Gears of War E-Day How to Use Blast Charge
Blast Charges show up during the Corpser Invasion in Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege, but picking one up does not work like equipping a grenade or normal piece of equipment. The charge is tied directly to the Corpser encounter, and the game only lets you use it during a specific part of the fight.
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How to Use a Blast Charge
Make the Corpser Retreat
Blast Charge Prompt Not Appearing
Blast Charge vs. Imulsion Blast Charge
How to Use a Blast Charge in Gears of War: E-Day
To use a Blast Charge in Horde Siege, first pick one up during a Corpser Invasion and then damage the Corpser until it retreats back underground. Once the Corpser disappears into its hole, run to the edge of that hole while carrying the charge and use the interaction prompt to throw the Blast Charge inside.
You do not need to manually equip the Blast Charge and throw it like a grenade. Carrying it to the Corpser's hole is what matters. The interaction only becomes available after the Corpser has been forced underground.
1. Pick up a Blast Charge during the Corpser Invasion.
2. Attack the Corpser until you remove enough health to force it to retreat.
3. Wait for the Corpser to disappear into its hole.
4. Run directly to the edge of the Corpser hole.
5. Press the interaction button when the Blast Charge prompt appears.
6. Repeat the process as the Corpser returns and retreats again.
On an Xbox controller, the interaction prompt is X by default. The important part is waiting for the prompt rather than trying to select the Blast Charge from your normal equipment controls.
You Have to Make the Corpser Retreat First
If you are carrying a Blast Charge and cannot do anything with it, there is a good chance you are simply too early in the encounter.
The Blast Charge is not used while the Corpser is standing above ground. Your squad first needs to damage the boss enough to remove part of its health and trigger its retreat animation.
Once it starts pulling back underground, give it enough room to finish the retreat. Then move toward the opening it leaves behind. That is when the interaction becomes available.
This also means Blast Charges are not a replacement for shooting the Corpser. Your weapons push the encounter into the next phase; the Blast Charge is what you use after that phase change.
If you are still deciding which class to level for Horde, our Gears of War: E-Day best Horde class tier list breaks down all four classes and what each brings to Corpser encounters and Horde Siege in general.
Why Is the Blast Charge Prompt Not Appearing?
If you reach the Corpser hole and there is no option to use the Blast Charge, check the state of the encounter before assuming the item is bugged.
The Corpser is still active: Keep damaging it until it fully retreats underground.
You are too far from the hole: Move directly to the edge and look for the interaction prompt.
You are trying to equip the charge: Do not use the normal grenade or equipment input. The charge is used through the Corpser-hole interaction.
Another player is using a charge: Only one player can perform the interaction at a time, so wait until their attempt finishes.
The biggest source of confusion is that the game lets you physically carry the charge before you are allowed to use it. That makes it feel like there should be a dedicated Blast Charge button, but the actual trigger is contextual.
Blast Charge vs. the Imulsion Blast Charge Collectible
There is also an item called the Imulsion Blast Charge in the Campaign, but that is a separate collectible and should not be confused with the Blast Charges used against the Corpser in Horde Siege.
The Imulsion Blast Charge collectible is found during Act 4 Chapter 3 at the end of the Special Cargo Secondary Objective, inside a military container near the helipad. Finding it adds the collectible to your Campaign collection; it is not the item you need to learn how to equip for the Horde Siege Corpser mechanic.
So if you searched for how to "use the Blast Charge" because you picked one up during Horde Siege, ignore the Campaign collectible. Damage the Corpser, wait for it to retreat, carry your charge to the hole, and interact with the opening.
If you are also working through Horde-related achievements while doing this, our Gears of War: E-Day achievements guide covers the larger Horde Siege requirements alongside the Campaign and Versus achievements.
