Arc Raiders PvP can at times feel like more enduring artillery fire than playing a shooter, and it's largely thanks to the spread of Trigger Nades. So, after months of dominance, developer Embark Studios says it's finally looking to tone them down.
In a comment on the official Arc Raiders Discord, in response to the umpteenth player requesting the devs "please nerf the trigger nades," community manager CM | Lily said "the team's looking into some changes to Trigger Nades."
"The team's looking into some nerfs including Trigger Nades, keep an eye on game-announcements for updates!" a separate reponse reads.
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Lily didn't specify how Trigger Nades will be changed; the big question we can instead wonder is what shape the inevitable nerf will take across PvE and PvP.
Trigger Nades are much less of a problem in PvE – against Arc, they provide a sticky alternative to Heavy Fuze Grenades which can make a big difference in certain situations, but that's about it. I don't see the Arc posting complaints on Reddit, and if they were going to, they'd surely rant about Wolfpack grenades instead. "I'm telling you, there's no dodging these things!"
PvP is another story. Compared to other explosives, Trigger Nades win in virtually every major category. Because you can detonate them almost immediately after they land near a target, they have a shorter effective fuse than the likes of Heavy Fuze or Snapback grenades, which take longer to explode. You can manipulate this somewhat by throwing those others in a steep arc outdoors, but Trigger Nades make it so much easier.
Bafflingly, Trigger Nades also deal slightly more damage than Heavy Fuzes and seem to have a comparable damage radius. On top of that, because they don't have the obvious red glow that most grenades use to alert you to incoming explosives, they're harder to see and respond to. A red glow would, of course, ruin the utility of placing Trigger Nades ahead of time and then detonating them when someone walks by, but these things are more often used like explode-on-contact projectiles.
As if that weren't enough, Trigger Nades are extremely cheap to craft. Where most grenades use explosive compounds that you might want to save for PvE monsters like Wolfpack grenades or Deadline mines, Trigger Nades only require readily available crude explosives and largely uncontested processors.
If anything, it's a little surprising that something this plentiful, powerful, and frankly meta-warping has gone unchecked for this long. I've been on both sides of Trigger Nades many times, and it never feels fair. My hope is that the impending nerf can level out PvP without weakening these things so much that they're effectively removed from PvE.
Arc Raiders players make a plea to Embark: don't let PvP in trios poison your solo "aggression-based" matchmaking reputation, but frankly I don't buy it.
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