Bionic implant dossier · critical warning
Essential warning: the Cortex Bomb is a bionic head implant, not a grenade. It deals massive 150 Explosive damage in radius 5, but its detonation amputates the user's head—instantly killing ordinary clones.
LETHAL DANGER
Many new players assume the Cortex Bomb is a weapon to throw or equip in hand. It is actually surgically installed into the clone's head slot. Detonation results in:
Item profile
Verified parameters from community data dumps and game files for version 0.9.8 through Steam 1.0.
Where to find it
ENEMY DROPS
Encountered in labor camps and penitentiary facilities controlled by Franche-Comte PS. Enemy prisoners have cortex bombs installed and will rush you in melee to trigger explosive suicide attacks. Kill them at range before they close distance.
WORKBENCH CRAFTING
Craftable on the Magnum ship with the Augmentation Chip recipe: requires 1x Transformer, 1x PCB, and 1x Microchip. Takes 2 in-game days to produce.
TACTICAL ROLE
Experienced players occasionally use the Cortex Bomb on sacrificial, disposable basic clones sent into high-difficulty stations to wipe out elite clusters or bosses before sending in primary mercenaries.
Combat tactics
Listen for audio cues and watch for unarmored prisoner units sprinting directly toward you. They carry negligible firearms and rely on closing to melee range to detonate.
With an explosive blast radius of 5, standing 4 or fewer tiles away will cause lethal splash damage. Kite backwards into doorways and fire from distance.
Stagger or dismember running suicide units before their turn resolves. Piercing or blunt attacks to the legs reduce their movement speed immediately.
Keep your expensive, highly trained clones free of explosive head augmentations. Reserve head slots for optical analyzers, neuro-stimulators, or defensive plating.
If a suicide inmate closes in while friendly NPCs or neutral security block the corridor, step directly onto the ally's tile to swap positions and retreat to safe blast distance.
Direct answers
The Cortex Bomb is a bionic head augmentation (implant), not a throwable grenade. When detonated—either manually or triggered automatically (20% chance) when taking a wound—it releases 150 Explosive damage across a radius of 5 tiles.
Yes, under standard conditions. The detonation amputates the user's head, causing instant clone death unless your clone has specific bionic head augments or traits that allow surviving decapitation. It functions primarily as a kamikaze self-destruct device.
Cortex Bombs are encountered in contracts targeting Franche-Comte PS forces, where they are surgically implanted into enemy prisoners and inmates who attempt to blow themselves up in melee range.
Crafting requires the Augmentation Chip blueprint. Once researched at the Magnum station, the recipe requires 1x Transformer, 1x PCB, and 1x Microchip, with a 2-day production cycle.