The Grenade Launcher pictured above is the weakest of all grenade launchers in the quake series of games. Previous grenade launcher design allowed grenades only 1 1/2 seconds of motion before exploding thereby leaving your opponent little time to dodge the versitile weapon. This version explodes a full 2 1/2 seconds after launching, thereby allowing your opponent time to think about what he should do about the grenade, and then acting upon it. Rarely will you control a map with a grenade launcher.
It's primary function in quake III arena is to spam in situations where you know there are a lot of people below you. At times a bunch of primed grenades sitting at the feet of multiple opponents is a good thing. Other times, grenade after grenade will shoot out of your barrel and land no where in the vicinity of your opponent, and yet other times you eat a rocket to the face for even fumbling around with the weak weapon.
The best use of the weapon i've found is in Rocket Arena 3, where it is primarily used to stage off multiple attackers, if you're the last remaining team member in a clan arena match. When multiple grenades are heard from around a corner, it is not wise to approach that corner because you can get injured by either touching a grenade physically (that takes off 100 damage points) or being near one when it goes off. There have been times I thought i could use the splash of an enemies grenade to propel me around the corner i'm trying to stage, and it pushes me the opposite direction thereby causing my remaining forward momenum to introduce me to the next grenade that was lying there and so on until i'm dearly punished for that stupid move. Fortunately in RA3, the default grenade count is only 20 - this allows for players to use the technique and at the same time not be allowed to abuse it.
Another good place to use the grenade launcher is when you are below and near your opponent. At such a distance it is very hard to completely avoid getting hit directly by a grenade. You'll only have 2 or three shots off before you opponent realizes what you're trying to do and why you're going to have an advantage there, and will try to punish your attempts. Remember, he's above you and that's as much momentum he'll need if he's good with a rocket launcher - and has one.
Overall, the grenade launcher should only be used in free for alls that are too packed - someone will run into one eventually - but it's much worse than the results you might get in the same situation, spamming a rocket. At least with that weapon, if someone approaches you directly with a plasma, shotgun or other strong weapon, you can dispatch of them as well (or at least have a chance to).
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