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Ark: Survival Ascendedis a remaster of the classic first game, throwing us back onto a dangerous island filled with dinosaurs and at times, other players. If you are new to this world, surviving can be difficult, as you may not know what to do first.
In this guide, we are going to take a look at some beginner’s tips to help you get through the first few days of life in Ark: Survival Ascended. It’s important to note that if you are familiar with Ark: Survival Evolved, both games are similar, and many of the survival tips are the same.
Ark: Survival Ascended is currently in Early Access and as such, the content is subject to change. We will update these articles as required.
Adjust Your Game’s Settings
As with most games, especially those on PC, you will want tolook at the settings.Ark: Survival Ascended was met withbugs and frequent crashesupon its launch and while you’re able to’t prevent crashes from happening, you candecrease the chances of them to occur.
After you make a character, you will drop into the island; at this point, you’re able to view the menu and adjust your graphic settings. We suggestlowering the graphics quality, as well as turning off several options such as motion blur, light bloom, and footstep particles.
When in doubt (especially if you don’t think your computer can handle it), we suggest turning your settings down to low and going from there. If they are a bit too low and the game runs smoothly, you can increase them to medium.
Choosing A Starting Location
Seasoned veterans of Ark know thatnot every starting location is created equal.When you choose your starting location, you will be presented with points on a map that are not yet visible, with the locations being sorted by difficulty.
Thankfully, this map is pretty muchthe same as The Island in Ark: Survival Evolved.As such, the southern locations are considered’easier'.
Here, you will find stretches of beach with passive dinosaurs, allowing you tobuild your starter base in peace with the wildlife around you.If you are new to Ark, it’s totally okay to start easy and get acquainted with the world.
For extra ease, you can evenplay on ‘Easy’ mode.This can still be challenging later in the game, but it lets you breathe for a bit in the beginning.
Make Tools Quickly
With all the engrams you may unlock, it may be hard to prioritize what to craft first. One of the most important pieces of advice we can give you is tomake tools as quickly as possible.
You will have no tools when you start, butstone can be picked up directly from the ground,and you will also be able topunch trees to gain some materials.Additionally, you may grab berries and fiber fromfoliage on the ground.
Once you have enough materials to make a pick and hatchet, go for it! With these tools, you no longer need to pick up stones from the ground or punch trees with your bare hands(which lowers your health a little).you may then continue to gather materials to make your base, as well as craft other unlocked engrams.
Build A Shelter
In nearly every survival game out there,one of your first tasks to prioritize is building a shelter.The shelter in question doesn’t have to be an architectural masterpiece, but it should be able to contain you and a bed. You can evencraft a storage box to place your valuables within.
Shelters can be built anywhere there is flat land, but some spots work better than others. In general, you may want toavoid building your first base in the center of a large and open clearing.If a deadly dino walks in, you are aneasy target.
Look for theedge of forests and clearings, beaches, and caves.If you started your game on the southern beach, you can find plenty of overhanging rock structures that provide overhead cover from the rain too.
If you are on a multiplayer, it may be best to avoid the beach,as there will probably be others here, especially if they choose this as a spawn location. Solo players can take full advantage of the beach though.
Hoard Berries
While running through foliage, you canpress ‘E’ and gather any available materials.If you just continue to press E, you will gather a lot of berries, which can be used as a food source.
After running through a large stretch of foliage, you will probably have a lot of berries. Some may spoil before you can actually eat them, but they are still agreat food source in the early-game.Additionally, you can use berries for taming some dinos.
Hunt For Dodos
Dodos are little birds that can be found wandering the island. They are pretty weak, and you may usuallykill them in a hit or two.This makes them great hunting choices, especially if you are just using a spear.
Simply walk up to a Dodo and attack; they willmost likely die on the first spear hit.If you want to tame the Dodo,be sure to use a club instead,as this will just cause the Dodo to becomeunconscious.
Prioritizing Stats
Each time you level up, you will be able to increase your stats. There aren’t too many, butat the beginning of the game, not every stat is important. When food is scarce and you don’t have good armor,you don’t really have to focus on upgrading your oxygen stat.
We recommend focusing on the following stats.
Take Your Time
Lastly, take your time!If you are completely new to Ark,then we suggest taking your time while surviving. Experiment with dino taming, explore new locations and construct a worthy base. You don’t have to level up as quickly as possible to unlock every engram or focus on obtaining every material.
The beginning hours of Ark: Survival Ascended are meant to get to know the world, and maybe evenexperience a few hardships.Who knew you could freeze to death?
