BLOW UP the Arena with Bombs!

Bombs are one of the strongest strategies in Arena and Siege, so in this article we’ll be teaching you everything you need to know about them, how to build Bomb teams, and how to counter them if they’re used against you.

Make sure to check out our page highlighting all the Bomb champions in the game so you can see if you have any champions on your account with this powerful debuff.

Bombs have a number of unique effects in this game:

1. Bombs ignore 100% defence.
2. Bombs cannot crit.
3. Bombs usually scale off ATK (with the sole exception right now of Komidus, who scales off HP).
4. The Bomb damage multiplier is different to the standard ability multiplier. (e.g. Gnishak has a 4.5x multi on his A3 attack but the bombs have a 5x multi.)
5. Bombs will be boosted by Weaken debuffs on enemies but reduced by Strengthen buffs on enemies.
6. Bombs do 4x damage to Stoneskin.
7. Bombs can bypass enemy passives and kill mythicals who auto-metamorph (e.g. Rotos or Siegfrund).

Check out Saph’s detailed breakdown video for even more info!

You can probably work out some great situations for Bombs by reading the list of their effects above!

The most obvious situation where Bombs can easily win you the fight are when you are facing an enemy team that are all protected by Stoneskin gear. Most champions cannot do anything to enemies under Stoneskin. Not only do bombs work, however, they actually do quadruple damage, enabling you to easily one-shot enemies as soon as they take their turn.

Another important use for Bombs is to counter top-tier mythicals with incredibly dangerous passives. Siegfrund the Nephilim and Nais the Shadowthief are notable examples, since their passives usually protect them from dying and enable them to swap to their Alternate forms and turn the fight around. Bombs will bypass both passives and simply kill these champions. Rotos the Lost Groom is another classic example of a legendary who can otherwise cheat death with his passive, but who can be one-shot by Bombs. These are all top-tier picks in arena, so having a direct counter in Bombs is invaluable.

In Live Arena, Bombs are incredibly powerful if the enemy does not have a counter for them drafted. If they do not have any cleanser, they will often be forced to ban your Bomb champion.

To use Bombs, you must first have enough accuracy to land the debuff. This accuracy check is the exact same as any other accuracy vs resistance check in the game. Make sure to check our Raid Stages Tool to see how much accuracy you would need for any PvE stages in the game.

For Arena modes, it will depend how much Resistance enemies have built. For early game, players have likely not built any resistance. For endgame players, enemies can easily have 400 resistance without trying, or 800-900 resistance if they focus on it. For high resistance enemies, you should usually avoid using bombs or bring an Increase Accuracy buff to ensure they land.

On top of this, you will want to build as much of the damage stat as you can (for all Bomb champions except Komidus, this is ATK). Speed is usually a good investment as well, since Bomb champions are usually run in speed teams. Try to speed tune them to your speed boosters.

An example of a classic bomb team is Arbiter, Lady Kimi, and Gnishak Verminlord.

Arbiter provides a Speed Aura, the Increase Attack buff, and a Turn Meter Boost.

Lady Kimi then provides another Turn Meter Boost, an Increase Speed buff, and the Increase Accuracy buff.

Gnishak Verminlord places Bombs on all enemies with his A3 and then reduces them to 1-turn duration with his A2. If you have enough ATK and ACC, this should kill nearly any enemy when they take their turn!

An example of a spreading bomb team is Arbiter, Lady Kimi, Astralith and Vizier Ovelis.

Arbiter provides a Speed Aura, the Increase Attack buff, and a Turn Meter Boost.

Lady Kimi then provides another Turn Meter Boost, an Increase Speed buff, and the Increase Accuracy buff.

Astralith places two one-turn Bombs on a single enemy. These bombs cannot be resisted.

Vizier Ovelis then uses the debuff spread effect on his A3 to spread these Bombs to the other enemies.

Note that with the bomb spread strategy you will need to use more champions to achieve the same effect, but you do not trigger Polymorph when you spread debuffs, potentially making it safer.

There are a few strategies you can use to counter bombs.

Firstly, you can use a champion with high RES who can cleanse off the Bomb debuffs. Wight Queen Ankora, Mithrala Lifebane and Starsage Galathir are excellent examples of champions who can do this.

Alternatively, you can use a low RES champion who has a 4-piece Feral, Immunity, or Untouchable set for a 2-turn Block Debuffs buff at the start of the battle. This is risky since a Buff Strip champion could remove this buff before their Bomb champion goes. Lockout champions will also prevent you from cleansing.

If you are lacking cleansers, you can achieve a similar effect with a high RES reviver. Cardinal in high resistance and Stoneskin can survive while the rest of your team dies to Bombs, then revive everyone with full turn meter.

Bolster or Shield sets are another way to survive Bomb damage. Bomb teams are usually fast and very squishy, and rely on wiping you out in a single alpha strike. By stacking Bolster set shields you can absorb the Bomb damage (bombs do not ignore Shield buffs) and then wipe out their team.

Marichka the Unbreakable is also noteworthy as an incredible counter to Bombs, since her passive gives you a Block Damage buff whenever Bombs are placed on your team.

Finally, you can also use fast champions with Unkillable or Block Damage to prevent Bombs from killing you. The new fusion Lady Noelle could do this when paired with Sir Nicholas, or Odin Faefather can have his passive proc at the right time and save you from Bombs. Newer players might find Maneater, an epic champion, to be a powerful budget counter.