The Ultimate Solo AXL Build Guide: Maximizing Stun and Crits
An effective solo build against AXL in Grounded 2 hinges on maximizing stun, managing the boss’s high resistance, and maintaining health through critical hits. This guide details a top-tier setup focused on the Praying Mantis Armor and the Pinchwacker for a solid single-player victory.
The fight with the boss AXL is less about brute force and more about consistently exploiting its weak point—the scar on its rump—which is only accessible when the creature is Stunned. This solo build uses high attack speed and critical hits to quickly build up stun and then deliver massive damage during those brief windows.
Armor: Praying Mantis Armor Set (Rogue Class)
The complete Praying Mantis Armor Set is the centerpiece of this build, providing offensive power and crucial self-healing, which is vital for a solo encounter.
Why this set?
- Critical Haste (Upper & Lower Body Piece Effect): Critical hits have a high chance (50%) to temporarily boost your attack speed by 20%. Since this build relies on dealing many quick hits to build stun, more attack speed means more hits, which means faster stun and more critical hits.
- Critical Recovery (Set Bonus): Critical hits provide a powerful healing over time effect. When wearing the full set, you receive a total of 12 health over 5 seconds per critical hit. In a solo fight, this consistent, passive healing from simply landing attacks is indispensable, reducing the need to disengage for healing smoothies.
- Rogue Armor Class Bonus: Provides a passive 4% Increased Critical Hit Chance, directly supporting both of the above effects.
In essence, the set bonus turns your offensive output into a self-sustaining defense mechanism. You hit faster, you crit more, you heal more.
Weapons: Pinchwacker and Scarlet Aegis Shield
This combination offers flexibility, fast stun buildup, and reliable defense for the solo player.
Primary Weapon: Pinchwacker
AXL has no elemental weaknesses and exhibits high resistance to Stabbing, Fresh, Explosive, and Venom damage. However, the most effective way to deal damage is by attacking the exposed weak point when stunned, which allows for 4x damage. The Pinchwacker is chosen as a utility weapon to assist in the fight’s two key stages:
- Stun Buildup: The Pinchwaker is a great Melee Weapon with good damage.
- Weak Point Damage: When AXL is stunned, using a fast-hitting weapon (like an upgraded high-tier melee weapon) is generally best to maximize the time on the rump.
Defensive Off-Hand: Scarlet Aegis Shield
The Scarlet Aegis Shield is the best shield for this encounter, especially since AXL’s attacks can be perfectly blocked.
- Heals the Buggy: This unique shield has a special effect that heals nearby tamed creatures after a perfect block. Since AXL’s fight involves your tamed Buggy, the Scarlet Aegis ensures your mount stays alive longer, maintaining its crucial role in distracting the boss and soaking up damage.
- Defense: As a shield, it provides the solid defense you need to perfectly block the boss’s heavy, predictable attacks, mitigating chip damage and keeping your health high.
Accessory: Volatile Capacity Trinket
The Volatile Capacity Trinket provides a flat damage increase that benefits the high attack speed of this build.
- Shock Damage Bonus: This trinket adds a flat shock damage bonus to all melee attacks. In a critical-hit, high-attack-speed build like this one, those flat damage numbers add up quickly with every swing, further increasing overall damage output during the critical stun window.
- Stun Focus: Some melee charge attacks with this trinket can create a shockwave, which provides utility, but the main benefit for this fight is the consistently applied damage that stacks with the Praying Mantis’s benefits.
Mutations: Optimized for Survival and Speed
These four mutations provide the necessary offensive boost, defensive utility, and stamina management for a lengthy solo battle.
| Mutation | Reason for Inclusion |
| Perry Master | Crucial for solo survivability. Provides a significant stamina return and a minor stun chance on a Perfect Block. Paired with the Scarlet Aegis, it ensures you can keep attacking and blocking without running out of stamina. |
| Cardio Fan | Essential for high-tempo fights. Increases your maximum stamina and boosts your stamina regeneration rate. This allows for more consecutive attacks to build stun and more dashes to dodge AXL’s non-blockable attacks (like the dash). |
| Trapper Peep.r | Excellent utility. The permanent PEEP.r status is invaluable for quickly revealing AXL’s stun cooldown, weak points, and specific attack details, allowing for better-timed attacks and defensive movements. |
| Mithridatism | AXL is a venomous boss, dealing heavy poison/venom damage. Mithridatism drastically reduces the damage taken from venom, which is a non-negotiable inclusion for a solo player who cannot rely on a teammate for quick revives or constant cleansing. |
Consumables: Preparation is Key
Consumables must be focused on negating the boss’s primary threat (Venom) and managing the Buggy’s survival.
- Scorpiodote: The primary venom resistance smoothie. You must keep the Scorpiodote buff active at all times to survive the boss’s sustained venom output.
- Healbasa: Since the Scarlet Aegis will heal your Buggy on a perfect block, the Healbasa is the failsafe for large health drops, keeping your essential meat-shield and distraction alive. A live Buggy is a massive advantage in Phase 2.
- Other Health Pots/Smoothies: Bring your highest-tier healing items, like Green Machine or Fuzz on the Rocks smoothies, for immediate health recovery when you take unmitigated damage.
This build is a strong, well-rounded approach for a solo player. It focuses on using the high attack speed of the Praying Mantis Armor to trigger self-healing and quickly build up the stun needed to expose AXL’s weak point, all while managing its venom and massive damage output effectively.
You can see our full AXL Boss fight Guide here.