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. They are not consumed and do not use any ammo.

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.
Red = Radius which grenades can land, if aiming at the center.
Sterile tile = Tiles at risk of explosion.

Grenades can be thrown straight for up to 4 tiles. If aiming at the red tile, sterile tile is the blast zone. Don't put walls there.

Frag grenades are weapons. They take up the weapon slot and will not run out of ammo. Grenades are blocked by walls, but the blast ignores cover. When choosing a target, a circular zone will generate to indicate range, then another 3x3 indicator with a circular center will become the aiming spot.

Frag grenades deal 50 Bomb damage in a 1.9 tile radius. Bomb damage deals 4x damage to structures and terrain, and 8x damage to walls. They are thrown from a very short range of 12.9 tiles and have moderate aiming time. Once landed, grenades have a 100 ticks (1.67 secs) delay before exploding. With a forced miss radius of 1.9 tiles, an unobstructed grenade always lands within 1 grid tile (including diagonals) of the target. Therefore, the blast will always hit the intended tile. This means Shooting skill, shooting accuracy, and health of the grenadier is irrelevant. Aiming time effects still apply, however.

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.

Item

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

Grenades are highly effective in a melee block scenario. Grenadier (black square) aims at the red square. Circled grenade can hit multiple enemies for high damage.

As a weapon

Frag grenades are not conventional weapons. With only 12 tiles of range, they are difficult to use in a firefight. They are poor in a killbox, due to the grenade's tendency to break walls. In general, it is somewhat difficult to hit a moving target with a grenade. Usage without oversight is prone to vulnerable positioning and unwanted collateral damage.

But in the right circumstances, frag grenades can range from useful to incredibly powerful:

Melee blocking. Have 3 melee pawns line behind a doorway / hallway, as shown in the picture. Line a grenadier within 4 tiles of the hallway, and let them fire. Frag grenades are obscenely effective weapons as they can hit a clump of enemies with the full explosion. Melee blocks are extremely effective against melee enemies, such as manhunter packs, infestations, and melee-only raids. Grenades can damage walls within a 2-tile radius, so try and avoid getting your own walls blown up.
Structure destruction. Grenades are very effective at destroying walls and turrets due to Bomb damage's multiplier. Good against mech clusters, especially as blind smoke has minimal impact on grenade usage. You can destroy your own walls as a trap, though molotov cocktails may be better for this purpose.
Attacking enemies in cover. Grenades ignore the cover mechanic, and enemies in cover are stationary targets. While you usually shouldn't let your enemies have cover in the first place, this fact can be useful in certain points in the game.

Grenades offer a viable combat alternative for pawns with health issues or low skill, due to large blast radius, and the forced miss mechanic mostly ignoring accuracy. Frag grenades strictly benefit from the trigger-happy trait, as the Aiming Time bonus applies while the accuracy penalty does not, resulting in a significantly higher DPS. Similarly, the careful shooter trait is strictly detrimental, reducing DPS with no benefit in return.

Fighting against

Hostiles with grenades are very dangerous, mostly for the same reasons they are good as a player weapon. They function well against stationary targets like mini-turrets and 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.

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.

Frag grenades are used by outlanders and pirates for their breacher raids. They deal damage to walls very quickly. But as grenades have a short range, and as breachers tend to rush ahead of the group, you can pick off the grenadiers.

Non-combat utility

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 in dumping zones. When dealing with flammable objects, it's less work to light them on fire instead.