In Grounded, there are few dangers more horrifying than the wandering wolf spiders that hunt you down if you stray too close to their territory. Once you’re in their crosshairs, your only solace was to get to higher ground. Or, depending on where you are, you could escape by leaping into the pond. You were safe there. But after today’s Early Access update 0.4, a.k.a. the Koi Pond update, you are faced with the sickening truth: you aren’t safe from spiders anywhere. Not anymore.
Leave it to the giggling, clearly hateful developers of Obsidian to remove another vestige of safety in Grounded. The Koi Pond update completely recreates the large pond biome that lies to the north of the map. Its shores were already a part of wolf spider territory, making it a safe haven from the scurrying bastards. But do you know what’s in the pond now? That’s right, more fucking spiders. The update adds new creatures, both passive and hostile. Down below the surface you will see “little” tadpoles swimming around. Don’t get distracted by them for long though, because diving bell spiders make the pond their home. And remember: there’s always a bigger fish.
In this case, it’s literally a fish. They don’t call it a koi pond for no reason. Koi fish act like the Jaws of the pond, and to them, you’re just a light snack. However, if you’re prepared, you can take the koi out and use its hide for the new koi armor. In addition to that, there’s also a new bubble helmet and a set of flippers to craft. The extra swimming speed might be enough to avoid these new monsters.
If you’re lucky.
Earning your water wings
The Grounded Koi Pond update does more than add new spiders. Mutation effectiveness has been doubled across the board, this includes Juicy, Meat Shield, and Buff Lungs. The cost of all tech chip science purchases have been dropped by 40%. Bow damage has been buffed as well, which makes me pretty happy. And, since this is mostly a water update, swimming controls have been improved, and you can hold your breath for longer.
Obsidian also explained how updates will function from here on out. The most significant change is that larger updates, such as today’s, will be spaced out more widely. Many upcoming patches will focus on quality-of-life improvements, focusing on optimization and changes to gameplay.
Moving forward, the team is going to be focusing on larger content releases that are more spread out. This is a direct result of community feedback and will allow us to improve the stability, quantity, and quality each time we release meaningful content. We are still a small team, but regardless, we want to always provide features and content that we think will deliver the best experience possible. All of this takes time, and our priority is to get things right. Now, this doesn’t mean we won’t continue our monthly updates, but the next few will be focused on areas of stability, polish, and bug fixes.
Head to the official page to check out the patch notes in its entirety.
