Grounded 2 Rot and Ruin Guide: Beat the Centipede and Termites

Obsidian shipped Grounded 2's Rot and Ruin update out of public testing on October 20, publishing the full 0.6.0 patch notes alongside it. The headline addition is a boss players have been asking for since the original game: the Centipede, guarding a new area called the Woodpile that's also crawling with returning Termites. If you're heading in on day one, here's what actually changed, what you need before you go looking for a fight, and how to come out the other side with the new gear.

01What Rot and Ruin Actually Adds

According to Obsidian's own Rot and Ruin 0.6.0 patch notes, the update's core additions are the Woodpile area, the returning Termite family, the Centipede boss fight, a second buggy, and a new gear-upgrade loop built around a resource called Bismuth. On top of that there's base painting, a mutation-loadout quick-swap in the Hotpouch radial menu, new SCA.B collectible color schemes, and five collectible figurines scattered through Brookhollow Park. Obsidian also used the update to cut the PC install size by roughly 51%, from 37GB down to 18GB, while moving the game onto Unreal Engine 5.7 — consoles save a smaller 200-300MB. None of that changes how you play, but it's worth knowing before you queue an update on a slow connection.

02Get to the Woodpile and Start Thinning Termites

The Woodpile is the new adventure zone this update is built around, and Obsidian's notes describe it as home to a "familiar threat" — Workers, Soldiers, a Queen, and new O.G.R.R. King variants of the Termites that longtime players will recognize from the original Grounded. The patch notes are explicit that these aren't identical to the originals: expect new attacks and, in Obsidian's words, "particularly strange behavior" as you move deeper into their territory. Don't assume a matchup you remember from years ago still plays out the same way.

Work the Woodpile's open passages before committing to anything bigger. Termite Workers and Soldiers are the resistance between you and the Queen (and eventually the Centipede), and they're also your source of the materials behind the new Termite-themed gear — the Termite Tricorne, Termite Half-Plate, Termite Boots, and the Splinter Canon weapon and ammo all drop from the Woodpile rather than the boss itself.

03Farm Bismuth and Use the Yoking Press Before You Fight Anything

The update's biggest systemic change is a new way to push gear past its usual ceiling. Bismuth is described in the patch notes as "a new resource connected to the strange forces of Raw Science beneath the Park," and it's the fuel for a new crafting station, the Yoking Press, which upgrades weapons and armor to higher tiers. Gather and refine Bismuth on your first couple of trips into the Abyss or the Woodpile rather than trying to push through on base-tier gear — tier upgrades at the Yoking Press are the fastest, cheapest damage increase the update adds, and they apply to equipment you already trust instead of forcing you to re-learn a new weapon mid-fight.

04Build Around the New Perfect Dodge Mechanic

Rot and Ruin also adds a Perfect Dodge mechanic: land a correctly timed dodge and you take no damage and spend no stamina, which means you can counterattack immediately instead of waiting for your stamina bar to recover. Two of the update's new mutations, Dodge Master and Rascal Rogue, are built to work with it, while Royal Termissary and Howl of the Centipede lean into the update's new enemies more directly. Obsidian didn't spell out exact numbers for any of the four in the patch notes, so check what they actually do on your own mutation screen once you've unlocked them — but it's worth slotting at least one dodge-focused mutation in before the Centipede fight using the new mutation-loadout quick-swap in the Hotpouch radial menu, so you're not locked into a loadout built for Termite crowd control when the boss shows up.

05How to Beat the Centipede Boss

Obsidian's own description of the fight is deliberately light on specifics: the Centipede is "a formidable new boss with plenty of legs and even more reasons to run." The studio hasn't published a move list, so treat anything about its specific attack patterns you read elsewhere right now as unconfirmed — it's based on public-test impressions, not an official breakdown. What is confirmed is where the fight sits in the update's gear curve: it's placed behind the Woodpile's Termite gauntlet and gated by the kind of tier-upgraded equipment the Yoking Press enables, so it's not meant to be a first-hours fight.

Beating the Centipede: Step by Step

1. 1Rot and Ruin adds the Woodpile as a new adventure area inside Brookhollow Park. Head there once you're geared for mid-to-late-game threats — the Termites that have taken it over hit harder than the ones many players remember from the original game.10-15 min
2. 2Bismuth is the update's new resource, tied to the Raw Science running under the Park. You'll need it at the new Yoking Press to push your gear past its normal cap, so stockpile it on your first few trips instead of fighting through on base-tier equipment.20-30 min
3. 3The Yoking Press is a new crafting station that upgrades weapons and armor to higher tiers using Bismuth. Prioritize armor and a weapon you already trust before chasing unupgraded Woodpile gear — a tier upgrade on familiar equipment outperforms switching to something new mid-progression.10 min
4. 4The Woodpile's Termite family returns as Workers, Soldiers, a Queen, and new O.G.R.R. King variants. Thin out Workers and Soldiers in the open passages before pushing toward the Queen or the Centipede — Obsidian's patch notes flag new attacks and behavior, so don't assume old matchups still hold.20-30 min
5. 5Rot and Ruin adds a Perfect Dodge mechanic: a correctly timed dodge costs no stamina and lets you counterattack immediately. The new Dodge Master and Rascal Rogue mutations build around it, and they're worth slotting in through the Hotpouch's mutation-loadout quick-swap before you commit to the Centipede fight.5 min
6. 6Obsidian hasn't published a full move list for the Centipede, only that it's "a formidable new boss with plenty of legs and even more reasons to run." Fight in open ground where you can see incoming attacks, keep a ranged option or the Splinter Canon on hand for when it closes distance, and disengage rather than trade hits blind on an attack you don't recognize yet.15-25 min
7. 7A win drops pieces toward the Centipede armor set, a Centipede-exclusive Staff weapon, a new trinket, and furniture (a Cauldron, a Candle and an Apothecary station), plus a stuffed trophy and wall mount for your base.5 min

If you take an attack you don't recognize, disengage rather than trade hits blind — Grounded 2's arena-style bosses punish greed harder than they punish a slow, methodical approach, and the Centipede's "plenty of legs" almost certainly means multiple hitboxes or attack arcs to track at once.

Co-op makes the fight considerably more forgiving, and there's no indication in the patch notes that the Centipede is gated behind a solo-only or party-size restriction. If you're playing with a group, split roles rather than all stacking melee: one player on the Splinter Canon or another ranged option to pick off add waves while the rest hold the Centipede's attention keeps the fight from turning into a scrum where nobody can see incoming attacks. If you're going in solo, lean harder on Perfect Dodge and the mutations built around it, since you won't have anyone to draw aggro while you reposition.

What to Bring

• A tier-upgraded weapon and armor set from the Yoking Press — new, unupgraded Woodpile gear is not a substitute for a familiar loadout you've already pushed a tier or two higher.
• At least one stack of healing items and the new Termite Delight craftable, so you're not forced to retreat for food mid-fight.
• A dodge-focused mutation slotted in through the Hotpouch quick-swap, plus a ranged weapon or the Splinter Canon for when the Centipede closes distance.

06Rewards: The Centipede Set and What Else Rot and Ruin Adds

A win is confirmed to drop pieces toward a dedicated Centipede armor set, a Centipede-exclusive Staff weapon, a new trinket, three pieces of Centipede-themed furniture (a Cauldron, a Candle and an Apothecary station), and both a stuffed trophy and a wall mount for your base. Separately, the Woodpile also has its own Centi-Cultist Mask, Robe and Leggings set and a weapon called the Cane-tipede, which Obsidian lists as general Woodpile loot rather than a boss-exclusive drop.

Outside the fight itself, the update adds the Potato Beetle Buggy — bigger than the existing Ladybug Buggy and built for close range, with a shotgun-like turret, a charge projectile that hits a cluster of enemies in one shot, the ability to refill ammo by pulverizing enemy corpses, and cargo space to haul resources and contribute to blueprints while you build. There's also Splotching, a new paint system using a tool called the Splotcher to recolor walls, floors, roofs, stairs and doors in six colors, so your base doesn't have to stay the default texture forever.

07Should You Jump In Right Now?

Obsidian's announcement frames Rot and Ruin as rolling out broadly on PC via Steam, with the full Grounded 2 Steam page reflecting the 0.6.0 patch notes as of October 20. Exact timing for Xbox and PlayStation certification wasn't detailed in the official notes, so if you're not on PC and don't see the update yet, that's a platform rollout gap rather than anything wrong on your end — check your platform's own update queue before assuming otherwise.

• New area: The Woodpile, home to the returning Termite family and the Centipede boss.
• New systems: Bismuth and the Yoking Press for gear-tier upgrades; Perfect Dodge and four new mutations; mutation-loadout quick-swap.
• New boss loot: Centipede armor set, Staff, trinket, furniture, trophy and wall mount.
• New mobility: The Potato Beetle Buggy, built for close-range fights and hauling.
• New customization: Splotching and the Splotcher paint tool, six colors at launch.