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The Grenadier is a pirate enemy type in Windrose that throws explosive grenades at the player from medium range. Community coverage points to a December 2025 PC Gaming Show reveal, though the exact event details should be verified against primary sources. Grenadiers fill the design gap between single-target ranged pirates (such as musketeers) and melee pirates by adding area-of-effect pressure to camp encounters.

Combat Behavior

Grenadiers prefer to stay at mid range and lob explosive grenades that detonate in a small area. Their splash damage punishes groups of players or NPCs clustered together. Specific damage values, exact attack telegraphs, and damage-type resistances or weaknesses are not publicly documented.

Counter Strategy

• Close to melee range quickly to force the grenadier to engage at close quarters where explosive grenades are less effective.

• Spread out from teammates or NPC crew to minimize splash damage from a single well-placed throw.

• Use a pistol or musket to apply pressure from range while closing distance.

• Prioritize grenadiers before engaging their melee escorts; clearing the ranged area threat stabilizes longer fights.

Loot

Grenadiers drop gunpowder, grenade components, and sometimes Piastres or contraband goods. Because they consume higher-tier gunpowder than standard pirates, defeated grenadiers are a reasonable farming source for consumable bombs or gunpowder-based crafting recipes.

Where to Find Them

Grenadiers tend to appear in later pirate camps, at guard posts for higher-value caches, and occasionally in larger pirate fleet boarding actions once you progress past the starting Coastal Jungle biome. Their distribution across islands is influenced by the world's difficulty setting chosen at world creation.

Development Background

Community coverage attributes the Grenadier's reveal to a December 2025 PC Gaming Show broadcast, though this event attribution should be verified against primary sources. The reveal was reportedly packaged with the greatsword and the blunderbuss weapons and an updated map interface. The Grenadier was described as filling the gap in the enemy roster between single-target ranged pirates and melee pirates by introducing explosive area-of-effect pressure.

See Also

• Enemies — full list of hostile NPCs and creatures in Windrose

• Pirate Camps — where grenadiers commonly appear

• Weapons — player counterparts to enemy firearms

• Crosswind — development timeline including the December 2025 reveal