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There comes a time inGroundedwhen you must wear your big boy pants (even though you’re tiny) and face the bosses.Groundedbosses, as you might have guessed,mostlyconsist ofbigspidersandotherinsectsyou don’t want to make eye contact with lest they follow you home and sneak under the blankets while you sleep. Here’s my ranking for theGroundedbosses so you can traumatize yourself in incremental doses.
7. Assistant Manager
The Assistant Manager is not an insect, thankfully. It’s a robot boss and one of the first bosses you’ll likely encounter. You shouldn’t have trouble finding the Assistant Manager since it’s the first story boss. It’s along the way and the final obstacle in the Black Anthill area.
You usually have a lot of Granola Bars for this fight, so it should be easy enough. Moreover, thebasicshield and one-handed weapon setup work well here with enough perseverance. You can even lure someof theBlack Soldier Ants to help you, especially once the Assistant Manager summons its minions.
6. Hedge Broodmother
Of course, it’s a giant spider.The Hedge Broodmother is a relatively old boss,and thesedays, shedoesn’t giveplayerstoo muchtrouble.If you have a shield, you can easilytake care ofher most persistent three-hit combo attack.
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Meanwhile, her children are easy to dispatch with ranged weapons or staves. You can also put off the fight until your character is strong (and has Antlion set) if you’re not confident in facing her early.
In any case, test out your mid-game skills against the Hedge Broodmother by locating her near the Hedge Lab located in the Southeasternmost part of the map. There should be a cave covered in spider webs on the tree branches near the edges of the yard.
5. Mant
It’s at least somewhat humanoid and has limbs, but Mant is still the stuff of nightmares (what’s up with those briefs?). This man-ant abomination is a story boss, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding it. If you play the game long enough and complete the main quest, you’ll get to it in theUndershed Lab.
The Undershed Lab is the final major lab in the game, and you can enter it from the Undershed (which you can get access to if you have all four Super BURG.L Chips).
Bring your Fresh weapons here. Mint Mace or Mint Arrows are easily some of the best tools you can use to erase this creature from the ant gene pool (or the man gene pool).
4. Wasp Queen
It’s a good thing the Wasp Queen is optional because who would want to fight this flying boss?If you’re that brazen, however, you can summon the Wasp Queen by going to theWasp Nestin theBrawny Boy Bin(located in theUpper Yard near the JavaMatic).Once there, activate the Bee Bee Q Medly summoning item (a recipe you can obtain in the Wasp Nest, next to a skeleton).
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It goes without saying that you need ranged weapons (with Salt Arrows) for the Wasp Queen. She even summons minions like the pesky wasp she is, but they die fast to Bleed or Poison damage. It’s a fairly standard fight with no gimmick mechanics, though impatience can get you killed.
3. Director Schmector
Not many players can find this one since it’s a secret encounter even though it’s a story-related boss. You’ll need to get to the Mysterious Lab below Castle Moldorc located in the Moldorc Highlands (Moldorc Play Set). Now, the Moldorc Play Set is hard to reach and you need to build to get to it, so get those grass stairs at the ready.
Also, you need to have Dr. Wendell Tully with you, meaning you need to have defeated Mant. Now, many consider Director Schmector as the ‘true’ final boss in the game. If you found Mant a bit of a pushover, that’s because Director Schmector is lying in wait to ruin your false sense of victory.
It starts off similarly to the Assistant Manager fight up until Director Schmector summons a whole army of robots and insects to swarm you. I recommend the Sour or Fresh Staff for the fight.
2. Mantis
While the area in which you fight the Mantis looks livelier compared to the sinister webs and oppressive labs, don’t be fooled. This boss will marinate you in your fear before eating you.
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How to Get a Pet in Grounded
You can unlock the fight after you defeat the Hedge Broodmother, and youcan summon the Mantisusing theOrchid Mantis Kebabwhile in theorchid pot in the Shed Surroundings(near the BBQ Spill,northwest of the yard).
I’m not kidding when I tell you that youneed toprepare for around a dozen deaths, even though the fight is straightforward. You need to pay attention here and time your blocks or evasions; otherwise, the debuffs can ensure your eventual defeat.
1. Infected Broodmother
Since the Hedge Broodmother was too easy for you, here’s a more difficult variant residing in the spider cave in the Haze (start from the garden lamp and work your way down the trench). You also have to seal the Haze Canister and use a Moldy Hoagie to summon her (recipe found in the Mysterious Lab).
And it’s a good thing that it’s a late-game fight becauseyou’re going toneed all your top weapons and armor for thisGroundedboss. Even the whole fight arena is surrounded with toxic water that will buff the Broodmother and debuff you — talk about unfair.Ifthat’s not enough, she’ll also revive herself in multiple phases, like aDark Soulsboss; the only thingmissingis a ‘You Died’ text.
