Using a black bomb

[Corvus]

So I bought a couple bombs from the traveling cart intending on using them in the mine and the Wiki's information is a little sparse. Yes, if I die a horrible death I can always exit and re-enter but that seems like a bit of a cheat. Since Brother Maynard is not handy with the Book of Armaments I'm asking here.

I'm assuming you take it in hand, set it on the ground, then run away. How long do you have to get out of the five-step safety radius? Would exiting the mine then climbing back down to the level it was set off be effective? How about an, "I'm taking you all with me?"

 

[imnvs]

First, if you leave the Mine and re-enter, the floor is re-generated and the bomb will be gone.

Next, yes, you set the bomb as your active item, and generally you'll now be running around with a bomb the size of your head held up over your head.

Then you click to place it.

Finally, you then simply run away, yes. You have plenty time to run, but you don't have time to do much else.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Don't leave the level as everything will be reset! Instead all you need to be is about 7 or so tiles away, and yes there is time to set it down and get clear. However make sure to leave yourself a reasonably straight getaway path or you'll take a little damage. They're not too bad if you take some shrapnel to the leg, but if you're also getting harassed by a group of Slimes, Bugs, Serpents, etc, you will not be a happy camper.

 

[Elenna101]

You have several seconds to run, yes, but also it's worth noting that they only do like 8-9 damage. Even the big red mega bombs only do 13-16. Obviously avoiding damage is nice if you can, but it's not a matter of "taking the enemies with you" unless you're already super low on health.
Heck, in Skull Caverns I usually just stay right in the middle of the bomb area. Lets me pick up the stuff quicker without running away and then running back, and in a place where I'm already eating lots of food becuase enemies do 40+ damage a hit, an extra 8-9 damage is basically nothing.

(Note that it won't do a ton of damage to the enemies, either. Bombs are much more useful to blow up a group of rocks all at once than they are for attacking enemies.)

 

[FlyingCatPhillips]

I have not actually used those! I only recently started using the cherry bombs. Let me know how it goes but I think the bombs are more for quick mining tools??
Probably should use bombs more actually but I think they are a bit expensive to craft for mining tools.... I say as I swim in copper ingots, and copper ore... I wonder if you can craft the big bomb??? That might make it more cost effective....

 

[hexnessie]

I wonder if you can craft the big bomb??? That might make it more cost effective....

Yes you can! Late game it is indeed very cost-effective, if you mean the red Mega Bomb. The only ingredient you are going to be short on is probably the solar essence. I buy mine from Krobus.

The black bomb can also be crafted, just takes iron and coal - rather cheap but you are probably going to be saving the ingredients for other items for a while.

You will also be able to exchange other things for bombs, so that's a cheap option to get them too.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I have not actually used those! I only recently started using the cherry bombs. Let me know how it goes but I think the bombs are more for quick mining tools??
Probably should use bombs more actually but I think they are a bit expensive to craft for mining tools.... I say as I swim in copper ingots, and copper ore... I wonder if you can craft the big bomb??? That might make it more cost effective....

You can craft the big bomb and the mega bomb but it is much better to buy them form the dwarf in the mines for 600g and 1000g each respectively.
Personally I completely forgo the regular ones and only go with the mega ones and instead of buying them I trade them for 5 iridium ore a pop which I pretty good as I get about 800-900 ore every trip to the skull caverns.
Instead or as well as bombs, a great thing to use is explosive ammo which you can fire from a slingshot and has the explosion of a cherry bomb but explodes instantly once it hits either a wall or monster. I use this stuff a lot and crafting it is a bit of a pain but you can buy a stack for a pretty easy 300000 so I usually just buy about 10 stacks at a time at the adventurers guild and just live off of it for a month or so, sometimes more.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Yes you can! Late game it is indeed very cost-effective, if you mean the red Mega Bomb. The only ingredient you are going to be short on is probably the solar essence. I buy mine from Krobus.

The black bomb can also be crafted, just takes iron and coal - rather cheap but you are probably going to be saving the ingredients for other items for a while.

You will also be able to exchange other things for bombs, so that's a cheap option to get them too.

Beat me to it lol

 

[imnvs]

The dwarf is where I get my bombs. When you get to the point where you're basically pissing money, that's really the best resource to spend to get other things, and the dwarf does indeed take filthy cash money in payment.

Also, bombs are primarily a mining tool. Their damage pales in comparison to what you will eventually be able to do and what the monsters do to you.

 

[Tom]

When I first get to the Skull Cavern and don't know Dwarfie, I craft Bombs and Mega Bombs by taking Coal, Solar Essence, and Void Essence with me. In my experience, the gold and iron ore yield is roughly self-sustaining. Later in the game I buy all bombs from Dwarfie.

BTW, I hope the NSA isn't too interested in my bomb-making expertise.

 

[Hill Myna]

about 7 or so tiles away

To clear up any confusion, I did some research a while back. This is from my Skull Cavern Thread:

• The radius of a Bomb (the Wiki doesn’t have any information or images on this so I thought I’d make my own). After thorough research, AKA logging onto Sell Out Farm and spamming bombs on one spot, I can conclude that the actual radius (the area in red, as well as that yellow tile) is shaped rather like itsa-me-a-Mario’s Mushroom powerup, not a “squircle”. Additionally, FWIW only the blue area can become tilled. Yeah, probably not worth much...

 

[Corvus]

Thanks for the advice, especially that the mine resets on exiting. I'd rather assumed, without checking, it resets at the end of the day.

 

[imnvs]

Thanks for the advice, especially that the mine resets on exiting. I'd rather thought it resets at the end of the day.

Yup, and in fact people take advantage of the fact that you can enter the Mines, do something, leave the Mines, enter the Mines to a whole new floor with new nodes and new monsters all the time. It allows you to find certain things a lot easier.

Also, in case anyone finds it relevant, in a multiplayer game everyone must leave the Mines before it will reset and generate anew on entry.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Yup, and in fact people take advantage of the fact that you can enter the Mines, do something, leave the Mines, enter the Mines to a whole new floor with new nodes and new monsters all the time. It allows you to find certain things a lot easier.

Also, in case anyone finds it relevant, in a multiplayer game everyone must leave the Mines before it will reset and generate anew on entry.

You also have to wait for 10 in game minutes to pass each time.

 

[imnvs]

You also have to wait for 10 in game minutes to pass each time.

Fair, but to be precise it is just for the clock to tick to the next 10 minutes.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

Fair, but to be precise it is just for the clock to tick to the next 10 minutes.

Yeah, for one tick to pass, not for exactly 10 minutes.

 

[Tom]

Exit mines (in other words, go to elevator floor 0) and wait for a 10-minute tick to pass. Thanks! This explains why my attempts at floor farming have sometimes been weird.

 

[imnvs]

Exit mines (in other words, go to elevator floor 0) and wait for a 10-minute tick to pass. Thanks! This explains why my attempts at floor farming have sometimes been weird.

Exactly, or the ladder, and as soon as you see the clock tick from 3:20 to 3:30 (for example) you can go back in, even if it was literally 1 second after you got out.

 

[Giant Octopodes]

It's worth noting that the base damage of the bombs is 14-16 for Black Regular Bombs, and 19-25 for Red Mega Bombs. Defense absolutely can and does drop that down, and just like with enemy damage, it drops it down in a linear fashion (1 pt of defense = 1 less point of damage taken). If you wear boots with +5 defense and two crabshell rings, as an example, Bombs will deal 1-2 damage to you, while Mega Bombs will deal 4-10. So if you're intending to frequently stand in the blast radius, you'll either want to have a higher defense, or just bring more food ;-)

 

[Elenna101]

It's worth noting that the base damage of the bombs is 14-16 for Black Regular Bombs, and 19-25 for Red Mega Bombs. Defense absolutely can and does drop that down, and just like with enemy damage, it drops it down in a linear fashion (1 pt of defense = 1 less point of damage taken). If you wear boots with +5 defense and two crabshell rings, as an example, Bombs will deal 1-2 damage to you, while Mega Bombs will deal 4-10. So if you're intending to frequently stand in the blast radius, you'll either want to have a higher defense, or just bring more food ;-)

Oh, right, I forgot I had +defense from my boots while testing the bomb damage amounts. Still not a ton of damage, but more than I thought it was.