Complete Toxic Tangle Quest Line Walkthrough in Grounded 2 (Toxic Tangle Update)
To complete the Toxic Tangle main story in Grounded 2, you must restore the greenhouse’s water and power systems, grow Super Sour Limes, and infiltrate Ominent’s Field Archives to recover BURG.L’s OS Chip. This update introduces the Toxic Tangle garden zone, new enemies, environmental corrosion hazards, and a multi-phase boss fight against the Masked Stranger, all requiring careful preparation, tier 3 omni tool upgrades, and exploration across the greenhouse, candy processing facility, and scarecrow.
Pre-Quest Preparation
Before heading to the garden, you must prepare specific supplies to avoid backtracking. You can use our Interactive Map to help find any locations or resources you may be missing.
- Armour: Praying Mantis Set.
- Weapons: Pinch Whacker and the Scarlet Aegis with the Violet Capacitor.
- Essential Items: Craft 12 Sap Bandages before you leave.
- Upgrade Materials: Bring 3 Gum Nuggets and 2 Praying Mantis Claws to help with tool upgrades later on.
Garden Calling
Step 1: Take Sloane’s Call at a Comms Array
Speak to Sloane at any Ranger Outpost to receive critical information regarding the archives inside the greenhouse.
Beyond the Garden Wall
Step 2: Search the Ranger Outpost
Head to the Park Bench Outpost in the northern corner of the map. Enter the outpost and grab all Granola Bars on the table, as these are highly effective for healing. Pick up the Scouting Report: Promising Ant Hill file.
Step 3: Tell Sloane About the Gunked Up Door
After finding the blocked door, speak to Sloane to explain the situation and update the quest line.
Step 4: Find a Way Beyond the Garden Wall
Locate the War-torn Ant Hill West Entrance on the right side of your map. Swap your spider mount for a Red Soldier Ant buggy to make tunnel navigation easier.
Step 5: Advance Towards the Garden
Follow the path down and take the first left. You will enter a pit where Black Worker and Soldier Ants are attacking Red Ants.
It is mandatory to defeat the Black Soldier Ants here to collect 3 Black Ant Mandibles, which are required for a later tool upgrade.
Continue past the pit, climb up the screw, and follow the tunnel to the War-torn Ant Hill East Entrance.
Step 6: Enter the Greenhouse
Switch back to your spider buggy and head south toward the greenhouse.
On your way there, defeat Rust Beetles and collect 2 Rust Beetle Parts. These, combined with the 3 Gum Nuggets you brought earlier, are required for the Level 2 Omni Wrench.
Once you reach the greenhouse, enter on the left side of the building and head toward the center.
You are looking for a large black platform. Once located, look for a large doorway. You will encounter an enemy called Private Bouncer (a large cricket). Defeat it so it does not respawn.
Use your scanner to unlock the door.
Step 7: Discuss the Gunked Up Archive Door with Sloane
Once inside the greenhouse, the roof will open. Head to the left door. This door is locked and “gunked up,” requiring explosives to open. Discovering this door updates your quest to locate the nearby Ranger Outpost.
Bring a Hose to Water
To progress, you must restore the water system to grow the Super Sour Limes.
Step 8: Search the Ranger Outpost Greenhouse
Exit the building, take a right, and follow the hosepipe under the greenhouse through a hole. Follow the copper pipe to the Greenhouse Ranger Outpost.
Inside, use the Ranger Station to perform the following upgrades:
- Omni Wrench: Upgrade to Level 2 (Requires Rust Beetle Parts and Gum Nuggets).
- Omni Axe: Upgrade to Level 3 (Requires Black Ant Mandibles and Mantis Claws).
Speak to Sloane via the Comms Array regarding the explosives and the leaking water source. Pick up the Project Key Lime note and all Granola Bars before leaving.
Step 9: Find the Source of the Water Leak and Fix the Spigot
After speaking to Sloane, locate the water leak. Head to the fallen plant pot on the left side of the new zone. If lost, follow the green hosepipe.
Cross the floor corrosion, jump over the plant pot, and follow the hose up to a brick wall.
Enter the hole in the wall and use your Level 2 Omni Wrench to repair the water inlet.
Step 10: Patch the Holes in the Garden Hose (8/8)
Now that the inlet is repaired, patch 8 holes in the garden hose using Sap Bandages. Start at the inlet and follow the hose all the way to the Fairy Garden House.
The first hole is directly outside next to the inlet.
The second hole is in the plant pot next to the sweet potatoes.
The third hole is inside a broken blue plant pot (use your buggy to jump into the crack at the top).
The fourth hole is located in the upside-down vegetable box.
The fifth hole is next to the bricks.
The sixth hole is above the fifth leak (climb the green leaves where the pipes wrap around each other).
The seventh hole is next to a broken nail and blue cup. Stand on the rusty nail to patch it.
The eighth and final hole is at the very end of the hosepipe before the Fairy Garden House.
Step 11: Investigate the Fairy Garden House
With the hose repaired, follow the hosepipe bracket forward to the Fairy Garden House. You may run past the Wolf Spider guarding the entrance.
Descend the ladders into the Candy Processing Facility.
Collect the Unsent Message document, a Pretzel Chunk, and the Mintito drink from the rummage pile.
Step 12: Restore Water Flow inside the Candy Processing Facility
Defeat the O.G.R.R. Rust Beetle in the lower room. Drink the Mintito before entering the glass area to reduce sizzle damage.
Go to the red entrance and climb the ladders to reach the upper platform.
Jump across the pipe and flip the red switch to open the first water valve.
Drop down and use a Level 2 shovel to dig up the gum blocking the second valve.
Activate the cleared valve.
Locate the nearby crawlspace and use your Level 2 Omni Wrench on the gate valve inside.
Finally, activate the adjacent valve to fully restore water flow and stop the sizzling effect.
You can now move freely through the area. Exit into the next room filled with sour candy and corrosion.
On the table, collect the Fairy Turbo Optical Disk (Ladybug Buggy recipes) and the Official Proposal document.
To the right, behind the Ladybug Egg, collect the Hot New Assignment document. Grab all Granola Bars and Bandages from the shelves, then exit to the cabbage patch.
Step 13: Patch the Remaining Holes (4/4)
Exit the tunnel and follow the green hose again. Patch the final four leaks as you trace the hose back toward the greenhouse.
Step 14: Reinstall the Detached Misting Heads (8/8)
Once you’ve patched the 4 water leaks, head to the water meter inside the greenhouse. Your next task is to find and place 8 misting heads onto the sprinklers.
Please note: there are more than 8 misting heads that can be found around the greenhouse.
Heads 1–5: The easiest five to find are located right near the water meter. Head 1 is right beside the water meter. Head 2 is against the brick wall. Head 3 is located near the flower pots. Head 4 is higher up on the brick; jump up the leaves on the flower pot to grab it. Head 5 is found down a small alleyway nearby.
Installation: Take these five heads to the pipe system. You must run or jump through the corrosion to reach the missing slots in the pipe to place them.
Head 6: From the fifth placement slot, look left to find another head. Climb the plant in the top-left corner of the greenhouse and place it in the black pipe.
Heads 7–8: Continue climbing the branches to find these two heads sitting together on the left. Defeat the Orb Weaver Junior roaming this area before picking them up, as it can knock you off.
Final Placement: Take Head 7, jump over the corrosion, and place it. Pick up Head 8 and follow the black pipe all the way up, past the mosquito, to reach the final slot.
Step 15: Activate the Misting System and Update Sloane
Now that all the misting heads have been placed, equip your Orb Weaver Buggy, which makes getting back down to the ground floor much easier.
Return to the water meter and interact with it to activate the sprinklers.
Once the water is flowing, head back to the Greenhouse Ranger Outpost and talk to Sloane via the comms array to report your progress.
Sowing Wild Limes
Step 16: Explore the Top Shelf and Dig Up the Seed
IMPORTANT: To progress, you must obtain the Omni Hammer Tier 3. You craft this using a Potato Beetle Head and gunpowder from the caps at the Buster Cap Gun POI.
Now it’s time to locate and find the Key Lime Super Sour Seed. Head back to the greenhouse. We will need to climb to the top shelf (near where the last misting head and mosquito were).
The easiest way is to return to the top-left corner of the greenhouse and climb the plant all the way back to the top where you handled the misting heads.
Use your Orb Weaver Buggy to get across the black cables and spider webs. From there, jump across to the top shelf, which is covered in roots.
Once you are on top of the roots, drop down and land on the red shelving. You will see an entrance covered with dead roots.
Call your Red Ant Buggy and use it to bite through the dead roots to enter a hidden room. On the table, you will find the Declaration of Independence file.
Once you’ve collected everything, bite through a second set of dead roots.
Then take a left and head up the roots to another set of dead roots that you can bite through.
Once you enter the plant pot, you will discover an O.G.R.R. Northern Scorpion. Defeat the scorpion, and you will see a sparkle in the soil. Use your shovel to dig up the Buried Super Sour Seed.
Before leaving, grab the “For Marty” document next to the rummage pile in the center.
Step 17: Plant the Super Sour Seed
Carry the seed back down to the central area of the greenhouse where the roof opened, using your Red Ant Buggy. Place the seed into the soil of the growing pod in the center of the room.
Power to the Garden
Step 18: Reconnect the Junction Boxes (3/3)
You must now restore power in the pumpkin patch. Use your spider buggy and head south to the bottom-left of the map. Make sure to collect Milkweed Tufts from pods in this area for later crafting.
Junction Box 1
Head to the bottom-left of the pumpkin patch, just above the optical disk. Here you will locate a smoking outlet blocked by a pine cone.
Smash the pine cone with your Omni Hammer Tier 3, then chop the cable sheathing with the Omni Axe Tier 3 to reconnect it.
Junction Box 2
After exiting Box 1, look toward the bottom-right of the patch. You will see the next outlet in the distance.
Once you arrive below it, climb the green root next to a pumpkin, jump to the spider web, and climb the vines to reach the outlet. Defeat the Orb Weavers inside and chop the sheathing with your Omni Axe Tier 3 to fix the box.
Junction Box 3
After fixing Box 2, look outside the opening of the junction box to locate Box 3 in the distance on the right side of the patch.
Climb down from Junction Box 2 and jump onto the brown box by the smoking outlet.
Drop down to the left and climb the vines to the pumpkin, then jump across the leaves and spider web to fall into the junction box from the top. Repair the cable using your Tier 3 Omni Axe.
This completes the power repair task. The final step is turning the power on, which is located on the scarecrow’s arm.
Step 19: Scaling the Scarecrow Maze
To begin the climb toward the power switch, start at the Pumpkin Patch Ranger Outpost and mount your Orb Weaver Buggy.
From the outpost, climb onto the small vine directly in front of you, then jump onto the nearby pumpkin. Carefully follow the pumpkin’s surface upward.
As you climb, jump onto nearby leaves and follow the visible spider webs. Continue moving upward until you reach a wooden block just below the Pumpkin Patch area.
Follow the wooden path along the vine, then jump onto a leaf and cross another spider web that leads toward the brick wall. Run along the wall and continue following spider webs and vines as they guide you higher.
Continue following the vines until you reach a pumpkin with a visible black mark.
Use your Tier 3 Omni Axe to break open this weak spot. Inside, defeat the Rust Beetle and Orb Weaver before continuing.
Once cleared, get back onto your Orb Weaver Buggy and move through the pumpkin, crossing the spider web inside.
On the far side of the pumpkin, you will find another weak spot. Get off your buggy and break it open using your Tier 3 Omni Axe.
When you exit the pumpkin, climb upward until you see a lab called O.G.R.R. Head inside and follow it to the end, collecting the “Tapped Out on Tully” and “Popping Point” documents.
Once you exit the lab, follow the leaf and vine path, which will lead you to the start of the scarecrow.
Time to navigate the scarecrow. As you follow the path up the outside, you will locate the Scarecrow Entrance.
Collect the “Turning a New Leaf” file, Granola Bars, and bandages. Set your respawn point at the bed inside the next room.
Head upstairs and take the right path. You will encounter an Earwig, rummage piles, and the document “Applied O.G.R.R. Test 3.”
Continue forward, and do not skip the next two Earwigs. Defeat them, then take the first left to locate the Sour and Spicy Candy pieces. You will need the Sour Candy later to craft Sour Banger Explosives.
Once you’ve broken them with your Tier 3 Omni Hammer, look for a sparkle in the floor and dig up the buried treasure for extra loot.
From here, you can avoid further combat and simply make your way up the scarecrow, sticking to the right side of the tunnels at all times to avoid getting lost.
Climb the three nails to reach the scarecrow’s arm. Enjoy the view, then turn around and face the scarecrow’s head.
Use your Omni Axe Tier 3 to break the black weak spots on the scarecrow’s head. Walk past the Earwigs inside and break the opposite side. You will finally see the power switch—activate it to restore power to the greenhouse.
Now it’s time to return to the Super Sour Seed. Follow the power cable all the way down into the greenhouse.
Slowly lower yourself onto the plant pots, then call your Orb Weaver Buggy to safely get back down to the seed.
The Archive
Step 20: Defeat the Masked Stranger
Once you’ve made your way back down to the Super Sour Seed, we highly recommend saving your game, as it’s time to fight the Masked Stranger.
We highly recommend using the Granola Bars in this fight that you’ve collected during your journey, as they can instantly fill your health while you continue attacking the boss.
My current Setup:
- Mount/Companion: Bring your Orb Weaver buggy to provide additional damage.
- Mutations: Natural Explorer, Trapper, Peep’r, Hauling Hero, and Cardio Fan.
- Combat Gear: Use the Pinch Whacker for rapid attacks and the Scarlet Aegis for blocking and full praying mantis set upgraded.
When you are ready, go ahead and use the scanner to enter the cutscene.
The Fight Strategy:
Phase 1: The Tank and Spank
Focus your attacks on the Broodmother at all times (not the Masked Stranger), as they have separate health bars.
Use the Pinch Whacker to spam light attacks while carefully blocking her incoming strikes. If your health drops, consume a Granola Bar immediately.
Phase 2: The Masked Stranger Drops
When the room turns red (around two-thirds of the boss’s health), the Broodmother will retreat to the roof. The Masked Stranger will then drop down and attempt to attack you.
While dodging the corrosion on the floor, use your bow or staff to shoot the Broodmother on the ceiling. Dealing enough damage will knock her back down into the arena. Now repeat Phase 1 and continue dealing damage to the O.R.C. Broodmother.
Phase 3: Purple Room Phase
When the Broodmother reaches one-third health, the room will begin to glow purple. She may attempt to retreat to the roof again while the Masked Stranger continues running around the arena.
Depending on how much damage you deal, you can brute-force this phase. If not, you will need to shoot the Broodmother back down to the ground again.
Final Stand
Eventually, the Masked Stranger will jump back onto the Broodmother. During this final stage, her attack speed increases, so be prepared to block a sequence of four hits. Continue the “tank and spank” method until she is defeated.
Once the fight concludes, a cutscene will trigger showing the growth of the massive Key Lime tree, transforming the environment. Before leaving, use your Peep’r to scan the remains, harvest the O.R.C. Broodmother to obtain the card, and collect her loot.
Step 21: Creating the Sour Banger
Now that the Masked Stranger is defeated and the seed has grown into the Key Lime tree, your next task is to enter the Archives. Unfortunately, the entrance is still blocked and must be destroyed with a Sour Banger explosive.
To craft the Sour Banger explosive, you must collect Key Limes.
Climb the plant in the top-left corner of the greenhouse for the third time. This will take you all the way up to the greenhouse roof.
Once on the roof, look toward the tree to find massive Key Limes hanging from it. Equip a bow to knock them down, then harvest them with your Tier 3 Omni Axe to obtain Key Lime Chunks. Make sure you collect at least two Key Lime Chunks.
Next, make your way back down the greenhouse and find a safe location to place a workbench. Combine the Key Lime Chunks with the Milkweed Tufts you collected earlier and the Sour Candy found inside the scarecrow tunnels to craft the Sour Banger explosive.
Return to the Archives door where you defeated the Masked Stranger, select the Sour Banger explosive, and throw it at the door to remove the gunk blocking the entrance.
Step 22: Take the BURG.L OS Chip
Enter the Archives door and take the transit system down to Floor B100, which will take you into the Archives.
Inside the Archives, look to your right and locate two bodies nearby to rummage for Cactus Petals, Fertilizer, Gloom Chunks, Woolly Aphid Jerky, and the Ponic Patch schematic.
Finally, interact with and access the Archive Distributor machine in front of you to retrieve the BURG.L OS Chip.
Now head back out of the Archives to where you defeated the Masked Stranger and enter the door on your right, which provides quicker access to the Ranger Outpost station.
Speak to Sloane on the comms array and report that you have secured the BURG.L OS Chip. She will tell you that she needs more time to determine how to decipher the blueprints and reinstall BURG.L’s operating system.
WELL DONE! This completes the Toxic Tangle main story quest line, leaving you to wait for a future update to continue repairing BURG.L.
If you’re looking for more things to do, check out a few additional guides below, such as how to get the Ladybug Buggy or the four hidden weapons in the greenhouse area.
- Secret Weapon Guides:
- Equipment & Collectibles:
