While I might not be the biggest fan of Smoothies in real life, I am definitely a big fan of Smoothies in Grounded, often relying on them to help boost my health or to passively give me effects so that I can better explore the world.
While there are plenty of players who would simply look past Smoothies, given the time it takes to farm the materials and a lack of patience, I will say that having my husband by my side providing me with the Smoothies (as I am one of those lazy people) was one of the best things to take place.
I will say, there were plenty of Twitch Streams where we both avoided using Smoothies, because we didn’t actually understand their worth and thought they were weaker than they actually were. I’m glad we eventually saw the light.
Smoothies are a very interesting resource to craft as not only do players have the ability to provide themselves with a number of different passives, but players will also be able to lengthen the amount of time that the passives last for and will even be able to stack multiple passives at a time with no repercussions.
Due to the fact that players can stack Smoothies, Smoothies are one of the best resources in the game and will be a player’s main way of making sure they are as protected as possible and deal as much damage at the same time,
The following guide will take you through everything you need to know about Smoothies, including how to make them, which are the best to combine and which you should regularly focus on making to get the most out of your resources.
SMOOTHIE BASES
Although Smoothies are made from a variety of ingredients, all Smoothies will have to have one of three ingredients as a base. This base is combined with three items to make specific Smoothie recipes.
If players use any three items that don’t match a recipe, they will obtain Questionable Slop which doesn’t give the player a smoothie effect, simply some instant health. If using the Gum Nugget as a base, the Questionable Slop will also have some health regeneration over time.
It is strongly recommended that a player get acquainted with the following base ingredients as they will help a player enhance their Smoothies, no matter what the ingredients are.
GRUB SLUDGE
Grub Sludge is going to be the easiest resource to collect and is considered the most basic of all Smoothie Bases that a player can use.
Grub Sludge is acquired by killing Grubs, a non-hostile creature. Players can dig Grubs up with a Shovel whenever they see one burrowing in the dirt around the world. I strongly recommend that players always take the opportunity to grab a Grub as while they aren’t that rare, players will want to have a large supply of them to make sure they can always make a Smoothie or stockpile Smoothies.
With a Basic Smoothie using Grub Sludge, players will experience any effect they apply onto the Smoothie for 120 Seconds.
MUSCLE SPROUT
Muscle Sprouts are located in the Pond Lab and will regrow any time a player picks them and truthfully should only be used in Smoothies.
Muscle Sprouts will create Beefy Smoothies which will provide players with double the healing of a Basic Smoothie, though it does not effect the duration of the Smoothie, meaning any passives will last for 120 seconds still.
Muscle Sprouts tend to be used for smoothies when they need health or are healing mid combat.
GUM NUGGET
Gum Nuggets are by far the most useful base for players to use if they are trying to get the most out of their passives and are trying to use their Smoothies to heal.
While Gum Nuggets feel like they are fairly rare, there are actually a good amount of them in a world and I would strongly recommend players use Trail Markers to mark them so they can regularly farm and stockpile them while completing regular tasks around the world.
If Gum Nuggets are used as a base for Smoothies, players will create a Sticky Smoothie. These last for 240 seconds and players can even use Gum Nuggets with random resources to make Questionable Slop with health regeneration. While this isn’t always recommended, it can still be useful if you don’t have good enough resources.
Gum Nuggets are most important when players don’t want to waste an effect, making them best for long term swims or damage/defense increases.
SMOOTHIE RECIPES AND THEIR EFFECTS
As I’ve mentioned, players will have the option to add specific effects onto their Smoothies. While all Smoothies are useful in some way shape or form, some ingredients are harder to find or stockpile, making some of the more precious ones best saved for specific circumstances.
I would strongly recommend avoiding using Smoothies while simply farming around the world, rather using each one for a specific purpose. Though if a player has a good amount of resources, some of the more general purpose ones can be used freely.
At the end of the day, Smoothies shouldn’t be fully relied on for Healing, even though Smoothies will give an immediate boost of health and regen. Instead, players should use Healbasas and Fiber Bandages for health management and only use a Smoothie to heal when against tough mobs.
QUESTIONABLE SLOP
Questionable Slop is essentially a failed attempt at making a Smoothie. Players can essentially use any three resources (three of the same is ok too) to make one of these and they will not provide players with any effects other than a basic heal.
Players will still need to use valid Smoothie ingredients, so the most resource efficient recipe would probably be three pebblets or three sprigs. Realistically I would recommend avoiding the production of these as they are a bit of a waste of a Smoothie base even if you use very common resources.
FUZZ ON THE ROCKS
Fuzz on the Rocks, as useful as it is, should only be used in boss battles or whenever a player is against a mob that hits too hard for them.
Players will gain a Maximum Health increase whenever they use Fuzz on the Rocks, which is best executed right before a big battle.
The ingredients for Fuzz on the Rocks are all easily obtainable, so I don’t mind using one anytime I’m fighting enemies where I know I’m definitely going to take damage.
You can’t go wrong with any of the bases here. I like to use Muscle Sprouts, saving Gum Nuggets for recipes with rarer ingredients.
To craft Fuzz on the Rocks players will need the following ingredients:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Clay
Mite Fuzz
Pebblet
GASTRO GOO
Gastro Goo is actually a Smoothie I never use. While i understand the purpose of Gastro Goo, I still feel like it is useless simply because Gas Masks prevent all Gas damage while Gastro Goo simply does the same thing over a short period of time.
Now, Gas Masks aren’t perfect and do break from time to time, so if a player is spending a good amount of time in the Haze or are fighting Stink Bugs, they’re great, but I would personally prefer to lose a set bonus and use a Gas Mask than waste resources on a Smoothie.
Admittedly, the ingredients for Gastro Goo aren’t the most expensive, but for me it doesn’t justify using them.
If you were to use this Smoothie, Gum Nuggets or Grub Sludge are both good bases depending on the length of time you need Gas Guard.
Players will need the following ingredients to craft Gastro Goo:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Aphid Honeydew
Stinkbug Gas
Fungal Growth
GREEN MACHINE
Green Machine is a Smoothie I adore and it will help players both when fighting and when trying to quickly farm resources. While I would still recommend avoiding using Gum Nuggets to make these unless in battle, players can simply use their excess Grub Sludge whenever they are trying to get a chunk of farming done to speed up the process.
Green Machine will provide players with Hyperstamina, which speeds up the rate at which players recover their Stamina.
This can be especially useful when sprinting long distances or chopping down Grass. Due to the common availability of the ingredients, menial tasks like this still make drinking one worth it.
Muscle Sprouts are a good option here to refresh the buff and heal during combat simultaneously.
Players will need the following ingredients to make a Green Machine:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Algae
Sprig
Clover Leaf
BOOST JUICE
Boost Juice is a Smoothie that I tend to save for battle. While inexpensive and along the lines of Green Machine, Boost Juice simply increases the amount of base Stamina a player has and tends to be best paired with Green Machine.
These two Smoothies intertwined tend to nerf any negative side effects of attacking too quickly and help make fighting big baddies a breeze.
I will say Boost Juice feels a bit more time sensitive and more of a hassle to make as it requires a fresh ingredient, however if you don’t need an Aphid for food, I would strongly recommend turning it into Boost Juice as they don’t expire.
In our end game we ended up eating mostly Meals and Weevil Jerky, though every player will have a different process.
This is another good Smoothie to use Muscle Sprouts as a base, making it a decent healing item mid-combat.
Boost Juice requires the following ingredients to make:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Raw Aphid Meat
Acorn Bits
Mushroom
FLUID FLIPPERS
Fluid Flippers are going to be essential to make when players head to the Pond Lab or are simply swimming to get resources.
While I have to say that I don’t really use Fluid Flippers often after getting the highest tier of swimming equipment, they came in so handy in the Pond Lab because we didn’t know where we were going and it’s easy to get turned around underwater.
Fluid Flippers will give players some Swim Speed which will help them explore underwater more safely and efficiently.
If players regularly have the resources for Fluid Flippers, I would recommend having a few pre-crafted as even after you have completed the underwater labs, you will have to head under water to gather some resources.
I will say, the Fluid Flippers tend to feel daunting to craft as they require pretty specific resources in comparison to other Smoothies, so for us the creation of them kind of fell off, but they were very essential in the beginning before the Tier 2 swimming equipment.
Use Grub Sludge or Gum Nuggets as a base depending on how long you’ll be underwater.
Players will need the following ingredients for Fluid Flippers:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Water Boatman Fin
Lilypad Wax
Eelgrass Strand
HEDGE LORD
The Hedge Lord is honestly the one Smoothie I would advise using regularly, especially if you gave a plethora of Smoothie ingredients.
Unlike other Smoothies that tend to provide players with stats that help for Combat or Exploration, these Smoothies simply help for maintaining Hunger and Thirst levels.
The Hedge Lord Smoothie will provide players with Fuller and Moist which will reduce the amount of Hunger and Thirst drain a player experiences, ultimately making it so a player doesn’t need to have as many resources on hand and can simply focus on the tasks they are required to do, rather than making sure they are fed and watered.
Hedge Lord is extremely cheap to maintain and in my opinion can be spammed regularly with Grub Sludge if players are not saving it for anything else. Gum Nuggets could be saved for other more expensive Smoothies.
Players will need the following ingredients for Hedge Lord:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Aphid Honeydew
Acorn Bits
Berry Chunk
HUMAN FOOD
Human Food is a great Smoothie to use in Combat against Bosses and while I wouldn’t recommend it most of the time when fighting lesser Mobs, I would strongly advise players have some on hand when fighting tough mobs like the Broodmother.
Human Food will be somewhat difficult to make as it will require players to have one of each type of human foods to craft. Luckily for players, human foods spawn into the world daily in the same location, though the type of human foods that spawn varies from day to day. I would strongly recommend that players mark these drop points by using Trail Markers and farm them as often as they can as human foods do not expire, so having plenty in your chests is a massive plus.
I have to say, at this point we do not struggle with human foods as we have them marked and make sure to always swing by them when completing other tasks.
Note that the recipe requires the Fresh versions of the food – harvested yourself. The normal versions harvested by Worker Ants will not be accepted in the Smoothie recipe.
Human Food (the Smoothie) will provide players with some Damage Resistance, which is most useful against tough mobs and admittedly if players are skilled enough to farm enough of the ingredients regularly, they can use them to battle hard hitting mobs like the Roly Polly.
Gum Nuggets are a good choice of base for this Smoothie, or Muscle Sprouts if you have a surplus of ingredients and don’t need the extra duration.
Players will need the following ingredients to craft Human Food:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Fresh Apple Bits
Fresh Billy Hog Nugget
Fresh Cookie Sandwich Bits
LIQUID GILLS
Liquid Gills is a Smoothie that works best in tandem with Fluid Flippers and will provide players with the effect Veteran Diver.
Veteran Diver will essentially provide players with more Oxygen so they can be underwater for longer. If players have this plus Swim Speed, they will essentially be able to get anywhere without the risk of drowning, though in my opinion both of these stats are essential, contrary to my initial belief that more Oxygen was more important.
As a player would assume, these Smoothies should only be used when a player is going to be swimming for a long period of time and I would strongly suggest stockpiling them if you’re going to use them as they are a pain to make. Liquid Gills need meats from two water creatures, so the spoilage time means you have to use them right away.
Similar to Fluid Flippers, these Smoothies drastically fell off in use for us when we got Tier 2 swimming equipment, however, when trying to farm a good amount of resources all at once while under water, a Liquid Gills Smoothie can come in handy.
Depending on the length of your swimming expedition, use Grub Sludge or Gum Nugget as a base.
Players will need the following ingredients to craft Liquid Gills:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Water Flea Meat
Eelgrass Strand
Raw Tadpole Meat
LIQUID RAGE
Liquid Rage is my favourite Smoothie of all time as it directly gives you more attack damage. If you’re new to my blog or my play style, you may not know how much I love being able to burst down enemies and deal the most damage to them as possible in one swing.
While I wouldn’t recommend Liquid Rage for lesser mobs, I do strongly recommend thinking about using it when facing tanky mobs, even if they don’t deal a great amount of damage.
Efficiency in Grounded is key as players are always against the clock with Hunger and Thirst, so the faster you can complete a battle, the faster you get your resources and can head back to base.
Now, the only issue with Liquid Rage is that players will have to use some of the more rare mid-tier resources, meaning that a player will have to regularly farm out medium tier mobs such as Larva, Soldier Ants, and even Wolf Spiders.
I would strongly recommend using Liquid Rage the most frequently for all Smoothies as more Attack Damage is always nice, however, depending on what Weapons or Armour you’re using, please make sure you save enough resources for repairs.
This is an excellent Smoothie to use Gum Nuggets for, extending your attack buff timer.
To craft Liquid Rage players will need the following ingredients:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Red Ant Mandibles
Larva Spike
Spider Fang
WORKER’S COMP
Worker’s Comp is most ideal when players are basing and constructing with Grass or Stems. Worker’s Comp works fairly similar to a full set of Red Ant Armor and allows players to carry more Grass on their shoulders, though I strongly recommend only using it if players are also wearing Red Ant Armour.
I personally always have a set of Red Ant Armor in all of my bases, just in case I want to rebuild something or add to a base and I seldom ever use it as regular armour, unless I am making a trip inside an anthill. Due to this, my Red Ant Armour typically never breaks or loses durability.
I honestly am too lazy to keep crafting Worker’s Comp although I always have the resources for it and to be honest, sometimes I’ve forgotten to switch into my Ant Armor. Admittedly this is all on me and my sheer forgetfulness.
If players are using the Worker’s Comp they will be able to hold 2 extra planks and if players use it in tandem with the Red Ant Armour they will be able to carry a total of 10 planks.
Depending on the length of time you’ll be building, Grub Sludge or Gum Nuggets make a good base.
In order to craft Worker’s Comp players will need the following ingredients:
A base Smoothie ingredient
Red Ant Head
Red Ant Part
Red Ant Mandibles
DO SMOOTHIES EXPIRE IN GROUNDED?
No, unlike many other foods in Grounded, Smoothies do not expire, meaning that a player can essentially craft an indefinite amount of Smoothies in order to make sure they have enough for all of their adventures.
I would strongly recommend that players obtain the Smoothie Station as early as possible from BURG.L so they can begin crafting a stockpile of this resource, especially if players are planning on farming tougher mobs or bosses.
CONCLUSION
So while Smoothies are going to be a grind to keep up, they are going to be quite an important asset for players.
I typically have at least one Smoothie on me at all times if I have enough resources, though it really depends how many players are on the server or if I’m playing by myself.
I find Smoothies a bit hard to upkeep when playing on your own due to the fact that it can be difficult to multi-task and gather all the resources you need. While more teammates means more resources used, the reality is that once you’re in a certain location you can farm a good amount of ingredients required to complete whatever you’re working on so a split effort tends to be more productive that a single player trying to complete multiple tasks.
If possible, I would strongly recommend that players either use Trail Markers to their advantage or try to remember a good majority of the locations for resources so if they are ever in an area they can pick up a few extra resources along the way as one of the best ways to play Grounded is to stockpile.
Though, I’m curious, are there any Smoothies you enjoy more than others? What is the most effective way you’ve utilized Smoothies and is there anything I’ve missed?
Let me know in the comments below!
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