Trigger Nades: The Tiny Grenades Causing Big Problems
Arc Raiders has always been a risky place to roam. You drop in, hunt for loot, fight off deadly arc robots, and hope you make it back to Speranza in one piece. But lately, the biggest danger has not been the AI enemies. It has been other players armed with Trigger Nades.
Trigger Nades are small grenades that can be stuck on surfaces and detonated from a distance. They are cheap, strong, and incredibly effective at catching unsuspecting raiders off guard. Two well placed Trigger Nades can completely delete another player before they even realise what has happened.
That power has turned them into one of the most hated tools in the game. Extraction camping, fake friendly players, and sneaky ambushes have all been made much easier thanks to these little explosives.
One common scenario shows how bad it can get. You walk up to an extraction call button at the Dam Battlegrounds swamp, thinking the area is clear. You press the button and instantly die to a blinding flash of light. Some patient player has quietly stuck Trigger Nades on the console, hidden in a nearby bush, and is now looting your body with zero risk. Encounters like this have been happening constantly, turning extractions into minefields of frustration.
The Nerf: What The Devs Have Confirmed So Far
The community has not been quiet about how oppressive Trigger Nades feel in player versus player situations. On Discord and Reddit, Arc Raiders players have been calling out how often their runs end not to arcs, but to cheap grenade tricks they never had a chance to react to.
The good news is that the developers at Embark are listening. On the official Arc Raiders Discord, they confirmed that the team is actively looking into nerfs, and specifically mentioned Trigger Nades as part of that balance pass. A Reddit post highlighted this update with the excited title Trigger Nade Nerf Confirmed, and players have been waiting to see what will change.
Right now, there are no detailed patch notes or exact stats on what the nerf will look like. The devs have only said that they are looking into nerfs and that players should keep an eye on game announcements for updates. That leaves a big open question for the community.
Will Trigger Nades be nerfed just against players or will their effectiveness against enemy arcs be reduced as well
This matters a lot because while Trigger Nades are frustrating in PVP, they are also extremely useful in PVE.
Why Trigger Nades Matter For PVE Raiders
For many players, Trigger Nades are not just a troll tool. They are a key part of their loadout for taking down tough arc enemies in dangerous areas. When used well, they can seriously weaken big threats and make encounters far more manageable.
For example, you can stick a couple of Trigger Nades on a Bastion or Rocketeer and instantly chunk down a large part of its health bar when you detonate them. That opening burst of damage makes the rest of the fight less stressful, especially when you are low on resources or dealing with multiple enemies at once.
They might not be as absurdly powerful as the Deadline mine, which has been known to one shot a Bastion, tear Leapers apart, and even help shred a Queen Arc in very short order. However Trigger Nades come with a big advantage. They are cheaper. That makes them much more accessible for everyday runs, especially if you do not want to pour your best gear into every expedition.
This is why some players are nervous about the upcoming nerf. Trigger Nades are clearly too strong and too easy to abuse in player versus player combat. But at the same time, they are a very satisfying and strategic tool when used against the robotic arcs.
The ideal outcome for many raiders would be a smart, targeted nerf. For example:
- Reduce damage specifically against players while keeping their strength mostly intact against arcs.
- Add clearer audio or visual tells so players can spot and avoid obvious traps.
- Limit how many can be stacked in one small area to prevent instant vaporising combos on extraction points.
Changes like these would keep Trigger Nades fun and tactical without letting them dominate encounters between players.
Waiting For The Balance Patch
Until the developers share full patch notes, the community is left speculating. Some players hope Trigger Nades will be toned down just enough to stop extraction cheese and betrayal plays. Others worry that an overcorrection will make one of their favourite tools feel weak or pointless, especially in tougher expeditions.
What is clear is that Arc Raiders is evolving based on how people actually play it. When a single item suddenly defines the meta for all the wrong reasons, it is a sign that balance needs attention. The Trigger Nade situation shows the classic problem in PVP and PVE hybrid games. A tool that is fun and powerful in one mode can be oppressive and unfair in the other.
For now, if you are still jumping into Dam Battlegrounds or other hot zones, it is worth playing a bit more cautiously around extractions, call buttons, and choke points. Assume someone has trapped them and keep an eye out for suspicious objects stuck to surfaces. At the same time you can keep using Trigger Nades against arcs while they are still in their current state, especially for dealing with big threats on a budget.
When the nerf finally lands, it will reshape how players defend extractions, push objectives, and handle high level enemies. With some careful tuning, Trigger Nades could move from being a source of rage quits to a balanced, tactical tool that rewards smart play instead of cheap ambushes.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-is-looking-to-nerf-the-trigger-nade-among-other-items-but-were-not-sure-whether-itll-only-be-weaker-against-players-not-arcs/
