Grounded 2 Best Base Locations Into the Abyss Update: Starter Spots, Zipline Hubs, and Pond Bases

The Into the Abyss update opens the pond into a much more important part of Brookhollow Park, so the best base spots now need to do more than sit near grass and acorns. A good home in Grounded 2 should support fast travel, ziplines, pond access, raid defense, and the resources you are actually using at your current stage.

All recommended base locations after Into the Abyss

Choosing a strong Into the Abyss base spot

Start with resources. A base near acorns, blueberries, stems, pine needles, pine cones, clay, clovers, mushrooms, or sap saves huge amounts of walking, but the best resource mix changes as your save progresses.

Then judge safety and raid defense. A spot with no regular patrols is ideal, but a risky area can still work if the enemies approach from one side and you can block them with barricades, walls, or elevated building.

Terrain matters just as much as the map pin. Flat rock, hollow trunks, roots, lily pads, concrete blocks, and deck corners all give you cleaner building support, while scenic high points now gain extra value because fast travel stations and ziplines make vertical bases much more useful after Into the Abyss.

Starter bases near spawn

Ranger Outpost: Snackbar is still the cleanest first-home pick if you want a quiet start. It sits just outside the starting zone, close enough to make early trips painless, with acorns in one direction and blueberries in another. The main adjustment is water: the old infinite source is gone, so use a setup where water droplets collect and can be knocked into a canteen with a stuffed bug.

Ice Cream Cart / Sprinkler Bridge is the better early base if you want more building room and stronger resource access. Bridging from the flat ground across the branch to the flat rock gives you a roomy elevated footprint, with blueberries, acorns, abundant stems, and a research station below. Build up off the ground and the Orb Weaver, Orb Weaver Junior, and Larva pathing becomes much less of a daily problem.

Red Ant Hill Edge works because it is close to spawn and early resources while sitting above the Red Ant Hill area where you get the red soldier ant buggy. Build upward here, then block the side where the Larva visit and the branch side where the Orb Weaver Junior and spiderling can wander in. The right corner of the deck is the safer elevated alternative: it has broad flat space, strong zipline height, and only the nearby Bombardier Beetle route to respect.

Central bases for travel and ziplines

Dead Center Tree is the obvious long-term travel base because it sits in the middle of the map beside a massive tree. The location also gives you a broad build area, sap collector support from a nearby branch, and quick access to gum, pine cones, dry grass, mushrooms, and other central materials. Its weakness is patrol management: block the Scorpion route between the little log and mound, and keep the Larva and Orb Weaver paths in mind before you expand.

Hollow Tree Trunk trades some of that open central feel for personality. You get a big flat area plus a hollow trunk that can become a very distinct base interior, while still staying close to acorns, blueberries, and the main tree for zipline planning. The Wolf Spider route through the center is the problem, so wall off the approach lanes before treating it as a relaxed home.

Teleporter Rock Wall is the best central pick if you value fast travel more than maximum building space. It has a cool rock-wall backdrop and a research station that teleports you across the map, putting fast travel at your doorstep while keeping you fairly central. Under the Deck is the larger flat version of that idea, with a fast-travel research station nearby, pine needles in the base area, and enough room to shape the entrance around barricades against the Wolf Spider and Larva paths.

Northern bases for late-game resources

Picnic Table Roots is the strongest resource base in the northern area. Build on the mushrooms and roots, then use the nearby research station while pulling from a loaded resource belt: respawnable acorns in the green bucket, blueberries on the picnic table, pine needles throughout the area, pine cones nearby, Lingonberry, charcoal within reach, and the building supplies below the picnic table.

Hidden Cavern is the more unusual version of the same resource plan. The cavern sits under the picnic table and has a key-blocked entrance that needs the red ant buggy to open, with extra room available above it. Its threat profile is light, mainly a small spiderling near the second location, while the surrounding area still gives you stems, clovers, clay, mushrooms, and the same pine needle access that makes Picnic Table Roots so efficient.

Tree Stump is for players who want safety and a view more than a huge footprint. It puts you in the middle of the northern areas, near the resources from the picnic table side, and close to a research station that fast travels to Ranger Outpost: Veggie Garden. Under the Bench is the big-builder pick instead: an enormous flat northern space with late-game resource access, but two Scorpions make defenses mandatory once you settle on the layout.

Into the Abyss pond and Pergola bases

Gnarly Bark is the best new all-around base location from the update. It sits above Ranger Outpost: Gnarly Bark, has excellent scenery, gives quick access to a fast-travel station, and has enough branch height to support zipline towers. The nearby Wolf Spider route can be contained by blocking the area around the stump, while Rust Beetles and Scorpions stay farther around the corner.

The elevated pond-side flat rock is the new big flat pond-edge build. It is high, scenic, close to the pond, and awkward for enemies to reach unless you leave stairs attached. The patrol pattern around the close edge is still young, so barricade the rock-wall side and avoid leaving a climbable path for the Pincer Earwig seen in the small crevice.

Lily Pads are the cleanest pond-access base if you want to be on the water without committing your whole save to an underwater main base. You can build across the pads, use the branch for sap collectors, and plan around the research station inside the pond structure once you have story access to it. The safest pads sit away from the mosquitoes in the middle and the Tiger Mosquitoes that land on the back side.

Pergola Concrete Blocks are a zipline player’s dream. The highest central block in the top-right Pergola area can send lines straight toward the pond, the pumpkin patch, the main tree, and other major routes. The build space is more tower-like than cozy, but the height and mostly safe top surface make it one of the best transport bases after Into the Abyss.

Best base picks by player goal

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