The Complete Arc Raiders Ballistics Guide: Every Single Grenade, Driver, and Duck Explained
If you can pick it up in Arc Raiders, chances are you can throw it at something. But knowing what to throw distinguishes the survivors from the loot drops.
The game doesn't just give you grenades like any other game would, it gives you a junkyard of "throwables." You have military-grade explosives, improvised traps, and literal garbage you ripped out of a robot. I have spent the last week testing blast radiuses, blinding myself with light sticks, and getting chased by ARC because I threw the wrong scanner. Here is the breakdown of absolutely everything you can chuck in Arc Raiders, sorted by whether it will save your life or just waste your inventory slots.
The Lethal Ordnance (Actual Weapons)
These are the items designed to kill things. If you are entering a raid without at least one of these, you are doing it wrong.
1. Heavy Fuze Grenade The undisputed king. It detonates after a delay, but the blast radius is massive and the damage is high enough to strip Raider armor or chunk a heavy ARC unit. This is the best explosive in the game.
2. Snap Blast Grenade This is your sticky bomb. It attaches to surfaces (or enemies) and blows up after a short delay. It is incredible for PvP because you can stick it to a doorway while retreating, or stick it to a rushing heavy unit. It deals consistent damage and is much harder for enemies to dodge than a bouncing frag.
3. Trigger 'Nade The ultimate trap tool. It sticks to surfaces and waits for you to detonate it manually. Use this for extraction ambushes. Stick three of them to the landing pad, hide in a bush, and wait for a squad to think they are safe. Click. Boom.
4. Wolfpack A PvE specialist's dream. When thrown, it splits into multiple homing missiles that target ARC weak points. It is expensive to craft, but it deletes drones and flying enemies without you needing to aim. Do not use this in PvP; the tracking is unreliable against players.
5. Shrapnel Grenade The budget option. It bursts into fragments rather than a pure concussive blast. It is decent for clearing unarmored mobs or finishing off a low-health player, but it lacks the raw punch of the Heavy Fuze.
6. Seeker Grenade Think of this as the "Wolfpack Lite." It targets a single nearby ARC unit. It is okay for taking out a specific threat like a Sentinel or a drone, but usually, you are better off just shooting them.
7. Blaze Grenade Fire is underrated. This explodes on impact and covers the area in flames. It is not about instant damage, it is about area denial. Throw this in a hallway to stop a squad from pushing you while you heal.
8. Trailblazer The weird cousin of the Blaze Grenade. It leaves a trail of gas that ignites into a chain reaction. It is tricky to use effectively, but if you can line it up in a narrow tunnel, it creates a wall of fire that is impossible to cross.
9. Light Impact Grenade The starter trash. It explodes on impact, which is nice, but the radius is tiny and the damage is laughable. Stop crafting these as soon as you unlock anything else.
The Tactical Utility (Crowd Control)
These won't kill anyone directly, but they will make your enemies wish they were dead.
10. Gas Grenade My personal favorite for PvP. It creates a toxic cloud that drains Stamina, not just health. A player with no stamina cannot sprint, slide, or jump. They are a sitting duck.
11. Showstopper A stun grenade on steroids. It detonates after a delay and stuns everything in the radius. It buys you those crucial 2-3 seconds to reload or escape.
12. Smoke Grenade Essential for revives. It creates a large, lingering cloud that blocks line of sight. If a teammate goes down in the open, throw this before you rush in.
13. Li'l Smoke Grenade Exactly what it sounds like. A smaller, cheaper smoke cloud. It pops instantly on impact, making it great for a quick escape, but don't expect it to hide a whole squad.
14. Lure Grenade It makes noise to distract ARC. In practice, it is hit-or-miss. Sometimes the robots ignore it, sometimes they stare at it like it is the messiah. Stick it to a wall away from you and pray.
15. Tagging Grenade This tags enemies in the blast radius, letting you see their outline through walls. It is incredibly powerful for rooting out campers, but the duration is currently bugged to be shorter than the tooltip says (around 10 seconds).
16. Light Stick It... makes light. Unless you are playing on a night map with zero gamma, this is mostly useless. Some players use them to signal "I'm friendly," but usually that just makes you a glowing target.
The "Scavenged" Throwables (Trash or Treasure?)
You pull these out of destroyed robots. Most people recycle them, but they actually have combat uses.
17. Leaper Pulse Unit DO NOT RECYCLE THIS. It is an Epic item found on Leapers. When thrown, it creates a "violent singularity" (a gravity vortex). It is basically a black hole grenade. It is rare, valuable, and absolutely devastating in a fight.
18. Wasp Driver Dropped by Wasps. You can throw it, and it must be shot to explode. It deals decent damage (80), making it a free trap if you don't have a Trigger 'Nade.
19. Hornet Driver Dropped by Hornets. Unlike the Wasp version, this one doesn't explode; it stuns. It works like a mini Showstopper you can find on the floor.
20. Synthesized Fuel This is the hidden gem. It is a fuel canister. If you throw it and shoot it, it creates a massive 7.5m explosion (almost as big as a Heavy Fuze). It is free, common, and deadly.
21. Fireball Burner Dropped by Fireballs. It creates a small fire patch. It is basically a "Baby's First Blaze Grenade." Not great, but better than nothing.
22. Snitch Scanner WARNING: Do not throw this unless you want a fight. It alerts nearby ARC to your location. Use it only if you are farming machines for trials and need them to come to you.
23. Crude Explosives It creates a loud noise and a tiny pop. It is basically a distraction tool, but you are better off saving these to craft actual grenades.
24. Rubber Duck It squeaks. It does zero damage. It has zero tactical utility. It is perfect. I carry one in my pocket at all times for emotional support.
The Bottom Line
Stop recycling the Leaper Pulse Units. Start using Synthesized Fuel as traps. And please, for the love of everything holy, stop trying to kill Rocketeers with Light Impact Grenades.
If you clear your inventory of the junk and focus on the high-utility tools, you might actually survive long enough to extract. Good luck out there, Raider.