As far as the armour is concerned, personally I roll with full Mad Bomber + a damage trinkie and a heart pendant pretty much everywhere, and despite the status vulnerabilities it has served me very well. Then again, it's quite possible I'm just insane :P . It is very important to know your way around the level before hand though (I wouldn't recommend it on your first run through FSC or a Shadow Lair for instance). If you feel uncomfortable with Mad Bomber, then go with one of the mixed sets Metagenic listed. I will add that you could even try half Mad + half ... well any armour you like really, depends on what you're facing. Maybe against fiends you might want some shadow defense for instance if you struggle with them, idk (divine veil with its fiend damage bonus might be a good choice in this case. Also has some nice status resists). Just add one CTR trinkie and one damage trinkie and you've got CTR Max and damage Very High which is good enough in most cases.

I'm assuming that at this stage you only have 2 weapon slots. I highly recommend getting at least one more, the versatility, especially for a bomber will help you immensely. As for good bomb combinations, you've got the classic Ash of Agni + Voltaic Tempest which will take care of everything that doesn't resist either one of them. Not much fun in that though, at least not for me anyway, I prefer blowing the bajeebus out of things :P . Anyway, here's some nice combos:

- Vortex + RSS: dropping an RSS into the middle of a vortex = pwnage. Electron vortex is preferred, understand how amazing shock is on something that gathers crowds of enemies into tight bunches. (it's actually perfectly viable as a DPS weapon by itself, but chaining vortexes effectively can be a little tricky). Despite my general hatred of freeze, I will concede that Shivermist + RSS can work nicely too, I just feel that vortex does a better job.

- Vortex + Dark Retribution: I don't know if you have access to the DLC at all, but if you can get your hands on it you won't regret it, this bomb is pretty awesome. Watching DR tear things to pieces that are stuck in a vortex is pretty fun, probably more effective if one person chains vortexes while the other spams DR, but it is possible to get it to work by yourself.

- Vortex / VT / Shivermist + Nitro: this is mostly just for party purposes to cancel out the knock back so your not blowing things everywhere and potentially pissing off other people.

- VT + Vortex: just to guarantee shock on a large tightly packed crowd. Actually, Shivermist + Vortex is interesting too, just make sure vortex goes down first.

- AoA + any DPS bomb: especially useful for nitro so you maintain constant damage on the monster while they're being blown around

Lastly, Dark Briar Barrage will be your best friend vs beasts and gremlins, especially since the fuse time was reduced. You can just keep knocking them down and they'll never get a chance to attack, let alone hit you. Its also great to just run in circles around trojans while spamming it, RSS might kill them faster, but this way is safer.

Hope you found this useful :) if there is anything you would like to know or if you would like a demonstration or something then feel free to add me in game.

The Dark Retribution bomb line from OCH are very good, basically an amazing DPS bomb for anything that is not Undead or Fiend.

Also get your hands on the Static Capacitor line from the Roarmulus Twins, as it serves the same purpose as the Firey Vaporizer line but usable against fire mobs. Also it can stop Kats dead in their tracks, making them easy pickings for about anything else.

Basically, my main 4 bombs are/ will be Dark Retribution, Voltaic tempest, Radiant Sun Shards and Dark Briar Barrage.

OK, i agree with the scan I made of the replies for and targets. But as far as 3*? Here's my opinion: be patient. The armor is fine, it's the only armor I've used all the way through. So you can suffer through 3* and 4* fine. And I didn't start doing trinkets until I had a number of 5* items. So, the combined effect of CTR VH on any lvl 10 heat bomb is good enough for now, until you get the 5* armors.

but as for bombing? I didn't do much pure bombing until 4* and 5*. I almost always packed a sword. Why? Well, the radius of 3* bombs sucks. Sucks big. They've altered it a bit since, but really, it's very dangerous to do only 3* bombs, because you have to get so close to mobs. On the other hand if you're REALLY good with your kiting, you can lead them around through the hazes. So it's good to have a bomb, but I would focus on a decent sword and status bombs. The direct damage bombs don't get useful, to me, until 4* and 5*. So, you just have to be patient and suffer through. I used three swords working up to 5*: Cold Iron Carver, Faust, and Avenger. Now, I use my 5* stuff, and I very rarely use a sword at all. It's almost always pure bombs.

I'm all for pure mad bomber. It's nuts, both in the pain you deal out, and the pain you take. But the heart pendant does help! Means I can burn a bit longer before I find that first vitapod. If you're concerned, and common option is to do one piece Mad Bomber, one piece Volcanic. That way you still get max CTR, and are a bit safer. Then you could do two damage trinkets if you wanted max damage. But personally, Mad Bomber works just fine. When I'm solo, I just go very slow and safe. In a group, I make sure they are competent to pick me up, and I go nuts. Haven't gotten many complaints!

I actually don't recommend using this unless the user is very experienced. Mixed sets (one random Demo piece with one piece of Mad Bomber) combined with trinkets will give you CTR max and DMG max (DMG ultra in the case of Mercurial Demo, where one point of DMG is replaced with one point of MSI). On the other hand, full Mad Bomber with one Elite Boom Module will give you CTR max and DMG max as well, but at the cost of slightly lower damage defense and no status protection whatsoever. Bombers might be able to rely on more effective shields (for example, you can use Crest of Almire in FSC whereas swordsmen and gunners would have to be using the much more fragile Barbarous Thorn Shield or Swiftstrike Buckler in order to achieve good offensive bonuses) but when you take a hit you're going to take it hard.

Looks like a good plan. You've made a good choice with the sword, it will make a nice back up weapon for you once you've assembled your full bomber set. You may find that you'll want a toothpick to deal with devilites and greavers. The 4 bombs you chose are a good place to start. Small change I would suggest: in terms of statuses, take Shiver to 4* first, then take VT and maybe even AoA to 5* before it. Shiver is useful when your starting out but once you get to end game you'll probably get more use out of the other statuses.

After you've built those up, I recommend getting a Vortex. It will help both you and your party out immensely, the ability to manipulate the positioning of enemies is not to be underestimated. The Electron Vortex will require playing LD or BN for tokens but will be well worth the effort. Actually, on that note, LD is a GREAT place to learn how to bomb effectively, your skill will improve a lot. Unlike monsters, players aren't programmed and are much less predictable, requiring you to stay on your toes and constantly think about what you're doing.

You are right in that most people don't like nitro, but in its defense there are strategies to make it more party friendly, like placing bombs so you're pushing things side to side and effectively cancelling out the knock back, rather than spamming and pushing them randomly. Or you can pair it with a crowd control bomb. In some cases, the knock back can be used to save your team mates, but like everything its a matter of experience and learning where and when to use it. That still leaves the issue of visibility though, all you can do about that is not spam it. It's not so much the bomb itself people get pissed off with, it's more the way it's used.

I'll admit Vortex is somewhat tricky to use at first. You have to get used to the slow walking pace and it has lots of subtleties. It's usable at 4* but it will be a little riskier because of the smaller vortex. I will say though that Vortex was the first bomb I upgraded to 5* and was among my first 5* weapons. I absolutely adored the thing (and still do) and I personally enjoyed using it even at 3* and 4*.

I guess now would be a good time to note that, as the bomb upgrades, the radius (you know, the white line that appears while you're waiting for it to go boom) doesn't appear to change when you upgrade, but the visual (the swirly bit) does actually get bigger. Also, at 4* you have a faster charge time (equivalent to a blast bomb line) but smaller vortex. At 5* you have a larger vortex but slower charge time (equivalent to a haze style bomb). The actual pulling power of the 5* extends a little beyond the visual.

One more thing, when the vortex collapses it will blast its contents in random directions with significant knock back, but there are 2 exceptions: (1) if there are 4+ enemies trapped in it (2) the enemies are shocked. In these cases there will be no knock back. The best way to learn how to vortex is to use it in RJP. Lots of choke points etc. I think you'll find these videos useful :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNf3qmJP_tQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?src_vid=yNf3qmJP_tQ&annotation_id=annotatio...

I mostly play T2 LD, and in that environment, bombing is certainly very viable, and you will be a great asset to your team. Lightning Capacitor shuts down your opposition and makes it very difficult for the enemy to get you off a capture point and also makes it easier for your team mates to kill them. Super Blast Bomb is amazing, you can dominate even if you only use this. Just make sure you play recon, despite appearances, guardian isn't meant for bombers (though bombs are certainly viable weapons for a guardian, subtle distinction) as their strength comes from their shield, and you can't shield if your bomb spamming. Recon will also put you in a better position to learn because you have the unique ability to just sit back and watch other people and learn from them. I don't know about T3, it's a different ball game and I'm still a bit uncomfortable there.

@metagenic Yes, Mad bomber is not for noob bombers. And if you're rich enough to go from zero to Mad in just the time it takes to heat the stuff, expect to hurt a lot. I would argue with the people who say you need to know all the levels, and say that more than knowing the levels, you need to know your enemies. You can use the terrain to your advantage, and knowing when things spawn sure helps, but really you more need to know how to make your bombs work on the enemies you are fighting. Like, how to get the full RSS blast on a zombie, or the best pattern to lurn an oiler into your nitro but not too far. If you grind the armor, you will mostly figure this out before you get Mad Bomber, so your learning curve will be less. Like I said, bomber gear is the only armor I've worn since 2*. And my first 5* set was full Mad. Don't rush it, you'll be fine. But yeah, if you're going to skip the learning time, I'd go with something safer.

I don't play T2 LD, only T3. As I said, I don't like the 3* radius, so I don't want to suffer through LD with that. I do T3 LD, and recently made a full Bombastic demo set that I use. Same trinkets as my Mad set (Elite Boom, and Pentaheart), and I always play recon. If you don't like recon, then I use my Mad set to play as Guardian. But Recon gives a VH CTR boost, plus my lvl 10 bombs means I have CTR Max just by choosing the Recon class. So with full Bombastic and my trinket, as Recon I have Max CTR, Max Damage, no status weaknesses, and really great freeze resist. I spam RSS to no end, and have a few different choices depending on what's going on: Usually VT, and I have stagger storm if too many people are resisting that, and I have electron vortex for when bases are being stormed (sucks people in even if I'm on the wrong side of the shield/barrier/locker room thing).

Um, BN ignores gear? So doesn't matter what you wear.