Gearheads of War

Grenades:

Grenades have changed quite a bit in Gears 2. Two of the biggest changes is in how grenades function.

Blast Radius - All grenades now have a blast at detonation that can knock opponents (or teammates) off there feet for a couple seconds. This blast has a pretty good radius to it so you will want to stay back a bit further than you did in the original gears when throwing grenades. The nice part is that all grenades have this, even smoke grenades. So the grenade you start the game with now has some extra advantages. When an enemy is on the ground from the blast they can still be hurt with gun fire. So once they get knocked down start pumping some lead into them!

Double Clutch - Due to the above mentioned blast radius, it is very effective to toss two frag grenades at an enemy even if they miss. Even if the enemy is not directly in the kill zone of the grenade, usually being anywhere near it will do some damage, so throwing two grenades can kill someone even if they are outside the kill zone. The first blast damages them and stuns them and the second blast finishes them off. This can be useful when you don't have a good line of site on an enemy but know where they are.

Proximity Mine - All grenades can now be planted (stuck) into walls and environment objects now. I also recently realized you can stick grenades directly to the ground just by looking straight down while planting it. To do this equip your grenade and then walk up to a wall or object and hit the "B" button. Do NOT HIT THE TRIGGER or you will throw the grenade and it will bounce off the wall and kill you! This allows for some great trapping and defense. This ability combined with the Blast Radius, really can change the course of a fire fight. Covering your retreat or just setting an ambush is made amazingly more easy with this ability! However WARNING You cannot plant more than 2 grenades at any one time! I have seen this kill many people! If you have two grenades stuck in walls or anything else in the map, and you plant a third one, the first grenade you planted explodes! So if you plant grenade A and B to either side of a door, then grab another grenade and try to plant it, grenade A will go off. Usually I see this when someone is trying to plant all three grenades near each other, which means the blast from the first grenade kills the person planting the grenade... This is why so many people find themselves dead, and the death message shows that it was as suicide. You planting your third grenade set off the first one and killed you! Fun to watch on ghost cam, but not fun for the person who just made the mistake. DO NOT PLANT MORE THAN TWO GRENADES! If you plant two grenades and then pick up more, throw the new grenades at the enemy instead of planting them and you will be fine.

No, Your the BOMB! - Grenade tagging is still alive and well in Gears of War 2. You can stick a grenade to an enemy player the same way you would to a wall or floor. Simply get close to the enemy (Very Very Close) and with your grenade equipped hit the 'B' button to 'tag' them with the grenade. Then dive away or run like crazy since it will hit you too if you are too close to the enemy when it goes off. A quick enemy will dive or run towards you in order to take you out with them. Smoke grenades can be useful just for getting a player down. Ink grenades and frag grenades work even better. The frag will kill them and any teammates that are close to them. The ink grenade will work wonders as well as the cloud will be centered on the enemy player and will hit them and any of their teammates who were not smart enough to roll away! This tactic can really work well in those cases where you are coming up behind an unsuspecting enemy. Stick them, dive back and run. Find their buddies, rinse and repeat... fun for the whole family!

Ink Grenade - A new type of Grenade in Gears 2 is the Ink Grenade. You will notice it due to the fact it looks a bit different than the other two types. It looks like it has barbs/spikes on it a bit and has little GREEN glowing lights as opposed to the Orange/Red of the frag grenades and the blue of the smoke grenades. The ink grenade leaves a toxic cloud of ink/poison in the air doing damage to anyone within the cloud. The cloud has a decent area of coverage as well so you can take out multiple enemies not only from the blast, but if they run into the cloud. DO NOT RUN INTO THE CLOUD OR BE ANYWHERE NEAR THE GRENADE WHEN IT GOES OFF! If you are quick you can dive through the area of affect and make it out relatively unharmed. Use this for getting through an area where an enemy is trying to cut you off with the cloud. Ink grenades also work great as traps since they too can be stuck in walls/floors. Many times any enemy near the Ink grenade that isn't a very quick thinker will be downed rather quick by the ink. So even if it does not finish them, they are usually down or very weak by the time they either get out of the cloud or it wears off. You can help your Ink grenades efficiency by planting it next to a smoke grenade. The Smoke Grenade will knock them down and the Ink will have more time to do it's work! Usually this will down or kill them during the time it takes them to recover from the smoke grenade. The ink grenade as a trap by planting it in a wall or around a corner is an amazing way of turning the tide of any battle. When you pick up a Ink Grenade you only get one, unlike frag grenades where you get two on pickup.

Grenade Tactics - Here are a couple of ways that these new features can be put to good use in a match:

It's a TRAP - You can very easily use grenades to trap a room or area of the map by using intelligent placement of grenades. Usually you want to look for the most likely route an enemy will take to or through a given area and plant a grenade on a surface that they cannot see as they approach. For example, if their is a doorway you want to trap or a corner you want to trap, plant the grenade on the inside of the door on the wall next to it, or around the corner where the enemy will be coming so that they cannot see the grenade as they approach.  Take advantage of the fact that you can stick grenades tot he floor. Many players will only look at the walls when looking for grenades. For even more fun, plant the grenade on the ground in the corner of a room, most enemies will not even see it. Even more fun can be had by sticking your grenades to the ground where weapons spawn! Stick your grenade tot he ground where the grenades spawn, give the enemy more than they bargained for when they go to pick up the grenades! Planting a grenade on the spawn point for the boomshot or other power weapons will win you lots of adoring fans :) I also like stick grenades on the floor when there are bits of enemy bodies lying around, makes it hard to see your grenade when they walk over it. You want them to be next to it or even walk past it when it goes off so they have no chance avoiding it or shooting it from a distance (which works great, more on this below in the Avoidance Tactics section). Ideally the enemy will be next to or just past your grenade when it goes off, this has the nice benefit of not only knocking them down (if it doesn't kill them outright), but if done right, knocking them down and towards you! So once they are down you have easy pickens for your shotgun! Take advantage of the fact that you can hit them without fear of retaliation for a few seconds, a point blank shotty is just as deadly to an opponent who is flat on their face!

Cover Me - Almost nothing is more frustrating than teammates not covering your back when you are sniping or doing other important tasks in a battle! Well, your wall planted grenade is your new lookout! If you have an area where you are going to be working (Sniping, Torque Bow, Boomshot, etc...) plant a grenade near any entrances to the area you are working in. If sniping this usually means planting grenades in the most likely route that an enemy would try to sneak up on you from. make sure to plant the grenade far enough away from you that you are not hit by the blast, and so that you have plenty of time to get ready for the enemy coming up on you! Remember that smoke grenades work great for this as well since they knock the enemy down, alert you with an explosion and create a cloud of smoke that can make it take even longer for the enemy to find you!

Picking out the Wedgy - One great thing about the new blast radius of the grenades is that it makes grenades a great tool for getting enemies out of cover! If that damn pesky sniper is wedged into a corner or behind some cover and you have no good way to approach, toss a grenade either behind them, or if you have time bounce it off a wall near them. Since all grenades will knock enemies over, even a smoke grenade will usually make them break cover and run. And if not... once they are on the ground from the blast, go show them the business end of your boomstick! This also work great for enemies that are up on ledges, etc... On a map like "Day One" where there are a lot of over hangs, bouncing a grenade off the wall behind someone on top of the ledges has a chance to knock them not only off their feet, but off the ledge!

Frog in a Blender - Probably one of my favorite uses for grenades in Gears... Look for a fight where there are multiple enemies engaged close range. This is especially awesome if they are all within shotty range of each other and circling each other while fighting. Toss a grenade onto the floor in the middle of them and watch the symphony of devastation that ensues! This is awesome because close up battles take a lot of concentration and that grenade getting tossed into the salad really makes a difference! I love this tactic even more in a game mode like Wingman where there are multiple teams. It is not uncommon to find 4 or more enemies battling it out and since none of them are on your team... toss em a bone! And exploding one! If any survive, they are probably deeply wounded and easy pickens! Taking out a couple teams at once, is an amazing feeling... then once you have won... return to the lobby to hear all the adoration and admiration of your loving victims!

Knock on the Door - The knock down capability of grenades makes them an amazing entry tool for going into a well guarded room or area. Toss a smoke grenade into a room before entering and if there are any enemies inside that don't run, they will all be laying on the floor waiting for you to come share some sugar! Since everyone starts a multiplayer match with a smoke grenade, use it to your advantage!

All Down Hill From Here - One of the best spots to plant grenades in Gears 2 is at the top of a set of stairs or slope. When the grenade blast knocks players down, their body will slide down the stairs and they cannot get up until they stop sliding! Use this to your advantage by either firing at them the entire time, or even running to the bottom of the stairs (since you run faster than they slide usually) and wait for them with either the shotgun or the chainsaw.

Avoidance Tactics - Due to the changes to the way grenades now function you need to take extra care when advancing on the enemy on a map. Treat all entries and corners with suspicion. Once you start to look at areas where you like to set traps, you can assume that others have had the same idea. Proceed slowly when approaching any areas holding power weapons like the snipe especially! A good sniper will have a grenade or two planted on any approaches to their spot. Shooting grenades that are planted in walls from a distance is a great tactic for many reasons. It allows you to avoid getting hit by the grenade. If the person that planted it is a bit too close, it may kill or knock them down which is always good for you! It may also make them assume that you have been knocked down by their grenade which in many cases means they will come running in with the shotty to finish you off, only to find that you are not down and give you a chance to get some shots of your own in! Of course the other best method of avoiding grenades is don't be there when they go off, when you hear that tell tale beeping, you better dive back or run!

Recovery - The quickest way to get back up after being knocked to the ground is to hit the right trigger when you are on the ground. This only works well if you are not sliding down a slope/stairs.

Meat and Potatoes - A meatshield can help to protect you from a grenade. If the grenade is in front of you, many times it will destroy your meatshield but leave you alive. Another great way of really getting the enemy upset, is to down someone (especially snipers) and then stick them with a frag(make sure it is not a smoke or ink) grenade. As soon as you stick them hit the 'A' button to pick them up as a meatshield. The grenade will go off destroying their body and you will still be alive. This also counts towards your achievement for being saved by a meatshield since your grenade would normally have killed you.

Well that is about it for today... I will be posting more of these over the coming days! If you found this useful feel free to comment or if you have any tips of your own that you would like to share!

Thanks and remember... Grenades... It's what's for Dinner!