Bombardier fires a rocket that starts quick and keeps accelerating, leaving a short trail of exhaust bullets behind it. It hits single targets from a long way off.
| Tier | 4 |
| Unlock level | 45 |
| Upgrades from | Sledge |
| Barrels | 1 launcher |
| Reload (0 points) | 2.0 s per rocket (0.5 rockets/s) |
| Rocket | 22.9 damage, penetration 4, radius 12 |
| Rocket speed | launches at 441 px/s, accelerates at 420 px/s² up to 900 px/s |
| Rocket flight | 1.5 s, about 1,080 px |
| Exhaust | from 0.15 s after launch, one bullet straight back about 7.5 times a second |
| Exhaust bullets | 4.6 damage (20% of the rocket), 200 px/s, 0.4 s, penetration 1, radius 4 |
| Recoil | a Recruit's kick per rocket |
| Health / movement | ×1 / ×1 |
Every number here is at 0 stat points, before the per-level health bonus and the per-level speed penalty that every tank gets. The automatic balancer can nudge a class's damage and health over time, so treat these as the roster's base values.
Bombardier's rocket leaves the launcher at 441 px/s and accelerates at 420 px/s every second until it hits 900 px/s, which takes a little over a second. It flies for 1.5 seconds in total and covers about 1,080 px. At 0 points that outreaches every plain bullet, including Horizon's 926 px.
The acceleration shapes how you aim. Close up, the rocket is still slow and easy to see coming. Far away, it's arriving at 900 px/s and hard to dodge. So Bombardier is best at long range against targets that don't expect it, which is the opposite of how the rest of the Sledge family plays.
From 0.15 seconds after launch, the rocket fires a small exhaust bullet straight backwards about seven and a half times a second. Each does 4.6 damage and lives 0.4 seconds, so the trail is short. It's a bonus against anything the rocket passes close to, not a real second weapon. The rocket itself carries the damage: 22.9 at 0 points, with 4 penetration, so it usually spends most of its penetration on the first tank it hits.
Bombardier beats slow and stationary targets from further away than they can see: snipers settling into position, a Nightveil whose shot flicker you spotted, trappers holding a field, and big slow classes like Cataclysm. It's safe against short-range classes that can't reach you.
It's weak up close, where the rocket is slow, and it has almost no recoil to escape with. Fast tanks (Afterburner, Interceptor) close the distance and dodge. Swarms are hard for a single rocket every two seconds. Light bullet streams can shoot the rocket down, since any bullet doing 4 or more damage that meets it strips its penetration.
A 33-point build: Bullet Damage 7, Reload 7, Bullet Penetration 6, Movement Speed 5, Max Health 5, Bullet Speed 3.
Sledge leads to Amalgam, Cataclysm, Skipjack, Bombardier, Sailfin and Starburst.
Bombardier's closest sibling is Sailfin, which also accelerates. Sailfin's missile does a bit less damage (20.8), accelerates harder to a higher top speed (1,000 px/s) and flies slightly further, and Sailfin moves 20% faster. Bombardier hits a bit harder per rocket and reloads a little faster. They're close; pick Sailfin if you value mobility, Bombardier if you value damage.
Skipjack and Starburst are area classes, not single-target ones. Cataclysm and Amalgam keep the short-range cannon and recoil jump. Take Bombardier if you want to hit things from further away than anything else in the family.