Getting Started
Grounded 2 is on scene and we have officially left the backyard, onto the park!
Grounded 2 brings everything we loved about Grounded and even more, so strap in boys and girls its going to a hell of a ride. Oh and ride we shall! Buggies have been delivered! One of the big features in Grounded 2 is the ability to tame, ride, and explore the world with our beloved bug friends. This is going to offer an incredible piece of game play and make the adventure even more dynamic.
Where to Begin in a Big Small World
Before stepping into the world you’ll first choose your character, one of four. This will determine some beginning starting stats, and we have familiar characters from the first game. The story continues on and builds on the first story line.
Check out Grounded Original Lore to catch up
We start being shrunken again, and in a lab with some introductory tutorial style rooms, nothing to crazy. After we get our barings we head out into the new world for Grounded 2, the park! This world is massive, don’t underestimate the size. The world looks stunning as well, built on Unreal Engine 5 it offers incredible graphics for gamers to sink into and build upon.
Bugs, Buggies, and Critters Everywhere!
It may look like a bugs life, but danger is around every corner.
You will have many bug allies, but in the beginning you need to channel a viking spirit. There are many resources needed, and a lot of them come from bugs! Slay many a foe, bug foe, but gather everything because the crafting is going to slap. Pretty much everything has a purpose like many well done survival games, so slay, gather, slay, and go back to the storage for hot drops.
Take note all other crafting games, hot drop is a quality of life feature all should have. Place your resources in your storage containers and then you can select hot drop to easily drop items into containers that contain the same items. One of the best parts of this game are the quality of life and accessibility considerations right out the gate.
Your First Buggie
Soon after you begin your adventure, you will want to begin building your bug army. It makes a multitude of things easier for you. A buggie can help you carry many heavy materials, run faster, combat enemies, and a companion into this parkour world. This first buggie buddy is going to be the Red Soldier Ant, which you can acquire early on.
You’ll notice ants right away, they have several hills throughout the park. But more annoyingly you may notice Red Soldier Ants that are Angry and will attack you outright. Destroy any hostile ants you encounter and some worker ants. You need to get some beginning gear, weapons, and healing to acquire a Red Soldier Ant Egg.
This egg can’t be stolen in any old anthill, it has to be from the hatchery! Located to the east of the Snackbar Front, is the Hatchery Anthill. This specific anthill, the hatchery, has the eggs you need to be able to hatch your own Red Soldier Ant buggie.
Follow this more detailed guide for information on prepation, location, and where you can get a Red Ant Soldier Egg to hatch your first buggie.
Crafting to your Hearts Content
Grounded 2 has a healthy amount of gear, and it encourages many playstyles. You’ll see in compendenium descriptions that there are several types to pursue. Don’t feel boxed into any one playstyle, between the different armor types, weapon types, trinkets, and buggie buddies, we have a lot of fun play styles to explore and get creative with!
Armor Types
There are different armor types as there are different play styles. Crafting your gear can be structured around your playstyle.
- Fighter
- Rogue
- Mage
Weapons
Different weapons have different types and effects. Some bugs are weak to kind of attack such as stabbing or slashing.
Weapon Types
- Stabbing
- Slashing
- Smashing
Progression
Grounded 2 does a great job of not overwhelming new players. You’ll begin in an area that has few enemies, but difficulty is well within arms reach. Even as you begin to adventure to get nearby Acorns and push into tier 2 armor and weapons, the need to be prepared and geared is evident.
Progression happens through a couple of facets:
- Story
- Gear
- Bugs
As the story progresses you’ll be taken into more difficult areas with faster more difficult enemies around. At first all you may have to worry about is a stray Red Soldier Ant and some Lawn Mites. But quickly you’ll run into Orb Weavers, and difficult scenarios with many bugs. You’ll survive these with keeping your gear up to date, weapons, and consumables a plenty to help you survive and thrive. The bugs are strong, but so are you! Tip: Always be making FIber Bandages so you have heals available. Unlocking a buggie early will also help making things much more achievable.
Armor, Gear, Weapons
Start to think what kind of play style you want to run with for your playthrough or character in general. There are armor types from figher, rogue, to mage. Keeping up to date with your armor and practicing your play sytle will level your mutations.
Combat
Your early combat will be key to survival. But don’t fear! There are many ways to excel and defeat all bugs that may cross your path.
First Steps
There is going to be combat from the beginning. Lawn mites are going to launch themselves at you, and soon you’ll be stairing down an Orb Weaver. We can defeat all our mighty foe with preparation and knowledge!
Weapons have different attack patterns and charge up attacks by holding the mouse down. A number of the Hostile bugs you will first encounter will be up on their back legs or another stance that indicates a blocking pattern. You can do the same holding right click and blocking as well. This will prevent a more damage from being done when a bug attacks, bug each block is going to use stamina.
Parry, parry, and then parry some more. This skill is going to be vital as you begin to push into more difficult fights and bugs in the park. One thing you should notice early is when you are succesfully blocking you’ll be losing stamina each hit. If you wait and block right before attack, getting a successful parry then you won’t use any stamina. This is a massive resource savings and allows you to push through longer fights. Blocking and dodging is going to be a big part even if you have relevant armor. Parries will be a deciding factor in how you can fight through caves, bosses, or random encounters when you may be in a less than ideal scenario.
Live to Fight Another Day
Don’t die when you don’t have to. Your stamina regeneration will allow you to dive, duck, dodge, and even wrenches can’t touch you. Well, maybe. But anyway our stamina regeneration in this game is crazy fast if you just stop running and walk for a minute, use this both in combat and when running away. Don’t burn your entire stamina bar, stop just before its out and let it replenish quickly. Whether you are running from a Scorpion, a flying Mosiquto, or something else, keep moving dodging and keep your stamina up.