Many elements of the Grounded make it stand out in the recent past of the survivalist genre, and one of them is the mutations in the game, which we will explain and rank in our Grounded Mutations Tier List.
Key Highlights
- Grounded offers 39 mutations, but players can only choose 5.
- Ranking based on overall substance, effect, and unblocking mechanism.
- Recommended top 5 mutations: Juicy, Mom Genes, Buff Lungs, Meat Shield, Coup de Grass, Sharpshooter.
- These mutations offer a healthy competition without additional challenges.
- Mutations to avoid: Daredevil, Rock Cracker, Grass Master, Mithridatism, Parry Master.
Grounded Mutations Tier List Ranking Table |
|
| Tiers | Mutations |
| S-Tier | Juicy, Coup de Grass, Mom Genes, Meat Shield, Buff Lungs, Sharpshooter, Dissection Expert |
| A-Tier | Blademaster, Ant-nihilator, Chopper, Natural Explorer, Smasher, Cardio Fan, Hauling Hero, Rascal Rogue, Apex Predator, Shocking Dismissal, Bardic Inspiration |
| B-Tier | Guard Dog, Javelineer, Fresh Defense, Truffle Tussle, Barbarian, Lil Fist, Reliable Friend, Spicy Safety, Assassin, Whittle Wizard, Mantsterious Stranger |
| C-Tier | Merteen, Trapper PEEP.R, Corporate Kickback |
| D-Tier | Daredevil, Grass Master, Rock Cracker, Mithridatism, Parry Master, Sour Sensation, Spore Lord |
Tier List’s Criteria
Our Mutation Tier List consists of all the notable mutations in the game. We will rank them from the best to the worst to help you in the game. They are organized in tiers that go from best to worst.
- S Tier: The best mutations
- A Tier: The second-best mutations
- B Tier: Average mutations
- C Tier: Below-average mutations
- D Tier: Mutations best avoided
All Mutations Compared
Here are all the mutation stats summarized:
| Mutation | TIer | Description | Effect | Obtain from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buff Lungs | S | Inhalation burn your cell bright. | Increase Stamina by 30%. | Purchase for 3000 Raw Science |
| Meat Shield | S | You get exceptional endurance. | Increase Max health by 30. | Purchase for 3000 Raw Science. |
| Mom Genes | S | Vocal cords stretch to form spiderling summoning motherly cries. | 10% chance to spawn Spiderling with 25 health. | Kill the Hedge Broodmother. |
| Coup de Grass | S | Act like a beacon of hope by bursting flash to your eyes. | Increase critical hit change by 2.5%-5%. | Roll the dice at Minotaur’s Maze on the picnic table until you get 20. |
| Juicy | S | Encyclopedic knowledge of beverage ingredients. | Thirst rate decreases to 50%. | Discovering all 5 juicy boxes. |
| Sharpshooter | S | Landing a shot with bow or crossbow even with significantly less stamina. | Crossbow attacks reduce the stamina cost by 50% or 100%. | Kill 40, 100, or 200 creatures with the Crossbow. |
| Smasher | A | Heavy strokes will bring down the hammer with more force and intensity. | Slow target attack speed by 10%, 20%, or 30% for just 10 sec. | Continuous killing creatures with Hammer. |
| Natural Explorer | A | With every landmark you’ll find, gives you understanding of the yard. | Increases your Sprint speed by 20%, 35% or 50%. | Discover Landmarks. |
| Chopper | A | Axe attacks are the extension of your anger, rending your enemies armor. | Lower overall resistance of all the creatures by 10%, 15% or 20%. | Continuous killing creatures with axe. |
| Ant-nihilator | A | Ant become your familiar threats and Death greet all the ants that face you. | Increases damage dealt by 5%, 15% or 25%. | Repeatedly kill Black, Fire or Red ants in the game. |
| Blademaster | A | Kill enemies to reduce your effectiveness. | Lower the damage of the target attacks by 10%, 20% or 30%. | Kill 40, 100 or 200 creatures with sword. |
| Cardio Fan | A | Your cells will adopt more efficient respiration process after exhausting impacts. | Increase Stamina regen by 10%, 15% or 20%. | Keep running until player is exhausted 100, 250 or 500 times. |
| Barbarian | B | You can use your muscular arms to swing a club with blind rage. | Increase overall damage to 15%, 20% or 25%. | Kill creatures by using two handed weapon, club. |
| Truffle Tussle | B | Fungus of haze enters your tiny skin, adding its power to your unarmed attacks. | Creates fungal explosions. Deals 75% explosion damage. | Kill the infected ladybug in Haze lab. |
| Fresh Defense | B | Your cells actives Freshness layer to combat sting. | Increase gas resistance and burning damage by 20% or 50%. | Eat 1, 3 or 5 Mint Shard. |
| Javelineer | B | Spear deals additional damage and counter poke enemy attacks. | Increases spear throwing damage by 10%, 20% or 30%. | Kill creatures by using Spear. |
| Guard Dog | B | Defending multiple locations against angry mobs heightens your protective instincts. | Deals increased damage to the enemies involved in defense events. | Complete MIX.Rs defense events. |
| Assassin | B | Daggers are your favorable weapon which cause your enemies to bleed like hell. | DOT effect deals with 30%, 50% or 75% damage in 5 seconds. | By repeatedly killing creatures with a dagger. |
| Spicy Safety | B | Fiery wall is there to protect you from stabs and smashes. | Smashing and Stabbing attacks damage taken is reduced by 25% or 50%. | Eat Spicy Shards. |
| Reliable Friend | B | Living all the time in the lawn fills your muscle memory with hope. | Player revive speed is increased by 25%, 50% or 75%. | By reviving a friend multiple times. |
| Lil Fist | B | Your muscles become stronger which increases the damage of further blows. | Gives unarmed attacks 1%, 1.5% or 2% damage buff. | Repeatedly killing creatures with your fist. |
| Merteen | C | Your permeable skin starts to utilize an electrochemical gradient that aids in respiration. | Increase Swim speed by 15% and Underwater oxygen time by 10%. | By discovering 5 Landmarks inside Koi Pond. |
| Parry Master | D | Blocking attacks proves you to be extreme advantage. | Gives perfect block chance to gain 5%, 10% or 15% stamina. | By perfect blocking attacks. |
| Mithridatism | D | Your body builds a permanent resistance for the thrilling surge of poison coursing. | Resistance to poison increase by 25%, 50% or 75%. | By killing Wolf spiders. |
| Rock Cracker | D | Bringing the hammer down gives your ever-growing efficiency. | Increase busting efficiency by 25%, 50% or 100%. | Burst 25, 60 or 105 rocks. |
| Grass Master | D | Knowledge of chopping grass allow you to drop them with increasing ease. | Increase chopping efficiency by 25%, 50% or 100%. | Chop 50, 200 or 500 blades of grass. |
| Daredevil | D | The perpetual flow of adrenaline powers you as you travels through the yard. | Reduce fall damage by 50%. | Buy it for 3000 Raw science, after completing Hedge lab. |
S-Tier
The Mutations in this tier are the best in the game. You can book a permanent slot for them out of the 5, and it will make your life easy in the game where the world has shrunken.
| Mutation | Purpose | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Buff Lungs | Enhances general abilities like sprinting, chopping, and smashing | Boosts stamina by 50, significantly enhancing defense during fights and making routine tasks easier |
| Meat Shield | Ideal for players who struggle with blocking | Minimizes damage taken during combat, compensating for the game’s challenging blocking mechanics |
| Mom Genes | Offers a strategic advantage when using daggers and spears | Initially challenging, but ultimately provides a powerful combination for combat |
| Coup de Grass | Addresses and resolves a previously frustrating game bug | Facilitates easier progression to phase 2/2, significantly improving gameplay post-update |
| Juicy | Reduces the rate of thirst depletion | Essential for players frequently hindered by rapid thirst reduction, especially after updates that improved the rate |
| Sharpshooter | Previously misunderstood, now recognized for not directly increasing damage | Useful after unlocking the Smithing Station to optimize weapon damage, shifting focus away from reliance on mutations |
| Dissection Expert | Enhances loot acquisition from creatures | Critical for all players, regardless of build, due to the increased probability of obtaining valuable items |
A-Tier
The mutations on this tier list can be easily put on the S Tier if you think we have done injustice to them because the margin of difference between them is very less. Nevertheless, both tiers have the best mutations in the game.
| Mutation | Purpose | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Smasher | Enhances hammer usage | Adds a slow attack/daze effect to hammers, allowing more time to hit enemies |
| Natural Explorer | Facilitates movement and exploration | Increases speed, making exploring and dodging easier by countering stamina drain |
| Chopper | Targets small insect enemies | Axes gain enhanced effectiveness against insects, making them easier to kill with quick attacks |
| Ant-nihilator | Specialized for combating ants in anthills | Provides ultimate resistance against ants and increases damage, but is limited to ant-specific encounters |
| Blademaster | Optimizes sword usage | Reduces stamina drain from rapid sword attacks, previously had a bug that was fixed |
| Cardio Fan | Boosts stamina significantly | Particularly beneficial for beginners to manage stamina better, though may be less useful for experienced players |
| Shocking Dismissal | Useful in crowded combat situations | 20% chance of emitting an electrical explosion when attacks are blocked, damaging and stunning nearby enemies |
| Bardic Inspiration | Enhances group play with buff effects | Provides various buffs to self and allies when using a bow or crossbow, including reduced damage taken and increased attack damage |
| Apex Predator | Enhances Boss Weapons | Adds powerful buffs to Boss Weapons, significantly enhancing their effectiveness |
| Hauling Hero | Essential for players focused on building | Increases hauling strength, allowing players to carry more building materials |
| Rascal Rogue | Focuses on item acquisition through melee attacks | Has a 2% chance at Phase 1 to steal items from creatures, less effective compared to Dissection Expert but still useful |
B-Tier
The average Tier of our Grounded Mutations Tier List. You can use these mutations but they are not a must and can be switched around according to your needs in the game.
| Mutation | Purpose | Benefits and Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|
| Barbarian | Previously a go-to mutation for combating Wolf Spiders | Reduced relevance due to game updates that encourage alternative combat methods |
| Truffle Tussle | Useful in weaponless situations | Effective against noninfected bugs with close-range grenades; not useful against infected bugs |
| Fresh Defense | Provides protection against environmental effects | Only effective with lion armor against sizzle effects; needs improvement to be more versatile |
| Javelineer | Enhances spear usage | Increases range but not significantly impactful on damage; other methods are recommended for damage enhancement |
| Guard Dog | Defensive mutation for base protection | Useful during rare raid events to defend bases, but situational |
| Assassin | Increases dagger efficiency | Boosts damage for the Bone Dagger but the damage over time effect is considered underwhelming |
| Spicy Safety | Offers resistance against specific enemy attacks | Provides resistance against stabbing and explosive attacks, useful in limited enemy scenarios |
| Reliable Friend | Enhances multiplayer support | Boosts speed for reviving teammates in multiplayer, beneficial for teams with less experienced players |
| Lil Fist | Useful in emergency or weapon-preserving scenarios | Helps fight Gnats effectively and is useful when weapons are unavailable or being preserved; generally underrated |
| Whittle Wizard | Specific to Candy Staves usage | Adds various status effects when using Candy Staves, but its utility is limited to this weapon only |
| Mantsterious Stranger | Summons an NPC ally | Grants a 2% chance to summon a friendly Mant during combat, providing significant attack assistance with three types of attacks; however, it has a very low chance rate |
C-Tier
This unfortunate mutation is below par but not outright gimmicky, as you can use it if needed. If the devs decide to add more underwater places in future updates, it might jump a tier or two.
| Mutation | Purpose | Benefits and Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|
| Merteen | Underwater exploration | Provides an oxygen boost underwater, specifically useful in limited areas like the Kai Pond; overall, limited utility due to scarce underwater locations in the game |
| Corporate Kickback | Offers a lifesteal ability | Grants a 5% chance to regain health upon inflicting melee damage; minimal impact in later stages and useless for ranged attack strategies |
| Trapper PEEP.R | Trap enhancement | Requires collecting 20 or more Gold Cards, a tedious task; considered decent but unattractive due to the difficult unlocking process |
D-Tier
The worst tier of our Grounded Mutations Tier List. Some of these are broken because of an update, while the others are gimmicky and have no substance use in the game.
| Mutation | Purpose | Benefits and Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|
| Parry Master | Was meant to boost stamina on good blocks | Previously beneficial, now ineffective due to bugs introduced in recent updates, making it unreliable and not worth using. |
| Mithridatism | Was intended to provide venom resistance | Bugged in recent updates, causing inconsistent performance levels; it fluctuates unpredictably between levels, complicating combat against venomous enemies. |
| Rock Cracker | Enhances rock harvesting | Considered unnecessary by most players; once primary harvesting is completed, it’s seen as a waste of a mutation slot. |
| Grass Master | Aids in collecting grass | Offers no substantial gameplay advantage once grass collection is done; considered a placeholder rather than a practical mutation. |
| Daredevil | Reduces fall damage | Generally unnecessary as careful gameplay can easily avoid fall-related deaths; not worth the Raw Science cost. |
| Sour Sensation | Reflects damage back to attackers | Minimal impact; the damage reflected is too low to be noticeable, making it ineffective in most combat scenarios unless at phase 3. |
| Spore Lord | Provides buffs based on explosive damage | Only useful for specific explosive builds; the incremental buffs are minor and do not significantly impact gameplay, making it a niche and generally weak option. |
Changes Due To Updates
Last Update: Update 1.2
Here are all the changes which have affected the Grounded Mutations in recent patch updates:
- Mutation Loadouts:
- You can now create and switch between four different Mutation loadouts using the new Mutation Loadouts radial.
- On controllers, the default binding to open the radial is Right D-Pad, while on keyboards it is the T key.
- The emote and chat radial on controllers have been combined into a single radial to free up space.
- Lil Fist: The bonus damage stacks will now be cleared when you take damage.
- The proc chance for the Mastery bonus has been reduced.
- Trapper PEEP.R’s final tier now requires 60 gold cards instead of 59 to balance the tiers.
- The bonus health value of Meat Shield has been increased.
- The bonus stamina value of Buff Lungs has been increased.
- The stamina regeneration buff of Cardio Fan has been increased at all tiers.
- [REDACTED] Stranger:
- The proc chance has been doubled.
- The damage of [REDACTED] summon has been increased.
- The proc chance of Shocking Dismissal has been increased.
- The bonus damage of Grass Master has been increased.
- The bonus damage of Rock Cracker has been increased.
Disclaimer
This Tier List is based on our time in the game. We have clocked many hours in the game, and as a result, we were able to form this Tier List. So we are very confident that the information you see is accurate, but we can not make sure you agree with this Tier List ranking 100% as the nature of it is subjective.
The Mutations Tier List comes to an end here. We ranked all the major mutations from the best to the worst with a logical explanation of their ranking, and we would love to hear from you in the comments below. Meanwhile, you can also look at our other Grounded content below.
Next:
- BEST Grounded Weapons
- Grounded BEST Settings
- Grounded Shared Worlds
- Grounded: How To Repair
- Grounded Floors
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