Grounded Soldier Ants location, strategy and how to get an Ant Club explained
Ant it fun?
You've played around in Grounded for a few hours and ogled the Honey I Shrunk the Kids-like back garden world, and now you're ready to do more.
One of the most important first steps is getting good equipment, and so finding Soldier Ants to make an Ant Club is a good place to start.
From there, you should have the weapons and armour you need to kill a Spider in Grounded. Good luck!
The weapon you're looking for is the Ant Club and it won't take you too long to get it. Here's how.
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How to craft an Ant Club in Grounded
In order to craft an Ant Club you will need to kill ants, and Worker Ants are easy to take down providing you peel them away from their friends. Armies of ants are known to wander around the Grounded world and if you aggravate one within range of the others, you will probably die. Ants work together, remember this.
To make the Ant Club, you will need:
- Four Ant Parts
- Two Ant Mandibles
The Ant Parts you can get from Worker Ants but the Ant Mandibles cannot. They have to be gotten from Soldier Ants, and they're a tougher fight.
How to prepare for taking on Soldier Ants in Grounded
The best weapon to use pre-Ant Club, and to kill Soldier Ants, is the weaker Spiky Sprig.
The only tricky-ish component needed to craft the Spiky Sprig club is Thistle Needles, as Sprigs and Plant Fibres (for Woven Fibres) you find on the floor everywhere. Thistles are large plants with colourful purple tops and spiked leaves that are, as far as I can tell, indestructible, producing as many needles as you want to chop out of them with your Pebblet Axe. This is handy because Thistle Needles also make Arrows.
Thistles are dotted around fairly near to the starting area, but the most conveniently located plant I found was near to the water's edge on the far side of the Oak Tree.
The stony waterfront is a rare open space no creature other than the odd friendly Worker Ant walks into, making it an ideal place for a Lean-to bed, to sleep the night away, and a Workbench and storage.
This location gives you access to nearby a Research Station or analysing new materials, and access to a never ending supply of acorns which provide materials to make armour from and food to eat. The water in the river can be drunk but is dirty, the negative effects of which you can counteract by eating more Acorn Pieces. I spent many an undisturbed night here.
In addition to the Spiky Sprig club you will need, as mentioned, Acorn Armour, which in addition to decent protection gives you a boost to your maximum health. (Note: it will be possible to make Ant Armour without killing Soldier Ants, but Acorn Armour has the same defense rating and gives you a boost to maximum health.)
Acorns are found littering the floor around the Oak Tree, and you harvest them with a Pebblet Hammer. Give an Acorn a few whacks and it will break up into an Acorn Shell, Acorn Top and Acorn Pieces. Sometimes these roll away by virtue of you being on a hill so make sure you scoop everything up.
You will also need some Sap for the Acorn Armour, which you can find readily in orange blobs either on twigs or on the floor around the Oak Tree, or in great clumps you can bash with your Pebblet Hammer. Clovers you will find near the water's edge, right next to your makeshift base, and Plant Fibres on the floor nearby.
The only slightly annoying component is Mite Fuzz for the Acorn Face Mask (and other face masks). Mites are small and red and very easy to kill, and you will be directed to a load of them chewing a wire early on while trying to reactivate the Mystery Machine. Save your Mite Fuzz from this encounter.
The only other thing you will need, for all combat encounters are Fiber Bandages. They're made from Sap and Plant Fibres and both are easy to get hold of. These bandages heal some health instantly and some over time. They're useful both in combat and out of it to prepare to fight again.
Where to find a Soldier Ant location in Grounded
Once you've got your Acorn Armour, Spiky Sprig club and Fiber Bandages, and you're well watered and fed, you're ready to kill Soldier Ants.
The best place to do this is down inside the Abandoned Ant Hill where you won't be disturbed and there are only three ants. It will be marked on your map fairly early on.
In the Abandoned Ant Hill you will find one Soldier Ant in the area where the sunlight peeps through a hole in the tunnel above, and then two together further in.
How to kill Soldier Ants in Grounded
When dealing with the pair, try to peel one away from the other because two at once will be tough.
The first thing to do before any kind of combat in Single-Player mode is Save Your Game.
Then, if you can, begin the fight by throwing a Pebblet Spear at the Soldier Ant (you can collect it afterwards) to take off a chunk of health. Arrows work, too, but do less damage.
When in combat, watch for the Soldier Ant's attack animation. It's quite clear, a pause and then a lunge, so try to time your block for the lunge animation to land a perfectly timed parry. You'll see little golden sparks if you do and take no damage.
Also, try to sidestep around the ant while it attacks because sometimes it will miss.
Importantly, know you will be locked into a three-hit attack animation if you keep clicking attack, so don't. You'll deplete your Stamina, so you won't be able to block, and mess up your parry timing. Try to limit yourself to two swings after a block and then, when you see stars around their head indicating they are Stunned, wade in to capitalise.
When you kill the Soldier Ant, you will have the Mandibles you need to make your Ant Club, and now you are ready to kill a Spider in Grounded.