Bomb

Tier S ⭐

Burn × Iron = Bomb

Effect

150-300 AoE damage, 3s cooldown

Damage Multiplier

2.0x

How to Unlock

Level Burn ball to Level 3
Level Iron ball to Level 3
Collect a rainbow orb (XP level-up reward)
Select "Evolution" option from the menu
Choose Burn + Iron combination

Strategy & Tips

Essential early evolution. Massive area damage makes it top-tier for crowd control. Prioritize this evolution in your first run.

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S-Tier Meta Evolution

Bomb is considered one of the strongest evolutions in the game. Prioritize this in your builds when possible.

Why Bomb is Top-Tier

🟢 **VERIFIED MECHANICS:** Bomb deals 150-300 AoE damage to nearby enemies when hitting an enemy, with a 3-second cooldown between activations (SOURCE: Steam Community Guide ID: 3587888441). The explosion triggers on contact, making it a reliable crowd control tool that requires no special positioning or timing beyond landing hits. ⚠️ **TIER RATING DISCUSSION:** Bomb's tier rating varies by source and game phase. Our database rates it S-tier for early-game dominance—the 150-300 burst damage at waves 1-10 can instantly clear entire clusters before enemy HP scaling makes it less effective. PCGamesN's tier list rates Bomb as C-tier overall, likely accounting for late-game performance where 300 damage becomes less impactful against scaled enemies. The truth lies between: Bomb is an S-tier early evolution that transitions to mid-tier utility in later waves. 🟢 **EARLY GAME DOMINANCE:** The 2.0x damage multiplier combined with 150-300 base damage makes Bomb one of the highest-damage evolutions available in the first 5-10 waves. When most enemies have 50-200 HP, a single Bomb explosion can eliminate 5-8 enemies simultaneously. This explosive clear speed accelerates XP gain, evolution timing, and resource accumulation—all critical for snowballing into late game. 🟡 **SCALING CONSIDERATIONS:** The 3-second cooldown means Bomb procs roughly every 2-3 enemy hits depending on ball speed and positioning. Unlike continuous-damage evolutions, Bomb provides burst clear every few seconds rather than sustained DPS. This makes it excellent for wave-based gameplay where enemies spawn in clusters, but less optimal for prolonged boss fights where single-target sustained damage would be preferable.

Strategic Tips & Synergies

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🟢 Verified mechanic: 150-300 damage explosion triggers on hit with 3-second cooldown—position aggressively to maximize hits and proc frequency (verified cooldown ensures consistent burst every 2-3 hits).

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🟡 General strategy: The 2.0x damage multiplier scales with fire damage modifiers—prioritize fire damage upgrades to boost both the explosion damage and any lingering burn effects from the Burn ball component.

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🟡 General strategy: Bomb excels at wave clear but struggles against single high-HP bosses—pair Bomb with a sustained single-target evolution like Vampire Lord or sustained DoT effects to cover this weakness.

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🟡 General strategy: The 3-second cooldown means positioning for multiple rapid hits doesn't increase Bomb procs—focus on consistent contact rather than attack speed, as cooldown limits explosion frequency regardless of hit rate.

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🟡 General strategy: Bomb's AoE radius (described as 'nearby enemies' in sources) appears to be 2-3 tiles—aim for cluster centers where the explosion can hit 5-8 enemies rather than edge stragglers.

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🟡 General strategy: Bomb + Poison creates Nuclear Bomb (multi-step evolution)—if you're planning for Nuclear Bomb, create Bomb early to enable the second-stage fusion later in the run.

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🟡 General strategy: Multiple Bomb balls don't share the cooldown—if you evolve a second Burn + Iron pair later, you'll have two separate 3-second cooldowns, doubling your explosion frequency to every 1.5 seconds effectively.

Best Character Pairings

These characters create exceptional synergies with Bomb:

Iron Fool (S-Tier Pairing): Iron Fool's Burn starting ball provides instant access to half the fusion requirement, and the defensive passive enables aggressive positioning close to enemy clusters—critical for maximizing Bomb explosion AoE coverage. The tank playstyle synergizes with Bomb's need for close-range contact to trigger explosions.

The Pitling (A-Tier Pairing): The Pitling's XP boost passive accelerates early Bomb acquisition (character level 4-6 vs 7-9 for other characters), allowing you to establish AoE clear dominance 2-3 waves earlier. This timing advantage maximizes Bomb's early-game effectiveness window before enemy HP scaling reduces its impact.

The Itchy Finger (A-Tier Pairing): The Itchy Finger's attack speed boost increases Bomb proc frequency by enabling more hits within each 3-second cooldown window. While the cooldown prevents true attack speed scaling, faster hits mean reaching cooldown completion sooner after each explosion, effectively reducing downtime between bursts.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Creating Bomb too late (wave 10+): Many players treat Bomb as a mid-game evolution, but its 150-300 damage is most valuable in waves 1-10 when enemies have 50-200 HP. Creating Bomb at wave 15+ means you've missed its peak effectiveness window—enemies will have 500+ HP, reducing explosion impact to 30-60% kills rather than instant clears.

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Pairing with attack speed builds: Bomb's 3-second cooldown is fixed regardless of hit rate—stacking attack speed upgrades provides minimal value since you're cooldown-limited, not hit-limited. Prioritize damage modifiers (fire damage, AoE damage) over attack speed when running Bomb.

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Using against single bosses: Bomb's AoE explosion is wasted on single-target boss fights where 'nearby enemies' means zero targets for the splash damage. Against bosses, Bomb provides only its base ball damage (with 2.0x multiplier) without the 150-300 explosion benefit—significantly underperforming compared to sustained-damage evolutions.

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Ignoring Nuclear Bomb path: If you create Bomb early (wave 5-7), you'll likely acquire Poison balls by wave 12-15, enabling the Nuclear Bomb multi-step evolution (Bomb + Poison = 3.0x multiplier, 300-500 damage). Many players miss this power spike by not planning the evolution chain.

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Overlapping with similar AoE evolutions: Bomb + Magma + Blizzard creates redundancy—all three provide burst AoE without complementary effects. Better to pair Bomb with sustained damage (Virus, Vampire Lord) or utility (Sandstorm's blind, Black Hole's pull) for balanced damage profiles rather than stacking multiple burst AoE options.

Advanced Strategy

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Expert-Level Optimization

⚠️ Advanced strategy combining 🟢 verified mechanics + 🟡 general principles: Bomb's 150-300 damage with 3-second cooldown positions it as a wave-clear specialist rather than an all-phase evolution. The optimal Bomb strategy is early acquisition (wave 5-7) to dominate the low-HP enemy phase (waves 1-15), then transition into Nuclear Bomb (Bomb + Poison) by wave 12-15 to maintain AoE relevance as enemy HP scales beyond 300. During Bomb's effectiveness window, position aggressively to maximize the number of enemy clusters hit per cooldown cycle—each explosion that hits 6+ enemies represents 900-1,800 total damage, far exceeding the single-target value. Pair Bomb with movement speed or positioning abilities to rapidly reposition between clusters, ensuring the 3-second cooldown is spent repositioning rather than waiting. For characters like The Itchy Finger with high attack speed, use the rapid hits between cooldowns to charge other evolution procs (Bleed stacks, Burn stacks, etc.) rather than expecting attack speed to bypass Bomb's cooldown. In waves 15+, Bomb's value shifts from primary damage to cleanup tool—use it to finish low-HP stragglers after other evolutions weaken clusters, rather than relying on it for primary clear. The 2.0x multiplier means Bomb scales moderately with fire damage, but not enough to keep pace with pure scaling evolutions like Satan (4.0x) or Black Hole (3.5x) in the late game, reinforcing its early-to-mid game specialty.