ARK: Survival Ascended: Beginner's Guide

Getting Started in ARK: Survival Ascended

You begin on a beach with nothing but your fists and the island in front of you. First priority: gather resources. Punch trees for wood and thatch, pick up rocks from the ground, and harvest fiber from bushes. With 100 wood, 50 thatch, and 50 fiber, craft your first tool — a Stone Pick — and then a Campfire. Before nightfall on day 1, build a thatch hut (four walls, a foundation, a doorframe, a door, and a roof) and place the campfire inside.

The Level system: every action gives XP (harvesting, crafting, taming, killing). Level up to unlock Engrams (craftable items). Prioritize: Stone Tools, Campfire, Thatch Structure pieces, Sleeping Bag, Storage Box, and Waterskin in the first 10 levels. Don't spread engram points too thin early.

Your First Tame: Parasaur

The Parasaur is ARK's best starter tame — it's passive (no combat required), fast on the ground, and has an alarm ability that alerts you to nearby threats. To tame: craft a Slingshot (10 fiber, 20 wood, 10 hide) and gather Mejoberries. Find a Parasaur, hit it with the slingshot until it's unconscious (track the torpor bar), then place Mejoberries in its inventory. Guard it until tamed (15–30 minutes real time). Congratulations — you have your first dinosaur.

Base Building Priority

Week 1 goal: upgrade from thatch to wood structures (more durable, resists smaller predators), build a dedicated Storage Room, and establish a crop plot for berry farming. Week 2: transition to stone structures (resists Raptors and Carnotaurus) and add a Smithy for metal tool crafting. Month 1: establish a metal base core, tame a flying mount (Pteranodon), and start preparing for your first boss encounter (Broodmother Lysrix on The Island).

Essential Tips

1. Never leave your base without a sleeping bag. Death means spawning at your last bed — sleeping bags create temporary spawn points anywhere.
2. Tame a Dilophosaur early for base defense. Set it to passive-aggressive and it attacks intruders automatically.
3. Avoid swamp and mountain areas early. Sarcosuchus (swamp crocodiles) and Argentavis (mountain eagles) will kill you instantly before you have good armor.
4. Join a tribe. Solo ARK is possible but significantly harder — tribe members cover offline hours and divide resource gathering.
5. Prime meat spoils in 4 minutes. Kill predators near your unconscious tame and immediately feed the prime meat — don't store it in your inventory during travel.
6. Tame a Ankylosaurus for metal harvesting. Its tail attack produces 10x more metal ore than pickaxes on metal nodes.
7. Build a dedicated Dino Pen — a fenced area for tames prevents them wandering and provides protection during offline periods.

First Boss: Broodmother Lysrix

On The Island, Broodmother Lysrix is summoned by placing tribute items in an Obelisk (or a Supply Crate) and using the Generate Broodmother Portal item. The tribute for the Gamma difficulty (player level 30) is one each of the Artifacts of the Clever, Hunter and Massive. Beta (level 50) and Alpha (level 70) additionally require 5 or 10 each of Argentavis Talon, Sarcosuchus Skin, Sauropod Vertebra and Titanoboa Venom. The portal allows up to 10 survivors and 20 tames. Bring strong ranged damage and plenty of healing, and kill the spawned spiders quickly. Check the ARK wiki for the exact current requirements before you go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is ARK Survival Ascended worth it if I own Survival Evolved?
A: If you're an active player, yes — the UE5 visual upgrade is significant. If you're a casual player, the original is functionally equivalent at lower cost.

Q: What's the best server type for beginners?
A: PvE servers or single-player. PvP servers expose new players to experienced tribes who will raid your base within days.

Q: How many maps are included?
A: The game launched with The Island. Other maps, including remakes of older ARK maps such as Scorched Earth, Aberration and Extinction, have been added since, some free and some as paid expansions. Check the Steam or console store page for the current list.

Q: Can I play solo?
A: Yes — single-player mode with adjustable difficulty settings, taming speeds, and resource rates makes solo play viable with custom settings.

Q: What's the best starter tame?
A: Parasaur for alert/scouting, Raptor for mounted combat, and Pteranodon for first flying mount. Prioritize in that order.