Short on damage but rich in curiosity, many players miss that the brittle whetstone upgrade path quietly begins in shadowy tunnels and ant-infested burrows where brittle quartzite hides just off the main routes.
Where to find brittle quartzite in Grounded 2
Brittle quartzite deposits appear as pale, crystal-studded rocks and are most common in areas with disturbed soil and underground tunnels, such as ant hills and cave networks around the yard. Focus your early runs on the first anthill you encounter and nearby cave entrances, breaking any brittle quartzite nodes you see with an Omni-Hammer to stock up on shards. Additional clusters sit deeper in larger tunnel systems like the toxic anthill south of the picnic table, making vehicle access useful for breaking root barriers and reaching richer deposits.
Brittle quartzite locations are scattered around the map in a selection of random locations, some underground, some behind roots that your buggy needs to chew through, and others just tucked away off the beaten path. They’re unassuming lumps of reddish-brown stone differentiated from normal stone only by quartzite’s sharper lines and defined edges. The in-game resource finder doesn’t let you track mineral deposits, so you’ll have to rely on map markers or our maps below. We’ve added images of the in-game location after each map image to help you track those random ones down.
Here’s where we’ve found brittle quartzite so far:
- Next to the milk molar in the cave where you have to find an optical disk for story progress
- In the red ant hatchery anthill near the snackbar. Turn right in the first hall area where the lights are, and you’ll see roots blocking a blob of raw science. The brittle quartzite is behind it.
- On top of the snackbar platform, between the wooden planks and the wall of the snackbar
- Near the roots of the oak tree, north of the Shlapz Portable Music Player point of interest
- Under a book to the south and slightly east of the same music player
- Near a rock after you exit the hedge to the southwest of the snackbar
- Southeast of the picnic table and north of the pink bloom where the praying mantis nymph lives
- In a cave under the backpack where the Masked Stranger hides their spicy candies
- Throughout the western side of the War-Torn Anthill, which you can travel through to reach the Veggie Garden
You can also pick up three pieces of quartzite from the Pine Hill ranger station.
For the anthill expedition, we recommend going in on your red ant soldier buggy and using “recruit” on the worker ants at least once. It seems to have a calming effect on the creatures inside and keeps them from attacking. If you spot something you think is brittle quartzite but aren’t certain, make sure to approach it on foot. The prompt to interact with it won’t show up if you’re on your buggy.
How to craft Brittle Whetstone from shards at Workbench
At a Workbench, Brittle Whetstone is crafted directly from Brittle Quartzite Shards via the Resources tab.
Step-by-step
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Go to any placed Workbench and interact with it.
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Open the Resources (or Materials) category in the crafting menu.
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Scroll until you find Brittle Whetstone in the list.
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Craft it using 1 Brittle Quartzite Shard per Brittle Whetstone (no other ingredient needed for the shard recipe).
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The crafted Brittle Whetstone will then be usable at a Smithing Station to upgrade weapons.
What is Brittle Whetstone used to craft or upgrade
Brittle Whetstone is only used as an upgrade material, not to craft separate weapons or tools.
Main uses
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It is consumed at a Smithing Station to upgrade most weapons and tools from level 1 up to about level 5 (early-tier upgrade levels).
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Each upgrade level costs more Brittle Whetstone than the last, so you will use quite a few if you fully level a favorite early-game weapon.
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In Grounded 2 specifically, one Brittle Whetstone is also part of the Smithing Station construction cost itself (along with Brittle Plating, Crude Rope, and Sap), so you need at least one just to unlock upgrading.
