In both PvE and PvP, many grenade types are ideal for damaging groups of enemies. Opening a battle with a well-aimed grenade can soften your targets, giving you an edge in the firefight that follows. There is a wide array of grenade types, so practice with all of the grenades available to your specializations. Some are more useful in PvE, while others fare better in PvP.
[divider]
Grenade Types
Blast grenades
the closest to a “normal” grenade type, deal the bulk of their damage in a quick explosive burst. These are perfect for dishing out instant damage to multiple targets, and they can deal more damage against alert and agile opponents than persistent-style grenades.
Persistent grenades
Leave fields of damaging energy or traps in their wake, harming any foes that remain within them or pass through them. These are great for blocking off hallways, chokepoints, and doorways, or for covering objectives in PvP. They tend to be less effective in open spaces, where enemies can easily avoid or move away from the affected area.
Seeker grenades
Automatically track and attack nearby enemies. These are perfect for scoring hits on adversaries when you aren’t certain of their exact location. They are especially useful in PvP for pinpointing an opponent’s position that you’ve detected on the Motion Tracker. Seeker grenades have lower single-target damage potential than other grenades, but have very consistent and reliable damage delivery.
Sticky grenades
These can literally stick to their target, dealing more damage. These grenades are almost always lethal if you score a direct hit in PvP, and they are useful for dealing focused damage to single tough targets in PvE. They do require more throwing accuracy, and although they have a slight amount of tracking, you still must be fairly on target to score a stick.
[divider]
Class Grenades
Titan Striker
Flashbang Grenade
An explosive grenade that disorients the enemies it damages.
- Flashbangs disrupt and confuse enemies, blinding them with raw Arc energy. Use them to suppress multiple hostile targets that have a clear line of sight to you. You can take advantage of the disorientation to press an attack, or retreat and relocate to a more defensible position.
- Flashbangs are especially potent in PvP, where they function as full-strength explosive grenades and can blind nearby players. They are ideal for sieging a defended position or covering a retreat.
- The degree to which targets are blinded by a Flashbang depends on how much of the blast they catch while looking at it, and how close they are to it. Warning: you can blind yourself!
Pulse Grenade
Periodically damages enemies inside its explosive radius.
- Pulse grenades deal continuous pulses of Arc damage in a large spherical area. They do not deal damage between pulses, so the targets must be within the area of effect when the pulse triggers.
- They’re useful for blocking off narrow passages, but they are less effective in wide-open spaces where hostiles can easily move away from the pulse waves. Your own Pulse grenades won’t hurt you after the first pulse of damage.
Lightning Grenade
Sticks to any surface, periodically emitting bolts of lightning.
- A focused spike of Arc lightning, this grenade has the highest single-target damage potential of the Striker’sgrenades, but it demands superior throwing accuracy. Once the Lightning grenade lands, it projects a cone of Arc damage out to 12m, with no damage falloff. Any targets inside the cone when the Arc lightning pulses take full damage.
- Aim for flat surfaces, and you can use the Lightning grenade as a barrier to block off doorways and hallways. The Lightning grenade is not a great choice in vast exterior areas, as it is considerably harder to use in open spaces.
[divider]
Titan Defender
Magnetic Grenade
Attaches to enemies and explodes twice.
- When attached to a target, Magnetic grenades deal about 65 additional damage, making them fatal if attached to an opponent.
- While Magnetic grenades do deal slightly more damage than the other two sticky types, it’s best to stick enemies whenever possible.
Spike Grenade
Attaches to any surface and emits a torrent of damaging void light.
- Spike grenades are almost identical to Lightning grenades in their behavior: they attach to a surface and then project a cone of Void energy that deals damage with no falloff.
- Unlike Lightning grenades, however, Spike grenades deal their damage in rapid, continuous pulses. This means they inflict damage smoothly over time, whereas Lightning grenades deal damage in sharp bursts.
Suppressor Grenade
An explosive grenade that prevents enemies from using abilities for a short time.
- The Suppressor grenade is a powerful disabling tool (unique to this grenade) that shuts down all abilities on any players it strikes in PvP and all special abilities of AI combatants in PvE.
- In PvP, this includes grenades, charged melee strikes, supers, and movement abilities (though your targets can still perform normal jumps). In PvE, this includes any unique ability from an enemy that isn’t basic movement or shooting.
[divider]
Hunter Gunslinger
Incendiary Grenade
An explosive grenade that catches enemies on fire, causing additional damage to them.
- A fairly straightforward explosive grenade, the Incendiary grenade does have one unique trait: it sets enemies on fire. Because the burn always deals the same damage, this has the effect of raising the average damage of the Incendiary grenade at its outer edges. The damage from the blast falls off from the center like other grenades, but the DoT damage does not.
Swarm Grenade
A grenade which detonates on impact, releasing multiple drones that seek nearby enemies.
- The Swarm grenade is unusual because it does not deal blast damage. Instead, it releases a small cluster of five autonomous seeker drones that rush and attack any nearby enemies. These seekers repeatedly bash their targets, dealing damage twice before exploding in another small burst of damage
- They’re also useful as a detection tool. You can use the drones if you want to track foes behind cover, or if you are uncertain of an enemy’s position on the Motion Tracker.
Tripmine Grenade
An explosive grenade that sticks to surfaces and detonates when enemies pass through its laser trigger.
- The Tripmine grenade is exactly what it sounds like. It allows you to place a tripmine that detonates when any adversary comes into its range.
- The Tripmine does have damage falloff, so it is best placed in a position where an enemy triggering the blast will get hit by the full force of the explosion. The Tripmine projects its damage outwards in a cone, so stick it to a flat surface to ensure that it is aimed properly.
[divider]
Hunter Bladedancer
Flux Grenade
An explosive grenade which deals additional damage when attached to enemies.
- A straightforward sticky grenade, the Flux grenade is best used in PvE by aiming for sticks at all times. In PvP, tag enemies with it while you’re cloaked. While tucked away in a dark corner or in an elevated position, you can often completely surprise a target in PvP, and landing the stick is a guaranteed kill on all but the toughest Titan targets.
Skip Grenade
A grenade which splits on impact, creating multiple projectiles which seek enemies.
- The Skip grenade releases drones that behave identically to the Swarm grenade seekers, but the delivery method is a bit different.
- Where the Swarm grenade releases a cloud of seekers in place that attack nearby enemies, the Skip grenadereleases four drones from the point of impact. The drones inherit any momentum behind the throw and then bounce away before seeking a target.
Arcbolt Grenade
A grenade that chains bolts of lightning to nearby enemies.
- A seeker grenade, the Arcbolt grenade projects damaging bolts at up to three nearby targets. While the Arcbolt deals less individual damage than other grenades, it is notable for its ease of use—any targets in range are all but guaranteed to get hit. In PvP, the Arcbolt is extremely useful for flushing out, locating, or finishing off opponents.
- The bolts from the Arcbolt grenade seek out a nearby target, then bounce to two more targets from the first target hit.
[divider]
Warlock Voidwalker
Vortex Grenade
A grenade that creates a vortex which continually damages enemies inside the sphere.
- A short-range, high-damage area denial grenade, the Vortex grenade creates a globe of damaging Void energy. It deals damage in extremely rapid pulses, with up to 100 damage per second if a target stays inside the blast zone.
- Vortex grenades do not have damage falloff, but they do have a fairly small radius, so dealing the full damage amount to a target is unreliable.
Scatter Grenade
A grenade that splits into many submunitions and covers a large area with explosions.
- The Scatter grenade is an unusual explosive that releases a cluster of Void “bomblets” when it impacts a target.
- The damage dealt depends on how close the target is to the bomblets when they go off, as there are several miniature waves of explosions after the Scatter grenade impacts.
Axion Bolt
A bolt of Void light which forks into smaller bolts on impact which seek toward enemies.
- Axion Bolt is a seeker grenade, launching two bolts of pure Void energy that deal 90 damage each to any target within 10 meters of the impact site. This grenade is excellent for locating targets behind cover, or for use in PvP when you are aware of a hostile opponent on the Motion Tracker but uncertain of their exact position.You can also use an Axion Bolt to finish off a fleeing target. While these grenades deal less damage than other types, their homing capability is fast and accurate.
[divider]
Warlock Sunsinger
Solar Grenade
A grenade that creates a flare of Solar Light which continually damages enemies trapped inside.
- Essentially identical to a Voidwalker’s Vortex grenade, the Solar grenade projects a continuous raging inferno, burning enemies within for up to 100 damage per second.
Firebolt Grenade
A grenade that unleashes bolts of Solar Light at nearby enemies.
- Firebolt launches Solar seekers at up to four targets within its 8-meter radius, dealing 80 damage to each target. Like the other seeker grenade types, Firebolt is ideal for locating foes behind cover and finishing off running targets.
Fusion Bolt
A grenade that causes bonus damage when attached to its target.
- Fusion is a “sticky” grenade, dealing only 100 damage in a small blast radius normally but dealing 65 bonus damage when stuck to a target. This amount is enough to be fatal to all but heavily armored Titans in PvP.
[divider]
Grenadier Mod
If your build is focused around spamming grenades, keep an eye out for the Grenadier weapon mod, especially for PvE builds, as kills add 10% to grenade energy.
For more Crucible tips, check out this guide. Also please join us in our discussion about Crucible’s potential balance issues.