In Grounded 2, the miniature world of Brookhollow Park is more perilous than ever, with aggressive insects eager to challenge your survival. To thrive, you`ll need to unlock various Mutations – powerful abilities earned by completing specific challenges. This guide will detail every Mutation available, explain how to acquire them, and offer strategic advice on when to best utilize their effects.
What are Mutations in Grounded 2?
Mutations are advantageous enhancements that boost your character`s combat prowess, stamina efficiency, and elemental resistances. Accessible via the Mutations tab in your inventory, these crucial upgrades are often missed by newcomers but are vital for improving your chances of survival. It`s highly recommended to prioritize unlocking them early in your adventure to maximize their benefits.
Mutations are categorized into four distinct groups:
- Fighting styles
- Combat abilities
- Exploration
- Survival
Each Mutation is unlocked by completing specific challenges, as outlined below. Most Mutations feature three levels, with the buffs increasing in potency as you complete each successive level.
Initially, you can equip two Mutations simultaneously. By utilizing Milk Molars found throughout the world, you can expand the number of active Mutations to a maximum of four, significantly enhancing your capabilities.
How to Unlock All Mutations in Grounded 2
Fighting Style Mutations
Lil Fist
- Defeat 40 creatures with fists
- Defeat 100 creatures with fists
- Defeat 200 creatures with fists
Unlocking Lil Fist grants you a powerful unarmed attack, ideal for those who prefer bare-knuckle brawling against the park`s inhabitants. While not always the most practical method, it offers a unique combat challenge.
Tip: For quick progression, target grubs in the early game. They are easily subdued with fists.
Smasher
- Defeat 40 creatures with clubs
- Defeat 100 creatures with clubs
- Defeat 200 creatures with clubs
This Mutation provides a bonus stun effect when wielding clubs. This can be exceptionally useful for incapacitating larger adversaries such as roaches, stink bugs, and even the formidable praying mantis, creating crucial openings for attack.
Javelineer
- Defeat 40 creatures with spears
- Defeat 100 creatures with spears
- Defeat 200 creatures with spears
To level up Javelineer, engage enemies primarily with spears. This Mutation increases your damage when throwing spears and reflects some of the damage you receive back to your attacker, making it effective for both offense and defense.
Assassin
- Defeat 40 creatures with daggers
- Defeat 100 creatures with daggers
- Defeat 200 creatures with daggers
Assassin significantly boosts your critical hit chance with dash strikes. Additionally, dual daggers and sickles inflict increased critical hit damage, making it a formidable choice for agile combatants.
The Assassin Mutation is highly versatile. Utilizing weapons like Orb Weaver daggers, you can quickly close distances and deal immense damage to various bug types, including scorpions, spiders, and roaches.
Sharpshooter
- Defeat 40 creatures with bows
- Defeat 100 creatures with bows
- Defeat 200 creatures with bows
Tailored for archers, Sharpshooter increases your critical hit chance when performing fully charged bow shots, making precision shots even more devastating.
Blademaster
- Defeat 40 creatures with swords
- Defeat 100 creatures with swords
- Defeat 200 creatures with swords
The Blademaster Mutation allows sword attacks to temporarily reduce the damage inflicted by enemies. Furthermore, attacking creatures with swords momentarily removes your stamina meter. This is an essential Mutation for players who prefer to wield swords in Grounded 2.
Whittle Wizard
- Defeat 40 creatures with staves
- Defeat 100 creatures with staves
- Defeat 200 creatures with staves
Whittle Wizard enhances staff attacks with elemental effects. Sizzle effects burn enemies with greater intensity, and frozen creatures that shatter suffer more damage. Additionally, your critical hit chance with staff attacks is increased against frozen and burning enemies that have reached maximum elemental buildup.
Combat Mutations
Parry Master
- Perform 30 perfect parry blocks
- Perform 80 perfect parry blocks
- Perform 150 perfect parry blocks
With Parry Master, successful perfect blocks will restore your stamina, encouraging a precise and defensive playstyle.
Ambush
- Land 30 ambush attacks
- Land 80 ambush attacks
- Land 150 ambush attacks
Ambush attacks are stealth attacks initiated when enemies are unaware of your presence. This Mutation guarantees critical hits against unsuspecting creatures. When combined with daggers, ambush attacks deal significantly increased critical hit damage.
Tip: If you enjoy stealth combat, pairing Ambush with daggers can create a highly effective silent killer build.
Frenzy
- Defeat the mysterious stranger
Frenzy is a late-game Mutation, unlocked only after completing the main storyline and defeating the enigmatic stranger. When active, melee attacks trigger a rage state. While enraged, you deal increased damage and regenerate health, though you are unable to time your blocks.
Guard Dog
- Complete 1 MIX.R event
- Complete 4 MIX.R events
- Complete 9 MIX.R events
Guard Dog boosts the damage you inflict on creatures that are attacking your base or `turf` during MIX.R events, making it ideal for base defense.
Exploration Mutations
Natural Explorer
- Discover 20 points of interest
- Discover 50 points of interest
- Discover 80 points of interest
Simply traverse the map and uncover various points of interest (POIs) to unlock this Mutation. Natural Explorer grants you increased running speed. This speed boost is temporarily reduced if you engage in combat or take damage from a creature.
Trapper Peep.r
- Collect 25 gold cards
- Collect 50 gold cards
- Collect 75 gold cards
This Mutation enhances the damage multiplier of your critical hits, rewarding those who diligently collect gold cards.
Survival Mutations
Cardio Fan
- Deplete stamina 100 times
- Deplete stamina 250 times
- Deplete stamina 500 times
The Cardio Fan Mutation allows for faster stamina regeneration and reduces the duration you spend exhausted after fully depleting your stamina. This is an easily accessible and highly beneficial Mutation early in the game, especially for evading enemies before you acquire vehicles or if your buggy is incapacitated.
Reliable Fan
- Revive 5 allies
- Revive 15 allies
- Revive 30 allies
Reliable Fan enables you to revive downed teammates more quickly. Even if playing solo, you can progress this Mutation by reviving your buggy when it`s incapacitated.
Fresh Defense
- Consume 1 mint shard
- Consume 5 mint shards
- Consume 10 mint shards
Fresh Defense provides robust protection against elemental hazards. It slows the rate at which sizzle burns you, reduces sizzle damage, and lessens the harm received from poison gas.
Mint Shards are obtained from large mint candies scattered across the world (resembling Flintstone vitamins). You`ll need the Omni-Hammer level II upgrade to harvest them.
Spicy Safety
- Consume 1 spicy shard
- Consume 5 spicy shards
- Consume 10 spicy shards
Consuming spicy shards unlocks Spicy Safety, a crucial Mutation for exploring the frigid regions around the Ice Cream Cart. It offers significant chill reduction, increased freeze resistance, and decreases shatter damage when you`re hit while frozen.
The Ice Cream Cart area is notoriously challenging due to the cold, even with warmth-providing armor. Stack this Mutation with cold-resistant gear and cold-buffing smoothies for optimal survival. Spicy shards are harvested from chili pepper-shaped candies found in the environment.
Mithridatism
- Defeat 5 venomous creatures
- Defeat 50 venomous creatures
- Defeat 150 venomous creatures
The Mithridatism Mutation reduces the rate at which venom spreads through your body and lessens the damage taken from venom attacks, making encounters with poisonous enemies more manageable.
For additional survival tips and tricks, explore comprehensive Grounded 2 guides, including how to locate Ranger Outposts and upgrade your weapons and armor effectively.