The pond that has loomed over Brookhollow Park now opens up into one of the largest spaces in Grounded 2. The Into the Abyss update turns that body of water into a full underwater world, complete with new surrounding biomes, redesigned swimming, dangerous wildlife, and a descent that ends at the crushing depths of the Abyss itself.
Quick answer: To explore the shallow pond, you need a Wetsuit for extra oxygen. To reach the deepest sections and the Abyss, craft the Diving Suit, which gives unlimited oxygen, a light source, weighted boots for walking the pond floor, and protection from the cold that builds up the deeper you go.
New areas around the pond
The pond is not a single flat zone. It is surrounded and layered by several distinct spaces, each closer to a small biome than a simple new corner of the map. Some sit on dry land, while the last one only opens up once you can survive far below the surface.
| Area | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Gnarly Bark | A huge hollow dead tree with a dungeon-like interior, hidden caves, crystalline caverns, and underground lakes. Wasps swarm inside. |
| Bayou / Bridge | A swampy area of shallow, muddy water patrolled by aggressive Tiger Mosquitoes. |
| Pergola | A vertical area built around climbing and height. |
| Skunk Pond | The main body of water, with full three-dimensional swimming, resources, and threats. |
| The Abyss | The deepest, coldest endgame zone at the very bottom of the pond, best tackled in co-op. |
The pond looks familiar at first, then opens into a large space with real verticality, hidden routes, and new points of interest. Brookhollow Park has also been adjusted and rebalanced to make room for all of this.
Gear needed to dive deeper
Going underwater is now a progression loop rather than a quick detour. Two armor sets control how far down you can safely travel.
| Set | What it does |
|---|---|
| Wetsuit | Increases your oxygen supply for longer trips through the upper pond. |
| Diving Suit | Provides unlimited oxygen, immunity to the deep cold, a built-in light source, and weighted boots that let you walk the pond floor. |
The Diving Suit has its own upgrade path. Finding Optical Disks unlocks new Diving Suit recipes, and each upgrade lets you push into deeper, more challenging parts of the pond. Once you put the suit on, movement shifts back to a slower, more deliberate on-foot pace as you deal with the pressure of all that water above you.
Note: The main reason a dive fails is trying to go deep without the right suit. Without the Diving Suit, the cold in the lower depths and your oxygen limit will stop you before you reach the Abyss.
Creatures in and around the water
The pond is full of both resources and predators. Some are returning faces from the first game, and others are new to this stretch of Brookhollow Park.
| Creature | Notes |
|---|---|
| Koi fish | The pond’s big threat, darting in to bite swimmers. The Koi colossus from the first game returns. |
| Toe Biter | Water bug and predator. The larger versions are a serious danger. |
| Diving Bell Spider | Returning threat that now shares the water with new predators. |
| Tadpoles and water boatmen | Farmed for parts and resources. |
| Green stink bugs | Another returning creature from the first game. |
| CNK robots and Pond Jockeys | New dangers spread across the surrounding areas. |
Combat underwater has been rebuilt to feel closer to fighting on land. You can dash while submerged, use evasive moves, and lock on to a target so hits land in the new three-dimensional space. A new harpoon gives you a ranged option for fights beneath the surface.
The Toe Biter Buggy
The Toe Biter is not only a threat. Tame one and it becomes the game’s first amphibious Buggy, moving smoothly between land and water. It is fast in both settings and, like other Buggies, will fight alongside you. That makes it a reliable way to cover the expanded map and reach the pond quickly.
Building underwater bases
For the first time, you can build fully submerged bases in the pond. New underwater building pieces, including Bubble Floors that create breathable pockets, let you set up a home, staging point, or research outpost below the surface.
The interior of a submerged base is still filled with water, so you keep breathing using a bubble diffuser that refills your oxygen. A diving bell bed lets you sleep without drowning mid-nap. Alongside the new pieces are adapted versions of existing structures such as workbenches and storage. This system is deliberately early, and the developers are gathering player feedback before expanding it.
Getting around: ziplines and the transit system
Ziplines from the first game return with this update. You place a start and end point, then use the line to cross gaps and medium distances quickly, which pairs well with the vertical layout of areas like Gnarly Bark.
The pneumatic transit system, or PTS, has been expanded too. Where it previously only ran set routes, it now works as a fast travel network between every PTS station you have unlocked.
Collectibles and extra rewards
Beyond the pond, the update spreads new reasons to wander. Critter Capz, collectible bug-themed figurines, are hidden in tucked-away corners and off-path spots across Brookhollow Park. They reward curious players and completionists, and encourage a second look at areas you thought you already knew. Optical Disks, which unlock the Diving Suit upgrades, are also found through exploration.
Where to play Into the Abyss
Into the Abyss went live on August 11, 2026. It is available on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, and it marks the first release of Grounded 2 on PlayStation 5. The game is fully cross-play, so friends on different platforms can dive together, and it remains playable through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. You can read the developer breakdown on the official Grounded 2 news page.
Start with the Wetsuit for the upper pond, work toward the Diving Suit and its Optical Disk upgrades, and bring a friend before you commit to the Abyss. The deeper you go, the colder and darker it gets, and that is exactly where the biggest rewards and the toughest fights wait.
