Explosives

Explosives are among the most powerful weapons in the game. They can stun or kill large groups of enemies.

Cherrybomb


The Cherrybomb, also known as the Gunpowder Plant and referred to in-code as the Firecracker Plant, is a plant decorated with several small red berries. They serve as a weak, non-lethal explosive. When thrown, the berries activate and produce a series of small but loud explosions, after a brief delay. This explosion deals no direct damage, but will stun most creatures in the radius, including the slugcat. They can also launch creatures a short distance, and temporarily deafen the player.

Explosive Spears


Explosive Spears are spears draped with a red cloth, frequently found carried or stashed by scavengers. They are used in the same way as a regular spear, but explode shortly after embedding in a creature or surface. On initial activation they fizz and emit small pops, similar to a cherrybomb, before emitting a large and powerful explosion. This explosion is capable of killing most creatures in a single hit if embedded, and otherwise causes damage and stun dependent on the creature's proximity to the blast.

Explosive spears explode instantly when hitting a non-embeddable surface or creature part. Their explosions will detonate other explosive spears, grenades and cherrybombs in proximity. The explosion of a single spear is not usually lethal to the player, but can be rarely if standing directly in the center of the explosion.

Explosive spears are typically the most effective source of damage for taking down large threats, due to their precision, explosion timer and relative player safety. They also have some platforming utility due to their high launch speed and non-lethality.

If the player performs a successful downspear, the embedded explosive spear's explosion will never deal lethal damage. The player can use this property to place themselves close to the embedded spear and launch themselves a considerable distance.

Grenades


Grenades, commonly known as Bombs and referred to in-code as Scavenger Bombs, are typically found in areas associated with scavengers. They are small black orbs with a red center. When thrown, grenades will instantly explode on impact, dealing significant damage and launching anything caught in the blast at high speeds. If the player is caught within the blast radius close to the grenade, they will instantly be killed.

Grenades are effectively useless in close quarters and risky at mid-range due to the high risk of self-stunning or death from their explosion.

Grenades are useful when targeting large groups of creatures - particularly scavengers, as their ability to carry explosives brings the potential for chain-explosions. When traveling, carrying grenades in the slugcat's stomach can be useful for avoiding accidental detonations. Creatures can also be launched into pits due to the high stun and knockback.

Grenades are very unstable and will detonate soon after being hit by a rock or a spear, whereas other explosives will only detonate after either being thrown or being near the explosion proximity of another explosive.

Trivia

 * The length of the red cloth on explosive spears is randomized.
 * Creatures hit by an explosive spear will spawn a thin stream of smoke from their wound and creatures hit by a grenade will leave a big trail of smoke behind as they fly away.
 * Grenades can be hit by a projectile and detonated even while carried by the player or other creatures.