Grenades

Grenades is a Devices Demon Hunter skill unlocked at Level 14. When using this skill the Demon Hunter tosses out three small metal objects that skitter along the dungeon floor, bouncing off walls and through doorways.

They detonate after about a one-second delay, dealing substantial fire damage to any targets in the vicinity. Higher levels in the skill raise their damage, and can be combined with Runestones to turn the Grenades into a formidable support skill.

Background

Grenades in action.

The skill releases a set number of grenades (dependent upon skill rank and possibly runes) into the targeted area. The grenades are physics-enabled, so they are able to bounce around objects like barrels or off of platforms such as walls and doors. After a one second delay, they explode in quick succession, doing splash fire damage to any objects or enemies close by.

Skillrune Effects

The following is a very quick summary. See the Grenades rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

<skill class="DemonHunter">Grenades</skill>

Grenades Video

A video of Greandes can be seen below, courtesy of the Diablo.IncGamers.com You Tube channel.

• Numerous Grenades skillrune effects can be seen here.

Skill Design

The Demon Hunter tosses three of the spiked grenades with one point in the skill. The toss determines how far they are aimed; clicking very near the Demon Hunter just drops them, while pointing at the edge of the screen hurls them very quickly, to bounce well out of sight (barring walls or other obstructions.) The grenades pass freely through enemies and other players, but are fully controlled by the physics of the dungeon levels; they bounce off of walls and objects, and will fall over the sides of levels where there are breaks in railings, etc.

Controlling the Grenades

A fan complained about the difficulty in aiming Grenades and earned a rebuttal from Bashiok in December 2010.

I think it’s fine. It’s fun and you can pull off some pretty fun trick-moves. Not super practical all the time but I think it will definitely have its strategy. Plus, you can throw a rune on it and change the behavior if you’re having trouble gauging the throw distance.

Synergies

The following Demon Hunter passives provide a benefit to Grenades, runed or not:

Skill	Unlocked	Description

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Development

Tink, tink, tink...boom.

Grenades was first shown at BlizzCon 2010 as one of the originals when the Demon Hunter was unveiled. According to Wyatt Cheng from the Gameplay Panel:[1]

Also selling the idea of ranged attacks is Grenades. I love this skill in our game because we have a 3D engine so you can actually bounce grenades off the walls and floors. I think it'll be an awesome way for players to come up with some creative uses for grenades, throwing them around corners. It actually bounces around and it shows, again, and it sells the Demon Hunter's themes - ranged attacks, gadgetry, preparation and planning. This is premeditated demon killing going on.

Flux reported about his time using the skill in the BlizzCon demo:[2]

Grenades was best used against mobs, since you could throw them very quickly, scattering 9 or 12 of the grenades across the mid-range of the screen, dealing good AoE to everything in the vicinity. They could be thrown quite a distance also, well off the screen, though aiming that way was just about pure luck. It would have been awesome in the arena, though. The second level of the dungeon in the demo featured numerous jail cells, which often had half a dozen skeletons and skeletal shieldmen in them. They were lots of fun with Grenades, since the bombs would bounce off the walls and stay where you wanted them to, then detonate with great effect.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Grenades became a level 7 skill, but was soon changed to level 11. The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13, and Grenades was classified as a Devices skill and moved up to level 14.

Media

Grenades can be seen in action on video here:

• Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Grenades specific gallery contents

• 

  Grenades 'splodin.

• 

  A close-up look of the grenade from the BlizzCon 2010 trailer.

• 

  Grenades in flight and bouncing around.

• 

  Grenades explode massively.

References

• BlizzCon 2010 Gameplay Panel Transcript
• BlizzCon 2010 Demon Hunter First Impressions
• BlizzCon 2010 Demon Hunter Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• HardRock's Demon Hunter Skills and Their Rune Effects -- IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Demon Hunter Active Skills -- Diablo III 12th Sep 2011

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