Latest ARK News and Updates

Dino TLC Phase 2 Preview!

In our previous Dino TLC updates we showed you our progress on Phase 1 of the Dino DLC pass, which includes the: Direbear, Procoptodon, Gigantopithecus, Direwolf, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. We are targeting the release of Phase 1 to take place during the week of February the 18th on PC. The plan is for the Dino TLC pass is to role out these changes in multiple phases. Throughout the next few months, some creatures will receive visual changes, as well as functional/gameplay changes.
http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/2730738399330442820
Today, we'd like to share some screenshots and provide some insight into what we're planning for Phase 2 of the TLC pass. We've been reading all your feedback and suggestions regarding the creatures; our artists and gameplay team have found it to be beneficial in the decision-making process. Something to keep in mind is that not all creatures will receive a visual update, but we will cover ones we feel (with your feedback) need it. Sometimes there may be function gameplay changes which weaken certain aspects of creatures; however, if we take anything away, we always plan to add to it through another dimension.

Please remember that these are still works-in-progress and are therefore subject to change before final release, which includes both visual redesigns, as well as gameplay changes. 

The Argentavis!

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The Argentavis has long since been a favourite flyer to many. With its high health, weight, and stamina it's an essential air mount that now will be getting a bit more love. The Dino TLC will grant the Argent a new saddle that will receive reduced weight capabilities on obsidian and various other materials, and the ability to craft smithy items within the saddle.

The Argent will now be able to carry two additional passengers, one with its claws and one in its beak. The Argent will be carrying heavier than current creatures in its talons, while its beak will be able to support the weight of smaller creatures.

Lastly, upon consuming a corpse the Argent will receive rapid health regeneration, making this vulture a formidable aerial tank!

The Spinosaur!

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The quadruped stance of the Spinosaur has been a hotly debated since it first joined and ever since. Those for the stance enjoyed its dog-like run while those against felt like it was not true to the real-world version of the dino. With the TLC pass, the Spinosaur will now be able to operate in both a bipedal and a quadruped stance. When on two legs the Spino will move slower but be able to bite and use its claws to do increased damage, while on four legs it will be able to move faster.

Due to its affinity to water, the Spino will receive a buff which applies a bonus to movement speed, turning radius, attack damage, and health regen when fighting in water, and will last for some time after exiting the water. It will also prefer prime fish for taming (over prime meat) and have an increased chance at gathering prime fish meat.

Patch Notes!

But before we can do all of that in Phase 2, we have to get through this upcoming patch first! 

TLC Phase 1/v277 Tentative Patch Notes: ETA Week of February 18th

Please keep in mind that these notes are tentative, some parts of it may change before release (such as the values for creature-balance), as well as more general fixes included for Patch Day.

Dino TLC - The Procoptodon!
- Receives a model update, animation update, sound pass, and some new abilities:
- Will take reduced fall damage
- Carry weight will be noticeably increased
- Can carry small creatures and baby dinos in its pouch
- A knockback kick which can affect significantly larger dinos
- Added an aimed jump which can be used by holding down the Jump key
- Carried characters in a pouch have reduced food consumption rate when carried by Mate-Boosted Female Procoptodons.
- Babies imprinted while in a carried Procoptodon pouch receive more affinity

Dino TLC - The Gigantopithecus A.K.A Bigfoot!
- Receives a model update, animation update, new fur, sound pass and some new abilities:
- The Bigfoot will receive an armour-degrading attack; this means when it fights, it'll do more damage to your armour's durability. It is important to note that the armour-degrading attack will not affect the Yeti creatures found in the game.
- Added the capability to climb ziplines (but not jump between them)
- Added a jump
- It can now carry and throw small creatures
- Throwing has been made more accurate, similarly to crabs with targetting cursor

Dino TLC - Direbear!
- Receives a model update, animation update, new fur and some new abilities:
- When riding a Direbear, players will be immune to bees. They won't be able to knock you off your bear, and they will target focus the bear instead of the player.
- The Direbear will also be able to harvest honey from wild beehives without attracting bees or hurting the hive. Plus the amount of honey it receives will be 2x the standard amount.

Dino TLC - The Direwolf!
- Receives a model update, animation update, new fur and some new abilities:
- Howl now activates a pack buff for 5 minutes (with a minute cooldown). When the Alpha howls, the pack also howls. The pack buff strengthens the Alpha, as well as its pack (reduced amount vs Alpha)
- Hunter's Instinct passive buff which will allow it to sniff out people/creatures with less than 50% health
- Sniff tertiary ability to indicate nearby explorer notes, or to detect buried/stealth creatures

Dino TLC - The Rex!
- Receives a model update, animation update,  and some new abilities:
- Its roar should receive a CD and make non-allies (under a certain dragweight) poop to act as a small stun/interrupt. There will be a cooldown on victims so that they cannot be pooplocked continuously.
- The roar will not be able to scare anything above its level
- Roar will cause players to poop but not stun them
- Rex's ability to climb over small rocks and steeper slopes have been improved.

Creature Specific Bug Fixes & Balance Balance
- Dragon's Fire Breath direct impact damage reduced by 50%
- Fixed a bug which caused Rock Drake and Wyvern eggs to sink below their nests over time.
- Added Rock Golem Saddles to Scorched Earth Loot Table
- Added Basilisk and Rock Drake Saddles to Aberration Loot Table
- Uploaded Creature stats now display Movement Speed and Melee Damage
- Fixed a case where certain creatures would get stuck under the map/inside the map when colliding with larger creatures (most noticeably seen the Rock Drake and Basilisk)
- Fixed a case where certain creatures would get stuck under the map/inside the map when colliding with larger creatures (most noticeably seen the Rock Drake and Basilisk)
- Fixed an issue which was causing a desync with the Reaper's collision
- No longer need pheromone to claim Reaper Kings
- Moschops will no longer flee when told to harvest dino corpses
- Fixed a bug where some creatures would not be able to attack at low server FPS
- Bronto's and Paracer's breeding time have increased by 50% (equivalent to Quetz)
- Reduced Bronto HP gain per level by 33%
- Reduced Bronto base HP by 10%
- Reduced Paracaratherium base HP by 10%
- Reduced Paracer HP gain per level by 25%
- Reduced Tuso Base HP by 20%
- Reduced Tuso HP gain per level by 25%
- Reduced Dunky resistance to bullets to 40%
- Reduced Dunky other resistances to 60%
- Stego Plate Resistant reduced to 30%
- TEK Tapejara no longer inflicts raid damage (how you inflict torpor on titan, krab, and golem)
- AI Option for Dinos to only attack conscious targets added to Titanboa
- Skittish Stance added to tamed dinos

General
- Creative Mode building
- Server option to disable fog
- ARK will now scan your steam achievements and update your local profile accordingly to restore any lost skins/hairstyles.
- Add messages to tribe logs with information about uploading and downloading creatures
- Made a respawning player not targettable by Wild AI
- Option to hide learned engrams
- Players can now directly go from Proning to Crouching position
- Ambient Sounds have their own volume slider
- Right Click Context option added to folders to equip everything insider, allowing for rapid gear switching
- Created a "Use Last PIN Code" so players can quickly access secured structures
- Silencer now hides the name of the player who has killed you from the kill message and tribe log
- Server Option to make Supply Crates random (?RandomSupplyCratePoints=true)
- Option to enable NVIDIA Ansel on Servers (-ServerAllowAnsel)
- Prevented specific graphical flags from being invited via .ini files
- AxisMapping is now taken into account when underwater
- Cooldown added to tribe's changing their name
- 5 Second character and base immunity added to ORP servers when first logging in
- Fixed a collision issue affecting some dino gates that allowed unintended entry
- Fixed multiple unintended mechanics (will explain in a bit more detail after the update drops ;))
- Fixed an issue where the Tek Teleporter built on pillars/ceilings would push players and creatures beneath it.
- Fixed a crash caused by using ForceTame when riding a Dino
- Improved Red Crystal collision so they can be harvested more efficiently by Anky
- Corrected the Aquatic Mushroom description
- Removed collision from glowsticks which would cause movement problems with certain creatures
- Fixed multiple client/server crashes
- Fixed an issue where some zip line anchors were outside of replication range, preventing them from being used.
- Fixed a case which would allow players mounted on certain creatures to throw/place C4 a lot further (e.g. Stego)
- Corrected an incorrect icon with the Seeker Dossier
- Fixed a case where teleporting outside of a large base with the TEK Teleporter would show foliage that was harvested
- Fixed multiple map issues (holes and collision)
- Fixed a case where some foliage would not replicate appropriately on Aberration

Evolution Event

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Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It's already live now and will remain active until Tuesday the 29th of January at 3 PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

2x Harvesting Rate
2x Taming Rate
2x EXP Rate

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To read the rest of the Community Crunch this week, check out our announcement post on survivetheark![survivetheark.com]

Keep on surviving!