Final Fantasy 16 Bomb King - Where to find it and how to beat

The structure of Final Fantasy 16 becomes quite familiar once you spend a few hours with the game. Following an Eikon fight, a major story event happens, and you're then sent back to your hideout to do some side quests, fetch quests, and some filler story quests without the spectacle.

Weird Science is one important side quest. You'll note that it has the plus icon, which means it offers you an upgrade you can't get anywhere else in the game. In this case, your reward is an upgrade the number of consumables you can carry.

How to start Weird Science and upgrade your inventory

Weird Science is a side quest that only shows up after completing the Out of the Shadow main quest, which itself has multiple sub-quests. When you're done with that, head back to where you spoke to Mid (Cid's daughter), and speak to Owain, Engineer.

Owain wants Bomb Ash, which can only be obtained from defeating a Bomb King. And, it just so happens that a Bomb King is one of the targets on the Hunt Board.

Where to find Bomb King in Final Fantasy 16

Bomb King is a rank B mark visible on the Hunt Board, which offers optional fights against tough bosses. The Hunt Board is found at the hideaway. Nektar, the adorable Moogle, is the one who maintains the board.

After starting the quest, simply head to where Nektar is, and speak to them. Pick the Ask about bomb sightings option, and Nektar will explain where you can find a Bomb King. Check the Bomb King notice on the Hunt Board, and it will show that the target can be found in The Empire of Sanbreque. Note that you're going to need to find the target on your own, as there are no objective markers for hunt targets.

The closest point is The Dragon's Aery. Simply fast travel to that obelisk, and head south until you find a gate on the eastern edge of the map. Go through it, and follow that road, which will take you to The Imperial Chase. Keep going until you see an opening to your left (north), and follow that road to its conclusion. You'll find yourself in a sort-of arena - called The Crock - where the Bomb King awaits.

How to defeat Bomb King

In case it wasn't obvious, Bomb King is... a floating bomb, which means it's a bigger version of what's typically an annoying enemy. The fight starts off pretty simple, you want to dodge the Bomb King's ranged fireball attacks when you're at range, and watch out for his body smash move when you're close. They're both easy to read thanks to their long wind-up.

Things get more challenging when you reach the second and third phase of the fight. In the second phase, the Bomb King gets the Coronation attack. Coronation surrounds it with fire (making it harder to attack in melee), and even lets it hurl bigger fireballs your way if you're at a distance. More fiery projectiles get added to the mix the lower the Bomb King's health gets.

Avoiding the ranged attacks is simple, but watch out for the trail of fire the projectiles leave behind. Stay away and keep using magic from a distance while timing your dodges. This leads us into the third and final phase, which is the most tricky to manage.

Witan is the last trick up the Bomb King's sleeves. When activated, the Bomb King will slam into the ground and spawn four bombs. The bombs have a countdown, after which they're going to explode. Try to keep your distance as much as possible when that happens. Alternatively, you can try using any area of effect attack you might have to kill them after they spawn.

To end the fight quickly, try to focus on the Bomb King itself to prevent it from spawning more smaller bombs. Don't be distracted by the lesser ones, and simply keep up the offensive on the big boss.

What to do after defeating Bomb King

Now that you're done with the Bomb King fight, simply return to Owain and give him the Bomb Ash you acquired. Doing so will end the quest, awarding you the Treated Potion Satchel, which expands the carrying capacity of all your consumable potions.

Defeating the target also gives you one Bomb Ember, which is used in crafting as well.