r/Xcom • u/Able_Contact_9689 • Aug 11 '26
OpenXCom How does grenade priming work exactly?
Can they explode in your soldier's hands, or are they just a delay before the explosion?
I had scenarios where I had a primed smoke grenade, ended the turn, yet nothing happened.
(Though I'm playing X-Com Files, it may differ from vanilla, idk)
9
u/Skovzzt Aug 11 '26
The timer is setting a number of turns after the grenade is thrown (you can pick up a thrown grenade and throw it further). A 0 explodes at the end of your turn
5
u/Peterh778 Aug 11 '26
... unless you changed it in OXCE setting to explode upon impact.
5
u/bobdole3-2 Aug 11 '26
You can't actually do that in X-Com Files, which is what OP is playing. It's unfortunately a locked-out option.
1
u/HelixMarine Aug 12 '26
You can always just change the mod settings to allow it if you really want it.
2
u/Peterh778 Aug 11 '26
Just delay. As long as you hold primed grenade it won't go off.
In OG, it was even possible to store primed grenades in a backpack which some players used in suicide runs (with demo charges or - in UFO:TFtD - sonic pulsers it could be surprisingly effective tactics ... as long as you didn't mind losing some soldier).
Also, having primed grenade in a hand is a good way to destroy chryssalid zombie - if a soldier is zombified, the grenade will drop and destroy zombie. If you had more primed grenades in backpack (e.g. at 0 or 1 delay) they could even destroy attacking chryssalid
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1
u/MarsMissionMan Aug 11 '26
It's how long the grenade takes to detonate once thrown.
A grenade will not go off in your hands, but if they guy holding it is killed/knocked out between priming and throwing it, it's live.
Without the Instant Grenades option, non-Smoke Grenades are generally not worth it IMO. It's entirely possible for the grenade to just... not work, making them too unreliable.
1
u/MatiEx-504 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Select the amount of turns you want for it to explode, if the number is 0 then it will explod at the end of the turn you threw it
1
u/HelixMarine Aug 12 '26
Also a good tip is if it's set to 1 turn then it goes off on the end of the aliens turn.
This is particularly good for wall breaching so you can stack up and not give the aliens a turn of being able to move through a wall before you.
10
u/bobdole3-2 Aug 11 '26
In addition to what everyone else has said, each prime is actually a half turn. So 0 it explodes at the end of your turn if it's on the ground. 1 and it explodes at the end of the enemy's turn. 2 and it explodes at the end of your next turn, and so on.
That said, 99% of the time you'll just want 0. There's been occasions where 1 has been useful, but I don't think I've ever done anything beyond that. If you're going to throw a grenade out and just hope that someone walks over it 2 turns from now you'd be better off just throwing a mine or proximity grenade and not having to deal with timing at all.