ARK: Survival Evolved players have seen an evolution of battle tactics over the years, changing with every new map expansion and creature. Even when Studio Wildcard introduces a creature with powerful abilities players want for PvP, these abilities are often nerfed, reducing their usefulness.
During the legacy days of ARK, when auto turrets and Plants Species X were prevalent, players had a limited selection of creatures to choose from when it came to PvP. The Argentavis, Pteranodon, and Quetzal were the most powerful flyers, having upgradable movement speed that could be levelled. Quetzals were essentially used as flying tanks, wearing platform saddles stacked with metal structures and turrets. In 2016, ARK developers decided this tactic was overpowered, and within three days had completely banned Plant Species X and auto turrets on any kind of platform saddle.
PvP After Scorched Earth
Studio Wildcard released DLC in 2016 that offered a vast expanse of desert and one of the most iconic ARK creatures to date. The wyvern, released with Scorched Earth, surpassed any flyer that was used for PvP at that time. After Studio Wildcard disabled upgradable movement speed for flyers, the Argentavis and Quetzal became painfully slow, with the Pteranodon being a faster but more vulnerable option. The wyvern, on the other hand, looked very attractive to PvE and PvP players alike with powerful wing strokes and damaging breath. Thus the age of the wyvern began, when “bobs” would fearfully hide in their stone huts dreading the sound of wings and lightning breath.
PvP After Ragnarok
The next DLC released was Ragnarok, an unforgiving wilderness based on the Scandinavia and home to the Griffin. Capable of carrying two passengers and possessing a dive ability, the griffin brought maneuverability to flyer PvP. When first introduced, this mythical creature was described as “broken” due to its ability to kill players with one swipe. However, Wildcard soon reducing overall health, swipe damage, and dive bomb damage significantly. Despite this blow, griffins are a hugely popular tame that rule the skies.
PvP After Aberration
With the release of Aberration in 2017, players not only had a selection of exciting creatures to use in PvP, they also gained a new engram that would shape the future of ARK. Revealed just after Studio Wildcard introduced a turret limit, the heavy turret took base defense to a new level, being more difficult for enemies to bypass than auto turrets or Plant Species X. The “batt turret” became a pain for enemies who were lured by a player into range of a hidden heavy turret, nestled in vegetation and powered by a single battery.
The Aberration-dwelling Reaper changed the dynamics of PvP by becoming a threat to Gigas and Paracers with its aggressive tailspin. Its second ability, the poison attack, was one of the first real threats against Quetzals in PvP, slowing them down and forcing them to defensively retreat. The Basilisk’s poison attack is similar to the Reaper’s, although rather than slowing the enemy down it delivers a lot of damage. This was, and still is, utilized heavily in Giga PvP.
PvP After Extinction
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The Extinction DLC was a gamechanger, as the Managarmr and Snow Owl transformed the ARK PvP meta considerably. The original Mana was so overpowered that many players complained to Studio Wildcard, saying its ice breath and airborne ability was too much to contend with. Wildcard responded by nerfing the Mana several times over the past few years, reducing the intensity of ice breath and limiting their range of altitude-defying jumps to two. This has made them a lot less popular.
The Snow Owl was a godsend for PvP, able to quickly heal tames by covering them in an icy glaze. Because of this, players were no longer required to use Daeodons, which require constant feeding to perform their healing ability. The “owl bomb” also proved catastrophic to Giga riders, who are at risk of being helplessly frozen in place whenever an enemy Snow Owl rider is present.
Even more influential than the Mana and Snow Owl are the Cryopods, making life in large ARK tribes easier. Kept within Cryofridges, Cryopods are basically the Poke Balls of ARK, providing storage for tames. Base raids are far more lucrative, with the potential for raiders to find whole Cryofridges full of tames. The option to upload Cryopods when transferring servers also means that players can pull up on enemy tribes with a whole army rather than being limited to downloading creatures from the Obelisk.
PvP After Genesis
The latest world created for the ARK universe is Genesis, followed by its sequel Genesis 2 earlier this year. These two maps differ from the rest with unique feature that allow players to partake in missions. A number of these missions reward players with Tek suit parts, expanding the limitations of small tribes who don’t have much material to spend on crafting their own suits. This caused an increase of players using Tek suits, placing more emphasis on mountless PvP.
The UFO-like Skiff has become a huge threat during battles, as Skiff drivers have control over a beam that is able to pick up creatures and other players. While many ARK fans complain that this is too overpowered, requiring little skill and not giving victims many counter options, Skiffs have become a regular sight in the skies during PvP. Bloodstalkers also induced fear when introduced with the release of Genesis 1. However, after receiving a grapple cooldown and reductions to range and piercing damage, they now pose less of a threat.
ARK PvP is an ever-evolving beast, as each creature comes with their own meta and range of abilities. Although creatures, weapons, and buildings make up the most part of ARK battles, the most important factor is coordination and communication between tribe members, who must think several steps ahead to come up with new attack strategies and defenses. With the Lost Island DLC promising the release of three new creatures in December, ARK PvP is about to change once again, testing tribes and their ability to outplay one another.
ARK: Survival Evolved is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.