There are various modifications in the game for your rifle, your primarily weapon of bug smashing, to use. Each feature their own unique uses and strengths, and may be stronger in some specialized isntances over other rifle mods. Some modifications are weighted towards cooperative play moreso then when used alone, and the reverse is true as well.

In total there are 12 different rifle mods to choose from. With the exception of the first few rifle mods listed, all mods are locked until you buy them.

I've listed the rifle mods into different tiers, depending on how much value I give to each mod - and as such, possible bias towards their use. Higher Tier mods are generally more worthwhile to use then Lower Tier mods. Notably, of the rifle mods listed, I recommend unlocking and upgrading higher tier mods before lower tiers mods.

The Spread Shot is one of your initial rifle mods that you can use when starting out in Hive Jump. When used it will fire a barrage of shots arcing out from your jumper in the direction that you fired them. The firing speed for Spread Shot is very quick, allowing the player to burst them and fire off several waves of them at once. Overheating is a bit of a problem with Spread Shot, as you can't sustain fire very well for swarms. Upgrading Spread Shot leads to more shots being fired.

Because Spread Shot will fire out in a wide radius it is advised to fire it when closer to enemies as this will ensure more of the shots hit your target then when you are farther away. Firing farther away can be useful against weaker flying bugs that have less health, but will be less effective against Bombardiers or Soldiers which have more health.

Spread Shot is an decentt mod to use against normal enemies or against bosses; assuming you can safely get up close to lay down a barrage of fire into their faces and weak spots. It is less useful in situations where it is more advisable to stay back and fire from afar, though you can wittle enemies down with enough fire. Due to its high overheat, multiple targets can be a bit of an issue.

This is generally a good mod to bring in cooperative play, since you can cover enemies up close while your friends fire from afar, or fall back when you overheat. Be sure to give one of them the backpack though since you are likely to die first when you get careless and become bug food.

Spread Shot doesn't have any explosive power behind it, so it can't destroy breakable blocks or kill Lurkers. It is advised that you bring explosive grenades to get past such obstacles or threats. As a general suggestion, bring Sticky Casings, though any explosive grenade is fine so long as it can sufficiently take out Lurkers and get you through to inaccessible areas reliably. In regards to utilities, consider taking the Overshield or Rejuvenation Field to help provide you cover from damage.

Pulse Rounds are your default select rifle mod at the start of the game, and easily your most reliable mod for use. When you hold down the firing key you will release a stream of shots in the general area around your cursor that do decent damage. Overheat is a moderate problem on this mod, as continually fire will necessitate laying of the trigger. Notably, upgrading Pulse Rounds will give them an explosive effect - useful for destroying breakable blocks or killing Lurkers.

In general use, Pulse Rounds is your jack of all trades, master of none rifle mod. It has decent range allowing for players to stand back from the fray and let enemies take a steady stream of damage. Additionally you can kite swarms of enemies with it as they chase you around. The upgraded Pulse Rounds will reduce the need for you to rely on explosive grenades to deal with inaccessible areas caused by breakable blocks and kill Lurkers too.

Regardless of what situation you might be entering into, or if you are unsure what you are facing, or if you just want to play with a more versatile mod, the Pulse Rounds are for you.

In multiplayer more specialized mods will likely outperform Pulse Rounds in some situations, but in general you'll never be entirely useless. You also make for a good candidate to hold the backpack since you can hold off better then anyone while your friends respawn.

Because the rifle mod will naturally kill Lurkers or destroy breakable blocks, you are less reliant on needing explosive grenades, allowing you to bring non-explosive or more tactical grenades instead. Go nuts here, use the Pulse Rounds to experiment with the different grenades! Same goes for utilities.

Mag Slugs is the third and final initial rifle mods available for use at the start of the game. When used, Mag Slugs will fire a single shot that will penetrate enemies causing them moderate damage. Of the mods available in game, Mag Slugs fire the slowest and require very precise aim to use, but they make up for this with low weapon overheat. Upgrading Mag Slugs makes it fire faster.

As of the current state of Mag Slugs in game, it is ill-advised to use Mag Slugs as they will come off weak compared to other rifle mods. If you do use them though, then note that they are best used where you can penetrate multiple enemies or weakspots on enemies; for example, if Caretaker has two weak spots open then you can hit both of them for 2x Mag Slugs damage. You can also fire through Crusher irregardless of what direction he is facing.

If you really want to use Mag Slugs, it is likely advisable that you only limit its use to Ice Levels, Caretaker, and Crusher. In Ice Levels you will find a lot of areas where enemies will bunch up together, allowing you to hit multiple enemies as they line up, and the aforementioned bosses will allow you to make at least some use of the weapons characteristics to penetrate things.

If you bring Mag Slugs into multiplayer, perhaps for the luls, note that the Mag Slugs will at least have the benefit of picking off targets at range, which can be useful if a lot of your friends are rushing in against bosses or masses of enemies. You might be the candidate to wear the backpack too, but keep in mind if all your friends are dead this isn't the great mod for holding off enemies while they are trying to respawn.

To make matters worse, Mag Slugs are incapable of destroying breakable blocks or killing Lurkers. If you use Mag Slugs then bring explosive grenades, such as Sticky Casings, to deal with such threats of obstacles, and bring a utility like the Smart Turret to help deal with flying pests that are hard to hit; or Bomb Bandolier to make heavier use of grenades. But really until Mag Slugs are improved, just don't use Mag Slugs.

The flamethrower is your first locked rifle mod that you will have to buy for use. It is also likely the most damaging mod that you can use as well - though it is strictly for close quarter combat. The Flamethrower will allow you to send out jets of flame at enemies that will cause them a lot of initial damage when hit, and a burning effect that will persist for some time after. After a certain distance the Flamethrowers jets will dissipate, causing no damage to enemies beyond the fire streams. Upgrading the Flamethrower will allow you to fire additional jets of flame.

When you use the Flamethrower, note that not only do you have to get close to enemies to damage them, but you'll cause more damage when you stay close to them and spray them with fire. This may and will leave you vulnerable if you aren't careful, so be ready to duck out of the way when attacks come; or don't, and just die.

For best use, take the Flamethrower in cramped environments that will limit the ability for bugs to fire at you as you approach, or against bosses that will give you the opportunity to get close to them and douse them in flame. For extra fun, equip the Laser Sight Utility which will both increase your flames fire speed but also make the additional jets of flame you fire hit closer to where you are aiming.

In Multiplayer, the Flamethrower is an excellent rifle mod to use when your friends are using longer ranged mods. Just remember - give the backpack to a teammate in cooperative play; you are more likely to want to go on a scorching crusade which means you are more inclined to die.

Note that the Flamethrower is a rifle mod that doesn't destroy breakable blocks or kill Lurkers. As always, equip an explosive grenade for use. Specifically, equip explosive grenades that are useful at a range for those situations that will make it difficult for you to approach - such as Sticky Casings or Remote Detonators. I also advise using the Overshield with the Flamethrower, as that will allow you to advance on targets easier. Bomb Bandolier can also be useful for extra grenade use.

When you click to fire the Rocket Round, you will fire a single explosive rocket in the direction of your cursor. If you have upgraded the Rocket Round, you can click it again to split the missile into smaller rockets, each with their own explosive payload to deliver to the target. Rocket Rounds have extreme overheat, but they fire so slow it will likely ever be an issue. Upgrading the Rocket Rounds will allow you to split the initial rocket into multiple ones.

When using Rocket Rounds, keep in mind that they do have a sufficient explosive radius that you can kill enemies by exploding rockets on walls, ceilings, or floors next to them. Keeping your distance is also advisable when you upgrade them, since you need some distance to split them.

As they are, Rocket Rounds are your goto rifle mod when dealing with hard targets. They will kill most enemies in one hit, destroy breakable blocks, and kill Lurkers to boot. Against bosses one can rack up some good damage - provided the player can keep their Jumper back far enough and in sight of their weak points to split their missile and barrage them with explosive damage.

In Multiplayer, Rocket Rounds are a great mod to bring if your friends are making use of continual fire rifle mods. While they hold off enemies for you, you can deal massive damage to harder targets or have some breathing room to split your rockets. Keep in mind that you are a decent candidate for the backpack but you will have difficulty if there is a horde of enemies to kill and you are the only one standing while your friends are respawning.

It should go without saying that Rocket Rounds don't require explosive grenades to go with them, since you can blow breakable blocks and Lurkers apart with ease. As an aside though, you aren't necessarily good at dealing with thick bug swarms, so consider bringing along grenades like Poison Cloud or Incendiary Pinwheel for crowd control when you need them. The Smart Turret and the Rejuvenation Field can also give you a bit of respite too.

When used you will fire a freezing beam that will weaken the armor of enemies hit by it along with causing some light damage. The overheat for the Cryo Beam is very low, despite it being a rifle mod that you continually fire. Upgrading the Cryo Beam will extend the range of the beam.

Since you can get good range with the Cryo Beam, you can stay quite far back and out of the fray when using the rifle mod. However, it is advisable to get closer to enemies so that you can aim at more of them - thus causing more enemies to take extra damage.

It is notable that this is a support weapon, and likely one that should only ever be used in multiplayer. Its key use is to weaken enemies so that other Jumpers can cause additional damage with their rifle mods. Primarily that means against bosses, since they are the only ones that will likely stay alive long enough for that additional damage to be useful.

The above said though, I can't recommend this rifle mod for use in any situation as it is now. It generally doesn't provide enough additional damage to be worth using over a more suitable mods for defeating bosses, and alone the Jumper using it will have difficulty fending off even Normal enemies due to its weak damage. It should go without saying you shouldn't be left with the backpack since you'll be the weakest Jumper on the team when everyone else is dead.

And of course, like many rifle mods it can't destroy breakable blocks or kill Lurkers, necessitating the use of explosive grenades like Sticky Casings to kill such enemies or reach those inaccessible areas. You may as well bring Bomb Bandolier too so that you can at least throw grenades to be useful, since you will be very close to deadweight for your team.

When firing with the Plasma Charger, holding the firing key will charge up a plasma shot. You can keep holding your plasma shot until you release of your firing key and send the shot in the direction of your cursor. Charging up your plasma shot will allow you to fire off a more powerful shot, which gains greater explosive damage the more your charge it. You can also quickly tap the firing key to release a chain of smaller plasma shots - though in their uncharged form they will have no explosive damage. Weapon overheat will build whenever you begin charging and as you charge plasma over time into your shot at a fairly high rate. If your plasma shot is fully charged it won't continue to overheat; though it won't cooldown either. Upgrading the Plasma Charger will allow you to charge faster.

The Plasma Charger can be a very versatile weapon, and is capable of destroying breakable blocks and killing Lurkers. It is comparable to a mix between Pulse Rounds and Rocket Rounds, however can down most enemies, bar elite Bombardiers, in one hit, with much easier use. You may also fire it quickly, allowing you to deal with lighter spread out targets too. You can also charge up the Plasma Charger and hold a huge slot, allowing you to run around with a heavy explosive round to fire when needed.

It is notable though that this can be a rifle mod that can be difficult to work with, as the player will need to understand when to hold off on charging their Plasma Charger to let their weapon cooldown. Much like the Rocket Rounds, one can be easily overwhelmed with the Plasma Charge due to overheat rendering their weapon unable to fire. It likely isn't as useful against boss enemies as it is difficult to sustain damage on them; and may explode prematurely on bugs it calls in. You can likely get away from staying away from targets, but due to the slow moving nature of the plasma shot you may want to get closer to ensure to land your shot where you want it to hit.

This rifle mod is likely best used in Multiplayer, as your friends can help kill off stuff if your weapon overheats, while you can deal with mass swarms or hard targets that come up. You shouldn't use the backpack though, as your weapon overheat will render you less capable of holding out if your friends are all dead and trying to respawn.

Being capable of destroying breakable blocks and kill Lurkers when sufficiently charged up, the Plasma Charger can let you do away with explosive grenades. You should consider bringing around Poison Cloud or Incendiary Pinwheel Grenades to help kill swaths of enemies when they appear. Taking the Smart Turret or Rejuvenation Field can also help as well.

Poison Cloud is a rather interesting rifle mod, being a slow moving close range weapon. When you hit the firing key you will release clouds of what can only be described as slow acting bug spray, which will apply a damage over time modifier on enemies it comes in contact with. The poison cloud wil also pass through enemies, meaning it is possible to get multiple contacts. While damage is light, the poison modifier will last a fairly long time, and the weapon overheat is quite manageable. Upgrading Poison Cloud will lead to faster acting poison.

Poison Cloud can be insanely powerful mod as just a touch of it will mean certain death for any non-boss enemy. After a certain duration passes, and poison has had a chance to work, eggs, spawners, and all manner of bugs (bar Lurkers). Additionally, the poison lingers for a bit when released, so if you know where enemies are going to be or can get close enough to that Bombardier to touch him with the poison cloud, you don't need to stay close and can pull back.

Interestingly enough, the Poison Cloud can technically deal with swarming bugs and massed enemies very easily due to the damage over time aspect of the poison. The key thing to note is that it will take time for the poison cloud to kill enemies - meaning they still have a chance to attack you and kill you. It isn't however effective against bosses, as most bosses will allow you to hammer them with other rifle mods with far more damage.

In Multiplayer, the Poison Cloud can work well when friends are using modss that are slower firing such as the Plasma Charger or Rocket Rounds. Your Poison Cloud will quickly finish off weaker enemies very quickly, allowing the heavier rifle mods to be saved for the much beefier targets. You might be a decent candidate for using the backpack as well, since you can kite enemies and let them run into your poison and die. However, keep in mind that if you aren't wearing the backpack and enter a dark level, you will be practically blind.

As one can expect, poison has no destructive force, so it can't destroy breakable blocks or kill Lurkers. As always, bring some explosive grenades with you, such as Sticky Casings, to get through to inaccessible areas and kill the Lurkers. Most utilities can work well with the Poison Cloud, though avoid using Laser Sight as you get little benefit from it.

When using Tesla Orbs, you will fire off a slow moving orbs in the direction of your cursor, doing moderate damage to enemies they hit. The Tesla Orbs won't disappear when they hit a wall, and instead will bounce off walls up to 4 times. Each time they hit a wall, they will gain extra damage. Weapon overheats at a fairly moderate rate. Upgrading Tesla Orbs will lead to a faster firing rate.

A key aspect to the use of Tesla Orbs is that they can hit enemies around corners, allowing your Jumper to stay out of the dangerous areas until the neutralize foes making the area dangerous. Just angle your shots to ricochet off the walls to hit enemies.

In reality, Tesla Orbs are not that great a mod to use. While you can get good damage to take out lighter enemies, or heavier ones with wall bounces; multiple enemies will quickly render the weapon overheated and unusable. Along with boss areas being open - making banking shots difficult and not being able to destroy breakable blocks or kill Lurkers, this is a lacking rifle mod.

If taken in Multiplayer, note that your rifle mod is best used around corners or in chock points. You can send a barrage of Lightning Orbs down paths or corridors to eliminate Bombardiers or approaching enemies; which can help with mitigating oncoming bug swarms. It also helps to light up darker tunnels that you happen across when not wearing the backpack. You shouldn't wear the backpack since your lack of damage will render you incapable of killing enemies fast enough, or incapable of firing due to weapon overheat.

This is yet another mod incapable of dealing with breakable blocks or killing lurkers. Grab Sticky Casings or some other explosive grenade to help deal with them. As for utilities, anything works really, just avoid Laser Sight since it isn't that helpful to you when using Tesla Orbs, and maybe bring Bomb Bandolier for extra firepower. Really though, this is a lacklustre mod that you should avoid using.

The Gamma Ray is a moderately ranged beam rifle mod that will fire in the direction of your cursor out to a certain point. It does decent damage to enemies and applies a minor damage over time effect to them when used. Enemies killed while under the damage over time effect will explode, with bigger bugs dealing damage to nearby bugs. The weapon overheats fairly quickly when fired. Upgrading Gamma Ray will lead to it dealing more damage to enemies.

Due to the limited range, you will have to get somewhat close to enemies to cook them with your Gamma Ray, however, the range isn't so limited that you need to put yourself in as much danger as you would with the Flamethrower or the Scatter Shot. You'll want to be close to enemies when using this mod - but not too close.

When used, the Gamma Ray comes off as being a bit of a niche weapon, useful for eradicating scores of oncoming soldiers but less useful for general bug stomping or boss crushing as a result of its high weapon overheat. Aim for bigger targets with Gamma Ray to make them explode and damage everything around them.

This is likely a rifle mod that much like Cryo Beam, should only be taken for multiplayer use. When a Swarm state triggers, use the Gamma Ray to eradicate huge swaths of enemies when they build and bunch up. You aren't a bad choice for holding the backpack either - though your weapon overheat will make you very inadequate for holding off swarms of just small enemies.

Also, would you believe it if I said you can't damage breakable blocks or kill Lurkers with the Gamma Ray? Be sure to bring some explosives around, probably Sticky Casings, to deal with that. For Utilities consider the Rejuvenation Field or Smart Turret to help deal with the riff raff.

Brass Blessing is an interesting Long Range rifle mod that fires similar to how Pulse Rounds work, firing a stream of shots in the direction of your cursor. Unlike Pulse Rounds however, as Brass Blessings overheats, you will fire off more projectiles; with less accuracy the more that are fired. The weapon overheats extremely quickly when fired. Upgrading Brass Blessings will increase the base firing rate of the weapon.

This definitely an awesome mod to use, but also one that requires very careful management of ones overheat. Essentially when using this rifle mod, you want to fire it when the overheat is nearer to maxing out, without it maxing out; thus, you don't want to begin firing Brass Blessings when enemies appear, but rather before they begin to appear.

In using the Brass Blessing, you may want to stand apart from enemies or get right up close to them. Standing afar from enemies you can rain a torrent of death on them, eliminating swarms of bugs when they approach. For harder targets or bosses you might want to get right up close to them to ensure your torrent of death will concentrate on the desired target.

Brass Blessings is certainly an awesome rifle mod, but oddly enough it may be the one mod you won't want to use for Multiplayer - especially if input lag is set high. Because you need to careful manage your weapon overheat, it can be difficult to maintain high levels without maxing out. Because it is hard to manage, you may not be the best candidate for the backpack, since you might be unable to fire your weapon at a critical moment.

Brass Blessings is incapable of damaging breakable blocks or killing Lurkers, so just take your standard order of Sticky Casings to help out with that. In regards to utilities you can make great use of all of them to some degree. Choose whatever utility you think will help with whatever roll you wish to play with it in your adventures.

The Extreme Ultraviolence Light is a vanity weapon - due to a steep purchasing price. It provides fairly heavy damage in a beam similar in length to Gamma Ray, towards the direction that your cursor is pointed when fired. Enemies hit by E.U.V. will suffer a barrage of detrimental effects which could range from getting covered in frost while simultaneously bursting in flames. The weapon overheat is quite slow.

Much like with Gamma Ray, you will have to be close to enemies, but not too close to use it. There is no need to get closer to enemies to maintain the beam on them like Gamma Ray either, since you do so much damage you'll chew through most enemies in the way of whatever you are firing at anyway.

In chief use, fire at enemies with the E.U.V. for a quick burst and watch them pick up a variety of detrimental effects. Most weak enemies will quickly die off to the beam, while heavier targets like Bombardiers will die soon after to the aftereffects of the beam. It can also be useful on bosses too since you can apply so many different effects to them; though likely it should only be used in multiplayer if you are going to use it on bosses.

Speaking of multiplayer, that is probably the best place to use it. You spent all that fancy goo for this rifle mod so you may as well put on a show with it. It also helps to have friends for when the weapon overheats, which it will do quite frequently. Speaking of overheat, you may want to avoid carrying the backpack since your effects are random and you may have trouble against smaller bugs in big swarms.

Outside of everything else the beam does, it also will damage breakable blocks; but it can't kill Lurkers. Oddly enough, since you can still get to inaccessible areas, the only real use for explosive grenades are Lurkers. Good old Sticky Casings will still work fine on them, but you can really use anything to kill them that explodes. As for a Utility, anything is good really.

Much like with rifle mods, there is a variety of grenades which Jumpers can throw at enemies (or sometimes themselves). Depending on the grenade chosen you will receive a certain number of them, which corresponds to the grenades use and effects.

In total there are 8 different grenade types to choose from. You start off with the simple Fuse Grenade when starting out.

As with rifle mods I have broken grenades into different tiers of use; as such again, it is biased towards my opinions towards individual grenade types. As with rifle mods I recommend buying higher tier grenades over lower tier grenades. Of these grenades, I will point out that I don't recommend bothering with Cluster Casings.

The Fuse Grenade are the initial starting grenades that you get when beginning out in Hive Jump. When thrown, the grenade will sail through the air in the direction of your cursor, exploding 1.5 seconds after being thrown. The explosion radius is decent in size, and good enough to destroy breakable blocks of two or three thickness. Being explosive, it CAN kill friends, and may unintentionally do so. You can carry up to 5 Fuse Grenades at a time, 15 with Bomb Bandolier.

Fuse Grenades are your first explosive grenade, and you can use them on breakable blocks that are underneath you, or are level with your character. You can technically throw them at other breakable blocks as well, but since you can't control when they detonate you may be unable to destroy certain breakable block arrangements.

Against enemies, the Fuse Grenade can work well if thrown high to land downwards on enemies; throwing it at enemies may cause the Fuse Grenade to only hit leading enemies coming at you. Unfortunately the grenade won't kill Bombardiers in 1 hit, necessitating the use of another grenade or some rifle fire to kill. They will kill Lurkers immediately though. It is inadvisable to use Fuse Grenades against bosses.

Be careful using Fuse Grenades in Multiplayer, they can kill your friends as well as yourself. Luckily however, the 1.5 second delay means that people can move out of the blast radius in a lot of instances so don't necessarily hold back on using them.

Use Fuse Grenades early on until you unlock better grenades for use. Sticky Casings and Remote Detonators are almost a direct upgrade to Fuse Grenades in most cases; despite receiving one less of them. Use them instead of Fuse Grenades.

Sticky Casings are probably the first grenade you should unlock when you have the goo for it. They work similarly to Fuse Grenades with their 1.5 second delay and similar explosive radius, but unlike Fuse Grenades they will 'stick' to walls or enemies, making it much easier to hit things with them. While the Sticky Casings won't stick to friends, the explosive radius can kill them. You can carry 4 Sticky Casings at a time, 12 with Bomb Bandolier.

Using Sticky Casings is MUCH easier then Fuse Grenades. You can 'stick' your target with your Sticky Casing, allowing for more precise placement of them. This means you can stick ceilings as well as floors and walls of breakable blocks to get through them.

Against enemies, you can stick them to ensure they can escape the blast, as compared to Fuse Grenades where they may bounce off of them. You still need to throw extra damage when trying to kill Bombardiers though, and Lurkers still die just as easily to them as Fuse Grenades. Using Sticky Casings against Bosses works well, since you can 'stick' their weak points, ensuring a hit.

Much like Fuse Grenades you still need to be careful of your friends. But much like with Fuse Grenades, the 1.5 fuse will give them time to get out of the blast radius.

Sticky Casings work well with Rifle Mods that are incapable of killing Lurkers or damaging breakable blocks. Alternatively one can replace them with or use them over Remote Detonators.

Proximity Triggers are likely a grenade type you should avoid unlocking for use until later. As one can expect, they are placed as a trap for enemies to stumble into; though be careful, they will immediately explode if you place them on an bug, egg, or spawner. The explosive radius is quite impressive and can pass through hard terrain to hit enemies. They are ineffective for destroying breakable blocks since they require enemies to trigger them. While your friends won't trigger Proximity Triggers, they will die to the explosion in them if they are caught by it. You can carry 6 Proximity Triggers or 18 with Bomb Bandolier.

Technically you 'can' use Proximity Triggers to destroy breakable terrain, but you need to lure bugs into them or place them where they will be triggered by an egg or enemy to break them. That isn't their intended use though.

Killing enemies is the intended use of the Proximity Trigger, and it should be placed where it is expected for enemies to walk or fly by. Much like the other explosive grenade types though, you can't kill Bombardiers with it in 1 hit - though Lurkers will still die if you place it on top of them. While not particularly useful for bosses, Proximity Triggers ARE useful in ambushes, so if you are scared of those this can help.

Consider avoiding the use of Proximity Triggers for multiplayer. They can kill your friends very easily if they are near it and a bug wanders into it. Your friends can of course see Proximity Triggers but the explosive radius will limit their ability to move around it in cramped situations.

I recommend using Incendiary Pinwheels over Proximity Triggers. While Incendiary Pinwheels aren't outright better, they will likely fill a lot of the same uses as Proximity Triggers - plus they won't kill your friends when you use them.

Remote Detonators are your typical C4. In comparison to Fuse Grenades, the main difference is that you can detonate them when you desire, allowing for a skilled Jumper to 'place' their explosions where and when they desire. The Remote Detonator will kill your friends if you detonate them on them. You can carry 4 Remote Detonators at a time, 12 with Bomb Bandolier.

Similar to Sticky Casings, Remote Detonators can be used to blow up inconvenient breakable blocks that the Fuse Grenades can't - just chuck the Remote Detonator and blow it up at the right time to destroy them. Some practice may be needed to get the timing right.

Against enemies you can use them similarly to Fuse Grenades - throwing them into the fray to detonate them on enemies. Unlike Fuse Grenades, or even Sticky Casings though, you can lay Remote Detonators and let enemies fly or walk over them to detonate under them. You can also lay multiples of them to detonate all at once. Bombardiers still take a couple of shots and Lurkers still die outright to them. You can use Remote Detonators on bosses too, but generally Sticky Casings are superior in most instances.

With friends you can 'typically' worry less about blowing them up since 'you' manually control when they go boom. Just keep in mind that if you leave a Remote Detonator out and about that it may cause some uneasiness to friends passing by it.

Remote Detonators work very similarly to Sticky Casings in dealing with breakable blocks and Lurkers, and if preferred one can take Remote Detonators over Sticky Casings or vice versa.

Poison Cloud is a non-explosive grenade - meaning this is one of the grenade types that 'won't' clear breakable blocks or kill Lurkers. They work similarly to Fuse Grenades with the 1.5 second fuse, but instead when they explode they release deadly poison gas in a big radius that will apply a powerful damage over time effect to enemies. It is player safe, meaning you don't have to worry bout hitting your allies. You get 5 of them to play with, 15 with Bomb Bandolier.

Poison Cloud won't do anything for you against breakable blocks or Lurkers, so be sure to pair it up with a Rifle Mod that CAN deal with those issues.

Enemies hit by the Poison Cloud will take intensive damage, which will kill even Elite Bombardiers. Standard Fuse Grenade practices apply, but the big blast radius will likely render most enemies hit by it. Poison Cloud is a decent weapon for bosses, since it applies instantly and the damage over time effect will tick for a time while you attack them with your main weapon. They won't deal with enemies that come soon after - but you do have more Poison Cloud to use so that makes up for it a bit.

In Multiplayer they work well with lots of friends since they don't cause much of a frame rate issue like Incendiary Pinwheels do.

Poison Cloud pairs up well with rifle mods that have difficulty wiping out massed enemies. Alternatively you can swap them with Incendiary Pinwheels as they have similar effects.

Cluster Casings! Fun Times! The only thing in this entire list rated Tier F! Cluster Casings are unfortunately the unintended 'grief' weapon implemented by the developers of this game.

After the initial throw of the Cluster Casing, the grenade will split into 5 smaller pieces that will be 'thrown' in random directions 0.3 seconds later; and 1.5 seconds later, all those small pieces will detonate. The explosive can destroy breakable blocks but 'will unreliably' get you through. It can also kill your friends, and 'will reliably' kill them more often then not. You get a total of 4 Cluster Casings to use, 12 with Bomb Bandolier.

While you 'can' use Cluster Casings to damage breakable blocks or kill Lurkers, it is not recommended for that use. More often then not you'll need a couple to kill Lurkers, and against breakable blocks the charges will often bounce away.

Against enemies they 'may' be a bit more reliable then Fuse Grenades, but you are definitely hoping for the best when you throw it. At best you might kill Bombardiers in one go, but at worst you might not kill as much as when using a Fuse Grenade. I don't recommend Cluster Casings for bosses, though they are more suitable to damaging bosses then the Fuse Grenades are.

I don't know whether to say watch out for your friends or 'aim at your friends' when using Cluster Casings. More often then not they will reliably kill your friends if you throw them anywhere in their vicinity. If you don't want to kill your friends, don't throw them when they are on screen really.

To be blunt, you shouldn't bother with Cluster Casings - unless you are a diabolical troll. There is really no good situation to use them in and a lot of situations they shouldn't be used in.

Incendiary Pinwheel are another non-explosive grenade - so no damage to breakable blocks or Lurkers. Unlike other grenade types, the Incendiary Pinwheel will lay down waves of fiery napalm for a 3 seconds, 0.5 seconds after getting thrown. Enemies that come in contact with the flames initially of after entering the effect will take constant flame damage inside the Incendiary Pinwheels radius, as well as burn damage after the fact. It is another player safe weapon. You only get 3 for use though, or 9 with Bomb Bandolier.

As with Poison Cloud, be sure to bring a Rifle Mod that can deal with Lurkers or breakable Blocks, as the Incendiary Pinwheel won't help with them.

Against enemies the Incendiary Pinwheel will work best for holding choke points, providing constant damage for a few seconds to enemies within its radius. It deals good damage, allowing you to fry an Elite Bombardier to death. The Incendiary Pinwheel works great for bosses too - especially if they hold still long enough to get constantly doused by flames!

Using it in Multiplayer is fine since you won't effect other Jumpers with the flames, but keep in mind that this is a grenade that 'may' kill your games FPS - though that's a rather minor annoyance.

Much like Poison Cloud, you can use Incendiary Pinwheel with rifle mods that have trouble with massed enemies.

Healing Cloud is a rather peculiar grenade type, since it doesn't do any damage to enemies. Instead, players can use Healing Cloud to heal themselves and their allies. Much like Fuse Grenades, they will detonate after 1.5 seconds, and then release their healing goodness on nearby effected Jumpers. The healing effect will provide an initial big heal, along with a small healing over time effect. To say it is player safe is an understatement - this is something you aim at your friends. You get a total of 4 Healing Clouds too, 12 with Bomb Bandolier.

It should go without saying that this has no destructive force, so you won't be using it to kill Lurkers or get by breakable blocks.

Same can be said for enemies too. You can kill with this. Don't use it on the boss either - it does nothing to the.

While Healing Cloud is of course useful in Singleplayer, it outright 'shines' in multiplayer. If you see an injured ally, then using this can keep them in the fight a little longer! Someone should take either this of Rejuvenation Field to help heal injured Jumpers.

Really when it comes to Healing Cloud, you take rifle mods that work with Healing Cloud - which means weapons that will damage breakable blocks or kill Lurkers. I also recommend taking Quantum Blink with it, as you can use Quantum Blink to rush around or get away in defense and use Healing Cloud as needed.

Utilities make for a lot of fun in Hive Jump, and have many different attributes for use. Some of them are better suited for single player runs while others do better when other Jumpers can come and help you.

There are a total of 9 different utilities in the game for a Jumper to use. Initially you go in with just Telefrag unlocked.

As with everything else I've listed, the Utilities are broken down into tiers. My opinion dictates what is higher tier or lower tier, so consider such bias. I do recommend taking higher tier over lower tier utilities. I also suggest moving away from using Telefrag is quickly as possible.

Telefrag is the initial utility you get for running into the Hive with. When you respawn after death, Telefrag will trigger an explosion in the radius of your backpack, kill off enemies and breakable blocks in a small vicinity.

Typically, Telefrag is useful when you initial enter a Hive and have nothing unlocked. You respawn fairly quick, so you get a nice big explosion as soon as you jump back in. Unfortunately it gets less useful the deeper you go into the Hive, and with friends you likely won't have to worry about them having enemies around them when you respawn.

One should typically swap out Telefrag as soon as one is able too.

Sonar Ping is a support item, that will indicate for all Jumpers where chests and doors in the current Hive are.

Typically not that useful in Single Player, in Multiplayer the Sonar Ping shines since it will inform your team of Jumpers where goodie chests are and Relic Rooms might be. It cooldowns really quick too, allowing for subsequent pings to be made a necessary.

If you are running with 3 or 4 people, one of you may opt to use the Sonar Ping; though I recommend only doing so earlier in the run, and not when you get further down in depth.

The Bomb Bandolier will multiple ones grenade capacity by 3.

If you like to use grenades, or if you are using a rifle mod that necessitates a little extra firepower, the Bomb Bandolier is not a back pick to use. It's use is mitigated somewhat by a lack of grenade pickups one might find naturally in a run, but one can have a lot of fun with it.

Normally I wouldn't recommend using Bomb Bandolier, unless you are using a showy rifle mod or a really weak one.

The Rejuvenation Field will put up a shield that will block projectiles and heal jumpers that stay inside of it.

This is a useful utility, especially if you are playing in multiplayer. It will block any type of projectile fire at it - including those from bosses. Just keep in mind that melee attacks will still get through it - nothing like a snack attack for example!

I recommend taking the Rejuvenation Field in Multiplayer with at least one of your teams Jumpers. You can use it for healing up, as well as providing cover when your team needs it.

The Overshield will provide additional protection for the Jumper, and will regenerate to full power after 5 seconds if the Jumper can evade being hit.

Easily the favored utility for many Jumpers, the Overshield is your goto utility for going singleplayer through a Hive, or if you are primarily going to be carrying the backpack in multiplayer.

If you don't know what utility to use, use Overshield. If you know what utility to use, consider if Overshield is likely worth swapping from for it - that's Overshield!

When activated, the player will maneuver freely through the air via Hoverjets for up to 30 seconds. It cuts the Jumpers movement speed significantly when used.

This is a fairly interesting item to use when you want to avoid hazards, or perhaps to avoid having to platform as you chase after Caretaker. However, its use is likely hampered by the superiority of Quantum Blink.

Hoverjets aren't a bad utility, just simply and outclassed one with few instances that it can shine in. I don't recommend its use, but I don't recommend against using it either.

When deployed, the Smart Turret will auto-target enemies in range of it with pulse rounds for 30 seconds.

An extremely powerful weapon for holding off enemies or for additional damage against bosses, this is a good utility to bring along if you need a little additional fire. Notably, it works great against smaller enemies, meaning it pairs up well with rifle mods that don't.

I recommend the use of Smart Turret in multiplayer, where you can hold back from the fray and place the Smart Turret when swarms come bearing down on you and your team.

When used, you will instantly teleport in a fix direction targeted toward your cursor.

This is likely the most broken utility in the game, and it is certainly a speedrunners goto choice for getting through levels swiftly. Use it to skip down or up levels, get through inaccessible breakable blocks, or to avoid obstacles and other hazards that could kill you.

I recommend taking this with Healing Cloud grenades since the two go so well together; especially if you are speedrunning through levels. Take a rifle mod that can kill Lurkers too.

You activate a laser pointer that helps with aiming. Additionally, it increases the accuracy and rate of fire of the weapon it is attached too.

Need more damage now? The Laser Sight will help increase your damage output, and it works with all rifle mod types. For example, equip it on a Flamethrower mod and you'll both make your jets aim more towards the targeting cursor AND release flames faster!

For best use, take this against bosses that you want to put down fast. A team of jumpers with appropriate weapons that will cause high damage can down most of the lesser bosses in less then 20 seconds.

January 23-24 - Wrote the main part of this guide, to help players understand the various rifle mods, grenades, and utilities that can be used by their jumper characters in game.