I just beat Grounded! Detailed advice for your playthrough!

Background: I played the Last of Us 1 on Hard, and played The Last of Us 2 on Hard. So I was nervous getting into Grounded.

Grounded is hard, but it's fair. Remember that you have an advantage by beating the game already. And no matter how hard the situation is, there's always a way to win. (The exception might be if you're out of ammo for a boss fight)

Hard / Survivor feels like an action game. Grounded feels like a different game - almost more like a puzzle game bc you have to figure out the optimal moves for each encounter.

• Prepare based off of what you learned from the 1st playthrough. There's a part where you go through the TV station, and 7 people come in. Well, you can place a trap mine at the entrance and kill them all. You also know there's an arcade bloater fight, so save up your supply for it.

• Circle back for bricks and bottles. You can only carry 1 brick or bottle at a time. I always keep a mental note if I come across another brick. If I use one during a battle, I'll circle back to make sure I have one. This is more important in the earlier stages when you don't have as much ammo.

• Plan your skill tree ahead of time. You'll only be able to max out one tree skill. For Ellie, I highly advise going for the stealth tree and going for the faster stealth kills. For Abby, I maxed out the Ordinance for more pipe bombs / silencers. One point in Momentum is worth it for Abby. I really missed my explosive arrows for this playthrough, but stealth is too powerful to ignore.

• Killing Dogs. They're a pain in the ass, especially in Hillcrest. I suggest stealth killing the human first, and then the dog. if you kill the dog then the human's going to start calling out others.

• Explore, Explore, Explore. I rushed through my first playthrough. I was so into the story and wanted to finish before getting any spoilers. I missed the Guitar Store, The bank, and a lot of little

• Turn on Auto Pickup. In the accessibility options, there's one where you can pick up items by going next to it. This is for convenience, but it was CLUTCH during the rat king fight.

• Balancing Combat / Stealth. Stealth first, always. You'd be surprised at how many levels you can stealth your way through without fighting. I know it's tempting to clear the room out to pick up items / ammo. But typically you'll end up wasting more ammo than gaining. I'd make it up by exploring the open areas better for supplies.

• It's all about the boss fights. All the ammo / molotovs, etc. should be saved for the big boss fights. You do NOT want to face the rat king or the arcade bloater and not be stocked up.

• Replay encounters for best ammo use. Going through a level and missed 3 shots? It might be better to restart the checkpoint and give it another go.

• Prone is OP. Even in grounded prone is super powerful.

• Kill, run, hide. Sometimes you're going to be discovered. Feel free to run away and hide in the grass. Wait it out until you get the audio cue that they're not looking for you anymore. Then go for the stealth kills. Divide and conquer.

• Don't be afraid to restart the encounter and try a different path. There were some checkpoints where I was legit STUCK. So I'd just restart the encounter and start all over again.

The Hardest Sections:

• The Hotel lobby fight with Ellie and Joel. I did not expect this fight to be that tough. Holy crap. You can't stealth. You don't have an abundance of supply. You either have the reflexes or you don't. Don't be afraid of popping off your gun. Going into direct melee fights is what is going to get you bitten from behind.

• Hillcrest - This is a pain in the ass. If you can get through this section then you can beat grounded. Remember my tip about the dogs. My best advice is the kill / run / hide method.

• The Rat King - Flamethrower + Pipebombs . Having that auto pick up option really helps too when you're running around.

• Santa Barbara - Everyone keeps talking about how hard this section is, but I didn't have difficulty with it. I think it's bc I died so many times in my 1st playthrough and figured the best strategy. You need to release the clickers + zombies. Silent kill a few Rattlers. Then stealth kill the rest.

• The house where Yara / Lev leave you behind - Momentum really helps here. Throw a brick, STRIKE, use another STRIKE for another zombie. Pick up another bottle. Then Hunter pistol for the clickers. Pipebombs for the Shamblers. This section's tough, but fortunately they're generous with the checkpoints.

If there's any part that you're truly stuck in, there's probably a stealth grounded video on YouTube.

Good luck. I highly encourage you to play grounded. It'll help you build patience and your problem solving skills.