Spiral Knights - Dancinjen's Bomb Review

Dancinjen's Bomb Review

14 replies [Last post]

Fri, 07/13/2012 - 23:27

Dancinjen

When going into testing the new bombs I really tried to keep an open mind about what all the bombs entailed. I have to say I was a little upset about changing the function of the RSS as it stands in the main server. But, I would give these a fair shot...

Honestly, the concept of the bomb is a good one... and a fun one. They are very colorful and pretty... and the two blasts are a really cool idea and I like it as it stand in that way. The bomb overall, I do not like. The charge time is too slow, the fuse time is too slow, and the radius is too small. I can't really gauge the damage at this point because they aren't heated.

I like the variety of the bombs for different monsters and statuses.

I feared before that this bomb would be too slow and pointless to use against most monsters, like most blast bombs. They can easily run right through the bomb and never take damage. It's not good.

The other thing that really...irks me is that they do NOT hit turrets. I hate that I hate every bit of them not hitting turrets. There are times I go all bomber in depths and arenas and I need to have a bomb that will take care of turrets. Basically... it sucks against turrets.

My prediction of how this bomb will work in pvp: it won't. It's too slow. I might like it if the things above are changed. Shorter times.

The way I pictured this bomb is that when you planted the bomb the shards or crystals would go first then they would go off IMMEDIATELY then the center blast point would go off last. In theory the enemies would be knocked into the center of the bomb while the center bomb goes off it will blast them out. It would have been a very fast paced bomb.

This bomb will not work as it stands right now, if you do release it right now... it would be for a bunch of nothing. It will be one of those hipster bombs I goof around with in lockdown.

Fri, 07/13/2012 - 23:42

The-Rawrcake

The charge time might feel

The charge time might feel slow because you are currently using a bomb heated at 1 and not 10.

It seems odd as a bomber, but try and reach 3 pieces of medium CTR gear if you haven't.

I hope this helps change what you think about the charge time, I felt the charge time was where it should be :)

In order to hit turrets, you can actually clip them twice with a single bomb on the outer shards. Position the initial blast not ontop of the gun puppy, but rather a few blocks away from it. Then, the shards will take care of hitting it for you :3

Overall, not very many of the slower monsters like retrodes or lumbers etc. were a problem with me in how they moved into the no-damage zone of the bomb. The monsters that are fast, such as wolvers and gremlins, will be knocked back AND knocked down with the initial blast, then knocked down again with the outer blasts. Because of this, you will likely want to position the initial blast to hit wolvers and other fast enemies, but not always position the initial blast to hit slower enemies if they are resistant to knockback or do not get knocked down.

Basically, it is something new and something to get used to. Which will take a long time.

It helps to cloud your monsters by circling them and placing these bombs like triangles. You can basically do this mindlessly and a huge group of monsters will turn into shiny piles of loot.

I used this bomb and found it useful, and I highly suggest that you try using it again with a few tips I gave you.

Fri, 07/13/2012 - 23:46

Dancinjen

Yes, I am aware of the charge

Yes, I am aware of the charge time and how to circle around monsters. I am pure bomber in the main server. I'm very used to this.

I stand by exactly what I said up there.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 00:17

Dancinjen

So, after more evaluation it

So, after more evaluation it is the crystal bomb lines I don't like. The shard line is fine. The fuse and ctr time is good, I wish the radius was a bit bigger on the shard line. I'm okay with this. The wall feature and what not doesn't bother me I'm fine with this too. I think it adds an interesting mechanic, and makes it more useful.

Right now the gear I'm using is volcanic demo and helm with one ctr trinket and one damage trinket. That puts me max ctr and medium damage bonus. Which is pretty much what I run in the main server. I use Mercurial demo helm and suit in the main server, though.

The crystal line goes like this:
just under three seconds to charge.
three seconds fuse time for the first blast
three seconds fuse time for the second.

It's awfully slow, and the radius is small.

Now... the shard line is the same just two seconds each time instead of three. It actually does make a difference. If my timing is off on max ctr just let me know and I'll accept my wrongness. lawl. That's just what I'm getting from it right now.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 00:25

Vagueabond

Rawr, offering Jen tips on

Rawr, offering Jen tips on how to use bombs is pointless at best and downright condescending at worst. Listen to the bombers when we tell you why we feel the ways we feel; we've USED bombs and have that context.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 00:34

Vagueabond

also Jen, I'm going to do a

also Jen, I'm going to do a table of charge times in ms; it ought to help out at least a few people.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 00:41

Dancinjen

Awesome thanks. I could be so

Awesome thanks. I could be so very wrong on the charge times though... it could be in my brain. hahaha. That would be helpful to get some more opinions about that.

I do think I can come around to these bombs at some point. I'm honest when I don't think they are awful and I think that they have a really good concept and SO FUN. oh my gosh are they fun to use. lawl.

I don't see any bugs with them right now... I just don't like how they go through monsters if i hit the shard just right. I wish they would stick to the monsters. It wouldn't do any different damage than it does now it would just stick to them. lol. Maybe i'm far reaching on this one... but that would be awesome.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 01:45

Vagueabond

Oh man, yeah, that WOULD be

Oh man, yeah, that WOULD be awesome. I haven't gotten a chance to pop on the test server yet, but honestly, from what I've read/heard, I'm really looking forward to it.

(Also: SIX LINES. Super stoked.)

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 07:47

Yukarie

Question to the bombers, has

Question to the bombers, has the blindspot in the shard explosion been a problem for you? I'm not experienced at all, and sometimes, when I lay the bomb, the monster group misses the initial explosion, and in their efforts to walk to me, walk in the middle of the ring, and avoid all of the other explosions.

@Dancinjen, what do you mean by the wall mechanic? I've tried laying these bombs against walls, and the walls eat the shards if it's too close.

Sun, 07/15/2012 - 13:50

Capt-Chopper

Ima Stun You!

I don't see the point if the bombs don't do damage that matches the firepower of a brandish/DA/BTB charge attack against a group of enemies. I have maxed damage with full sword/bomber/gunner sets and a weapon that gives up the ability to use a standard attack should have a outright Superior charge attack to weapons with one.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 11:15

#10

The-Rawrcake

"Rawr, offering Jen tips on

"Rawr, offering Jen tips on how to use bombs is pointless at best and downright condescending at worst. Listen to the bombers when we tell you why we feel the ways we feel; we've USED bombs and have that context."

My apologies.

The main reason I did that was since I read that it didn't hit turrets and it wasn't effective on turrets in the OP which I probably just interpreted wrong, where whenever I placed a bomb it was hitting them at least twice and interrupting them.

I also found the charge times to be fairly acceptable and not very slow.

My goal wasn't to be offending anyone, again my apologies.

Plus, I am used to the gunning crowd, which gladly hands advice to eachother even if we already knew what we were being told instead of spurning one another, which is rude and hoity-toity.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 10:57

#11

Iapnez

Indeed, Chopper. The problem

Indeed, Chopper. The problem with these new shard bombs is they don't do enough damage to make up for the fact that they can only attack in this way. Not to mention that the other area of effect damage per second bombs deal with targets much better without making them dodge. :I

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 11:24

#12

Dancinjen

I'm gonna tackle

I'm gonna tackle this...

"Question to the bombers, has the blindspot in the shard explosion been a problem for you? I'm not experienced at all, and sometimes, when I lay the bomb, the monster group misses the initial explosion, and in their efforts to walk to me, walk in the middle of the ring, and avoid all of the other explosions.

@Dancinjen, what do you mean by the wall mechanic? I've tried laying these bombs against walls, and the walls eat the shards if it's too close."

That has been my initial problem with it. Is that both blasts can miss the monsters. If you stack them side to side where they overlap and keep doing that then it's easier and you breeze right through (i don't have access beyond t1 yet in the test server). I'm using my five star in t1 right now until I can gain access. lol. I have to do all the missions over again. -_- But yeah I imagine in t3 that will be the big problem is both blasts being missed. I really want to try the shadow one on the jelly king.

Yes, that's what I was talking about for the "wall mechanic". That it disappears when it gets to close. That doesn't bother me because well... i normally don't get close to the walls because it's a death trap. lol. I do like how the shards will bounce off the walls though... it makes it more effective than it was before.

My final conclusion on this bomb is that I like it. I enjoy it and the fuse time needs to be adjusted to a faster pace. If that right there can be done it would make these bombs ten times better than they are now and worth using.

Edit:
I'm not to much on damage. I mean right now they aren't heated and I'm using damage trinkets. lol. So... my damage points won't be accurate to what it actually is. I can see this though... not enough damage for how it functions. Yeah... I really need to get access to t3.

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 19:01

#13

Aquajag

If you don't have access to

If you don't have access to the test server, then please go away. We don't need your pointless opinions here, that's what we save all the ranting on the main forum for.

I haven't noticed a "blindspot" yet, but then I'm using 5* on t1 because like most everyone else I can't test t3. Would be nice if I could. I have found that by spamming the bombs at max CTR, i get a very nice overlap of the shards all over the place. I haven't noticed a charge time difference between the four crystal bombs and the ISB and RSS, I'll look for that.

Personally I find there being 6 bombs to be redundant. Why not just have four, and make the RSS and the ISB the pierce and shadow versions? Or at least only 5, why do we need a normal damage one?

Sat, 07/14/2012 - 19:33

#14

Dancinjen

The blindspot is between the

The blindspot is between the first and second blast there is a 2-3 second difference (that's if you're not overlapping them)

These kinds of bombs are meant to be overlapped more than just two or three times. There has to be a chain of them for them to be effective. I don't know if that is an intentional thing that the developers did or if it just kinda happened.

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Dancinjen's Bomb Review