We've all heard it a million times from experienced players - "Good grenade throwing is key for a good K/D" - but often this advice is given with other important tips like crouching and scoping when shooting, good use of cover, looking at the minimap etc. It can therefore be easy to miss how important grenades are, and I did too until very recently. Now I'm by no means suggesting that I am a great player, but I feel that one of the big differences between the good and the great players at TG is good grenade-throwing.

(Just to set a general direction for this thread, I'm sure I don't know the most about grenades at TG, but I haven't really seen any threads in the Tactics Forum about grenades, so I thought I may as well start with a few stuff I know about grenades, and then hopefully it can be added to by some better players.)


Features:

So what about the grenade is unique?

Arc - Not many (damage-causing, i.e. not EMP or Smokes) tools in the game can be launched in an arc like the grenade can, I can't really think of another one at the moment other than the Clark-RDX, which cannot be thrown as far as this. You can also vary the power, as well as cook the grenade by holding the right mouse button. This obviously takes LOADS of practice, hence the title good grenade-throwing.

Power - No other projectile weapon in the game allows you to kill so many people in one launch/shot. Combat Efficiency Pins have been earned with single grenade throws. That hissing sound inflicts terror in our hearts for a very good reason.

Player Upgrade - Grenades are for all soldiers who've unlocked them, which means every 2142 player should be using them well, no matter what kit/weapon/equipment preference they have. As long as you have them unlocked, you will have them, and you should be using them to devastating effect, otherwise you are lessening your potential.


Effects:

So before I talk about when and where you should use grenades, I'll take some time to discuss why. Apart from the obvious answer of "it kills people" there are several reasons why grenades are one of the most useful tools in the game.

Reposition - I know it's happened to me loads and it's probably happened to others, a grenade lands right at your well-fortified position, you scramble to get out, only to realise you're smackbang in the middle of the open, with no cover and 6 bloodthirsty TGers in front of you. One of the main arguments of using the Clark-RDX is how it can be used to make enemies reposition themselves in order to avoid the blast, and this is even more true for grenades because of the huge damage that a grenade does compared to Clark-RDX. It also makes you less aware of your surroundings and less able to deal with enemies when a grenade lands nearby, as priority number 1 is to get away from the nade.

Shellshock - One of the things I hate about this game is every time an explosive goes off nearby and I go into that awful state where I can barely move properly. I usually just go prone in a corner and wait in a corner until it's over. I may be the only one that's so badly effected by shellshock, but it's undeniable that an enemy which is shellshocked is less effective than a regular enemy. What's also neat about doing this is that you don't need to make direct contact to shellshock an enemy.

With the above 2 points it's already been established that well-placed grenades have a negative effect on your enemies, even when they do not make contact.

Damage/Heal - Whenever you make any contact with a grenade, that enemy is;

a) Softened up, and

b) Seeking to be healed.

I don't need to explain why a softened up target is useful, but one seeking to be healed is also useful because not only will they retreat to look for a place to be healed safely, therefore decreasing the amount of fire on you, but also they (and/or perhaps one of their teammates) is holding a med hub, obviously not one of the most lethal tools in the game.

Kill/Revive - If you do get that kill, then well done. A fluke or some genius throwing? Who cares, what's important is that there's one less enemy to deal with an opponent squad, giving you a numbers advantage, as well as taking some of their squadmates out of the game as they go for a revive (This numbers advantage isn't really specific to grenades, but just making the point that a good grenade throw can give you this edge).


Situations:

Angles - Unfortunately, you can't alter the flight path of bullets or rockets once they've left you're control, although you can do that for grenades. I see people far too often being in a sort of stand-off between someone round the corner, and edging slowly round it instead of throwing a well-placed grenade off of a wall, or even just throwing it straight round a corner can help if there aren't many walls about.

Behind Cover - Usually in this situation, rockets are used, but 3/4 kits do not have rockets. This is where the grenade comes in. However, this doesn't mean assaults should effect about their grenade when up against an immovable enemy behind cover. The grenade can sometimes be the perfect tool to get 1 or more enemies out from behind cover.

Identify enemy position - If you think someone is somewhere, a grenade throw with a hit indicator can help hugely.

Approaching a hostile flag - So it's that time again when you're approaching a flag with your squadmates, you reload your gun and your rockets, you resupply, you heal and all the while keeping checking the corners of your screen for signs of enemy movement. Then, when you reach the flag, you run out and start doing your killing/reviving/IDSing/flag capping thing, but the important step you missed out was a grenade on the flag. This should always be part of your regular routine when approaching a flag, or indeed any well fortified position.


Looking at all of these above situations, you can see how the features and effects can all be utilised to be successful in these tasks


I'm sure there are some gaps in this write-up, which I'm hoping the more enlightened members of the community will fill, but I had a sudden epiphany about the wonderful world of grenades and thought I'd just type it up here for some others to see and hopefully learn from.

But remember, the key is good grenade-throwing, and knowing when. My biggest problem is neglecting my grenades and forgetting that I have them, but also not being the most proficient at knowing where they will really land. This takes TONS of practice (which is why the 3rd spend loads of practice sessions on proper grenade throwing), and making it a part of your neural pathway (as Crux would have us believe).


P.S. Apologies for typos.