WIP guide: Slinger ammo types & their uses!

Since Google hasn't really helped in this matter, and the game doesn't really give you a tutorial on less obvious uses for them, I'm trying to compile slinger ammo types and any niche uses they carry. To start off, here's what I've got (source for that ammo in parenthesis, when I have that information. Will be updating as more gets compiled):

• Stone (gathering): pretty basic ammo, do a little damage, good for setting off various environment traps including flashbugs, poisoncups, stun/sleeptoads, etc.

• Redpit (gathering): pretty basic ammo, do a little damage, good for setting off various environment traps including flashbugs, poisoncups, stun/sleeptoads, etc. Also useful for killing Vespoids in one hit while leaving the corpses intact for carving.

• Puddle pod (watermoss): useless in most scenarios, but can be used to instantly remove mud from Barroth and Jyuratodus. Also deals extra damage to Anjanath, and knocks him down briefly if you hit him in the mouth when it has fire in it.

• Torch pods (slinger torch): introduced as useful for lighting up dark areas, but more importantly incredibly useful for dispersing miasma in the Vale. Fire one in the middle of it, and you get yourself a wide open space to fight, clear of poison gas. Can weaken hardened Lavasioth armor. Also, damages any monsters standing in the fire and can scare off many small monsters.

• Slinger thorn (shiny wyvern drop): auto-stagger on hit, forces fleeing monsters to stay longer. If you hit the monster where a thorn is stuck, you get additional damage from the thorn for 2-3 hits. Additional damage is classified as impact damage, so it contributes to KO when on the head. If fired while mounted, the additional damage contributes to the requirement for knockdown on the mount, making thorn an excellent choice for use while mounted.

• Pierce pod (shiny wyvern drop, also available from kicking iron helmcrabs): auto-stagger on hit, forces fleeing monsters to stay longer. Hits monsters multiple times, goes completely through the creature. As a bit of a fringe benefit, pierce pods can cut tails.

• Scatternuts (scatternut): auto-stagger on hit, forces fleeing monsters to stay longer. Small explosion on hit, causes short range AoE damage. ~30-40 points of damage when you land a hit center mass.

• Flash pods (crafting: flashbugs): Used for blinding monsters. Especially effective against flying wyverns, as it forces them to crash and gives you a wide opening for attacks.

• Screamer pods (crafting: screamer sacs): Useful for fighting wyverns that burrow. When they go underground, fire off a screamer pod to force them to surface and get a short stagger for free hits.

• Dung pods (crafting: dung): absolute must-have in higher tier fights, dung pods allow you to instantly escape being pinned, but more importantly they cause most wyverns to flee in short order once hit with them.

• Bright pods (brightmoss): Makes monsters glow briefly when hit. For the less pedestrian use, hit a flying wyvern in the face for a stagger/blind.

• Dragon pods (Elder dragon drop): Good for breaking Nergigante spikes, otherwise effects unclear. In-game description says it carries dragon element, but some feedback I've received claims it carries dragonseal as well, which would make it more useful (although it's unclear how much more, with our currently limited understanding of dragonseal as a whole. General consensus seems to be that it makes elder dragon fights easier in some way, but the how is still being debated everywhere I've seen).

• Crystalburst (gathering): auto-stagger on hit, forces fleeing monsters to stay longer. Deals a small amount of damage + carries blast element, so it builds up blast with consecutive hits to cause a blast explosion with enough hits landed.

• Slinger bomb (shiny wyvern drop): auto-stagger on hit, forces fleeing monsters to stay longer. Medium size explosion on hit, 30-40 damage. Can weaken hardened Lavasioth armor.

• The grappling hook: not technically ammo, but it's been addressed in the comments, so I see merit in including some info on it here. First and foremost, you don't explicitly need to have a prompt to fire the grapple; you can do so without the prompt and as long as you're relatively close with your aim, catch a wedge beetle for a swing. Secondly, consider wedge beetles your best friends with the grappling hook! I can't tell you how useful they are in swinging over a monster for a rodeo. When in doubt, look up, and if you see a wedge beetle don't hesitate to hitch a ride straight to that wyvern's back!

• ALL "auto-stagger on hit" ammo: If you have a teammate in bad shape, about to get attacked by a monster, these are an absolute GODSEND! Even if it doesn't change targets, you can buy a couple seconds with each shot, and if you time it right (and have the ammo), you can keep a monster staggered plenty long enough for them to recover from an ailment and/or chug a pot.

On a general note, Palicoes with the plunderblade gadget up to level 5 can occasionally force additional slinger ammo to drop from monsters. Very handy, so if you're using that gadget already, be on the lookout for extra shiny drops!

As highlighted in a comment, I left out some important details about the Slinger itself! You can only hold one type of "scavenged" ammo at a time (that is, any ammo you pick up from the environment, which doesn't take an inventory slot). When you pick up a new type, the old ammo you had loaded is dropped on the ground or lost, depending on whether it's a full stack or not. If you equip any ammo from your inventory (flash, screamer, or dung pods) or your net, you have to manually un-equip them to switch back to using your scavenged ammo. You will also be automatically switched to scavenged ammo if you pick up a new set.

Another mechanical addition about Slingers: they can be used while mounted! While rodeo-ing a wyvern, if you have any special ammo (blast/thorn/piercing pods) equipped, they make for very fast rodeo finishers, so feel free to use that slinger while mounted! You can also grapple your way back onto a monster when you get thrown off, but the specific controls on this seem inconsistent. For me, the most reliable way after a few hours of mounting/getting thrown off to test, X after being bucked off seems the most consistent, followed by guarding. Note that, if you're thrown off because you hit zero stamina, you simply can't grapple back. This only works if you get bucked off.

That's all the info I have right off; if anyone knows any less obvious uses that I don't have listed or even if I missed an ammo type, please contribute!

Edit 7 Feb 18, 11:15 AM CST: Redpits separated from stones, now that I know a definitive difference between the two. Mounting/grappling back to mounts updated with the fruits of more trials, and dragon pods edited again. Just about ready to call this a finished product, pending updates/changes that accompany information relevant to dragon pods.