Patch 256: Equus, Leedsichthys, Ichthyornis, Iguanodon, Underwater Bases, & More!

Patch v256 comes to you today crammed with new content, including vacuum-sealed underwater bases and aquatic creature breeding, TEK teleporter pads and wireless generators, and four new creatures. It also brings the first major menu redesign of ARK, as the Inventory UI receives a complete visual and functional overhaul for a streamlined new look. This is a huge upgrade that means easier access to everything in the player’s inventory. 

The TEK Tier for ARK is being implemented in multiple phases, with today’s update including awesome new element powered gear like: 

TEK Underwater Bases! This allows fully-enclosed structures to be created underwater, with ventilators to allow oxygen filled room. Air-locks allow players to enter and exit without flooding their base.

TEK Power Generator! This wireless generators power TEK structures and any Tribe electrical structures in adjustable range. 

TEK Teleporter! Easily and quickly move around the expansive open-world island, but very challenging and expensive to obtain!

TEK Mosa Saddle! Once placed on the Mosasaur it equips the beast with lasers and more.

TEK Tier content is a wave of sci-fi-themed, end-game features that reward hard-working Survivors with awesomely futuristic gear and guns. Players wanting TEK Tier loot will need to gather the newly introduced Element resource, which is granted after successfully completing Boss Arenas. Each Boss has three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) and after defeating the respective Boss are awarded with unique TEK Knowledge engrams, element and other general Boss Rewards. Collect the Element, then use the TEK Replicator to craft all TEK items!

Likely an ancestor to the modern horse, Equus Magnus is a much larger steed, and when tamed, can be used in much the same way - riding, herding, and used as pack animals. Equus is so large, in fact, tribes have been known to not only ride them, but attach extra large saddlebags to them, essentially making them into mobile research and crafting stations.

Craftable within the Equus' saddle inventory, the new Lasso item can be used to wrangle creatures and players while riding. Now you can live out your cowboy dreams in ARK!

If Survivors are lucky, they may come across a majestic sight. The Unicorn is the rarest creature on the Island, with it's white coat and horn protruding from its' forehead. It can be tamed just like the normal Equus. However, only one of these magical creatures exists on the map at one time, so treat it with the utmost care!

Leedsichthys Conviviumbrosia is the largest fish in the waters around the island. Its meat is also extremely succulent which is unusual given its size. It is often traded with the same value as Prime Meat, and colloquially called 'Prime Fish'. Of little taming value, tribes do keep schools of Leedsichthys in pens for meat, as it is so huge, chunks of meat can be cut from it without causing it death or permanent injury. 

While Leeds is normally passive towards humans, it is extremely aggressive towards boats on the open water. Rafts that enter its' territory will quickly find themselves in grave trouble and will be forced to fight or flee, or lose their home.

The alpha Leedsichthys, which is somehow even larger than the average Leeds, is massive and white in colour. If a Survivor manages to kill the beast, they will be rewarded with lots of fish meat and a special cosmetic skin hidden within it's belly.

Iguanodon Vicissitudinis is a large herbivorous dinosaur that bears a strong resemblance to the Parasaurolophus but without the distinct head crest. Iguanodon has two spike-like thumbs for prying fruits open to pick out the seeds and for  stabbing would-be predators. They are as capable of walking on all fours as they are on just their hind legs. Combined with its highly effective fruit harvesting and substantial carry weight, the Iguanodon's excellent mobility in bipedal stance makes it an ideal field-hand that can also pull off a quick get-away, or an agile defense, when needed.

Considered just a "plain old" normal seagull, Ichthyornis Piscoquus lives near beaches, surviving off of native fish. While timid by nature, if tamed, they become partners for their tamer, riding their shoulders. Survivors can send their tamed Ichthy to attack small prey such as fish, dodos, and compys. The fish it brings back are rich in meat and far better than a Survivor would be able to catch by hand, making the gull very useful.

A long time coming, Patch 256 finally brings breeding to the aquatic and amphibious creatures of the ARK. Underwater eggs cannot be picked up by players as they cannot survive out of water, so plan ahead carefully! Underwater eggs will incubate in water at all times so there is no need to monitor their temperature. These adorable little ones will certainly steal their way into your heart.

In addition to all of the above (it's a lot!), this patch also includes the following:

• Lots of new in-game sounds
• 1 New Hairstyle and 1 New Facial hairstyle (Growable ponytails with full physics and mutton chops!)
• 30+ new Explorer Notes

The full patch notes for version 256 can be seen here:

Weekend Sale!

From today through to April 3rd, ARK is 67% off and Scorched Earth is 51% off on Steam! 

Additionally, the ARK “Survivor’s Pack” on PS4 is currently 25% off from March 28th through to April 4th!

If you or your friends haven't picked up a copy, now is definitely the time to do so!

ARK: Evolution Event Weekend!

Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! The Evolution Event will be active until Monday the 3rd at 12PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

1.5x Harvesting Rate
1.5x Taming Rate
1.5x EXP Rate

Reminder: this 1.5x bonus is on top of the 2x rates that are now standard on our official servers!

Thank you Survivors! We hope you enjoy the update!