Grounded 2 Early Access Roadmap: Complete Guide to Updates and Preparation

Grounded 2's Early Access roadmap is packed with content, from the imminent 'Hairy & Scary' update to a full aquatic expansion. But with so many features, bosses, and seasonal drops on the horizon, it's easy to get lost in the hype. This guide cuts through the noise, detailing exactly what's coming, what's already here, and how you can prepare for every major update Obsidian has planned.

What's NOT Coming: Common Misconceptions Clarified

New Game Plus: Already Available Since Launch

People keep asking when NG+ drops, but here's the thing - it's been here since day one. Grounded 2's New Game Plus launched right alongside Early Access on July 29, 2025, so if you've been holding off, you're good to go.

The system works through the 'Remix.r' feature, which sounds complicated but isn't. Instead of a traditional restart, you're jumping into an alternate timeline of the backyard while keeping all your hard-earned progress. That means every piece of gear, every mutation you've unlocked, and every crafting recipe stays with you. Even your base layouts and blueprints carry over, so you don't have to spend hours rebuilding that perfect fortress.

You can activate it as soon as you're ready to face new dangers with everything you've already learned - and honestly, that's when the game gets really interesting.

Mantis Knight & Wolf Spider Matriarch: Current Content

Let's clear up another one: the 'Mantis Knight' and 'Wolf Spider Matriarch' aren't future roadmap bosses - they're in the game right now, and players are already dying to them.

The 'Mantis Knight', officially called 'Lieutenant Blade', is an O.R.C. Praying Mantis Nymph you'll find lurking in the Statue Region on top of Red Anthill Hill. You can't just waltz up to him, though; you need to take down two scorpion bosses first, which means this is mid-to-late game content. He's tough, he's fast, and he's very much available.

Then there's the 'Wolf Spider Matriarch', a proper raid-gate boss hanging out in the Lamp Den over the north-eastern pond region. You'll need a 'Wolf Spider BLT' to trigger her fight, so that's your entry fee. Beat her and you'll snag 'Venom Glands', 'Matriarch Fangs', and 'Silk Wrappings' - all top-tier crafting materials that are worth the effort.

So yeah, stop waiting. These encounters are live, they're lethal, and they're waiting for you.

Roadmap Overview: What's Coming & What's Already Here

Current Status: What's Already Available (As of Jan 2026)

Grounded 2's Early Access dropped on July 29, 2025, and here's the good news: New Game Plus was ready from day one. No waiting around for a post-launch patch - you could restart with your gear the moment you finished the campaign.

Now, let's clear up some boss confusion because the community has been using names that don't match the game files. First up, the so-called 'Mantis Knight.' Spoiler: it doesn't exist as a unique boss. Players started calling the 'Praying Mantis Nymph' - a Tier-3 mini-boss in Brookhollow Park - by that name because it's heavily armored and drops the 'Mantis Blade'. Your bestiary won't show a 'Knight' variant, so don't waste time searching for one.

The 'Wolf Spider Matriarch' is another misnomer. The Tier-3 'Wolf Spider' you encounter isn't a special matriarch variant; it's the standard one that serves as a raid-gate boss for Tier-3 rogue equipment. You'll need to grind it for 'Wolf Spider Fangs', 'Chunks', and the rare 'Volatile Fang' trinket that's pretty much non-negotiable for any serious rogue build.

The 4-Season Update Structure

Obsidian has mapped out four major seasonal updates, and they're treating each one like a mini-expansion. Here's what you're looking at:

'Season 0.2 (Fall 2025): 'Hairy & Scary'' This one adds the 'Tarantula Matriarch' boss fight, which is exactly as terrifying as it sounds. You'll also get the 'Aphid Buggy' mount to zip around on, plus the 'Hairy' armor set for maximum spider-themed fashion. Base builders aren't left out either - 'Smart Snap' improvements are coming to make construction less of a headache.

'Season 0.3 (Winter 2025): 'Frost & Fangs'' Winter brings the 'Frost Wolf Spider' boss, a chilly variant that'll test your cold resistance. You'll also gain access to the 'Tier-4 Omni-Tool', get insulated 'clover roofing' for cozier bases, and enjoy a two-week holiday event with festive recipes. It's Obsidian's way of saying 'happy holidays, now go fight a frozen spider.'

'Season 0.4 (Summer 2026): 'Into the Deep'' The long-awaited aquatic update finally hits, expanding the south-east park canal into a full underwater playground. The 'Giant Water Scorpion' boss lurks in the depths, and you'll navigate with the 'Pond-skimmer Buggy'. The 'Tier-5 Omni-Tool' comes with an underwater harpoon module, which means ranged combat beneath the surface is finally a thing.

'After Summer 2026: Community's Choice' Once the four seasons wrap, the roadmap hands the reins to the community. You'll get to vote on new biomes like 'The Sandpit' or 'Compost Heap', and there's a four-player raid-style dungeon planned under the park fountain. Obsidian might also pivot from the quarterly schedule to surprise drops tied to Xbox Game Pass marketing beats, so the pace could pick up unexpectedly.

Fall 2025: Hairy & Scary Update (October 2025)

AXL: The Tarantula Park Boss & Arena

Obsidian dropped a Colossal-class tarantula named AXL into Brookhollow Park, and it's exactly as terrifying as it sounds. This isn't just another spider encounter - AXL is a full-blown boss fight with three distinct phases that will test your survival skills.

The arena itself becomes part of the challenge in Phase 1, as AXL coats everything in sticky silk that'll slow your movement to a crawl, which means you'll need to adjust your positioning constantly. Then Phase 2 ramps up the pressure with a brutal three-hit lunge-and-grab combo that can one-shot you if you're not dodging properly, and just when you think you've got a rhythm, Phase 3 spawns 'AXLings' - poisonous little adds that'll swarm you while you're focused on the main target.

Beating AXL isn't just about bragging rights, though. The loot table is stacked: you'll walk away with the complete 'Tarantula Armour set' (starting with the Chitin-Weave Mask) and three new weapons - the 'Tarantula Fang Dagger', 'Leg-Segment Hammer', and 'Great Bow'. On top of that, AXL drops the 'Hunter's Focus' mutation and two brand-new trinkets, plus a recipe that lets you summon the boss outside its natural spawn for rematches. To craft all this gear (and the matching furniture), you'll need to use the new 'Arachnid Anvil' workstation.

Quality of Life Improvements & New Content

Base builders, rejoice - the old radial construction menu is gone, replaced by the 'BUILD.M grid system' that finally gives you snap-to-grid placement and 15-degree rotation increments. This means no more eyeballing your walls and hoping they line up; your bases will actually look intentional now.

The Hotpouch gets a much-needed upgrade, too. It's now permanently baked into your inventory screen and, more importantly, stays accessible while you're riding a Buggy. You can chug smoothies or throw bombs without dismounting, which makes exploration way less interrupted.

For players in Japan and Brazil, the update adds full text localization for Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese across all menus, crafting cards, and grid tooltips. If you were cheesing Orb Weavers by knocking them off tree branches, though, those days are over - Orb Weavers no longer take fall damage, so you'll need to fight them fair and square. Finally, the auto-save timer has been tightened from 15 minutes to 7, which means fewer tears when your game crashes after spending an hour perfecting that new grid-based base.

Winter 2025-2026: Steam Deck & New Creatures

Platform Expansion: Steam Deck & ROG Ally Support

You have been asking about handheld support, and the winter patch finally delivers. 'Grounded 2' is getting 'Steam Deck Verified' status around March or April 2026, which means you can stop checking ProtonDB every time you boot it up. Performance-wise, the Deck holds a solid 40-60 fps at 800p on High preset, but you will want to cap it to 40 Hz if you are tired of the fan screaming at you.

If you are on a Windows handheld like the 'ROG Ally', you are already running the same version, but Obsidian is adding proper rear paddle mappings and fixing those UI elements that get cut off on 16:10 displays. No more squinting at the edges of your screen.

Crossplay is where it gets messy right now. You need to flip the cross-play toggle in-game and sign in with an Xbox account even on Steam, which is annoying but it is what it is. 'Steam Deck crossplay' is flagged as buggy until this winter patch drops, so if you are trying to play with console friends on Deck right now, good luck. Once it works, 'Shared Worlds' will let you jump between Deck, desktop, and console without losing your inventory, which is actually pretty sweet.

New Creatures & Tier III Equipment

The winter update is not just about performance; it is dropping some nasty new bugs to fight. 'Cricket' and 'Earwig' insects are joining the backyard, and those Earwig pincer attacks come with a bleed status that is going to wreck your day if you are not careful.

This also means it is finally time for 'Tier III equipment'. The current antlion and black oxylite gear is getting a whole tier above it, so you will want to start hunting these new creatures for materials. And if you have been sitting on Sour 1.0 weapons, upgrade them now - when Sour 2.0 hits, they will auto-convert into Tier III schematics, which saves you a ton of grinding.

The buggy system is getting love too. The 'Ladybug Buggy' is coming in a future update, and it will have more cargo space than the Red Soldier Ant version plus poison resistance for the rider. The 'PEEP.R 2.0' adds a binocular toggle that does not eat an inventory slot, and you will be able to mount it on your buggy to ping Tier III node locations while driving around. Dataminers also found icons for Water Strider and Diving Bell Spider buggies, which suggests Obsidian wants us to drive on water eventually. That is the dream, right?

Base Building & Defense Updates

Base builders, this patch is for you. 'Mushroom Set 2.0' armor is getting a full Tier III rework with a glow-cap shader that actually looks cool and a new perk that automatically releases a stun cloud when you drop below 25% health - it is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card when you are getting swarmed.

The new 'base defense kits' are wild. Trip-wire clusters that can use world items as counter-weights, and elevated mushroom turrets that lob bouncing puff-balls to slow and confuse ants. Your base is about to become a proper fortress.

Obsidian is also adding a 'Coziness system', which is a hidden comfort stat from furniture like mushroom stools and firefly lanterns. This passively speeds up crafting and healing inside your base perimeter, so you will actually want to decorate now.

The big map addition is 'Brookhollow Park', a mini urban playground by the oak tree with multi-level climbing frames and a zipline network. It is a public area, which means more frequent raids, but it drops exclusive blueprints like see-saw storage and a picnic-table workbench that feed back into the coziness system. Risk versus reward, basically.

All of this - Mushroom 2.0 gear, turrets, coziness, Brookhollow Park, and Steam Deck verification - is dropping in 'late February 2026'. Mark your calendars.

Summer 2026: Aquatic Expansion & Water Mechanics

Swimming 2.0 & Watery Biome Expansion

Let's be real - swimming in Grounded right now feels like you're trying not to drown in a bathtub. 'Swimming 2.0' scraps that entire float-and-flail model and replaces it with momentum-based strokes that chain into a legitimate underwater sprint, plus dive-to-surface transitions that finally make aquatic exploration feel intentional instead of accidental.

All that speed means you'll need serious oxygen management, so you're getting a dedicated 'gills slot' for passive breathing buffs, 're-breather smoothies' for quick mid-dive top-offs, and 'Tier-IV tank mods' that let you stay submerged for extended treasure hunts.

But here's the slick part: 'surface tension mechanics' let you hop onto lily pads or bounce off submerged leaves mid-parkour, which means you're never stuck underwater if you need air or want to chain a combo.

The new watery biome itself is crawling with aquatic insects and amphibians, and there's a proper mid-water boss fight against the 'Diving Bell Spider Queen' that'll test everything you've learned. You'll also unlock the 'Community Garden' park area - a full lily-maze connected to the pond via drainage pipes that creates an entirely fresh exploration loop.

Watery Bases & Tier IV Progression

Surviving underwater is one thing, but building a home there is another. Tier-IV is all about making the pond your permanent address, starting with 'modular pontoon foundations' that snap onto lily pads, driftwood, or anchored reeds. Your floating outpost actually rises and falls with the water table, which looks immersive until a storm rolls in.

Those new base recipes include 'air-lock corridors', 'moon-pool chambers', and 'waterproof storage' to keep your gear dry, but you'll need to plan for fresh hazards. 'Electric storms' can short-circuit exposed wiring if you don't shield your circuits, and 'diving beetles' chew through un-reinforced hull panels if you skimp on materials.

To harvest the good stuff, the 'Tier-IV Omni-Tool' picks up a hydraulic cutting torch and underwater welder, letting you mine lab-grade 'Pond Alloy' from submerged deposits. That feeds into new armor like 'shrimp-shell pauldrons' and 'eel-scale leggings', which stack shock resistance and swim-speed buffs so you don't die mid-sprint.

Crafting gets two new benches: the 'Hydro-Workbench' processes coral chunks into bio-cement, while the 'Aqua-Lathe' prints pressure-proof panels for sub-aquatic architecture. You'll need both to keep the base intact.

For traversal, Tier-IV quests unlock 'inflatable lady-bug skimmers' and 'spring-tail jet-boards' - two-seat co-op rides that make pond-crossings way faster. And yes, 'ziplines' are back; you can now anchor them to floating debris for aerial shortcuts above the surface.

Don't forget the drink menu. 'Smoothies 2.0' adds eight new blends, including 'Bubble Berry Fizz' for extended oxygen and 'Mosquito Mojito' for water-sprint stamina.

The whole update targets a Q2-2026 release window, likely late May-June, right after a smaller bug-fix patch drops in March.

Future Plans (2026+): Long-Term Roadmap

Mutation System Overhaul & New Archetypes

The mutation system is getting a complete rework in Mutations 2.0, and honestly, it's about time. You'll finally be able to swap mutations on the fly - well, out of combat anyway - across five slots you actually control. No more being locked into choices you made ten hours ago.

Four new archetypes are dropping too, each with their own vibe. The 'Entomologist' is the INT-based debuffer you've been waiting for, packing a 'Vial Launcher' that fires buff and debuff solutions. Its key mutation, 'Venom Connoisseur', flips poison damage into 'Genome Points', which is huge for sustain. Then there's the 'Ravager', a STR/AGI hybrid that thrives in the chaos. Its 'Adrenal Glands' mutation stacks attack speed as you lose HP and caps it off with a Frenzied leap-slam finisher. Each archetype comes with unique progression paths and mini-boss challenges, plus stackable passives so you can really specialize.

Buggy Progression & Customization

Your buggy isn't just transportation anymore - it's becoming a full progression track. You'll earn per-mount mutations and dump 'Mutation Points (MP)' into combat, endurance, or payload tracks depending on how you want to roll. Want a tanky hauler or a nimble fighter? That's on you now.

Cosmetic customization is getting love too. The 'Buggy Customization' system lets you swap shells, lights, horn sounds, and paint jobs, so your ride actually looks like yours. And for the tinkerers, a 'Buggy Difficulty' slider will expose internal balance scalars you can tweak in real time - though flipping that switch disables achievements, so keep that in mind.

Weapon grind also gets a bit less painful with the 'Mold Press', a crafting station that lets you reroll weapon suffixes by spending quartzite shards and mutation samples. No more farming the same boss for that perfect roll.

End-Game Content & Language Support

Endgame is where things get wild. New 'park bosses' and massive 'Colossi' enemies are planned as ultimate challenges that'll demand raid tactics and probably a buggy-mounted cannon or two. These aren't your normal backyard brawls.

Base builders aren't left out either. Advanced building materials are coming, plus a full 'base relocation mechanic' that lets you snapshot and redeploy your entire setup. No more rebuilding from scratch when you find a better spot.

And for international players, the 1.0 build will ship with full text localization for 'Arabic, Korean, Polish, Russian, Thai, Traditional Chinese, and Turkish'. That's a lot of languages, which means the devs are serious about going global.

Player Preparation & What to Expect Timeline

Estimated Release Windows & Development Status

Obsidian kicked off Grounded 2 Early Access on July 30, 2025, and they’re locked into a year-long roadmap that runs all the way through Summer 2026 - which means you’ve got a predictable content drip instead of vague promises. The first major drop lands on 'October 14, 2025', and it’s not just a patch; you’re getting a fresh mid-tier boss, a mini-raid tucked inside the overturned wheelbarrow, plus the very first Buggie mount questline so you can finally stop sprinting everywhere.

Winter hits harder on 'January 20, 2026', when the 'Frostic Ridge' zone arrives blanketed in snow and blizzard mechanics that’ll chew through your stamina if you’re not prepared. This update drops frost-ant queens, snow fleas, and a three-phase end-game boss hidden inside the garden gnome statue, so you’ll want cold-resistant gear ready before the holidays.

The big one is 'Summer 2026', currently penciled in for 'June 18' (give or take two weeks), and it’s almost entirely underwater. We’re talking aquatic Tier IV content, underwater base modules, tier-5 'Hydro armor', new water-bugs, and a multi-player 'deep-dive' dungeon that ends with a boss fight against the giant koi. If you’ve been ignoring the pond, you’ll want to start practicing your swimming now.

After Summer 2026, the roadmap gets fuzzy - Obsidian hasn’t committed to specifics - but an investor briefing on December 18, 2025, teased 'year-two expansions, potential DLC, and community-voted features' for late 2026 and beyond. So while the immediate future is clear, anything past next summer is still up in the air.

Preparation Guide for Upcoming Content

You can’t just stroll into a water biome with a pocket full of planks, so here’s what you should be hoarding right now.

'Raw Science:' Aim for a '300k cushion' before the Summer update drops. That sounds ridiculous, but Red-Ant raid loops spawn 2-3 Infused Soldiers per wave and each one dumps 1-2k Raw Science, so you’ll hit the cap faster than you think. Run those raids at night while scanning bugs at Field Stations and you’ll be swimming in points - literally, once the pond update hits.

'Tier-IV Ingredients:' Stock double the normal cost of universal mats so you can craft watery variants the second they unlock:

• 'Watery Sour Battle-axe:' 5x Glob, 2x Lint, 1x Sour Lump
• 'Watery Fresh Smithy:' 5x Pinecone, 3x Silk, 2x Mint
• 'Tier-IV Omni-Tool:' 10x Rust, 8x Lint, 1x Super Chip

'Pond-Ready Consumables:' Craft 'five 5-drop canteens' and upgrade them to 'Insulated' at the Smithy so your water stays fresh longer. Cook '40 stacks of Gnat-Meat and Mushroom Slop' now because food is expected to spoil 50% faster in the humid water biome - nobody wants to starve mid-dive.

'Mutations & Chips:' Knock out 'Data Miner' (scan 50 bugs), 'Javelineer' (50 perfect throws), and the full Sour/Salty/Fresh three-piece mutation sets 'before' you start NG+. These are confirmed prerequisites for the upcoming Watery mutations, and yes, they’ll be locked again if you reset, so get them done on your current playthrough.

'Daily Farming Route:' Here’s a 10-minute loop that fills a Tier-IV chest in a week:

• 'Black-Ox crate' for Glob + Rust
• 'Toolbox' for Lint
• 'Picnic Table' for Sour Lump
• 'Hedge Ascend' for Pinecone + Silk

Sleep till morning to reset nodes, then repeat. Do this every in-game day and you’ll have everything stockpiled before the first snowflake falls.

From the upcoming aquatic biome to the live Mantis Knight fight, Grounded 2's future is both predictable and packed with potential. By understanding the roadmap and preparing your resources now, you can transition smoothly between each seasonal update. The backyard is evolving - make sure you're ready to explore every new inch of it.