In 2017, Studio Wildcard released their 'Naked and Afraid' simulator called Ark: Survival Evolved. In this survival action-adventure game with single-player and multiplayer modes, players can catch, tame, and make use of dinosaurs and other primeval creatures in order to survive in a world that is trying to kill them. It is the reason why there are so many tips and tricks for beginners in 2021.
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But it's not all fun and dodos. In order to make it through your first few levels and nights in Ark, you need to make sure that you don't get eaten, poisoned, drowned, too hot, too cold, too hungry, too thirsty, or too tired. Surviving is like caring for a baby that can… punch trees. Here are a few crucial tips for not dying immediately.
Updated July 5, 2021 by Rebecca O’Neill: Ark: Survival Evolved continues to grow and change as a new DLC was recently released called Genesis Part 2. It adds another layer to the game and can change it, especially when you are first starting out. Most players begin their journey on The Island, while others choose to venture to even more dangerous lands during their first session.
There are so many tips and tricks that can help you stay alive during your first few days in this strange world which is why a few more have been added. You need all the help you can get if you want to last long enough to begin to bask in the beauty of Ark: Survival Evolved.
Craft A Few Beds
Before you die the worst thing you can do is neglect to make a bed, especially when you are not familiar with the map. A bed is a place where you will respawn upon your death, if you so choose, this way you never have to start from scratch.
It also makes it easier early on in the game to find your dead body if you stay within the vicinity of your beds, or learn to place them along your travels to better areas.
Focus On Killing The Smaller Creatures
You need to keep your nutrients up in order to stay alive in Ark: Survival Evolved and meat is a great way to give you a quick boost. However, killing larger creatures isn’t an option, especially when all you have are your fists or a few basic tools.
You want to focus your efforts on low-level creatures who are quite small as they will not only be killable, but it can help you jump a few levels quite quickly. The best creatures to be on the lookout for include the Dodo and Lystrosaurus as you shouldn’t take too much damage trying to secure a meal.
Unlock Engrams
Engrams are the key to excelling in Ark: Survival Evolved as they allow you to upgrade to bigger and better armor, weapons, and items. You can begin to create bases that can withstand more damage or you could craft a tool that will make resource collection even easier.
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You should be picky in what you unlock as certain engrams are more useful than others early on, but focusing on tools is always a great place to start. It will seem simplistic at first, but later on, you can make a dye to color your items and transform them into something new.
Spawn In Safe Zones
If you die without a bed placed all hope is not lost, as long as you know where to spawn. There are safe zones in each of the maps that you can choose to respawn and they are places with lower-level creatures and safer environments.
A few areas will be recommended to you, but keep the terrain into account as well when choosing where to go and always try to spawn in the same safe zone.
Adjust Your Server Options
If you are playing single-player or have created your own server then you are able to adjust the options. You can make it a PVE server so you don’t have to fight other players on top of the environment, but this isn't a concern when playing single-player due to the various cheat codes.
It is also possible to adjust the difficulty levels of creatures, as well as speed up the taming process. You even have the option to raise your own player stats so you have a better chance of survival when first starting out in a game.
Watch Out For Dilos
When you first start out in Ark, most players begin with The Island. There are different zones, and your best bet is to go with one of the ones marked "easy." But even the beach areas are dangerous when you're level one. If you're particularly unlucky, you'll spawn just in time to come face to face with a dilophosaurus.
"Dilos" aren't especially difficult to kill, but in the early days, they're one of your worst enemies because of their tendency to shriek at you and then spit acid. When you have no gear and all you can see is the green goo you've just been blinded by, chances are you're about to immediately become a dilo's breakfast.
Go Easy On The Punching
Before you can get the "engrams" to make any gear — which you can spend points on when you level up — you're going to have to make use of what you've got; your hands. If at this point you happen to notice that there's a weird implant built into your forearm, don't worry! All will be revealed in time.
For now, put those hands to work and start picking up rocks, picking berries from the grass, and punching trees until you hit level two. Go easy on the trees, though. It might seem like an easy way to get resources and experience, but if you don't take a breather you'll pass out and/or die before you can upgrade your character stats.
Start With A Pickaxe
The first time you level, you're going to be prompted to open up your menu and choose how to spend your experience; this is how you learn how to make tools, saddles, and recipes. Once you have some stone, wood, and thatch (from all that punching and collecting you did at the beginning) the first thing you want to make is a stone pick. A hatchet can come afterward.
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Picks are one of the most useful early game tools as they allow you to gather stone, flint, wood, thatch, and metal. You can also use them to get meat and hide from creatures you kill, as well as doubling as a rudimentary weapon. Keep in mind that they break, though; make a few.
Stay Close To The Beach
You're going to have an urge to go off and explore new places once you've got some gear and maybe a pair of pants. Try to ignore that urge for the time being, especially in Genesis Part 2 due to the new creatures, and stay on the nice and relatively safe beach. Going up into the hills or the thick trees is a lot like the tall grass in Pokemon; it's dangerous to go alone.
The beach is a nice starting point because a lot of the dinosaurs are passive or herbivorous, you have access to most of the early game resources you'll need to progress, and until you can make a waterskin, it's easy not to dehydrate if you can dip your toes in the sea. Stay and grind near the spawn point until you've leveled up a bit.
Try A Diet Of Berries
At level ten, you'll be able to unlock an engram that lets you build plots for growing plants. This will be invaluable, especially if you have herbivorous tames that you'd rather not let wander and choose to use feeding troughs. But in the early days of the game, eating plants yourself is definitely your safest chance at survival.
That said, foraging is not an especially effective method of food collection. You'll get enough berries to survive off of, but you'll have to do a lot of searching. However, the fringe benefits make it worth your while. If you're lucky, you can find vegetable seeds and fiber at the same time. Oh, and get a dung beetle!
Don't Go Into The Water
Even at upper levels, the ocean is not your friend in ARK, and any body of water deep enough to hold a fish is still a danger zone. Like Gandhi in Sid Meier's Civilization, piranhas will attack you as soon as look at you, and there's nothing that you can do about it but not get your feet wet. Even wading through the shallows and be enough for them to eat you, or chew your armor to shreds.
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The deeper ocean holds more dangers. Cnidaria will stun you and your tames, sending you to the depths where it will be nearly impossible to retrieve your gear. And we haven't even got started on the megalodons or the mosasaurs. Eventually, though, you'll have to venture in for oil.
If It Glows, RUN
It goes without saying that dinosaurs like utahraptors and t-rexes aren't lining up to make friends with you. But if you spot a predator that's giving off an orange aura (or a triceratops, but that's another story) drop whatever you're doing and start running. These so-called 'alpha' creatures are untameable and only have one mode: kill.
They are significantly harder to injure, deal more damage, and move at a genuinely unnerving speed. They also make nearby predators, including the Shadowmane, more likely to try and take a bite of you. Once you've got some decent armor then the drops are worth trying to take them out — at a distance. That's the keyword: distance.
Keep One Eye On Your Pockets And The Other On The Sky
Once you have something in your inventory there's more for you to worry about than predators and starvation. The island also has its fair share of tricky thieves. If something small and furry jumps at you and then runs away, give chase; a pegomastax has just made off with your loot. Similarly, composagnathus might seem adorable if there's just one of them, but once you've got a pack of three or more, they're little ankle-biters.
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The biggest threat to your belongings, however, comes from the sky. You will never know true frustration until an icthyornus has swooped out of the sky and snatched a whole stack of something valuable. Unlike pegomastax, icthyornuses eat whatever they take immediately — even if it's a jar of water.
Make Yourself A Little Shack
Although a lot of predators can and will get at you through thatch or wood, you'll feel a lot safer if you can spend your nights somewhere dry with a roaring campfire. Once you've got some practice hunting some of the non-aggressive creatures (dodos, lystrosauruses and coelacanths) night is a good time to do your cooking, too, while visibility is low.
Making your first little shack is not only a rite of passage and the start of an ultimate base; it's somewhere safe to keep your gear, and also a great way to grind experience.
Your First Dodo Will Be Your Best Friend
Call it hive mentality or their irresistible charm; there's just something that everybody loves about dodos. When you're still learning the ropes (especially taming mechanics) dodos are an excellent place to begin.
Don't call PETA, though, because the best way to get them down is a couple of punches to their retreating, feathery butts. Slip some berries into their inventory while they're having a nap, and very soon you'll have your very first tame and your very best friend.
If you don't fancy a dodo and you've been lucky enough to find some rare flowers, why not try for a lystrosaurus? You hand-feed them while they're awake, and once tamed they give an experience boost to everything around them.
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