Grenade (Frag)

Fragmentation Grenade is an explosive thrown weapon that appears in all Fallout games.

It contains a small amount of high explosives, the container itself forming most of the damaging fragments. Explodes on contact.

In Fallout 3, it is possible to aim at thrown grenades using V.A.T.S and destroying them before they land, or set live by passing one from your inventory to other NPC's inventory via theft. Each kill done by passing a grenade live will be recorded as 'Pants Exploded'

Fallout and Fallout 2


Fallout 3
The Frag Grenade is the first type of grenade you'll find in the game (check the first blue Mailbox as you come into Springvale from Vault 101) and is commonly carried and used by melee equipped Raiders and Super Mutants. While it's unlikely to kill you by itself it can do a lot of damage in one hit and has a high chance to cripple arms and legs. It's blast radius is small compared to grenades you'll get access to later (such as the Nuka Grenade or Plasma Grenade) but it can still be useful against multiple attackers if they're bunched together at a pinch point like a stairwell or doorway.

The in game physics for grenades are quite realistic which means throwing "up" a stairwell or hill means they'll most likely just coming rolling back before detonating next to you. The plus side is you can throw them through doorways or bounce them around corners to attack enemies you can't see. Be careful trying to throw them through windows though as, if they hit anything they'll bounce back at you.

Defensive Strategies

You'll know a grenade has been thrown at you when you see a red circle with a pointer appear at the center of the screen. Your best bet is to run quickly away to get clear of the blast radius. Ducking behind cover isn't always reliable as the grenade can roll past your cover and detonate right next to you.

If you see an enemy with a grenade in their hand you can target the grenade in VATS just like any other weapon. If you hit the grenade it will detonate and damage whoever was holding it.

Offensive Strategies

Frag Grenades have a small blast radius so anything you can do to get the enemy bunched together by leading them to doors, hallways, stairwells or other pinch points will increase their effectiveness. Just remember to be wary about trying to throw upwards.

Using VATS will give you a chance (apparently depending on your Explosives skill) of detonating the grenade as it hits the target rather than when it has rolled past and grenades have a relatively low AP cost for the damage they do but throwing them outside of VATS then following up in VATS with aimed shots to the weakest parts of the bodies is an effective alternative against groups.

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