Survival in the small world of Grounded requires resources that should be protected in a secure base. The right location can be crucial.
In the survival game Grounded you have to build a base to settle in a place that offers abundant resources while being protected from fearsome creatures. Unfortunately, resources like clean drinking water are difficult to find in Grounded unless you consider where to build your base. While there are certainly plans to have multiple bases in Grounded to gather resources and reduce travel time, the first base should serve as the primary port of call or a haven from unforeseen chaos.
Height is an important consideration when building a base in Grounded, as spiders and other insects are far more manageable when you can see them coming. Ants are unable to steal food if the stored food is far out of their reach. Wolf spiders and other arachnids are a bit trickier, as their aggression towards the diminutive characters is often the biggest threat, most notably from the broodmother as the boss in Grounded. The newly added flying enemies, including bees and mosquitoes, make a higher base risky anyway. Those who choose base locations outside of the spider-infested zones and stay far enough away from the flying insects are much more likely to secure yields when exploring each region.
Resources may be the de facto focus in Grounded, but the best base locations are near areas that are within reach of supplies, not directly above. Whether you want the base to be aesthetically pleasing or to protect yourself against the hostile creatures mentioned earlier, each base has its own pros and cons. New biomes like the Koi Pond in Grounded play an important role in decision making. You should also think carefully about what function a base should fulfill before you decide to build it.
The best locations for a base in Grounded
Depending on what stage of exploration you’re in, the best base locations in Grounded are the Baseball, Mysterious Machine, Pond, Flat Rock, and Hedge. Water, Food, and Analysis Tents are by far the most desirable items near a base, and these locations all have at least one of them to offer. Throughout Grounded’s many different quests, these locations also remain close to objective points, allowing you to experience everything that’s on the agenda for Grounded’s latest update. Analysis tents near these locations also grant identification of materials, providing a better base of knowledge when setting up a base near these locations.
Of interest:
Grounded: Where to find and kill mosquitoes
Baseball: Pros & Cons
As soon as you spawn in Grounded, you’ll find yourself near a stray baseball surrounded by a slew of tools needed to get started early in the game. A stick next to the baseball allows you to climb on it and thus escape from the creatures. A great start to the game and a great place to store your first resources and food. Baseball’s only limitation is space, as growth over time could force it to relocate as supplies grow.
- advantages
- High location
- No mosquitoes or bees
- Near the spawn point
- Starting resources nearby
- analysis tent
- Disadvantages
- Small space for base building
- Wolf spiders on the ground
The mysterious machine: pros & cons
Perhaps one of the most resource-rich areas, the Mysterious Machine offers more building space than baseball due to a flatter-surfaced rock. Despite the ant colony residing in this area, a rare resource, the Crow’s Feather, is more common here. Crow Feathers are a particularly valuable resource in Grounded that drop regularly at the Mysterious Machine and have become even more valuable with the changes made to the mechanics as part of the new Grounded update.
- advantages
- Near the spawn
- More surface to build than baseball
- Lots of resources
- crow feathers
- analysis tent
- Disadvantages
- Limited space to build
- Lots of ants
The pond: pros & cons
Probably the prettiest place to build a base is the pond, an aquatic biome isolated from the dangers of land. It is obvious that spiders and ants have a difficult time getting to a base that is in the middle of the water. Those who bother building a base on the lily pads in the pond will find an analysis tent near a temple in the middle of the biome, the pagoda. However, it is worth considering the dangers of the water, as there are many additional threats lurking in the underwater depths of Grounded’s Koi Pond, which are a constant presence when building a base here.
- advantages
- analysis tent
- Lots of space to build
- Excellent protection against ants and spiders
- Food and water are always available
- Disadvantages
- Raw materials on land further away
- Koi fish in the pond always around and dangerous
The hedge: pros & cons
Away from many other locations on the map, the hedge provides everything needed to survive amidst the dangerous world. The extreme altitude protects against creatures on the ground, the natural habitat offers plenty of food in the form of berries and an analysis tent can also be found nearby. Settling in the hedge allows you to feast on the berries and build a treehouse base, the only drawback of which is the distance to other resources.
- advantages
- Added protection from aggressive creatures due to altitude
- Great food resources from berries
- analysis tent
- Disadvantages
- Far from other resources
The flat stone: pros & cons
Of all the other bases listed, the Flat Stone offers the most dangerous location, but an extremely large area on which to build the base. The flat stone’s exposed surface offers no protection from aggressive creatures. But it doesn’t hide their presence either, so the battle that inevitably takes place as you gradually establish a base will certainly require more effort than other locations. Even Grounded’s almost adorable Spiderphobia protection mode doesn’t protect against the swarm of creatures encountered at the Flat Stone. But those who survive the constant fighting will have a wealth of resources at their disposal with the Flat Stone in the center of the map and nearby.
- advantages
- Probably the largest area for building a base
- Equal distance to different resources
- Located in the middle of the map
- Disadvantages
- The area is infested with hostile creatures
- Lots of aggressive ants, spiders, bees and more everywhere
Regardless of which location you choose to build a base in Grounded, the best areas are always those with the greatest supply of resources and the best protection from enemy creatures. Managing that ratio when considering what is the best location to set foot in Grounded can make all the difference.
by Torge Christiansen
