ARK Beginner's Guide - Initial Steps in ARK: Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved is the quintessential survival game. What elements are essential for a great survival experience? Naturally, crafting, constructing, and scavenging are key components. ARK provides all of these features and beyond. Here, we present some helpful advice for newcomers, serving as a beginner’s guide to ARK.

Famine and dehydration

Clad solely in lightweight underwear and devoid of any protective gear, you find yourself marooned on an island. The absence of proper clothing will accelerate your feelings of hunger and thirst, but fortunately, there are resources available for you to utilize from the very beginning.

Fruits, H2O, and extinct flightless birds.

Berries serve as a fantastic initial food source, but it’s important to consider their potential side effects. Certain berries may induce fatigue, while others can lead to increased thirst, which may deplete your hydration levels more quickly. Foraging for berries is a safe option to begin with, as it minimizes your exposure to risks.

Dodos serve as an initial and valuable source of meat to help you gain strength quickly and efficiently. With just your bare hands, you can take down a dodo and collect both raw meat and leather. Eventually, you can use a campfire to cook the raw meat.

At first, any shallow area, including the shoreline, works well for quickly replenishing your water supply. However, exercise caution and avoid venturing too far into the water, as perilous creatures lurk beneath the surface.

Essential elements for the beginning

In order to craft essential items such as clothing, a shelter, and various other necessities, you’ll need to gather some resources. You can collect stones by hand, and for wood and straw, you can punch trees to obtain them. However, it’s advisable to refrain from this method initially until you acquire a pickaxe, as striking trees can cause you to take damage. Additionally, you can gather fibers and berries from bushes with ease.

Engrams

In ARK, creating items, furniture, weapons, and other objects requires engrams, which serve as blueprints. To gain access to these engrams, you must gather engram points.

You earn engram points with each level increase only after enhancing one of your attributes. Once you do this, your points will be displayed in the engram menu. Additionally, you can discover rare engrams in airdrops, while others can be located in hidden crates.

Keep in mind that it’s not possible to acquire every engram in the game. Therefore, it’s beneficial to team up with a tribe and distribute the engrams among your members, or carefully select the ones you wish to learn. Moreover, it’s wise to save up for specific engrams that become available only after you achieve a certain level.

Initial Axe and Pickaxe

It’s important to create your initial axe and pickaxe promptly to conserve your energy, reduce the damage you take, and gather resources more efficiently. A stone axe is more effective at harvesting wood compared to straw, stone compared to flint, and leather compared to raw meat.

In contrast, a pickaxe extracts a greater amount of straw compared to wood, gathers more flint than stone, and yields more raw meat than leather, as well as metal from certain rocks. Furthermore, using a pickaxe on a dodo will result in a higher meat yield.

A summary of key initial engrams.

Textile garments

• Shirt: Requires level 3 to craft and only 40 fibers are needed.
• Pants: Can be crafted from level 3 materials, requiring 50 fibers for production.
• Footwear: Can be crafted at level 3, needing 25 fibers and 6 pieces of leather.
• Hat: Can be crafted starting at level 3, requiring just 10 fibers for its creation.
• Gloves can be created starting from level 3, requiring 20 fibers and 4 pieces of leather.

Initial armaments

• Spear: Can be crafted starting at level 2, needing the following materials: 2 flint, 8 wood, and 12 fiber. It serves effectively as a ranged weapon, is retrievable after use, but is also prone to breaking.
• Slingshot: Requires level 5 for crafting and the following materials: 1 leather, 5 wood, and 20 fiber. It serves as an excellent initial ranged weapon.

Thatched cottage – initial outpost

• It can be created starting from level 3, but to accommodate a sloped roof, level 5 is required.
• A basic yet roomy thatched cottage is ideal for starting out; all you need are timber, plant fibers, and straw.
• Construct the foundation, position it, and then erect walls that seamlessly attach to the foundation. Add a roof and install a door frame along with a door to serve as the entrance.

Additional engrams

• Campfire: Available for crafting starting at level 2, it requires 12 straw, 1 flint, 16 stone, and 2 wood. This item offers warmth and serves as an initial cooking station for raw meat.
• Sleeping bag: Crafted from level 3 materials, it necessitates 25 leather and 15 fiber. This item acts as a temporary respawn location upon your demise.
• Box and storage unit: The box can be crafted at level 5, while the storage unit requires level 15. To create the box, you will need 25 units of wood, 20 units of straw, and 10 units of fiber. For the storage unit, the necessary materials are 20 units of straw, 6 units of wood, and 15 units of fiber.
• Water pouch: Crafted at level 3, it requires 4 pieces of leather and 12 strands of fiber. This pouch serves as a temporary water supply during your journey and needs to be replenished after use. Additionally, it has a tendency to leak a bit.
• Narcosis can be crafted starting from level 6, requiring the following materials: 5 narco berries and 1 piece of rotten meat.
• Stone axe: Requires a minimum level of 2 to craft. The necessary materials include 10 straw, 1 flint, and 1 piece of wood.
• Stone pickaxe: Requires level 1 to craft, using the following materials: 10 straw, 1 stone, and 1 piece of wood.

Initial base and associated risks

Before constructing your initial base, it’s important to select an ideal location for it. A prime spot would be close to the beach, as this offers protection from hostile dinosaurs and other creatures. Additionally, ensure that there is a sufficient supply of resources in the vicinity.

The beach is an excellent starting point, as it offers ample open space, minimal risk from wildlife, and the water serves as a reliable source to quench your thirst.

Points of interest for you

The water serves as an excellent reference point, much like the obelisks located on the island. These obelisks come in three distinct colors: red, green, and blue, and their positions remain constant. You can rely on them for navigation, especially if you find yourself disoriented during an exploration.

The thatched cottage serves as an initial base starting from level 5. It doesn’t need to be overly spacious, but it should provide enough room for a bed, a wardrobe or storage chests, as well as some space to navigate comfortably.

Hazards to be aware of

In the initial stages, it’s advisable to maintain a steady walking pace and limit sprinting, as overexertion can lead to a rapid decline in your stamina. This approach will also help you avoid feeling excessively hungry and thirsty, which can be quite troublesome, particularly when you’re just starting out.

To engage your first dinosaur, you need to approach it cautiously and determine if it is a carnivore or a herbivore. If the dinosaur notices you and starts to pursue, it’s advisable not to flee, as it will likely overtake you. Instead, your best option is to head for the water and submerge yourself.

Steer clear of Alpha Dinosaurs.

At the start of your journey, Alpha dinosaurs are far too powerful for you and cannot be tamed due to your low level. You can identify Alpha dinosaurs by their distinctive glowing red-orange hue. If you come across one and it hasn’t noticed you, swiftly retreat in the opposite direction to avoid any confrontation.

The initial fatality – additional ones are expected.

ARK: SE is a survival game, so it’s completely expected that you’ll face death frequently, particularly in the early stages. You should be prepared for the possibility of dying from extreme temperatures, lack of food and water, hostile creatures, and encounters with other players at any moment.

What occurs after my death?

Upon your demise in ARK, any items in your inventory at that moment will be lost. Once you respawn, you have approximately ten minutes to go back and gather your belongings. If you fail to do so within that timeframe, your items will disappear and be gone for good.

There’s no need to be concerned; your level and engrams will remain intact. A helpful suggestion is to securely place your most valuable items in chests or cabinets in advance. This way, you won’t need to haul them around while you explore or tame dinosaurs.

Beginning at level 3, you gain the ability to create a sleeping bag, which establishes a distinct spawn location for you. As you progress, you can also craft a bed, granting you infinite respawns.

Capturing initial dinosaurs and embarking on adventures.

Capturing and training dinosaurs and various other creatures is a fundamental aspect of ARK. Once tamed, these dinosaurs and creatures can serve multiple purposes, such as assisting in resource collection, acting as protectors, providing transportation, or engaging in combat.

To ride a tamed dinosaur, you’ll need to craft a suitable saddle, which you’ll attach once the dinosaur has been successfully tamed. To ensure a successful taming process, be sure to bring sufficient food for the dinosaur, along with the necessary weapons and tranquilizers.

The preferred cuisine

Every being on the island has a preferred type of food, typically Kibble, crafted from specific preferred eggs. Nevertheless, to start the taming process, any alternative food will suffice.

The duration of taming each creature varies based on the type of food used, the creature’s level, and the effectiveness of the taming process. It’s essential to ensure that the sedated animal stays unconscious throughout the taming. For additional taming strategies, refer to our ARK Taming Guide. You can also discover helpful information on which dinosaurs and creatures to begin with.

Getting ready for an adventure expedition.

Before you set out, make sure to wear suitable clothing for the weather to avoid prolonged exposure to the cold or overheating. Prolonged cold can lead to an increased appetite, requiring you to eat more. Conversely, if you find yourself overheating, you can refresh yourself by taking a dip in shallow water.

Depending on the duration of your exploration, you might consider building a campfire to keep warm and prepare raw meat over the flames. It’s advisable to avoid embarking on your journey at night or extending it into the night, as a torch provides limited illumination and can easily be extinguished.

At level 8, you unlock the engram for a compass, which will assist you in navigating and easily locating your base. If you wish to venture out before crafting a compass, it’s advisable to thoroughly explore your environment first.

Rapid progression in levels

Become part of a tribe or establish your own. This approach allows you to accumulate experience points more rapidly, as a larger group means more points to gather. Additionally, you earn XP from every action taken by your fellow players. Similarly, gathering berries not only grants you XP but also provides you with additional food.

At the outset, targeting smaller dinosaurs such as Dodos or Dilophosaurs is particularly beneficial, as it allows you to earn experience points. As you navigate the island and create basic items that demand minimal resources, you can accumulate points and familiarize yourself with the game simultaneously.

Now you can rent an ARK: Survival Evolved server at GPORTAL!

We trust that our ARK Beginner Guide has provided you with some useful insights and guidance on how to navigate the game effectively. Are you looking to play ARK: Survival Evolved on a game server without any hassle? Look no further! GPORTAL provides a straightforward and hassle-free solution for renting your own server.