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Players that are just starting their journey through the massive Backyard in Grounded will have to piece together some makeshift weapons and armor to help defend themselves against the creepy crawlies found in each area. During the early game, some bugs can be especially punishing. Players that run into an errant Wolf Spider will find themselves quickly incapacitated. Thankfully, as adventurers begin to unlock new recipes and slay larger bugs, they'll be able to piece together better equipment and eventually tackle even the strongest foes found skittering around.

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Players can even upgrade their shiny new weapons beyond the base stats, but they'll need some specific materials to do so. The following guide outlines all players need to know about upgrading their weapons with Brittle Whetstones in Grounded, including how they can craft their own.

How To Find Brittle Quartzite

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Once players officially start the game (by locating BURG.L at the base of the large Oak Tree), they'll gain access to the recipe necessary to craft Brittle Whetstones by simply using one piece of Brittle Quartzite at a Workbench. Although this process is pretty straightforward, Quartzite is a finite resource in the backyard, so players looking to upgrade a lot of materials and weapons will definitely want to unlock the "better recipe" as quickly as possible to be able to upgrade weapons no matter how much Quartzite they mine away.

Quartzite can be found in a wide variety of (often dangerous) places all throughout the backyard. It appears as a large greyish/brownish rock and is usually found in caves, anthills, and other locations that can be a bit dangerous to traverse. One place that players can often find quartzite early is beneath the large Oak Tree and through the Lab where they find BURG.L. One section of the lab has a cracked window, allowing players to ascend down into the caves below. This area connects to a Red Anthill, so players should be careful about exploring too much without wearing Red Ant Armor (which will cause ants to disregard them as they explore).

To harvest the Brittle Quartzite, players will need access to the Insect Hammer, a Tier II tool.

As players make their way through the Hedge Lab, they'll be able to re-activate the Surveyor, which can then be used to help track where Brittle Quartzite deposits are.

How To Craft Brittle Whetstones

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From the moment they find BURG.L, players will be able to piece together Brittle Whetstones at any Workbench. These items are used to upgrade weapons from levels 1 through 5, and the number of whetstones required to upgrade will increase with each level. Because weapons can use numerous Brittle Whetstones during these early upgrade stages, it can be pretty difficult to upgrade much during the earliest parts of the game. Instead, players should work on obtaining a powerful early-game weapon and then spend the resources to upgrade it, making sure they take good care of it to help them ascend to the mid-game.

As players successfully enter the mid-game (when they have obtained quite a bit of Tier II armors, weapons, and tools), they'll want to head to the Black Anthill (from the Trash Heap or Sandbox) and defeat the Assistant Manager to unlock the Black Anthill BURG.L chip. Doing so will give players access to a new Brittle Whetstone recipe. From that point onward, players can put together Brittle Whetstones (at any Workbench) with two fairly easy-to-obtain items.

Brittle Whetstone Recipe (Renewable via Black Anthill Chip)

1 x Sap

1 x Larva Spike

How To Use Brittle Whetstones In Grounded

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Brittle Whetstones only have one use, to upgrade weapons and tools from Level 1 through 5. In order to use them, players will first need to buy the Smithing Station recipe from any of the ASL terminals. The ASL terminals become activated once players wake BURG.L up in the underground lab beneath the Oak Tree. Players can use the guide via this link to get more information about the Smithing Station and its uses.

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