I need professional techniques explained to me on how to bomb... With what type of bomb. If you are willing to type a lovely essay regarding each bomb's techniques in Lockdown, I will honestly play Spiral Knights more (and OOO will receive more money). So, I know there are specific people I can look at, but what's everyone's opinions on how to use all bomb classes in Lockdown...? Thanks so much! If you don't answer this thread no thank you.
How to Bomb In Lockdown?
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 07:08
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 07:42
#2
True to my name I am but a dream...
The average bomber in LD uses Voltaic tempest or Shivermist buster as a means of team support and area denial.
Chaos is preferred due to universal weapons boost but for a slightly more status defensive bomber combo Bombastic and volcanic (if you plan on using recon) or use full volcanic for guardian.
Shards: alone are weak but a group of sharders can be a mess to deal with (especially with shocking salt bombs)
Blast: good for gunner support and general damage
Haze: protecting chokepoints and caps
Dark retribution: see haze and shards
Vortex: best in conjunction with stupid enemies and smart charge attacking allies
Bombers should stick with the main group of fighters and capture points
(Striker bomber may work with a high ctr armor and the right trinkets)
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 07:52
#3
Serious bombing requires three weapon slots. You'll need two haze bombs and one sword (gun could also work if you prefer that). Alternate between the haze bombs to keep your current location safe from haze walkers. Few are able to walk through two kinds of hazes at once but if someone actually can, you need to switch bombs so that the haze walker is not able to keep you dead and worthless.
As for the last weapon, I think it's a matter of preference so ask yourself which one you'll be the most comfortable with and preform the best with. Keep in mind that Guardians have buffed swords and debuffed guns while Recons are the other way around.
The haze bombs, in terms of usefulness, are:
1. Shiver. Perfect control, but often walked through with Skolver set/Black Kat Cowl+Snarbolax Coat
2. Voltaic Tempest. Almost the same as long as the enemy is within the bomb and pretty sadistic overall. Top priority in terms of immunity so if someone is immune to anything, it's Shiver and VT because they have an immune Skolver set.
3. Swagger Storm. Turns the enemy into harmless kittens. Immunity is often achieved using Ancient Plate Mail and UVs.
Lastly, keep in mind that the best bombers play Guardian because the class can take more than Recon and has better survivability due to the health regeneration the shield gives. If you're in need of health, I suggest placing one bomb, regenerating two ticks (half a pip, twice), then placing another bomb. The problem with playing Guardian is that you get less CTR. To get it, use gear that provides it or UVs, naturally.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 08:14
#4
INTRO
To bomb efficiently, you need a set that can walk on AT LEAST 2 bombs. This can be done with UVs, or simply by crafting the right things.
Example, if you have a Snarby set with Shock High on a piece, and Shock Med on the other, you just made yourself a 3 bomb walker set.
Needless to say, you HAVE to play as guardian. Recon bombers die. Quickly.
CTR
To get the CTR needed, you could use a mix of UVs and gear. For example, with CTR Low fully heated bombs, you'll have a total of CTR VH on every bomb. Pretty neat right?
BOMB CHOICE
Bomb choice is important! Mist bombs are useful, every other bomb is pretty/fun but often useless (except for Nitronome).
My top choice will always be Venom Veiler. Often overlooked, this thing turns players with UVs+trinkets into 4* LD newbies. 2 hits and they'll be on the floor.
Second would be Swagger Storm. Chasing stunned people gives me a great joy! (Side note: VV+SS is a super deadly bomb combo)
Voltaic Tempest is a great bomb, but as Krakky said, people often have one or more sets immune to it. Use carefully!
Shiver and Ash are fun, often very annoying, but more often not so great. I'd avoid.
STRATEGY
As a guardian bomber, you have to be prepared to face so much Polaris, that your computer will lag you out and SK will crash (it seriously happened to me quite a few times). Not only Polaris, but also AT Valiance, AP, Drivers' charges, players flying, alpacas, snakes on airplanes, Darth Vader... Pretty much everything and everyone! The important thing is, whatever happens (Zombie Apocalypse included), keep charging those bombs and planting them down. People won't dive into your bombs, and if they do, make them pay (a.k.a. double swing their butt back to Base Camp).
People will adapt to you, make sure you adapt to people. Switch your bombs during the match, don't always stick to the same 2 bombs. Sure, it can work, but often it won't.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 08:57
#5
Oh wow I forgot to list VV and AoA. Reto nailed it, though.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 09:29
#6
*nods and adjusts helmet*
I specialize in Ice weapon use. I've seen people use the salt bomb types to hit attackers farther away like snipers. since they reach WAY farther than guns.
[Class: Recon](Role: Support)
Bomb: Shiver mist buster with a (high) Charge variable.
Supporting weapon: Standard 5 star fire arm.
Sneak attack weapon: Standard fast paced Elemental or Shadow damage sword.
Bombers work best in a team setting with experienced ranged attackers who hit hard and fast. Arguable but true.
All in all your going to find yourself in a world of hurt if you come to lockdown and spend 7+ seconds of each battle with your hands in the air holding up a bomb...Anything less than medium increase in bomb speed in lockdown is a death sentence.
People seem to forget players aren't stupid.. If they see a Huge circle surround you and a smaller circle growing to fit it they just move while switching to a ranged weapon. Use your teammates to create suitable cover fire or situations that will push the opposing team into your assault and if you use your stealth wisely they wont know that you are there to do it. Your window of opportunity is slim one once seen. You will need to have a charge reduction of at least medium but I recommend high or more to widen the window and utilize the recon "Pop out and bomb" technique and apply gun pressure.
The main point is to gain a win by holding the points longer than the other team.. To increase the chances of your party winning you can take opposing player number strength out of the equation. I found doing this easier by not being seen to get in position then trapping and holding them if killing them outright is not a better option.
Once frozen they will be held unless the ice is broken around them or you let sit long enough to thaw.
Simply keep spamming the freezing mist effect and hold them fast and allowing your superior numbers to trounce the rest of the opposing team. And don't worry. Eventually they are going to gang up on you to free their players but that just gives your team more time to gain points. Last session I held 3 player for an entire lockdown because what was left of their team was pined down in their base.
And once they are frozen stay out of their line of attack. Players will flip out and start mashing button and typing curse words at you. But don't take this personally it's only the "I was stupid enough to get trapped in ice!!!" panic response. You will see them switch weapons over and over and even keep charge attacking hoping you walk in front of it.. Oh.. and please don't walk in front of it.
If you run across a very resistant against freeze crowd then surprise strike and soften up or kill already wounded targets with patience and timing. Or you can just walk away when hurt to pressure taken points or heal.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 09:33
#7
:;
I usually play recon, so I had naturally picked up bombs as a sidearm until that fateful full moon when I went from slow-sword vortex hybrid to a post-max ASI gunner :;
In all seriousness, I still do mess around with them once in a while, especially when I need to solo points, so here's what I've picked up:
Class
Depends on your weapon preference and UV's/gear:
Recon's more suited to using bombs as a sidearm and guns as a main weapon. You only need a level 10 bomb for max CTR, and it gives great bonuses for guns (CTR and ASI med). Bombs can provide rest for cloak, status wall, or visual distraction, if you're the cool, sneaky kind of recon. Deathmark is difficult to use for bombs (though it IS possible to deathmark nitronome!), but infinitely useful for swords/guns.
Guardian's more suited to bomber playstyle with sword as a sidearm due to:
- Knockback cancel (you control where you put the bombs)
- Inherent status resist
- Shield
- Sword ASI
Range
You should also understand the range of things, and keep that in mind when spacing people out:
- Most swords have about a 1.1-1.5 tile distance (just enough to hit blast boxes without taking damage)
- Points have a 3 tile radius. (6 tile diameter)
- 5* mist bombs have a 4 tile effect radius ( 8 tile diameter) and about a 1 tile explosion (damage) radius.
- Dash has a 5 tile radius.
- Alchemers have a 7 tile shot distance (10 tile charge)
- Magnus/Antigua have an 8 tile shot distance (10 tile charge for both, but Antigua's 'sniper' distance is just for the last shot).
- Valiance/Polaris/Catalyzer/Blitz (!!!) have about a 9 tile shot distance
Of course, there are other more specific ranges for the other bombs. If you use that information smartly, you can position your mist 'walls' to minimize damage from surprise attacks.
Movement
If you move in large circles and predictable movements, you'll get hit. Don't do that :l
If you have offensive bombs (blast, shard, dbb), your movements should generally be in range of your previous bomb, so if someone tries to melee you, you're covered with the bomb's attack. For example, if you know your bomb's radius is 4 tiles and a sword's radius is "1", then you can keep moving 'forward' as long as you don't go more than 3 tiles forward from the previous center (because then they can safely slap you with a sword without taking damage).
Vortex
For vortex, if you're on a point, you want to make sure they overlap a little bit, because if/when people jump in to attack, smarter ones can use your vortex as part of their attack movement and you want to be able to misdirect them (or have one of them explode with chance of shock while the other one traps).
If you're 'walling' off a corridor, you'll keep at least two on at the same time. Keep one of the bombs within a 4-5 tile radius of the other, because people will dash, and you want them to dash into the other vortex.
Vortex is especially good when you have camera advantage. Reactor below base is one of the more common situations for it to work beautifully: if a group of strikers respawn at the same time, you can get an entire pack of strikers to run straight into a vortex for massive damage with a backup sword.
In general, landing hits with bombs that don't have a 'wall' effect like mist bombs means the other team needs something important enough to risk going into the bomb for. You just need to stand in the way of that:
- Capture points
- "damage" (group of teammates in bomb radius)
- Corridor
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 12:31
#8
others have talked about individual tactics, weapon choices, etc.
i like to think of guardian bombers regarding their role for the objective: gaining points faster than enemy team and winning the round. because just from the score and caps position of the game, there's definitely a right time and wrong time to be a bomber.
bombers are good at stalling. it is a combination of good health, guardian shield, and laying down fun circles that make people tread carefully.
but if your team has no active caps and you're behind on the scoreboard, stalling is just helping the enemy team maintain their lead. stalling is great when you have the lead and want to maintain it. but you should be flexible enough to see the game position and recognize when your 4 man team needs another striker to help cap and make a comeback rather than bunker down and stall the game out while the ops accumulate a point lead.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 13:12
#9
As a bomber your primary goal is to give damage to the enemy team. How you do that is up to you.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 13:46
#10
(◡‿◡✿)
✎ momo makes a great point. guardians are like tanks: very durable, but very slow.
✎ i've never bombed in T3, but i love to bomb in T2 since there's a lack of bombers there. some of my favorite loadouts are:
- fire and shock: i only use this one to impress friends with mist damage, not the most useful but it's fun nonetheless
- freeze and shock: alternating these bombs in the same spot is very deadly to someone who walks on it, mainly because they seem to get stuck pretty good in your bomb radius, and the initial bomb detonation will deal pretty good damage
- shock and poison: this is a useful combination for "mines" because most people use the middle neutral health pad, where you can set up camp and make them run back to their base
- poison and sf/ss: this loadout can help you tank a lot of striker attacks, and help you kill your enemy quickly. (remember only to swing right after you've been hit, otherwise you'll be exposed to attacks.)
✎ some tips when bombing:
- if you're being chased by a striker, you obviously can't outrun them, so try to get to a choke spot and plant a bomb, then shield up until the bomb goes off and then run to the side they're not on.
- many people in T2 use AT hammer, so plant a bomb and then shield while their hammer dash pulls them into your bomb radius and detonates on them.
- if someone is hovering over you attacking you while you're charging a bomb and you can't seem to plant a single bomb, switch up your movement pattern. this should give you enough time to get a fully charged bomb planted, and you can regain your advantage by charging a second bomb and moving onto a base or spawn.
- again, if someone is chasing you in a tight area - aprox. the size of a bomb - walk one way while charging and they'll follow you. when they get fairly close, but not close enough to hit you, walk backwards and plant a bomb. they'll be on the other side and you can make your escape.
- if you can get the other team's best player frozen, you can use a technique called freeze locking, which is achieved by not breaking your freeze with the bomb detonation, by planting bombs far enough away from the enemy to be touching them on the edge, but not in the middle.
✎ hope this helped. see you in LD ♡ ッ
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 16:12
#11
I'm only 3* ATM... It will take a long time like it did for my Utrex to lvl up... You guys are giving absolutely outstanding tips and loadouts! ;=] Keep this list going!!! I want to hear out more suggestions to find my perfect load out / strategy. Any recommendations for armors? I only have seen a few people here talk about armors.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 16:51
#12
For all classes and weapon types:
- Chaos is the poor man's everything.
- Damage bonus set is the 'endgame' set (uses weapon UVs or other things to boost CTR instead, has no status debuffs). For bombers, that's the bombastic set, giving you freeze immunity.
For bombers specifically, you have an alternate choice with the Mercurial Demo set, which gives you shock defense and the unique bonus of MSI. If you don't care so much about the shock defense, then you can swap out the helmet for BKC and get a bit of universal damage increase for your side arm.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 14:04
#13
Don't forget to use my services
I agree with all that has been said. Also:
-Bombing in T3 without trinkets is not a very good idea (heck, T3 without trinkets is a bad idea in general).
-Shock and Fire resist are good because those statuses interrupt your charging.
-Bombers are usually not very good offensively. If you want to go offensive, you will need to follow your team around. Otherwise, focus on stalling points.
-Guardians are idea for supporting team, recon for solo stalling. A non-bomb sidearm is very important if going solo.
-Biggest threats are guns, especially ones that deal status or deny area (pulsars). Skilled bombers know what hits are worth tanking and what hits should be dodged. <---Sometimes dodging a weak threat could make your vulnerable to a larger one.
-When helping out teammates, position bombs that force foes into the range of your teammates.
-AT spam. Normal spam is not enough, you need the computer to do it for you.
*sigh* Feyi taking an AT joke seriously. Because AT bombing is totally the computer doing something for you.
Mon, 05/05/2014 - 18:07
#14
You never need the computer to do something for you. Not even AT bombing.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 05:08
#15
In regards to armours...
I find that it is very important to have status immunity sets.
As a bomber, all opposing bombers on the other team should be your responsibility. Very often, it will disadvantage your team if an opposing bomber caps a point. They will hold it. More often than not, it is better to not rely on teammates to take opposing bombers out. So to recap that point you must take charge, you must first be able to approach the bomber. It's no use circling a cap because you don't have the right gear to walk status. This is why as a pure bomber, chaos is severely ineffective.
As soon as possible, get Mercurial Demo. This will set you up for VT walking. MSI is superb with the guardian class and it's an all round great set. However, Volcanic Demo will be fine while you work your way up to SL's. Once you've obtained these sets it helps to build your wardrobe further. Get a set with fire AND shock resist, stun resist. But all in all, try to prioritise status immunity. It also helps against all those pesky alchemers as status weakness is a bomber's downfall.
Shivermist should be no problem if you're equipped with a DBB or Nitro, just make sure you're on the cap if you're frozen. So I wouldn't recommend bombastic.
Summary:
Get Volcanic Demo, then work your way up to Mercurial Demo. If making other sets, prioritise status immunity.
Avoid Chaos (I mean obtain this set, but don't use it to bomb in LD.)
Avoid Bombastic. No CTR, freeze immunity is useless and damage bonus is redundant half the time.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 05:57
#16
:;
As a bomber, all opposing bombers on the other team should be your responsibility.
Funny, I thought eating bombers was the gunners' responsibility with all the statuses, faster kill ability that they get when people don't have invincibility frames, range, and ability to screw up the charge timing.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 06:23
#17
bomber vs bomber dynamic is pretty interesting. i'm terrible at fights but i think bomber fights are pretty balanced, mostly because if you explore too many anti-bomber options, you end up sacrificing general mist bomber utility.
non bomb weapon options:
swords - flourish, sealed sword, hammer, brandish charges/acheron
guns - valiance, polaris, alchemers, antiguas
bomber vs bomber, these alone make you act as just a hybrid offensive guardian, and you either gun down the enemy bomber at a distance or strike with swords when nearby. hammer+polaris is pretty cheese, but it works. especially when hammer dash can help with mobility issues as a guardian.
bombs - ash of agni, voltaic tempest, dark retribution, nitronome/dark briar barrage. stagger storm, shivermist to a degree.
fire/shock immunity (and especially shock+9 polaris immunity) is valued for bombers--the status itself causing tick damage will interrupt your charge attacks, which is a big pain. thus, you can lay these bad boys down to interrupt enemy bombers.
dark retribution is something i don't see often, but laying them on top of capture points really area denies bombers--you can't make yourself immune to DR hits, and attempting to charge something within a DR spin zone will make you take ridiculous amounts of damage due to no invincibility frames while charging weapons. nitro/dbb chains for the same reason--they "clear the room" as i like to think of it, because throwing them down capture points makes people step away from it. remember, no matter how much money someone throws into UVs, you can't be immune to damage, and damage interrupts bomber charges.
nitro/dbb work a lot better if you have at least 1 striker teammate to push primary offensive against ops; it's almost impossible to nitro/dbb a single enemy striker who has guns. an enemy striker packing only flourish+GF is your favorite enemy as a bomber, since without guns you can effectively shroud yourself in a nitro/dbb shield and kite him to his death. if you get really good at positional play, you can even lay nitro/dbb/hazes such that you can knock people into them with GF/hammer hits.
stagger storm/shiver kill enemy bomber mobility and usually just makes it easier for your own striker teammates to pick them apart. or you can dash to them and flourish/GF/hammer them in the face.
======
in general you should figure out what "type" of bomber you want to be. with 4 weapon slots, you can define your play style by what kind of weapons you carry with you:
1. sword/sword/gun/haze bomb -- it's more so hybrid guardian with a status bomb utility
2. sword/bomb/bomb/bomb -- depending on bombs, you can carry 3 haze bombs (rainbow bomber), 2 haze 1 offensive (nitro/dbb)
3. sword/gun/bomb/bomb
4. sword/sword/bomb/bomb
5. gun/gun/bomb/bomb
if you're cheap like me and only use 3 weapon slots, your options are limited:
1. sword/bomb/bomb -- this is the only bomber loadout i use, i'm a terrible gunner
2. gun/bomb/bomb
3. sword/gun/bomb
4. bomb/bomb/bomb -- pure bomber loadout is pretty risky but works if you want to play a purely supportive role in a well organized team and always pair with a teammate striker
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 07:15
#18
This is a bit on the expensive/takes a while to get side, but it's what I use and it works rather well when I'm not playing like poopy. That said, I don't play LD that often and given what's coming with the Gunner update, I'll probably play it even less :P
Anyway, I use a Mercurial Demo set. The helm has Fire High and Stun Low (Lucky craft :P) and the Armour has a Fire Medium (bought it cheap before Alchemy Orbs were a thing; dunno if the price went up a lot after they arrived).
As for weapons, I take two mist bombs (usually Voltaic Tempest and Stagger Storm, though if I see any VT walkers I change to Venom Veiler and Stagger Storm), a Dark Briar Barrage or Nitronome (Nitro is especially fun for the rare Striker with no guns that tries to take a swipe at me and ends up being blasted all over the place instead :p), and the last slot is saved up for my Final Flourish or Gran Faust, in case a cheeky Striker gets too close. I suggest taking a Gran Faust only if you have a good ASI UV on it, or if you handle it reel gud.
The trinkets I take are two Elite Bomb Focus Modules. Since my bombs are level 10, that gives me a clean Max CTR on all of them :3
Class-wise, I choose Guardian for extra health, (rather slow) recovery, no knockback, the Low ASI it gives to swords and extra status resistances.
"Extra status resistances", you ask? Yeah, the Guardian shield, despite not showing it in the status tooltip, actually gives the user some extra resistances to statuses (though I'm not sure how much it is. Maybe a Medium resistance to every status? I dunno).
With Mercurial Demo's natural Shock resistance, you don't need to worry about getting shocked by enemy VTs. But with the extra resistance from the Guardian Shield, Poolaris and Storm Driver users won't be able to shock you either. Kinda neat, huh? The Shield is also nice in that the Poolaris won't be able to knock you back so you just need to keep spammin' bombs and avoid most of the bullets until a Striker from your team arrives to help. Be wary of Voltedges, though, as they can shock you with the charge :P
Earlier, I mentioned the Fire UVs I have on my set. I got those mainly so I could use it in FSC runs, but I found out that they're pretty handy in case you find the (very rare) Ash of Agni bomber. With the High UV + Medium UV + Medium (I assume) bonus resistance from the Guardian Shield, you can also walk around inside AoAs, not get on fire and set down your own bombs. I don't think it protects against the Fire from Magma Drivers, but those are kinda rare anyway. At least I don't see any that often. Again, be wary of Combusters because a charge will set you on fire, even if it won't last as long as it would with no Fire UVs. Also avoid any FoV you see. A FoV charge from a Kamikaze Chaos Knight hurts like a [Safety Seraphynx says no to bad words].
In games I just try to go from point to point so I can either cap or stall the enemy team so the cap stays on my team for as long as possible. Most people won't dare walk into the dual haze because, come on, double status. They will get their guns out but if you have full HP it's still gonna take a good number of bullets for them to take you out, especially if you can dodge some of the shots while keeping the hazes up.
I know this is probably not the best set, but it works well enough for me because I don't play LD enough to feel too rage-y when my team loses :P And it's fun when people start raging about "bomb spam" (I'm a bomber, what do you expect me to use? :D) because they can't counter something other than a Striker well enough.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 09:47
#19
My advice for bombing on a budget
making 5* gear can be expensive what with having to farm radiant fire crystals but with haze bombs you don't need to level them for them to be effective so they can be quite cheap to use.
0: be guardian
1: buy all types of 2* haze bomb with ctr low
2: craft up your bombs and bomber armour+helm set to 4*
3:heat bombs and helm to level 10.
~ this will give you max ctr on your bombs
4: when you have the funds to craft up all your gear to 5* make a volcanic demo set and make all your bombs 5*
5: heat volc demo to level 5 only, and leave bombs at 1.
6: you gain increased aoe bombs and +2 health (and fire resist).
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 10:35
#20
I just read eight people say almost the exact same thing...
Bombing is bombing.
If you're gonna be a bomb-fighter, use AoA, SS, VV, or nitro.
If you're gonna be a bomb-defender, use VT, SB, DR.
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 20:24
#21
my bombing/sword play style
to know my defensive playstyle goto ironmight is life topic in the collosieum forums
my offensive play style
i always get inside in the bomb range and get a little far to the enemy so he cant dash slash run easily if the enemy is a striker
if recon i always do the strategy hide and seek or who gets seen first well you know lets proceed
and if guardians i always bomb them to death if the enemy is not a lockdown pro if the enemy is a lockdown pro i always play hide slash dash hide
because my invisskills are remarkable im very good in hiding im not sure if other players like this comment
so if you have complains in my playstyle
then youre the type of player that wants to take all the fame and reads enemies by their rank & gear
but if youre angy because of this comment take it all out its better to let it all out id be happy to see your complains
to correct my mistakes
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 21:05
#22
Punctuation ftw
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 21:18
#23
^ i am 12 and what is this
------------
On topic:
I don't know if this is a big thing with bombers, but in one game, this really memorable thing happened where I thought I was going to be clever and dash across this bomber's mist. He read it coming I guess, so he moved in front of my dash and blocked it so I got caught in the mist.
It was really impressive.
Wed, 05/07/2014 - 03:07
#24
@Seiran
Right, sorry that was poor expression on my part. I did not mean that it is solely the bomber's job to take out opposing bombers nor did I mean that taking out the opposing bomber is the only job a bomber has. However, I still stand firmly on my point.
You, as the bomber must have the ability to adapt and match any bombers on the other side. Yes, you may be able to rely on your gunners, status walking strikers but it is all in vain if you as the bomber do not have the ability to deal with the other bomber.
Let's take a look at this scenario. Two bomber's both equipped a VT, but bomber A is in Chaos and bomber B is in Mercurial Demo. Our B bomber is on the cap. Now what can bomber A do? Wait for his teammates to take out B? Perhaps they take minutes...bomber A has essentially wasted precious time by relying on his gunner buddies. But wait, he could also go cap another point. So off he goes to point 2. As he holds that point he sees our second bomber approaching, VT raised like a fearsome mace. What does our B bomber do? Walk straight onto the point and start capping it of course, all the while laying wave after wave of VT. Our poor chaos bomber has to once again, retreat.
As you can see it's a futile effort from our chaos bomber. He might as well be a 2* cobalt running around trying to cap. Getting shunned and overpowered at every turn.
This situation also depicts exactly what I mean when I say that bombers should take responsibility for taking out the opposite bomber. It's a process that's quick, reliable and effective. I can't stress enough that as a bomber, I fear a competent enemy bomber more than a storm of polarises.
P.S. If anyone could suggest any words that are synonymous to "bomber" that would be awesome.
Wed, 05/07/2014 - 03:50
#25
I suggest 'punching bag'. ^
Also: Yes Easy-Mode, I was 100% serious.
Wed, 05/07/2014 - 10:41
#26
Strap your body with
Strap your body with explosives and detonate them when near the enemy
Wed, 05/07/2014 - 15:33
#27
Survive
- Use invinciframes in your favor: shielding when one is hit by predictable guns and other mist bombs is a great way to avoid damage. Indeed, polaris is your friend although many players think the opposite
- Bomb, shield, repeat: 1-2 health bars every time you do this
- Keep your rivals' immunities in your mind
- Let your mates the dirty work if you are going with them
- Stay on control points or hot spots
- If you are alone and at a disadvantage, be defensive and try to survive as much as you can. Heroes die quicker
- MasterCard logo teaches the way to plant bombs
- Forget about reported scores. Bombing success/failure is not shown on them.
- Look for bomber friendly places
- Don't expect fun bombing on RLD, team work is rare there.
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 03:04
#28
This brings back memories.
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 03:07
#29
^ was so disappointed, thought Fayeth would actually post something interesting.
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 03:18
#30
Buttkrak is butt? Why did you expect me to post something interesting haha.
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 03:24
#31
'cause you're a pro LD bomber posting in a thread regarding the art of bombing in LD... </3
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 05:31
#32
I thought 'Buttkrak is butt' was a pretty interesting post! I belong in The Bazaar thread not The Coliseum, but ok, just for you Buttkrak.
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 05:37
#33
I haven't really read the other stuff put on here so if l repeat anything sorry! I'm a Guardian Bomber, l usually sit on one point and hold it, l'm usually far away from the rest of the team, the more time the enemy team wastes trying to kill me, the more time my team has to cap the map is how l usually operate so keep all of that in mind when reading.
Equipment
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The most optimal and cost efficient set l would suggest consists of 2-3 CTR Med status bombs (Shivermist Buster, Staggerstorm) which are all at level 10 to take advantage of that level 10 CTR Med boost, that will give you at the very least a CTR VH rating on all your bombs, and with the CTR Low bonus from Guardian Class, that'll bump up the CTR of your bombs to Ultra. CTR Med bombs are not at all expensive, and you've indicated that you spend real money to purchase CE so it shouldn't be an issue for you at all to acquire. To finish off your weapons loadout l would suggest carrying a sword, preferably something from the Flourish or Sealed Sword lines. Your final weapon loadout should either consist of 3 bombs and 1 sword or 2 bombs and 2 swords (a flourish and heavy sword is definitely the best way to go if you choose a 2/2 weapon loadout).
Two 5* Heart Pendants for obvious reasons, however you can switch these out for specific status immunity sets, if you wish to, for example, maybe have a set that protects against two or maybe even three statuses and you're only missing maybe a freeze low, switching out a heart pendant for a freeze resist trinket to achieve that specific immunity set and saving it as a secondary set would be wise, you want to be prepared for all situations as a bomber in Lockdown, so have many sets to cover as many scenarios as possible.
As far as armor is concerned, you don't need to invest a lot into UV's on your armor. I would recommend the Mercurial Demo Set (not the Mercurial Set) as the armor of choice for your main loadout. A clean Mercurial Demo Set will give you immunity to both Voltaic Tempest induced shock as well as Polaris induced Shock, the base elemental defense is also useful against protecting from Polaris, as it is the gun most people will use to try and deal with bombers, at least that's what l've observed during my time (l've had to fend off 4 Polaris all firing at once for sustained periods of time more then once, it's wasn't pretty but after it was over, they were all dead on the ground and l was crying but alive). That about wraps up what l would recommend gear wise for maximum effectiveness and cost efficiency simultaneously.
Tactics
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As l mentioned l'm a Guardian Bomber. I usually hang around the half of the map where there is only a single point, for example on three point maps, l'll often be on the top half of the map where only one point is situated. I'll sit on that point the entire game, regardless of where the rest of my team is. I often encourage my team to leave me alone, even if l'm being swarmed by the enemy, the reason for this being, when l'm being swarmed it means members of the other team are busy focusing on me and this will often give my team a clean path to all other points on the map for an easy lockdown. Only after we have all points on the map do l then want my team to come back me up, and this is why it's important to be able to stay alive long enough for this to happen, once the enemy start attacking you they will focus on you and only you, trying to get you off the point or dead, this gives two openings, the first opening is for your team to have easy access to all points on the map while the enemy is focused on you, it's why l encourage my team to cap first before coming to my aid, which is the second opening, often the enemy will be focused on you only, allowing for your team to launch a surprise attack and catch the enemy off guard. The reason for encouraging all points be taken first is because if my team comes to my aid first before capping the other points on the map, they won't have easy access to all points on the map as members of the other team will be respawning. By having all points taken first before coming to your aid, your team, even if only for a few seconds, will have a massive advantage with having all points kept, even if the enemy team takes back their own points the second they respawn, that will have been one second where your team was able to net points from all points on the map while the enemy got no points at all.
Staying alive to be useful as a lone wolf does take practice getting used to, you need to know how to play it smart, read the movements of incoming players, often players will give away their playstyle rather quickly, some people just bring a brandish and release charge upon charge upon charge without even thinking, and it's easy to avoid them for sustained periods of time, l can't really explain how l do it, you'd get a better picture if you watched me play but always make sure that you have as wide a view of the entire map as you can, which means stay on the bottom of the map as much as possible, to avoid having someone rush you from the bottom and catching you off guard, this is easily done when you're on the bottom of the map but when you're on the top half of the map and can't see the bottom half, you're open to being rushed from the bottom and need to be wary at all times. Another vital tactic that most bombers in Lockdown don't know how to utilize very effectively is healing while out in the field. With practice and getting used to, you can slowly use the Guardian Shield to heal yourself while constantly keeping yourself within the radius of your own bomb, effectively, it means you're able to heal yourself without leaving yourself exposed for even a second. Knowing how and where to place bombs is also another vital skill most bombers don't know how to do very effectively, most bombers will just charge bomb after bomb after bomb and stand still. Not only does this leave you exposed to surprise attacks, but it also means you don't cover as much area with your bombs as you could be covering. When on a point, what you want to do is make a venn diagram with your bombs, this covers more area then simply just dropping a bomb or bombs on the same area over and over when standing still, and by moving, you minimize your chances of being hit by a surprise attack. If the point you're covering is capped, you own it, there's no need to continue protecting it, that doesn't mean you go off capping other points though, because there's no point protecting one point if you're just going to go cap another point and leave the point you were originally protecting to get capped by the enemy team. Instead, what you want to do is instead of protecting the point that you already own, move on and protect the entrances to your point instead, block off as many paths that the enemy can take to get to your point as you can. Heal if you have to using the Guardian Shield, you should never go back to base to heal and if you are going to heal, use the 'drop bomb, raise shield' tactic, never leave yourself exposed.
Oh and saying 'Buttkrak is butt' before every match will help, don't question, just believe.
That's about as much as l can say on the topic, the rest of it is practice, hope this helped. (You wanted an essay)
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 05:47
#34
This is one good essay! /clap Fayeth
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 06:23
#35
Node 100003
@ Fayeth I'm glad you mentioned Mercurial Demo, but a little thing you forgot is that you get a Movement boost Medium increase with the full mercurial demo set. This is helpful for dodging handgun bullets more efficiently. Otherwise, your amazing tactics/strategies are pretty much what I always see you do in Lockdown :) You 2 pro Thanks so much btw ^^
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 06:24
#36
Oh you know me? How uh..do l do..
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 08:22
#37
Sat, 05/10/2014 - 17:32
#38
@Fayeth
I used to go by name of Utrex, you may remember or not. I just wanted insight on how to bomb efficiently in Lockdown as before I was a bit lost with some things.
Let me make this short and snappy.
1. Typical stuff: Spam bombs.
2. How to bomb? Charge one and place it down where a lot of players pass through E.g At a gap closer etc.
3. Bombs are used as an AoE attack. Use them to take care many players at the same time.
4. Use bombs to taunt and torment by moving around in circles and just bring them closer to you. Then deal damage to them in any sort of way.
P.S Some bombers 'support' the team, helping strikers get easy kills by the bomber's traps as well as help secure points.