In Grounded, the Insect Axe is a Tier 2 chopping tool that enables players to progress by accessing many new resources and recipes. It's an upgrade on the tier 1 pebblet axe and lets players chop up all kinds of materials from Billy Hog meat to crow feathers, to enable the creation of new armor, types of food, and beyond.
The Tier 2 Insect Axe is an essential item on any Grounded wish list, and this guide details how it's possible to get it without too much trouble and what exactly players can harvest with its spiky and menacing physique.
How To Get The Insect Axe
Players must first unlock the Insect Axe recipe by analyzing a ladybug head using a Resource Analyzer. To make an Insect Axe, players need 1 ladybug head, 3 bombardier parts, and 4 strands of silk rope and must craft the axe using a workbench.
- Ladybug head: This material is earnt by killing ladybirds, located throughout the yard but most commonly found near the Oak Tree. Ladybirds can sometimes be tough to defeat but can be taken down relatively quickly with a combination of arrows and a high-damaged weapon like the Red Ant Club. Their main attack is a forward charge which deals significant damage, so players need to dodge or block with a shield. Once defeated, there's a chance of the ladybird head spawning, so players may need to defeat a couple to get the right goods.
- Bombardier Beetles: Players need to defeat ferocious Bombadier Beetles for their parts, usually located in dry grassy areas. Players can peep them to add their Creature Card and view their weaknesses and weak points. Its main attacks include charging and spitting acid pools, so it's best to equip some decent armor and keep distance by shooting with arrows and chopping at close range.
- Silk Rope: Players need to craft a Spinning Wheel to make silk rope from web fiber. This doesn't necessarily mean battling spiders as players can chop webs for web fiber near the oak tree or even destroy egg sacks, watching out for spiderlings that can be tough despite their minuscule size.
What The Insect Axe Does
Although the Insect Axe is primarily a chopping tool, it can also double as a weapon with a decent amount of damage. This axe chops any tier 1 choppable resource, like clover, plus the following resources:
- Billy Hog Meat - Players can harvest Billy Hog meat using the Insect Axe by locating and chopping the giant hot dog to the east of the Mysterious Machine, not far from the wooden plank with rusty nails sticking out of it. This gives players a mixture of rotten food usable as fertilizer, plus fresh Billy Hot Meat for Smoothie recipes. It's also possible to find Billy Hog Meat randomly in the backyard world, like when players retrieve the Graveyard BURG.L Chip.
- Apple Cores - Large apple cores are located in different parts of the yard, but there's one handily located right next to the Billy Hog hot dog. Chopping it gives players apple bits that are consumable straight away, restoring small amounts of hunger, plus rotten food.
- Husky Weed - Chopping husky weeds with the Tier 2 Insect Axe is another way of getting weed stems, useful for building base items like stairs, door frames, and stem walls.
- Crow Feathers - These are rare resources in Grounded most commonly found near the bird bath. Chopping a feather with the Insect Axe breaks it down into smaller chunks that, when analyzed, unlock other recipes including the Marksman's Hat and feather arrows.
- Haze Fungus - This is a mysterious, green, node-shaped growth that spawns in the Haze area of the map and around the murky gorge below the rake in the dry grass area. Players can use the Insect Axe to burst open Strange Spores that linger by the Haze Fungus, watching out for their explosive properties.
- Toadstools And Mushrooms - Players can chop the standard red and white toadstools with the tier 2 Insect Axe to obtain toadstool chunks. These can be made into Mushroom Slurries using a Grinder which are essential for crafting Mushroom Bricks for better base construction.
Grounded is available to play on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and is free to play on Xbox Game Pass.