Summary

• Grounded offers customizable genetic mutations to suit every playstyle, enhancing exploration and combat efficiency.
• Unlocking key mutations like Blademaster and Buff Lungs can significantly improve your ability to navigate and survive in The Backyard.
• Late-game mutations like Apex Predator unlock unique powers for powerful weapons, enhancing your combat prowess.

Part of being shrunk to the size of a peanut is being able to modify your genetic structure with the click of a button. In Grounded, optional mutation upgrades allow you to mix and match to your playstyle while providing plenty of excuses to explore as much as possible to find the best, hidden mutat𒆙ions to unlock your exploration and damage potential.

Being able to maximize your stats and experiment with hundreds of variations of mutations, juice mixer enhancements, meal buffs, and milk molar upgrades is what makes Grounded different for every player. Although not all mutations are equally helpful, there are some you'll never want to deactivate in your quest to conquer The Backyard.

Updated April 23, 2024 by Matthew Cochran: Grounded just got its 1.4 Fully Yoked update that comes with a slew of new end game content including a new mutation, ant queens, and a new game plus option for those who have already tamed the backyard. Although the new mutation doesn't provide much use outside of dealing with the new ant queens, plenty of mutations have new homes and priorities when dealing with the new threats and equipment that can interact with them. This includes the scythe weapon attack speed buff, making Apex Predator even stronger.

10 Blademaster ꦗ ꧅

With Blademaster, all of your sword attacks will weaken your target's attack damage. The tier three upgrade nearly deletes your exhaustion timer, allowing you to make sword attacks nonstop. Since swords are the most common type of weapon and swing much faster than clubs, they will be the most help with exterminating the yard, despite other mutations buffing clubs, spears, and bows.

You can unlock Blademaster by hitting 40 creatures with swords, and reach phase three by killing 200 enemies with a sword. This is a bit of a ch🍌ore, but if you stick with a sword for most of your playthrough, it will come by 💯very quickly.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to determine what exactly counts as a 'sword' in Grounded, but if it deals slashing or stabbing damage, it is most likely a sword.

9 𝔍 Buff Lungs

Bu𒅌ff Lungs gives a flat increase to your maximum stamina by 50 points. ꧃This might seem like a simple mutation, but it is probably one of the most useful if you want to stay as efficient as possible.

Since stamina affects running, attacking, blocking, and harvesting, it becomes much more effective to ensure that an extra bit of stamina lets you travel faster or win fights more often without squeezing the life out of your controller every time you get an exhaustion timer. To unlock Buff Lungs, you can purchase it from BURG.L for 3,000 Raw Science, and it doesn't require upgrading.

8 🏅 Grass Master

This is an early game mutation you get after choppin𝔍g 100 blades of grass, and it makes yo🍎ur chopping tool much more efficient. As you unlock the dozens of base-building options, decorations, and upgrade benches, building a base that is both secure and large enough requires truckloads of materials. If you want to chop your grass and weed stem harvesting time in half, then this mutation is essential.

It requires chopping 500 blades of grass to reach phase three of the mutation, but since every blade will start to require only two to three hits to knock down, you could easily mow the ♔lawn and achieve the upgrade altogether.

By the time you reach New Game +, this is the first mutation you can never have to look back on again, once꧑ your mighty fortress has already risen.

7 Meat Shield 𒊎

Meat Shield is like Buff Lungs in that it increases your health by a flat 50 points. It's an early-game stat boost that will save your life, especially from stronger bugs that would otherwise one-shot you with low-level armor. It is much more useful to use a mutation slot on a health buffer rather than making the walk of shame back to your backpack every time you bump into a wolf spider.

Like Buff Lungs, you need to spend 3,000 Raw Science with BURG.L, and it doesn't require upgrading. The best way to get this Raw Science is by prioritizing BURG.L quests for around 1,000 each time.

6 🀅 Mantsterious Stranger

Named after the Mysterious Stranger perk from the Fallout series, the Mantserious Stranger works similarly in that it has a two percent chance to summon a fﷺriendly Mant that will fight for you until killed. While its rare spawn chance makes it more of a novelty, the Mant can help you clear swarms of creatures with its impressive da🎀mage and stun attacks.

To get this mutation, you need to kill the Mant in the Undershed. It's a surprisingly difficult fight, but will also show you what he's capable of when summoned. It is also useful for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:defending MIX.R stations because it is more likely to spawn during the💃 constant waves.

5 Natural Explorerꦯ

Natural Explorer simply increases your movement speed by up to 50 percent as you discover more landmarks. While useful in getting across the massive yard as quickly as possible, you will soon realize just how often you will be using this mutation just for making the constant ♔hiking much mo𝓰re efficient.

When ꦏcombined with the Bee Armor and Buff Lungs mutation, you can cover half of the distance across the entire backyard without having to stop due to exhaustion, all while moving s🐷urprisingly fast for your short legs.

4 Spicy Safety 🌸 ꦇ

Spicy Safety is very simple to obtain and upgrade. It grants up to 50 percent resistance to slashing and stabbing attacks, which are the most common types of attacks among all enemies in the yard. Combined with Meat Shield, this mutation will make you almost invincible, especially when combined with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:high-level armor, and it's ideal for surviving most boss fights.

After eating three spicy shards, you will both obtain and fully🦋 upgrade this mutation. The best place to find one is by digging through the Trash Heap or fighting ant lions in The Sandbox.

3 🍃 Whittle Wizard 🐷

Probably the least science-adjacent weapon in Grounded is the candy staff that fires off blasts of ma🐈gical energy. While it is a late-game weapon, it can be used to clear waves of smaller enemies, drain the health from high-level bosses, or just have fun blasting wolf spiders with orange globs of fire. This mutation unlocks their potential and allows the mint, sou🌞r, and spicy staff varieties to be significantly upgraded with elemental effects.

You can find the first candy staff in The Woodpile in the far northwest corner of the map after you kill the Termite King guarding the BURG.L chip blueprint. To fully upgrade Whittle Wizard, you need to kill 200 creatures with a candy staff, just like Gandalf would've wanted.

2 Merteen

Merteen is one of the most unexpectedly useful mutations both early and late game, givin🀅g a swim speed and breath timer buff that lets you ignore having to waste inventory space or armor slots for swim gear. You can also combine it with swim gear like the Bubble Helmet or Gill Tube to vastly increase how long you can remain underwater.

While the Koi Pond takes up a significant amount of in-game swimming time, areas like BURG.L's Lab and the broken fungal pipe next to The Sandbox contain plenty of hidden secrets that are impossible to obtain without upgrades and are less likely to catch you wearing full swim gear.

1 ꧋ Apex Predator 🌊

A very late-game mutation, Apex Predator is required for getting the most amount of damage potential from the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:strongest weapons in the game. Apex Predator unlocks hidden abilities from the three boss weapons — Scythe of Blossoms, Bard's Bow, and Club of the Mother Demon — giving them unique buffing powers, attack speed, and venom attacks.

This mutation doesn't require upgrades, but you will have to defeat The Mantis, which is located in the orchid pot on the porch of The Shed and needs the Orchid Mantis Kebab summoning item.