Difference between revisions of "Bombing Guide"

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==Introduction==
 
==Introduction==
  
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A '''bomber''' is a core player key to any [[party]]. As a bomber, you are tasked with keeping enemies from getting too close to your allies, keeping yourself out of harm's way, and doing area of effect damage while applying a wide range of [[status effect]]s. Though this may seem to be a tedious line of work at first, it is an integral position for any organized party, and to some there is no greater satisfaction than to see a bombing run go perfectly.
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A '''bomber''' is a person specializing in a play-style involving the primary use of a [[bomb]]. A bomber's responsibilities vary between crowd control, spreading [[status effects]], or dealing damage over a large area. This may seem to be a tedious line of work to some, but bombs are very powerful tools and can significantly ease the difficultly of content for a [[party]]. There are two key points to being a successful bomber:
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There are four points to being a bomber;
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* avoid the common mistake of simply running about randomly while dropping bombs erratically.
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* be aware of their party as well as their enemies.
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* memorize the spawn patterns that appear after a party button has been pressed. and,
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* know how to deal with monsters that attack at range.
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== Bombs ==
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*Knowing which bombs are best for each situation, either to maximize damage or survivability.
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The main equipment needed for a bomber is, of course, a [[bomb]].
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*Placing bombs strategically, as to have to the greatest positive effect.
  
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===Nitronome===
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==Bombs==
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Starting off with the best DPS Bomb, the [[Nitronome]] is the most effective blast bomb; with short fuse, medium knockback, decent damage and the best CTR possible. In general it is typical for players to choose Nitro over the Big Angry Bomb (BAB) and Irontech, as the movements make sense, and don't feel worthless and sluggish as the two other options do. This bomb is a must for bombers, and is useful in the majority of situations due to its blast canceling most enemy attacks with a knock down potential, and a knockback large enough for a bomber to place another bomb before mobs can again reach the player. An example of a great Nitronome chain can be seen here (''link to a video'')
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===Big Angry Bomb===
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The next best option (but still considered a terrible option and isn't recommended) is the [[Big Angry Bomb]]. This bomb offers a large knockback, said to be in between that of a calibur, and a Divine Avenger's charge. It sounds useful, and looks tempting due as it has the largest damage possible by a bomb, however it is quite unusable, as it has a large fuse, short radius, slow movement when charging (leaving a player open for mobs attacks) but with a CTR of a blast bomb. There aren't really any situations this bomb could be used over Nitronome, unless it was used to nuke a swarm of mobs away from the player when in dire trouble. In party's, this bomb... annoys any player that you are with, as no one wants to be strolling along only to find a jelly fly across and hit them mid attack.  It's almost worse than a Calibur user who only uses the charge attack. Overall... it isn't an option unless you are a collector, or just want to try it for yourself. Just don't make a forum post complaining about it, because, well, we know.
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===Irontech Destroyer===
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Basically not an option... at all. long fuse, small radius, average damage (in between nitro + BAB) and average knock back. Any one upgrading from the 4* version will be disappointed to find the 5 star version is just a 'redder' color than its predecessor. Overall; Don't get it, as really, BAB was bad, and this is worse.
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===Graviton Vortex===
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This is another 'Situation' bomb. The [[Graviton Vortex]] is a bomb every bomber will own, just because the idea of a black hole is so cool. Many players disagree with those exclaiming how great the bomb is, but the ones disagreeing usually haven't used the bomb to it's full potential or only have the 4star version. The Vortex is great with localizing mobs to one area, and if there is a large amount of monsters in the hole, the knock back usually performed when there is 1 or 2 enemies is next to null, and the bomb can successfully be chained with little effort. This bomb also does wonder with sword combinations (like the brandish line) and can be combined with the Shivermist Buster to disallow any knock back from the bomb; which overall traps enemies to a specific area. Graviton is still something of an acquired taste. The bombing patterns used are quite different from that of blast bombs epicenter routine and Vaporizer's kiting pattern.. and it can only be experimented with. The main pattern is just to walk around in a large figure 8 if one is pure bombing, but there are other ways to feel comfortable about. There is an indepth discussion of Graviton (particularly the Vortex) located at http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/13755 in the arsenal sub-forums.
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* The Graviton Vortex is best used against melee enemies that cannot get in range quickly.  Ranged enemies are likely to snipe you off as you go in to plant the bomb thus causing you to drop the charge and fast, melee enemies (I can only really think of Greavers right now) will hit you before you finish charging.
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===Blast Bombs===
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* The first and simplest way to plant the Vortex is to rotate around the enemies until they've collected themselves roughly into a packed formation. At this point you should place the bomb such that it will catch the most enemies as they try to walk to attack you.
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{{item|Nitronome}} [[File:Attack_normal_icon.png|15px]]
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* The second and somewhat harder to notice way is in parties. This situation arises when the enemies are not interested in you (read: they are aggro-ing another player). If this is the case then you can place the Vortex deeper into their ranks since you don't give them a reason to attack you until the bomb has actually gone off.  In my experience you can get about 1-2 enemies into their ranks before you start encountering enemies that will attack you.
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{{item|Big Angry Bomb}} [[File:Attack_normal_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_stun.png|15px]]
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* Do not be afraid to stop charging and put up your shield.  Sometimes you miscalculate and an enemy gets too close for comfort.  You're likely not going to get to charge the rest of the way anyway since you'll probably get hit being so slow.
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{{item|Irontech Destroyer}} [[File:Attack_normal_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_stun.png|15px]]
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* If you plan on following up the Graviton Vortex with another charge attack from a different weapon you should get familiar with that charge attack.  With a fast enough charge you can shield after you drop the bomb, move away, and still have enough time to charge up and get an attack in.  The best way to ensure you charge your weapon fast enough is to practice with it enough to the point where you don't see the yellow flash (Not sure if this technique is already documented but nonetheless). All I mean by this is that if you time it right, you'll release the charge almost exactly at the same time it finishes charging.
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{{item|Heavy Deconstructor}} [[File:Attack_normal_icon.png|15px]]
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{{item|Dark Briar Barrage}} [[File:Attack_piercing_icon.png|15px]]
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKFs80VnqCA Video Demonstration]
  
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For demonstrations of using the Vortex in various situations against various enemies here is a Youtube video:
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A go-to mainstay of almost any bomber's arsenal, the Blast Bombs are a line of explosive weaponry that deal pure Normal damage and have a large amount of knockback on them, making these bombs exceptionally useful for tactics like "shielding" and "boxing". The Blast Bombs are some of the most generally all-around useful bombs available, they're extremely effective in any stratum in the game and they're also easy to attain as players provided with a free Blast Bomb along with all the recipes to upgrade it through to the Nitronome just by progressing through the Ranked Missions. Despite their all purpose utility bombers do have to be careful when using this group of bombs, due to their knockback and very bright visual effect upon detonating, they can be extremely disruptive in uncoordinated parties. For this reason bombers planning to use Blast Bomb-line weapons should always be sure to inform their party beforehand and try to plan out strategies before major battles.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKjKrWnpbKY
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===Dark Briar Barrage===
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====Nitronome====
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===Shivermist Buster===
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[[file:Nitronome_FSC_Screenshot_BG.png|thumb|330px|The nitronome dealing damage to a large area and pushing slags away from its blast.|left]]
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Looking for crowd control? You have found everything you need! The freeze line with its highest upgrade, the [[Shivermist Buster]], will freeze mobs in place. The damage is quite low, though. If a mob that is frozen takes no damage until the status effect wears off, it will take some damage from the thawing.
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The [[Nitronome]] is arguably the best damage bomb available to bombers. It is a large-radius bomb that deals damage to everything inside of its blast radius as well as pushing everything outward from the center of the bomb. Of the [[Blast Bomb]] alchemy line bombs, it has the shortest fuse, fastest walk speed, and a short charge time. Want to deal damage to a large area? The Nitronome is the obvious choice.
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This bomb can be a very good support weapon. Freeze most of the mobs, finish the leftovers. Alternatively, you can pick single mobs and leave the rest. Note that mobs will become unfrozen if they take damage of any kind. They are also still able to attack, hitting them from the side or from behind is safe.
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Combining a freeze bomb with a damaging weapon can be quite devastating. First freeze the mobs in place, then charge up a blast bomb or a calibur sword. Since the mobs are all herded nicely, the AOE damage will apply to many targets at once.
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There is a downside that should be considered, however. If a teammate or you is trapped in a corner and mobs are around him, freezing the mobs will stick them in place. As a result, the knight will not be able to evade the situation by pushing the mobs away with his shield.
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===Ash of Agni===
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The Nitronome has less knockback and less damage than the alternate blast bomb alchemy lines but it makes up for it with the fastest bomb-charging walk speed and a faster fuse than the other two. These attributes combine to create a weapon that leaves the bomber feeling nimble and agile, allowing them to avoid attacks while charging bombs and using the Nitronome's moderate amount of knockback as a "shield."
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===Venom Veiler===
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===Voltaic Tempest===
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===Ionized Salt Bomb===
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Any one telling you how great this bomb is, is sadly mistaken. The bomb itself has the slowest CTR of any bomb, in fact its in its' own league. Sure the damage is effective, and might work well in Tier 1 + 2 against beasts but beyond that its a waste of CE especially when Radiant offers you more. One point players might argue, is that the bomb's Shock chance makes up for the charge time, but there isn't really anything else. The bomb has normal + piercing damage, with a bonus Jelly damage (overall making the ineffective piercing give average damage) and is useful against all mobs apart from construct. The DPS on the bomb is really why the minority of bombers use it, and as Radiant Sun Shards covers a comparable range of effectiveness towards mob types and has a faster charge time, Sun Shards is usually favored over Ionized. In the end Dark Briar Barrage is better against beasts than ionized (which players claim is it's leading point) with higher DPS and a generally satisfying charge time, which doesn't throw a bomber off after using other bombs. In all, Radiant is the better option.
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===Radiant Sun Shards.===
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===Heavy Deconstructor===
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== Bomb Alchemy Paths ==
 
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This is a list of the alchemy paths of all the bombs currently in game.  Click the bomb you want to view the materials needed to craft it.
 
  
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{{showhide|[[file:Icon-hazebomb.png|20px]] The Haze Bomb
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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|content=
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* The explosion (and accompanying screen shake) obscures the view of surroundings for you and your teammates
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* Poorly placed bombs can push enemies into teammates
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* Over-kiting enemies past bombs will push enemies towards you
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| title = The Haze Bomb
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| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
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{{Alchemy path
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|stage0=
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|stage1=Haze Bomb
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|stage2=Fiery Vaporizer
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====Big Angry Bomb====
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|stage3=Fiery Vaporizer Mk II
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The next best blast bomb after the Nitronome is the [[Big Angry Bomb]], and is a unique option for those who want everything wiped from the screen. Offering an incredible amount of knockback and the highest damage per explosion of any bomb in the game, the BAB is a tool for players whom want to feel powerful, to control an area and sure as hell make sure nothing can get to you. A common misconception many people have is that the [[Nitronome]] is always the superior weapon, in actuality the mechanics of the two are different enough that they actually fill different niches; whilst chaining the BAB is significantly slower and less aggressive than Nitro-chaining, the greater knockback and stun effect it offers make it a much more effective "shielding weapon" when against certain kinds of enemies, making it a great choice in the [[Unknown Passage]]. Additionally the BAB is also a viable alternative in Lockdown despite what you might assume; many Strikers will find themselves taken off-guard by the slower-fuse and the potential stun on its explosion can leave anyone you hit easy pickings for your own Strikers.
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|stage4=Fiery Atomizer
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|stage5=Ash of Agni
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* Huge knockback alongside the long fuse means you need to be more pro-active in leading enemies into correct positioning than with the [[Nitronome]]
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* Slow walking speed when charging leaves you vulnerable
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====Irontech Destroyer====
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The Irontech Destroyer deals a bit more damage than Nitronome and does more knockback while having a fair chance of minor stun. The fuse time is as long as that of Big Angry Bomb and the walk speed reduction is also the same, making the bomb riskier to use than Nitronome. As the charge time is somewhere between that of Nitronome and BAB, DPS is not necessarily higher. Instead, Irontech sits somewhere right between its cousins: Hitting stronger than Nitro but being more spammable than BAB.
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Some bombers find that the knockback and rapid exploding of Irontech negates the threat posed by the slowed walk speed and fuse time once you can get a chain going.
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For the bomber on the cheap, the 4* Irontech Bomb is still stronger than Nitronome per blast (and, frankly, 5* Destroyer is barely any stronger) while still having the full radius of 5* bombs. As a bonus, the fuse time is faster than Destroyer's, too.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* Slow walk speed will make dodging harder
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* Long fuse time makes it trickier to get the second bomb going than with Nitronome
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====Heavy Deconstructor====
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One of the least known bombs is the [[Heavy Deconstructor]]. This bomb gives the appearance of a gremlin-demo style 'ticker' bomb, as well as showing what appears to be the Darkfang symbol in the blast effect. The Heavy Decon is one of the least used because, in all honesty, Master Blast Bomb is better. The two are the same in fuse, radius and charge time... so what's the problem? The construct damage bonus isn't really that noticeable and the Master Blast bomb's extra damage overall is a nicer option. The worst aspect is that the Heavy Deconstructor stops at 4* so the Nitronome greatly outclasses it. In end game bomber mode, its probably just a better option to look for a UV Construct bonus than going to the effort of making a Heavy Decon.
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During the preview, the Heavy Decon was even more disappointing with an incredibly small radius (that of today's regular Blast/Super Blast Bomb). However, back then it seemed to have an actual use due to the reduced radius after getting a UV on bombs. (Obviously this feature has been removed.) This made the Heavy Decon an actual option inside the bombing community, eliminating gun puppies in a matter of 3 hits in a party of 4. Now though, there is no real use in favoring a Heavy Deconstructor over the Master Blast and for now it is only a novelty; perhaps it will be balanced in the future.
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====Dark Briar Barrage====
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[[file:DBB_Gremlin_Screenshot_BG.png|thumb|330px|A Dark Briar Barrage explosion knocks down a soft-bodied Darkfang Thwacker.]]
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The [[Dark Briar Barrage]] (DBB) is a [[Damage#Piercing_Damage|piercing]] damage bomb with characteristics similar to the Nitronome. Despite this the Dark Briar Barrage is not technically a "Blast Bomb" as it is neither part of the same alchemy tree, nor does it have the characteristic knockback of the other Blast Bombs, instead being capable of knocking down soft-bodied enemies such as [[gremlin|gremlins]] and [[wolver|wolvers]]. 
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The absence of knockback makes the DBB a great choice for bombers less adept at nitronome placement.  The non-disruptive nature of the bomb means that teammates will not have to make adjustments to their gameplay and also means that several DBBs can be comboed together effectively without interfering with each other.  The DBB is an excellent choice against [[fiend|fiends]], [[beast|beasts]], [[undead]], and [[gremlin|gremlins]]. However because it deals piercing damage, it is ineffective against slimes and construct.
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When attacking enemies neutral to piercing ([[undead]] and [[gremlin|gremlins]]) the DBB has the same damage output as a Nitronome.
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Because the DBB has no knockback, it offers less protection and must be used differently than a typical blast bomb.  Bombers can take advantage of the DBB's non-disruptive behavior by running away from enemies while placing down DBBs and essentially kiting them into the blast zone.  Another strategy is to take advantage of the lack of knockback by overlapping multiple bombs' blast areas on an enemy's position (like a Venn diagram[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Venn0001.svg]) while dodging attacks normally.  This will allow bombers to easily hit a target multiple times without having to predict where enemies will be pushed.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* The lack of knockback needs you to be far more careful than with other Blast Bombs
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* The knockdown effect will cease to work on various enemies in larger parties
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* The DBB line recipes can only be acquired via [[Basil]]
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=== 'Vaporizer' Bombs===
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[[File:2013-08-17 00002.jpg|thumb|330px|Bombers use vaporizer bombs to defend a point in [[Lockdown]].|left]]
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{{item|Ash of Agni}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_fire.png|15px]]
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{{item|Shivermist Buster}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_freeze.png|15px]]
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{{item|Venom Veiler}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_poison.png|15px]]
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{{item|Voltaic Tempest}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_shock.png|15px]]
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{{item|Stagger Storm}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_stun.png|15px]]
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{{item|Torpor Tantrum}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_sleep.png|15px]]
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1AObW3Tuhk Video Demonstration]
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Amongst all weapons in the game that are capable of inflicting status conditions upon the inhabitants of the Clockworks, one group reigns supreme and they are the "Vaporizer Bomb" line. Vaporizer Bombs are characterized by a small initial explosion that inflict an okay amount of elemental damage, but then spread a large cloud of "haze" that deals a particular status effect on everything within it that's vulnerable, making these weapons exceptionally effective at applying status effects to large groups of enemies. Naturally this also makes them effective tools in [[Lockdown]] where they can act as an exceptional tool for area denial. The weakness to these bombs however is that it's impossible to target single foes, which means there are certain unique considerations one must make depending on the status in question, as will be outlined below.
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====Ash of Agni====
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The final upgrade of the [[Fiery Vaporizer]] line, the [[Ash of Agni]], creates a fiery mist that sets any enemies on [[fire]] that were foolish enough to not run away. Although Vaporizers are traditionally considered 'support' bombs, the AoA is capable of clearing rooms of enemies by itself. This is typically done by kiting the area while repeatedly laying down more bombs to keep enemies on fire, this strategy can out DPS the healing of [[Mender|Gremlin Menders]], trivializing arenas or danger rooms, especially if used in conjunction with a Venom Veiler.
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This bomb also works well in combination with Blast Bombs, since they can repeatedly knock enemies away from you while they're on fire.
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Since [[Fire]] only causes damage it should not disrupt other party members, making the AoA an incredibly reliable bomb that can be used in nearly every situation.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* Can set [[Lichen#Oiler|Oilers]] and [[Lichen#Toxoil|Toxoils]] on [[fire]]
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====Shivermist Buster====
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[[file:Shivermist-BombingGuide.png|thumb|330px|A Shivermist Buster makes [[Lord Vanaduke]] battle a breeze.|right]]
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Looking for crowd control? The [[Shivermist Buster]], will [[freeze]] mobs in place, preventing them from turning around or moving. But be careful! A frozen enemy is still able to attack despite being rooted in place.
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The upside to freezing a crowd of enemies is they're easy pickings to take out one at a time, and you give teammates time to set up powerful charge attacks with weapons like a [[Combuster]]. The downside is that on its own Shivermist won't really deal any damage, a frozen foe only takes damage upon thawing - which they don't do unless left alone, making it a tiring process to kill things with this freeze alone.
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However, there is a even more significant risk to keep in mind. If a knight is completely surrounded by enemies,then freezing them in place results in an effective death trap; the trapped knight is unable to escape their predicament by shield bumping or dashing and will likely be killed as a result. For this reason the [[Torpor Tantrum]] is a safer crowd control bomb. Despite all this, Shivermist has always held a relevant place in many player's inventories due to how much easier it can make the [[Firestorm Citadel]] for newer players, especially [[Lord Vanaduke]] himself.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* Enemies can still attack from the front; approach enemies from behind to melee
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* Can refreeze melted [[Jelly#Ice_Cube|Ice Cubes]]
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* Can create an impenetrable wall of enemies which Knights cannot shield bump through
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====Venom Veiler====
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Perhaps the most interesting of all status effects, poison acts as a debuff to your enemies; reducing their attack power considerably, as well as a minor debuff to their defenses. The Venom Veiler is perhaps the epitome of a true support bomb, providing little to no direct damage whilst instead increasing the survivability and damage of your teammates. At least that's the way it looks on paper, however simply using veiler on it's own to provide support will often fail to result in a comparable damage output than if you had just been using a damaging weapon yourself, even with three teammates! As a result of this the most effective way to use veiler is to set the bomb and then switch to an offensive weapon to take advantage of the poison yourself, the poison lasts long enough that you can deal more than enough damage between bomb placements without needing to keep the mist up all of the time.
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Now although this may sound kind of mediocre thus far, there is one situation in which poison becomes exceptionally powerful; when there are healers are in the room. The reason for this is that poisoned mobs actually take damage when they're healed, rather than regain health. So in Tier 3 for example, if a room of poisoned foes walk onto the circle of healing cast by gremlin menders, they're going to take quite a lot of damage - so the room can be completed in less time than with a lot of other bombs. As mentioned earlier, this makes n fact the Ash of Agni & Venom Veiler a potent combination that can easily carry you through the final waves of even the most challenging [[Arena|Arenas]], at least those that aren't fire or poison themed themselves.
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With all this in mind, Venom Veiler can actually be a great bomb in the right situations, especially in shadow lairs, which have a lot of healers about.
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====Voltaic Tempest====
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[[file:Voltaic_Tempest_Screenshot.png|thumb|330px|Voltaic Tempest mist spreading shock status to nearby Slags.]]
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The Voltaic Tempest is an AoE [[shock]] bomb which delivers damage while interrupting the movements and attacks of your enemies. Now although this may be somewhat helpful against a single enemy, it's true potential shines against groups of tightly clustered foes, any enemy that spasms from Shock will also damage nearby monsters, and trigger more spasms of any other shocked enemies. This makes Voltaic Tempest extremely powerful when used in conjunction with a vortex line-bomb, or just generally against areas with large groups of foes such as [[Compounds]]. Ash of Agni and Voltaic Tempest are a popular combination for damaging enemies that aren't immune or resistant to Fire or Shock. Keep in mind that Shock deals elemental damage, and thus is not nearly as effective against Gremlins or Beasts.
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What really distinguishes tempest from most other bombs however is its incredible utility in LockDown. In Tier 2, spamming Lightning Capacitors (the 3* version in this line of alchemy) is an effective way to defend capture points. This is because the majority of players tend to wear the Wolver or Cobalt line of armor (both of which provides no elemental or shock protection). The mist keeps Recons off of the capture point as well exposing those caught in the initial blast (and keeping them from re-shielding/disappearing). Strikers, on the other hand, might be able to fly over the capture point without getting shocked, though many times fly right into the mist and are unable to fly off as easily. However Guardians can shield themselves from your status, and the repeated 'hits' of the bomb will basically make Guardians invincible while in the mist, although this will usually only result in a stalemate since they're unable to drop their shield to engage you for long.
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Although be weary, in Tier 3 LockDown, more players will have shock protection, or elemental resistance, mostly due to UVs, but the Voltaic Tempest is still a very viable defensive tool as most players will still not be protected against its effects, especially due to the popularity of the Chaos set & Black Kat Cowls.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
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* Can supercharge [[Lichen#quicksilvers|quicksilvers]]
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* Enemies can break ghost blocks, activate switches, and blow up explosive crates with shock spasms
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* Enemies have reduced knock back while shocked
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* The Voltaic Tempest line recipes can only be acquired via [[Basil]]
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====Stagger Storm====
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The Stagger Storm is a status bomb that [[stun|stuns]] enemies that enter its mist.  While stunning enemies, slowing down their attacks and movement, can be a useful crowd control tool, the stun duration does not last long after the mist dissipates.  Bombers wishing to use Stagger Storm should attempt to keep the status rings deployed at all times to avoid having enemies go in and out of stun since adjusting to constant speed changes can be difficult for teammates.
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Despite the risks presented by using Stagger Storm alone, it works extremely well in conjunction with certain other status bombs, namely Voltaic Tempest where a dual stun/shock stack will completely prevent most enemies from being able to maneuver or attack.
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[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
 +
* Spike attacks and thrown projectiles are unaffected by stun and will continue through the air at regular speeds
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* [[Lichen#Quicksilver|Quicksilvers]], [[Lichen#Oiler|Oilers]] and [[Lichen#Toxoil|Toxoils]] are immune to minor Stun
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* The Stagger Storm line recipes can only be acquired via [[Sullivan]]
 +
 
 +
====Torpor Tantrum====
 +
The Torpor Tantrum, despite being yet another status bomb, is the one of the most unique weapons in the game as it is the only weapon capable of inflicting the [[Sleep]] status. Sleep is the only status able to completely subdue enemies, preventing them from moving or harming you in any way. This makes the Torpor Tantrum an amazing crowd control bomb, able to shut down large groups of enemies completely. Be aware, however, that enemies who are released from the Sleep status will be immune to it for a short time. This makes it impossible to maintain 100% status uptime unlike the other mist bombs. A Shivermist Buster used in combination with the Torpor Tantrum can help keep enemies locked down during their alert periods.
 +
 
 +
Despite the unrivaled crowd control abilities the bomb provides, it is almost entirely useless against the (very common) Construct family of monsters, all of which are immune to Sleep. If attempting to crowd control large groups be sure you or an ally has a weapon to subdue the Constructs you may encounter.
 +
 
 +
[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
 +
* Enemies when enter an alert state when Sleep wears off, preventing them from being inflicted with Sleep again for a short time
 +
* All Constructs are immune to Sleep
 +
* Lord Vanaduke is also immune to Sleep
 +
* This line of bomb requires quite a lot of [[Zee Core|Zee Cores]] to craft, and their availability is dependent on access to the [[Starlight Cradle]] series of levels, or purchasing them off of the [[Auction House]].
 +
 
 +
===Shard Bombs===
 +
[[file:shards.png|thumb|370px|A group of bombers chaining together multiple shard bombs.|left]]
 +
{{item|Deadly Shard Bomb}} [[File:Attack_normal_icon.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Deadly Crystal Bomb}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Deadly Splinter Bomb}} [[File:Attack_piercing_icon.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Scintillating Sun Shards}} [[File:Attack_piercing_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_stun.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Deadly Dark Matter Bomb}} [[File:Attack_shadow_icon.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Shocking Salt Bomb}} [[File:Attack_shadow_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_shock.png|15px]]
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Ss0-t2a5I Video Demonstration]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
The Shard Bomb-line consists of six lines of cluster-like bombs which create an initial explosion on detonation that then fire a series of non-damaging shards in multiple directions. These shards will then stick into the ground and explode shortly thereafter causing a series a of explosions that form a kind of ‘ring’ around the initial placement point of the bomb. The initial shard does less damage than the ring of shards. These bombs are quite difficult to use effectively, due to their unusual mechanics and somewhat unpredictable nature, however they can deal high damage with correct placement.
 +
 
 +
If you want this bomb to hit more than a blast bomb then you need to get enemies to get hit by multiple shards. For example, if you get a slime between two shards then you hit the slime twice (three times if it gets hit by the primary explosion), but if you place a blast bomb you have a maximum chance of hitting the slime once. Unfortunately, there is a hit limit in place where no one shard bomb can inflict damage to the same enemy with more than 3 shards at once. If you don't use the bomb right then you're better off with a different kind of dps bomb.
 +
 
 +
[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
 +
*Shard Bombs knock back enemies multiple times, making it hard to predict the end positions
 +
*Placing near a wall will result in some shards disappearing
 +
*The [[Roarmulus Twins]] are currently completely immune to these weapons
 +
 
 +
===Vortex Bombs===
 +
[[file:Graviton_FSC_Screenshot_BG.png|thumb|500px|Five Slags trapped inside the vortex from a Graviton bomb.|right]]
 +
{{item|Graviton Vortex}} [[File:Attack_shadow_icon.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Electron Vortex}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_shock.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Obsidian Crusher}} [[File:Attack_shadow_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_poison.png|15px]]
 +
{{item|Celestial Vortex}} [[File:Attack_elemental_icon.png|15px]] [[File:Icon_status_fire.png|15px]]
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28uJeOmYIgE Video Demonstration]
 +
Starting their alchemy lines at three stars, the Vortex bombs are a handful of exceptionally powerful bombs that are in nearly every bomber's arsenal and for very good reason. Upon their initial explosion the vortexes with pull all the nearby enemies toward them, and then after a few seconds explode again, dealing damage to the trapped enemies and flinging them away. However if a large amount of monsters are pulled into the hole, or the enemies are shocked, frozen or put to sleep, then the knockback from the explosion will not occur.
 +
 
 +
Because of this these bombs function both as exceptional crowd control and an excellent combo tool to set-up powerful charge attacks, like those of the [[Brandish]] and [[Magnus]] lines of weapons. This makes them essential weapons in a party as your teammates can take full advantage of the vortexes you set-up, and even for a solo bomber you'll find yourself able to exploit these bunched up enemies with weapons like the Dark Briar Barrage, Dark Retribution, or Shard Bombs. They also make an excellent combo with any Shock inducing weapon, like the Voltaic Tempest.
 +
 
 +
The four vortex bombs are mostly identical, the Electron, Celestial, and Obsidian do the same amount of damage but deal Elemental, Elemental, and Shadow damage along with Shock, Fire, and Poison status respectively, meanwhile the Graviton has a higher damage output than the others but no chance of status infliction. Because of their ability to spread status, the Electron, Celestial, and Obsidian are all considered to be superior to the Graviton; the meager amount of additional damage the Graviton inflicts simply isn't worth the trade off. Additionally the Electron Vortex will be less likely to fling enemies at the conclusion of the vortex due to the Shock, and by being able to pull enemies into close proximity of each other this also maximizes the potential damage output of shock. Additionally, if you manage to shock a group of enemies, they can be daisy-chained into another Electron with ease.
 +
 
 +
That being said, although the Graviton Vortex may seem like the worst of the vortex bombs, there is still a very real reason to make one; the difficulty involved in acquiring any of the others. The Obsidian Crusher can only be obtained during the [[Shroud of the Apocrea]] event that only occurs once or twice a year, meanwhile the Electron Vortex requires you get at least 300 Krogmo Coins by playing Lockdown - something near impossible to do before getting to tier 3 nowadays due to the game's small community. Of course neither of these compare to the difficulty of obtaining a Celestial Vortex, which is exclusively a rare drop from Equinox Prize Boxes, making them prohibitively expensive to obtain for most players.
 +
 
 +
Because of this, the Graviton is the recommend choice to newer players as they progress through the game, with the Electron being recommended to end-game players who can farm Lockdown for the coins required.
 +
 
 +
[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
 +
* Standing on top of the bomb when the fuse goes off can often trap you in the centre of vortexed enemies
 +
* Enemies can still attack while inside the vortex
 +
* Enemies that are alive when the vortex expires are flung randomly away from the bomb
 +
* While charging you move at a significantly slower speed, leaving you open to fast moving enemies and projectiles
 +
* [[Kat|Kats]] are unaffected by the suction during their dash
 +
* The Graviton line recipes can only be acquired via [[Basil]]
 +
* The Electron line recipes can only be acquired via [[Sullivan]]
 +
* The Obsidian Crusher can only be crafted during the [[Shroud of the Apocrea]] event
 +
* The Celestial Vortex can only be obtained as a rare drop from [[Equinox Prize Box|Equinox Prize Boxes]]
 +
 
 +
===Dark Retribution===
 +
[[file:drb.jpg|thumb|400px|Dark Retribution vs some Ice Jellies.|right]]
 +
{{item|Dark Retribution}} [[File:Attack_shadow_icon.png|15px]]
 +
* [http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgYV16IAZ40 Video Demonstration]
 +
 
 +
The [[Dark Retribution]] (DR) is a [[Damage#Shadow_Damage|shadow]] damage bomb with a unique damage pattern. After a small initial explosion, four orbs will begin rotating inside the blast area (2 clockwise, 2 counter-clockwise). These orbs will deal damage everytime they hit an enemy, making the DR a powerful multi-hit bomb.
 +
 
 +
The Dark Retribution has the highest damage-per-second of any bomb in the game when used against immobile, or large enemies where multiple orbs will hit the target(s) repeatedly in quick succession. Against enemies such as the [[Royal Jelly]] or a [[Battlepod]] a few well placed bombs will lead to an extremely quick kill. The DR is undoubtedly one of the best bombs to use against slimes and constructs due to the abundance of monsters in their families that have movement patterns that make them very vulnerable to DR.
 +
 
 +
[[File:Hazard_Icon.png|18px]] '''Potential Hazards:'''
 +
*[[Royal Mini|Mini Jellies]] are immune to the orbs
 +
*Can be extremely disruptive if used near switches
 +
*This bomb can only be acquired through the expansion mission [[Operation Crimson Hammer]]
 +
 
 +
== Armor ==
 +
{{SKWindow
 +
| title =  Bomber Sets
 +
| body =
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Set'''|3=top|6=133px}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Description'''|3=top|}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Set Bonus'''|3=top|6=180px}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Recommended UVs'''|3=top|6=200px}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Chaos'''
 +
[[File:C.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
 
 +
Chaos has negative resistances to poison, shock, freeze, fire and curse, equivalent to a medium unique variant as well as less normal and elemental defense than standard armour sets.  The sacrifices you make to wear a full chaos set are rewarded handsomely, however, as both pieces will combine for very high charge time reduction as well as very high damage bonuses, both of which universally apply to all weapon types.  This means that, not only does the Chaos set easily enable you to max out your bombing potential, but it also allows you to proficiently wield side-arms as well.
 +
 
 +
The Chaos set is well suited for bombers looking to deal damage. This set isn't recommended for players looking to solely specialize in status bombs as they will be incurring a significant penalty to defense while not fully taking advantage of the damage bonus.
 +
 
 +
If you plan on wearing Chaos, you should get very well acquainted with remedy pills.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Chaos Cloak]], [[Chaos Cowl]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Charge Time Reduction: Very High
 +
* Damage Bonus: Very High|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium+ Status Resist
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Medium+ Damage bonus
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Volcanic Demo'''
 +
[[File:Vd.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
 
 +
Of the armors available to bombers, the Volcanic Demo set is the safest choice.  It has high normal defense as well as a natural fire resistance.  With level 10 bombs, the set will allow bombers to obtain ''max'' charge time reduction.
 +
 
 +
The set is well suited for bombers not comfortable with the glass cannon defences of the Chaos or Mad Bomber sets, and is also plenty adequate for players wishing to specialize in crowd control and status spreading, where a damage bonus isn't paramount.
 +
 
 +
With the inclusion of trinkets and a Sprite perk, the Volcanic Demo set can gain Max CTR and Max Damage like the Bombastic Demo Set, essentially making them interchangeable for fire and freeze stratums respectively.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Volcanic Demo Suit]], [[Volcanic Demo Helm]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium Fire Resist (Immunity to Moderate Fire)
 +
* Maximum Poison Resist (Compound 42)
 +
* Maximum Curse Resist (Darkfire Citadel)
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Very High Damage Bonus
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Bombastic Demo'''
 +
[[File:Bd.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
 
 +
The inverse of the Volcanic Demo set, the Bombastic provides bombers with a damage bonus instead of charge time reduction, and freeze resistance instead of fire. This armour choice is more for bombers whom prefer offensive-styled bombs over status bombs such as the blast or shard lines, however because charge time reduction ultimately provides higher dps, even for offensive bombers this set isn't preferred over Volcanic Demo, or Chaos within the Clockworks. However in Lockdown this set is an extremely viable choice for Recon bombers whom wish to use damage-dealing bombs.
 +
 
 +
With the inclusion of trinkets and a Sprite perk, the Bombastic Demo set can gain Max CTR and Max Damage like the Volcanic Demo Set, essentially making them interchangeable for freeze and fire stratums respectively.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Bombastic Demo Suit]], [[Bombastic Demo Helm]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Damage Bonus: Very High|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium Freeze Resist (Immunity to Moderate Freeze)
 +
* Maximum Piercing Defence (Ice Queen Palace, Lockdown)
 +
* Maximum Shock Resist (Lockdown)
 +
* Maximum Stun Resist (Lockdown)
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Very High CTR
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Mad Bomber'''
 +
[[File:Mb.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
 
 +
The Mad Bomber set is for all intents and purposes, entirely inferior to the Chaos set. They both provide the same bonuses, however Mad is restricted to bombs only, where as Chaos is just as effective for bombing whilst also allowing you the freedom to easily use swords and handguns. The only advantage Mad has, is the lack of curse weakness, that is more or a less a completely non-factor considering its rarity in the clockworks. For these reasons its recommended new bombers turn the Demo set they progress through the game with into Volcanic, Bombastic or Starlit gear instead, and then make a Chaos set at a later date.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Mad Bomber Suit]], [[Mad Bomber Mask]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High
 +
* Bomb Damage Bonus: Very High|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium+ Status Resist
 +
 
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Medium Damage Bonus
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Mercurial Demo'''
 +
[[File:Md.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
Mercurial Demo is unique amongst the bombing armour sets since not only does it provide a medium damage bonus to bombs, but it also has a medium movement speed increase, a perk shared only with the Mercurial and Black Kat sets. Players likely won't notice the benefits of Medium movement speed at first, however the bonus is exponential with stacking meaning if you get MSI Very High with the Swift Steps II Sprite perk, you quickly discover how significant of a difference bombing with an MSI increase actually is. The Mercurial Demo also makes a good choice of gear for a Recon bomber in Lockdown, because of the innate Shock resistance and movement speed perk.
 +
 
 +
In the Clockworks the Mercurial Demo requires trinkets or UVs to achieve Maximum CTR.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Mercurial Demo Helm]], [[Mercurial Demo Suit]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Damage Bonus: Medium
 +
* Increased Movement Speed: Medium|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium Shock Resist (Immunity to Moderate Shock)
 +
* Maximum Fire Resist (Firestorm Citadel, Redclaw Munitions Factory)
 +
* Maximum Freeze Resist (Lockdown)
 +
* Maximum Stun Resist (Lockdown)
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Very High CTR|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Starlit Demo'''
 +
[[File:Sd.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
Starlit Demo is the only set of bomber gear that defends against Piercing damage. It offers the same CTR bonus as Volcanic Demo, a medium damage bonus vs Slimes, and provides a sleep resistance and stun weakness. If you're looking for piercing resistant bomber gear, or need immunity to sleep bombs in Lockdown, the Starlit set should suit your needs. Just be advised that Piercing is generally considered the least useful of the defenses, although there are notable exceptions to this such as the Shadow Lair: Royal Jelly Palace, and any confrontation with a piercing sword user in Lockdown.
 +
 
 +
One notable detail about this set is when used with a lv10 [[Shocking Salt Bomb]] the player has both Maximum CTR and Maximum DMG against Slimes, meaning when entering Slime levels they can invest their trinkets and sprite perk into other bonuses instead.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Starlit Demo Helm]], [[Starlit Demo Suit]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Maximum Freeze Resist (Lockdown, Ice Queen Palace)
 +
* Maximum Shock Resist (Lockdown)
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Very High Damage Bonus
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Black Kat'''
 +
[[File:Bk.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
The Black Kat set is a unique set of gear that is as powerful as it is rare, offering both a universal max damage bonus, and medium movement speed increase. If you're lucky enough to be in possession of this set, it is an excellent replacement for Mercurial Demo, since you would still get MSI medium, but you also get a maximum damage bonus instead of only reaching medium. Despite having negative status resistances, the Black Kat is unarguably one of the best all-round sets in the entire game for any player, and an excellent choice for bombers looking to use MSI builds.
 +
 
 +
Without CTR UVs on your bombs the Black Kat set will require Charge Time bonuses from trinkets.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Black Kat Cowl]], [[Black Kat Raiment]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Damage Bonus: High
 +
* Increased Movement Speed: Low|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium+ Status Resists
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Very High CTR|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Kat Hiss'''
 +
[[File:Kh.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
The Kat Hiss set fulfils a niche purpose in 'rounding off' uneven bonuses. A practical example of this can be thought of with the Lockdown Guardian class. It comes with low CTR for bombs, which can be rounded off to medium using a piece of Kat Hiss gear. The class is then a mere Bomb Focus trinket away from maxing out on charge time, letting its wielder use their other trinket slot and helm/armour for other purposes, like maxing off bomb damage or increasing their health. This gear also has viability for bombers only wanting lower levels of CTR, in order to help achieve specific timing when bombing against certain enemies. That being said, the Kat Hiss Raiment is far too difficult to obtain for the bonuses it provides, and if you're able to make it you would be better investing your [[Wicked Whisker|Wicked Whiskers]] into making the Black Kat set.
 +
 
 +
'''Set Pieces:''' [[Kat Hiss Cowl]], [[Kat Hiss Raiment]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
* Bomb Damage Bonus: Low
 +
* Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Low|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Armor'''
 +
* Medium+ Shock Resist
 +
'''Bomb'''
 +
* Low or High CTR
 +
* Low or High Damage|3=top}}
 
}}
 
}}
−
{{Alchemy path
+
 
−
|stage0=
+
== Battle Sprites ==
−
|stage1=Haze Bomb
+
{{SKWindow
−
|stage2=Freezing Vaporizer
+
| title = Battle Sprites
−
|stage3=Freezing Vaporizer Mk II
+
| body =
−
|stage4=Freezing Atomizer
+
{{SKNewRow}}
−
|stage5=Shivermist Buster
+
{{SKCell|'''Sprite'''|3=top|6=133px}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Description'''|3=top|6=300px}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Recommended Ultimates'''|3=top|6=250px}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Recommended Perks'''|3=top|6=150px}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Drakon'''
 +
[[File:Battle Sprite-Drakon T3 preview.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
A lot of people view Drakon as the weakest Battle Sprite. This isn't technically true. It certainly packs a lot more firepower than Seraphinx, which has none outside of its laser, and although Maskeraith's skills can result in more damage in the end, Drakon is unique in how independent its attacks are.
 +
 
 +
Firebolt can be compared to Iron Slug. While you may initially think that sounds like a bad thing, remember that this is an Iron Slug that can be fired at 100% mobility, can switch between elemental and shadow damage, and can set enemies on fire. It's also the only sprite ability that can be used to reach far-away switches.
 +
 
 +
Unlike the barrier pickups, Flame Barrier has no limit to the amount of times they can damage enemies and as such the total damage will rack up fast. In addition to this, when fully upgraded, Flame Barrier will increase your armour's defence by 70% for the full 10-second duration of the skill. The package is of special interest to bombers, as the spinning orbs will allow them to take out priority targets in a flash while they're charging up bombs to deal with the general crowd. You can also use it while standing inside of a vortex to tank hits while killing the vortexed mobs. Works particularly well when you enemies are poisoned and you're wearing appropriate armour.
 +
 
 +
Firestorm kind of sucks to be honest. If you already have a fiery vaporizer, there is no reason to use it. It's okay if you use bait a number of mobs through it on chokepoints or in vortexes. Beware that mecha knight shields, mini jellies and walls will cancel out the rings before they spawn.
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
Unlike Seraphinx and Maskeraith, there is not a clear choice for which ultimate to pick with Drakon's abilities. Instead, I will explain the benefits of both.
 +
 
 +
* '''Firebolt'''
 +
''Meteoric Firebolt'' triples your blast radius. It gives leeway for hitting switches and can damage more enemies.
 +
 
 +
''Concussive Firebolt'' imbues a good chance of strong stun. It's useful for approaching ranged mobs.
 +
 +
* '''Flame Barrier'''
 +
''Backfire Barrier'' gives you a large speed boost for a short time. You can charge a bomb during this boost.
 +
 
 +
''Scorching Barrier'' greatly increases the barrier's damage output, letting you kill things faster.
 +
 
 +
* '''Firestorm'''
 +
''Eplosive Firestorm'' adds raw damage to the skill, making it usable. Overall damage more or less doubles.
 +
 
 +
''Frenzied Firestorm'' provides minor offensive buffs to the whole party. Pick if you weren't going to use Firestorm for its damage anyway.
 +
 
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Regular Bombing'''
 +
* Mighty Boom II
 +
'''MSI Bombing'''
 +
* Swift Steps II
 +
'''Tanking'''
 +
* Healthy Boost VI
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Seraphnyx'''
 +
[[File:Battle Sprite-Seraphynx T3 preview.png]]|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
The Seraphynx is a cat-like battle sprite that has abilities built around providing support to the party rather than being a direct offensive tool itself. Or at least it's "supposed" to, but as any bomber whom chooses the path of the kitten quickly learns, Seraphnyx actually works best when played aggressively. First of all to understand Seraphnyx you must understand its three skills, Ray of Light is the offensive skill that deals repeated hits through a small laser to any enemy in its path, Heart Attack 'marks' nearby enemies so they'll drop health when killed and Angelic Aura surrounds the user in a protective bubble that shields you from damage while it lasts. At first glance Seraphnyx absolutely seems to be living up to it's support title, however you'll find that Ray of Light is actually a deceptively powerful tool; it easily racks up damage on stationary or slow moving targets, and works extremely well in conjunction with Vortex-line bombs, enabling you to bolster your damage output easily.
 +
 
 +
Comparatively Heart Attack is naturally the weakest of these three abilities, outside of Shadow Lairs and Danger Missions it's mostly a skill that will only benefit inexperienced players, acting as a buffer for anyone not quite up to par with their dodging skills. Angelic Aura is situational, but unlike Heart Attack it's actually quite useful for the most part; the ability to protect yourself from damage while charging bombs can be an incredible ability in certain situations (Fiend arenas are a great example) and although it's situational, you should never forget you have the ability.
 +
 
 +
As for your harness choice, an Elite Crystal Harness is the best option for Seraphnyx. Ray of Light is an extremely effective weapon against enemies that are either slow or stationary, and it especially works well at dispatching turret-like foes such as [[Gun Puppy|Gun Puppies]] that Bombers typically struggle with, and aptly handles the Construct family as a whole as well as working well against most Undead creatures.
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
 
 +
* '''Disintegration Ray'''
 +
There isn't much explanation to be had for this choice; a generic defense drop on any enemy struck by Ray of Light is a tremendous ability that makes Seraphnyx incredibly at dealing damage itself, '''and''' amplifying the damage output of you and your teammates. Comparatively Dazzling Light Ray provides a tiny damage bonus against two families of enemy, and is actually out damaged by Disintegration Ray even against those two families!
 +
* '''Iron Heart Attack'''
 +
Again, a simple decision. Heart Attack is your weakest ability anyway, but in situations where you legitimately need to get health, defense orbs can be a huge benefit, especially since they can easily stack up to provide whole minutes worth of protection. The alternative, Violent Heart Attack, is supposed to make your Heart Attack into a legitimate weapon and perhaps would be a worthwhile option, except it's currently bugged and provided little to no real damage output and fails to even break environmental objects.
 +
* '''Seraphic Aura'''
 +
Of all Seraphnyx' Ultimates, your choice of aura should be the most difficult decision to make; in fact at first glance you may even lean toward Valkyrian Aura since it sounds incredibly useful. Unfortunately Valkyrian Aura has a misleading description; it will only increase your Charge Time to Maximum and no higher, regardless of prior bonuses. This may make it an excellent ability for players not running any CTR bonuses at all, however a bomber lives and dies by their charge speed and no end-game bomber will ever be running a set that lacks maximum CTR, making Valkyrian Aura completely worthless for bombers.
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKCell|
 +
'''Regular Bombing'''
 +
* Mighty Boom II
 +
'''MSI Bombing'''
 +
* Swift Steps II
 +
|3=top}}
 +
{{SKNewRow}}
 +
{{SKCell|'''Maskeraith'''
 +
[[File:Battle Sprite-Maskeraith T3 preview.png]]|3=top}}
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{{SKCell|
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The most popular sprite, and for good reason. All of Maskeraith's abilities are highly lethal when used correctly.
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Caustic Quills is not only useful for spreading poison, but provides formidable damage on their own. A bomber should spread the quills across multiple enemies and hit them all rapidly to pop the quils. Shard bombs, DR and damaging hazes are all optimal for this role. Quills do not break freeze.
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Shadow Cloak turns you invisible. Whatever you do after you turn invisible is up to your imagination. Don't worry, the skill will do actual things when you get the ultimate.
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Hexing Haze is a damage haze that moves with you. Do we even need to say anything else? It's more useful the more enemies you're fighting, just like bombs. There's a mechanic in place where hexing more enemies gives you more haze time, but you can almost max it by just hexing the same enemy 3 times in a row, so it basically doesn't exist.
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|3=top}}
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{{SKCell|
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* '''Vengeful Quills'''
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Virulent Quills gives you stronger poison and provides a slight chance of the quills dropping a very short, very small haze, but the truth is nobody cares. A poisoned enemy will be unable to heal no matter how weak the poison is. Vengeful Quills will double your damage as well as the spreading of poison.
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* '''Deadly Cloak'''
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Vengeful Cloak drops a very small bomb that inflicts no damage, but a weak stun. Deadly provides an enormous damage boost. You might think at first that the damage bonus can't be used by bombs, but all you have to do is drop the bomb before cloaking. Uncloak before detonation to increase damage boost further.
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* '''Chaotic Haze'''
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Haunted Haze is bugged and inflicts single-digit damage. This is not likely to get fixed anytime soon. Meanwhile, Chaotic Haze has a slight chance to curse an enemy and that's something.
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|3=top}}
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{{SKCell|
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'''Regular Bombing'''
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* Mighty Boom II
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'''MSI Bombing'''
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* Swift Steps II
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{{Alchemy path
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== Trinkets ==
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|stage1=Haze Bomb
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[[Trinkets]] can be used to increase the innate abilities of your bombs without, or in addition to, bomber specific armor.  They provide a more accessible means to reaching maximum CTR or damage without having to target specific unique variants.
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|stage2=Toxic Vaporizer
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|stage3=Toxic Vaporizer Mk II
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{{item|Bomb Focus Module}} ('''Charge Time Reduction''')
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|stage4=Toxic Atomizer
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|stage5=Venom Veiler
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The Bomb Focus Module is a trinket more suited for status and hybrid bombers.  The four-star variant will allow users of full Volcanic Demo Armor to reach maximum charge time reduction on all heat level 10 bombs.  Hybrid bombers wearing either a Volcanic Demo Helm or one piece of Mad Bomber can reach maximum CTR with the five-star focus module.
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{{item|Elite Boom Module}}  ('''Bomb Damage Bonus''')
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The Elite Boom Module gives bombers a medium bonus to bomb damage.  This trinket is best suited for bombers wearing full or partial (with medium bomb damage UVs) mad bomber armor wishing to maximize their damage potential.  Coupling this trinket with both full mad bomber or a Volcanic Demo Helm + Mad Bomber Suit mix allows users to achieve maximum charge time reduction and maximum damage with bombs against all targets without the need of any unique variants.
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{{item|Penta-Heart Pendant}}  ('''+6 Health''')
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In the instance that you're primarily using your bombs to support a team, via status or crowd control, or you've simply managed to attain Max CTR and Max Damage without the need of your trinket slots, Penta-Hearts are a useful supplementary trinket that will increase you health, enabling you to better tank hits.
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== Tactics ==
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=== General Tactics ===
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There are several important things to consider while playing the role of the bomber.  Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, is to '''avoid the common mistake of simply running about randomly while dropping bombs erratically.'''  This will cause the positioning of monsters to become very difficult to predict, and the explosions may randomly push monsters into places where they may be able to attack a vulnerable ally.  Instead, focus on what would be the most efficient strategy to ensure that monsters are persistently lured into your bombs (and preferably blown away from your allies).  An easy tactic is to place a bomb, begin charging a second bomb, run into the crowd of enemies in front of you to lure them into the blast radius of your bomb, and then after the explosion, place the second bomb in the same place as the first, repeating for as long as necessary.
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Second, a bomber must '''be aware of their party as well as their enemies.''' Remember that the [[Blast Bomb]]s are great for soloing, but in a party, your group will begin to tire of not being able to see enemies due to the large blue cloud produced after the detonation, which is very dangerous. (This is known as the blue screen of death.) Though you may well be safe standing at the epicenter of your bomb, your fellow knights will likely be blinded, unable to see the foes that are around them. The only real way to effectively blast bomb in a party is to follow members closely if they have a gun, or to simply herd enemies into a corner for your swordsmen. To a lesser extent, ''be aware of the interactions of your bombs with certain monsters.''  Using the [[Ash of Agni]] on [[Oiler]]s is a poor idea due to their healing when set ablaze, as well as using the [[Ionized Salt Bomb]] on [[Quicksilver]]s as they become extremely fast when affected with [[shock]].
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Third, '''memorize the spawn patterns that appear after a party button has been pressed.''' A bomber can capitalize on this knowledge by placing a Vaporizer or Vortex bomb on one of those locations before the monsters spawn.
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Lastly, a bomber must '''know how to deal with monsters that attack at range.''' though a knight with a [[sword]] or [[handgun]] will be able to combat them as normal usually, sometimes "pure" bombers will not have either of those things (instead having an equipment set of four bombs), or the duties of a bomber may take precedence over defeating those monsters personally.
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=== Specific Enemy Strategies===
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Beast.png|20px]] Beasts|content =
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'''Wolvers'''
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Wolvers are extremely easy for even a bad bomber do deal with, they're 'soft-bodied' enemies which means they're easily knocked down by bombs in smaller parties, and being weak to piercing alongside this fact means the Dark Briar Barrage completely tears through them like a hot knife through butter. Even if you lack DBB, any other blast bomb-line weapon can achieve the same sort of effect (albeit, at a cost of killing them slower) and even putting aside blast bombs you can slaughter them with shard bombs or Dark Retribution. The only thing you really may wish to avoid when fighting Wolvers is the use of status bombs, although it is still extremely easy to gradual wear them down like with nigh on any other enemy, the status triggers will cause them to rapidly teleport around the area, which makes killing this way far slower than necessary. One thing to keep in mind about Wolvers is that when they teleport, they will always appear behind the person that has their attention, thus backing up near a wall can easily allow you to exploit this fact by trapping them in a corner with a blast bomb.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAAWFKWgC2U Wolvers vs Dark Briar Barrage] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp--Hb9kfxk Wolvers vs Nitronome] {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
 
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Slime.png|20px]] Slimes|content =
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Despite the diversity of Slimes you will encounter, dealing with them all is straight forward enough. Blast Bombs can keep them at bay with knockback, the Shocking Salt Bomb and Dark Retribution easily overwhelm them and with the exception of Oilers and Toxoils they're all quite easy to defeat using Ash of Agni and simply kiting them. Although on that note as highlighted in the Vaporizer bomb section above, certain status slimes have unique interactions with different status effects and you should keep this in mind when confronting them.
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'''Jelly Cubes, Blast Cubes & Ice Cubes'''
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* [http://youtu.be/iTUtqoxUdOM D21 Jelly Farm vs Heavy Dark Matter Bomb (4*) & Shocking Salt Bomb (5*)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Heavy Dark Matter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Shocking Salt Bomb}}
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'''Lichens'''
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcRZZu1TUpA A Pinch of Salt Prestige] {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gUaCKO91pc How to kill Oilers & a Colony via status] {{EeksEquipSmall|Ash of Agni}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Shivermist Buster}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Venom Veiler}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wiC8FPJsyE Quicksilvers go boom] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Dark Matter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Splinter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
 
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Gremlin.png|20px]] Gremlins|content =
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There are a large variety of enemies within the Gremlin family, however they're almost all the same when it comes to how you deal with them. They're soft-bodied enemies which means you can easily make short work of them using a blast bomb, repeatedly knocking them over and quickly chaining them to death. They're all also quite easy to lead into shard bombs, or drag through status (Although due to their shields, certain gremlins can be a bit finicky). However the whole family can start to get more dangerous in larger parties at lower depths, they eventually pass a threshold where you can no longer knock them down with DBB, forcing you to be far more aware of your surroundings if bombing aggressively, or just switching over to a blast bomb and using the knockback to shield yourself instead.
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'''Thwackers, Demos, Scorchers & Knockers'''
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A fairly large variety of foes are listed above, but for the most part you'll find the differences mean little when you're dropping howling spiked bombs of doom upon them. Thwackers are shielded from the back and can for this reason sometimes be a bit of a pain to inflict status on, but given how they will avidly chase you until their health is low, leading them into a bomb and chaining them to death couldn't be easier. Demos are you explosive rivals in the Gremlin world, they quickly spread bombs of their own and go out of their way to block your movements but your bombs have a far larger radius than theirs, making them relatively harmless unless in tight spaces, or there's a lot of them. Scorchers can set you on fire from a fair distance and are immune to fire themselves, but otherwise are extremely easy to kite and provide little threat if not accompanied by oilers. There really is nothing to say for Knockers, they're weak and basically harmless if you have even the slightest amount of spatial awareness.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAp9qwYu1iU DBB vs Gremlins] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYtPfZNvJKo SSB vs Gremlins] {{EeksEquipSmall|Shocking Salt Bomb}}
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'''Menders'''
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Of the most irritating enemies in the game, menders are pretty high up on a lot of players' lists. They aren't actually anything to worry about by themselves but they have the ability to very quickly heal up whole rooms of enemies and even revive other gremlins, which makes taking them out a priority. This is only exemplified in arenas, where things are hectic enough without their contributions. However although for most players menders are a curse, for bombers they are a blessing. Venom Veiler can easily spread poison to entire groups of foes, turning your medical adversaries into devastating allies as their healing rings became destructive death zones, which makes VV a staple in any non-poison level where you expect to be seeing menders around.
 
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{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Blast Bomb
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Construct.png|20px]] Constructs|content =
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The Construct family contains a wide variety of enemies with very different attack patterns, but the majority of them are quite slow and rely either on ranged attacks, or on close-range melee with long wind-up animations, making them easily avoided. For the most part Constructs are extremely easy to dispatch, larger groups are easily drawn into vortexes, against the slower kinds you can easily annihilate them with Dark Retribution and, well it'd be easier to list the things you can't kill them with honestly. As long as you aren't relying on Piercing weapons, they're little threat. That being said a few kinds do stand out for causing bombers a bit of trouble, and hopefully this guide will assist you in learning to take them out.
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| title = The Blast Bomb
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| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
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{{Alchemy path
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'''Gun Puppies'''
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|stage0=
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Gun Puppies can, depending on circumstance, be a complete non-factor, a mild annoyance, or a downright nightmare. In most levels, even when other enemies are around, it's not too difficult to simply kite around their bullets and wear them down with basically any damaging bomb. But in areas where they surround you, such as in [[Arena|Arenas]] and certain [[Danger Room|Danger Rooms]] you can very quickly get overwhelmed. The key to defeating them is movement, think of them as a bullet hell; you victory depends entirely on how effectively you can dodge their attacks. For this reason it's extremely important to avoid drawing the aggro of too many at once, if all twelve in an arena want you dead you'll no doubt find it nigh on impossible to escape, not without flawless use of your dash and shield at least. Your bomb choice is of surprisingly little consequence for the most part, as long as it can interrupt them everything else will depend on your kiting ability. That being said as you can probably imagine, Dark Retribution easily destroys a stationary target like a Gun Puppy, and another effective strategy is chaining a blast bomb if you can get multiple turrets within the radius as long as you're in a smaller party since the blast will interrupt them.
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|stage2=Blast Bomb
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|stage3=Super Blast Bomb
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That being said all of the above applies double, or maybe even triple for [[Rocket Puppy|Rocket Puppies]]. Their high speed attack that homes in can be annoying enough alone, the moment you have more than one aiming at you things can get hectic fast. Thankfully it's quite rare for you to encounter more than two, in fact you never will outside of an [[Arena]]. It is important to remember though that unlike regular puppies, rocket projectiles can actually be attacked and destroyed, making it actually possible to shield yourself from their attacks entirely with certain bombs, and appropriate timing.
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|stage4=Master Blast Bomb
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|stage5=Nitronome
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gCLKgQXGSU Bullet Hell Danger Room] {{EeksEquipSmall|Ash of Agni}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGTB70NO4TA Destroying rockets] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HkComzGH8Sk#t=515 Deadly Crystal Bomb vs Construct Arena] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
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'''Lumbers'''
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Now although they're seemingly just slow, meandering trees at a first glance, you should never let your guard down around lumbers. They may be slow, but they hit extremely hard and status variants have an incredible talent for breaking through anything but the best of shields. This is only made worse if they're either shock of freeze themed, in which case they can actually end up comboing you to death if you're out of remedy pills. There are a variety of options available for bombers to deal with lumbers, using small damage radius bombs like haze-style bombs will mean approaching lumbers from their weak side and placing a bomb right next to them.  When doing this, care should be taken NOT to shield after you drop the bomb so that Lumbers aren't pushed away. You can also very easily obliterate them with Dark Retribution because of how extremely slow they are. When playing solo it's easy enough to dispatch them using bombs with knockback as well, however in any party you must be extremely cautious not to knock an attacking lumber into an ally, which could easily get them killed.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vtIY7uRx1M Lumber vs Ash of Agni] {{EeksEquipSmall|Ash of Agni}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz5rQT5HB_g Lumber vs Nitronome] {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qeoiNSkveY Deadly Crystal Bomb vs Lumbers, Retrodes, Scuttelbots] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
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'''Mechaknights'''
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Mechaknights are one of the few constructs that tend to give players trouble. They're quicker than the rest of their family, the hit hard and they also have deceptively large hitboxes, being easily capable of hitting you at angles and ranges they actually shouldn't be able to, requiring you to give yourself more space when fighting them than you do most foes. If this wasn't enough they're never seen alone, almost always spawning in groups in various [[Arena]] waves or in certain boss stratums. The real trick to dispatching them lies in the fact they're extremely easy to lead around due to the way the follow you, making it a breeze to wear them down by simply kiting with Ash of Agni. Failing that though you can still defeat them by leading them into almost any effective damage bomb, or by relying on the knockback of a Nitronome to keep you safe from their blades.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUdvE79nYaU Mechaknights vs Nitronome] {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HkComzGH8Sk#t=589 Deadly Crystal Bomb vs Construct Arena] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
 
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{{Alchemy path
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Undead.png|20px]] Undead|content =
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|stage0=
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The Undead family is an undoubtedly interesting one. Whilst Zombies are more or less among the easiest enemies to deal with as a bomber, Kats can cause quite a lot of distress for an inexperienced player. On top of this they are also one of the most common families of enemies, as the majority of notable end-game stratums contain them, whether you be running shadow lairs or traversing danger missions, you'll no doubt find some.
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|stage1=
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|stage2=Blast Bomb
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'''Zombies'''
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|stage3=Super Blast Bomb
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|stage4=Master Blast Bomb
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Slow and simple are the two words that best describe zombies. They'd more or less be entirely non-threatening altogether if it weren't for the fact they almost always appear in large groups, which can cause players a bit of trouble if they aren't careful. Although despite this it will only take you a little bit of practice before you can murder these guys by the dozen with basically any bomb in your arsenal, in fact their slow and predictable attack patterns make them one of the best enemy types to learn bombing against.
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|stage5=Big Angry Bomb
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiIcr69jwNg Dark Briar Barrage vs Graveyard] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUoS-4XLaTw Undead spin cycle] {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Graviton Vortex}}
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* [http://youtu.be/wKS6BUSX3iE D27 Firestorm Citadel: 4 Button Room] {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkXwmI0sYuI Deadly Crystal Bomb vs Zombies in Firestorm Citadel (duo)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhxth8SQJJg Dark Briar Barrage vs Zombies in Firestorm Citadel (solo)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}
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'''Kats'''
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Be wary young bomber, for these mewling ghosties may well prove to be your end. Kats are one of the most difficult enemies for newer players to handle, although they only have two very simple attacks, learning how to properly evade multiple of them at the same time can be an exercise in frustration. Despite this it is possible to deal with them very easily, the shock status partially immobilizes kats as well as interrupting many of their attacks allowing bombers to finish them off with relative ease, thus making Voltatic Tempest a go-to choice for dealing with non-shock variants. However if you don't fear their mobility, it is possible to lead them, and dispatch them with damaging bomb, just like most other similarly mobile enemies.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaISjEOhAaY Kat Ghosts vs Voltaic Tempest] {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG6DPtFM1iY Bombing in Candlestick Keep] {{EeksEquipSmall|Ash of Agni}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
 
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{{Alchemy path
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Fiend.png|20px]] Fiends|content =
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|stage1=
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'''Devilites'''
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|stage2=Blast Bomb
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|stage3=Super Blast Bomb
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In tier 3, Devilites tend to be a bomber's worst nightmare. Especially in the deeper depths, bombers end up lying on the ground, thinking a way out from the hordes of fiends. It is actually quite possible to solo through these stages (devilish drudgery) with limited damage taken. Here are two good examples.
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|stage4=Irontech Bomb
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|stage5=Irontech Destroyer
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbyfEC_o0Ss Devilite, Kat, Trojan Clears]  {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrX3yB7i3z8 The Silent Legion] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Splinter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
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'''Greavers'''
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Bombers often find themselves at odds against greavers.  Just a single greaver can sometimes spell doom and has massive wipe potential.  The main issue is that greavers are fast, enter bomber personal space quickly withing giving bombers enough time to charge and drop a bomb.  Unlike using swords, it's just not possible to cancel a greaver's attack without  pre-dropping bombs.  The best strategy for greavers is to always be prepared; have a bomb charged before greavers spawn, and then drop them a bit after they do. If a bomb goes off during the "idle time" right after their spawn, greavers will attack prematurely, and you'll be left without a deployed bomb to stop them.
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Greavers are vulnerable to Dark Briar Barrage, but it may be desirable to pack Nitronome to prevent you from being locked in place until the greavers have been dispatched.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0szAQHonYIw Dark Briar Barrage vs Greavers] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs1du2EQjXM Scintillating Sun Shards vs Greavers] {{EeksEquipSmall|Scintillating Sun Shards}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrqfHuWRjmQ Tier 3 Fiend Arena Final Wave] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
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'''Trojans'''
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Trojans are one of the easiest fiends to deal with mostly because they can be predictably baited into doing certain attacks. The most efficient and safest trojan killers are definitely the DBB and nitronome using a back and forth bombing pattern where you drop a bomb in front of the trojan then spin them around and drop one on the other side while the first bomb explodes into their back.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxAiwj6rhU Scintillating Sun Shards vs Trojans at FSC] {{EeksEquipSmall|Scintillating Sun Shards}}
 
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{{Alchemy path
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=== Boss Stratums ===
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|stage1=
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|stage2=Blast Bomb
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Gloaming_Wildwoods.png|20px]] Gloaming Wildwoods|content =
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|stage3=Super Blast Bomb
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|stage4=Graviton Bomb
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The Gloaming Wildwoods is the first boss stratum a player will encounter as they progress through the game, at Mission Rank 3-2 'Shadow of the Beast'. Surprisingly wildwoods may be considered one of the hardest places in the game for a player to bomb with level-appropriate gear due to the limited selection of gear you have available to you at this point, and the difficult involved in bombing the boss of the depth, [[Snarbolax]]. Luckily you receive both a [[Firecracker]] and [[Cold Snap]] with CTR Medium UVs simply by progressing through missions prior to this point, and it is entirely possible for you to bomb through the wildwoods itself without the need of a sidearm, as illustrated below. However we still highly recommend you bring a sword or gun if you intend to solo the level, since the boss is not bomb-friendly at all.
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|stage5=Graviton Vortex
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_0SbsmPi2o Gloaming Wildwoods with level-appropriate gear] {{EeksEquipSmall|Big Beast Basher}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Firecracker}}
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'''Snarbolax'''
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The Snarbolax boss fight itself is the major reason these depths are so unfriendly to bombing, you can only make the Snarbolax vulnerable to damage for short periods of time by hitting a bell in the centre of the arena whenever the boss draws close, which naturally isn't a system that lends itself well to bombs due to them requiring time to both charge and detonate. Below are some videos of the boss being bombed, although they all feature vastly overpowered gear for this point in the game.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV1f2ecAZog Tragedy in the Wildwoods] {{EeksEquipSmall|Graviton Vortex}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Electron Vortex}}
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAzvnAL0vVg Snarby is bulletproof] {{EeksEquipSmall|Graviton Vortex}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Splinter Bomb}}
 
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{{Alchemy path
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{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Royal_Jelly_Palace.png|20px]] Royal Jelly Palace|content =
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|stage0=
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The Royal Jelly Palace may well be the single most bomb friendly of all the boss stratums in Spiral Knights. Filled with a plethora or slow enemies that spawn together in tight groups, it's as viable to spam Vaporizer bombs as it is to use Vortexes here, you can even get by using Shard Bombs with great proficiency. Everything about RJP almost seems put together with bombers in mind, every single room is just waiting to be leveled with explosives.
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|stage1=
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|stage2=Blast Bomb
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Perhaps more importantly since RJP is a tier 2 boss stratum, it's really the first boss stratum you can viably bomb during your progression throughout the game, it's at this point that bombs are finally coming into their own as legitimate weaponary rather than amusing distractions and the Royal Jelly itself can actually be bombed unlike the Snarbolax.
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|stage3=Deconstructor
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|stage4=Heavy Deconstructor
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZKyEJXkymY Royal Jelly Palace in Tier 2 gear] {{EeksEquipSmall|Super Blast Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Super Dark Matter Bomb}}
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|stage5=
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* [http://youtu.be/MGeWFUbZjJ8 Royal Jelly palace in Tier 2 gear, Elite mode] {{EeksEquipSmall|Rock Salt Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Fiery Vaporizer}}
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'''Royal Jelly'''
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Why the Slimes have a monarchy is beyond me, but this ruler of the gelatinous kingdom will probably end up being a favourite of any aspiring bomber. The Royal Jelly is by far the single easiest boss to use bombs against, in fact it is undoubtedly the one boss you can easily complete with basically any line of bombs with the right balance of skill and persistence, which is a lot more than can be said of any of the others. A simple test of your bombing skill; can you decimate this big blob of pain before it can restore its health devouring its own children? Well, have at it.
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 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfrSiGIP1d4 Jelly King - Shocking Salt Bomb] {{EeksEquipSmall|Shocking Salt Bomb}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z40lAadKUp4 Jelly King - 25 Second Clear (Duo)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Master Blast Bomb}}
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Ironclaw_Munitions_Factory.png|20px]] Ironclaw Munitions Factory|content =
 +
When the Gremlins realized the battle against the Spiral Knights was a losing one, they devised a new tactic. Rather than engage us in honourable warfare on fair battlefields, they would instead build a facility designed to generate as much lag as they possibly could, and then to boot they filled it with environmental hazards instead of actual enemies. Even so we persevered, and every bomber is going to want to know to conquer this dastardly zone.
 +
 +
Simply put IMF requires an understanding of how switches work. It may seem simple, but you'll need to have both timing and spatial awareness to win out in the arenas that have them, let alone the boss battle built around the mechanic. This simple advice aside, just take it slow and steady, IMF isn't a gauntlet like RJP but instead an obstacle course, and as long you pay attention and tread carefully you need little specific advice.
 +
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npUI6sBZRzw Ironclaw with Tier 2 gear] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deconstructor}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Rock Salt Bomb}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9fhkRGEbhk Ironclaw with Tier 3 gear] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
 +
 +
'''The Roarmulus Twins'''
 +
 +
Like the level that proceeds them, the twins are more a puzzle and waiting game than a boss - you must manipulate switches to get them to hit on another, temporarily leaving them vulnerable to your bombs. Because of the limited window in which you have to change the switches and then hurt them, bombs are noticeably disadvantaged in this fight. Furthermore the Roarmulus Twins are complete immune to Shard Bombs, meaning shard bombers will need to take up a new weapon to get past this boss, or have their mission progress walled indefinitely. Both the videos linked above include fights against the twins.
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Firestorm_Citadel.png|20px]] Firestorm Citadel|content =
 +
Firstorm citadel  is a bomber's paradise and can make even mediocre bombs look good.  The most important thing to learn is where and when enemies will spawn and take advantage of that with crowd control bombs (i.e. vortexing spawns, shocking groups, boxing enemies into walls/corners, etc)
 +
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpbGuZa7InU D25/26 Firestorm Citadel (FSC)]  {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Graviton Vortex}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIw4K718Qo4 FSC - End of D26 (3 man)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Shivermist Buster}}
 +
* [http://youtu.be/bdO70MDtDMk FSC - End of D27 Bomb Only solo] {{EeksEquipSmall|Electron Vortex}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Electron Vortex}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy90AOflINs FSC Arenas] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Shard Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Splinter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Venom Veiler}}
 +
 +
'''Lord Vanaduke'''
 +
 +
The big bad boss of the Firestorm Citadel himself, Lord Vanaduke exists in stark contrast to the levels that proceed him as quite a challenge for solo bombers. Not in the sense that he's notably difficult, but rather he demands a level of patience since he resists the Dark Retribution and Ash of Agni, requiring you to rely solely on the damage of slower bombs. Worse still his mask is resistant to all damage types apart from Normal, meaning you really need a Nitronome or Deadly Shard Bombi n your loadout to do meaningful damage to it. For these reasons if you're playing with a party you will likely find yourself better off in a support role, dealing with the extra enemies that pop up, restricting Vanaduke's movement with status bombs, and take role of water-thrower during his mask phases.
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6SUJmRgFuk Lord Vanaduke (support bombing)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Voltaic Tempest}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Shivermist Buster}} {{EeksEquipSmall|Nitronome}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL0d0-SA-Ow Vanaduke Solo with Shards] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Shard Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Splinter Bomb}}
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Crystal Bomb
+
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Operation_Crimson_Hammer.png|20px]] Operation Crimson Hammer|content =
−
|content=
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{{SKWindowsmall
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| width = 50%
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| title = The Crystal Bomb
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| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
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{{Alchemy path
+
* [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvALE1NF0Plto7kBlyYlb7SpF1Wd5--Ve Shards vs Operation Crimson Hammer] {{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Dark Matter Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}
−
|stage0=
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−
|stage1=
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−
|stage2=Crystal Bomb
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−
|stage3=Sun Shards
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−
|stage4=Radiant Sun Shards
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−
|stage5=
+
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{Alchemy path
+
=== Danger Missions ===
−
|stage0=
+
 
−
|stage1=
+
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Legion_of_Almire.png|20px]] Legion of Almire|content =
−
|stage2=Crystal Bomb
+
LoA is very similar to FSC in terms of what loadouts you'll want to bring. One thing to note is that all enemies in this mission are affected by vortexes so it can be a very powerful CC tool if used correctly.  Shivermist and Stagger are great CC bombs for this stage as Shivermist can lock down shielded enemies for teammates.  Stunned Almirian Knights are unable to attack while stunned so stagger storm is a decent choice for parties.
−
|stage3=Rock Salt Bomb
+
 
−
|stage4=Ionized Salt Bomb
+
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmhtgGKVMKg LoA: 4 Gate Room - Solo, Bombs Only] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Briar Barrage}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Deadly Crystal Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Electron Vortex}}
−
|stage5=
+
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Compound_42.png|20px]] Compound 42|content =
 +
Compound 42 is one of the most gear-dependent levels in the entire game when concerning its overall difficulty. If you have enough resistance to Fire and Poison it's a complete cakewalk, whilst lacking them makes the level an exercise in frustration as you carefully navigate a minefield of dangerous dual-status oil and fight to get bombs off against constant frame-rate drops. Shivermist Buster is an incredibly useful bomb here, it keeps Toxoils from lighting on fire and spreading carnage and just generally makes things much easier to manager. Dark Retribution is unarguably your best offensive tool as it shreds the abudant and extremely dangerous Polyps whilst also dispatching literally everything else with relative ease.
 +
 +
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG4lkfhzy6c Shard Squad Angry Retribution] {{EeksEquipSmall|Big Angry Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}}
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wkK8K0L5Lk Party Room Clears - SSB vs DR (solo)] {{EeksEquipSmall|Shocking Salt Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}}
 +
* [http://youtu.be/oqhvg-OvAuk Compound 42 D25 Final Boss Room - solo] {{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}}
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Heart_of_Ice.png|20px]] Heart of Ice|content =
 +
A lot of people don't like Fiends and for good reason, they're extremely difficult to avoid taking damage from with even the slightest bit of latency or framerate drops and tend to feel more like they exist to punish players for things out of their control rather than actual mistakes. So when you take a level and fill it with them all the while making sure all the Fiends in question can inflict the Freeze status, you're bound to rustle a lot of feathers and this is why most people tend to think of Heart of Ice as one of the harder stratums in the game. It's certainly not unmanageable however, expansive crowd control means bomber can actually deal with the hordes of fiendish foes with relative ease, provided you can kite their icy projectiles. Dark Briar Barrage and Nitronome can dish out the damage whilst still keeping you safe, meanwhile Voltaic Tempest and Stagger Storm can help keep your adversaries under a certain degree of control.
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Spine Cone
+
{{showhide|[[File:Gate-Ghosts_in_the_Machine.png|20px]] Ghosts in the Machine|content =
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|content=
+
Very few places in all of Spiral Knights feature an overlap of both Undead and Construct enemies, so most players will find Ghost in the Machine to be an experience quite unlike any other. Luckily nearly all the enemies you'll encounter whilst exploring it's perilous depths can be managed with liberal Stagger Storm spam and careful abuse of blast bombs, most enemies you'll see throughout are actually quite slow, it's the abundance of them that's difficult to manage but bombers excel at this. A word from the wise however, if you viably run Mercurial Demo while you're down here I highly recommend it, Ghost in the Machine is one of the few stratums in the game where sacrificing more beneficial bonuses in favour of status protection is arguably a worthwhile trade-off.
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{{SKWindowsmall
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| title = The Spine Cone
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| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
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{{Alchemy path
+
'''The Big Iron'''
−
|stage0=
+
Strangely enough Ghost in the Machine has a clear-cut boss fight, which involves you going up against an enlarged Battlepod that has tentacles and shoots lasers. Luckily it doesn't regenerate health but it does have various quirks relating to the way certain bombs interact with it so don't be surprised if you find yourself having difficult getting your hits off.
−
|stage1=
+
−
|stage2=Spine Cone
+
−
|stage3=Twisted Spine Cone
+
−
|stage4=Spike Shower
+
−
|stage5=Dark Briar Barrage
+
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
=== Shadow Lairs ===
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Swarm.png|20px]] Gloaming Rabidwoods|content =
 +
Content goes here
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Swarm.png|20px]] Ice Queen Palace|content =
 +
 +
Ice Queen Palace is by far the most bomb-friendly of the Shadow Lairs, due to the large clusters of slower moving enemies that really favor the crowd control of bombs over both swords and guns, and the fact the majority of the enemies in the palace are Ice Cubes, whom are easily made toothless thanks to Ash of Agni. A large variety, if not almost every non-Piercing bomb are viable here, making it an excellent place for higher level bombers to practice their skills before moving on to the harder lairs.
 +
 +
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR7v1v_MQb0 Shard Squad] {{EeksEquipSmall|Ash of Agni}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Dark Retribution}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Graviton Vortex}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Scintillating Sun Shards}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Shocking Salt Bomb}}{{EeksEquipSmall|Venom Veiler}}
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{showhide|[[file:Icon-hazebomb.png|20px]]The Static Capacitor
+
{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Swarm.png|20px]] Redclaw Munitions Factory|content =
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|content=
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Content goes here
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{{SKWindowsmall
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}}
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| width = 50%
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−
| title = The Static Capacitor
+
−
| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
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−
{{Alchemy path
+
{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Swarm.png|20px]] Darkfire Citadel|content =
−
|stage0=
+
Content goes here
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|stage1=
+
−
|stage2=Static Capacitor
+
−
|stage3=Lightning Capacitor
+
−
|stage4=Plasma Capacitor
+
−
|stage5=Voltaic Tempest
+
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[File:Gate_Icon-Swarm2.png|20px]] Unknown Passage|content =
 +
Content goes here
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
== F.A.Q. ==
 +
There are a few questions that have been answered repeatedly, yet players still get confused. So here are some answers to the questions that haven't specifically been talked about in this guide.
 +
 +
{{showhide|'''Question''': Why are there charge times on bomb? |content=It would work much better if there were none, and the only reason to charge a bomb would be to give it more power/radius!
 +
'''Answer''': In early previews, this is exactly how bombs worked: A player could repeatedly place (spam) bombs everywhere, and because charging up bombs only provided a small damage bonus (less than placing three uncharged bombs in a few seconds), the charge was rarely used. Bombing in the previews was abused, with shard bombs granting the best deployment to damage rate. Thus, Three Rings downgraded bombs before the last preview. However, this resulted in bombs being underused, and only being made effective by a select group. Bombing hasn't changed much since the last preview. The main reason for a wider use of bombs today is because players like discovering these less used weapons for themselves, or it has been highlighted to them by other players the usefulness of bombs.}}
 +
{{showhide|'''Question''': Does ASI reduce fuse time for bombs? |content= '''Answer''':No. ASI only speeds up the animation where your knight plants their bomb, with high ASI reducing its duration from about 0.20 seconds to about 0.17 seconds.}}
 +
{{showhide|'''Question''': I still have more unanswered questions. where can i go for help? |content= '''Answer''':If you ever feel you need more help on the subject the Elite Bombers will do their best to answer your questions at http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/4347 . Don't be afraid to post.}}
 +
 +
==Appendix==
 +
 +
=== Bomb Alchemy Paths ===
 +
This is a list of the alchemy paths of all the bombs currently in game.  Click the bomb you want to view the materials needed to craft it.
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[file:Icon-hazebomb.png|20px]] The Vaporizer Bombs
 +
|content=
 +
 +
{{:Fiery Vaporizer/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Freezing Vaporizer/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Toxic Vaporizer/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Haze Bomb/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Static Capacitor/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Slumber Smogger/alchemy path}}
 +
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] Other Bombs
+
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Blast Bomb
 
|content=
 
|content=
−
{{SKWindowsmall
 
−
| width = 50%
 
−
| title = Other Bombs
 
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| body = {{alchemy paths header}}
 
  
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{{Alchemy path
+
{{:Blast Bomb/alchemy path}}
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|stage0=
+
 
−
|stage1=Cold Snap
+
−
|stage2=
+
−
|stage3=
+
−
|stage4=
+
−
|stage5=
+
−
}}
+
−
{{Alchemy path
+
−
|stage0=
+
−
|stage1=Firecracker
+
−
|stage2=
+
−
|stage3=
+
−
|stage4=
+
−
|stage5=
+
−
}}
+
−
{{Alchemy path
+
−
|stage0=
+
−
|stage1=Static Flash
+
−
|stage2=
+
−
|stage3=
+
−
|stage4=
+
−
|stage5=
+
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Shard Bombs
 +
|content=
 +
 +
{{:Crystal Bomb/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Shard Bomb/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Dark Matter Bomb/alchemy path}}
 +
 +
{{:Splinter Bomb/alchemy path}}
 +
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Spine Cone
 +
|content=
 +
 +
{{:Spine Cone/alchemy path}}
 +
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
== Bomb Charge Time ==
+
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] The Vortex Bombs |content=
−
Bomb charge time is the minimum time required to hold down the action key to successfully prepare a bomb. The minimum charge time occurs prior to the charge-complete animation (glowing). All bombs gain a natural CTR bonus while leveling up via [[heat]].  At level 5, bombs will gain a low charge time reduction and at level 10 they will have a medium charge time reduction bonus.
+
  
−
{{SKAbilitiesTable|Bomb Charge Time in Milliseconds|
+
{{:Graviton Charge/alchemy path}}
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Haze Bomb|3180|2960|2700|2447|2230|1975|1755}}
+
 
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Blast Bomb|2200|2040|1866|1701|1545|1400|1225}}
+
{{:Electron Charge/alchemy path}}
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Ionized Salt Bomb|4200|3850|3570|3250|2950|2595|?}}
+
−
}}
+
−
{{SKAbilitiesTable|Bomb Charge Time - % reduced from base charge time from CTR bonus|
+
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Haze Bomb|0%|6.92%|15.09%|23.05%|29.87%|37.89%|44.81%}}
+
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Blast Bomb|0%|7.27%|15.18%|22.68%|29.77%|36.36%|44.32%}}
+
−
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Ionized Salt Bomb|0%|8.33%|15.00%|22.62%|29.76%|38.21%|?}}  
+
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
'''Bombs that share Haze Bomb charge times''': [[Graviton Bomb]], [[Big Angry Bomb]], [[Voltaic Tempest]]
+
{{showhide|[[file:icon-bomb.png|20px]] Other Bombs (no alchemy paths)
 +
|content=
  
−
'''Bombs that share Blast Bomb charge times''': [[Dark Briar Barrage]], [[Sun Shards]], [[Radiant Sun Shards]], [[Irontech Destroyer]], [[Heavy Deconstructor]], [[Rock Salt Bomb]]
+
{{:Proto Bomb/alchemy path}}
  
−
== Armor ==
+
{{:Cold Snap/alchemy path}}
−
The armor choice for bombers is quite simple. The demo series ([[Spiral Demo Helm]], [[Spiral Demo Suit]] and their upgrades) definitely improves the effectiveness a player has as a bomber, unless the player is lucky and owns [[UV]] equipment with Charge Time Reduction (CTR). It is pretty simple until you get to the five star variant by upgrading the Heavy Demo set. There are three choices: Bombastic Demo, Volcanic Demo and finally Mad Bomber.
+
  
−
=== Bombastic Demo ===
+
{{:Firecracker/alchemy path}}
−
Starting with the worst choice possible, the Bombastic Demo set ([[Bombastic Demo Suit]], [[Bombastic Demo Helm]]) is basically a no-no for a well educated bomber. The set is frustrating to use, especially as it feels like such a downgrade from the Heavy demo set; this is because it has no CTR bonuses as the other sets. The only replacement for the lack of CTR is a low damage bonus on each piece. As of now, the Bombastic set is unbalanced and has the same defense statistics as Volcanic Demo, but lacks the fire resistance. In terms of Damage per Second, the rate of deployment is easily favored over the somewhat minuscule damage bonus. On top of all this, the suit may appear as cosmetically unappealing to some unlike both the Volcanic Demo Suit and Mad Bomber Suit. Choosing this set should be thoroughly thought about and is not recommended.
+
  
−
=== Volcanic Demo ===
+
{{:Static Flash/alchemy path}}
−
The Volcanic Demo set ([[Volcanic Demo Suit]], [[Volcanic Demo Helm]]) is a good choice, and is the best out of the three choices in terms of defense. The low CTR bonus on the suit, and the Medium CTR bonus on the helm are also an attractive feature of the set. The set is typically used in places such as [[Firestorm Citadel]] due to the elemental, normal and fire resistance stats. The helm is also one of the best for using the [[Shivermist Buster]] on [[Vanaduke]], and many players who do not pursue a typical bomber equipment route will still own the helm. Volcanic Demo is really for those who want to play it safe, or those with latency issues, and those are really the only two reasons why the set could be chosen by a good bomber over the favorite: Mad Bomber...MWAHAHA.
+
  
−
=== Mad Bomber ===
+
{{:Dark Reprisal/alchemy path}}
−
The Mad Bomber set ([[Mad Bomber Suit]], [[Mad Bomber Mask]]) is comparable to Volcanic Demo in effectiveness, and is a great choice for all-out Bombers. The set offers Medium CTR <strong> AND</strong> damage bonus, in return for a somewhat lackluster defense considering resistance. Wearing the complete set using a level 10 bomb without a CTR UV, a bomber will acquire "Maximum!" charge time reduction, and with a medium damage bonus UV on a bomb will acquire the "Maximum!" damage to a certain mob, with very high damage to everything else. The set is typically known as the best of the three if only by giving the feeling of being a true bomber.
+
  
−
=== Conclusion ===
+
{{:Dark Reprisal Mk II/alchemy path}}
−
The Mad Bomber and the Volcanic Demo sets are the main choices. If you are undecided, head for a Volcanic Demo helm and Mad Bomber suit, which grants fire resistance for [[Firestorm Citadel]] runs, yet still provides "Maximum!" CTR on a level 10 bomb.
+
  
−
== Tactics ==
+
{{:Dark Retribution/alchemy path}}
  
−
=== General Tactics ===
+
{{:Celestial Vortex/alchemy path}}
  
−
There are several important things to consider while playing the role of the bomber.  First, and perhaps most importantly, is to '''avoid the common mistake of simply running about randomly while dropping bombs erratically.'''  This will cause the positioning of monsters to become very difficult to predict, and the explosions may randomly push monsters into places where they may be able to attack a vulnerable ally.  Instead, focus on what would be the most efficient strategy to ensure that monsters are persistently lured into your bombs (and preferably blown away from your allies).  An easy tactic is to place a bomb, begin charging a second bomb, run into the crowd of enemies in front of you to lure them into the blast radius of your bomb, and then after the explosion, place the second bomb in the same place as the first, repeating for as long as necessary.
+
}}
  
−
Second, a bomber must '''be aware of their party as well as their enemies.''' Remember that the [[Blast Bomb]]s are great for soloing, but in a party, your group will begin to tire of not being able to see enemies due to the large blue cloud produced after the detonation, which is very dangerous. Though you may well be safe standing at the epicenter of your bomb, your fellow knights will likely be blinded, unable to see the foes that are around them. The only real way to effectively blast bomb in a party is to follow members closely if they have a gun, or to simply herd enemies into a corner for your swordsmen. To a lesser extent, ''be aware of the interactions of your bombs with certain monsters.''  Using the [[Ash of Agni]] on [[Oiler]]s is a poor idea due to their healing when set ablaze, as well as using the [[Ionized Salt Bomb]] on [[Quicksilver]]s as they become extremely fast when affected with [[shock]].  
+
=== Bomb Charge Time ===
 +
Bomb charge time is the minimum time required to hold down the action key to successfully prepare a bomb. The minimum charge time occurs prior to the charge-complete animation (glowing). All bombs gain a natural CTR bonus while leveling up via [[heat]].  At level 5, bombs will gain a low charge time reduction and at level 10 they will have a medium charge time reduction bonus.
  
−
Third, '''memorize the spawn patterns that appear after a party button has been pressed.'''  Though the spawns are somewhat random, they are collected from a pool of possible locations, and a bomber can capitalize on this by placing a [[Haze Bomb]]-series bomb on one of those locations before the monsters spawn, which will apply the respective status effect on the monsters that appear there.  Even if no monsters spawn in that location, other monsters may be lured into the resulting cloud of mist, ensuring that the bomb is not wasted.
+
-Bomb Charge Time in Milliseconds
  
−
Lastly, a bomber must '''know how to deal with monsters that attack at range.''' though a knight with a [[sword]] or [[handgun]] will be able to combat them as normal usually, sometimes "pure" bombers will not have either of those things (instead having an equipment set of four bombs), or the duties of a bomber may take precedence over defeating those monsters personally.  A bomber is not entirely helpless, however; bombs such as the [[Crystal Bomb]]s fire projectiles instead of a standard explosion, and can be used to "snipe" ranged attackers such as [[Gun Puppy|Gun Puppies]] and [[Devilite]]s.  A well-placed [[Shivermist Buster]] may also freeze several foes in place, making Devilites easy targets and making it impossible for gun puppies to rotate, effectively limiting them to attacking only knights that cross directly in front of them.
+
-Bomb Charge Time - % reduced from base charge time from CTR bonus
  
 +
{{SKAbilitiesTable|Bomb Charge Time in Milliseconds|
 +
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Haze Bomb|3180|2960|2700|2447|2230|1975|1755}}
 +
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Blast Bomb|2200|2040|1866|1701|1545|1400|1225}}
 +
}}
  
−
=== Support Tactics===
+
{{SKAbilitiesTable|Bomb Charge Time - % reduced from base charge time from CTR bonus|
 +
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Haze Bomb|0%|6.92%|15.09%|23.05%|29.87%|37.89%|44.81%}}
 +
{{SKAbilitiesRow|Blast Bomb|0%|7.27%|15.18%|22.68%|29.77%|36.36%|44.32%}}
 +
}}
  
−
==== Kamikaze====
+
'''Bombs that share Haze Bomb charge times''': [[Graviton Bomb]], [[Electron Vortex]], [[Voltaic Tempest]], [[Big Angry Bomb]]
−
Situations can unfold where you'll have to take one for the team. A prime example is against Spiny Toxilargos, where poison really demoralizes the team. Simply place freezies next to him risking running through the poison field as the status affect of the bomb is all that matters.
+
  
−
==== Corner Shielding ====
+
'''Bombs that share Blast Bomb charge times''': [[Dark Briar Barrage]], [[Irontech Destroyer]], [[Heavy Deconstructor]], Shard Bombs
−
One of my favourites is to grab a big radius blast bomb, sit in a corner while the rest of your team guns. it keeps melee mobs distant and your teamates will thank you when a zombie starts noming on their face.
+
  
−
=== Carry Your Team Tactics ===
+
=== Historical Videos ===
  
−
==== Graviton + Freezy + Fire + Irontech ====
+
The following videos contain footage of a variety of bombs from older versions of the game, as a record of how things used to be
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If you can afford four weapon slots, and still be pure bomber, this is essential for clearing out rooms solo. Basically herd your mob crowd with your graviton, stick them in one place with a freezy, drain their damage with fiery then blow the bajeebus out of them with a well placed irontech. This is serious fun, and can be minimized if a party all puts in for one bomb type - all stand in one place and let it rip.
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== Diagrams/Videos ==
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNFmj557BH0 Firestorm Citadel with Radiant Sun Shards] {{EeksEquipSmall|Radiant Sun Shards}}
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== F.A.Q. ==
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3fOvskjR7I Royal Jelly with Radiant Sun Shards] {{EeksEquipSmall|Radiant Sun Shards}}
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There are a few questions that have been answered repeatedly, yet Players still get confused. So here are some Answers to the Questions that haven't specifically been talked about in this guide.
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iSsOnRhMk Radiant Sun Shards to safely take out Gun Puppies] {{EeksEquipSmall|Radiant Sun Shards}}
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiY2p4A-5-k Radiant Sun Shards vs Lumbers] {{EeksEquipSmall|Radiant Sun Shards}}
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==Helpful links==
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*[http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/4347 Elite Bomber Thread]
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*[http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/9924 Bomb Balance Thread]
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*[http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/21762 Bomb Suggestion Thread]
  
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'''Question''': OMG! Why are there charge times on bomb? It would work much better if there were none, and the only reason to charge a bomb would be to give it more power/radius.
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{{guides}}
  
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'''Answer''': In early previews, this is exactly how bombs worked; A player could repeatedly place (spam) bombs everywhere, and due to the charge time only applying to larger power the charge was rarely used due to a lower DPS than placing 3 bombs in a few seconds. Bombing in the previews was abused, with shard bombs granting the best deployment to damage rate. Three Rings did the right thing in severely nerfing bombs before the last preview, but this resulted in bombs being underused, and only being made effective by a select group. Bombing hasn't changed since the last preview, however the only reason for a wider use of bombs today is because players like discovering these less used weapons for themselves, or it has been highlighted to them by other players the usefulness of bombs.
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[[Category:Guides (Player Made)]]

Latest revision as of 18:22, 31 July 2018

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Bombing Guide
Bombing Guide logo.png

Introduction

A bomber is a person specializing in a play-style involving the primary use of a bomb. A bomber's responsibilities vary between crowd control, spreading status effects, or dealing damage over a large area. This may seem to be a tedious line of work to some, but bombs are very powerful tools and can significantly ease the difficultly of content for a party. There are two key points to being a successful bomber:

  • Knowing which bombs are best for each situation, either to maximize damage or survivability.
  • Placing bombs strategically, as to have to the greatest positive effect.

Bombs

Blast Bombs

A go-to mainstay of almost any bomber's arsenal, the Blast Bombs are a line of explosive weaponry that deal pure Normal damage and have a large amount of knockback on them, making these bombs exceptionally useful for tactics like "shielding" and "boxing". The Blast Bombs are some of the most generally all-around useful bombs available, they're extremely effective in any stratum in the game and they're also easy to attain as players provided with a free Blast Bomb along with all the recipes to upgrade it through to the Nitronome just by progressing through the Ranked Missions. Despite their all purpose utility bombers do have to be careful when using this group of bombs, due to their knockback and very bright visual effect upon detonating, they can be extremely disruptive in uncoordinated parties. For this reason bombers planning to use Blast Bomb-line weapons should always be sure to inform their party beforehand and try to plan out strategies before major battles.

Nitronome

The nitronome dealing damage to a large area and pushing slags away from its blast.

The Nitronome is arguably the best damage bomb available to bombers. It is a large-radius bomb that deals damage to everything inside of its blast radius as well as pushing everything outward from the center of the bomb. Of the Blast Bomb alchemy line bombs, it has the shortest fuse, fastest walk speed, and a short charge time. Want to deal damage to a large area? The Nitronome is the obvious choice.

The Nitronome has less knockback and less damage than the alternate blast bomb alchemy lines but it makes up for it with the fastest bomb-charging walk speed and a faster fuse than the other two. These attributes combine to create a weapon that leaves the bomber feeling nimble and agile, allowing them to avoid attacks while charging bombs and using the Nitronome's moderate amount of knockback as a "shield."


Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • The explosion (and accompanying screen shake) obscures the view of surroundings for you and your teammates
  • Poorly placed bombs can push enemies into teammates
  • Over-kiting enemies past bombs will push enemies towards you



Big Angry Bomb

The next best blast bomb after the Nitronome is the Big Angry Bomb, and is a unique option for those who want everything wiped from the screen. Offering an incredible amount of knockback and the highest damage per explosion of any bomb in the game, the BAB is a tool for players whom want to feel powerful, to control an area and sure as hell make sure nothing can get to you. A common misconception many people have is that the Nitronome is always the superior weapon, in actuality the mechanics of the two are different enough that they actually fill different niches; whilst chaining the BAB is significantly slower and less aggressive than Nitro-chaining, the greater knockback and stun effect it offers make it a much more effective "shielding weapon" when against certain kinds of enemies, making it a great choice in the Unknown Passage. Additionally the BAB is also a viable alternative in Lockdown despite what you might assume; many Strikers will find themselves taken off-guard by the slower-fuse and the potential stun on its explosion can leave anyone you hit easy pickings for your own Strikers.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Huge knockback alongside the long fuse means you need to be more pro-active in leading enemies into correct positioning than with the Nitronome
  • Slow walking speed when charging leaves you vulnerable

Irontech Destroyer

The Irontech Destroyer deals a bit more damage than Nitronome and does more knockback while having a fair chance of minor stun. The fuse time is as long as that of Big Angry Bomb and the walk speed reduction is also the same, making the bomb riskier to use than Nitronome. As the charge time is somewhere between that of Nitronome and BAB, DPS is not necessarily higher. Instead, Irontech sits somewhere right between its cousins: Hitting stronger than Nitro but being more spammable than BAB.

Some bombers find that the knockback and rapid exploding of Irontech negates the threat posed by the slowed walk speed and fuse time once you can get a chain going.

For the bomber on the cheap, the 4* Irontech Bomb is still stronger than Nitronome per blast (and, frankly, 5* Destroyer is barely any stronger) while still having the full radius of 5* bombs. As a bonus, the fuse time is faster than Destroyer's, too.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Slow walk speed will make dodging harder
  • Long fuse time makes it trickier to get the second bomb going than with Nitronome

Heavy Deconstructor

One of the least known bombs is the Heavy Deconstructor. This bomb gives the appearance of a gremlin-demo style 'ticker' bomb, as well as showing what appears to be the Darkfang symbol in the blast effect. The Heavy Decon is one of the least used because, in all honesty, Master Blast Bomb is better. The two are the same in fuse, radius and charge time... so what's the problem? The construct damage bonus isn't really that noticeable and the Master Blast bomb's extra damage overall is a nicer option. The worst aspect is that the Heavy Deconstructor stops at 4* so the Nitronome greatly outclasses it. In end game bomber mode, its probably just a better option to look for a UV Construct bonus than going to the effort of making a Heavy Decon.

During the preview, the Heavy Decon was even more disappointing with an incredibly small radius (that of today's regular Blast/Super Blast Bomb). However, back then it seemed to have an actual use due to the reduced radius after getting a UV on bombs. (Obviously this feature has been removed.) This made the Heavy Decon an actual option inside the bombing community, eliminating gun puppies in a matter of 3 hits in a party of 4. Now though, there is no real use in favoring a Heavy Deconstructor over the Master Blast and for now it is only a novelty; perhaps it will be balanced in the future.

Dark Briar Barrage

A Dark Briar Barrage explosion knocks down a soft-bodied Darkfang Thwacker.

The Dark Briar Barrage (DBB) is a piercing damage bomb with characteristics similar to the Nitronome. Despite this the Dark Briar Barrage is not technically a "Blast Bomb" as it is neither part of the same alchemy tree, nor does it have the characteristic knockback of the other Blast Bombs, instead being capable of knocking down soft-bodied enemies such as gremlins and wolvers.

The absence of knockback makes the DBB a great choice for bombers less adept at nitronome placement. The non-disruptive nature of the bomb means that teammates will not have to make adjustments to their gameplay and also means that several DBBs can be comboed together effectively without interfering with each other. The DBB is an excellent choice against fiends, beasts, undead, and gremlins. However because it deals piercing damage, it is ineffective against slimes and construct.

When attacking enemies neutral to piercing (undead and gremlins) the DBB has the same damage output as a Nitronome.

Because the DBB has no knockback, it offers less protection and must be used differently than a typical blast bomb. Bombers can take advantage of the DBB's non-disruptive behavior by running away from enemies while placing down DBBs and essentially kiting them into the blast zone. Another strategy is to take advantage of the lack of knockback by overlapping multiple bombs' blast areas on an enemy's position (like a Venn diagram[1]) while dodging attacks normally. This will allow bombers to easily hit a target multiple times without having to predict where enemies will be pushed.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • The lack of knockback needs you to be far more careful than with other Blast Bombs
  • The knockdown effect will cease to work on various enemies in larger parties
  • The DBB line recipes can only be acquired via Basil

'Vaporizer' Bombs

Bombers use vaporizer bombs to defend a point in Lockdown.

Amongst all weapons in the game that are capable of inflicting status conditions upon the inhabitants of the Clockworks, one group reigns supreme and they are the "Vaporizer Bomb" line. Vaporizer Bombs are characterized by a small initial explosion that inflict an okay amount of elemental damage, but then spread a large cloud of "haze" that deals a particular status effect on everything within it that's vulnerable, making these weapons exceptionally effective at applying status effects to large groups of enemies. Naturally this also makes them effective tools in Lockdown where they can act as an exceptional tool for area denial. The weakness to these bombs however is that it's impossible to target single foes, which means there are certain unique considerations one must make depending on the status in question, as will be outlined below.

Ash of Agni

The final upgrade of the Fiery Vaporizer line, the Ash of Agni, creates a fiery mist that sets any enemies on fire that were foolish enough to not run away. Although Vaporizers are traditionally considered 'support' bombs, the AoA is capable of clearing rooms of enemies by itself. This is typically done by kiting the area while repeatedly laying down more bombs to keep enemies on fire, this strategy can out DPS the healing of Gremlin Menders, trivializing arenas or danger rooms, especially if used in conjunction with a Venom Veiler.

This bomb also works well in combination with Blast Bombs, since they can repeatedly knock enemies away from you while they're on fire.

Since Fire only causes damage it should not disrupt other party members, making the AoA an incredibly reliable bomb that can be used in nearly every situation.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

Shivermist Buster

A Shivermist Buster makes Lord Vanaduke battle a breeze.

Looking for crowd control? The Shivermist Buster, will freeze mobs in place, preventing them from turning around or moving. But be careful! A frozen enemy is still able to attack despite being rooted in place.

The upside to freezing a crowd of enemies is they're easy pickings to take out one at a time, and you give teammates time to set up powerful charge attacks with weapons like a Combuster. The downside is that on its own Shivermist won't really deal any damage, a frozen foe only takes damage upon thawing - which they don't do unless left alone, making it a tiring process to kill things with this freeze alone.

However, there is a even more significant risk to keep in mind. If a knight is completely surrounded by enemies,then freezing them in place results in an effective death trap; the trapped knight is unable to escape their predicament by shield bumping or dashing and will likely be killed as a result. For this reason the Torpor Tantrum is a safer crowd control bomb. Despite all this, Shivermist has always held a relevant place in many player's inventories due to how much easier it can make the Firestorm Citadel for newer players, especially Lord Vanaduke himself.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Enemies can still attack from the front; approach enemies from behind to melee
  • Can refreeze melted Ice Cubes
  • Can create an impenetrable wall of enemies which Knights cannot shield bump through

Venom Veiler

Perhaps the most interesting of all status effects, poison acts as a debuff to your enemies; reducing their attack power considerably, as well as a minor debuff to their defenses. The Venom Veiler is perhaps the epitome of a true support bomb, providing little to no direct damage whilst instead increasing the survivability and damage of your teammates. At least that's the way it looks on paper, however simply using veiler on it's own to provide support will often fail to result in a comparable damage output than if you had just been using a damaging weapon yourself, even with three teammates! As a result of this the most effective way to use veiler is to set the bomb and then switch to an offensive weapon to take advantage of the poison yourself, the poison lasts long enough that you can deal more than enough damage between bomb placements without needing to keep the mist up all of the time.

Now although this may sound kind of mediocre thus far, there is one situation in which poison becomes exceptionally powerful; when there are healers are in the room. The reason for this is that poisoned mobs actually take damage when they're healed, rather than regain health. So in Tier 3 for example, if a room of poisoned foes walk onto the circle of healing cast by gremlin menders, they're going to take quite a lot of damage - so the room can be completed in less time than with a lot of other bombs. As mentioned earlier, this makes n fact the Ash of Agni & Venom Veiler a potent combination that can easily carry you through the final waves of even the most challenging Arenas, at least those that aren't fire or poison themed themselves.

With all this in mind, Venom Veiler can actually be a great bomb in the right situations, especially in shadow lairs, which have a lot of healers about.

Voltaic Tempest

Voltaic Tempest mist spreading shock status to nearby Slags.

The Voltaic Tempest is an AoE shock bomb which delivers damage while interrupting the movements and attacks of your enemies. Now although this may be somewhat helpful against a single enemy, it's true potential shines against groups of tightly clustered foes, any enemy that spasms from Shock will also damage nearby monsters, and trigger more spasms of any other shocked enemies. This makes Voltaic Tempest extremely powerful when used in conjunction with a vortex line-bomb, or just generally against areas with large groups of foes such as Compounds. Ash of Agni and Voltaic Tempest are a popular combination for damaging enemies that aren't immune or resistant to Fire or Shock. Keep in mind that Shock deals elemental damage, and thus is not nearly as effective against Gremlins or Beasts.

What really distinguishes tempest from most other bombs however is its incredible utility in LockDown. In Tier 2, spamming Lightning Capacitors (the 3* version in this line of alchemy) is an effective way to defend capture points. This is because the majority of players tend to wear the Wolver or Cobalt line of armor (both of which provides no elemental or shock protection). The mist keeps Recons off of the capture point as well exposing those caught in the initial blast (and keeping them from re-shielding/disappearing). Strikers, on the other hand, might be able to fly over the capture point without getting shocked, though many times fly right into the mist and are unable to fly off as easily. However Guardians can shield themselves from your status, and the repeated 'hits' of the bomb will basically make Guardians invincible while in the mist, although this will usually only result in a stalemate since they're unable to drop their shield to engage you for long.

Although be weary, in Tier 3 LockDown, more players will have shock protection, or elemental resistance, mostly due to UVs, but the Voltaic Tempest is still a very viable defensive tool as most players will still not be protected against its effects, especially due to the popularity of the Chaos set & Black Kat Cowls.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Can supercharge quicksilvers
  • Enemies can break ghost blocks, activate switches, and blow up explosive crates with shock spasms
  • Enemies have reduced knock back while shocked
  • The Voltaic Tempest line recipes can only be acquired via Basil

Stagger Storm

The Stagger Storm is a status bomb that stuns enemies that enter its mist. While stunning enemies, slowing down their attacks and movement, can be a useful crowd control tool, the stun duration does not last long after the mist dissipates. Bombers wishing to use Stagger Storm should attempt to keep the status rings deployed at all times to avoid having enemies go in and out of stun since adjusting to constant speed changes can be difficult for teammates.

Despite the risks presented by using Stagger Storm alone, it works extremely well in conjunction with certain other status bombs, namely Voltaic Tempest where a dual stun/shock stack will completely prevent most enemies from being able to maneuver or attack.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Spike attacks and thrown projectiles are unaffected by stun and will continue through the air at regular speeds
  • Quicksilvers, Oilers and Toxoils are immune to minor Stun
  • The Stagger Storm line recipes can only be acquired via Sullivan

Torpor Tantrum

The Torpor Tantrum, despite being yet another status bomb, is the one of the most unique weapons in the game as it is the only weapon capable of inflicting the Sleep status. Sleep is the only status able to completely subdue enemies, preventing them from moving or harming you in any way. This makes the Torpor Tantrum an amazing crowd control bomb, able to shut down large groups of enemies completely. Be aware, however, that enemies who are released from the Sleep status will be immune to it for a short time. This makes it impossible to maintain 100% status uptime unlike the other mist bombs. A Shivermist Buster used in combination with the Torpor Tantrum can help keep enemies locked down during their alert periods.

Despite the unrivaled crowd control abilities the bomb provides, it is almost entirely useless against the (very common) Construct family of monsters, all of which are immune to Sleep. If attempting to crowd control large groups be sure you or an ally has a weapon to subdue the Constructs you may encounter.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Enemies when enter an alert state when Sleep wears off, preventing them from being inflicted with Sleep again for a short time
  • All Constructs are immune to Sleep
  • Lord Vanaduke is also immune to Sleep
  • This line of bomb requires quite a lot of Zee Cores to craft, and their availability is dependent on access to the Starlight Cradle series of levels, or purchasing them off of the Auction House.

Shard Bombs

A group of bombers chaining together multiple shard bombs.


The Shard Bomb-line consists of six lines of cluster-like bombs which create an initial explosion on detonation that then fire a series of non-damaging shards in multiple directions. These shards will then stick into the ground and explode shortly thereafter causing a series a of explosions that form a kind of ‘ring’ around the initial placement point of the bomb. The initial shard does less damage than the ring of shards. These bombs are quite difficult to use effectively, due to their unusual mechanics and somewhat unpredictable nature, however they can deal high damage with correct placement.

If you want this bomb to hit more than a blast bomb then you need to get enemies to get hit by multiple shards. For example, if you get a slime between two shards then you hit the slime twice (three times if it gets hit by the primary explosion), but if you place a blast bomb you have a maximum chance of hitting the slime once. Unfortunately, there is a hit limit in place where no one shard bomb can inflict damage to the same enemy with more than 3 shards at once. If you don't use the bomb right then you're better off with a different kind of dps bomb.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Shard Bombs knock back enemies multiple times, making it hard to predict the end positions
  • Placing near a wall will result in some shards disappearing
  • The Roarmulus Twins are currently completely immune to these weapons

Vortex Bombs

Five Slags trapped inside the vortex from a Graviton bomb.

Starting their alchemy lines at three stars, the Vortex bombs are a handful of exceptionally powerful bombs that are in nearly every bomber's arsenal and for very good reason. Upon their initial explosion the vortexes with pull all the nearby enemies toward them, and then after a few seconds explode again, dealing damage to the trapped enemies and flinging them away. However if a large amount of monsters are pulled into the hole, or the enemies are shocked, frozen or put to sleep, then the knockback from the explosion will not occur.

Because of this these bombs function both as exceptional crowd control and an excellent combo tool to set-up powerful charge attacks, like those of the Brandish and Magnus lines of weapons. This makes them essential weapons in a party as your teammates can take full advantage of the vortexes you set-up, and even for a solo bomber you'll find yourself able to exploit these bunched up enemies with weapons like the Dark Briar Barrage, Dark Retribution, or Shard Bombs. They also make an excellent combo with any Shock inducing weapon, like the Voltaic Tempest.

The four vortex bombs are mostly identical, the Electron, Celestial, and Obsidian do the same amount of damage but deal Elemental, Elemental, and Shadow damage along with Shock, Fire, and Poison status respectively, meanwhile the Graviton has a higher damage output than the others but no chance of status infliction. Because of their ability to spread status, the Electron, Celestial, and Obsidian are all considered to be superior to the Graviton; the meager amount of additional damage the Graviton inflicts simply isn't worth the trade off. Additionally the Electron Vortex will be less likely to fling enemies at the conclusion of the vortex due to the Shock, and by being able to pull enemies into close proximity of each other this also maximizes the potential damage output of shock. Additionally, if you manage to shock a group of enemies, they can be daisy-chained into another Electron with ease.

That being said, although the Graviton Vortex may seem like the worst of the vortex bombs, there is still a very real reason to make one; the difficulty involved in acquiring any of the others. The Obsidian Crusher can only be obtained during the Shroud of the Apocrea event that only occurs once or twice a year, meanwhile the Electron Vortex requires you get at least 300 Krogmo Coins by playing Lockdown - something near impossible to do before getting to tier 3 nowadays due to the game's small community. Of course neither of these compare to the difficulty of obtaining a Celestial Vortex, which is exclusively a rare drop from Equinox Prize Boxes, making them prohibitively expensive to obtain for most players.

Because of this, the Graviton is the recommend choice to newer players as they progress through the game, with the Electron being recommended to end-game players who can farm Lockdown for the coins required.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

  • Standing on top of the bomb when the fuse goes off can often trap you in the centre of vortexed enemies
  • Enemies can still attack while inside the vortex
  • Enemies that are alive when the vortex expires are flung randomly away from the bomb
  • While charging you move at a significantly slower speed, leaving you open to fast moving enemies and projectiles
  • Kats are unaffected by the suction during their dash
  • The Graviton line recipes can only be acquired via Basil
  • The Electron line recipes can only be acquired via Sullivan
  • The Obsidian Crusher can only be crafted during the Shroud of the Apocrea event
  • The Celestial Vortex can only be obtained as a rare drop from Equinox Prize Boxes

Dark Retribution

Dark Retribution vs some Ice Jellies.

The Dark Retribution (DR) is a shadow damage bomb with a unique damage pattern. After a small initial explosion, four orbs will begin rotating inside the blast area (2 clockwise, 2 counter-clockwise). These orbs will deal damage everytime they hit an enemy, making the DR a powerful multi-hit bomb.

The Dark Retribution has the highest damage-per-second of any bomb in the game when used against immobile, or large enemies where multiple orbs will hit the target(s) repeatedly in quick succession. Against enemies such as the Royal Jelly or a Battlepod a few well placed bombs will lead to an extremely quick kill. The DR is undoubtedly one of the best bombs to use against slimes and constructs due to the abundance of monsters in their families that have movement patterns that make them very vulnerable to DR.

Hazard Icon.png Potential Hazards:

Armor

Bomber Sets
Set Description Set Bonus Recommended UVs
Chaos

C.png

Chaos has negative resistances to poison, shock, freeze, fire and curse, equivalent to a medium unique variant as well as less normal and elemental defense than standard armour sets. The sacrifices you make to wear a full chaos set are rewarded handsomely, however, as both pieces will combine for very high charge time reduction as well as very high damage bonuses, both of which universally apply to all weapon types. This means that, not only does the Chaos set easily enable you to max out your bombing potential, but it also allows you to proficiently wield side-arms as well.

The Chaos set is well suited for bombers looking to deal damage. This set isn't recommended for players looking to solely specialize in status bombs as they will be incurring a significant penalty to defense while not fully taking advantage of the damage bonus.

If you plan on wearing Chaos, you should get very well acquainted with remedy pills.

Set Pieces: Chaos Cloak, Chaos Cowl

  • Charge Time Reduction: Very High
  • Damage Bonus: Very High

Armor

  • Medium+ Status Resist

Bomb

  • Medium+ Damage bonus
Volcanic Demo

Vd.png

Of the armors available to bombers, the Volcanic Demo set is the safest choice. It has high normal defense as well as a natural fire resistance. With level 10 bombs, the set will allow bombers to obtain max charge time reduction.

The set is well suited for bombers not comfortable with the glass cannon defences of the Chaos or Mad Bomber sets, and is also plenty adequate for players wishing to specialize in crowd control and status spreading, where a damage bonus isn't paramount.

With the inclusion of trinkets and a Sprite perk, the Volcanic Demo set can gain Max CTR and Max Damage like the Bombastic Demo Set, essentially making them interchangeable for fire and freeze stratums respectively.

Set Pieces: Volcanic Demo Suit, Volcanic Demo Helm

  • Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High

Armor

  • Medium Fire Resist (Immunity to Moderate Fire)
  • Maximum Poison Resist (Compound 42)
  • Maximum Curse Resist (Darkfire Citadel)

Bomb

  • Very High Damage Bonus
Bombastic Demo

Bd.png

The inverse of the Volcanic Demo set, the Bombastic provides bombers with a damage bonus instead of charge time reduction, and freeze resistance instead of fire. This armour choice is more for bombers whom prefer offensive-styled bombs over status bombs such as the blast or shard lines, however because charge time reduction ultimately provides higher dps, even for offensive bombers this set isn't preferred over Volcanic Demo, or Chaos within the Clockworks. However in Lockdown this set is an extremely viable choice for Recon bombers whom wish to use damage-dealing bombs.

With the inclusion of trinkets and a Sprite perk, the Bombastic Demo set can gain Max CTR and Max Damage like the Volcanic Demo Set, essentially making them interchangeable for freeze and fire stratums respectively.

Set Pieces: Bombastic Demo Suit, Bombastic Demo Helm

  • Bomb Damage Bonus: Very High

Armor

  • Medium Freeze Resist (Immunity to Moderate Freeze)
  • Maximum Piercing Defence (Ice Queen Palace, Lockdown)
  • Maximum Shock Resist (Lockdown)
  • Maximum Stun Resist (Lockdown)

Bomb

  • Very High CTR
Mad Bomber

Mb.png

The Mad Bomber set is for all intents and purposes, entirely inferior to the Chaos set. They both provide the same bonuses, however Mad is restricted to bombs only, where as Chaos is just as effective for bombing whilst also allowing you the freedom to easily use swords and handguns. The only advantage Mad has, is the lack of curse weakness, that is more or a less a completely non-factor considering its rarity in the clockworks. For these reasons its recommended new bombers turn the Demo set they progress through the game with into Volcanic, Bombastic or Starlit gear instead, and then make a Chaos set at a later date.

Set Pieces: Mad Bomber Suit, Mad Bomber Mask

  • Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High
  • Bomb Damage Bonus: Very High

Armor

  • Medium+ Status Resist

Bomb

  • Medium Damage Bonus
Mercurial Demo

Md.png

Mercurial Demo is unique amongst the bombing armour sets since not only does it provide a medium damage bonus to bombs, but it also has a medium movement speed increase, a perk shared only with the Mercurial and Black Kat sets. Players likely won't notice the benefits of Medium movement speed at first, however the bonus is exponential with stacking meaning if you get MSI Very High with the Swift Steps II Sprite perk, you quickly discover how significant of a difference bombing with an MSI increase actually is. The Mercurial Demo also makes a good choice of gear for a Recon bomber in Lockdown, because of the innate Shock resistance and movement speed perk.

In the Clockworks the Mercurial Demo requires trinkets or UVs to achieve Maximum CTR.

Set Pieces: Mercurial Demo Helm, Mercurial Demo Suit

  • Bomb Damage Bonus: Medium
  • Increased Movement Speed: Medium

Armor

  • Medium Shock Resist (Immunity to Moderate Shock)
  • Maximum Fire Resist (Firestorm Citadel, Redclaw Munitions Factory)
  • Maximum Freeze Resist (Lockdown)
  • Maximum Stun Resist (Lockdown)

Bomb

  • Very High CTR
Starlit Demo

Sd.png

Starlit Demo is the only set of bomber gear that defends against Piercing damage. It offers the same CTR bonus as Volcanic Demo, a medium damage bonus vs Slimes, and provides a sleep resistance and stun weakness. If you're looking for piercing resistant bomber gear, or need immunity to sleep bombs in Lockdown, the Starlit set should suit your needs. Just be advised that Piercing is generally considered the least useful of the defenses, although there are notable exceptions to this such as the Shadow Lair: Royal Jelly Palace, and any confrontation with a piercing sword user in Lockdown.

One notable detail about this set is when used with a lv10 Shocking Salt Bomb the player has both Maximum CTR and Maximum DMG against Slimes, meaning when entering Slime levels they can invest their trinkets and sprite perk into other bonuses instead.

Set Pieces: Starlit Demo Helm, Starlit Demo Suit

  • Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Very High

Armor

  • Maximum Freeze Resist (Lockdown, Ice Queen Palace)
  • Maximum Shock Resist (Lockdown)

Bomb

  • Very High Damage Bonus
Black Kat

Bk.png

The Black Kat set is a unique set of gear that is as powerful as it is rare, offering both a universal max damage bonus, and medium movement speed increase. If you're lucky enough to be in possession of this set, it is an excellent replacement for Mercurial Demo, since you would still get MSI medium, but you also get a maximum damage bonus instead of only reaching medium. Despite having negative status resistances, the Black Kat is unarguably one of the best all-round sets in the entire game for any player, and an excellent choice for bombers looking to use MSI builds.

Without CTR UVs on your bombs the Black Kat set will require Charge Time bonuses from trinkets.


Set Pieces: Black Kat Cowl, Black Kat Raiment

  • Damage Bonus: High
  • Increased Movement Speed: Low

Armor

  • Medium+ Status Resists

Bomb

  • Very High CTR
Kat Hiss

Kh.png

The Kat Hiss set fulfils a niche purpose in 'rounding off' uneven bonuses. A practical example of this can be thought of with the Lockdown Guardian class. It comes with low CTR for bombs, which can be rounded off to medium using a piece of Kat Hiss gear. The class is then a mere Bomb Focus trinket away from maxing out on charge time, letting its wielder use their other trinket slot and helm/armour for other purposes, like maxing off bomb damage or increasing their health. This gear also has viability for bombers only wanting lower levels of CTR, in order to help achieve specific timing when bombing against certain enemies. That being said, the Kat Hiss Raiment is far too difficult to obtain for the bonuses it provides, and if you're able to make it you would be better investing your Wicked Whiskers into making the Black Kat set.

Set Pieces: Kat Hiss Cowl, Kat Hiss Raiment

  • Bomb Damage Bonus: Low
  • Bomb Charge Time Reduction: Low

Armor

  • Medium+ Shock Resist

Bomb

  • Low or High CTR
  • Low or High Damage

Battle Sprites

Battle Sprites
Sprite Description Recommended Ultimates Recommended Perks
Drakon

Battle Sprite-Drakon T3 preview.png

A lot of people view Drakon as the weakest Battle Sprite. This isn't technically true. It certainly packs a lot more firepower than Seraphinx, which has none outside of its laser, and although Maskeraith's skills can result in more damage in the end, Drakon is unique in how independent its attacks are.

Firebolt can be compared to Iron Slug. While you may initially think that sounds like a bad thing, remember that this is an Iron Slug that can be fired at 100% mobility, can switch between elemental and shadow damage, and can set enemies on fire. It's also the only sprite ability that can be used to reach far-away switches.

Unlike the barrier pickups, Flame Barrier has no limit to the amount of times they can damage enemies and as such the total damage will rack up fast. In addition to this, when fully upgraded, Flame Barrier will increase your armour's defence by 70% for the full 10-second duration of the skill. The package is of special interest to bombers, as the spinning orbs will allow them to take out priority targets in a flash while they're charging up bombs to deal with the general crowd. You can also use it while standing inside of a vortex to tank hits while killing the vortexed mobs. Works particularly well when you enemies are poisoned and you're wearing appropriate armour.

Firestorm kind of sucks to be honest. If you already have a fiery vaporizer, there is no reason to use it. It's okay if you use bait a number of mobs through it on chokepoints or in vortexes. Beware that mecha knight shields, mini jellies and walls will cancel out the rings before they spawn.


Unlike Seraphinx and Maskeraith, there is not a clear choice for which ultimate to pick with Drakon's abilities. Instead, I will explain the benefits of both.

  • Firebolt

Meteoric Firebolt triples your blast radius. It gives leeway for hitting switches and can damage more enemies.

Concussive Firebolt imbues a good chance of strong stun. It's useful for approaching ranged mobs.

  • Flame Barrier

Backfire Barrier gives you a large speed boost for a short time. You can charge a bomb during this boost.

Scorching Barrier greatly increases the barrier's damage output, letting you kill things faster.

  • Firestorm

Eplosive Firestorm adds raw damage to the skill, making it usable. Overall damage more or less doubles.

Frenzied Firestorm provides minor offensive buffs to the whole party. Pick if you weren't going to use Firestorm for its damage anyway.


Regular Bombing

  • Mighty Boom II

MSI Bombing

  • Swift Steps II

Tanking

  • Healthy Boost VI
Seraphnyx

Battle Sprite-Seraphynx T3 preview.png

The Seraphynx is a cat-like battle sprite that has abilities built around providing support to the party rather than being a direct offensive tool itself. Or at least it's "supposed" to, but as any bomber whom chooses the path of the kitten quickly learns, Seraphnyx actually works best when played aggressively. First of all to understand Seraphnyx you must understand its three skills, Ray of Light is the offensive skill that deals repeated hits through a small laser to any enemy in its path, Heart Attack 'marks' nearby enemies so they'll drop health when killed and Angelic Aura surrounds the user in a protective bubble that shields you from damage while it lasts. At first glance Seraphnyx absolutely seems to be living up to it's support title, however you'll find that Ray of Light is actually a deceptively powerful tool; it easily racks up damage on stationary or slow moving targets, and works extremely well in conjunction with Vortex-line bombs, enabling you to bolster your damage output easily.

Comparatively Heart Attack is naturally the weakest of these three abilities, outside of Shadow Lairs and Danger Missions it's mostly a skill that will only benefit inexperienced players, acting as a buffer for anyone not quite up to par with their dodging skills. Angelic Aura is situational, but unlike Heart Attack it's actually quite useful for the most part; the ability to protect yourself from damage while charging bombs can be an incredible ability in certain situations (Fiend arenas are a great example) and although it's situational, you should never forget you have the ability.

As for your harness choice, an Elite Crystal Harness is the best option for Seraphnyx. Ray of Light is an extremely effective weapon against enemies that are either slow or stationary, and it especially works well at dispatching turret-like foes such as Gun Puppies that Bombers typically struggle with, and aptly handles the Construct family as a whole as well as working well against most Undead creatures.


  • Disintegration Ray

There isn't much explanation to be had for this choice; a generic defense drop on any enemy struck by Ray of Light is a tremendous ability that makes Seraphnyx incredibly at dealing damage itself, and amplifying the damage output of you and your teammates. Comparatively Dazzling Light Ray provides a tiny damage bonus against two families of enemy, and is actually out damaged by Disintegration Ray even against those two families!

  • Iron Heart Attack

Again, a simple decision. Heart Attack is your weakest ability anyway, but in situations where you legitimately need to get health, defense orbs can be a huge benefit, especially since they can easily stack up to provide whole minutes worth of protection. The alternative, Violent Heart Attack, is supposed to make your Heart Attack into a legitimate weapon and perhaps would be a worthwhile option, except it's currently bugged and provided little to no real damage output and fails to even break environmental objects.

  • Seraphic Aura

Of all Seraphnyx' Ultimates, your choice of aura should be the most difficult decision to make; in fact at first glance you may even lean toward Valkyrian Aura since it sounds incredibly useful. Unfortunately Valkyrian Aura has a misleading description; it will only increase your Charge Time to Maximum and no higher, regardless of prior bonuses. This may make it an excellent ability for players not running any CTR bonuses at all, however a bomber lives and dies by their charge speed and no end-game bomber will ever be running a set that lacks maximum CTR, making Valkyrian Aura completely worthless for bombers.


Regular Bombing

  • Mighty Boom II

MSI Bombing

  • Swift Steps II
Maskeraith

Battle Sprite-Maskeraith T3 preview.png

The most popular sprite, and for good reason. All of Maskeraith's abilities are highly lethal when used correctly.

Caustic Quills is not only useful for spreading poison, but provides formidable damage on their own. A bomber should spread the quills across multiple enemies and hit them all rapidly to pop the quils. Shard bombs, DR and damaging hazes are all optimal for this role. Quills do not break freeze.

Shadow Cloak turns you invisible. Whatever you do after you turn invisible is up to your imagination. Don't worry, the skill will do actual things when you get the ultimate.

Hexing Haze is a damage haze that moves with you. Do we even need to say anything else? It's more useful the more enemies you're fighting, just like bombs. There's a mechanic in place where hexing more enemies gives you more haze time, but you can almost max it by just hexing the same enemy 3 times in a row, so it basically doesn't exist.


  • Vengeful Quills

Virulent Quills gives you stronger poison and provides a slight chance of the quills dropping a very short, very small haze, but the truth is nobody cares. A poisoned enemy will be unable to heal no matter how weak the poison is. Vengeful Quills will double your damage as well as the spreading of poison.

  • Deadly Cloak

Vengeful Cloak drops a very small bomb that inflicts no damage, but a weak stun. Deadly provides an enormous damage boost. You might think at first that the damage bonus can't be used by bombs, but all you have to do is drop the bomb before cloaking. Uncloak before detonation to increase damage boost further.

  • Chaotic Haze

Haunted Haze is bugged and inflicts single-digit damage. This is not likely to get fixed anytime soon. Meanwhile, Chaotic Haze has a slight chance to curse an enemy and that's something.


Regular Bombing

  • Mighty Boom II

MSI Bombing

  • Swift Steps II

Trinkets

Trinkets can be used to increase the innate abilities of your bombs without, or in addition to, bomber specific armor. They provide a more accessible means to reaching maximum CTR or damage without having to target specific unique variants.

The Bomb Focus Module is a trinket more suited for status and hybrid bombers. The four-star variant will allow users of full Volcanic Demo Armor to reach maximum charge time reduction on all heat level 10 bombs. Hybrid bombers wearing either a Volcanic Demo Helm or one piece of Mad Bomber can reach maximum CTR with the five-star focus module.

The Elite Boom Module gives bombers a medium bonus to bomb damage. This trinket is best suited for bombers wearing full or partial (with medium bomb damage UVs) mad bomber armor wishing to maximize their damage potential. Coupling this trinket with both full mad bomber or a Volcanic Demo Helm + Mad Bomber Suit mix allows users to achieve maximum charge time reduction and maximum damage with bombs against all targets without the need of any unique variants.

In the instance that you're primarily using your bombs to support a team, via status or crowd control, or you've simply managed to attain Max CTR and Max Damage without the need of your trinket slots, Penta-Hearts are a useful supplementary trinket that will increase you health, enabling you to better tank hits.

Tactics

General Tactics

There are several important things to consider while playing the role of the bomber. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, is to avoid the common mistake of simply running about randomly while dropping bombs erratically. This will cause the positioning of monsters to become very difficult to predict, and the explosions may randomly push monsters into places where they may be able to attack a vulnerable ally. Instead, focus on what would be the most efficient strategy to ensure that monsters are persistently lured into your bombs (and preferably blown away from your allies). An easy tactic is to place a bomb, begin charging a second bomb, run into the crowd of enemies in front of you to lure them into the blast radius of your bomb, and then after the explosion, place the second bomb in the same place as the first, repeating for as long as necessary.

Second, a bomber must be aware of their party as well as their enemies. Remember that the Blast Bombs are great for soloing, but in a party, your group will begin to tire of not being able to see enemies due to the large blue cloud produced after the detonation, which is very dangerous. (This is known as the blue screen of death.) Though you may well be safe standing at the epicenter of your bomb, your fellow knights will likely be blinded, unable to see the foes that are around them. The only real way to effectively blast bomb in a party is to follow members closely if they have a gun, or to simply herd enemies into a corner for your swordsmen. To a lesser extent, be aware of the interactions of your bombs with certain monsters. Using the Ash of Agni on Oilers is a poor idea due to their healing when set ablaze, as well as using the Ionized Salt Bomb on Quicksilvers as they become extremely fast when affected with shock.

Third, memorize the spawn patterns that appear after a party button has been pressed. A bomber can capitalize on this knowledge by placing a Vaporizer or Vortex bomb on one of those locations before the monsters spawn.

Lastly, a bomber must know how to deal with monsters that attack at range. though a knight with a sword or handgun will be able to combat them as normal usually, sometimes "pure" bombers will not have either of those things (instead having an equipment set of four bombs), or the duties of a bomber may take precedence over defeating those monsters personally.

Specific Enemy Strategies

Boss Stratums

Danger Missions

Shadow Lairs

F.A.Q.

There are a few questions that have been answered repeatedly, yet players still get confused. So here are some answers to the questions that haven't specifically been talked about in this guide.

Appendix

Bomb Alchemy Paths

This is a list of the alchemy paths of all the bombs currently in game. Click the bomb you want to view the materials needed to craft it.

Bomb Charge Time

Bomb charge time is the minimum time required to hold down the action key to successfully prepare a bomb. The minimum charge time occurs prior to the charge-complete animation (glowing). All bombs gain a natural CTR bonus while leveling up via heat. At level 5, bombs will gain a low charge time reduction and at level 10 they will have a medium charge time reduction bonus.

-Bomb Charge Time in Milliseconds

-Bomb Charge Time - % reduced from base charge time from CTR bonus


None Low Medium High V. High Ultra Max
Haze Bomb 3180 2960 2700 2447 2230 1975 1755
Blast Bomb 2200 2040 1866 1701 1545 1400 1225


None Low Medium High V. High Ultra Max
Haze Bomb 0% 6.92% 15.09% 23.05% 29.87% 37.89% 44.81%
Blast Bomb 0% 7.27% 15.18% 22.68% 29.77% 36.36% 44.32%

Bombs that share Haze Bomb charge times: Graviton Bomb, Electron Vortex, Voltaic Tempest, Big Angry Bomb

Bombs that share Blast Bomb charge times: Dark Briar Barrage, Irontech Destroyer, Heavy Deconstructor, Shard Bombs

Historical Videos

The following videos contain footage of a variety of bombs from older versions of the game, as a record of how things used to be

Helpful links


Tutorials & Guides
Starting Out | New Player Briefing | User interface | Useful Links
Icon-bomb.png Bombing Guide | Icon-handgun.png Gunslinger Guide | Icon-sword.png Swordmaster Guide
Icon-shield.png Shieldbearer Guide
Defense increased.png Hybrid Guide
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