I don't use bombs either, but the one that sucks everything in makes for quick clearing.
I played with a guy who was using it and it just sped everything up.

With Very High MSI, you can dodge mecha knights while charging vortex bombs.

Dodge mechas while charging all other kinds of bombs.

I disagree, I think DBB has a much higher damage potential. Let's not forget that it will probably not take more than two or three DBBs to clear a crowd, either. Unless they're Glop Drops, of course.

The 2 most "essential" support bombs for a new bomber, are arguably the Shivermist Buster and Voltaic Tempest. For the most part, you can simply spam either of these.

Shiver's probably the best thing for FSC, but Shiver doesn't play well with other bombs. If you happen to be on a party with another dedicated support bomber, consider not using the Shiver, as it'll render all other bombs useless. And by that, I don't mean that it's more useful than other bombs, I mean that it'll cancel out their effects. Especially vortexes. If you're on a team and the other guy is a dedicated vortex user, please don't Shiver. At least, not on the vortex itself, as the freeze from Shiver will lock enemies in place, thereby sabotaging the vortex's crowd control ability.

For Voltaic, you can use it in most places, but it doesn't play well with Shiver. Both bombs render each other less effective.

Other than that though, for the most part, the best thing with bombs for me is their ability to combo. Try going to a Deconstruction Zone or even a Compound, basically, anywhere with lots and lots of enemies. But let's use Decon Zone as an example. Go to one, run around in it and attract all the gremlins to chase you. Once you got 10 or 20 of them chasing you, drop the occasional VT here and there to get them nice and shocked. Then drop your Vortex. Now, alternate between these two bombs. That army of 20+ gremlins will be reduced to just 2 or 3 stray gremmies in 10 seconds flat.

Or you can go to an Arena with a team, then alternately drop VT and your Tox-Bomb. The final wave of the third room in particular will be fun for the fact that they'll be finished off in a fraction of the usual time.

If you should ever get Dark Retribution and Ash of Agni, you can literally wipe out waves of enemies in say, JK map 1, in a matter of 1 to 3 seconds.

Personally, I like being a support bomber. Once I switched to support bombing, I find myself with way more invites and friend requests. And once I found a bunch of friends who take advantage of my Vortexing, we always go to fiend Arenas, because it's so EASY.

I'd have to agree to disagree. But I'll start my rebuttal with some caveats. One is that I'm offering advice on the assumption he's new to bombing and has a relatively limited selection/weapon slots. Two, as said, it's a "for the most part". Like almost any weapon, the shivermist is a circumstantial weapon. But my view is that it's useful more often than not.

If there's no other bomber in say, FSC, I find having a shiver spammer to be pretty convenient. A shivermist might not be very useful in say, a level with T3 Wolvers, but it doesn't hurt either. And of course, there are levels where Shiver can be distruptive or ineffective. It depends on the situation. But for the most part, I'm hard pressed to think of situations where a shiver is not welcomed.

Perhaps you can give some examples? Naturally, it's more or less useless in Freeze Levels. It's also not very good for speed runs, since you'll want to be dashing and shield bumping in such runs. Other than that, as I noted in detail, Shiver doesn't really play well with other haze bombs to me.

That said, these are not entirely common situations. A bomber shouldn't bring shiver if it's an ice level or if he knows the team is trying to do a speed run. Can you give some instances where spamming Shiver is detrimental in a regular run?

I've had my share of bad shiverers, but it seems you've encountered them more. Are you usually a gunner/swordie/bomber/hybrid? You said it's often distruptive to be shiver spammed. How so? Do you tend to play certain map types? I would imagine a level with Totems isn't the best place for shiver spamming (those call for more strategic placement), but again, there aren't that many such levels to my experience.

Thanks.

Perhaps you can give some examples?

As I already mentioned, if your tactics depend on kiting, knock back, or shield bumping, then Shivermist is counterproductive. For example, I can kite monsters and release Combuster charge attacks, slaughtering tons of them at once. But if the monsters are frozen and spread out, then I can kill only one or two at once. In contrast, a vortex bomb also controls crowds, but in a way that gathers the monsters up, so that I can slaughter all of them at once. So I'd much rather you used a vortex bomb than Shivermist Buster. (And I'm not alone. Vortex bombs are common in "pro" FSC parties.)

A shivermist might not be very useful in say, a level with T3 Wolvers, but it doesn't hurt either.

It may not hurt, but as I said in post #17, there are better things to be doing with your time. For example, spam Dark Briar Barrage! You can kill crowds of wolvers even faster than my swords do. Don't be content with not hindering the party; try to help the party.

Are you usually a gunner/swordie/bomber/hybrid? ... Do you tend to play certain map types?

Actually, I rarely play hybrid. I usually play pure swords, pure guns, or pure bombs. I play all areas of PvE. For example, I trawl the Clockworks looking for danger rooms. I don't play FSC much these days, because it's too dull.

You and I agree that there are some situations where Shivermist is useful, some where it is harmful, and some where it is neutral. We just disagree on the proportions. Ultimately, this is not an objective question, so there is no way to finish the argument. I'll just say that I use Shivermist less and less, the more I play SK.

Bombs are great for dealing with compounds. In my experience the Shivermist Buster works best for compounds, but if it's freeze themed, then I'd go for either the Electron Vortex or the Voltaic Tempest.

(BTW I think we don't tell noobs that because u cant beat snarby with a bomb)

Oh, really?
Go get 'um, Zeddy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAzvnAL0vVg