Grounded, the miniature survival sim from Obsidian Entertainment, has recently received its first major update. Patch 0.2.0 adds a host of new content for Grounded's tiny players to explore, including a Perk system, new buildings, and a feathery new NPC.
The bird, which seems to be a crow, flutters across the garden from time to time, but doesn't pose any threat to players. This doesn't mean that it's a purely cosmetic addition though, and in fact the crow's feathers can be used to craft some high tier equipment. These feathers drop from the crow on its travels, but to collect one players will either need to be lucky, or keep a careful eye out.
Popular Perches
The best way to collect feathers is to pay attention to when the bird drops them. The crow NPC flies around the garden, regularly visiting a few different locations. At any point along the way, or even at a couple of its perching spots, it can drop a feather or two. The first step to finding one of these feathers is keeping a close eye on where the crow is.
The most likely places to spot the crow are on the bird-bath, on one of the lasers of the mystery machine, on the fence, or on the picnic table. The fence in the east, and the picnic table in the west, are actually outside of the playable area, but that doesn't mean the crow might not fly from them to a reachable point. At the bird-bath, it's possible to get quite close to the crow by climbing the branches, but there's no way of interacting with it at the moment.
Birds of a Feather
To actually spot a feather fall, players will need to be keeping a close eye on the crow when it takes off. The feather will drop from the crow's tail, and flutter to the ground. This gives players a chance to work out where it'll land, and head in that direction. Often this means covering quite a bit of territory, so make sure to keep an eye out for other threats along the way.
Often the feather will snag on the top of a blade of grass, requiring a little effort to get it down. Once it's within reach, a Level 2 Insect Ax is required to chop it up into manageable chunks. This can be crafted with a Ladybug Head, three Bombardier Parts, and four Spider Silk. The Ax can reduce the crow feather into Crow Feather Pieces, which can be used to unlock and craft new recipes.
Grounded is in early access on PC and Xbox One.