Grounded 2 Snackbar Ranger Outpost and Anthill Walkthrough (All Collectibles)

This guide details the Quests and all Collectibles found within the Snackbar Ranger Outpost and Anthill.

One Tool to Rule Them All

Continuing from the Onboarding Facility, we’ll now be in the park proper, meaning there’s a lot of exploring we can do, but there are a few quests we’ll want to get done ASAP, the first will be to get our Omni-Tool.

As we head into the Park, be sure to use PEEP.R (PC Default is X) to scan any bugs we see. Weevils are a nice find early on, as we can also turn them into a Shield if we unlock our Shovel before the meat spoils.

Be sure to also snag some Mushrooms just outside here as well. They’re a decent early food we can carry on us until we get a Roasting Spit later.

Be sure to analyze all new resources we come across, as the Analyzer allows. Below are some early stuff we’ll find during this section of the game and what they unlock

Just as we get out of the small Tunnel, we’ll see our first Point of Interest, the Ceremony Pamphlet. All Points of Interest (POIs) will get marked on our map automatically as we find them, though some can be picky about what angle we look at them from.

On top of it is a small Raw Science glob worth 100. We’ll need this to help unlock Upgrades from Ranger Stations.

We’ll be referencing Coordinates a lot in this guide. Just know that when we list them out, they are from this value found on the right side of the S.C.A.B. 2K’s Map.

This provides a smaller, but very searchable area, in which

Follow the Marker to reach the Snackbar Ranger Outpost, located at 11°N / -53°E. Outposts like this one will always have both a Ranger Station and a Resource Analyzer to use.

As we head inside the Outpost, we’ll be able to pick up our first Omni-Tool Upgrade, the Tier 1 Omni-Axe, from the wall to the right.

Additionally, this room also has some shelves that hold some useful supplies, like Thistle Needles and bandages.

Upon reaching and trying to open the door to the second room, we’ll realize that it’s locked and start a new quest to find an alternative way into that room.

Incoming Transmission!

Our way forward will not be marked on our map, being a tunnel located at 9°N / -53° E. On the way to this cave, if we follow the path to the right of the Ranger outpost, we’ll find a dead Ominent Employee from whom we can loot some items from.

Namely some extra Bandages and Crude Rope. He has Rotten Food on him too, which we will store away for much later.

We’ll finally reach the cave we need to enter, but there are a few things we’ll want to grab from the nearby grass first.

The first of these is Dry Grass Chunks, of which we’ll want to knock down a few Dry Grass Blades to make a Torch and hold the rest for building our base.

Next, we’ll want to find some Gass with Seeds on top so we can make our Shovel.

Finally, we should take out 5 Gnats around this area to get more Raw Science. With that, we can craft and use our Torch and head into the cave, defeating the Mites along the way.

Immediately to the left on entering the cave is another glob of Raw Science, this one is worth 100. Alongside it are some Slime Mold Stalks, which we should take as well.

We’ll eventually reach the back side of the Ranger Outpost. Clear out the Mites and grab Raw Science just to the right of the building on the roots.

Next to the Comms Array is a chest. This one contains 3 Green Machine Smoothies. Smoothies are another form of healing item, made from Grub Sludge. These offer a burst of healing as well as a multitude of buffs, in this case, an increase in Stamina Regeneration.

Interact with the Comms Array and proceed through the Dialogue to open access to the Ranger Station. Doing so will also automatically turn in any completed Ranger Quests (like the Gnat Hunting we did earlier) for a nice bump of Raw Science.

Unlocking the Omni-Hammer and Omni-Shovel

With Access to the Ranger Station, we’re also able to upgrade our Omni-Tool as well as unlock other recipes for base building and other useful productivity items.

We’ll be able to use the Grass Seed we picked up earlier with a Sprig we should have leftover from the Onboarding Facility to craft the Tier 1 Omni-Shovel

Assuming we still have Pebblets and Sap from the Onboarding Facility as well, we’ll also be able to unlock the Tier 1 Omni-Hammer.

If not, we’ll be able to open the previously locked door with our S.C.A.B. to easily get anything we missed and come back.

Setting Up A Base

With all our tools in hand, we have one major goal to work on now. It’s likely to be getting pretty late in-game, and we’re going to need a place to call home for a bit. It’s recommended to set up a base right outside this Ranger Outpost to start with, as we have ample space and plenty of easily accessible resources nearby.

This typically means a simple 3×3 or 4×4 section of walls, with all of our crafting and storage, like shown below.

To get started on this, we have a small laundry list of materials to gather. In total, we’ll need the following items to get our base setup with all the essential amenities we’ll need. This means a Lean-to, Workbench, a few Storage Baskets, a Roasting Spit, and of course, A Trail Marker, as well as Walls and Doors for our base. This is for a 3×3 base; a larger base will require more Grass Planks, and that’s it.

Additionally, we can go out of our way to grab a few extra parts to make some less essential but still very useful stuff. In this case, these extra resources will allow us to build a Plank Pallet, a Stem Pallet, and a Spinning Wheel. The Pallets help store and transport the associated resources, while the Spinning wheel allows for a more resoruce efficient way to craft Crude Rope for now.

If we pre-place the piece of our base ahead of time, we’ll also be able to use the PEEP.R to access the Chopping List, which keeps track of what we do and don’t have, at least for what we’re carrying.

With our base setup, throw any raw meat that was acquired from Gnats or other creatures on the Roasting Spit, and if built, throw some Plant Fiber into the Spinning Wheel. Set the Lean-to as a respawn point and head off to sleep, and both will finish while asleep.

Missed Connections

With the start of a new day, we’ll work on the last Quest we have here in the Snackbar Area, Missed Connections.

This time We’re heading out to the Snackbar Anthill, located at 15°N / -64°E, to recover our first Turbo Optical Disk. These are found through story progression and unlock important items for later quests as well, and many important Upgrades from the Ranger Station.

As we enter this very small anthill, to our immediate right are two Pebbles blocking the way forward. Use the Omni-Hammer to clear them out and proceed deeper.

As we reach the back of this tunnel, we’ll come across a single Red Soldier Ant and a Red Worker Ant. We’ll need to clear them out to safely access what we need from here, the Buried Treasure in the middle of the room.

This Contains the Snackbar Turbo Optical Disk and the Myrmecologist Token Trinket. This trinket is only helpful for the early game, and even then, very slightly, as it will allow us to carry more Grass Planks or Weed Stems through the Hauling Strength bonus.

Looting the Corpse here is optional, but it will net use two of the optional Lore Data Items. In this case, the “Subterranean Subterfuge” Audio Log File, and “New Omni-Tool Shovel Upgrade!” Data File. If not for already having a shovel, the data file would have served as a hint to needing it here.

We can leave the Anthill now, but we might as well pick up the Milk Molar we can find near the end of the other path we didn’t take earlier. These allow us to upgrade our Stats in the Milk Molar Menu (PC Default is TAB).

For Lower Difficulties, we recommend the first Milk Molar goes to increasing Stamina, while on harder difficulties, Hunger and Thirst Drain Rate is a much better first point this early on. Health is also a great option, but we’ll get more of these soon enough, even without searching for them too hard yet.

Time to head back to base and by extension the Ranger Outpost, for real this time. Take the Turbo Optical Disk to the Ranger Station and insert it. This will unlock a handful of new purchasable options via the Science Shop, including the Hatchery Unlock, which we’ll need to continue the story.

If we have extra Clay hanging around from base building or just collecting it, we can also unlock the Tier 1 Omni-Wrench while we’re here and have Ant Parts on us from the Anthill. If the Red Soldier Ant dropped one, make sure to analyze the Acid Gland, as it will enable us to craft a strong early-game trinket, the Astonishing Acid.

Now that the Hatchery and Ant Nest can be built, we’ll need to get those done to finish up this quest. Below are the materials we’ll need.

Once we get those done, we are considered done with the Snackbar Area, as no more quests will be sending us there again. Next, we’ll need to prepare to learn the Art of War.