From Hero to Zero? Trailblazer Grenade Nerfed in ARC Raiders 1.15.0: Best Alternatives for Farming Merits
Category: ARC Raiders Posted: Feb 12, 2026 Views: 967
I bet you've been busy earning merits for the new Shared Watch event in ARC Raiders since the day before yesterday, as it offers numerous opportunities to redeem rewards! However, have you noticed that Trailblazer Grenade isn't as effective as it used to be?
Merits are earned by damaging and attacking ARC enemies, so various guns and grenades are essential. Some grenades can even effectively damage heavily armored large ARCs, such as Trailblazer Grenade.
Unfortunately, Trailblazer Grenade was nerfed as part of Update 1.15.0. We initially thought this would be a reasonable optimization, but it seems that's not the case.

Trailblazer before and after nerf
This grenade was added to the game in patch 1.2.0. Its function is to immediately release a burst of flammable gas upon being thrown. After a short delay, the gas ignites and explodes, causing damage.
Update 1.15.0 didn't change the fundamental mechanics, but it weakened Trailblazer's damage against large ARCs, increased its damage against smaller ARCs, and prevented it from dealing damage through walls.
The last change is commendable, clearly aimed at preventing players from exploiting bugs, but the first two changes initially received mixed reviews. Finally, based on practical experience, now it's almost entirely critical.
Current Trailblazer performance in practice
Assuming you are playing Shared Watch event, you're likely to encounter any type of ARC in a raid, and killing large ARC bots will yield more merits. Therefore, carrying weapons capable of handling ARCs of different sizes is crucial.
In the past, with accurate throwing, Trailblazer Grenade paired with a gun could effectively deal with most enemy types, but now it's significantly weakened.
And previously, two or three Trailblazers were enough to take down medium ARCs like Bastions; now, that number has risen to at least five. The situation is even worse against more agile enemies like Leapers.
It was already difficult to keep Leapers still using explosions and shooting, but now they can sometimes completely ignore Trailblazer's attacks, let alone block them.
As for the impact on the smaller ARCs, it seems to have improved compared to the past, but it's not a one-hit kill. Besides, for Shared Watch experience or the needs of advanced players, small ARCs have never been a primary target.
Of the existing grenades, only Seeker Grenade is specifically designed to target a single ARC; the others with damage effects don't have a clear division of labor in their attack patterns.
Therefore, it's clear that the initial intention of nerfing Trailblazer was to optimize the grenade system. Unfortunately, the developers seem to have overdone it, ultimately ruining the final gameplay experience.
Which items are the best alternatives?
While it's annoying, if you still plan to play ARC Raiders, you have to adapt to this change - life goes on! Unless the development team releases a new patch to further adjust the effects of Trailblazer nerf.
As things stand, if you're on a budget, we recommend Stitcher first. While using it requires consuming a significant amount of ammunition, there's little additional risk, and both the weapon itself and its ammunition are readily available in the game.
Take attacking Bastion as an example. If your shooting skills are good enough, you can quickly take it down as long as you consistently aim at Bastion's vulnerable head armor. The key is to avoid attacks from the side.
Of course, this is just the most cost-effective option. If you have better guns and previously enjoyed using them with Trailblazer, then you'll need to adapt to a gun-only playstyle.
If you're simply looking for a new grenade alternative, consider Snap Blast Grenade. It adheres to the enemy's surface, causing explosive damage after a short delay, although its ultimate effect is somewhat limited.
Besides this, a more efficient and resource-efficient kill method is using Wolfpack, currently one of the most popular grenades in the game. If you use it against a Leaper, approximately two grenades will kill one enemy.
While this can significantly shorten combat time, Wolfpack is difficult to obtain, requiring specific blueprints and relatively rare crafting materials, making it somewhat unworthy of effort for most average players.
However, if you have a decent stockpile of Wolfpacks, we recommend using it in combination with Anvil. While Anvil has a slow rate of fire, it's versatile and usable at any range, though it performs better at medium range.
More importantly, although crafting this weapon also requires a blueprint, the blueprint has designated drop locations, making it relatively easy to find:
- Raider Cache
- Weapon Case
- Ammo Case
- Grenade Tube
Alternatively, if you have enough coins, you can trade directly with vendor Tian Wen to obtain Anvil. However, don't forget to upgrade it afterwards for optimal combat performance.
Summary
Making adjustments to the weapon system from time to time is necessary, but striking the right balance is difficult; a slight misstep can result in items becoming weaker than planned, as seen with Trailblazer.
Considering the grenade's popularity and usability, we believe the developers should release a patch to slightly reduce its strength; otherwise, its usage rate will inevitably drop significantly in the long run.
While this might be a preparation for the release of a new grenade, forcibly phasing out an old grenade is clearly unwise and will also raise concerns about whether older, commonly used weapons will suffer the same fate.
This concludes our analysis of the latest changes to Trailblazer Grenade. Although you may be reluctant to part with it, for the sake of rewards, it's best to switch to an alternative for now!
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