Panzergrenadier Squad

Contributors

Infantry

Faction

Afrikakorps

Standard infantry effective against infantry at medium-range with higher short-range performance than other standard infantry. Combined Arms bonuses when near combat vehicles.

Note: This page refers to the DAK unit. For the Wehrmacht version, refer to this:

Despite sharing the same name, both units are fairly different and belong to different factions.

The Panzergrenadier Squad is the standard mainline infantry of the DAK. In skirmishes, they are produced from the .

The DAK Panzergrenadiers are versatile infantry that are fairly expensive compared to other equivalent squads. Like most DAK infantry, they are capable of performing repairs (albeit at a reduced rate compared to ), and they also benefit from the passive Combined Arms, making it is ideal to use Panzergrenadiers near friendly vehicles for increased combat prowess.

DAK Panzergrenadiers have a damage curve that is very skewed towards close quarters, similar to USF . This means their damage per second (DPS) is highest at close range, and this effectiveness tapers off significantly at longer ranges. Perhaps unusual for units armed with bolt action rifles, they are surprisingly one of the better close quarters units in the early game.

By default they can be upgraded with an MG 34 Light Machine Gun, which improves their anti-infantry performance at all ranges especially at longer ranges.

Thanks to the numerous upgrades available to them from the as well as Battlegroup perks, they can scale quite well given enough time and resources. This makes them capable of reaching similar durability and effectiveness of even some elite infantry. Examples of a few upgrades includes enabling grenades and anti-tank grenades, as well as increasing their squad size. More information about various upgrades and associated abilities can be found below.

Of special note: The upgrade Veteran Squad Leaders will increase the squad size of Panzergrenadiers, but intentionally does not apply the combat bonuses to them.

Veterancy

900 XP

Unlocks veteran ability. Unit is harder to hit.

2700 XP

Increases accuracy, rate of fire, and unit is harder to hit.

5400 XP

Increases accuracy, rate of fire, and health.

Veterancy Abilities

Focus Fire: Active ability gained upon reaching veterancy level 1. When an enemy is targeted with this ability, the Panzergrenadier squad will attack the target and initially gains +10% accuracy and +10% damage. A stacking additional +10% accuracy is added every 3 seconds while the ability is active. Once the ability is activated, ordering the squad to do anything else (such as move or attacking a different target) will cancel the ability and put it on cooldown. Essentially a straight combat buff that is best used when the squad itself does not need to move or use abilities. Especially useful on defence, but can be tricky to use offensively. Be wary that the Panzergrenadier will chase the target if they move out of range, so micromanagement is required to ensure they do not run off unintentionally.

Upgrades

MG 34 Light Machine Gun

Upgrades the squad with an anti-infantry machine gun.

100

MG 34 Light Machine Gun: Upgrades the squad with one MG 34 LMG, which significantly improves anti-infantry performance at all ranges. Unlike most LMGs, Panzergrenadiers can fire this weapon on the move.

Upgrades

Veteran Squad Leaders: Globally adds combat bonuses of +25% veterancy rate gain and -10% incoming damage to all infantry except Panzergrenadiers. Increases Panzergrenadier squad size by 1.
Advanced Field Repairs: Globally increases the repair speed of all infantry by +2.5 health a second.

Abilities

Plunder

Plunder a vehicle wreck for leftover weapons that is dependent on the wreck being an Allied or Axis vehicle. Panzergrenadiers - M1918 BAR or Breda 30 Light Machine Gun. Assault Grenadiers - Thompson SMGs or StG 44 Assault Rifles. Panzerjäger Squad - Panzerbuchse AT Rifle or M9 Bazooka. Panzerpioneers - M1919 Light Machine Gun or G43 Scoped Rifle.

Hafthohlladung Anti-tank Grenade

Damages and temporarily slows vehicles. Causes Engine Damage on vehicles that reach 50% health or below.

Focus Fire

Increases damage and accuracy against the targeted squad. Bonuses increase the longer the ability is active.

+10% accuracy, +10% damage. +10% accuracy for every %4% seconds while active.

180

Force Recon

Increases the Line of Sight of infantry when they are near vehicles.

Stick Grenade

Throws a grenade that deals high damage to infantry in a small area. Very effective against infantry in cover or structures.

Combined Arms

Increases accuracy, speed and makes unit harder to hit when near combat vehicles.

+10% accuracy, +15% speed and squad is 10% harder to hit.

Vehicle Support - Secure Location

Increases the capture and decapture rate of infantry when they are near vehicles.

+25% capture and decapture rate.

Repair

Orders the unit to repair the target vehicle, building, emplacement or bridge. Repairs at a reduced rate.

Restores +%1% health per second. Unit takes +100% additional damage and is +200% easier to hit while repairing.

Rudimentary Repairs

Repairs the target vehicle, building, bridge, or emplacement over time. Hold CTRL to override repair command, allowing the unit to garrison structures or vehicles.

Restores +%1% health per second. Unit takes +200% additional damage and is +%3%%% easier to hit while repairing.

Rapid Salvage

Orders the unit to quickly salvage a wreck for fuel.

Vehicle Support - Secure Location

Increases the capture and decapture rate of infantry when they are near vehicles.

+25% capture and decapture rate.

Combined Arms: Passive ability. The squad will gain +10% accuracy, +15% movement speed, and -10% received accuracy when near friendly vehicles. This encourages fighting while near friendly vehicles due to substantial combat bonuses.
Rudimentary Repair: This unit by default uses Rudimentary Repair, allowing them to repair damaged vehicles albeit at a reduced rate (+6 health per second) compared to typical engineer squads (+8 health per second). When upgraded with Advanced Field Repairs from the , their repair rate is increased by an additional +2.5 health per second for total repair rate of +8.5 per second.
Stick Grenade: Active ability. Available after either Fire Support Elements from the is researched, or the is constructed. Throws a frag grenade at the target location which will explode after a short timer. Effective against infantry especially those clustered together or garrisoned in a structure.
Hafthohlladung Anti-Tank Grenade: Active ability. Available after either Fire Support Elements from the is researched, or the is constructed. Throws an anti-tank snare at target vehicle, dealing damage and slowing it down to a crawl. After the ability is successfully cast, the explosive cannot be avoided and thus is guaranteed to 'stick' to a vehicle and explode. If the vehicle is healthy, it will cause the 'Crew Shocked' state, temporarily slowing its movement speed. If the vehicle is already damaged, the snare may instead cause 'Engine Damaged', which permanently slows the vehicle until it is fully repaired. Useful to slow a vehicle down to ensure its destruction from other AT weapons. Multiple successive snares may be used to force Engine Damaged or to cause more damage.

Battlegroup Abilities

Armored Support Battlegroup

Salvage Kits: Enables Panzerpioneers and Panzergrenadiers to use the Rapid Salvage active ability. Rapid Salvage will salvage a targeted vehicle wreck for resources, granting more fuel proportional to how expensive the wrecked unit was (i.e heavier tanks will salvage for more than light vehicles).

Italian Combined Arms Battlegroup

Vehicle Support - Secure Location: Passive ability. Increases both the capture and decapture rate of infantry when they are near vehicles by 25%.
Breda Model 30 Light Machine Gun: Once unlocked from the battlegroup, enables the purchase of Breda LMGs for Panzergrenadier and Bersaglieri squads. This perk conflicts with the Force Recon perk.
Vehicle Support - Force Recon: Passive ability. Increases the vision range of infantry when they are near vehicles. This perk conflicts with the Breda Model 30 Light Machine Gun perk.

Weapons

Kar98k-panzergrenadier-ak	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.538	0.528	0.372
Range	7	22	35

Perhaps unexpectedly, DAK Panzergrenadiers are most effective at close range, as their default weapons deal the most DPS at closer ranges and tapers off significantly at longer ranges.