Frag grenades

Frag grenades are short ranged, thrown weapons that have a forced miss radius but deal explosive damage in a small radius around their target.

Note that frag grenades, once equipped, can be thrown infinitely; they are not consumed by use.

Acquisition

Frag grenades can be crafted at a Machining table once the Machining research project has been completed. They require 20 Steel, 80 Chemfuel and 12,000 ticks (3.33 mins) of work.

They can also be purchased from orbital pirate merchants and orbital combat suppliers, outlander faction bases, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Grenadier	50%	Normal	70-230%
Grenadier	100%	Normal	70-230%

Summary

Frag grenade range and AoE

Frag grenades are thrown with a very short range and moderate aiming time. Once landed, grenades have a 100 ticks (1.67 secs) delay before exploding in a 3x3 area, causing 50 Bomb damage to items and creatures, 200 damage to structures and terrain features, and 400 damage to walls. They have a forced miss radius of 1.9 tiles, meaning an unobstructed grenade will always land within 1 grid tile of their target, including diagonals. The resulting blast will always hit the intended tile. This means Shooting skill, shooting accuracy, and health of the grenadier is irrelevant. Aiming time effects do still apply however.

Grenades are treated as a proper weapon, so can't be wielded with another one. Each set of frag grenades can be thrown infinitely; they are not consumed by use. They are fired like any other ranged weapon, so they cannot be used over walls and must have a direct line of sight. A circular zone will generate to indicate range, then another 3x3 indicator with a circular center will become the aiming spot.

When damaged with Flame damage^{[How much?]}, the grenade item may explode. The grenades will spark and emit a hissing sound shortly before exploding some time later. The explosion deals 50 Bomb damage in a 2.66 tile radius around itself.

Frag grenades have no quality - every set of grenades will have the same stats, regardless of the skill of the crafter.

Analysis

As a weapon

The main benefits of frag grenades are the strong damage versus structures and large concentration of hostiles in tight areas. It offers a viable combat alternative for those with low skill or health issues that diminish accuracy as it hits nine tiles at once, reducing target "miss" chances. Frag grenades strictly benefit from the trigger-happy trait, as the Aiming Time bonus applies while the accuracy penalty does not, resulting in a signficantly higher DPS. Similarly, the careful shooter trait is strictly detrimental, reducing DPS with no benefit in return.

Usage without oversight is prone to vulnerable positioning, inefficiency against moving target, and unwanted collateral damage.

Melee blocking

Frag grenades are especially useful when paired with the melee blocking tactic. While enemies are bunched up on the other side of a wall, a grenadier can throw grenades over the heads of the blockers to deal massive damage to many enemies. Just make sure that the extent of the AoE of the grenade is one tile away from the wall, as a mishandled grenade can blow a hole in the wall and ruin the melee blocking tactic.

When throwing a grenade down an 1-tile wide alley, a pawn can consistently throw a grenade 4 tiles, not including the tile the pawn is standing on, without intersecting the two side walls. Beyond 4 tiles, there is a risk of hitting the wall and dropping short. This can be relevant to prevent friendly fire or damaging defenses during combat.

Fighting against

Hostiles with grenades are very dangerous, especially against stationary targets like Mini-turrets and drafted (standing) colonists in cover. Players should pay attention to the "throwing" sound (a whooshing sound) and clear the area fast enough to avoid getting caught in its blast radius. Grenadiers may also be used as part of outlander or pirate breach raids.

Like any ranged weapon, grenades can't be thrown in melee combat, so rushing them in melee will practically neutralize the threat. As raiders prioritize the nearest target, they'll target melee colonists, only to invariably miss as the target is moving.

Other destruction

Frag grenades are useful when destroying walls and other objects. Because they don't cause fires, you can throw them at an ignited object, which will end the fire (by destroying the object).

Frag grenades can also be used to clear items, such as dumping zones. When dealing with flammable objects, it's less work to light them on fire instead.