You’re geared up. You’ve got the mint mace. You’ve probably spent hours building a base that looks like a fortress only to realize that the yard's real power players aren't the spiders anymore. It’s the ants. Specifically, the Grounded red ant queen. If you haven't found her yet, you’re missing out on one of the biggest updates Obsidian ever dropped into the backyard.
She’s massive. She’s regal. Honestly, she's kinda terrifying if you go in expecting just another soldier ant.
But here’s the thing: most people treat the red ant queen like a boss fight they need to win immediately. That is a huge mistake. Dealing with the queens in Grounded—the Red, Black, and Fire varieties—is less about how hard you can swing a club and more about what kind of person you want to be in this tiny, brutal ecosystem. You have choices. Those choices have permanent consequences for your save file.
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Where the Grounded Red Ant Queen is Hiding
Finding her isn't actually that hard if you know where the "Red Anthill" is. It’s located in the Western Grasslands, south of the Baseball and right near the mysterious machine. You've been there a dozen times to scavenge parts or get annoyed by soldiers.
Go deeper.
Most players stop at the first few chambers because the tunnels start looking the same. You need to push past the main egg-laying rooms and look for the royal chamber. It’s marked by much more elaborate pheromone-slicked walls and a distinct lack of "worker" chaos. Once you step into her throne room, the music shifts. You'll see her—this bloated, pulsing centerpiece of the colony. She doesn't move. She doesn't attack you on sight. She just sits there, waiting for you to decide her fate.
The Three Paths: Friend, Foe, or Traitor
This is where the game gets deep. You aren't just killing a bug. You're interacting with a system. You have three specific items you can bring to her, and what you choose determines what loot you get and how the entire red ant colony treats you for the rest of the game.
Path One: The Red Ant Strategic Treat. This is the "Friendly" route. You craft a treat using things like Red Ant Parts and Mushroom Slop. If you feed this to the Grounded red ant queen, she becomes your ally. The reward? You get the Red Ant Queen's Pheromone. This is huge because it allows you to craft the Red Ant Pet. It also keeps the colony peaceful toward you. You can literally walk through the hill like you own the place.
Path Two: The Poisoned Red Ant Treat.
Want to watch the world burn? Or at least the anthill? You craft a poisoned version of the treat. If you feed it to her, she dies a slow, miserable death. The colony goes into a frenzy. You get the Red Ant Queen's Venom, which is a crafting component for the Acid Edge—one of the best late-game weapons if you're into elemental damage. But honestly, it feels kinda bad to do it this way.
Path Three: The Infected Red Ant Treat.
This is for the players who have reached the Haze and started messing with the fungal growth. If you feed her an infected treat, she doesn't die immediately. She turns. She becomes an Infected Red Ant Queen. This is arguably the "hardest" path because it changes the loot table to include fungal growths and sets you up for much more difficult encounters later on.
Why You Shouldn't Just Kill Her Immediately
Look, I get it. You want the loot. You want that sweet, sweet Acid Edge. But killing the Grounded red ant queen on your first playthrough might actually make your life harder.
When the queen is alive and happy, the red ants are basically your personal security detail in that sector of the yard. If a stray stinkbug wanders too close to your base near the anthill, the ants do the heavy lifting for you. If you kill her, that entire social structure collapses. The ants become aggressive. They stop being a resource and start being a constant, buzzing nuisance.
The Mutation Factor
One of the coolest things Obsidian added was the "Ant Ambassador" mutation. You only get this by playing nice. If you befriend the queens across the yard, this mutation levels up, eventually making it so that ants won't just ignore you—they’ll actually help you fight other bugs. Imagine taking on a Green Shield Bug and having a dozen Red Soldiers jump in to tank the hits for you. That’s the "Friend" meta.
The Crafting Complexity
The treats aren't exactly cheap to make early on. You’re going to need the Oven, which means you’ve already braved the Haze or the Upper Yard to some extent.
- The Strategic Treat requires: Red Ant Parts, Mushroom Slop, and Dust Mite Fuzz.
- The Poisoned Treat swaps the fuzz for Rotten Food and poisonous materials.
- The Infected Treat requires the rarest stuff: Fungal Growth and the infection spores found deep in the Haze.
Most players trip up because they forget to scan the Queen first. Don't be that person. Walk up to her, pull out your Peep.R, and get the data entry. It’s one of the rarest gold cards if you're a completionist.
Is the Red Ant Queen Boss Fight Worth It?
Wait, is it even a fight? Not really. Not in the traditional sense like the Broodmother or the Mantis. The Grounded red ant queen is a stationary target. The "challenge" comes from the waves of Royal Guards that swarm you if you choose the violent path.
The Royal Guards are significantly tougher than your standard Soldier Ants. They have higher health pools and their bite actually applies a debuff that reduces your damage resistance. If you go in with Tier 1 armor, you will get shredded. You need at least Ladybug Armor (upgraded) or better yet, Antlion Armor to survive the swarm if you decide to go the Poison route.
What the Pros Do
If you watch high-level Grounded players on Twitch or YouTube, you’ll notice a trend. They usually befriend the Red Queen in the early-to-mid game to get the mutation and the pet. Then, in New Game Plus (NG+), they might switch it up to get the poisoned loot.
The Red Ant Pet is actually surprisingly useful. It gives you a buff to your hauling capacity. In a game where moving planks and stems is 80% of the labor, being able to carry more is worth more than any weapon.
Technical Details: Health and Resistances
Let's talk numbers, because Grounded is secretly a very math-heavy RPG.
The Grounded red ant queen has a massive health pool, but since she doesn't move, it's a war of attrition against her guards. She is naturally resistant to stabbing and chopping damage. If you're going to take her out, use "Busting" damage (hammers) or "Salty" elemental damage. Salt is the bane of the red ant colony. A Salty Morning Star makes quick work of the guards and the queen alike.
But seriously, think about the long game.
Once she's dead, she doesn't respawn. That’s it. That save file is now a "Dead Queen" file until you hit the Remix.01 machine to reset the yard.
Common Misconceptions About the Queen
One big myth is that you can "tame" her like a regular pet. You can't. She stays in her hole. You "tame" the colony by proxy.
Another mistake? People think they can feed her all three treats to get all the rewards. Nope. It's one and done per "run" of the yard. You have to be decisive. If you're playing with friends, have a vote. Nothing ruins a co-op session faster than one person poisoning the queen while everyone else wanted the hauling buff from the pet.
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Actionable Steps for Your First Encounter
Don't just run in there. Follow this sequence to make sure you don't regret your choice ten hours later.
- Craft the Peep.R first. Seriously. Scan her before you interact. You need that data for the 100% report card at the end of the game.
- Evaluate your needs. Do you need a better weapon (Acid Edge) or do you need help building your base (Red Ant Pet)? If you are still in the process of building a massive castle, choose the Strategic Treat. The extra hauling capacity is a life-saver.
- Check your standing. If you've been killing tons of red ants lately, they might be annoyed. Wear the Red Ant Armor set before entering the hill so the workers leave you alone while you're navigating the tunnels.
- Prepare for the Guards. If you choose the Poison or Infected route, bring plenty of Beefy Slop or Greater Healbasas. The guards hit harder than you expect, and the room is smaller than it looks once ten ants are charging you.
- Look for the Omelant. While you're in the royal chamber, look around for unique resources. There are often specialized food items or notes nearby that flesh out the lore of how these ants got so big in the first place.
The Grounded red ant queen isn't just a bug; she's a turning point in your progression. Whether you become the savior of the hill or its destroyer, make sure you're ready for the yard to react to your choice. Choose the treat that fits your playstyle, keep your hammer ready, and don't forget to grab the loot from the side passages on your way out.