I have a character in mind who uses grenades and unarmed combat, but looking at how expensive they get, im not sure it will be viable over the longer term. Has anyone done any analysis on whether you can keep being useful as a grenade user?
If you're buying them, hell no. Way too expensive. A soldier with the bombard fighting style can open each fight with a grenade at least.
An idea:
Multi Class, two levels in Drone Mechanic to get the Overload weapon trick. Allows you to use any energy weapon you find as a grenade that scales off of weapon level instead of mechanic level.
Then the rest of your levels in Bombard soldier.
This gives you the free grenade (two shy of current level) and increases the limited range of your overload weapon grenades.
Get the stealth drone to go around and pick up the used guns off of bodies for you to use, or to plant overloaded weapons for you but otherwise it won't be too helpful. (Or maybe load it up with six overloaded weapons connect a detonator and have it Kamikaze, rebuild it the next day.)
Not sure about the unarmed part, but that's how I would play a grenade focused character.
Pretty much only as a bombard soldier, other than that not really. They're simply too expensive to use every combat. Or multiple times a combat.
The unarmed part...there is the battle glove (which is basically a fist weapon)...so close enough?
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Outside of relying on the GM keep providing you with grenades, or if you multiclass guns(though that has its own significant down sides). Not really. Grenades start expensive and as you level they get more so. At level 20 a grenade cost a full third of the closest comparable weapon. Bombard helps, but it's really just a once per fight trick, and without plenty of grenades the other abilities the style gives won't help someone going unarmed at all. You could rely on lower level grenades which are comparatively cheap but the damage from them won't be particularly relevant.
You'll also have a issue in not having much in the way of non combat stats. As an unarmed fighter you need STR. You would also REALLY need STR for the range boost if you went the overload route (even presuming they work together, I don't have the book in front of me so I can't confirm that wording). Otherwise with overload you'll either have to take the -2 penalty to your save DC or get caught in the explosive yourself.
You also need a high Dex, since that's what your save DC for grenades works off of, and you'll want the AC boost in melee. I think you want a minimum of 16 in each, so even with a +2 in one you're now out of stat points to add to anything else.
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There is a way to make Unarmed combat work. There is a way to make an explosion-oriented build work, rather than grenade oriented. They do not readily combine, unfortunately, but I'll lay them out anyway.
For unarmed combat, it's very simple; you need a way to make your unarmed strikes do lethal, non-archaic damage, and you need Improved Unarmed Strike. The most obvious way to get the former is race choice, which will get you a +1.5*Level specialization.
If you have a GM who will allow it, however, Dead Suns 2 introduces the 315 credit, level 3 Ring of Fangs as an item associated with one of the antagonistic groups there. It gives you a bite attack with 2*level scaling, and is the most powerful "unarmed" option available combined with IUS. Be warned, however, that it is extremely powerful; it can full attack normally, but competes with the unwieldy doshko until level 11. It beats advanced melee weapons at most levels until level 17, at which point it falls significantly behind them. It is rules legal, but doing as much as 5 to 6 more damage than people who are paying to keep their weapons up to date by biting things may make others somewhat unhappy. I frankly expect a nerf at some point.
Racial natural weapons won't compete with advanced melee weapons like the ring, but they're a safer and fairly reasonable back-up weapon combined with IUS.
You could also abandon what is mechanically unarmed combat and go with either battle gloves or fluff a Solarian's Solar Weapon as being mystical fisticuffs, though the latter has no real grenade support. If all you really want to do is punch people with soft, humanoid fists, however, I'm afraid you're out of luck - even with Improved Unarmed Strike, bare fists simply don't have the damage to work as a primary weapon, and by RAW currently cannot even get rid of the Archaic or Non-Lethal qualities without third party support. Or maybe even then, depending on what has been published.
As for explosions, grenades are probably not the best way to go here. You can use them, certainly - Hijiggy has provided one way to do it. I don't think you'll be able to rely on it as a primary thing, but it is an option. Another approach to making everything explode is to focus on Mechanic with maybe a quick dip in Soldier, get heavy weapons, and then Overcharge a Shock Caster or Plasma Cannon. Unlike Line or Blast, Explode does not prevent you from boosting its damage with things like Overcharge, and unlike grenades, you can apply Weapon Specialization too. You likely don't want to try to focus on both at character creation, so I would personally prioritize Dex and Int, while bumping Strength up later and simply using the natural weapon as a deterrent in melee. You don't need to shift your grip to bite people with IUS.
Unfortunately, I expect that may deviate from whatever ideas you might have in mind. Still, it's an option worth considering.
Thank you all.
I might have to invest in speed enhancing stuff and make sure he can melee as soon as possible. 1 or 2 grenades a battle sounds like the realistic limit. I hadn’t considered battle glove - he’s a tail-swiping Vesk, but I think I can reskin the glove easily enough.
Cheers.