The Grounded Mantis - specifically the Orchid Mantis - is a late-game boss fight found inside the potted plant on the Shed porch, North of the BBQ. The Orchid Mantis is probably the toughest opponent in all of Grounded, specialising in fast strikes, obfuscation, and a giant health bar that means killing it will require some serious strategy, not to mention advance knowledge of the Mantis' weaknesses. We'll show you everything you need to know to tackle this apex insect below, including its location, how to get the Mantis Kebab needed to summon it, the best strategies and even the rewards you'll get for killing the Grounded Mantis once and for all - not that you'll really need them if you're powerful enough to squash this bug.
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00:00The Orchid Mantis is probably the toughest opponent in all of Grounded,
00:04specializing in fast strikes and a giant health bar that means killing it will
00:09require some serious strategy, not to mention advanced knowledge of the
00:13mantises weaknesses. In this video we'll show you everything you need to know to
00:20kill this apex insect, including its location, how to get the mantis kebab
00:25needed to summon it, the best strategies and even the rewards you'll get for
00:29killing Grounded's mantis once and for all.
00:38The Grounded mantis is located inside the potted flowers found on the porch
00:42of the shed. It's west of Wendell's scab location and to the north of the
00:47spilled barbecue. Though you can get there the moment you reach the upper
00:50yard, you won't be able to fight the mantis for a while and you really
00:53shouldn't want to either until you're much later into the game. To get inside
00:58the potted plant and the mantis arena, climb up the hose to the east. Along it
01:03you'll see a hole, meaning that you can actually get inside the hose and use it
01:06as a tunnel. Finally it will open up into a contained dome of flowers. The Orchid
01:11Mantis boss fight will happen here, though you can't fight it until you
01:15summon it with the Orchid Mantis kebab, much like the Grounded Broodmother BLT.
01:20To get the kebab needed to summon this endgame beastie, there's quite a few
01:24steps, so strap in. First go to the Black Ant Hill lab and kill the assistant
01:29manager for his key card. Next head to the pond. Underwater, set into the
01:34southern wall near the big dome, is a small contained lab that you can swim
01:39into. Inside the flooded outpost is a locked door. The assistant manager's key
01:46card will open this. Swim through and press the big old button in the room you
01:49just opened, and a little CCTV screen will show a door opening somewhere. That
01:54little door is the tree stump lab. Head to the stump in the northeast corner of
01:59the map, and in the center of the stump is an upright tube with a door set into
02:03the top of it. You can get in either by climbing up somewhere else high and
02:07floating down with a dandelion tuft, or building your way up to it. The lab
02:11inside is collapsed onto its side, requiring some parkour. However, all you
02:16need here is the recipe, and you'll find that just under the glass partition,
02:20showing the next room along with a computer terminal in it. Now you'll be
02:24trapped in this lab until you can parkour your way into that next room,
02:28flick the terminal on, and then parkour back to the first room and escape
02:32through the locked door. It's fiddly as hell, and our best advice is to have the
02:36patience of a saint. Good luck! Now you have the recipe you can make the
02:42orchid mantis kebab. You'll still need all the ingredients, however, and despite
02:47the kebab looking like it's made of common materials in the menu, it's
02:50actually a lot, lot harder to make than that. Sorry! Apron and armor on, let's get
02:57cooking. First up, you'll need a splinter. Once you have a tier 3 chopping axe, you
03:01can cut at any spiky piece of wood to get a splinter, so at least we're
03:05starting off easy. Next, you'll need to get yourself two fire ant heads. Fire ants
03:10crawl all over the upper yard, especially in the central and eastern regions, and
03:13they should be approached carefully. Both workers and soldiers have a small
03:17chance of dropping an intact head, though you might have to kill a few before you
03:22get what you need. Next, you'll need five broodmother chunks. Yeah, that's right, in
03:27order to summon the mantis, you'll have to kill the hedge broodmother, and rather
03:31than getting a proper reward for that hard work, you'll have to use those
03:35chunks in cooking up a treat for your next major foe. The deadly broodmother is
03:39found in the hedge, off the flying flingman disk, and is summoned using the
03:44aforementioned BLT. You can find a link in the card or video description to our
03:48guide on how to craft that if you need it. Once you have all of those ingredients,
03:52you can combine them in the oven. After waiting a little bit of time, it will
03:56create the orchid mantis kebab. Inedible for you, but take it to the arena in the
04:00flower pot and place it among the shattered eggs to summon your terrifying
04:05foe. Of course, before then, you'll need to gear up. The orchid mantis is basically
04:13resistant to everything except salty damage. Only one weapon in the game comes
04:17with this buff hard-coded into it, the salty morning star, whereas everything
04:22else has to be upgraded or modified to gain the buff. And with that in mind, the
04:26best weapon you can use can basically be anything. With no restrictions on weapon
04:30types, all that you have to do is pick your preferred killing tool, take it to a
04:34smithing station, and start upgrading it for salty damage. The fast speed and
04:38killing power of the mantis means that blocking is going to be important, so
04:42we'd suggest choosing a one-handed weapon so you can carry a shield in the
04:45other. You can and should also stock up on some salty arrows for some ranged
04:50damage. Also, try equipping the mask of the mother demon for those longer lasting
04:56poison effects on everything you do. Yeah, I know, that will require you killing the
05:01broodmother again, but at this point, you're a pro. I believe in you. Before
05:07fighting the orchid mantis, make sure you're ready for the ultimate boss fight.
05:10Drink all the best smoothies you can make, stock up on healing items, and make
05:14sure your weapons and armor are as good as they can be, fully repaired and ready
05:18to go. Also, it's worth picking some smart combat mutations. Those that enhance
05:23weapon damage are good, but minion summoning perks will be the most helpful,
05:27allowing you to pull the mantis' aggro off you. You should also absolutely be
05:32playing this fight in multiplayer if you can. Yes, that will mean that the mantis
05:37gets more health for each person that's fighting it, but it's still easier
05:40overall, and the ability to revive each other will keep your party in the fight
05:45for longer. So, you've done your homework and now you're ready for the final test.
05:50Here's what to expect from each phase of the orchid mantis fight. There'll be a
05:54tension-building pause before it suddenly comes crashing in, and then it's on.
05:58In phase one, the mantis uses melee attacks primarily, but also does have a
06:03ranged attack. It strikes the ground and makes a line of impact towards the
06:07target. Sidestep and jump to the right or left for the best chance of avoiding it,
06:12and play defensively throughout. The mantis strikes are quick and lethal, with
06:16little warning. At 75% health, the mantis will enter phase two. Leaping away, it will
06:22suddenly start summoning yellow flares of pollen. Standing in one of these
06:26obscures the player's vision, and there's no way to dispel them. Once they're there,
06:30they're sticking around. It'll also do a raw attack that can stun, similar to the
06:35broodmother. It keeps its melee focus and attack patterns the same as in phase one,
06:39but now they're longer and more elaborate, and can often break through
06:42blocks without much difficulty. Keep playing defensively, but try to dodge
06:46more than you block, and I know that's pretty difficult in grounded. At 50%
06:52health, the mantis will enter its final stage, phase three. Here the mantis starts
06:57taking reduced damage, again similar to the broodmother, and those pollen flares
07:01start coming constantly, making the whole area difficult to see through. The mantis
07:06will effectively be invisible if it's more than a few feet away from you, so if
07:10you're in a flare, find one of the few areas that's not concealed as a priority.
07:14If you don't, you'll risk getting caught out by a sudden attack. Make it through
07:22to the end, and you'll have effectively conquered the greatest foe in grounded
07:25currently. It'll drop some components for you to scoop up, and you absolutely
07:29should, because this is how you get some of the best gear in the game. The orchid
07:33mantis drops one mantis head, two mantis claws, and eight mantis chunks when it's
07:38killed. This is enough to make at least part of a full set of armor and weaponry.
07:43But before you start crafting, make sure you put all of these rewards through
07:47your resource analyzer at a field station. This will give you the blueprint
07:53for the assassin's armor set, as well as the scythe of blossoms. Of course, to make
07:57a full set, you'll have to kill the mantis a second time, although with its
08:02own weapons turned against it, that should be at least a little easier this
08:06time around. You'll also have gotten the apex predator mutation, which boosts the
08:10damage of all weapons made from boss monsters, so I'm sure you'll have no
08:14trouble at all. Good luck, tiny teenagers, and remember to subscribe to Games Radar
08:19on YouTube for the latest on Grounded and the whole world of gaming.