The Gloom Skewer is one of Grounded 2’s many hidden treasures. Learn where to find this unique weapon and the best ways to use it.
Table of contents
What is the Gloom Skewer
The Gloom Skewer is an upgraded version of the Larvalance, boasting higher damage. This even comes with a perk to further boost its damage, as well as other weapons that deal Stabbing Damage.
The Gloom Skewer is a strong upgrade in the early game and remains a strong supporting weapon afterward. More notably, the Gaping Wound Debuff will also increase the damage of our Orb Weaver Buggy.
Preparations
Before heading out, we’ll need to make sure we have everything we need to reach the Gloom Skewer. To acquire this weapon, we’ll need the Tier 2 Omni-Axe. It’s highly recommended to come prepared for a fight as well.
We’ll need the Tier 2 Omni-Axe as the Gloom Skewer is blocked by a wall of mushrooms. Splatbursts are also capable of breaking these Mushrooms, but require completion of the Network Center.
Bringing plenty of combat supplies is highly recommended, as a boss is guarding the Gloom Skewer, as well as the Toxic Anthill Optical Disk, also found here.
How to get the Gloom Skewer
To make our way to the Gloom Skewer, we’ll want to start from the Pine Hill Ranger Outpost or the nearby Picnic Table.
From the Outpost, we have the choice of three different entrances into the Toxic Anthill, where the Gloom Skewer resides. Below are the North and East Entrances, which both have a longer path to our item, so we’ll be mostly ignoring them.
All of these paths eventually converge deeper into the Anthill, but for this guide, we’ll be using the South Entrance. There’s also a dead Onminent Employee here that has a few Granola Bars on him, great as emergency heals.
Once entering the cave, we’ll eventually come to a split path guarded by a Red Soldier Ant. Take him out and head left.
This eventually leads to a small cliff, where we’ll need to drop down and turn around to continue forward.
This will lead us to a path lined with the toxic contents of the spray cans we’ve been passing.
At the end of this path, we’ll reach a hill we need to climb, which leads to a small opening.
Beyond this opening is our goal. Unfortunately, the Gloom Skewer and Optical Disk found here in the Toxic Anthill are guarded by a Cockroach Queen. Unlike all the Cockroaches we’ve passed along the way, this boss version is aggressive.
Once we’ve defeated the Cockroach Queen, our prizes will be ours to claim.
The Gloom Skewer itself is tucked behind these Mushrooms, requiring the Tier 2 Omni-Axe to chop down. Several Splatbursts will also get the job done if you’re simply grabbing the weapon for collection purposes.
Don’t forget to grab the Optical disk off to the right of the Gloom Skewer. Wouldn’t want to have to come back and fight this boss all over again.
Using the Gloom Skewer
If we get it early into a playthrough, the Gloom Skewer is a very powerful weapon. It’s much stronger than the Larvalance it’s based on, and slightly stronger than the Stinger Spear when utilizing its unique perk.
It’s Gaping Wound Debuff, although nothing massive overall, can be utilized in a variety of Setups. Like pairing it with the Mosquito Needle and Scarlet Aegis on a Fighter, or either set of Daggers for the Rogue to get that little bit of extra damage.
If we wanted to do so, we could even drop the Mosquito Needle and focus on maintaining the Debuff in Co-op, leading to a setup that can tank for and buff all other Archetypes.
It also works wonderfully in a Ranger Setup as well, buffing the damage of subsequently thrown spears or even Bow Shots. Adding an Orb Weaver Buggy into the mix will give us a Buggy that can distract for us, while also benefiting from the debuff.
