All Damage Types & Augments in Grounded

I can’t deny that having a variety of damage in any Surival Game is a great perk, especially if the addition of different types of damage will help players deal more damage if the correct Weapon or Element is used on a mob, the only issue is… sometimes I’m just too lazy.

As most people know, my first playthrough in Grounded consisted of me running around with the most powerful Weapon in game, not caring if it was resisted by the mobs that I was up against and still finding the game manageable. 

It honestly wasn’t until the later updates of the game when my husband and I started streaming Grounded that I started actually caring about what Weapons/Tools I used against bugs, especially when we were against boss Mobs.

Trust me, not only did we have moments where we struggled to defeat things, there was also a lot of screaming about bringing in the wrong Weapon into battle or having something break midway through battle because we didn’t anticipate how long it was actually going to take to defeat a mob.

Now that we’ve reached the launch of Grounded I thought I would take the time to thoroughly cover all the different types of damage in the game and tips on how to remember what damage works well on different types of mobs.

For those of you who have also been playing the game for years, it’s important for me to let you know that things have changed quite a bit, meaning that mobs that were once susceptible to some forms of damage may no longer be and in some cases have even become resistant to that form of damage. In this post I will make sure to cover these changes so you’re not wasting your time bashing an enemy with something that’s inadequate and questioning why things are taking so long for you. 

I’ll also state that this guide will take us through the type of damage that comes from the base Weapon or Tool (called a Damage Type in Grounded) and the different Elemental components which can be added to most Weapons and Tools in the game for extra damage. There are some cases where adding an Element to a Weapon or Tool will actually make it worse to use as the mob in question may actually have resistance to that Element. Though that is something worry about, there are more opportunities to make a Weapon have double the effect on a mob. 

I would strongly recommend placing Elemental Damage on Weapons when focusing on dealing damage to high-health mobs. Optimizing for low-health mobs will tend to require a player to get too many resources and switch Weapons way too frequently. That being said, if you’re setting out to only focus on a single-mob type a day it’s not as big of an issue.

The following guide will take you through everything you need to know about the various damage types and some tips that I have based on my own adventures in Grounded. Of course, as is with most things in a Survival Craft game, you may want to use other strategies than I have based on your own personal playstyle, so I’d love to hear your opinions! 

BASIC DAMAGE TYPES

To start off with, I’d like to cover the types of damage that come from each Tool and Weapon before you place an augmentation on it. It’s important to understand all of the basic damage types before you place any augmentations on them, especially if you’re trying to slay a tough enemy. 

As mentioned earlier, players can actually shoot themselves in the foot by combining the wrong Weapon or Tool with the wrong augmentation as it can essentially reduce the amount of damage it does. Now, when it comes to lesser mobs, I wouldn’t really pay attention to augmentations asyou can deal a good deal of damage simply by using the right type of basic damage to them. 

Now, if you’re playing in WOAH! mode, you will want to focus on dealing both types of damage as mobs simply have so much health in comparison. 

There are 5 basic forms of damage forms of damage in Grounded and it is quite easy to remember what Weapons are associated with them as the way that they are segregated is pretty straight forward.

The following are the 5 basic damage types, the Weapons associated with them and what mobs have resistances and weaknesses to them. 

BUSTING

Busting damage is associated with Hammers and while players may assume that these Tools are only useful for busting rocks, the reality is that they are extremely useful against certain types of bugs. 

There are three different tiers of Hammers in the game and they consist of the following Hammers: 

Pebblet Hammer

Insect Hammer

Black Ox Hammer

WHAT MOBS HAVE A WEAKNESS TO BUSTING 

Mobs that have a Weakness to busting a wee bit confusing as they are kind of all over the place. The best tip for me to give you is all Robots or bugs with shells are susceptible to Busting damage. While there are a few Spiders affected by this damage, other Spiders are susceptible to other forms of damage so you’ll simply need to remember which are susceptible and which aren’t.

Mobs that have a Weakness to Busting include:

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Black Ox Beetle

Director Schmector

Infected Ladybug

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybird

Ladybug

Roly Poly

Sickly Roly Poly

TAYZ.T

BUGS THAT HAVE A RESISTANCE TO BUSTING

Honestly, I don’t know how to categorize any of the mobs that have a resistance to Busting as they feel a bit random. However, the following Bugs have a resistance to Busting:

Bee

Black Widow

Bombardier Beetle

Dust Mite

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Infected Weevil

Ladybird Larva

Mantis

Mosquito

Moth

Tick

Tiger Mosquito

CHOPPING

Chopping damage is associated with any of the Axes and Scythes. At first I didn’t see a use of using an Axe asa Weapon as I didn’t want to reduce its durability for no reason and preferred to save it for… well actual chopping, but since we started streaming Grounded again I’ve started seeing the great importance of using Axes as Weapons, especially in the early game as you want to save your Weapon upgrades for when you have the infinite recipes for the Smithing Station. 

I will say, with the new addition of the Scythe, players may feel less weird about swinging a Chopping Weapon as the Scythe is a pretty cool Weapon to be honest.

Chopping Weapons include:

Insect Axe

Pebblet Axe

Sou Battle-Axe

Termite Axe

Scythe of Blossoms

BUGS THAT HAVE A WEAKNESS TO CHOPPING

In regards to things that have Weakness to Chopping the way, I remember this is by attacking things that fly. Admittedly, not everything that flies is actually Weak to chopping, however, nothing that flies has a resistance. 

The following are all of the Bugs that are Weak to Chopping:

Bee

Bombardier Beetle

Infected Mite

Lawn Mite

Mosquito

Tiger Mosquito

Wolf Spider

BUGS THAT HAVE A RESISTANCE TO CHOPPING

In my opinion, the best way to think about things that have a resistance to Chopping is to think of it as anything with thicker skin is resistant. Admittedly, much like the other types of damage in the game,  it can be hard to actually categorize all the Bugs into one trait, but the following are all the mobs that are resistant to Chopping:

Antlion

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Black Ox Beetle

Black Soldier Ant

Black Widow

Director Schmector

Fire Soldier Ant

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Larva

Infected Weevil

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybird

Ladybird Lava

Larva

Mantis

Red Soldier Ant

Roly Poly

Sickly Roly Poly

Spiny Water Flea

TAYZ.T

EXPLOSIVE

Explosives aren’t really a Weapon that most people end up using, but they can be useful especially if you’re playing with multiple people. Realistically there are no mobs that have a Weakness to explosives, though if a player is on a team and someone wants to play a more support role they can throw some explosives to help burst down a tough mob faster. 

There are 3 types of explosives in Grounded which are:

Bomb Arrows

Bratburst

Splatburst 

BUGS THAT HAVE A WEAKNESS TO EXPLOSIVE

None

BUGS THAT HAVE A RESISTANCE TO EXPLOSIVE

It’s much more important to note what Mobs are less effected by explosions so you don’t use Explosives on them, though if you don’t see a boss you are struggling with on this list, I strongly recommend using Explosives on them. 

Although Explosives won’t deal extra damage to these bosses, due to the range you get from Explosives you can actually deal a good amount of damage while remaining safe. This is especially true if you have multiple team members, having a support player throw an Explosive and then having them switch onto a Bow or Staff. 

Admittedly, I like using Explosives that will stick onto mobs more than anything, or even Bomb Arrows if there are a lot of mobs. 

I would strongly recommend turning off PVP damage if you’re going to do this. 

Assistant Manager

Black Widow

Director Schmector

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Ladybug

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Infected Wolf Spider

Mant

Mantis

GENERIC

Generic Damage is the default form of damage and honestly the damage I personally tend to focus on as I’m… well… quite dumb sometimes. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to switch out your Weapons often, then I strongly recommend you play around with Generic Weapons as they tend to deal a consistent amount of damage to most mobs, however, don’t expect to be able to burst down every enemy.

Generic Weapons consist of Clubs, Maces and a slight variety of other Weapons and I like to think of them as the Weapons that take a bit of extra time to attack with. In most cases the Weapons on this list require players to use two hands to deal damage instead of being able to hold one and a Shield or a Torch.

Mobs that are Weak to Generic Damage:

ARC.R

Infected Ladybug

Ladybird

Ladybug

Sickly Roly Poly

TAYZ.T

Roly Poly

All the Weapons that are considered Generic Damage include:

Antlion

Assistant Manager

Bee

Black Widow

Black Widowling

Bombardier Beetle

Director Schmector

Dust Mite

Firefly

Green Shield Bug

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Infected Weevil

Ladybird Larva

Mant

Mosquito

Moth

Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver Jr

Spiderling

Stinkbug

Termite King

Termite Soldier

Termite Worker

Tick

Tiger Mosquito

Wolf Spider

Club of the Monter Demon

Fire Ant Club

Mint Mace

Pinch Whacker

Prod Smacker

Red Ant Club

Salt Morning Star

Spiky Sprig

SLASHING

Slashing typically has to do with Swords, Daggers and other “thin blade” Weapons and are typically a mid-speed Weapon. Admittedly, I tended to use these in the late-game because they were significantly better, though with the immense addition to Weapons and damage types in Grounded I see myself playing around with all Weapon types now. Yes, you heard me, I got less lazy! 

Many of the Weapons on this list make it into the very end game and a good amount of them are great against the toughest mobs, so make sure you grab one when you can.

One of the best things about Slashing Weapons is that many can be used underwater as a good portion of single hand items. That being said, they can also be great if a player is traversing the world and needing a torch in one hand. Simply due to this, I find Slashing to be one of the more versatile Weapons, especially for those who are still exploring. 

Admittedly, given the addition of a variety of Weapons, my late-game choice may vary now and I’ll update this based on how the preference changes.

Weapons on this list include: 

Antlion Greatsword

Black Ant Sword

Bone Dagger

Larva Blade

Pebblet Dagger

Spicy Coaltana

Spider Fang Dagger

Tick Macuahuiti

Toenail Scimitar

Widdow Dagger

BUGS THAT HAVE A WEAKNESS TO SLASHING

Slashing is very similar to Chopping as it can effect flying mobs well, however, there is a good amount of overlap in this category. In my opinion, Slashing tends to be for the mid-game mobs, which is how I remember it, however, this doesn’t take account for everything, though it does for a lot. 

The mobs affected by Slashing are as follows:

Antlion

Bee

Diving Bell Spider

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Mant

Mosquito

Tiger Mosquito

Wolf Spider

BUGS THAT HAVE A RESISTANCE TO SLASHING

Things that have resistance to Slashing tend to have a thicker skin or are made of metal. Oddly, there are some Spiders on this list, even though their non-infected versions are susceptible to this damage and similar mobs are weak to Slashing, so you’re going to have to do a bit of memorization. 

The following are the resistant mobs to Slashing:

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Black Ox Beetle

Black Soldier Ant

Black Window

Director Schmector

Fire Soldier Ant

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybird Larva

Mantis

Moth

Red Soldier Ant

Roly Poly

Sicky Roly Poly 

TAYZ.T 

Termite

Termite King

Termite Soldier

Water Flea

STABBING

Stabbing attacks have a few different types of Weapons associated with them. To me I like to think of them as the very thin Weapons that you would expect to pierce skin. These include Arrows, Trident, Spears and Needles, so think very skinny minny Weapons. 

Stabbing Weapons tend to be one-handed, other than Arrows obviously as they use Bows or Crossbows, but they are the speediest of Weapons, so if you’re learning kite patterns or tend to be bad with your Stamina, this is the best option for you. 

The cool thing about Stabbing Weapons is that many can either be hucked for more damage, so they can be used for players who want a bit of extra range.

I strongly recommend that players use a Stabbing Weapon if they are trying to learn kiting patterns.

Stabbing Weapons include: 

All Arrows

Bone Trident 

Mosquito Needle

Pebblet Spear

Rustsy Spear

Stinger Spear

Tiger Mosquito Rapier

BUGS THAT HAVE A WEAKNESS TO STABBING

There are a good amount of mobs that are Weak to Stabbing, which is great as it means that you can use Arrows on most Mobs. Admittedly, there isn’t really a way to categorize these mobs as they are quite different, but due to the safety a Bow provides you I wouldn’t shy away from using it. 

The following Mobs are Weak to Stabbing:

Black Soldier Ant

Black Widowling

Black Worker Ant

Dust Mite

Firefly

Green Shield Bug

Ladybird

Larva

Lawn Mite

Mant

Red  Soldier Ant

Red Worker Ant

Spiny Water Flea

Stinkbug

Termite

Termite King

Termite Soldier

Water Flea

BUGS THAT HAVE A RESISTANCE TO STABBING

Anything that has thick skin is resistant to Stabbing, including metallic mobs and anything that is infected. Not only that, most Spiders are also resistant to piercing, so for those of you who want that extra safety against these tough beasts, you do trade off dealing bit less damage.

The following are all of the mobs that resistant to stabbing.

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Black Ox Beetle

Black Widow

Director Schmector

Diving Bell Spider

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Ladybug

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Infected Weevil

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybird

Ladybug

Mantis

Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver JR.

Roly Poly

Sickly Roly Poly

Spiderling

TAYZ.T

Wolf Spider

DAMAGE AUGMENTS

Damage Augments pertain to the elemental damage players can deal with their Weapons, whether they’re part of the base Weapon or if players have added them to their Weapon using the Smithing Station.

Admittedly, I mostly stick to using Damage Augments on tougher mobs such as bosses, because you can easily stack the basic type of damage and Damage Augments and it won’t require you to remember the resistances and weaknesses of every mob.

That being said, I don’t typically struggle with “trash mobs” as soon as I level up a Generic Weapon to the mid-level or higher simply because they will deal more base damage than an Augmented Weapon. 

There are 4 different types of Augments in the game, being: Fresh, Salty, Spicy and Sour. Although most Weapons and Tools do not have these Augments initially, there are a few Weapons around the world that players can find that do and players will be able to craft these Weapons in the late-game. 

I personally only use these Weapons for Elemental Damage, though I do make sure my Arrows are always Augmented as I tend to play support on my Team. 

That all being said, it tends to take you longer to augment a Weapon with Elemental Damage as the recipes unlock in the mid-to-late game and players will have to farm a bit more to actually augment Weapons as they take shards of different Candies in order to actually upgrade.

Once a player has placed an Elemental Augment on a Weapon they are unable to remove it, meaning that players are going to need to be conscious of what Weapon they augment, especially if they want to deal double damage to an enemy instead of just the standard damage. This is especially important as an Augmented Weapon will always deal less damage than a Generic Weapon when upgraded, unless a player is dealing double Weakness damage. 

Now for players who have a good memory or want to optimize everything, you may want to have one of every type of Weapon so you can freely rotate, especially in WOAH mode, but it will take you a good amount of time, even with the renewable recipe. 

I would strongly suggest you use Control+F to search this post when you want to deal double damage and want to avoid using a double resist Weapon, though I’ll try to cover some of the ways to be able to tell without having to look it up.

FRESH

Fresh damage is that which is associated with Mint. It’s one of the first Elemental forms of damage that players will have access to and in my opinion is the easiest to farm due to how many early-game locations actually have Mint.

There are two Weaponsthat immediately have Fresh attached to them and they are the Mint Mace and Mint Staff.

Mint is extremely useful in the early-to-mid game and tends to take care of the majority of mobs that you will be up against.

Admittedly, I only use the Mint Mace and Fresh Arrows, as most of the mobs I struggle with take double the damage from these.

WHAT BUGS ARE WEAK TO FRESH IN GROUNDED

The most important thing to note about Fresh damage is that all Infected Bugs are weak to it. Infected Mobs, in my opinion, are one of the most annoying types of mobs as they explode and have more health. 

I strongly recommend having a Fresh Weapon when you enter the Haze, especially if you choose not to Plug the Haze. This should give you an ample amount of protection for such a hard area. 

Bee

Bombardier Beetle

Dust Mite

Fire Soldier Ant

Fire Worker Ant

Green Shield Bug

Infected Ladybug

Infected Larva

Infected Mite

Infected Weevil

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybird

Ladybird Larva

Ladybug

Mant

Mosquito

Moth

Roly Poly

Scarab

Stinkbug

Tiger Mosquito

WHAT BUGS ARE RESISTANT TO FRESH IN GROUNDED

The most important thing to keep in mind with Fresh is that Antlions, Robots and Spiders are resistant to it. Make sure anytime you’re near these tough mobs you never use Fresh as you will be shooting yourself in the foot.

Of course, other big baddy you shouldn’t use Fresh against is the Roly Poly.

Antlion

Assistant Manager

Black Soldier Ant

Black Widow

Black Widowling

Black Worker Ant

Director Schmector

Diving Bell Spider

Hedge Broodmother

Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver Jr

Sickly Roly Poly

Spiderling

Spiny Water Flea

TAYZ.T

Tick

Water Flea

Wolf Spider

SALTY

Salty Damage will take you well into the late-game and is typically used for the Sandbox and beyond. Players will need Salt Fragments to implement this Elemental Damage and there is only one Weapon that has this augment on it immediately, being the Salt Morning Star.

Admittedly, the Salt Morning Star is the only Salt Weapon I use, other than Salty Arrows as it deals double damage to most of the Mobs I struggle with. 

WHAT BUGS ARE WEAK TO SALTY IN GROUNDED

As mentioned, the way I think about Salty Damage is that it will carry me through the Sandbox and through the Wooded Area. Though not every single mob is susceptible to Salty, most are so it’s a good start.

Mobs that are weak to Salty include:

Antlion

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Black Ox Beetle

Diving Bell Spider

Infected Weevil

Mantis

Roly Poly

Scarab

TAYZ.T

Termite

Termite King

Termite Soldier

Water Flea

WHAT BUGS ARE RESISTANT TO SALTY IN GROUNDED

Black Widow

Dust Mite

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Ladybug

Infected Larva

Infected Wolf Spider

Ladybug

Ladybird

Mant

Moth

Roly Poly

Sickly Roly Poly

Tick

SPICY

Spicy Damage is really great for the early and mid game, though it affects specific types of mobs. This requires Spicy candy for upgrades and there are two Weapons that can be found that immediately have Spicy attached to them. These are the Spicy Coaltana and Spicy Staff. 

I personally use the Spicy Coaltana the most as it is super effective against Spiders, but I want to get more practice in with the Staff. 

Spicy damage is probably going to be your most used form of damage as it will cover the ground you’re in for the longest period of time. and quite frankly will be the element that really helps you progress faster.

WHAT BUGS ARE WEAK TO SPICY IN GROUNDED

The way I remember what is weak to Spicy is by thinking: Spiders, Ants and thicker skin.

The following mobs are weak to Spicy:

Black Soldier Ant

Black Worker Ant

Black Widowling

Green Shield Bug

Hedge Broodmother

Infected Weevil

Infected Wolf Spider

Larva

Moth

Orb Weaver

Orb Weaver Jr

Red Soldier Ant

Red Worker Ant

Roly Poly

Scarab

Sickly Roly Poly

Spiderling

Tick

Wolf Spider

WHAT BUGS ARE RESISTANT TO SPICY IN GROUNDED

As for resistances to Spicy, you’ll find a decent amount of mid-game mobs, though some are in the early game. Anything that has fire damage or is weak to Salty will be on this list. 

Admittedly,the list is pretty small, being:

Antlion

Black Widow

Dust Mite

Firefly

Fire Soldier Ant

Fire Worker Ant

Infected Ladybug

Infected Larva

Ladybird

Ladybird Larva

Ladybug

Mant

Mantis

Termite

Termite Soldier

SOUR

Sour, in my opinion, is the least desirable augmentation. It’s best against Robots, though there is only one mob that is resistant to it. There are two Weapons in the game that immediately have Sour and they are the Sour Battle-Axe and the Sour Staff.

I typically don’t mess with Sour at all, though if you’re struggling with the Robot Bosses, you may want to get some Sour on. 

Admittedly, they changed the game quite a bit and have added all O.R.C. Varients, these typically start appearing after the JavaMatic event so it will be important if you have unlocked this portion of the game. 

WHAT BUGS ARE WEAK TO SOUR IN GROUNDED

ARC.R

Assistant Manager

Director Schmector

Moth

O.R.C. Black Ox Beetle

O.R.C. Bombardier Beetle

O.R.C. Dust Mite

O.R.C. Firefly

O.R.C. Fire Ant Worker

O.R.C. Fire Soldier Ant

O.R.C. Ladybird

O.R.C. Tiger Mosquito

O.R.C. Weaver Jr

Scarab

Spiny Water Flea

TAYZ.T

WHAT BUGS ARE RESISTANT TO SOUR IN GROUNDED

Black Widow