Best Bomb Build - Carpet Bombing - Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This post will cover the best Bomb build in Witcher 3. Bombs are one of the alchemical creations that Geralt can make. They provide various effects - from dealing damage to blinding and disabling abilities. This unlocks various options in combat to change the tide of battle

Bomb Build

With this build, I aimed to maximize the effectiveness of bombs and use all relevant skills for that.It allows Geralt to singlehandedly take out groups of enemies. Grenades really feel deadly with this build and not some weak firecracker.

However, bombs by themselves are not enough, as they have limited capacity. Due to this, I also recommend investing in combat skills.

Why combat and not signs? The main idea is that Bomb build uses Manticore armor. It enables grenades to deal critical damage. Moreover, it provides bonus toxicity, critical chance, and critical damage. So combat is a perfect choice to maximize the synergy of the armor set. With this, you can pick both Fast and Strong attack related skills

Also, Manticore armor 6-piece set gives bonus charges for alchemical items. This plays well with Delayed Recovery, which you then could sustain for an extremely long time.

The Build is tested on New Game+ and Deathmarch difficulty.

Skills allocation

This section covers skills for the Bomb build.

General Skills

Name	Effect
Advanced Pyrotechnics	Damage dealt by a bomb's explosion generates 0.1 Adrenaline Points.
Cat School Techniques	Each piece of light armor increases critical hit damage by 25% and fast attack damage by 5%
In Combat's Fires	You ignore bomb and special bolt effects
Acquired Tolerance	Every known level 1, 2 or 3 alchemy formula increases maximum Toxicity by 0.5
Steady Aim (optional)	Time is slowed a further 50% while aiming bombs.
Pyrotechnics	All bombs, even those that usually do not inflict damage, now deal +300 damage in addition to their normal effects.
Delayed Recovery	Potion effects don't wear off until potion Toxicity falls to 55% of the maximum level.
Synergy	Increases bonus for mutagen placed in mutagen slot by 50%.
Efficiency	Increases the maximum number of bombs in each slot by 3.
Hunter Instinct	When Adrenaline Points are at their maximum, critical hit damage against the targeted enemy type is increased by 100%.
Killing Spree	If Toxicity is above 0, each opponent killed increases critical hit chance by 30% for the duration of that fight.
Cluster Bombs	Upon detonation, bombs separate into explosive fragments. Number of fragments: 4
Metamorphosis	Applying critical effects to opponents activates a random decoction for 120s with no Toxicity cost. The maximum number of decoctions that can be activated simultaneously by the mutation is 5. Witcher Senses help you see better in dark places
Heavy Artillery (optional)	Bomb damage is tripled -- but the number of bombs in slots is decreased by half. This does not apply to bombs which deal no damage.

Why is Heavy artillery optional? With the perks that we take the bombs are already very powerful and will take out most of the enemy hp with a single explosion. Of course, they will usually not die instantly. With Heavy Artillery, you will kill normal enemies almost 100% of the time. However, you will have to mediate more, which will require you to reapply potions more often for Delayed Recovery. All in all, it provides small benefits compared to drastic changes in quality of life for gameplay.

Combat Skills

I suggest choosing one type of attack that you will use with the build. This way you can maximize its damage and effectiveness.

Strong Attacks

Name	Effect
Resolve	Adrenaline Point loss upon taking damage is lowered by 100%.
Crushing Blows	Increases strong attack critical hit chance by 12% and strong attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Rend	Deals additional damage in proportion to the Stamina consumed. Ignores enemy Defense and increases critical hit chance by 60%. Adrenaline Points increase total damage by 33%
Razor Focus	Instantly gain one Adrenaline Point when entering combat. The Adrenaline Points generated by sword blows are increased by 30%.

Fast Attacks

Name	Effect
Resolve	Adrenaline Point loss upon taking damage is lowered by 100%.
Precise Blows	Increases chance of landing a fast attack critical hit by 12% and fast attack critical hit damage by 75%.
Whirl	Spinning attack that strikes all foes in the surrounding area. Maintaining the attack consumes Stamina and Adrenaline. Consumes 50% less Stamina and Adrenaline
Razor Focus	Instantly gain one Adrenaline Point when entering combat. The Adrenaline Points generated by sword blows are increased by 30%.

Detailed Skill Progression

This covers detailed progression for the build as many players will not be high level to have 50+ skill points. So follow the abilities as you progress for maximum effectiveness.

If you are below level 11, I suggest following early game build guides

Order	Skill	Description
1	Muscle Memory or Strength Training	Pick one of the below. However, as you progress remove these abilities at about level 20, to put in additional grenade related skill Fast Attacks - take Muscle Memory to increase their damage Strong Attacks - take Strength Training.
2	Resolve	This serves two purposes - unlock the next tier of skills and negate any adrenaline loss from damage. It will prove valuable later on in activating abilities like Hunter Instinct
3	Precise Blows or Crushing Blows	Fast Attacks - take Precise Blows to increase their damage Strong Attacks - take Crushing Blows
4	Steady Aim OR Heavy Artillery	I have my doubts about this skill. I like it as it provides improvement to targeting with bombs. However, this skill slot could be used for something like Heavy Artillery if you wish to have a huge damage bonus with bombs.
5	In Combat's Fires	This general skill is mandatory for bomb build. It allows Geralt to avoid any damage and effects, like blindness or burning.
6	Any combat skill with 3 levels	We need one more perk with three levels to unlock the next tier of combat skills
7	Whirl or Rend	Fast Attacks - take Whirl, this will allow hitting enemies in a 360-degree arc, but drains stamina Strong Attacks - Rend, consume stamina to increase the alternative Strong Attack power.
8	Cat School Techniques	Although this skill is aimed toward Fast Attacks it will perfectly work in our case. Because we use Rend, Killing Spree (later on), and bombs with Manitocre set the 100% critical damage bonus is hard to pass.
9	Razor Focus	An important skill that increases adrenaline point generation and instantly gives 1 point at the start of the combat.
10	Acquired Tolerance	Increases total toxicity threshold that Geralt can take based on the number of alchemy recipes unlocked. This will allow drinking more potions. Moreover, at this stage, you should already have accumulated a decent amount of recipes.
11	Any alchemy skill 2 levels	To unlock the next tier of perks take any skill from the alchemy tree and put in two points.
12	Pyrotechnics	An extremely good skill that adds damage to all bombs. Its effectiveness increases once you get the manticore armor set with Hunter Instinct. This will allow them to multiply the damage via critical hits.
13	Any alchemy skill 3 levels	We need 3 more skill points to unlock the third row of the alchemy tree

At this point, I recommend having all of the places of power collected. You will need a lot of skill points to fully progress through the build and unlock other skill slots.

This is also the perfect time to remove Muscle Memory or Strength Training. We will need this additional slot for upcoming skills

Order	Skill	Description
15	Delayed Recovery	The skill makes potions activate indefinitely as long as Geralt has 55% Toxicity from potions. It is a very powerful ability, as you can use something like Superior Blizzard all the time.
16	Synergy	A mandatory skill for any Witcher 3 build, it increases the effectiveness of mutagens by 50%
17	Efficiency	Increases the number of bombs that you can use by 3. Overall this is a great quality of life as you will not need to mediate as often.
18	Toxic Blood	We take this for progression. Feel free to activate until unlocking the next mutation
19	Euphoria	This is the first great mutation. Use it until you unlock Metamorphosis. It increases attack power for each toxicity point. So try to maximize potion usage and stay close to 80-90%.
20	Cluster Bombs	This is an amazing ability and what makes the Bomb Build extremely powerful. After the grenade is thrown it will split into multiple fragments that each will explode again. This can cover extremely large areas and hit enemies multiple times.
21	Cat Eyes	We mainly take this for progression
22	Metamorphosis	Main mutation of the Bomb build. It will allow activating 5 decoctions (in addition to the potions we already activate). Although they only have 120 seconds duration, this will be negated thanks to the Delayed Recovery perk.
23	Hunter Instinct	Another skill that greatly improves bomb build. Thanks to the manticore armor set the 100% critical damage will also apply to grenades. However, the increase is not as big due to how damage is calculated in Witcher 3.
24	4 mutations	Unlock additional mutations for the next ability slot
25	Killing Spree	An amazing ability that increases critical chance by 30% for each enemy killed if toxicity is above 0.
26	4 mutations	Unlock additional mutations for the next ability slot
27	Advanced Pyrotechnics OR Synergy	With this ability, you can easily generate adrenaline points with Cluster Bombs. 1 grenade use should net 0.5-1 adrenaline point. However, for increased sword combat you can also pick Synergy. It increases mutagen effectiveness by 50%.

Tactics

In this section, I would like to share some tips on how to best play Bomb build in Witcher 3

Bomb usage

The great thing about this build is that bombs are versatile and can be used in almost any situation. For example, Northern Wind freezes enemies and leaves them at your mercy. Combine it with Whirl and this is what you get

If you decide to take Heavy Artillery it becomes even crazier. 104 level guards are instantly removed with Superior Grapeshot

So Bomb build is extremely deadly in almost any encounter. Just be sure to mind your surroundings as enemy coming up from behind can easily take you down.

Potion management

This is a very important part of the build that ensures the maximum effectiveness of the build. Before starting combat or at the start of the encounter you should drink enough potions to reach toxicity at about 60% - 80%. You should note that this includes only a light green bar, and dark green is disregarded

With this, the Delayed Recovery perk will activate. I recommend the last potion consumed to be Superior Blizzard. This ensures that it stays on once Delayed Recovery is active.

As time passes the potions will start blinking, meaning that their duration has expired and they are only active thanks to the perk. As more time passes check your potion toxicity. Try to sustain it above 55%, otherwise, the potions and decoctions effects will disappear.

I recommend checking the equipment section for the best potions to use with the Viper Build.

Note: Superior Blizzard will deactivate if Geralt enters the dialogue.

Metamorphosis and Decoctions

The build requires some sacrifices from the player. Unfortunately, you should only craft or keep those decoctions that you wish to be activated by the mutation effect. However, even if you crafted some of the unnecessary, there is a workaround. You can drop the decoctions and make them disappear

If you wish to use the dropped decoctions again you will have to craft them. This can be problematic as some mutagens are very rare. So have this in mind.

I recommend checking the equipment section for decoctions that I recommend having to best utilize the Metamorphosis effect.

Equipment

Here is my suggested gear for the Bomb build in Witcher 3

Weapons

The main takeaway for the Bomb build is whether you want additional alchemy items for potions, grenades, etc. or you are interested in higher combat damage. If you take a Manticore steel sword and a Manticore silver sword, then this activates the 6-piece armor bonus. Otherwise, go with other suggested options.

Steel Swords

Item	Description
Manticore steel sword	Only take this sword if you will use the Manticore silver sword together. The reason is that this way you would get the full Manticore armor set bonus. However, for maximum damage check the options below
Toussaint Knight's Steel Sword	This is the most powerful steel sword in the game. Iris may compare to it in terms of damage, however, this has no confusing mechanics and pure high-damage stats
Viroledan Blade	A decent sword with a +75% critical hit damage bonus. It can only be crafted

Silver Swords

Item	Description
Manticore silver sword	Only take this sword if you will use the Manticore silver sword together. The reason is that this way you would get the full Manticore armor set bonus. However, for maximum damage check the options below
Aerondight	This is the most powerful sword in the game. Each attack raises its charge, resulting in higher damage. However, it requires some grinding for it to be at peak effectiveness. Moreover, to add a rune or runeword to it you will need to add sockets at runewright
Gesheft	A very powerful silver sword that gives a +100% Critical hit damage bonus and a +15 Critical hit chance.

Weapon upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Severance	Increases the reach of Rend and Whirl. Makes combat much easier, especially with Whirl.
Greater Chernobog Runestone	Increases the attack power of the weapon. The good option before obtaining Severance

Armors

Item	Effects
Manticore Armor	+5 Maximum Toxicity +19% Resistance to piercing damage +24% Resistance to slashing damage +28% Resistance to damage from monsters +25% Critical hit damage bonus
Manticore gauntlets	+5 Toxicity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +12% Resistance to elemental damage +5% Critical hit chance
Manticore Trousers	+5 Toxicity +9% Resistance to slashing damage +8% Resistance to damage from monsters +33% Resistance to elemental damage +5% Critical hit chance
Manticore Boots	+5 Toxicity +5% Resistance to piercing damage +6% Resistance to slashing damage +4% Resistance to damage from monsters +25% Critical hit damage bonus

You can also equip the below gauntlets for even higher critical damage. However, this will sacrifice the 6-piece armor set bonus and lower the total toxicity by 5

Item	Effects
Nilfgaardian Guardsman's Gauntlets	+5% Resistance to piercing damage +5% Resistance to bludgeoning damage +5% Resistance to slashing damage +5% Resistance to damage from monsters +50% Critical hit damage bonus

Armor upgrades

Upgrade	Description
Levity	We want all of our gear to count as light. That is the only way to get the critical stats bonus from the Cat School Techniques perk.
Your preferred Glyph for signs	Go for the Glyphs related to the signs you use. I personally use Quen most of the time with this build so adding Greater Glyph of Quen is the way to go.

Potions and tonics

The Bomb build uses Delayed Recovery, meaning potions and decoctions will work indefinitely as long as potion (light green toxicity bar) toxicity is above 55%. This allows using multiple potions. Here are my recommendations.

Item	Effects
Superior Blizzard	This potion is mandatory for the build. You will easily generate three adrenaline points for infinite stamina. Delayed recovery will ensure that you have slowed time permanently. More or less you can become invincible with this setup
Superior Thunderbolt	This is the most recommended potion to use. It will improve attack power and grant 100% critical chance during storms.
Superior Tawny Owl	As Rend and Whirl rely on Stamina, this is another potion that will improve Geralt's combat prowess by allowing him to use those attacks more often
Superior White Raffard's Decoction	I recommend having this potion in the quick slot. It instantly restores 100% HP and grants immunity to damage for a short period of time
Superior Swallow	Increases HP regeneration. Use it as an alternative to Troll Decoction when dealing with high Toxicity. Moreover, this potion is much more effective compared to the decoction
Superior Maribor Forest	Increases adrenaline generation and grants one adrenaline point when used.
Superior Black Blood	I recommend drinking this potion when fighting vampires and necrophages. It is made specifically for these encounters

Decoctions

The Bomb build uses the Metamorphosis mutation. This means that decoctions from your inventory can be applied randomly (up to 5). Due to this, you want to keep only those, that will be useful for the build. Here are my recommendations.

Item	Effects
Ekimmara Decoction	This decoction is the main one for survivability. It will allow you to regenerate HP every time Geralt hits an enemy.
Katakan Decoction	Thanks to this decoction you will raise Geralt's critical hit chance by 10%. This will greatly improve overall DPS.
Alghoul Decoction	Increases adrenaline generation until the first enemy hit. This is important as Hunter Instinct will activate much faster, you can use Whirl for longer. Moreover, more adrenaline points result in higher damage.
Wyvern Decoction	Use this together with Quen. It increases the attack power for each successfully landed blow, until Geralt gets hit by the enemy.
Succubus Decoction	Attack power grows during the fight by up to 30%. Very useful in prolonged encounters or boss fights.
Cockatrice Decoction	I would say this is an optional decoction. It is a great quality of life improvement as it gives additional use for alchemy creations - potions, bombs, etc. However, having in mind how Metamorphosis works, this will result in sacrificing one of the above decoctions.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the post on the best Bomb build in Witcher 3. I covered all essential parts to be effective - skills progression, recommended gear, tactics, and general tips.

If you have any questions or suggestions leave a comment below