“Small, lightly protected skeleton who throws bombs. Deals area damage that can wipe out a swarm of enemies.”
The Bomber card is unlocked from the Bone Pit (Arena 2). It is an area damage, medium-ranged, ground-targeting troop with low hitpoints and moderate damage. It is a type of Skeleton that carries a black bomb and wears a blue cap with golden-rimmed pilot's goggles. A Bomber card costs 2 Elixir to deploy.
Strategy[]
- The Bomber is best used as a defensive troop, being able to take out Barbarians, Skeleton Army, Goblins, Spear Goblins, Archers and other ground swarms more effectively than most other cards, due to its moderate splash radius and low Elixir cost.
- Even though it has low hitpoints, its survivability is good for its Elixir cost, as it is able to survive any 2 Elixir damaging spell of similar level. Therefore, using any spell that is more expensive is usually a waste of Elixir, as a Fireball or Arrows played to defeat a Bomber results in an Elixir advantage for the opponent unless the player can hit something else with the spell such as a Princess Tower or troops nearby. It has a lot of damage potential when placed safely behind high hitpoint troops such as a Giant.
- A lone Bomber can be countered with a Zap, Giant Snowball or The Log alongside the help of a Princess Tower without the Bomber doing any damage. The player should hold the Zap ready, and when the Bomber is within range of the Arena Tower, cast the spell. The Princess Tower's damage along with the Zap's stun time of 0.5 seconds will prevent the Bomber from throwing any bombs for a positive Elixir trade. For a further Positive Elixir Trade, the Ice Spirit can counter it due to the Bomber taking 2 hits to defeat it, allowing your Crown Tower to finish it off.
- For just 2 Elixir, the Bomber deals good area damage and is one of the cheapest counters to Barbarians due to his range. In fact, it takes a Bomber 4 throws to defeat same level Barbarians (with the third throw leaving them at critical health, resulting in any other hit defeating the Barbarians), and a Bomber 1 level higher only requires 3 throws. He complements tank pushes very well because of this. However, due to his somewhat slow hit speed, the Bomber will often be taken out by the Barbarians, but the Player can place protective Troops such as the Ice Golem or allow the Crown Tower to finish them off after the third throw.
- An effective way to counter a lone Bomber is to place a cheap unit like Skeletons or an Ice Spirit followed immediately by another cheap unit like Goblins. The first unit will distract the Bomber while the second unit destroys it. This is generally a negative Elixir trade, but can used to make an counterpush.
- Surrounding the Bomber with Skeletons can cause it to take them out in two hits instead of one due to the deploy stagger of the Skeletons, though this is somewhat inconsistent due to the Bomber's area damage radius.
- The Bomber cannot attack air units, making it vulnerable against Minions and flying troops. However, when using the Bomber, the player can place protective troops such as the Giant or the Baby Dragon.
- Since it is very light, the Bomber can be pushed by almost any other troop in the game. In particular, fast units like the Goblins can provide the Bomber with a major speed boost. Putting this card with Spear Goblins is a good idea since together they can engage targets within their comfortable range, making for a quick ranged point-target and splash damage backup for the player's other troops across the river, or even a quick and small push.
- If protected by an Ice Golem, the Bomber can take care of mini tanks like the Elite Barbarians, Knight, Mini P.E.K.K.A., Bandit, and others due to its decent damage per hit.
- The Bomber is interchangeable with the Wizard, based on the player's preference and tactics. However, he cannot attack air troops and has fewer hitpoints, meaning he can be one-shot by Fireball or Arrows. The Bomber is also better in desperate situations where the player's Elixir is low, as he only costs 2 Elixir, as opposed to the 5 Elixir Wizard.
- A good counter for the Bomber is the Bandit. The Bandit will dash towards the Bomber, dodging the bomb thrown at her, which will leave her at full health for a counter attack. This is better when the Bomber is in the middle of the opponent's territory as this will allow the Bandit to reach the Tower faster.
History[]
- The Bomber was released with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
- On 2/2/16, the February 2016 Update increased the Bomber's hit speed to 1.9 sec (from 2 sec).
- On 29/2/16, the March 2016 Update changed the Bomber so that it would no longer stop its attack if its target dies during the attack animation.
- On 3/5/16, the May 2016 Update increased the Common card level cap to 13 (from 12). The update also fixed the "range bug", which decreased the Bomber's range to 4.5 (from 5) but its effective range was unchanged.
- On 18/5/16, a Balance Update increased the Bomber's damage by 10%.
- On 4/7/16, the Tournaments Update increased the Bomber's damage by 9%.
- On 19/9/16, a Balance Update decreased the Bomber's hitpoints by 2% and increased its damage by 2%. This resolved a minor issue where Goblins could not defeat an equal level Bomber in 3 hits at some levels, e.g. Level 7.
- On 15/12/16, a Balance Update increased the Bomber's damage by 4%. This lets the Bomber one shot equally leveled Archers.
- On 20/6/18, the Summer Update moved the Arena to unlock the Bomber from Training Camp to Bone Pit (Arena 2).
- On 2/7/18, a Balance Update increased the Bomber's range to 5 (from 4.5).
- On 6/5/19, a Balance Update increased the Bomber's hitpoints by 28%.
- On 30/9/19, the September 2019 Update added an extra Star Level.
- On 9/9/20, a Balance Update decreased the Bomber's hitspeed to 1.8 seconds (from 1.9 seconds).
- On 30/3/21, a Balance Update decreased the Bomber's Elixir cost to 2 (from 3), decreased its hitpoints by 31%, and decreased its damage by 32%.
- On 6/9/21, a Balance Update decreased the Bomber's attacking range to 4.5 tiles (from 5 tiles).
- On 27/10/21, the 2021 Quarter 3 Update increased the level cap of all cards to 14 (previously 13).
Trivia[]
- The Bomber is 1 of 14 cards associated with Skeletons, including the Skeleton Army, Witch, Tombstone, Bomb Tower, Giant Skeleton, Balloon, Guards, Skeleton Barrel, Graveyard, Wall Breakers, Skeleton Dragons and Skeleton King.
- The Bomber is 1 of 6 ranged troops that cannot target air, along with Sparky, Cannon Cart, Royal Giant, Lava Hound, and Bowler.
- The Bomber is 1 of 10 troop cards that inspired a troop in Clash of Clans, along with the Miner, the Baby Dragon, the Ice Wizard, the Night Witch, the Skeleton Barrel, the Royal Ghost, the Battle Ram, the Giant Skeleton, and the Ice Golem.
- The Bomber is 1 of the 11 cards from Clash Royale to appear in Clash Quest, the others being the Fire Spirit, Spear Goblins, Zap, Furnace, Fireball, Goblin Hut, Rocket, Baby Dragon, Prince, and The Log.
- His splash art above his stats screen came from his Clash of Clans counterpart's image.
- His hat is revealed to be brown, according to Clash Quest and Clash of Clans before the June 2017 update.
- The Bomber throws one bomb in-game, holds 3 bombs in his splash art, and has 2 visible bombs in his card image.
- A loading tip relevant to the Bomber read "One day, Wall Breakers realized that they could do a lot more damage if they THREW the bomb rather than sat beside it. Imagine that...". This may be a reference to its creation as a ranged counterpart to the Wall Breaker in Clash of Clans. Ultimately, the Wall Breakers were added in one of Clash Royale's updates.
- The Bomber is the subject of 2 Emotes.
