ARK: Survival Evolved – Starter Guide for Beginners

For all beginners in ARK Survival Evolved (PC, PS4, Xbox One), our beginner’s guide contains a few useful tips to survive the first levels.

New survivors get a quick introduction to ARK here to survive the first steps as safely as possible. Danger lurks everywhere, from aggressive dinosaurs and your environment. You also need to provide your character with the basic necessities of life. Otherwise, you might end up starving, thirsting, or freezing to death.

This guide contains tips on

• Servers
• Starting areas
• Food and water
• Death and respawning
• Leveling
• Useful items
• Weapons
• First base
• Taming dinos

Start on a PvE server

On the PvE server (Player vs. Environment), you will first only play against your environment, which is already quite challenging without human opponents. It is recommended to start on a PvE server.

On the PvP server (Player vs Player), you will also encounter other players who may not be friendly and could rob, capture, or kill you. Spend some time on the PvE server and get to know the game and its basics.

Best starting areas in ARK for beginners

Once you log in for the first time, you need to choose a spawn area where you appear almost naked and without tools. There are areas where you would be torn apart right from the start. In the north, there are dangerous creatures like the Sabretooth, deadly birds, and the feared T-Rex.

It is advisable to start on the southern coast. There are slightly less deadly creatures like the small Dodo and the climate is much friendlier. On the east coast, you will find a decent beginner point and can build your first base well in the southeast. Nearby there is enough forest where you can find plenty of resources.

First food and water

In ARK, you need to provide yourself as a survivor with enough food and water. Especially at the beginning, when you don’t have any clothing yet, you will get hungry quite quickly.

Berries are your first food

The beginner in survival against the dinos first feeds on berries. They fill your food bar slower than a cooked piece of meat, but come without claws and teeth. Just walk through the bushes and gather them. Berries also fill your water bar a small amount.

You can find these berries in bushes:

• Amarberry (food)
• Azulberry (food)
• Mejoberry (food)
• Tintoberry (food)
• Stimberry (dramatically reduces water supply -> thirst risk)
• Narcoberry (stuns player and dino, does not fill water supply)

Dodos make a good first source of meat

On the beach, you will find plenty of Dodos that make for excellent first prey. With just a few punches, you can take down the birds and easily harvest some meat.

Drinking in ARK

Getting water is quite simple, just walk to a water source and submerge for a moment or just drink. If you are standing in the rain, your water supply will also fill up again.

Once you can craft water bottles, you will no longer be dependent on finding a water source nearby to quench your thirst.

Avoiding first dangers in ARK

There are several dangers in ARK that can unexpectedly cost you your life right at the beginning. You should avoid these dangers.

• Running: By sprinting, you reduce your stamina and increase your food and water consumption. It’s better to walk, don’t sprint.
• Carnivores: Carnivores see you as a welcome snack and attack you as soon as they see you. Sneak up on every dino carefully and try to find out whether it is a friendly herbivore or an aggressive carnivore. If you lie down or crouch, the dinos can see you less well, giving you time to observe them at your leisure.
  
• Running away: Running away usually doesn’t help. If a dino is chasing you, try to get to the water and submerge.
  
• Alpha dinosaurs: Alpha dinos are found among Raptors, Carnos, T-Rexes, and Mosas. They are much stronger than their counterparts and can easily take you out at the beginning. They stand out with their reddish color.
  

Death in ARK is not the end

The likelihood is high that you will die relatively early in the game.

If you die, you lose all your items that you had with you. You can either start with a new character or choose “Respawn”. Upon respawning, you will appear randomly in the region where you died. Within 10 minutes, you can retrieve items from your corpse if you can find it. If your corpse has been eaten, there will be instead of the corpse a small backpack at your death point.

You only lose your items when you die, not your level and learned engrams. Engrams are permanent crafting recipes that help you survive.

A sleeping bag serves as a spawn point after death

Once you reach level 3, you should immediately craft a sleeping bag. If you die, the sleeping bag serves as a one-time spawn point for respawning. The sleeping bag must first be placed. Later, you can build a bed that allows you to respawn infinitely.

To craft, you need Hide and Fiber.

Fast leveling in Ark Survival Evolved for beginners

• Play in a tribe for additional experience points.
• Kill small dinosaurs: Dodos, Dilos, Meganeura/Titanomyrma, Raptor.
• Explore the island: Just walk around, craft small items (especially wood items), gather some berries. You’ll earn experience points and discover ARK while doing so.

These items should be your first crafts

You should definitely not miss the following items at the start of ARK: Survival Evolved.

Pike – It is the most important tool at the beginning

The pike should be your first tool, as it will make your work much easier and is not difficult to craft. With the pike, you can harvest thatch, wood, flintstone, metal, ore, a little meat, and hide. For the pike, you need:

• 1x Stone
• 10x Thatch
• 1x Wood

You can gather stones from the ground, and thatch and wood from your fists by hitting tree trunks.

Simple clothing –  Keeps you warm at the start

No one wants to run around in their underwear forever. That doesn’t help anyone survive. With clothing, you can better withstand the changing temperatures in ARK. From level 2, you can craft pants and a shirt, and from level 3, a head covering, shoes, and gloves. Later, there are clothing made from leather.

To craft the first clothing, you need Fiber and Hide.

Learn quickly to make a campfire

You can craft the campfire from level 2, and it has two advantages:

• Provides warmth at night when you are freezing.
• Serves to cook raw meat. With cooked meat, you can restore health points.

These weapons are useful at the start

The following weapons can already be crafted at a low level. They help you with defense and hunting.

• Spear – You need: wood, flint, fiber to craft
• Wooden club – To craft you need: wood and fiber (can stun small dinos)
• Sling shot – You need: hide, wood, and fiber to craft. (Can stun dinos from a distance)

Building your first base in ARK – Straw hut is for early levels

A straw hut can be built already at level 5. Straw is easy to farm either by collecting it with your fists or a tool from trees. Make sure that enough resources are available near your base, such as wood, straw, stone, and water. Additionally, you want to have enough open space and no carnivores or other players nearby.

Building a straw hut

For the straw hut, you need the following materials:

• 4x Thatch Floor (foundation)
• 1x Thatch Doorway (door frame)
• 1x Thatch Door (door)
• 4x Thatch Roof (roof)
• 7x Thatch Walls (walls)

ARK – Taming dinos

Taming dinos is one of the core elements of the survival game. The dinos serve as mounts, gatherers, or guard dogs for your base.

Stunning dinos for taming

To tame a dino, you first need to stun it and ensure that it remains unconscious. You can knock it out with your fists or use weapons. Suitable weapons are:

• Fists
• Wooden club
• Sling shot & stones
• Bola to hold
• Bows & tranquilizer arrows
• Crossbow & tranquilizer arrows

Feeding dinos during taming

Once you have successfully stunned the dino, you need to feed it afterward. The dino must not wake up during taming, or else you will have to start over. Place the desired food and narcotic berries or a crafted narcotic in its inventory.

Different dinos prefer different food. You can effectively tame a carnivore with meat and a herbivore with berries. You need the narcotic berries to keep the dino from waking up.

The time it takes to tame a dino depends on the dino’s level and “taming effectiveness”.

With kibbles, you can tame dinos most effectively: You can find a kibble guide with all recipes and a kibble chart here.

That was our ARK: Survival Evolved beginner guide for starters. If experienced survivors want to add anything, please write it in the comments.

Are you new to ARK or already experienced veterans? How were your first hours of gameplay? 

Proceed to: List of flying animals and how to tame them