Fingersoft has certainly created an addictive and challenging kart racing game with Boom Karts, bound to test your wits, skills, and strategies to the fullest. Boom Karts showcases plenty of tracks to master, a wide range of power ups to add more sizzle to each race, and of course, unlockable vehicles that each come with its own set of upgradable parts.
Boom Karts can be played and enjoyed by just about anyone, and while you can spend as little as 10 minutes to partake in a PvE or PvP race, there is nothing that prevents you from competing as much as you want to earn rewards and upgrade your karts. If you have just started playing Boom Karts and in a race to upgrade your performance from beginner level to the next one, be sure to check our Boom Karts beginner’s guide. Our beginner’s guide covers all the tips, tricks and strategies you need not just for you to quickly grasp the mechanics and features of the game, but also to earn more wins across all game modes.
In this new Boom Karts guide, we will be covering all currently available karts in the game. While the default one actually has “Kart” for its name, all other vehicles are actually karts as well. Each kart has its own set of starting stats that can be altered through equipped parts and upgrade levels of each part. We actually initially though that each kart only has 8 unlockable parts but it turns out that unlockable ones actually have more, with the last one having 11 parts.
Beyond the default kart, all other 6 karts can only be unlocked after you collect blueprints to unlock each one. While you will begin to collect parts for your first kart as you win races, complete missions, and reach higher league ranks, you will only begin to earn parts for other karts after unlocking them. In this sense, chances are that your first kart will be beefed up by the time you unlock the other karts and will continue to have more opportunities to upgrade parts for the earlier karts than the latter ones.
If everything else was equal, meaning you have unlocked all karts and your best 3 parts equipped are practically within the same level, then the more difficult karts to unlock will prove to be the better ones. Keep in mind, however, that regardless of how many parts each kart has, only 3 can be equipped at the same time. Regardless as well of how some karts may appear more formidable than others, the karts themselves are just one of the many factors that affect the outcome of each race.
Note that while most parts are available for different karts, the parts you can obtain from chests are for specific karts. Each kart only holds one unique part while the rest are shared with one or two other karts. Likewise, if you find yourself in a bit of a crunch when it comes to budgeting coins and being very selective when upgrading parts for your first kart, the decision to move on to a different kart once you unlock them entails spreading your upgrade budget further.
Kart [Unlocked Right From The Start, Number of Parts: 8, Unique Part: Control Unit 9000]
The Kart, from its name alone, stands as the most basic racing kart in Boom Karts. The initial performance of the Kart is actually pretty decent and, if you have played numerous other racing games before, then you should be able to appreciate even the default and stripped version of your beginner kart.
As we mentioned in our beginner’s guide, it is important to exert effort in nabbing as many lightning bolts as you can throughout the race. Every bit of progress on your lightning charge increases your kart’s speed. Beyond keeping your eyes ahead of the track, it is recommended to memorize lightning bolt locations on each course. It is a huge challenge initially to grab these bolts along with keeping your eyes on a whole lot of other things as well but it is well worth the effort.
The Lightning Rod is among the first parts you can unlock and upgrade and if you are struggling to grab lightning bolts in any race, then this is a helpful tool to upgrade and equip. Both the Slick Tires and Engine parts provide unconditional buffs that are always active. There are plenty of boost instances making the Slick Tires useful in any race and the increased speed provided by the Engine can always be appreciated as well.
The Kart’s unique part is the Control Unit 9000, which is definitely a must-have for any Kart build. Even at its base level, the Control Unit 9000 provides a decent increase across all your kart’s stats. You will definitely unlock this part the last and will take a while to upgrade but you should consider choosing it as a priority when equipping once it becomes available for you.
Parts:
Lightning Rod – longer lightning bolt pick-up range
Slick Tires – improves boost
Engine – improves speed
Exhaust – longer start boost
Aerodynamics – improves speed for when not in the first place
Armor Plating – quicker recovery after getting hit
Radiator – clean driving generates speed bonus
Control Unit 9000 – significantly improves all base stats
Recommended Build: Control Unit 9000, Slick Tires, Engine
As far as choosing the trio of parts to equip for the Kart, we naturally go with the Kart’s unique part, which is the Control Unit 9000 along with Slick Tires and Engine. All these parts provide a consistent buff to your performance and is not dependent on any circumstance.
While it is almost impossible to get hit by opponents’ power ups, we tend to hold on to the Tesla or soap bar until we are about to grab a new item from the item box, providing a bit of defense. Armor Plating gives you quicker recovery from hits so take it if you tend to lose a lot from hits and have no way to avoid them.
Buggy [5 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 8, Unique Part: Twin Turbo]
The Buggy will likely be the first unlockable kart that you will have and with Twin Turbo as its unique part, you can expect it excel in acceleration and handling. There are plenty of decent parts to upgrade as well and can really capitalize on grabbing lightning bolts on the track.
Parts:
Wiring – Lightning Charge Bonus
Bomb Kit – Bigger Bomb Explosion Radius
Slick Tires – Improves Boost
Nitro Tank – Longer nitro Power-ups
Shock Absorber – improves all base stats when not holding up a power-up
Ignition Coil – Lightning Bolt pick-ups give a boost
Hacking Device – Hitting Enemies generates lightning charge
Twin Turbo – Superior Acceleration and handling
Recommended Build: Twin Turbo, Wiring, Ignition Coil
With Twin Turbo equipped, a tighter control over your turns can make it relatively easier to nab as many lightning bolts on the tracks as you can. Beyond that, faster acceleration also helps you catch up faster and recover lost seconds with a pumped up acceleration. The handling part is what we appreciate more, though, as capitalizing on the Buggy’s lightning charge utilization makes for an interesting build.
Wiring gives some lightning charge bonus and helps you keep a bit more charge on the lightning bar with every lightning bolt you grab. With a higher level of stability thanks to handling, you can have extra speed for the greater stretch of the course assuming you can grab all the lightning bolts that come your way.
While the combo of perks you get out of both the above parts seem exciting enough, throwing in the effects of the Ignition Coil into the mix makes it even better. The Ignition Coil gives you a quick boost whenever you grab a lightning bolt. If you have raced enough at this point, you should know that there is an abundant supply of lightning bolts on each track. With more stability and more lightning charge, getting more lightning bolts has never been as rewarding as it is for the Buggy.
Given that the Twin Turbo part is expected to be unlocked last for the Buggy, you can initially go with the Slick Tires as a temporary substitute. In addition to providing an unconditional perk, improving the Buggy’s boost will certainly compliment the effects of the Ignition Coil. Given the overall effect of the Slick Tires, Ignition Coil, and Wiring, working on a strategy that centers around taking advantage of lightning bolts is still well in place.
Muscle [10 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 9, Unique Part: Fusion Battery]
Just like the Buggy, the Muscle is also a kart that can propel its edge over opponents on any race track depending on the driver’s ability to pick up lightning bolts off the tracks. The Fusion Battery’s perks of improving lightning bolt pick-ups works better than the Lightning Rod and the boost bonus that comes with it makes it even better.
With 9 available parts to unlock and choose from, there are numerous different builds you can go for given that the Muscle has plenty of parts that do not have conditions and the conditional ones can have superb combination effects.
Parts:
Jet Fuel – Stronger Nitro Power-ups in the home stretch
Turbo – improves acceleration
Steering Wheel – improves handling
Gearbox – longer purple drift boost window
Brakes – generates drift boost faster
Clutch – longer purple drift boost
Armor Plating – quicker recovery after getting hit
Alternator – drifting generates lightning charge
Fusion Battery – superior lightning bolt pick-ups and boost bonus
Recommended Build: Fusion Battery, Steering Wheel, Alternator
Banking on the sheer awesomeness of the Fusion Battery, going with the Muscle on any race should encourage you to take advantage of lightning bolts and build up as well as maintain a healthy amount of lightning charge.
With a better ability to pick up lightning bolts, you can further ensure that you get as many lightning bolts throughout the course with improved handling, which you can obtain through the Steering Wheel. While having better traction and stability can help you in several ways as well on any race, being able to consistently nab lightning bolts without its help should prompt you to select a different part to equip.
As amassing lightning charges is at the core of our Muscle’s build, slapping in an Alternator to the build gives you additional sources for lightning charges. The Alternator gives you a lightning charge whenever you drift and drifting is a natural element of every race in Boom Karts.
Going back to the Steering Wheel alternative, you can opt for a Turbo and improve your kart’s acceleration if you are confident enough that you can grab as many lightning bolts as possible without the Steering Wheel’s improved handling.
Alternative Build: Brakes, Gear Box, Clutch
It will certainly take a while before you can get to take your first ride in a Muscle kart. It’s not entirely bad, though, as you will most likely be an experienced enough driver at that point able to drift with relative ease for the most part of races.
Likewise, given that the Fusion Battery will certainly take even more time to be unlocked and upgraded enough, you can settle for another trio of parts to consider and go for a different strategy that comes with it. The Brakes, Gear Box, and Clutch are all parts available for the Muscle for you to capitalize on drift boosts, most particularly the almighty purple drift boost.
With Brakes speeding up the rate at which drift boosts generate, you can start earning drift boost ahead at an earlier time, ultimately reaching the purple drift color faster. Purple drifts only last for a short while, leaving plenty of chances for you to miss using it, though. With the Gearbox equipped, purple drift boosts will be available for a longer period of time, giving you a bigger window of opportunity to execute a purple drift. Completing the combo with a Clutch equipped makes for a longer purple drift boost.
Offroader [15 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 9, Unique Part: Mud Tires]
The Offroader specializes in both lightning bolt pick-ups and improved boosts. With Mud Tires as its exclusive part, you would want to capitalize on banking on its superior boost capability that is complemented well by its improved handling.
On the other hand, The Offroader also sports several parts that let it tremendously benefit from picking up lightning bolts across the race track. To some extent, there are builds you can easily work around on and plenty of part combinations require minimal adjustment to your strategy.
Parts:
Battery – stronger lightning bolt pick-ups
Lightning Rod – longer lightning bolt pick-up range
Jet Fuel – stronger nitro power-ups in the home stretch
Turbo – improves acceleration
Gearbox – long purple drift boost window
Ignition Coil – lightning bolt pick-ups give a boost
Armor Plating – quicker recovery after getting hit
Hacking Device – hitting enemies generates lightning charge
Mud Tires – superior boost and handling
Recommended Build: Mud Tires, Ignition Coil, Gearbox
As our recommended build for any kart will naturally utilize each one’s unique part to bank on, we recommend building your Offroader with the Mud Tires, the Ignition Coil, and the Gearbox. Having the Mud Tires on improves both boost and handling and while better handling is always an appreciated incentive, superior boost is what we would like to work around on.
Ignition Coil will give the Offroader a boost for every lightning bolt pick up, and its effects are further improved by the Mud Tires’ perks. With a build centered around better boosts and more boost opportunities, completing the mix of parts with a Gearbox maximizes the effect of the first 2 parts. The Gearbox lengthens the window within which you can activate a purple boost. A purple boost for the Offroader, combined with the buff given by the Mud Tires is an important move to execute. Giving you more time to unleash it in any race gives you a lot of advantage.
Alternative Build: Battery, Lightning Rod, Ignition Coil
The other build worth working on is an Offroader that capitalizes on the lightning gauge as much as it can. The Battery can give you more lightning charge from every lightning bolt pick-up while the lightning rod increases your kart’s reach with regard to lightning bolts. By the time you unlock the Offroader, you should already be very capable of nabbing lightning bolts scattered across any course.
With more lightning bolt juice and an easier way to nab them, the third part to consider would be the Ignition Coil. With this build, you will have accelerated speed having more charges in your lightning gauge and maintaining higher speeds is made easier as you can grab lightning bolts more easily. Grabbing more bolts that also grant you a boost whenever you do so further propels your Offroader’s average speed across the tracks.
Drifter [22 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 10, Unique Part: Double Nitro]
We are not huge fans of parts that provide perks under certain conditions and the Drifter’s special part, Double Nitro, gives boost advantage that applies to all boosts and doubles the length of boost time from using a nitro power-up.
Although it is partly conditional since what makes its strength unique comes from picking up a nitro from the power-up box that spits out random items, the nitro is actually a common item you are guaranteed to obtain multiple times in any race. Note that nitro usage can be used in tandem with other boosts as well and drifting is not halted or cut short even if you execute a nitro boost any time within it.
Parts:
Battery – stronger lightning bolt pick-ups
Bomb Kit – bigger bomb explosion radius
Control Unit – improves all base stats
Engine – improves speed
Exhaust – longer start boost
Shock Absorber – improves all base stats when not holding an item
Aerodynamics – improves speed for when not in first place
Clutch – longer purple drift boost
Radiator – clean driving generates speed bonus
Double Nitro – extra long nitro power-ups and boost bonus
Recommended Build: Double Nitro, Clutch, Exhaust
If you want to work on the drifter, we recommend capitalizing on its improved boost capacity. Double Nitro is a staple part once you unlock and upgrade it for the boost improvement it provides and the advantageous effects you can get out of every nitro pick-up. With better boosts, you might as well capitalize on the boost enhancement by adding more time to the boost you get out of purple drifts.
One part available to the starting kart as well but we would only recommend for the drifter, is the Exhaust, which increases the length of your start boost. With the boost improvement you get out of the Double Nitro part, an extended starting boost executed perfectly can propel you to the first position at the start of the race. Regardless of position, you will always have a chance of obtaining nitro from the power-up boxes, which means you can further stretch your distance away from your opponents throughout the race.
Hot Rod [30 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 10, Unique Part: Dual Exhaust]
Comparable to the Drifter, the Hot Rod can also be built around the idea of getting a good head start and increasing the gap between you and your opponents early on. The Hot Rod’s exclusive part, Dual Exhaust, gives it the best starting boost over all other karts. As an added bonus, Dual Exhaust also improves the Hotrod’s acceleration.
The Hot Rod is also one of 2 karts that have the reactive armor part. As this part enables the kart to block hits so long as you have a lightning charge, it is an excellent defensive tool that you can also build around on.
Parts:
Wiring – lightning charge bonus
Bomb Kit – bigger bomb explosion bonus
Turbo – improves acceleration
Steering Wheel – improves handling
Gearbox – longer purple drift boost window
Brakes – generates drift boosts faster
Aerodynamics – improves speed for when not in the first place
Alternator – drifting generates lightning charge
Reactive Armor – lightning charge blocks hits
Dual Exhaust – supreme start boost and improved acceleration
Recommended Build: Dual Exhaust, Brakes, Gearbox
The Hot Rod is one of the karts where a lot of parts can be mixed and matched leading to various builds that are almost equally effective. To be honest, the Hot Rod is perhaps the kart that makes us wish 4 parts can be equipped at the same time.
While a lot of builds come to mind, our top choice is to go with the Dual Exhaust, the Brakes, and the Gearbox. Dual Exhaust almost makes sure that you take the lead position right off the starting line, provided of course that you execute the starting boost perfectly and avoid all other karts ahead of you.
Brakes allow you to generate drift boosts faster and can help you lengthen the gap between you and the opponents trailing behind. Faster generation of drifts lead to faster generation of purple sparks and, combined with a perfect execution of a purple boost, can help keep you in first place for a longer period of time.
By the time you reach a point where you have unlocked the Hot Rod, you should be able to time the execution of a purple boost for the most part. As it will still be tricky with a very small window of opportunity to do so, the Gearbox can help you initiate a purple boost as it stretches the window of opportunity for you to do so.
Alternative Build: Reactive Armor, Wiring, Alternator
We are fairly certain that no player will ever finish a race without seeing crosshairs behind them several times. As bombs and rockets are common power-ups in Boom Karts, everyone is expected to experience close encounters with each one throughout every race. Chances are that you will want to hold on to a Tesla or soap bar whenever you chance upon either as the more common alternative is to simply watch your kart is hit and you spin out of control.
With this in mind, a more defensive strategy can be an ideal one in Boom Karts. With the Reactive Armor available for the Hot Rod, building around the part that can enable you to block hits at the cost of lightning charge is a very attractive alternative in contrast with our recommended build. On its own, it may not be very reliable especially if you are still struggling to nab lightning bolts for the most part of the race but with 2 parts to support this ability, you can always spare some charges and have some peace of mind regardless of how many players are behind you.
The Wiring grants a lightning charge bonus, giving your lightning gauge more juice with every lightning bolt you pick up. The Alternator, on the other hand, helps you keep a steady supply of lightning charge with its perk of granting you a lightning charge whenever you execute a drift. With all these 3 parts working in unison, having a lightning charge gives you something better than accelerated speed and the protection from hits you can have is certainly a force to be reckoned with on any race track.
Formula [40 Blueprints to Unlock, Number of Parts: 11, Unique Part: 9-Speed Gearbox]
Currently sitting at the top of the karts in Boom Karts, requiring 40 blueprints to unlock and being the only kart that comes with 11 unlockable parts, the Formula is certainly what every player would want to drive more than anything. The Formula’s 9-Speed Gearbox provides a longer duration of every purple drift boost executed and comes with the best handling perk in the game.
Having 11 parts to mix and match certainly opens up the most combination possibilities in the game. For us, though, it is either you capitalize on the Formula’s exclusive part or go with the highly-coveted Reactive Armor that is only available to the Hot Rod and the Formula.
Parts:
Wiring – lightning charge bonus
Lightning Rod – longer lightning bolt pick-up range
Jet Fuel – stronger nitro power-ups in the home stretch
Control Unit – improves all base stats
Slick Tires – improves boost
Nitro Tank – longer nitro power-ups
Brakes – generates drift boosts faster
Shock Absorber – improves all base stats when not holding a power-up
Radiator – clean driving generates speed bonus
Reactive Armor – lightning charge blocks hits
9-Speed Gearbox – longer purple drift boost window and superior handling
Recommended Build: 9-Speed Gearbox, Brakes, Slick Tires
Having superior handling from equipping the 9-Speed Gearbox is a huge plus as tighter controls over your kart makes it easier for you to take advantage of lightning bolts and boost pads as well as help you execute complex drifts with less effort. That, combined with a bonus extension on the purple drift boost window further provides opportunities for you to perform even better in each race.
It is critical for every racer to unleash a drift boost as often as possible in any race and while more drift boosts may not necessarily be better, more purple drift boosts can certainly give you an edge. Combined with the 9-Speed Gearbox, the Brakes’ ability to generate drift boosts faster almost ensures more purple drift boosts made, provided of course that you execute each one within the extended window of opportunity. Lastly, more purple drift boosts while the perks of using Slick Tires and having improved overall boosts are active further stretches your advantage.
Alternative Build: Reactive Armor, Wiring, Lightning Rod
Just like the Hot Rod, it is difficult to forego of an opportunity to tap the Reactive Armor’s ability to protect you from hits at the cost of lightning charge. Of course, you cannot expect much from it even if you are skilled enough to be able to grab most lightning bolts that come your way but with the right support parts, this defensive tool can leave you more focused on what is ahead of you on every race.
Speaking of support parts, the Wiring, which lets you earn more lightning charge from every lightning bolt you grab is our second pick. Combo a Lightning Rod in to extend your reach towards each lightning bolt and you will most certainly have more lightning charge in stock against all those pesky rockets and bombs.
We are looking forward to seeing more karts and features added to Boom Karts in succeeding updates. For now, though, this is where we conclude our Boom Karts ultimate kart guide. There are certainly more builds you can test out for yourself in contrast with the ones we presented. We hope that the information and recommendations we provided has given you enlightenment as well as new ideas on how to build your dream kart.
If you have played Boom Karts extensively enough and wish to share your own tips, strategies, and any other such discoveries, be sure to share them with us and your fellow readers through the comment section!
Mudassar
Friday 10th of June 2022
Need info on the new Rocket kart that just come out.
Vishwa
Wednesday 18th of January 2023
@Mudassar, i am also looking for rocket kart info