Rogue Core Grenade Locker Guide: Unlock and Throwables

Combat Summary

The Grenade Locker is Rogue Core’s system for throwable Combat Items — hand grenades and Impact Axes — and since Update 2 every Reclaimer receives Alpha Clearance automatically, so new players are no longer locked out of the Locker early on. Official: Update 2 granted Alpha Clearance to all Reclaimers and returned Impact Axes to the Grenade Locker; before that update, fresh accounts hit a clearance gate that blocked both the Locker and Expenite Events. In short: you access the Locker, stock your throwables, and toss them with the dedicated throw key when a fight needs burst damage or crowd control — no extra unlock quest required anymore.

What the Grenade Locker Actually Is

Official: The Grenade Locker is the system through which Reclaimers obtain and use throwable combat equipment, including hand grenades and Impact Axes. It sits alongside your primary guns and pickaxe as the third combat pillar: guns for sustained damage, the Locker for one-shot burst.

In-game verified: Throwables bought or stocked from the Locker are consumed on use, so each throw is a decision — you trade future safety for immediate damage. That makes the Locker less about spam and more about timing: a grenade tossed into a clustered wave clears what your magazine cannot, and a wasted throw is a resource you will miss two rooms later.

Speculation: The name and its Update 2 pairing with Alpha Clearance suggest Ghost Ship intends the Locker to grow — more throwable types may be added as the early access roadmap advances. Nothing more is confirmed, so treat any wishlist items (sticky grenades, tactical variants) as community hopes, not promises.

How to Unlock It (Update 2 Changed Everything)

Official: Before Update 2, new players were locked out of the Grenade Locker (and Expenite Events) until they earned Alpha Clearance through progression. Official: Update 2 auto-granted Alpha Clearance to all Reclaimers — new players are no longer gated out of the Locker early.

What this means for you:

• If you start a fresh account today, the Locker is available from your earliest runs. There is no clearance quest to complete first.
• If you played before Update 2 and remember the old lockout, that restriction is simply gone — nothing to claim, nothing to redeem.
• Veterans who earned clearance the hard way got no replacement reward; the change just flattens the early game for everyone.

In-game verified: Because the gate is gone, the real “unlock” question is now loadout knowledge: learning which throwable fits which situation matters far more than any progression check. New players should experiment with throwables early, while the stakes are low, rather than hoarding them for a Depth they may not reach.

Why Impact Axes Returned (and Why It Matters)

Official: Update 2’s balance pass returned Impact Axes to the Grenade Locker. The phrasing matters — “returned” means they had been taken out of the Locker’s stock at some earlier point, and Update 2 put them back.

Why this is a bigger deal than it sounds:

• Community-tested: Impact Axes have long been valued for single-target burst — the kind of damage that deletes a priority target instead of spreading damage across a swarm. Their return gives the Locker a precision option to pair with the grenade’s area splash.
• Speculation: The return reads as a response to player feedback: throwables are most fun when each type has a distinct job. Axes for the big ugly thing in front of you, grenades for the crowd behind it. If the Locker keeps getting distinct, role-separated tools, that is healthy design.
• Community-tested: Since Update 2, players report treating axes as the “boss and elite” answer and grenades as the “wave clear” answer. That split is the simplest mental model for the Locker right now.

Practical Throwing Tips

In-game verified: Throwables have travel time and an arc — they do not hit where your crosshair points at the instant of the throw. Lead moving targets slightly and aim at feet, not heads, when you want splash to catch a cluster.

A few habits worth building:

1. Throw before the reload, not after. Grenades cover the gap when your magazine runs dry mid-wave. If you reload first and then throw, you wasted the coverage window.
2. Save axes for priority targets. Community-tested: Elites and bulky specials absorb full magazines; one axe to the face shortens that exchange dramatically.
3. Respect the blast. Community-tested: Throwables can hurt you at close range. Back off before tossing into a melee — the few steps you take cost less than a self-inflicted chunk of your health bar.
4. Restock between fights. The Locker’s stock is finite per run; check your count whenever a room goes quiet, not when the next wave is already screaming down the corridor.
5. Pair with crowd control. Community-tested: A grenade thrown into enemies that are slowed, grouped, or funneled through a doorway does multiples of the damage of a grenade thrown at a spread-out pack. Positioning multiplies throwables more than upgrades do.

Common Mistakes

• Hoarding throwables “for the boss.” Most runs end in a regular wave, not a boss room. If you die with a full stock, the stock was worthless.
• Throwing at max range against fast movers. In-game verified: Travel time makes long-range throws easy to dodge for fast enemies. Close the distance, then throw.
• Ignoring the Locker after Update 2’s changes. New players who skipped the Locker under the old clearance gate sometimes still act like it is locked. It is not — build the habit now.

The Bottom Line for Your Next Run

The Grenade Locker went from gated side system to day-one toolkit with Update 2: Alpha Clearance is automatic, Impact Axes are back in stock, and the only thing standing between you and better throws is practice. Stock grenades for crowds, axes for priority targets, and throw with a plan instead of saving everything for a boss you may never reach. Rock and stone — and mind the arc.

---

Fact check

• Official: Update 2 auto-granted Alpha Clearance to all Reclaimers; the Grenade Locker and Expenite Events were previously locked behind it for new players.
• Official: Update 2 returned Impact Axes to the Grenade Locker (balance pass, full Steam patch notes for RC:EA:02.00.00).
• In-game verified: Throwables are consumed on use; they have travel time and an arc; aim at feet for splash.
• Community-tested: Axes as the elite/boss answer, grenades as the wave-clear answer; grenades can damage the thrower at close range; crowd control multiplies throwable damage.
• Speculation: The Locker may gain more throwable types later in early access; the axe return reflects a design direction toward role-separated throwables.