Grenades

Mills Mk IV Fragmentation Grenade

This hand grenade can kill multiple foes in a single blast with a good throw, making it a deadly armament in yours and enemy hands. It is used by Rebels, the United India Company, and the Royal Army, making it fairly common.

Fighting with this weapon

The Frag Grenade can be aimed with and “fired” (thrown) with . More specifically, Galahad pulls the pin as soon as you press , but he doesn’t actually throw the grenade until you release , allowing you to “cook” the grenade, causing its fuse to start burning down before you throw it. Since the Mk IV’s fuse is four seconds long, “cooking” is helpful for making sure enemies don’t have time to escape the blast. On the other hand, cooking a grenade for too long will not end well…

Hip-fire and blind-fire can be an effective means for quickly getting a grenade out in the general direction you want, while peeking first can be helpful for subtly more precise throwing. However, if you need to sling your grenade to a specific location, aiming with draws an arc to indicate how the grenade will travel. Note, however, that this arc does not account for bounces, drawing only where the grenade initially strikes. Fortunately, the blast is large enough that extreme precision isn’t required: enemies closest to the center are killed outright, while those farther away are significantly stunned by the concussive blast.

Fighting against this weapon

In the hands of the enemy, these grenades are a serious threat. If you’re caught in the center of the blast you’re downed immediately, while getting hit by the edges of the blast can briefly stun you. Getting well clear of live grenades is crucial to your survival, to the point that you should be willing to leave cover and risk gunfire in order to avoid them. When a grenade is near, an icon appears on the HUD in bright red, making it easy to spot; if you’re close enough to the grenade, the icon changes into a prompt for the button, allowing you to roll away from the grenade by holding the Left Stick in any direction and tapping . You should wait until the grenade has exploded before returning to your spot, but if you’re impatient, you can use Blacksight to easily target and destroy the grenade. In fact, Blacksight can be used in this same way to shoot mid-air grenades (an enemy’s or yours) or even to detonate a grenade in the hands of an enemy Grenadier, instantly killing him and any foes nearby!

Mills Mk IV-S Multipurpose Smoke Grenade

The cloud of smoke generated by these grenades can be useful to provide a protective screen to block enemy vision, but it is also quite effective at flushing targets from cover, causing them to cough and gag as they stumble out of the smoke. This is particularly useful in areas where the destruction caused by Fragmentation Grenades would simply be unacceptable (like aboard an airship). You face Grenadiers throwing Smoke Grenades amongst both the Rebels and the United India Company.

Fighting with this weapon

Smoke Grenades are operated identically to Frag Grenades, with the same fuse time (the only difference being that if you “cook” a Smoke Grenade for too long, you just end up looking silly instead of being incapacitated or killed). While the smoke cloud can be helpful for blocking the enemy’s line of fire, it also blocks yours, making it a double-edged sword. Where the Smoke Grenade truly shines is in flushing out and stunning enemies while denying them cover. They avoid entering the smoke as much as possible, and those caught in the smoke are stuck coughing for several seconds. This is helpful for buying you some time to heal, but it also can allow you to melee or gun down several targets as they try to clear their lungs. It can also help break a Shotgunner’s assault, but is completely ineffective against Heavies; they’ll simply wade through the smoke and continue firing.

Fighting against this weapon

It can be very difficult to distinguish between a Smoke Grenade and a Frag Grenade. When in doubt, assume it’s a Frag Grenade and get out of there! If you do end up in a cloud of smoke, you’ll have a hard time seeing, making it possible for enemies to flank you. As such, you should try to relocate if at all possible, only holding your ground if absolutely necessary.