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This article appeared in Quake II  

Q2 Weapon Hand Grenade
Hand Grenade
Production information
Technical specifications
Damage Per Hit

Up to 120

Maximum Ammunition

50 rounds

Ammunition Type

Grenade

Rate of Fire

Up to 26 grenades per minute, assuming all were thrown immediately with no "cooking"

Usage
Era(s)

Quake 2

[Source]
Twist the grenade to activate the fuse timer. The longer you hold an active grenade, the farther you’ll throw it. Just remember to throw at some point. Throwing the hand grenade does not make a sound. Therefore the aliens can’t easily trace it back to you.

—The Quake II Manual

Hand Grenades are a weapon in Quake II. Pressing the fire key will start a four-second timer, but unlike most weapons, the player can hold the fire key and then release to throw the grenade further - however, if the player is still holding it when four seconds are up, it'll explode in their hand, harming or possibly killing the player. To help know when to throw it, a distinct thumping sound will be played every second you're cooking the grenade, along with a ticking noise every half-second that indicates an active grenade.

If the grenade hits an enemy or a destroyable object (such as a corpse), it'll explode on contact. Otherwise, it'll explode four seconds after the fire key was first pressed.

A grenade will cause around 60 damage to the player if it explodes in their hand.

As the manual asserts, the act of throwing a hand grenade doesn't make enough sound to alert the Strogg, as the fire of other weapons tends to.

Strategies[]

Single Player[]

  • The Hand Grenade can be very useful in single player, but it isn't good for most combat scenarios. It's rather unwieldy to use, it doesn't have a great deal of range, and its rate of fire is very slow. For most direct combat situations, even the humble Shotgun will do a better job. However, there are situations in which grenades excel (see below), so it's better to think of the Hand Grenade as a tool for these situations, rather than as a general-purpose weapon.
  • It's very useful for dealing with enemies that are hiding behind corners or obstacles ready to ambush you. Guards in particular are often found in positions like this, where they might catch you by surprise. If you learn to recognise the sounds enemies make when they're idle, you can often become aware of their presence before either of you sees the other. Once you've worked out where the enemy is lurking, a Grenade is the perfect weapon to turn the ambush on its head. A grenade's splash damage is quite capable of killing a Guard in one go without needing pinpoint accuracy. An Enforcer can be killed by a single grenade but only if it is an accurate throw. Stronger enemies such as Parasites, Gunners, Iron Maidens or Berserkers will survive one grenade, so you can throw a single grenade and then switch to a more general-purpose weapon immediately after throwing it to deal with them once they emerge to attack you. You can use the Grenade Launcher or Rocket Launcher for the same purpose, but the Hand Grenade has the advantage in that throwing a grenade is quiet enough not to immediately alert nearby Strogg, whereas your other weapons' gunfire tends to draw their attention. That said, if you are aware of an enemy in an ambush position further away, then the Grenade Launcher or Rocket Launcher would be the weapon to use instead.
  • You may sometimes encounter enemies on a higher or lower level of elevation, and the trajectory of grenades can be used to attack these enemies without exposing yourself to their view. You'll also sometimes encounter enemies who stay in a specific position, not moving to pursue you - grenades can be aimed to land near their feet, or bounced off nearby walls to hit them. However, the Grenade Launcher can perform these tasks as well, and will generally do a better job of it due to its longer range and higher rate of fire.
  • If enemies are encountered facing away from the player and not aware of your presence yet, hand grenades can be an option to attack them unawares - they have the advantage that the act of throwing a grenade doesn't make enough sound to alert Strogg (although the explosion does). A direct hit from a grenade can kill an Enforcer or anything weaker than that. Stronger enemies such as Gunners will survive it, but the player could throw one grenade and then immediately switch to another weapon to finish the job.
  • In the 2023 remaster, enemy AI has been reworked to allow monsters to be alerted by an incoming projectile such as a hand grenade, so long as it approaches them from a frontal direction. This should be borne in mind when using hand grenades against idle enemies. A possible way to counter this is to hold the grenade for longer before throwing, timing it so it explodes roughly as it reaches the target. Of course, this does take some skill and practice.

Multiplayer[]

  • In MP, the Hand Grenade is much less effective than in SP. Because of MP's pace, you'll probably get killed while trying to cook a grenade. Leaving a grenade near the entrance to a building, tossing it in a rear hall or elevator shaft can be a useful deterrent for anybody trying to come in while you're running away to grab items, but otherwise don't use it.
  • Hand Grenades in MP can be used for Grenade Jump - they can do so in SP as well, but there really isn't anywhere in the single-player campaign where you need to.
  • Grenades can be paired with Machine Gun or Shotgun to ambush any heavier weapon carrier around corners. Throwing the first one uncooked then the second toss behind cover mildly cooked would help if foe is at a far distance to corner jump back at them. When they're close up, cooking the first one at your palms for 2 seconds right away then do a ground roll without waiting may help you deny sightlines better for luring them in.
  • Low profile Railgun carriers can be repelled with the use of mildly cooked Hand Grenades. For this technique to be effective player have to have knowledge about arced patterns of trajectory and have a sense of distance for timing. If possible, tossing them in a crouched position would help them to have better accuracy for bombarding porches below them without getting disrupted.
  • Anyone rushing with Chain Gun can be tackled away with smart use of cooked grenades ricocheting from walls forcing them to be at the open and disorient their shooting spree as you take cover. If there's no nearby walls to take a bouncing toss, just throw it on the ground before taking a peek shot at them.

Notes[]

  • The 2023 remaster gives most weapons the ability to deal double damage if they strike an enemy who is unaware of the player's presence. In the original game only a few weapons had this property, notably the Railgun, but the 2023 remaster expands it to most weapons. Hand grenades and the Grenade Launcher, however, do not gain this benefit - which is a shame, because it would be quite a nice buff for the hand grenade given its silent nature and its general usage as a means to flush a hidden enemy out of cover.

Gallery[]

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