Hand-E-Nuke
Complexity
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1 |
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Tier
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8 |
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<008> | |
Can Disassemble
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yes |
Can Build
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yes |
Tinker Skill
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Potential
Mods? |
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Character
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δ |
ID?
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HandENuke |
Spawns in
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Extra Info:
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Infobox data from game version 2.0.206.57
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A thick metal jacket encases the explosive and is clamped to a quick-release lever. It's etched with a bouquet of explosive arrows and it rattles under its own weight.
The Hand-E-Nuke is the most powerful explosive implement in Caves of Qud. Additionally, it is the fourth most valuable item and the most valuable by weight (excluding, of course, weightless items).
The Hand-E-Nuke causes 10 million explosive force when it detonates, dealing up to a total of 
40000+2d640002-40012 (Avg: 40007) damage to everything caught inside. Due to the nature of explosions, the actual damage caused to individual objects and creatures will vary considerably depending on environmental factors.
Safe Use
There are several ways to safely detonate a Hand-E-Nuke, or at least to greatly increase the chances that you will be safe when detonating it:
- Use a
grenade launcher to fire it across the screen.
- Make extra sure you're going to hit something - it's best to fire toward a segment of wall or a large group of enemies. The grenade launcher's aim isn't perfect and if you don't hit a target, the nuke can fly completely off screen and disappear without detonating at all (this is true for any grenade launched from the grenade launcher).
- Make extra sure you're going to hit something - it's best to fire toward a segment of wall or a large group of enemies. The grenade launcher's aim isn't perfect and if you don't hit a target, the nuke can fly completely off screen and disappear without detonating at all (this is true for any grenade launched from the
- Use tinkering to mod the grenade to be phase-conjugate. Then, phase out before throwing it. The grenade will phase back in before detonating, and will not harm you because you are still phased.
- If you don't have the
Phasing mutation, you can still do this by cooking a meal that grants phasing.
- If you don't have the
- Use the Lay Mine / Set Bomb skill to set the Hand-E-Nuke as a bomb.
- If there are stairs nearby, you can go up or down one level and you will be safe from the explosion. Explosions do not travel up or down stairs.
- Otherwise, use whatever items or abilities you can to increase your quickness, movement speed, or sprint speed so that you can run for cover before it explodes. Running behind a few layers of wall is usually a good way to avoid most of the damage.
- Another option is to detonate a
stasis grenade or use a 
stasis projector to create a 
stasis field around yourself before the nuke explodes, making you (and anything else caught in the field) immune to damage. Notably, this option also prevents damage reflection from hurting you.
Avoiding damage reflection
In higher-level regions, you should also ensure that your Hand-E-Nukes do not hit enemies with damage reflection, including 
quartz baboons and 
mirror bugs. Mirror bugs are particularly dangerous, as they are fragile and reflect 100% of their damage back at the attacker. A misplaced nuke hitting a mirror bug can easily reflect several thousand points of damage back at the player.
It is possible to avoid damage reflection from creatures hit by your Hand-E-Nukes by placing a stasis field around yourself before the nuke detonates.
Visual Demo
Here is an example of a Hand-E-Nuke explosion.
Damage Extent
The explosion of the Hand-E-Nuke can also destroy objects in adjacent zones.
In the demo GIF above, the zone one screen north was also severely damaged:
| Northern Zone Before | Northern Zone After |
|---|---|
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