The Grounded Mantis Kebab is made by finding the recipe in the Stump Lab, but this is hardly as simple as it sounds. Getting to fight the Orchid Mantis is almost as hard as the actual fight itself, and reaching the Stump Lab can be a serious bottleneck for a confused player - as the way to access it and open the door is halfway across the map and beneath dozens of inches of water. With that in mind, I'll explain how to find and craft the Orchid Mantis Kebab recipe in Grounded just below, as well as how to get into the Stump Lab Outpost and find the recipe itself.
Orchid Mantis Kebab recipe location in Grounded
To make the Orchid Mantis Kebab, you'll need the recipe, which you'll find in the Stump Lab Outpost inside the Tree Stump in the Northeast corner of the Upper Yard. However, you probably can't get inside yet - going there reveals a door standing upright, but anybody who manages to access it will probably find that it's locked. That's the first of many, many obstacles to deal with…
How to get into the Stump Lab in Grounded
The Stump Lab door is remotely controlled by an underwater outpost in the Pond, a flooded section separate to the main Pond Lab. You'll also need to have killed the Assistant Manager, found in the Black Anthill Lab as laid out in our guide on what to do after the Grounded Hedge Lab. However, if you've reached the Upper Yard, you almost certainly did that already, and more importantly, got his keycard.
Take the keycard to the underwater outpost, the hatch of which is set into the Southern wall of the Pond. Swim inside and up until you find the locked door - the Manager's Keycard will open it. Go through and there'll be a big red button beneath live CCTV footage - press it to open the locked door to the Stump Lab Outpost, which you'll see the CCTV show. Now you've opened the lab, you still have to get in.
Getting inside the Lab
The entrance to the Stump Lab Outpost is set into the ground in the very middle of the base of the tree stump. It's a dangerous area, with roaming ticks and even a few Grounded Spiders - wolf spiders to be precise. You'll see the entrance fairly easily - a cylinder of white set into the ground - but it's harder to clamber on top of it. Either climb up the stump around it and float down with a dandelion tuft, or build some quick steps so you can clamber up to the entrance directly.
Either way, make sure you bring at least three dandelion tufts. The Stump Lab is based on dangerous platforming and you want to make sure you can drop without instantly dying.
How to get out of the Stump Lab Outpost and find the kebab recipe
The Stump Lab has a gimmick - it's collapsed onto its side, making navigation tough. You'll walk on the walls and have to climb up the floor to reach other rooms. There's no enemies down here, but the platforming is VERY difficult, and often frustrating, easy to overshoot your goal or bump your head on something to offset your trajectory. Here's a basic walkthrough for navigating.
- From the entrance, jump down the corridor and float down with a dandelion tuft, collecting the Raw Science on the way.
- Head straight ahead when you land and walk over the locked "A" door. Ahead is a glass partition, and just beneath it is a folder: "Mantis Research Note". Pick them up to get the Orchid Mantis Kebab Recipe.
- Unfortunately, now you're trapped, or at least can't leave the way you came in. Use the roots and terminals to climb directly up along the floor (it's disorientating) until you reach the corridor above with the Milk Molar.
- Drop down into the next room along and hit the interactive computer on the far wall.
- Now you have to climb back up again and return to the first room, using roots and terminals.
- The A Door you walked over is now open. Drop down through it, and there'll be a BURGL chip you can grab along the way.
- Then head through the hole in the floor - which to you looks like a wall - with Raw Science in it. This'll take you into a cavern, with ascending caves on the left that'll take you back up to the Stump, next to the entrance.
You now have the Mantis Kebab recipe! And this isn't going to be too hard to make, right…?
Grounded Mantis Kebab ingredients
The Orchid Mantis Kebab is very hard to make, requiring the following ingredients.
- Broodmother Chunk x5
- Fire Ant Head x2
- Splinter x1
Yes, you're required to kill the legendary Grounded Broodmother to create the kebab - and if you've already killed her once and used the chunks for crafting, you'll have to do it again. Check out that guide on how to find her in the Hedge, and what you can do to slay her easily.
The other two ingredients are, mercifully, more manageable. Most wooden surfaces in Grounded have spiky, extruding edges that indicate that they can be cut with a tier 3 chopping tool or axe, which you can find in our Grounded weapons. This'll get you splinters easily enough.
The Fire Ants are found in the central and Eastern Upper Yard, near the Stump and closer to the Grounded MIXR Modules and Javamatic, generally milling about. Both workers and soldier ants have a chance to drop a Head when killed, though it's a small chance, and you'll likely have to kill at least a few.
Crafting and cooking the Mantis Kebab
Once you have the ingredients, build yourself a Grounded Oven (there's no way to create the Kebab without one). You should have one already, as there's no way to make the Broodmother's lunch and fight her without it, so head back to that and select the Kebab recipe and wait. It should produce the Kebab after roughly a three minute wait (or you can always sleep in your lean-to and have it done instantly).
How to use the Mantis Kebab
Once you have the Kebab, you can use it to summon the legendary Grounded Mantis and begin the fight. Head to its lair inside the flowerpot on the shed porch, to the West of Wendell's SCAB location in Grounded, and use the hose to get inside. There'll be a cluster of eggs you can place it in to summon the Orchid Mantis - but you absolutely shouldn't do that until you've read the attached guide and are ready for the fight of your tiny life.
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