and stunning them, Taunt & Stomp to distract and reduce the damage of Bloons or confuse and scatter them, the Quick Thinking (pensive cooldown) clutch mechanic distracts Bloons on the verge of escape backwards, and First Aid will completely heal any damage from a leaked Bloon (assuming you survive the hit!) but only at a rate of 1 life healed per second for only one Bloon at a time - so try not to get hurt again until the healing is done! At the highest levels Mana Shield is generated just from popping Bloons, and his damage scales up the tougher the Bloon threat and the further they are through the track!
  • As noted before, He-Man & Dan D’Monke can be obtained from the He-Man Booster Pack, He-Man Prestige Pack or the new Masters of the Universe Mega Pack which contains the entire set of the Mattel collab items. He-man comes with his own absolute secret Banner & Avatar ඞ
  • Not to be forgotten, this bundle will also give a New Power - The Sword of Power. Throw the Sword of Power into the ground where it pulses periodically, generating Mana Shield and dealing damage while sending Bloons backwards. For the Power’s duration, both He-Man & She-Ra attack faster
• New Beginner Map - Skull Tweak
  • The Iconic Skull from the legendary Skull Peak in Bloons TD5 makes a triumphant return, though slightly tweaked, who would’ve guessed it hadn’t yet reached its true peak? Originally a community made winning submission by Adriano Rossi released in 2014, this fan-favourite battlefield retains its classic layout, complete with rocky cliffside walls, deep fissures and Tim. Seeing this classic map come to life in a modern Bloons 3D setting is super rad!
• New Quests
  • Another Path on the Park - A normal game of Bloons on Park Path. Except there’s another path for the Bloons to follow!
  • Middle of the Wild West - Middle of the Road against some wild, rampagin’ Bloons. Join a Posse of Monkeys and try to win with reduced income
  • Primary Power Pairs - Use Primary Monkeys to beat Underground with the Tier 5 limit increased by 1 for all paths!
  • He-Man Has the Power! - Help He-Man and She-Ra save the day
• New Trophy Store Items
  • Monkeys: OG Wind Up Dart Monkey pet for the Dart Monkey
  • Game & UI: Classic Ninja Avatar, Classic Dart Monkey Avatar, Classic Monkey Ace Avatar, Wistful Quincy profile banner
• New CT Team Store items
  • Building Props: JuiceBar 
  • Base Props: Sandcastle, Icecream monkey, Beach Umbrella, Volleyball Net, Monkey Drinking Coconut 
  • Water Props: Lifeboat, Swimming Monkey, Shark…
  • Flying Props: Paragliding Monkey, Seagull 
  • Team Banners: PArty Hands banner
  • Icons: Snoozing Cat icon, Fortified Castle icon
  • Frames: New Scroll frame

Social Seasons

Social Season #2 is coming up, aiming for late June-early July, and we’re excited about the changes that we’ve made based on our own play experiences and community feedback. Right off the bat, we agree there were too many ‘win games’ goals for the first season. We had already done a significant pare back of target numbers and repeat tasks, but the goals released in Season #1 were still more of a time investment than intended, especially for players who were not setting up their games to make progress on 2 or more goals at the same time. Season #2’s goals have been designed to reduce the time investment overall and also to help players make progress on multiple goals at once. Our hope for Social Seasons continues to be that we’re providing fun, themed events with cool Perk and Global rewards that also provide reasons to mix up your normal play and try new builds. More details:

• For any ‘Win Games’ goal no single tier asks for more than 5-10 game wins
• Season #2 goals list has a more varied tasks and more tasks that can be mixed together with others for those who like to plan out simultaneous task clearing with the fewest games possible
• An indicator will now display when you have hit your daily contribution to global goals
• Season #2 has 7 new Perks, including Global Jungle Drums & a Monkey Super Star
• Of course, a new exclusive to Social Seasons Banner & Pet have been created for the Global rewards
• Theme hint: moustache

Bug Fixes & General Changes

• A number of localization & ui fixes
• Resolved a number of minor analytic mis-counts found from Social Seasons
• Odyssey Completion screen should now show the icon for the difficulty you beat
• Resolved an issue with round budget generation in Apopaylpse / Freeplay rounds
• Resolved issues with some towers double dipping certain Monkey Knowledge points
• The ‘session token is invalid’ error popup now offers a "Logout" option to work around
• Review Map should no longer hide the Social Seasons button from the end-game screen
• Resolved a Dev build issue where if Quincy was level 7 at the start of round 25 - BOOM
• [Co-op] Moved the Home button on the Rejoining screen to prevent accidents
• [Powers] Hype Boost Monkey accuracy bonus no longer buffs 360° attacks
• [Powers] Tech Bot Primes with Abilities can now be targeted by other Techbots
• [Powers] xx3 Tech Bot Prime ability radius now increases with increases to tower range
• [Powers] Tech Bot & Prime’s Link or Unlink abilities no longer count as abilities used
• [Powers] Resolved a crash that would occur when placing a xx3 Techbot Prime, and then placing the other T3 Techbot Primes

Event changes

• [Social Season] Resolved a conflict between multiple Social Season Medals
• [Social Season] The global progress bar now swaps to display Team progress when full
• [Boss Rush] Bloonarius should properly Bleed Bloons in Rush. If it bleeds we can pop it.
• [Boss Event] The projectile clear on Boss Spawn & End of Round should now properly destroy projectiles rather than expiring them, which will prevent Sub-Projectile spawns
• [Diamondback] Resolved a game crash that would occur in any game upon losing the first life of the game while using an ambidextrous 052 Boomerange monkey
• [Diamondback] No longer completely blocks abilities with ‘max pierce’
• [Lych] Corrected the Boss Roundset within Boss Challenge mode
• [Lych] Skull damage thresholds should now work again

Map Specific changes

• [Dark Castle] Removables should properly restore on map restart
• [Adora’s Temple] Should no longer layer track items inside the temple in some areas
• [Infernal] Resolved a visual issue with the background assets
• [Figgens Creek] Hasn’t been found. Still doesn’t exist. 

Legends changes

• [Frontier] Temporary Traits 'remaining rounds' countdown should now live update
• [Frontier] Frontier Bloons now list below all others in Sandbox & only after being seen
• [Frontier] Temporary Traits boosting Bananite now work on Bannite Clusters & Chests
• [Frontier] When already at full stamina, fishing will no longer play ‘Stamina Recovering’
• [Rogue] Power Nexus and Master of All Trades artifacts should apply correctly together
• [Rogue] The Slipped on the Peel Artifact no longer slows Bloons on Zebra Bloon Tiles
• [Rogue] Resolved an issue with some Artifact produced projectiles not scaling in size
• [Rogue] Bloons on Zebra Bloon Tiles now benefit from Freeplay Speed modifiers
• [Rogue] The Tit for Tat Artifact will now speed up Bloons on Zebra Bloon Tiles
• [Rogue] Bargaining Chip no longer costs more to purchase from merchants
• [Rogue] All bosses should use their Elite Appearance in late stages
• [Rogue] Optimizations made to legends save files

Tower Specific Fixes

• Desperado - A weapon swap bug that no longer matters as weapon swap was changed
• Super Monkey - Resolved an issue with temple not saving its full discount buff
• Super Monkey - Resolved a visual placement issue with the temple’s creation animation
• Ninja Monkey - Resolved an issue where x5x Grand Sabotage ability could be buffed
• Alchemist - Resolved an issue with some transformed towers losing Camo detection
• Alchemist - Alchemist Popssum pet can now be muted
• Druid - Projectile spread can now be buffed by Accuracy improvements
• Druid - Paragon should no longer consume cash while in Review Mode
• Druid - Should no longer be able to count. Themselves for Poplust buff during placement
• Mermonkey - xx5 Final Harmonic should no longer sometimes lose its hero buff
• Monkey Village - Resolved a minor verbal dispute with Striker Jones
• Beast Handler - Can no longer give a Merge button to Pro Farmers

Hero Specific Fixes

• Quincy - just lost the game
• Gwendolin - No longer loses her extra projectiles after being buffed after loading a save
• Striker Jones - Should no longer cause x4x Bomb Shooters to not get the cooldown buff from 4xx Monkey Villages
• Geraldo - Glue is no longer invisible if placed at the top of a map
• Corvus - Resolved an issue where Camo Detection did not apply to the Repel Spell

Platform Specific fixes

• [Netflix] Resolved a crash that could occur when loading Cloud Save mid-game

Balance Changes 

Boomerang Monkey
With 052 Permacharge much preferred due to the ease of obtaining pierce externally, we have moved the ability’s extra damage bonus from crosspath into the base upgrade so that 250 can be more competitive

• x5x Permacharge ability damage bonus increased 8 > 10
• 052 Permacharge ability damage bonus remains 10

Bomb Shooter
Bomb Paragon is in a spot it seems to perform well, but it still doesn’t see a good spotlight in boss events so we’ve scaled up the Boss Bonuses with a bump in price.

• Main attack boss damage 2500 > 3500
• Primary Cluster boss damage 1000 > 1250
• Recursive Cluster boss damage 500 > 600
• Paragon upgrade price 600k > 650k

Glue Gunner
With the 240 crosspath now providing MOAB Layer soaking, Glue Strike’s base ability will last through more layers before wearing off, but with a slower cooldown to match the T5 which already sits at a 40s cooldown.

• x4x Glue Strike layers glued by ability 3 > 5
• x4x Glue Strike ability cooldown 30s > 40s

Desperado
Mid-path desperado’s pistol was intended to be a soft ‘minimum range’, but implementation was confusing and frustrating to use, somehow again right after Wolfy’s recent struggles (fun videos those), we decided to work on improving the first timer's desperado experience for this path. The Rifle weapon will now always take priority and shoot first over the pistol if there are targets within Rifle radius, HOWEVER, pistol range is now a true deadzone that the rifle cannot target within. TLDR; The pistol now attacks when there are only Bloons within the pistol radius and nothing in the rifle radius.

• x3x Rifle takes priority on attacks but cannot target Bloons inside pistol radius
• x3x Pistol range is now capped and will not scale with range buffs
• x3x Pistol range increased from 28 > 40

Monkey Buccaneer
Buccaneer’s Merchantmen path will now gain a damage bonus based on how much spare cash you have on-hand. This introduces a fun trade-off where you can choose to hold onto cash for a combat boost at the cost of losing advantage from immediately snowballing into more economy. It’s kinda neat

• xx3 Merchantman with cash above $10,000 damage +100%
• xx4 Favoured Trades with cash above $10,000 damage +100%
• xx4 Favoured Trades with cash above $50,000 damage +200%

Monkey Ace
Spectre was making the save-up into into a Flying Fortress too effortless so it’s single target power has been lowered with a raised upgrade cost, enough to make this not quite so easy

• xx4 Spectre Frontal Bombs bonus to Ceramic reduced 5 > 4
• xx4 Spectre Frontal darts damage reduced 8 > 6
• xx5 Flying Fortress Frontal darts damage reduced 8 > 6
• xx5 Flying Fortress price increased $85,000 > $90,000

Wizard Monkey
The Wizard Paragon's Metamorph form bonus Boss damage from the main flamethrower attack has been reduced as it overperforms even without overclocking

• Flamethrower Boss bonus damage reduced from 1000 > 800

Druid
The Monarch’s Superstorm re-hitting has felt like a success though it over-buffed single target performance while over-nerfing the blowback due to rapid pierce consumption, so we are scaling back the damage but reducing pierce penalties to balance this out. Additionally, to reduce game lag from attack speed double-dipping, the Druid Paragon's Vinenado cooldown has been increased, while its economy has been buffed with higher base income and a stronger Boss Skull multiplier - though we don’t want to quickly jump into making this easily self-sustaining the Boss Skulls in particular should now grant 5x the cash they did previously.

• Monarch of Storms 5xx storm damage 150 > 100
• 5xx Superstorm attack MOAB Penalty 4 > 2
• 5xx Superstorm attack BFB Penalty 14 > 8
• 5xx Superstorm attack DDT Penalty 7 > 6
• 5xx Superstorm attack ZOMG Penalty 44 > 32
• (Paragon) Vinenado attack cooldown 6s > 18s
• (Paragon) Base Cash Generation 120 > 240
• (Paragon) Bonus Cash Generation from farm tiers doubled
• (Paragon) Bonus Cash Generation from T5 farms doubled again
• (Paragon) Cash Generation multiplier for Boss Skulls 2x > 2.5x (total 5x)

Spike Factory
It was a day like any other. Waiting behind the front lines, ready for an attack, sat a lone "Long Life Spikes" factory. Sitting there, alone, the tower thought to itself "Is this all I have? Is this all I am? A machine meant to destroy these floating fools if they break through our defenses? Is my purpose only to sit here as backup? I want glory. I want power!"
Alas, this was something it had thought about many times, though not once had it ever even seen a Bloon. This was the life given to those who defended the Monkey Meadows.
As time went on, the lone factory grew older. One day, while minding its own business, it noticed something coming along the road… There it was, a single floating red Bloon.
The Long Life Spikes instinctively prepared its spikes and finally claimed its first pop. While overjoyed by the accomplishment, that joy soon turned to dread at the sight of countless more Bloons following in the rounds ahead.
"What is happening on the front lines?" it muttered to itself. "Was Ryan AFK? No matter, I must stand my ground!"
And so countless rounds went by as the factory popped more and more Bloons… No longer just red, but innumerable variations of blue, green, yellow, and even pink.
After some time, the small factory realised it could not keep up spike production at this pace, it needed more power, but felt totally helpless.
Just as its last spikes were being destroyed and the end seemed near, it happened. Something shifted inside. "Long Life Spikes" blinked for the last time, and when its eyes reopened, "Deadly Spikes" was born. With ruthless efficiency, it tore through the incoming wave with ease.
After a few more rounds of chaos, it seemed the situation on the front lines had stabilized. For the first time since its awakening, it was able to cover the area with a pile of iron, 30 feet high!
"I will stand my ground till the very end.” it vowed. “I will not let a single Bloon pass."
Many, many more rounds passed. Every now and then the Bloons would return, and every time Deadly Spikes stood proud and victorious. No longer fighting mere Bloons, it now faced off against massive MOABs with pride.
Despite its newfound strength, feelings of dread began to grow as the rounds progressed. Its defences became increasingly easy for the Bloons to break through.
Deadly Spikes knew something was coming… something big, something B.A.D.
It began preparing for the worst, modifying itself into the ultimate machine. Amidst the constant onslaught, a transformation occurred. With beautiful gleaming yellow paint and spikes sparkling with raw power, "Perma-Spike" was born.
Empowered and fearless, all its past worries faded into a distant memory; this was its duty, and the Bloons were nothing but fodder against it now. 
It waited, bolstering its defences, and waited more.
After an uncomfortably small number of rounds, it arrived: A monstrous abomination of purple rubber, something akin to an eldritch horror.
Yet, despite the abomination slowly floating forward, Perma-Spike knew. Thinking back to the question it had asked itself as a lowly "Long Life Spikes," it finally understood:
"This... this is the reason I was created. This is my purpose, and I will not back down."
And that is exactly what it did. Despite the ruthless assault from the Big Airship of Doom, Perma-Spike stood strong, eliminating every layer.
After popping the very last red Bloon from the now-deflated B.A.D., the entire world fell silent.
Standing there, looking down at the fields of rubber, "Perma-Spike" looked towards the sky.

• xx5 Permaspike Unyielding.
• xx5 Permaspike Undefeated.
• xx5 Permaspike unchanged

Engineer
Oh yea we have one more tower balance change. As the Engineer paragon moves to a more supportive role, we are toning down the direct boss damage and attack speed but also lowering the upgrade cost.

• Main attack Boss Damage: 300 > 100
• Main attack rate: 1.5s > 2s
• Upgrade cost reduced: 650k > 600k

Hero Balance

Captain Churchill
For additional synergy potential, Churchill’s long list for damage bonuses will now include Stunned Bloons!

• Lv15 Now Canonically deals bonus damage to Stunned Bloons +4
• Lv15 Machine Gun bonus damage to Stunned as well +2

Pat Fusty
To smooth out Pat’s levelling progression, we’ve increased range earlier, added an extra mid-game damage step for Rallying Roar, increased his late-game pierce, and at Level 20 the Big Squeeze hug also hits the surrounding area with a powerful stun to provide leeway during Pat’s crush downtime.

• Lv1 tower range 24 > 27
• Lv9 tower range 27 > 30
• Lv16 tower range 29 > 30
• Lv9 increases Rallying Roar damage buff 1 > 2
• Lv15 Also increases base attack pierce 20 > 30
• Lv18 pierce increase 30 > 40
• Lv20 Big Squeeze also deals a stun AoE to the area when used 5s

Adora
Since Adora’s final form was hurt by recent Overclock changes, we’ve buffed her Lv20 Ball of Light damage and just fun further boosted her True Adora form.

• Adora 20 ball of light damage 15 > 20
• Adora 20 ball of light fortified damage +15 > +20
• True Adora Form damage boost 8 > 24
• True Adora Form BoL damage boost 72 > 180

Powers

• Hype Monkey Boost monkey money cost 400 > 300
• Hype Monkey Boost buff radius 30 > 45
• Tech Bot Prime monkey money cost 100 > 150
• xx3 Super Monkey Beacon permanent increase per use 10% > 25%
• xx3 Super Monkey Beacon damage max increase stacks 100x > 150x
• xx1 Banana Farmer Pro also reduces upgrade cost of T1-3 Farms by per stack by 2%
• Sword of Protection grants He-Man and She-Ra faster ability cooldown while active

Bosses

• Diamondback Tail HP > 12.5% > 10%
• [Boss Rush] Diamondback Tail HP 125 > 150
• [Boss Rush] Blastapopoulos starting cash $2000 > 2500
• [Boss Rush] Lych starting cash $2000 > 2500
• Lych Undead MOAB: Leak Damage 200 > 70
• Lych Undead MOAB: Base speed 25 > 20
• Lych Soul Tier 1: Health 1000 > 750
• Lych Soul Tier 1: Speed 18 > 17
• Lych Soul Tier 1: Lych Souls 3 > 2
• Lych Soul Elite Tier 1: Health 1600 > 1400
• Lych Soul Elite Tier 1: Speed 23 > 21
• [Boss Rush] Lych Tombstone Starting Health: 100 > 50
• [Boss Rush] Lych Undead Moab starting health: 50 > 40
• [Boss Rush] Lych Undead BFB starting health: 100 > 90
• [Boss Rush] Lych Undead ZOMG starting health: 150 > 130
• [Boss Rush] Lych Soul Starting health: 150 > 140

Rogue

• Rogue Artifact: Charismatic Leader allows for additional recruitments at every campfire
• New Rogue Boosts: Sword of Protection, Hype Boost Monkey, Techbot Pro
• Map category thresholds have been tweaked by stage to push Expert maps further back
  • Stage 2 Beginner 45% > 50%
  • Stage 2 Expert 5% > 0%
  • Stage 3 Beginner 25% > 30%
  • Stage 3 Expert 15% > 10%
  • Stage 4+ unchanged

Bloons TD 6 v55.2 - Update Notes!
Available now, please restart your storefront or be patient if it does not appear for you, these updates can take some time to be rolled out to every region due to how the storefronts are set up.

General changes

• Resolved a number of UI issues
• Resolved an unknown crashsplosiom
• Resolved a crash that could occur on entering Contested Territory
• The Birthday Banner should again be claimable from the Birthday Quest (during event)
• Resolved a rare crash from entering Skull Tweak with an enabled empty Jukebox 
• xx4 Necromancer wizards should now stop acting up around giant skulls
• xx4 Shattering Shells mortar can now strip Lych of regrow property

He-Man

• Prince Adam’s distraction rate should no longer decrease at higher levels
• Prince Adam’s battlecry buff will now last on other towers after he transforms
• Resolved an issue with the Magic Shield appearing off-screen on some maps
• He-Man’s tower state should update correctly when redeployed during transformation. Or sold or deleted during transformations. Don’t get me started, last time we
• He-Man’s total range from buffs should now be consistent between transformations
• Of course people would teleport the ice monkey that he’s sitting on
• He-Man should no longer double dip on artifact effects

___

Update: Bloons TD 6 v55.1 - Update Notes!

• Resolved a number of UI issues
• Resolved a crash that could occur interacting with the notifications menu while not connected to the internet during a game cloud backup attempt
• Silas Lv5 should now correctly increase the freeze duration for Druids
• Tecobot Prime’s bonus should no longer stack incorrectly when target is upgraded
• [Rogue] Resolved a crash attempting to start a campaign with Gentleman Geraldo
• [Rogue] Resolved a rounding error with minigame goals & max shop upgrades
• [Maps] End of Track items should no longer spawn on inactive track lanes
• [Maps] Zombie Bloons should not layer above the peak of the skull

He-Man fixes

• Resolved a number of animation & ui issues with He-Man
• Resolved an issue with He-Mans head displaying wrong on low quality android devices
• Resolved an issue with He-Man’s voice lines playing at the wrong time
• Resolved a softlock on the hero selection menu when your co-op game starts
• He-Man should no longer display higher range than intended when buffed
• He-Man can no longer be Radar Jammed by the Phayze Boss Bloon
• He-Man should no longer occasionally be unselectable upon loading a save
• He Man should no longer benefit incorrectly from cooldown buffs in some cases
• He-Man should no longer lose attacks if lv7 leap is used too much in quick succession
• He-Man’s shields should now display above Road Items
• [Rogue] He-Man should no longer lose bonus ability charges when swapping form
• Techbots will now automatically re-connect to He-Man after transformation ends