What is the point of Thermite Grenades?

[Malidictus]

Serious question - what are those grenades for? Yes, they have armour penetration 7 (which is higher than the armour on any enemy that I know of). OK, cool, but... so what? Each Thermite Grenade deals 100 damage (as listed in the inventory) and doesn't seem to do much more than that in practice. They'll occasionally kill a Devastator, but won't do appreciable damage to a Hulk or a Charger. It doesn't seem to set them on fire, either - Hulks in general don't seem to burn.

So what's the point? We have a grenade that can penetrate Heavy Armour and do... nothing. And if I'm not using it against Heavy Armour, then what am I using it for? Impact Grenades (and Frags) have Penetration 4, so Medium Armour Penetration 2. That's already everything besides heavy units. And sure, they do half damage to Medium 2 armour, but very few enemies have Medium 2 all around. No, Impact grenades can't kill Heavy Armour targets easily, but... neither can the Thermite grenades

So Thermite Grenades aren't good at taking out heavy targets, the small AoE makes them pretty bad against light targets and their "sticky" property makes them difficult to use on Fabricators and Bug Holes. Maybe I'm missing something, but I see a grenade that's bad at everything.

[Aldain]

It seems to me like they were intended to be kind of like...and I know this is gonna be an odd take, but like Thermite's wall breaking charges from Rainbow Six Siege.

The concept of melting through reinforced parts before exploding and blowing a hole in the target after causing structural destabilization, but I think something doesn't really work right in how they made it here.

[Ahzek Ahriman]

Originally posted by Aldain:

It seems to me like they were intended to be kind of like...and I know this is gonna be an odd take, but like Thermite's wall breaking charges from Rainbow Six Siege.

The concept of melting through reinforced parts before exploding and blowing a hole in the target after causing structural destabilization, but I think something doesn't really work right in how they made it here.

Funny. That's the exact comparison that was going on in my head the first time I used it. Tried it on tanks and hulks and was sorta disappointed it didnt exactly payoff that much. Maybe I'm using them wrong or maybe it has to be thrown at a weak spot? If that is the case then its really not worth the time and risk of using it.

[Despell]

Apparently they should work in the way that you throw 2-3 at a armored weak spot of an elite enemy (or throw some at a titan to clutch the kill) and do some damage with the constant dot damage until they explode with a final big hit.

Before the dot fix they didn't even do proper fire damage, now you can at least throw them at a breach and get some kills, but the incendiary grenade is way better at that.

They would at least have a use case if you can peel of the armor of enemies, which would make them viable if you have no stratagem available for a titan, charger or hulk. Which is not that rare considering that you always get modifier that increase the CD or reduce the number of stratagems while the game spams elite bullet sponges.

Apparently you can kill a charger if you manage to stick 2-3 to one leg.
I noticed they can do damage regardless of where you attach them on the enemy, but the damage is pitiful if they are not close to a weak spot.
They can also close bug holes, but it takes quite a long time compared to other grenades, because only the final explosion will close it.

Overall you are better of with the other grenades.

[Maj. Crimes]

Thermite is yet another half-assed warbond item in desperate need of a buff/rework.

It has some niche use against certain automaton units. But chugging 3 or 4 against one tank is not very economical and you are better off using a different grenade.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by Aldain:

It seems to me like they were intended to be kind of like...and I know this is gonna be an odd take, but like Thermite's wall breaking charges from Rainbow Six Siege.

I've not played R6S so I'm not sure which one that was, but I was expecting that the Thermite Grenade would do armour-piercing damage over time to the spot that it lands on. Almost like constantly shooting that body part. If it does any damage over time, I've not seen it. The grenade only ever kills when it explodes, and it doesn't always take down even Devastator.

Originally posted by Ahzek Ahriman:

Funny. That's the exact comparison that was going on in my head the first time I used it. Tried it on tanks and hulks and was sorta disappointed it didnt exactly payoff that much. Maybe I'm using them wrong or maybe it has to be thrown at a weak spot? If that is the case then its really not worth the time and risk of using it.

I doubt weak point would matter. Helldivers doesn't really have traditional "weak points" where enemies take additional damage. Heads and vents and eyes and such typically just have lower armour, meaning you deal increased damage to them through armour mechanics. Granted, some body parts have their own separate health and will kill the enemy when destroyed, or put it in bleedout. I don't think the Thermite Grenades do enough damage for that to matter, though.2

Originally posted by Despell:

They would at least have a use case if you can peel of the armor of enemies, which would make them viable if you have no stratagem available for a titan, charger or hulk. Which is not that rare considering that you always get modifier that increase the CD or reduce the number of stratagems while the game spams elite bullet sponges.

I've not tried them against the bugs, but I remember hearing that they don't strip armour. Be nice if they did, I agree. Wouldn't matter for Hulks, though - they don't have destructible armour. I thought maybe I could destroy their arms with Thermite Grenades, but they don't do that, either.

If I have to dump my entire supply of grenades against a single enemy who likes to spawn in triplicate, then that doesn't seem particularly useful. Especially since - as I found out just today - I can toss a Stun Grenade at a Hulk and snipe him in the eye, or circle around and shoot his radiator.

[Hand's Hermit Permit]

It needs a buff. Throwing 4 at a charger should kill it or something, but all it does is make the giant bug hurtling towards you even scarier with fireworks.

Having to stick it directly, use 1/4 grenades or more, and having to wait is a huge investment and the payoff just isn't there.

It really sucks that taking freaking flashbangs is better than thermite. Just flashbang hulk and shoot its eye with autocannon/laser/AMR. You're a sucker for trying to use thermite, I hate it.

[Postman Pat]

They should basically 1 hit kill anything they attach to, but only the thing they attach and maaybe things very close to it (basically touching the hitbox of the grenade, not an actual area around it all). This gives them a niche use case where, normally, your grenades are for instantly clearing a horde, or impacting/staggering an enemy you normally couldn't deal with, or CCing a group for a stratagem.

I was disappointed by these, too - even more disappointed you still have to hit the 'holes' on fabricators and bug holes and then wait for the explosion in order to close them. Thermite nades really should be able to at least burn through a fabricator from any position - if they can't even do that what good are they?

"Yeah but 3 grenades to kill a hulk is pretty good"

Not when you're giving up so much to choose them and they have other downsides (very difficult to close holes/fabricators with). A single stun grenade can make 500kg 100% kill a bile titan every time (and the horde of enemies standing near it). I don't think it's unreasonable for these to be way more buff than they are. They then create fun loadout options. For example you could take thermites and the stalwart into higher difficulty missions, and maybe some funky other stratagems instead of precision, air strike, 500kg every single round.

Not to mention - they don't even stick every time. I've seen them bounce off of devastators or striders before. Lol.

[Logen Neuf-Doigts]

they're useless against bugs , i find some unreliable use against bots but yeah they need a buff , sometimes they 1 shot a hulk , sometimes they don't , sometimes they one shot a tank , most of the time they don't
they do 1 shot cannon turrets reliably tho , haven't tested a lot against factory striders

[Sarnath]

2-3 of them in the same spot on a charger kills them

[Dain_Ironfoot]

They kill Hulks pretty good also... not sure what you are talking about.

[Ahzek Ahriman]

Originally posted by Dain_Ironfoot:

They kill Hulks pretty good also... not sure what you are talking about.

They can yes but they are not reliable because sometimes they bounce off and not always stick to targets. Also the damage is not consistent, it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 to kill a hulk and that is not very economical.

[Captain Rhodes]

I hope the next warbond has a long sparkler you can shake at enemies. Would pair well with the thermite grenade.

[Dain_Ironfoot]

Originally posted by Ahzek Ahriman:

Originally posted by Dain_Ironfoot:

They kill Hulks pretty good also... not sure what you are talking about.

They can yes but they are not reliable because sometimes they bounce off and not always stick to targets. Also the damage is not consistent, it can take anywhere from 1 to 3 to kill a hulk and that is not very economical.

A couple almost always do the trick for me and I don't remember ever seeing them bounce.

[LoveTruffle]

I would prefer they kill all but the massive enemies by the time they run out of fuel, but even if the spot they hit had its armor level drop to 0 would at least be something. Right now there's much faster and economical ways to kill heavy enemies than spamming them with thermite and crossing your fingers.

[zdaytonaroadster]

one thing i noticed with these, DONT stack them. The game is too stupid to stack the damage, you throw one, let it burn and explode, THEN throw another. Two or Three will take out a hulk, but you gotta run around like an idiot for 3 mins while it does it thing.