Barbarians or High-Tech Age? Dinos or Slaves? Since Conan Exiles became playable, it has been repeatedly compared to the front-runner ARK: Survival Evolved. Both games are playable on PS, Xbox One, and PC. We take a closer look at the important features of the survival genre for both games.
Conan Exiles or ARK: Survival Evolved – this question has occupied many fans since the survival MMO in barbarian style was playable in Early Access in January 2017. Until now, Conan Exiles was still in Early Access. Now both games offer enough content to compare them.
ARK was released in August 2017, while Conan Exiles had its release on May 8, 2018. Just before the release, we take a look at both games. Conan Exiles vs. ARK, how do the main features function in the games?
What is ARK? What is Conan Exiles?
Conan Exiles and ARK are so-called survival MMOs. In both games, the main objective is to survive. You are basically thrown naked into an inhospitable world, without explanation and without tools, and must try not to die.
- ARK is set in a fantasy world full of dinosaurs and mythical creatures that you might encounter everywhere. You navigate through a technological level ranging from prehistoric times to a post-nuclear future and can experience every step in between.
- In Conan Exiles, you are thrown into the harsh world of Conan, the Barbarian. You are an exile, crucified to die in the desert and freed by Conan himself in order to survive in a world full of undead, hostile tribes, and gigantic monsters.
The core of the games: Survival
In survival MMOs, the fundamental aspect of the game is survival. More or less realistically, characters must eat, drink, and take care of other physical needs to avoid perishing in the game world.
- In this regard, Conan Exiles and ARK hardly differ. Both games require you to eat and drink regularly and adapt to the weather conditions. If it’s too cold, you need to warm up. If it’s too hot, cooling helps.
Food and water can generally be found everywhere in both games. Clothing, fire, and water help regulate body temperature. Longer expeditions require preparation in both games – those who venture out without provisions will not survive long.
Weapons and Combat
Since the worlds of both games are hostile to the player, you need to be able to defend yourself. Both in ARK and in Conan Exiles, there are various weapons for combat, which you often cannot avoid.
This is how you fight in ARK: In ARK, there are swords and shields for melee fighters and various tools for ranged combat. Depending on the technological level you are at, you can shoot with bows, pistols, or high-tech railguns. Whether you prefer melee or ranged combat is entirely up to you.
There are also dinosaurs that you can tame specifically for combat purposes. They assist you significantly in fights against the world or other players.
This is how you fight in Conan Exiles: In Conan Exiles, everything revolves around melee combat. While bows exist, they are hard to use and cause relatively little damage. Instead, there are various classes of melee weapons, each bringing its own techniques and special attacks.
You can generally also break into other players’ bases with normal weapons, but explosives and divine avatars that you can summon are significantly more effective. Attacking and defending bases in Conan Exiles are essentially sieges.
ARK vs. Conan Exiles in combat: Battles in ARK are significantly simpler and especially later on resemble open-world shooters. In Conan Exiles, the focus is on melee combat, requiring more tactics to avoid getting skewered by the opponent.
- Those who prefer shooting in a survival game will feel more at home in ARK.
- Those who enjoy experiencing combat up close will be happier with Conan Exiles.
There is no better or worse here; the games are simply too different in this regard.
Leveling Up and Learning Skills
The longer you survive, the better your character becomes. In both games, this is rewarded by leveling up and improving, in the style of an RPG. However, the way you can distribute the points differs.
This is how you level up in ARK: In ARK, you collect experience to learn so-called engrams. These are blueprints for tools, buildings, and other items that you can craft with collected resources. Along with the engrams, you can assign values to your character.
You can invest points in known values such as health and stamina, but also enhance your speed in crafting items.
This is how you level up in Conan Exiles: In Conan Exiles, you receive talent points and attribute points as your level increases. Talent points can be invested in crafting recipes.
Increasing attributes boosts an entire area, such as the attack power of all weapons (including bows) or the better utilization of food. Additionally, every ten points gives you a new ability for each value that provides additional advantages.
ARK vs. Conan Exiles when leveling: Both games have a very similar structure here. Recipes are learned through collected experience and are separate from attributes. In Conan Exiles, while you can only level up to level 60, the perk system offers the character more options and depth. ARK excels here with more clarity and a higher level cap:
- Those who prefer having more levels to work with will feel more comfortable in ARK.
- Specialists will enjoy Conan Exiles more.
Building and Crafting
Base building and item crafting are important features in survival games. With constantly new recipes and the ability to build fortresses, survival becomes easier.
Building and crafting in ARK: At the beginning, you do everything by hand in ARK – literally. You beat trees to collect wood. Later, you can tame dinosaurs that are particularly good at farming certain resources. Building a base takes time accordingly.
You must first find a suitable location and transport all resources there to then build your outpost in parts. Many recipes require workstations to craft them.
Building and crafting in Conan Exiles: Your first items in Conan Exiles are built from things you pick up from the ground. You can craft the first tools directly in the inventory, while later ones at workbenches. With enough materials, you can start building your first base from raw stones.
You can build wherever you like. If you like a spot, build a hut!
ARK vs Conan Exiles in crafting: The setup of a base is elaborate in both games, especially in the later stages of the game. Most of the gameplay time will be spent on building and improving a stronghold. ARK offers the possibility to build on the backs of huge dinosaurs both on land and in the air. In Conan Exiles, however, settlements can be established anywhere, and you do not need a flat surface.
- ARK offers cooler possibilities.
- Conan Exiles offers more freedom.
Slaves and Dinosaurs
To make your life and survival a bit easier, both games offer NPCs that you can make your subjects. The NPCs assist you in crafting or gathering more effectively and fulfill various other tasks.
Taming dinosaurs in ARK: In the world of ARK, there is an overwhelming selection of dinosaurs. There are dinos for gathering meat and resources, for transportation, and for combat. Taming a dino, however, is a lengthy process.
Slavery in Conan Exiles: In line with the archaic style of Conan, there are people in Conan Exiles that you can keep as slaves. Slaves can accompany you as bodyguards, improve production at workstations in your base, or serve as entertainers and defenders.
ARK vs. Conan Exiles regarding helper NPCs: This area is somewhat a matter of taste:
- The dinos in ARK are particularly used for resources and as mounts.
- Slaves in Conan Exiles improve buildings and guard your areas.
Even the methods of acquisition differ:
- In ARK, you have to watch over your dino and care for it until it wakes up.
- In Conan Exiles, you let your slave grind stones until he gives up, and you can do something else in the meantime.
Is there a lot to explore?
A world in which one fights for survival also offers the incentive to explore it. There are significant differences in story between the games.
Story and exploration in ARK: In ARK, you wake up on a beach and are just there. There are no explanations, just a strange stone on your wrist that is somehow connected to the world.
The island where you land has a lot to explore. There are different biomes with varied flora, dungeons, and boss fights that can be challenging and reward you with the best crafting recipes.
Story and exploration in Conan Exiles: As an exile in Conan Exiles, your crimes are described right at character creation. You are a criminal, justified or not, and sentenced to death. A story of the world is conveyed to you through tablets and diaries throughout the game world.
The world of Conan Exiles has various biomes with dozens of world bosses. The biomes are suitable for different levels and provide various resources. Moreover, you can explore not only above ground but also dozens of dungeons and caves add depth to the world and entice with stories and exciting fights.
ARK vs. Conan Exiles regarding story and exploration: There is a lot to discover in both games. The maps are large, and ARK’s DLCs already offer even more areas to explore. In Conan Exiles, notes may be hidden everywhere, or you may encounter ghosts of the past who tell you the story. The few friendly NPCs are also very talkative.
- Those who prefer to simply play without needing a story will also be happy in ARK.
- Players who want to experience a world full of narratives will find that in Conan Exiles.
Who are the games suited for? Is single-player possible?
Both games are MMOs and are also most meaningful in this form, as multiplayer games. In clans or tribes, players are strongest, and the games are designed to be conquered by groups of players. However, both Conan Exiles and ARK offer local single-player games where all options can be set and adjusted.
In ARK, the single-player mode is rather cumbersome and impractical. All commands must be entered via console. Crafting, building, and taming also take a long time even at the fastest speed in endgame, and the single-player experience is rather sluggish.
Conan Exiles offers a very user-friendly admin panel if you are a server administrator or playing alone. With just a few clicks, you can adjust your level, become immortal, and add items to your inventory. Particularly for those who just want to build and explore the world, this is a significant advantage.
Conclusion: Conan Exiles vs. ARK, what to play?
In principle, the more fun game is the one you can play with more friends. Both games have their advantages and disadvantages, but with more people, they are simply more enjoyable, and you can achieve more.
| ARK: Survival Evolved | Conan Exiles |
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ARK (recently 72% on Steam) had more time to develop the game and cannot offer more than Conan Exiles. There are still many bugs that have not been fixed, but paid DLCs that expand the world. However, if you prefer a broader selection of items and especially dinosaurs, you will be better off with ARK: Survival Evolved.
Conan Exiles (recently 83% on Steam) is the rougher and bloodier game. It is clearly aimed at adults with thick skins and does not even attempt to be friendly. Both group and single players will find what they need in Conan Exiles. If you want coarse barbarism with a great story, you should prefer Conan Exiles.
