The Red Soldier Ant is the first Buggy we can unlock in Grounded 2. We’ll show you how to unlock this Buggy and everything it can do.
What are Buggies
Buggies, or the Tamed Bug Companion System, allow us to hatch and tame Bugs. These useful companions are great in and out of combat, packing tons of utility and other beneficial quality-of-life features. For more general information, check out our Buggies Guide, which covers the system more broadly.
Unlocking Buggies
Unlocking a Buggy requires a few things: A Hatchery, a Nest, and a Buggy Egg. The Hatchery is a new building that can be unlocked in the Snackbar Anthill as part of the Missed Connection Main Story Quest by collecting the Turbo Optical Disk found in the chest next to the missing Ominent employee.
Upon returning the Optical Disk to the Ranger Station at any Ranger Outpost, the Hatchery will be available for purchase at the Ranger Station Science Shop. This also unlocks recipes for the Ant Nest and Red Soldier Ant Buggy, allowing us to hatch and store our new Buggy.
Where to Find Red Soldier Ant Eggs
Once we have the Hatchery and Ant Nest ready to go, all we need to do is source a Red Solider Ant Egg. In the case of the Red Soldier Ant, the Main Story Quest will guide us to the aptly named Hatchery Anthill, where we’ll find the Red Soldier Ant Egg in the depths by following the wires found within the anthill.
Once collected, enemies related to the Buggy will attempt to chase us down until we deposit the egg into a Hatchery or Egg Cooler, which is unlocked later on.
Upon placing it in the Hatchery, it will begin an incubation process that takes a varying amount of in-game time, 12 hours in the case of our Red Soldier Ant.
Once Incubation is complete, if we have both the Ant Nest and the required materials for its Saddle, we’ll be able to claim our first buggy, the Red Soldier Ant.
Red Soldier Ant Abilities
The Red Soldier Ant has a unique blend of Combat power and Utility, focusing more on assisting with building as its strong point. It’s a great way to chop Grass more effectively, compared to the Tier 1 Omni-Axe. For a more in-depth look at the Omni-Tool and all of its functions, check out our Omni-Tool Guide.
Basic and Charged Attacks
The Red Soldier Ant’s attacks deal Chopping Damage, which enables them to gather both Grass Planks from Grass as well as Weed Stems from Dandelions. This allows them to be great building assistant for the point in the game where they are obtained.
For Difficulties below Woah, the Red Soldier Ant can Chop Grass with just a single Charge Attack with Perfect Timing. This makes them far quicker than the Omni-Axe for harvesting these resources.
Unfortunately, the Red Soldier Ant’s Chopping Power doesn’t scale in any way currently. This means they are stuck to just these two resources and cannot harvest Anything that requires the Tier 2 Omni-Axe or Higher. This may change in the future as Buggy Mutations and Progression are planned features on the Early Access Roadmap.
Passive – Hauling Strength
Hauling Strength allows our Red Soldier Ant Buggy to carry up to 12 Grass Planks or Weed Stems at a time. With no way to increase our Hauling Strength, this lets us carry more than double what we can by ourselves.
If we don’t mind walking instead of riding our Buggy, we can still carry 5 additional Planks or Stems on top of what our Buggy can carry for a total of 17. This isn’t the best option, but it works until we get pallets setup.
Once we have pallets, though, we can move the pallet while on the buggy, letting us effectively carry a maximum of 37 of either resource instead. Just be careful that the pallet placement is valid, or it will be sent back to where it was moved from.
Active – Recruit
Recruit allows our Red Soldier Ant Buggy to recruit Red Worker Ants to fight alongside us. We can only recruit 1 Red Worker Ant at a time, but Co-op play will allow each Red Soldier Ant Buggy one each.
This isn’t very useful overall, but it does provide an extra meat shield in combat. Early Game Rogues will find this more useful, as the Worker ant will count toward the Strength In Numbers set bonus.
Active – Carry and Throw
Carry allows our Red Soldier Ant Buggy to carry a single item of any type, which can then be used with Throw to deal damage as if it were Hucked by us. This also includes items we can not normally throw, such as bug parts.
As a utility, this allows us to carry one additional resource, even including those that would otherwise need to be hauled. It’s not much, but it can be useful, particularly for carrying Buggy Eggs, as the Soldier Ant Buggy will not drop items carried this way in combat.
We can also use this in combat to a lesser degree. Most bug parts and harder materials can be thrown to deal damage. Weapons, in particular, will deal damage as if they were thrown, as well as apply any status effect they would normally. Bratburst and Splatburst can also be thrown and will detonate as well, but will ultimately do nothing without a direct hit with a Splatburst to stick it somewhere.
