Where to find the ORC Lab location in Grounded
How to find the secret Ominent ORC lab in Grounded and get inside the Castle Moldorc Playset.
The Grounded ORC lab is a secret location run by Ominent villain Director Schmector - but finding it isn't easy, as it turns out it's actually in the Castle Moldorc playset on the East side of the Upper Yard. And even when you know where it is, you have to deal with the deadly enemies outside, inside, cross the moat and battle your way to the boss fight with Director Schmector within. If you need a helping hand - and why wouldn't you - I'll show you how to find and access the Grounded ORC lab below and how to get inside Castle Moldorc.
Grounded ORC lab location
To explain more clearly, the Grounded ORC bugs are coming from the secret lab underneath the Castle Moldorc Playset, the glowing face-shaped castle on the map's East side, south of the Stump and level with the Pond. It's surrounded by a low pool of water that acts like a moat, and at water level on the castle's North side is a lab door... but it's locked, and there's no way to open it.
To get inside, players need to find an alternate route, as this door can only be opened from the inside (it's the exit you'll use once you're in there). Also, be sure to bring Tully with you!
How to get into the Castle Moldorc Playset and ORC lab
There may be other ways to access the interior of Castle Moldorc, but this is the one we used, and we can confirm it works.
- Analyze Bug Rubber or the Flower Petal to unlock the "Bounce Web" (aka, a trampoline).
- Collect the ingredients for the same: 2x Bug Rubber, 4x Sprig, 3x Flower Petal.
- You should also make sure you have all your best armor/weapons for the boss fight inside, and a dandelion tuft for floating. And again, make sure you have Tully with you!
- Head to the Northeast edge of the moat around Castle Moldorc, so you're looking at it from the back, but can still see the hanging cage. There's a long, indestructible plant stem leaning towards the castle and over the moat that you should run up to the highest point.
- At the end, jump and float towards Castle Moldorc. You can't get to the entrance here, but you can land on the rock that the castle playset is resting on. Do that!
- From here, duck under the playset's base as you circle around counter-clockwise on the rocks. When you're underneath the entrance, there's space for you to pop back out again - still on the rocks, but no longer under the castle.
- Kill the mosquito that's usually out here, and any others that want to pick a fight..
- You can't jump up into the Castle, the rim is too high - but if you build the Bounce Web trampoline here on the rock, you'll easily clear it. You're in!
From here, there are a few options - but to reach the secret ORC lab, head with the mouth/portcullis directly ahead of you and follow the wire from the battery down the crack in the middle. This'll lead you to a cavern with the door to the lab, which Tully can open. There'll be a room full of lootable resources, along with a staircase leading down. When you're ready, go below for some dialogue - and then a boss fight - with a powerful robotic drone controlled by Director Schmector.
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.