Check out this Grounded beginner game guide. Find out what to do first, beginner tips, how to start your game, important things to keep in mind, & more!!!
What To Do First
Grounded - Beginner Tips
What To Do First Summary
- Make a Canteen and find water
- Construct a base camp
- Make a Roasting Spit
- Analyze everything you get
- Make Acorn armor
- Make a bow
- Take on bigger bugs and make Tier 2 Tools
It can be a bit overwhelming to just be dropped into the game without any real idea of what to do. In such cases, it's best to get your bearings by getting a hang of the main mechanics and settling down somewhere. Your general goal should be to procure food/water, make a camp, venture out to get new materials until you can make better equipment, then finally take down enemies.
Find Water
When starting out the game you'll go through a tutorial that will teach you about finding water and food, but it can't be understated - finding a source of water is key! For this reason we recommend making a Canteen, as this will let you store extra water when walking around. You'll need Grub Hides for this, which are obtained by killing Grubs (they can be found near the Oak tree).
Clean water can be found on top of large leaves, and occasionally on the ground as well.
↑ Prioritize making a canteen, as it will let you explore freely without having to worry about water as much.
Locate The 5 Juiceboxes
There are 5 juice boxes on the map which will almost always have drinkable liquids near them. Consider building your first settlement nearby one of these! You can find the location of all 5 boxes here!
Construct A Base Camp
Seeing as this is a survival game, you're going to want to find a place to call your own. One safe strategy is to build your base around the first Field Station you find, but you don't have to limit yourself to this. Building a base on higher elevation is also a good option.
Check Out Good Locations To Build A BaseBuild The Base In High Places
It is recommended to build your base in high and hard-to-reach areas in order to keep safe from the pesky insects when you're out and about exploring the world!
Check Out How To Reach High Places Here!Start Cooking Early On
Food Management will be critical for you in this game. On the one hand, it's entirely possible to get by just on Aphid Honeydew, but it's not exactly efficient. We recommend building a Roasting Spit as soon as you can, because this will allow you to cook insect meat.
Insect meat will spoil fast, but you should have no problems finding stray aphids or other small bugs to hunt. Avoid ants, as they might get ticked off with you and send a Soldier Ant, which you might not be able to handle early game.
Work Towards A Jerky Rack
| Ingredients | Bombardier Part x5 Woven Fiber x6 |
|---|
You'll be able to get by with just a Roasting Spit first, but we recommend getting a Jerky Rack as soon as you can! The parts you'll need come from the rather dangerous Bombardier Beetle, so we don't recommend you try for this until you've got a better weapon! Jerky Racks let you store more food without worrying about it spoiling, so they are extremely useful!
⬆ Back to to-do listAnalyze Frequently
Analyzing at a Field Station is absolutely essential for learning new recipes. As soon as you reach your Field Station, analyze Plant Fiber and Pebblets to get access to more tools and ingredients. Analyzer charges will recover over time, so make sure you always have them on cooldown!
Make The Acorn Armor Set
Toward the beginning of the game, we recommend making the Acorn Armor Set as soon as possible. This will require you to break Acorns (which requires a hammer) and kill Mites. If you make this your priority, you'll have a pretty decent defensive set for the early game.
Check Out Our Best Armor Guide For MoreMake A Sprig Bow & Arrows
| Item | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Sprig Bow | Sprig x3 Gnat Fuzz x4 Woven Fiber x2 |
| Arrow (x10) | Mite Fuzz x2 Thistle Needle x5 |
It will be important for you to maintain distance while fighting off large insects, and to do so you'll need to use a Bow. This will take a little bit of exploration and fighting to procure, but once you have it you'll be at a significant advantage. We've noted the exact location of all relevant materials in the article below, so take a look!
Check Out Our Best Weapons Guide HereTake On Big Bugs And Make Tier 2 Tools
Once you've done all of the above and have a decent set of armor, you'll want to think about taking on some of the bigger bugs in the yard. First take out a Soldier Ant so you can craft the Ant Club! Afterward, the order we recommend is: Ladybug -> Stink Bug -> Bombardier Beetle -> Spiders.
Check Out A List Of All Bugs HereTier 2 Tools
Part of the reason you'll want to go after the bugs in the above order is to get access to Level 2 Tools! These will let you extract and harvest new resources that will give a huge advantage in combat vs. Spiders. Focus on getting the Insect Axe and Insect Hammer ASAP!
Check Out Level 2 Tools HereTier 3 Tools
Currently, the only available Tier 3 tool is the Mint Mallet, but it is so powerful that it is a must-have! Make a beeline for this particular item to make your life a lot easier.
Check Out Tier 3 Tools Here⬆ Back to to-do listGrounded - Related Guides
Walkthrough Guides
Essential Tips
| Must Read Guides | |
|---|---|
| Beginner Guide & Tips - What To Do First | |
| Best Base Location | Postgame Guide |
| Crafting Guide | How To Level Up Perks |
| How To Reach High Places | Arachnophobia Mode |
| Crossplay | - |
Equipment Articles
Location Articles
| Juice Box Locations | |
| Ant Hill Locations | Burgl Chip Locations |
| Raw Science Locations | SCAB Locations |
| Full Map | - |
Enemy Related Guides
| List Of All Enemies | |
| How To Kill Ladybugs | How To Kill Stink Bugs |
| How To Kill Bombardier Beetles | How To Kill Orb Weaver Spider |
| How To Kill Wolf Spider | - |
