The Centipede is one of the hardest bosses to take down in the Grounded 2: Rot and Ruin update. Its arena is hard to access, and the Centipede has multiple phases that involve a lot of attacks and termite support. In this guide, we’ll show you how to reach the Centipede’s boss arena, what gear and weapons to bring, how to deal with each phase of the fight, and what rewards you can get after defeating it.
How to Reach the Centipede Boss
In order to battle the Centipede in Grounded 2, there are several requirements that you will need to accomplish before fighting the enemy. Once ready, make sure to go to the Woodpile located at the north side of the Fire Pit biome. The entry point to the termite nest is located at the southern side of the Woodpile.
Once in the termite nest, follow the tunnels all the way through into the Woodpile. The path itself is relatively easy to navigate, so you will not face any problems during this stage.
Eventually, you will arrive at the Termite Queen’s chamber. In this location, you can pick up Termite Larvae Hide – the last requirement to summon Centipede.
With the requirements acquired, go further through the tunnels until you find a big cavern. There, you will find a buried hatchet as well as a massive hole in the center of the room. The Centipede’s boss arena is at the bottom of this hole.
Enter the Centipede’s Boss Arena
The route to the arena where the boss resides is via two possible means. The safe method is to take the tunnels at the far edge of the cave and then use the buried hatchet’s handle as a ramp. Another faster way to access the arena is by jumping into the hole but it is risky. The summoning altar is at the center of the sacrificial chamber. One of the unique features about the boss in this area is that you can make his summoning bait at this altar if you have all the needed ingredients.
How to Summon the Centipede
Now that you have everything, talk to the altar and make your own bait for Centipede summoning. You will be able to start the boss fight through the altar. But be prepared before you do this because Centipede is not an easy boss fight. It has multiple phases.
Best Build for Skritch the Centipede
Skritch the Centipede is among the hardest bosses in the Grounded 2: Rot and Ruin expansion. This boss has no weak spots at all, as it is resistant to many types of damage, such as Smashing, Stabbing, Fresh, Explosive, Spicy, Sour, and Venom. It means that builds with any elemental effects will not be effective in fighting Skritch. The most effective method is to use Slashing damage and some other weapons to kill termites that appear during the battle.
Weapons
The Striped Slashers are the best weapons that will deal damage during the fight, because Skritch is not resistant to the Slashing damage. The weapon is recommended to be upgraded to Level 5 and then following the Mighty path. The other option that can be used is the Toenail Cutlass. It reduces the damage and attack speed of Skritch. However, the Striped Slashers are more efficient if the aim of the fight is to kill the boss quickly.
Besides this, you also need to carry two other weapons, namely the Axel’s Talon and Pinch Whacker. While Axel’s Talon cannot be used in fighting Skritch, it is mainly used in dealing with the termites that emerge during the fight. Be sure to upgrade it using the Sour path because they are susceptible to the Stabbing and Sour damage.
The Pinch Whacker is mainly used for its stun feature. The weapon needs to be upgraded to Tier 3 using the new Yoking Press before commencing the fight.
Shield and Trinket
As far as your shield goes, you should use Shell Shocker Shield, because Skritch is not resistant to Shock damage, and thus the additional Shock damage provided by the shield will help you deal more damage during the whole battle. The Volatile Capacitor would be an excellent choice for a trinket as it provides you with additional Shock damage with your weapons.
Healing and Consumables
Make sure that you have sufficient amounts of healing consumables before engaging into battle. Carrying about 25 Chunky Smoothies is highly recommended. All kinds of smoothies will be fine; however, Scorpid smoothies are especially recommended because Skritch is able to apply Venom status.
Also bring some Bandages in case you need a quick heal. It is advisable to bring a Real Shake since it allows getting a new opportunity to survive if you are taking too much damage. As far as your food is concerned, make sure to pick the one that would provide you with some buff during the battle.
Lava is particularly good in this case since it improves your weak point damage. Thus, you will be able to deal more damage during the time of Skritch’s vulnerability. In case you struggle with survival, then you may opt for Cheese and Fries.
Best Armor
The equipment choice for armor should include the entire set of Mantis Armor pieces. The helmet provides you with Woozy resistance which may come in handy in the fight with this boss. The set also includes a number of critical-hit bonuses. The Rogue buff raises the chances of dealing a critical hit with the third hit from the combo. Critical hits give you increased attack speed and Crit Recovery allows recovering some health after landing a critical hit.
This passive healing is especially useful because Skritch’s legs can sometimes hit you unexpectedly. Instead of wasting a smoothie every time you take a small amount of damage, the armor can help recover some of that health.
Useful Mutations
There are quite a few mutations that would prove to be effective for this battle. Blazing Belch, Trapper Peeper, and Coup de Grass would all contribute to raising your damage output. Additionally, you can make use of Cardio Fan for improved stamina regeneration as you will be spending much time dodging.
Dodgemaster could prove to be a great mutation if it is unlocked. Considering the fact that you will be dodging throughout the fight, any additional damage caused by this mutation will come in handy.
Mithridatism could also be used if you don’t have any of the healing items based on Scorpids and want to have extra protection against Venom. You can additionally use Rascal Rogue if you want to obtain an extra drop.
Prepare Before the Fight
Prior to summoning Skritch, ensure that you have the Glow Boy and all the necessary ingredients for summoning the boss. These include Spewbur Chunks, Termite Lava Hide, and Termite Parts. You are also supposed to get some rest on Scorpion Bed or Petal Bed prior to the boss fight.
This gives the Comfy Defense buff, which boosts defense without consuming any more resources. It would also be wise to have a Dandelion Tuft with you since Skritch likes moving a lot and may knock you off the ground, thus resulting in falling damage.
How to Beat Skritch the Centipede
When you have come to the Woodpile, make your way down until you reach the bottom of the place. You should be able to locate Skritch’s arena at the bottom of the place. When you reach the arena, make sure that you have everything ready before you start fighting. It is very important to understand the attacks used by Skritch. This boss fight depends heavily on the ability to parry and dodge, and therefore you need not be worried about taking time to learn them.
Phase 1
Begin the battle using your Pinch Whacker. There is no need to damage him with this tool. Your aim should be to stun Skritch. As soon as he becomes stunned, go on to your Striped Slashers and damage him as much as possible. Listen to the sound of the weak point while attacking. In case you hear the sound, you will be attacking the weak spot of the boss and thus damaging him properly.
After the stun effect wears off, go back to your Pinch Whacker and start over again. Get familiar with the boss’ attack patterns and try to parry the attacks of the boss whenever possible. Be especially careful around his legs. Getting caught underneath them can deal a surprising amount of damage.
Phase 2
When Skritch is done with the previous phase, he will summon termites. This is when you should switch to the Sour/ Stabbing weapons, like the Talon used by Axel. With this weapon, you will be able to eliminate the termites. In the arena, you will also observe the emergence of Termite Lava, and you need to destroy these because Skritch can make use of them to heal himself.
After you get rid of the termites and Skritch comes back, switch to the Pinch Whacker again to stun him again. When Skritch is stunned, switch to the Striped Slashers and start attacking his weaknesses. This is the best chance you will have to damage Skritch a lot.
Phase 3
The third stage will require much more patience from you. Skritch will spend most of his time running all around the arena, going underground, and popping up somewhere else. He becomes hard to predict, so your priority should be to keep yourself alive without making any attempts to attack him.
Prepare Pinch Whacker once again for a stunning shot and look for the right moment. After he is stunned, equip your Striped Slashers and hit him as many times as possible. Besides moving around the arena unpredictably, Skritch will also dash around the arena extremely fast during this phase. Sometimes he will dash straight into you, dealing lots of damage, so don’t stand directly in front of him.
When he goes underground, prepare to dodge when he pops up. Try to make a few hits if you have the chance, but immediately stop doing that after Skritch attacks you. It takes time to kill Skritch at this stage, so don’t get annoyed. Continue dodging and parrying and wait for your chance to stun him. After you stun him, use Striped Slashers to finish him off.
Skritch the Centipede Rewards
After defeating Skritch, make sure to equip your Lucky Hat before collecting your rewards if you want to maximize your loot. Skritch can drop several useful items, including:
- Centipede Segment
- Centipede Antenna
- Centipede Leg
- Centipede Venom
- Skritch’s Trinket
- Centipede Gold Card
You can also analyze the Centipede parts after defeating the boss and unlock two special gifts.
Thoughtful Gift
Thoughtful Gift is baked in the oven and allows the unlocking of the Termite Emissary mutation. It makes termites friendly towards you. The most important thing about the mutation is that termites summoned by Skritch during future battles will attack him and not you. It will allow you to make future battles easier. However, the gift needs a Centipede Antenna, which means you might not want to make it before every battle.
Thoughtless Gift
The use of the Thoughtless Gift increases the toughness of the Skritch battle. By using this gift, one creates an encounter where the Skritch summons the Ogre Termite King during the first wave of termites. This will make the battle much harder than usual. The reward for doing this will be the Termite Queen Gold Card and the Termite Delight recipe.
It should be noted that you do not need to actually beat Skritch if you are only going to get the rewards from this harder version of the encounter. You can begin the battle and even fail at it, and still receive your rewards. The difficulty level increase only applies to that specific boss fight.
