🔫 TEAR GAS

Damage & Stats

Tear Gas grenades release a persistent chemical irritant cloud with a 5-meter radius that lasts for 12 seconds before dissipating. Targets within the cloud suffer 4 damage per second (48 total over full exposure) plus severe movement and accuracy penalties: 60% reduction in movement speed, 80% reduction in aiming accuracy, and a forced coughing animation that interrupts actions every 2 seconds. These debuffs persist for 3 seconds after leaving the gas cloud, preventing immediate combat recovery.

The grenade detonates on impact with a 0.5-second arming delay, releasing the gas cloud instantly rather than using a timed fuse. Throwing range is approximately 30 meters with a standard throw. The player can carry a maximum of 5 Tear Gas grenades, and the chemical cloud affects all characters equally — including the player and any allies — making positioning critical. Gas masks (purchasable as equipment) negate all Tear Gas effects, though NPC enemies rarely wear them outside of NOOSE tactical units and certain military-themed missions.

Tactical Analysis

Tear Gas is a force multiplier rather than a direct damage weapon — its value comes from reducing enemy combat effectiveness to near-zero within the cloud area. A group of armed NPCs who would normally shred the player in a direct firefight become stumbling, coughing, inaccurate targets that can be picked off with precision or bypassed entirely. The 12-second duration is long enough to cross a room, clear a hallway, or transit through an area while defenders are disabled, making it the premier tool for breaching fortified positions.

The area-denial application is equally powerful: throwing Tear Gas at a chokepoint prevents enemy reinforcements from advancing for a full 12 seconds, buying time during extraction sequences, heist escapes, and multi-wave defense missions. Stacking two Tear Gas grenades at the same position doubles the damage tick and extends effective denial time as the clouds expire at slightly different moments. The self-damage risk is the weapon's primary limitation — careless deployment in enclosed spaces or shifting wind conditions can incapacitate the player just as effectively as the enemy.

Attachments & Modifications

Tear Gas grenades themselves cannot be modified, but the player's gas mask equipment determines how effectively they can operate within their own gas clouds. The basic gas mask ($1,200 at Ammu-Nation) provides full immunity to Tear Gas effects, while the advanced tactical gas mask ($3,500) adds peripheral vision retention and voice communication clarity that the basic model sacrifices. Both masks occupy the face slot in the clothing system, meaning they're visible on the character and affect NPC interactions.

Tear Gas variants are available as alternative chemical compositions at specialized Ammu-Nation locations. CS concentrate ($85 per grenade) is the standard formula. OC pepper concentrate ($120 per grenade) doubles the damage-per-second to 8 but reduces cloud duration to 8 seconds, better for direct damage but worse for area denial. Smoke-gas hybrid ($95 per grenade) adds visual obscuration to the irritant effect, creating an opaque white cloud that blocks line of sight in addition to debuffing targets — particularly effective when the player wants to cross an open area without being targeted by distant shooters.

Best Situations

Tear Gas transforms enclosed space combat encounters. The warehouse raids at Port Gellhorn, the drug lab assaults in the Everglades, and the nightclub back-room clearances along Neon Mile all feature tight corridors and rooms where a single Tear Gas grenade disables every defender simultaneously. Equip a gas mask before breaching, throw Tear Gas through the door or window, wait 2 seconds for the cloud to establish, then enter and systematically eliminate incapacitated enemies who can barely see or aim.

During wanted level escapes, Tear Gas grenades thrown behind the player during foot chases create barriers that pursuing officers must either avoid (losing pursuit distance) or push through (becoming incapacitated and abandoning the chase). This technique is particularly effective in the narrow alleys of Little Cuba, Little Haiti, and downtown Vice City where officers cannot easily circumvent the gas cloud. The smoke-gas hybrid variant doubles as visual cover during rooftop escapes, breaking helicopter observation while also incapacitating any officers who attempt rooftop pursuit.

How to Acquire

Standard CS Tear Gas grenades are available at Ammu-Nation for $75 each after completing the "Clean Getaway" story mission, which introduces chemical weapon mechanics. No progression gate exists beyond this mission, making Tear Gas available relatively early in the game. A free supply of 3 grenades spawns in the VCPD evidence locker accessible during the courthouse heist preparation mission, alongside other confiscated weapons.

Bulk purchasing from Ammu-Nation offers no discount, but the online black market (accessible through the in-game phone browser) sells 10-packs of CS grenades for $650 ($65 each, saving $100 per pack). OC pepper and smoke-gas hybrid variants are only available at the downtown Vice City and South Beach Ammu-Nation locations, not the smaller suburban stores. NOOSE tactical units carry Tear Gas grenades that can be looted from incapacitated officers during four-star and five-star wanted level encounters — a free but high-risk acquisition method.

Comparison to Similar Weapons

Against the Smoke Grenade (visual obscuration only, no damage or debuffs), Tear Gas provides strictly superior utility — it blocks vision AND incapacitates. The Smoke Grenade's only advantage is that it doesn't affect the player or allies, making it safer for team play. The smoke-gas hybrid Tear Gas variant effectively replaces the Smoke Grenade entirely for solo players who own a gas mask, combining both effects in a single throwable.

Compared to the Flashbang Grenade (instant blinding and deafening for 3 seconds in a 10-meter radius), Tear Gas offers longer effect duration but slower onset and smaller radius. Flashbangs are superior for immediate breaching — the instant 3-second full stun is more decisive than Tear Gas's gradual debuff — while Tear Gas excels at sustained area denial that Flashbangs cannot provide. The optimal loadout carries both: Flashbang for the initial breach, Tear Gas to hold the position against reinforcements. The Molotov Cocktail provides area denial through lethal fire damage but lacks the incapacitation effects that make Tear Gas valuable for non-lethal approaches.

Combat Strategies

The "Gas and Execute" breach technique is the Tear Gas's signature tactic: throw through a window or door, count to two, enter with gas mask equipped, and engage incapacitated targets. The 2-second delay allows the cloud to establish maximum coverage before entry, and the 12-second duration provides a 10-second engagement window. For rooms with multiple entry points, throw Tear Gas through the least accessible opening (window, vent, second-floor entry) while breaching through the primary door, trapping defenders between the gas cloud and the advancing player.

The "Chemical Corridor" strategy creates a gas-filled escape route during wanted level evasions. Sprint through a narrow corridor (alley, hallway, stairwell), dropping a Tear Gas grenade at the entrance behind you as you pass through. Pursuing officers enter the cloud and become incapacitated, breaking the pursuit chain. This technique is renewable — carry 5 grenades and create 5 separate gas barriers across a pre-planned escape route, virtually guaranteeing escape from any foot pursuit that doesn't involve gas-mask-equipped NOOSE units. Equip your own gas mask if the escape route doubles back near a previously gassed area.

History in the GTA Series

Tear Gas appeared in GTA Vice City as one of the original throwable weapons, though its implementation was rudimentary — a simple damage-over-time cloud with no movement or accuracy debuffs. GTA San Andreas refined the concept slightly, and GTA IV removed chemical weapons entirely from the player's arsenal. GTA V brought Tear Gas back as a purchasable weapon with improved visual effects but still limited tactical depth — the gas cloud was primarily an annoyance rather than a fight-changing tool.

GTA 6's Tear Gas is the first implementation that makes the weapon genuinely tactical. The severe accuracy and movement penalties, the persistent debuff after leaving the cloud, the gas mask counter-equipment system, and the variant chemical compositions transform it from a gimmick grenade into a serious breaching and area-denial tool. Community tactical guides now recommend Tear Gas as part of the core "breacher" loadout alongside the Flashbang and Stun Gun, a far cry from previous entries where the weapon was widely considered a waste of a throwable slot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated April 26, 2026.