FF16 Bomb King location, how to beat, and rewards

While some Notorious Marks, or Hunts, are unlocked as you play Final Fantasy 16, others are unlocked through essential side quests, like the Bomb King. As the name suggests, the Bomb King is a fiery ball with abilities revolving around bombs. Thankfully, he isn’t too difficult to beat, but unlocking and finding him is where the trouble lies.

How to unlock the Bomb King in FF16

Much like Dozmare, the Griffin, who’s locked behind a side quest, the Bomb King is unlocked during the quest, Weird Science, which can be obtained from your Missives, located in your room in The Hideaway.

However, you won’t unlock this quest until you’ve completed the main campaign’s, Out of the Shadows subquest, Letting of Steam quest number three.

During this quest, you will be tasked with obtaining a vital ingredient from a new Notorious Mark known as the Bomb King.

Exact Bomb King location in FF16

Unlike other Notorious Mark flyers on the Hunt Board, the Bomb King’s flyer hides very few details about its location. You’ll find the Bomb King in The Crock, located North of The Imperial Chase in The Holy Empire of Sanbreque, and the nearest waypoint is The Dragon’s Aery.

As you make your way to The Crock, you’ll notice a black ball on the floor inside the ruins, which is the Bomb King. And when you step close to it, a cutscene will play where it ignites and becomes the fiery monster you must defeat.

How to defeat the Bomb King in FF16

The Bomb King is only a B-rank Notorious Mark in Final Fantasy 16, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble defeating it. There are, however, two mechanics you need to be careful of, and they include the following:

1. Hot Bomb Drop—The Bomb King will throw a large, fiery bomb at you. While it sounds scary, it’s not because it’s slow and easy to dodge. The problem with this mechanic is it leaves a fiery AoE spot on the ground. You do need to be mindful of it until it disappears.
2. Self-Destructing Minions—Weak versions of the Bomb King will spawn; if too much time passes or their health drops, they’ll self-destruct. Use long-range abilities to handle this and not get too close to the minions or their blast radius. 

These two mechanics are the only ones you need to be mindful of, and if you can strike while the Bomb King finishes its mechanics or if you see a window to attack, you’ll defeat it in no time. It took me around two to three minutes to complete this fight, so you don’t need to worry about getting killed or having to spend 15 minutes fighting it. Just make sure you dodge and have a few consumables on hand.

The best part is you’ll earn a Bomb Ember, which you’ll use alongside a Grimalkin Hide to craft Excalibur, one of my favorite weapons in Final Fantasy 16.