Which Shard?
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I haven't taken the time to try out any of the shard bombs as the general consensus is that they are difficult to use AND outclassed (an awful pair of characteristics), but I want to have at least one to play with. That being said, I want to know which shard bomb is in general the most useful. The damage difference between the bombs that deal pure shadow/piercing and the ones that deal a status + damage vs. a family doesn't seem enough to justify crafting the pure shadow/piercing, and the Nitronome seems to outclass the normal type in every single way. So the bombs I think would be the most useful are the Deadly Crystal Bomb (Elemental), Shocking Salt Bomb (Shock/Shadow), and the Scintillating Sun Shards (Pierce/Stun). Does anyone with any experience with these bombs have advice or insight for which would be best to get?
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Now, I think I remember the Sun Shards being powerful before they were nerfed..
Let's not have another thread about that, please?
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I like Deadly Crystal and Shocking Salt the most. They don't kill stuff as effectively as most things, but they're incredibly amusing and they can still decently hold their own. For me, the shock helps more than the slightly higher damage of Deadly Dark Matter.
Deadly Shard Bomb for saying "bring it on, world, I have SHARDS!"
But not for much else.
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I'd suggest the crystal if you really want to get one, it is the only elemental dmg bomb. Still, even with 2 maxes it is kinda meh. Not saying they can't kill the mobs, but dark retro vs construct and DBB vs undead is good enough and easier to use.
I also have the SSS, but the stun is really not worth it, imo the deadly splinter would be better, but the DBB is still the best choise for a piercing bomb.
I don't have the salt bomb, so I dunno if that would be worth it. IIRC I read somewhere that it is somewhat viable in ld, since its shock is stronger and most ppl only have hazebomb walker sets.
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My most consistently used shard bombs are deadly crystal/charcoaler and shocking salt. Crystal is useful because there's no direct replacement in an elemental damage bomb (although DBB is often better vs undead and DR is always better vs constructs), and the shock from shocking salt is genuinely useful.
I would rate them as such:
1. Shocking Salt Bomb
2. Deadly Crystal Bomb
3. Scintillating Sun Shards
4. Deadly Dark Matter Bomb
5. Deadly Splinter Bomb
Infinity. Deadly Shard Bomb
I know this is a borderline necro, but there's a point to it. Recently I've acquired Shocking Salt Bomb (shadow, shock), based on this thread. I already had Scintillating Sun Shards (piercing, stun), from the week it was introduced.
Compared to their haze-style counterparts, these shard bombs are not bad at status. I don't know about the radius or the strength of status, but they charge faster than the haze-style bombs, which is worth a lot. Classic bomber Eeks was not complimentary in his analysis over here, but I'm not so sure.
So what do people think about the Shocking Salt Bomb and Scintillating Sun Shards, purely as status-spreaders, compared to Voltaic Tempest and Stagger Storm?
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For what it's worth, VT and SS offer good chance of minor status, while SSB and SSS offer fair change of moderate status. I'm not sure which is better.
Although the shard bombs have faster charge time, their initial blast is really small. I mean, you have to wait more time for the ring of status to erupt from the shards. And presumably the invinciticks hinder the status spreading, but I'm not certain.
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I was thinking of getting a shard bomb just to see how much they got nerfed (worst nerf ever) but I wanted to know whch ones are still semi decent. I have heard from a bunch of people that the elemental one is the only one that is semi worth getting as it is the only elemental DPS bomb in the game but I just can't imagine that they got nerfed so much that they aren't even something to think about getting.
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...it is the only elemental DPS bomb in the game...
That's why Zeddy mentioned it above. The problem may be that Dark Briar Barrage and Dark Retribution outclass it, for their respective targets.
How does it compare to Electron Vortex, if you let the vortices collapse? How does it compare to Nitronome? These questions should be answerable.
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Get deadly shard bomb for the true shard bomber experience.
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What kind of experience would that be exactly? Do you mean to say that they absolutely suck or there is still a reason to try them out? I don't think we will ever be able to get the absolute true experience of shard bombs anymore since they went from being some of the best weapons is the game and now they are some of the worst.
Like I said before I think that that was the worst nerf any weapon in an game has ever had.
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As in, you'll always hit for low neutral damage, which is low damage. You'll never have to deal with the bomb being effective.
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@Donkey-Haute
Shocking Salt is okay at status-spreading, but purely as one? 5* mist bombs cover nearly a third of the screen with 100% proc chance. You get a lot more consistent results out of it, even if the status itself is marginally weaker.
Shocking Salt is definitely a good shard bomb, though. So good, in fact, that it's usable. Shock is a good compliment to shard bomb pattern and allows you to hit them more in general for increased damage and crowd control.
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Hail and well met, I was awoken from my deep slumber by the sounds of people speaking of the shard bomb, I am a Veteran knight from the earliest days of the crash, and from day 1 I oaved my path as a bomb enthusiast and expert.
I particularily love shard bombs, despite their lpw use and high skill requirement, I will try to summarize my advice very briefly;
If you are looking for a bomb to keep with you through trial and tribulation, I reccomend the pure elemental shard bomb, because it is effective on undead and construct, and neutral on slime and fiend. The reason for this isthat these 4 enemy types are really the only kinds of enemies shards are easily used against.
If you are looking for a fun thing to toy areound with, I reccomend the shocking salt bomb, the status is fun and synergizes well with the bomb'/ unique mechanics., and you can blind your teammates with it's bright blasts, wear eye protection when using.
Oh yeah I've had some not very extensive experience with shard bombs before I knew they weren't useful. I've used it on RJP for like... 20 minutes and then never used that account again.
But I can let you know a thing or two.
First, the Rock Salt Bomb? It suffers a small damage reduction, twice. Because of both the Shock Status and the VS Slimes bonus.
This also affects the Scintillating Sun Shards with it's Stun Status and VS Fiends bonus.
Now, I think I remember the Sun Shards being powerful before they were nerfed...
Anyways, if I'm wrong then someone else can get the facts straight.