Axl

Axl has 5,000 health, takes 75% less damage from everything, and has exactly one soft spot: the rump. He is the first of the two intended optional bosses, a tarantula that dwarfs every other bug in Brookhollow Park, and the fight is an introduction to a rule the story never teaches you. Hit the weak point or do not bother.

Worth correcting, because this page said otherwise for months and so do several boss lists: the vulnerable spot is the rump, not a scar on the abdomen. The Grounded Wiki's own stat page names it, and it matters because the two are not in the same place when he is facing you.

Where he is, and how to start it

The arena is inside the hedge at the Battlefield 1992 landmark, in the north-west corner of Pine Hill. The fight is summoned by using a Poached Roach Roast on the opened egg sacs by the arena entrance, and the entrance seals once it starts and stays shut until you or Axl dies. Lose, and the Poached Roach Roast reappears in the centre of the arena, so a failed attempt does not cost you the summon item.

What he resists

On top of the flat 75%. Stabbing being halved is the trap here, because a spear is the instinctive answer to a long-legged spider and it is the worst of the physical options. Stun threshold 100 on a 40 second cooldown is reachable with a heavy weapon, and each stun is a window on the rump.

Drops

Nightstalker's Bane is the one to come back for, and it feeds the Nightstalker armor set.

Health, tier, the 75% resist, the weak point, resistances, stun values and the loot table were read off the Grounded Wiki's Axl page on 2026-10-26. See the full boss list, King Dozer for the other optional fight of this tier, and Skritch for the tier 4 one that came after both.