How to Get the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher

Until about halfway through Resident Evil Village, the shotgun and sniper rifle will be your go-to power weapons. While they’ll both certainly continue being highly useful throughout the rest of the game, the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher ultimately usurps them in pure damage output. That is until you get the Wolfsbane Revolver (magnum) a little later on. 

If you’re wondering how to get the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher (also known as the “water wheel” weapon on the RE8 map), this guide tells you how and includes the grenade launcher location. 

Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher Location

You won’t be able to get the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher on a normal run until about halfway or so through the game. 

After you leave House Beneviento, you’ll have the Four-Winged Unborn Key. You can use this to return to East Old Town from the Altar area (the central-ish location in which Duke has set up his shop). The gate leading to East Old Town is south of the altar. 

As you pass through, you’ll a terrifying lycan, the Varcolac, will attack you. You can kill it here, but it sometimes runs off. Either way, you’ll want to follow the path down to the stream cutting through the village below.

On the left, heading toward the Maiden of War statue in the center of the village, you’ll see a house with a water wheel outside of it. It has a barred, iron door that requires the Iron Insignia Key to open. As another point of reference, the house is also marked with a gold treasure chest on the map.

Use the Iron Insignia Key, and go inside. Straight ahead and slightly to the left, you’ll see a table in front of a window. The GM79 Grenade Launch is on the table propped against an attache case. You’ll need to have a 5×2 slot in your inventory to carry it, so visit Duke to upgrade your storage space if need be and return for the weapon later. 

GM79 Grenade Launcher Stats

Aside from the Wolfsbane Revolver, the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher is the most powerful weapon in the game right off the bat. Its base reload speed is even faster than some of the fully upgraded weapons, such as the W870 TAC pump-action shotgun. 

It can hold two different ammo types: explosive rounds and flashbang rounds. Explosive ammo is self-explanatory and deals damage to enemies. Flashbang ammo creates a blast of light that blinds and slows/staggers most enemies. The latter is great for getting out of tricky situations, such as getting cornered by Soldats and Haulers in Heisenberg’s Factory. 

Here are its base stats: 

• Explosive power: 1,200
• Flashbang power: 0
• Reload speed: 2.7
• Ammo capacity: 1

Unlike some other weapons, this weapon can’t be upgraded at the Gunsmithy, and there are no attachments for it. You also can’t buy explosive ammo or flashbang ammo; these ammo types must either be found through scavenging or crafted. The explosive ammo recipe and the flashbang recipe can be purchased from Duke for 3,000 Lei each. 

Here are their recipes: 

• Explosive rounds: 1x Gunpowder; 1x Metal Scrap; 1x Herb
• Flashbang rounds: 1x Chem Fluid; 1x Rusted Scrap; 1x Herb

That’s all you need to know about how to get the Resident Evil Village GM79 Grenade Launcher, as well as its upgrade path and how to get ammo for it. If you’re looking for more tips and tricks on Resident Evil Village, consider heading over to our RE8 guides list.