keep losing everything!

[tarntg]

I'm new to Ark and I keep getting killed by other wild dinos and losing all my pets. First it was a titanoboa, then came the baryonyx, therizinosaurs, and alpha raptor. They killed all my pteranodons, dilos, and parasaurolophus. I'm currently level 30 and it'd be impossible for me to kill any of these. It's more and more frustrating after keep losing things you spend hours on. 

Is there anything I'm doing it wrong or is this just how this game is? Cause all the youtubers I've seen never lost a thing and now I'm feeling I'm really bad at this game  

 

ps. I'm on single player 

[Medhead29]

Sadly that is ark, but that's what also makes it so fun.  I would suggest scouting out a safe base and don't venture good far inland untill a higher level. I had the same problem at first.  Just keep working at it and don't be afraid to make a new base in a new spot.

[Yster]

PVE? 

if its on a PvE server just make a 4x8 with a Dino gate and keep your Dino locked up when you dont use them. 

 

Same for killing any dino.. build a trap with door frames and ramps on all sides. if something is after you run up and out , the Dino will get stuck in the ramp, and will be an easy kill.

 

[tarntg]

6 minutes ago, Yster said:

PVE? 

if its on a PvE server just make a 4x8 with a Dino gate and keep your Dino locked up when you dont use them. 

 

Same for killing any dino.. build a trap with door frames and ramps on all sides. if something is after you run up and out , the Dino will get stuck in the ramp, and will be an easy kill.

 

Thanks I'll try that. Will that trap the alpha raptor as well? I wonder if it may jump over

[Yster]

build it 2 door frames high then, you might have to fix it after an alpha was trapped and you killed it before it destroyed it.. 

but its basically just to start.. once you get a few good Dinos trapped tranq and tamed, like a lvl 100+ therizinosaurus, maybe there is other players on the map that will make you a saddle. then you wouldnt worry about the alpha raptors anymore.  no even a Rex wondering around. .

Also from your post I gather your on RAG around the Blue Obbi.. 

 

[yekrucifixion187]

4 minutes ago, Yster said:

build it 2 door frames high then, you might have to fix it after an alpha was trapped and you killed it before it destroyed it.. 

but its basically just to start.. once you get a few good Dinos trapped tranq and tamed, like a lvl 100+ therizinosaurus, maybe there is other players on the map that will make you a saddle. then you wouldnt worry about the alpha raptors anymore.  no even a Rex wondering around. .

Also from your post I gather your on RAG around the Blue Obbi.. 

 

he said he was playing single player. 

My guess, he is around red ob on the island. 

 To the op: The trap plan is solid. I'm not sure if you adjusted the dino difficulty level but difficulty 5 is what officials run. That max dino level is 150. So for a default single player any dino 50+ is considered good. 

Ark is a considerable amount of dying and losing all your stuff early on. You keep working at it and it will eventually be such an achieevement when you are able to outmaneuver and kill your first Carno, tame your first Rex, and eventually you'll long for the days when it was more difficult.

You have very little knowledge outside of You Tube video's and that is why you are struggling but that is ok. You are meant to struggle early, to learn, and eventually diagnose what is happening before it happens and be able to counter it. Stick at it and you'll be thriving in no time. 

You're not bad at this game, you're new to the game. You'll get there. 

[RawOrange]

Ive been playing for years now, and I still die to Dino's that I consider a joke to go up against or in scenarios where its deemed avoidable. Just last night I got dismounted off my Petra to a microtaptor. While stunned a thyla jumped down and tackled me. It killed me then my bird. Last week I died to a Rex and a purlovia while getting a drop. Petra got chewed up by a nearby Rex. 

Good at the game or not, it will happen lol. There's too many circumstantial situations that cause you to inevitably lose things. Those situations are beyond your control. No one here will disagree. Sure it's not as common as it is for others but they won't disagree. 

[DonaldDuck]

You should also set your dinoes to neutral so they can defend themselves if you put them outside. 

[RipRavage]

1 hour ago, tarntg said:

I'm new to Ark and I keep getting killed by other wild dinos and losing all my pets. First it was a titanoboa, then came the baryonyx, therizinosaurs, and alpha raptor. They killed all my pteranodons, dilos, and parasaurolophus. I'm currently level 30 and it'd be impossible for me to kill any of these. It's more and more frustrating after keep losing things you spend hours on. 

Is there anything I'm doing it wrong or is this just how this game is? Cause all the youtubers I've seen never lost a thing and now I'm feeling I'm really bad at this game  

 

ps. I'm on single player 

It might be the region you are in as well, you are high enough level for a raft, build a raft and you will call it home until you find a region that suits you good enough.  You can make rafts large enough to house a few raptors and trike until you get strong enough to grab a rex.  here is a vanilla raft that looks pretty nice aesthetically, this will be your new home for now.  Watch out for leedsichthys though.

 

[Guest DJRone89]

Learn fence foundations and put a perimeter of walls around your base. You’ll eventually want the perimeter to be 4 walls high as it will keep pretty much everything out. Some people opt for dino gates as they 2 walls wide and 4 walls high.

You’ll want your perimeter in stone tier ideally, as only alpha predators, and a couple other dinos can damage those structures. I wouldn’t worry about any defences as long as your dinos are well within your perimeter so they won’t aggro any wilds.

[tarntg]

2 hours ago, Yster said:

build it 2 door frames high then, you might have to fix it after an alpha was trapped and you killed it before it destroyed it.. 

but its basically just to start.. once you get a few good Dinos trapped tranq and tamed, like a lvl 100+ therizinosaurus, maybe there is other players on the map that will make you a saddle. then you wouldnt worry about the alpha raptors anymore.  no even a Rex wondering around. .

Also from your post I gather your on RAG around the Blue Obbi.. 

 

no I'm actually on the island down south, started from the safest area

[tarntg]

2 hours ago, yekrucifixion187 said:

he said he was playing single player. 

My guess, he is around red ob on the island. 

 To the op: The trap plan is solid. I'm not sure if you adjusted the dino difficulty level but difficulty 5 is what officials run. That max dino level is 150. So for a default single player any dino 50+ is considered good. 

Ark is a considerable amount of dying and losing all your stuff early on. You keep working at it and it will eventually be such an achieevement when you are able to outmaneuver and kill your first Carno, tame your first Rex, and eventually you'll long for the days when it was more difficult.

You have very little knowledge outside of You Tube video's and that is why you are struggling but that is ok. You are meant to struggle early, to learn, and eventually diagnose what is happening before it happens and be able to counter it. Stick at it and you'll be thriving in no time. 

You're not bad at this game, you're new to the game. You'll get there. 

yes I am pretty close to the red ob. I spawned on the island right next to it. Does that actually affect the difficulty level?

I haven't adjusted the dino difficulty level at all I guess its just the default. But I haven't seen any dinos above lvl 30 so far except for a dilo..

[RipRavage]

18 minutes ago, tarntg said:

yes I am pretty close to the red ob. I spawned on the island right next to it. Does that actually affect the difficulty level?

I haven't adjusted the dino difficulty level at all I guess its just the default. But I haven't seen any dinos above lvl 30 so far except for a dilo..

Where you spawn does not affect creature level, but there are areas that you should avoid because they are dangerous, like the redwoods or any swamp.  Near red obelisk there are swamps which have tons of titanboas and kaprosuchus, which are dangerous for low level players.  Build yourself a raft house like I said in my previous post that way you can explore the island from relative safety, alphas generally wont follow you too deep into water.  You can increase the difficulty slider to 1 if you want to get dinosaurs with a max level of 120, but you will have to console command a dino wipe with "destroywilddinos".  If you want anything higher you will have to overidemaxdifficulty in the ini file.

Consider downloading the Dododex app onto your smart phone if you have one, or just use the page

http://www.dododex.com/

I know you are new, so here is a resource spawn map for the island so you can know where to go to get stuff like metal and pearls.

https://ark.gamepedia.com/Resource_Map_(The_Island)

Also, learn to make taming rafts, they are better than static traps in that you can move them out of dangerous areas after you have KOed a creature.  As you can see from the video below, even gigas can be tamed using rafts.

 

[LLOYD0102]

if you find a small island i would make it your base. go around it and put sets of 2 stone foundations snapped togther and it will block all spawns as long as you put enough of them on the island. it will make getting materials a little harder as you have to cross the water to get to them but a boat will easily help with that and in the meantime you can stockpile and build up resources without having to worry.

[RageQuitter]

13 minutes ago, tarntg said:

yes I am pretty close to the red ob. I spawned on the island right next to it. Does that actually affect the difficulty level?

I haven't adjusted the dino difficulty level at all I guess its just the default. But I haven't seen any dinos above lvl 30 so far except for a dilo..

It doesn't affect difficulty level but if you're close to red then you're in an area where raptors, therizinos, carnos & alpha raptors spawn plus you'll see sarcos and maybe the odd baryonyx & spino between Craggs Island and the swamp, things are a little easier if you move to the footpaw which is the thin strip of land around 77 lat 37 lon or the beach around 81 33, worst spawns you'll usually find there are dilos, well apart from pegos & ichthyornis.

 

Just keep at it and you'll learn what dinos spawn in certain areas which make it easier to plan things early game, unless you decided to go online that is, then you usually find someone has already built where you planned on settling.

[Xxtheclashxx]

3 hours ago, tarntg said:

I'm new to Ark and I keep getting killed by other wild dinos and losing all my pets. First it was a titanoboa, then came the baryonyx, therizinosaurs, and alpha raptor. They killed all my pteranodons, dilos, and parasaurolophus. I'm currently level 30 and it'd be impossible for me to kill any of these. It's more and more frustrating after keep losing things you spend hours on. 

Is there anything I'm doing it wrong or is this just how this game is? Cause all the youtubers I've seen never lost a thing and now I'm feeling I'm really bad at this game  

 

ps. I'm on single player 

There is a learning curve for this game. When I first started playing, especially not knowing anything about the game, I died all the time.

The game is really hard in the early stages until you start getting your first flyer or raptor or trike or stego.

Even when you know what you are doing, it still takes skill and luck to not die. The bottom line is that you will die a lot. Everyone does. 

I would recommend being mindful with what you are taking with you, especially playing alone. 

I play on the center by myself 99% of the time. In fact I'm starting over from legacy, so I have nothing.

I have tools that are good from drops, but I only take primitive craftables with me when I leave and keep the rest at base.

 

[Aushegun]

I may be repeating what some others have already said, but here it goes.

1) Find a spot with pretty good sightlines in all directions, and build a small house. In the house build a bed and storage. Craft up extra tools and weapons/ammo, and keep those in the storage. Only venture out with the tools/weapons you really need. Leave other valuable stuff in storage at the base.

2) Build a small enclosure for your dinos, and only take the ones you need at that time when you venture out. that way, when you run into a predator, you won't get totally wiped. 

3) Do some gain/loss analyst before engaging a dino. Is it worth losing all your stuff to kill/tame this dino?  Or is it better to just retreat?

4) Are you bumping up your dinos stats based on their use? (If you plan on being for resource gathering, then bump weight. If you will use it to travel, then bump up stamina. If you will attack stuff, then bump Health and Melee. Then make sure you HEAL up your dinos before taking them out to battle. Force Feed them carnivores meat to heal quicker)

5) Slow down! Sometimes we try to run, before we can walk. Don't take on dinos/challenges that you don't have the resources/weapons/ or dinos to defeat it with. 

This game certainly has a learning curve, and I know that I had frustrating times at the beginning, but now, about 99% of the time I die, it was because I did something stupid, and basically caused my own death.

[TBoa]

Dude pull out your map and head to the island that’s in the bottom right corner (SW) I think the east 1 or east 3, spawn point gets you real close to it. there isn’t a single aggressive Dino that spawns on that island. go there build a base make some narc tame a few dinos.  (pteradons are good early mounts just bola one when it lands and shoot it in the head) 

[Foxpup]

Have a raft as a backup in such scenarios it helps me get back on my feet. Also if youre on single player try messing with the settings a bit that might help.

[Cymas]

Keep in mind the YTers you're watching might have hundreds or thousands of hours of experience playing the game. As I can personally attest, even as a fresh spawned level 1 noob it's much, much easier for an experienced player to survive. Some general advice--

It sounds to me like you're much too close to the swamp if you're dealing with stray snakes and barys. If I were you I'd move away--as a general rule on The Island map, south is the safest direction. There are still plenty of threats, but most of them you should be able to handle on your own. I personally prefer the southwest, but many people like the southeast due to Herbivore Island. I didn't feel the safety was worth the price of convenience, but it's definitely a good place to go as a brand new player.

Tame defensive animals first. Pteras, dilos and paras are all fairly limited utility at your stage of the game. Pteras are fragile and need protection. Dilos can be effective in a large pack, but their low HP makes them easy pickings for anything even decently threatening. Paras are pack mules and not much else. Since you're level 30, I would highly recommend taming 2-3 decent level trikes. They're good early harvesters and are tough enough to offer protection--I've killed alpha raptors with a trike no problem. Try to get a male and female for mate boosting, and make sure they both have saddles.

Keep in mind even if you can't make the saddle yet, you can still tame some animals to use as "guard dogs", a role the carno is particularly well suited for at that stage. A simple taming pen can help you easily KO just about anything, then it's just a matter of having enough supplies. Maybe get a raptor or two to help you gather meat, then grab yourself a carno or two. If you're feeling really ambitious try for a rex; even a low level one will be able to wipe out all but the other apex predators (and therizinos, tickle chickens are no joke) with ease.

Build a pen for all your animals to protect them from the many threats Ark will throw at you. Keep your birds on passive at all times. Less to do with combat and more to do with their habit of "death spiraling" into the sky when dealing with aerial threats, and their tendency to fly off after battle and land possibly outside of your base, leaving them exposed and potentially getting them more lost as they get into fights.

Don't rely on your tames to do all the work, either. Bolas, a crossbow and a ready supply of arrows can help you deal with a lot of threats. Use terrain to your advantage, especially cliffs and large rocks. If it can't hit you it can't kill you, and you can take down even alphas on foot with some good positioning and a lot of ammo. If you can swing it maybe even carry two crossbows, one for regular arrows and one for tranqs. Both can be useful in combat. For example tranqing dilos will make them quickly pass out or run away, allowing you to deal with a bigger, more immediate threat with minimal risk to yourself.

Most importantly, know your limits. Don't go ranging out all over the map if you can't defend yourself adequately. Spend the time to build up, there's no need to rush it. One 30 minute YT video may have taken an entire day to record footage for, so you're not seeing a lot of the grind until now. Ark is definitely a game that rewards patience.

And if you're really, truly frustrated--you can always spawn in replacements for anything you lose. It's meant to be fun after all, so do whatever makes you happy.

[Volunder]

You cannot store dino's outside w/out them being at risk.  Even with a fence they are still subject to flying dino's such as Argents or Wyverns.  If you absolutely sure there are no aggressive flying dino's in your area then a fence 4 foundations high should do the trick.  Otherwise keep things inside.  Its easier to farm more and build a safer base than have to tame everything over again.

 

[Guest DJRone89]

4 hours ago, Volunder said:

You cannot store dino's outside w/out them being at risk.  Even with a fence they are still subject to flying dino's such as Argents or Wyverns.  If you absolutely sure there are no aggressive flying dino's in your area then a fence 4 foundations high should do the trick.  Otherwise keep things inside.  Its easier to farm more and build a safer base than have to tame everything over again.

 

Aggressive flyers are only an issue if you’re in their spawn. On The Island, Argents stick to mountainous regions and there aren’t any Wyverns.

[Krasolvian]

Couple of thoughts:

if it’s flyers that’s taking down your dynos then you’ll need a roof just gates and walls won’t help.

 

Get plant x/y as defensive plants. If outdoors they don’t need irrigated, just fill with water to get them going.

[Kubinasi]

Placing few plant seed x will definitely solve your defense problem as long as you refill the fertilizer every once a week (or a bit more often if wild dinos wander close to the base every now and then).

The vid below provides the tip on how to make ur plants protected (as they'll be usually the ones drawing agro towards them). P/s you can totally use stone structures on PvE as most wild dinos you'll encounter cannot rly do a thing to those.
 

 

[Darf]

Great vid, very helpful.