So twice now, in combat, I've gone to throw a grenade in combat and .... melee blocked instead!! You can imagine how successful that was since my enemies were across the room from me, laughing themselves silly as they killed me deader than Julius Ceaser.

Thinking that, you know, Bethesda was doing things right and I was fat thumbing something, I tried this afternoon for about half an hour to "learn" to throw a grenade. I was using Molotov Cocktails. I pressed the hot key to activate the item, then I pressed the grenade button. At first, it worked, although my distance svcks and I can't seem to throw beyond a certain distance (but that could me still learning the sytem).

Then suddenly, it just stopped. No matter how I tried I couldn't throw a grenade. Nothing. All my character did was melee block. Again And agin. And again. No matter what button combination I pressed, all I did was melee block.

Is there a secret to throwing grenades/molotov cocktails that isn't in the tooltip?

Press and hold the melee button down..

Key bindings in this game are terrible

Use the bash key, but hold it down. Not the block key.

I remapped my keys to something that made more sense.

Thanks to both of you. I have to agree using the bash/block key or whatever it is to throw grenades may be the stupidist design decision in computer gaming history. Like ever.

Okay. So block is R2, Bash/grenade throw (now remapped, thanks Tawnee) to Y which is easier to reach. So to bask, I press Y quick. To throw a grenade or MC, I press Y and hold it down for a moment?

Wouldn't it have been simpler for Bethesda to just use the R1 + a hotkey. So if I want to throw grenades I can hotkey them to 6, for example, the in two keystrokes: 6 + R1, I'd throw a grenade?

This system is so bad.

This is a problem it's very cumbersome at least on consoles.

I'm on computer and it's cumbersome; I can't imagine what it would be like on a console.

It's the same on consoles.

While you have to hold down the Bash button to throw a grenade on PC on the console we have to hold down the bash button to throw a grenade.

While you think "Many why did Bethesda give us this awful Console U.I" people on console think "If the game hadn't been made on PC the UI could have been so much simpler.

The game has confused me at times and I've done stuff like not thrown a grenade properly.

That's not a big deal though because if I'd mastered everything within the first 5 minutes it wouldn't be much of a game.

I'll mention that it plays a sound (pulling the pin?) when you've held the button down long enough to switch from a melee attack to a grenade throw, once you've realised that it becomes way easier to deal with.

Fair enough. I did go back and practice some more, with a new hotkey for grenades and bashing/melee. Once I got the hang of it, it works okay. I was able to throw a grenade through the window of a house from the street, so I have some distance now.

But here's a question: if you have grenades and Molotov Cocktails in your inventory, which one does the game know to throw?

Thanks! And thanks to everyone for the help.

Depends on which one you decide to equip. See it as having an equipment slot for grenades.

You select them in the inventory like any other weapon, or favourite them.

I wish we could still throw grenades in VATS.

I know, right? Some of these enemies are so fast that by the time I hold and release the correct button, they have moved and my grenade is just wasted. I find it very hard to aim and predict where they will land, and having to hold down the button messes up my timing. Half the time I just end up panicking and blowing myself up, or tossing it into an empty area where the enemy used to be.

THIS!!! Agreed, 100%.

I don't so much mind that I can't, but taking the option away altogether bums me out a bit.

Not complaining though, we still have a new Fallout

I will say that having that one button do 3 things (tap bashes, hold tossed grenade, hold while in scope holds breath) is a pain. I constantly pull the pin on a grenade when I mean to hold my breath in scope because either I drop out of scope view or I have the wrong weapon equipped (no scope). Luckily, you can ESC and it cancels the grenade toss, but the wasted opportunity in combat is frustrating.

I certainly miss being able to toss grenades in VATS. Slow motion Nuka Grenades taking out a dozen Raiders were always awesome!