Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope character guide: Bowser

Nintendo Everything has created a series of character guides for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, looking at the best skills to acquire, party members to use with them, and Sparks to give them to maximize their potential. This is a guide for Bowser.

Bowser is the final character you will unlock in Sparks of Hope on the third planet, and he is well worth the wait, with the destructive potential and minion-summoning capabilities that you would expect of the King of Koopas. As you acquire him at a relatively late stage in the game you will likely be able to maximize his potential from the start, opening up some interesting options for party combinations.

What skills are best for Bowser?

As you acquire Bowser about halfway through the game you should have enough Skill Prisms to almost fully max out both the Technique and Weapon branches of his Skill Tree. At level 19, you will be 3 Skill Prisms short of maxxing out both trees: forgo either Demolisher or Fire Rabbid Mechakoopas and unlock all other skills in the two. If you find yourself relying on cover due to your party setup, do not acquire Demolisher. If the enemies on the map are resistant to burn, do not acquire Fire Rabbid Mechakoopas. From there, you may want to invest in Health for survivability: Bowser has a unique set of abilities in his Movement branch where he can inflict damage on enemies in an area upon landing from a jump, but as he is a long range character, it is unlikely you’ll have much opportunity to use it, especially on higher difficulty settings.

Who are the best party members to use with Bowser?

Whilst Bowser lacks the raw power that Luigi has, his ability to target an area and destroy cover means he can serve a similar function on a wider scale, even if he can’t quite finish off stronger units himself most of the time. Once you unlock Demolisher, Bowser can pair very well with Edge, Rabbid Mario, or Rabbid Luigi, by allowing them to hit more foes without having to worry about them taking cover, although this is an ability you will need to be careful with so as not to disadvantage your own units. A team of Bowser, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Mario would not need to worry about this restriction however, with Rabbid Mario drawing enemy attention and being supported by Bowser’s long range attacks and Rabbid Mechakoopas, with healing from Rabbid Peach where necessary.

Which Sparks are best for Bowser?

As Bowser will not be fighting on the front lines, outfitting him with Sparks that provide party-wide defensive boosts would be the best option. Starburst is a good choice if used at the beginning of your turn with its offensive and defensive boosts, and Bowser is an excellent character to give Pulser too later in the game if you plan to use him, as he will spend most of his time out of the line of fire. You may also wish to consider giving him a Spark that will exploit weaknesses of enemies on the map as the situation calls for it, if you give another character Glitter and use this to pull them all together into a single spot.