tips Combined Tip & Tricks Thread (for PC)

[OurGrid]

This is a list of tips I generally email to our new players, and I thought since many in the community (back on Reddit) helped out with these, I would "post it forward" for the next generation of players. I will try to keep it up to date if editing is allowed long term.

 

ARK Tips & Tricks

• Water skin/bottle: Press hotbar # in rain / water to fill it up. Put in tank / crop and Remote Use to fill them!
• Taming Food: Kibble is best followed by Prime meat or cultivated veggies, finally raw meat or Mejo berries.
• Raptors: Good low level mounts; a level 7 raptor can kill most level 20+ dinos with minimal damage to self.
• Pets damaging structures: Put your pet on Attack YOUR Target and they will help tear something down.
• Trees: Hit with a pickaxe for thatch and hatchet for wood.
• Rocks: Hit with a pickaxe for flint/metal and hatchet for stone.
• Corpses: Hit with a pickaxe for meat and hatchet for hide.
• Broken Tools: Tap the hotbar # to repair or Hold the # to see what is missing to repair it.
• Greyed out hotbar: Missing items in your hotbar can be crafted by pressing the # (if you have material).
• Missing materials: Hold the Hotbar # to see what materials are missing to make an item or repair.
• Mass build: When hotbar item is greyed out, you can tap the # fast to make several of the items.
• Fists & Clubs: Knocking out enemies is easier than killing them – don’t rule out the knock out just yet!
• Scorpions: Eat carrion; so tame with spoiled meat, not raw to be more effective.
• Ridden carnivore harvesting: Click corpses to get meat, hide, keratin, etc.
• Ridden herbivore harvesting: Click plants trees to get berries, thatch & some wood.
• Ankylosaur mining: Click metal rocks to get metal & some stone.
• Doedicurus mining: Enable wandering and they will fill their packs with stone on their own!
• Supply crate level reqs: White/Multi - 3, Green - 15, Blue - 25, Pink/Purple - 35, Yellow - 45, Red - 60.
• Some dinosaurs carry loot - Make sure to check their bodies before you break them for meat/resources!
• Chat window can be toggled with the "\" key & scrolled with “Page Up” and “Page Down” keys.
• Chat local chat with “Ins”, Tribe chat with “/” and Global chat with “Enter”.
• Gamma adjustment: Press tab, type Gamma 4, you can see during the night. Gamma 2.5 to put it back.
• Flare guns: Can be very useful for lighting an entire area “hands free” for a minute or so.
• Using the Syringe takes away 25 health creating a Blood Bag to heal 20 hp over time.
• Custom cooking with 5 of any egg can yield more health than two blood bags!
• Blueprints for weapons/armor/saddles can make items with better stats (e.g. more damage/armour/durability).
• Food & Water use: Hot weather depletes Water, Cold weather depletes Food.
• Stim berries: Wake up & reduce Torpor at the cost of hydration, good for stings, tranq arrows, etc.
• Fast food: Holding a Hotbar # with food eats the stack of food when inventory is open.
• Holding "H" will give you actual values on your hud. I.E. Water: 94/100 or Food 34/100.
• Tap “I” to open your inventory, Tap “V” to open your crafting menu.
• Tap “F” while targeting something to open its inventory (remote inventory) works while riding too.
• Tap “P” to Place a marker on your map when the GPS and Map are in hand.
• Tap “T” while targeting a pet to whistle Follow Me (works through a Spyglass far away too!).
• Hold “T” to choose a whistle so you don't have to remember all the hotkeys.
• Tap “Y” while targeting a pet to whistle Hold There.
• Tap “T” while mousing over inventory to transfer the item/stack instead of dragging.
• Tap "Shift + T" while mousing over inventory to transfer half the stack of items.
• Tap "Ctrl + T" while mousing over inventory to transfer one of the stack, OR just double click it!
• Hold "Ctrl + T" while mousing over the upper left of a stack to begin rapid transfer of single items to Finish stacks.
• Tap “O” while mousing over to drop an item from inventory without using Drop button.
• Tap “N” while holding a Transponder to change channels / frequency.
• Tap "P" while holding a Transponder & Node to place a tracking node on yourself! (Track your corpse!)
• Tap “C” while flying to do a barrel roll (if pet is capable), or Dive in water.
• Tap “N” to toggle weapon attachment on/off (light, laser, etc).
• Tap / Hold “X” to stop flying mount & or launch shoulder mounted pet.
• Tap “E” twice quickly to launch your shoulder riding pet in front of you.
• Tap “E” to flip a wall the right direction when placing it and when applicable.
• Hold “E” when foraging a plant to get all the resources until depleted.
• Don’t tap “E” while riding smaller flying mounts or you jump off: Splat!
• Tap “Q” to toggle fists, regardless of what you are carrying.
• Tap "Q" with inventory open to Show/Hide item text labels.
• Tap “G” to drag a body.
• Tap "-" (dash / hyphen) to whistle "All Neutral" to pets around you.
• Tap "=" to whistle "All attack My target to pets around you.
• Tap ";" to whistle "All Passive" to pets around you.
• Tap “Right Shift” to toggle Run on/off, Hold “Left Shift” to Run while you hold it only.
• Hold “Right Alt” to allow camera pan and self-view, or tap “K” to toggle free-look mode on/off.
• Hold “Left Alt” and Tap a Hotbar # to craft item alternate (bow on 5, alt+5 crafts arrows!).
• Shift + Drag on Items with skins, scopes, silencers, etc to remove the accessory/skin (except founder skins).
• Targeting the Left or Right door of a behemoth gate will open it In or Out.
• Soap removes dyes/paints by combining 3 Polymer + 2 Oil + Water sack in cooking pot, then use radial wheel to remove dyes.
• Gasoline is made with 5 Hides + 3 Oil in Forge to power many later tiered devices (stacks work!).

To help us ALL with inventory management and HotBar assignment, please drop by this post and show your support! Thanks.

Thanks to those who have contributed to this list!

 

 

[that guy]

wait a minute... so using a Wall blueprint can help reduce the amount of materials needed or maybe even make another one?

 

or am I interpreting that incorrectly?

[OurGrid]

On 12/10/2015 at 0:36 PM, that guy said:

wait a minute... so using a Wall blueprint can help reduce the amount of materials needed or maybe even make another one?

 

or am I interpreting that incorrectly?

This didn't work - fixed.

[HighFlyer15]

5 minutes ago, that guy said:

wait a minute... so using a Wall blueprint can help reduce the amount of materials needed or maybe even make another one?

or am I interpreting that incorrectly?

A structure require the same materials, blueprint or researched through engrams. Maybe there are some special structures, but not stone and metal at least. Just checked.

[OurGrid]

Updated the list!

Remove the qty bonus - was a myth.

[OurGrid]

Just updated the list with additions and edits for clarity!

[Jen]

I'm going to move this over to General, but thanks for posting! Super helpful info.

[PiddlyWink]

On 12/11/2015 at 10:16 PM, OurGrid said:

Updated the list!

Also checked and proved you get "2 for 1" when using a print for ammo, etc.

True.. but you get 2 for 1 using the engram as well.

Also SHFT + T = transfer half stack. CTRL + T = transfer 1.

Other than that this is a super helpful list! thanks for putting it all together.

[Medusa]

 

Great list indeed!

 

Also, below is a very helpful video tutorial for new players (by SirLucien):

15 Tips and Tricks -  For New Players:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqGarwn55WY

 

[22Habu22]

Wait, C is dive? For which creatures?!

[HighFlyer15]

7 minutes ago, 22Habu22 said:

Wait, C is dive? For which creatures?!

Any?
The frog, for instance, dives VERY quickly with C.

Blueprints still don't grant double of anything. Bullets can only be crafted in sets of 2, so that might be where your confusion lies  It is a bit confusing.

[Dhaiwon]

On 2015-12-10 at 8:53 PM, OurGrid said:

Repeat tames: The more you tame a certain type of dino the faster/easier it will become to tame them.

Wait, what?  Is there any source for this? Kinda curious

[OurGrid]

Thank you all for the feedback! Updated again!

[HighFlyer15]

4 hours ago, Dhaiwon said:

Wait, what?  Is there any source for this? Kinda curious

It's tough to analyse and confirm as you don't run into the same level dino again and again and decide to tame said dino again and again.

But this could be true and easier to notice once more "fun" methods of taming have been implemented. Like breaking a raptor(like how cowboys break wild horses), you might gain better balance on its back, having an easier time staying on for longer periods of time. Sadly the devs said such a method wasn't coming and it would be up to the modders to introduce such a feature.
I hope some modder will attempt to do that because it would be so much cooler to lead a dino to a pen, have someone lock you inside with it and then it's all up to the person inside, if the breaking of said dino will be successful or not. Could take an hour with a Rex and 20ish minutes with a Raptor. Making taming more skill based than time based.

[Zadira]

I learned some stuff!! Thanks for posting these!

[PiddlyWink]

Soap can be made in a cooking pot with 3 polymer + 2 oil + water

Gasoline can be made in a refining forge or industrial forge with 5 hide + 3 oil

Many new players ask how to make gas and not many people even know soap exists.

Also, tap p while holding a tracker and node to place a tracking node on yourself. (that way you can track your corpse!)

[OurGrid]

48 minutes ago, PiddlyWink said:

tap p while holding a tracker and node to place a tracking node on yourself. (that way you can track your corpse!)

That's a new one on me! Updated!

[Demmons]

Blueprints will only make stronger items if the blueprint is for a stronger version of the item. Like a primitive bow vs an apprentice bow. If the blueprint reads primitive (item name) it will have the same stats as if it were crafted using an engram. 

[PiddlyWink]

1 minute ago, Demmons said:

Blueprints will only make stronger items if the blueprint is for a stronger version of the item. Like a primitive bow vs an apprentice bow. If the blueprint reads primitive (item name) it will have the same stats as if it were crafted using an engram. 

Not true. There are different damage/durability stats for the same quality of items. A primitive blueprint can have better stats then your engram.

[Demmons]

Just now, PiddlyWink said:

Not true. There are different damage/durability stats for the same quality of items. A primitive blueprint can have better stats then your engram.

Yes, there are variations between stats. But craft 10 of the same item with an engram and you can see the same variation as 10 with a blueprint. I haven't seen anything to show that blueprints will produce higher stats within the normal variations. Any references?

[PiddlyWink]

There is no variation when crafting tools/armor from engrams. The stats are specifically stated in the engram. EG: primitive bow has 50 durability and 100% damage. I just logged in and crafted 10 bows. All have 50 dura and 100% dam. Blueprints also have the stats stated specifically and there is no random variation when crafting.

[OurGrid]

9 hours ago, PiddlyWink said:

There is no variation when crafting tools/armor from engrams. The stats are specifically stated in the engram. EG: primitive bow has 50 durability and 100% damage. I just logged in and crafted 10 bows. All have 50 dura and 100% dam. Blueprints also have the stats stated specifically and there is no random variation when crafting.

Yes, and I tested this as well, it's WYSIWUG; What you see is what you get. Each print can have unique stats but crafting that print gives you precisely what is listed on it. You can have wildly different prints, but when you produce the item from them you will get the stats listed.

[Cinnamon]

I have this list printed out and some of it highlighted!

[Collision]

Tab and then r.bloomquality 0 will remove the blinding glare from metal structures and underwater caves so that you can see.

You can pick someone, that's on an ankylo or mammoth, up with a quetz and they will remain seated on the dino. This allows you to do what's called quetz mining, where you fly around while your friend swings with the dino and gathers resources. It will overburden the dino, yet the quetz can still moved granted what is carried is less than the quetz's carry weight.

Levelling melee damage allows you to take advantage of over-damage and therefore shorten the time it takes to gather and increase the amount gathered. This works on both dinos and player characters.

A dino won't take fall damage if it is following you. This is especially useful with Gigas, which will rage if they take too much fall damage. However dinos will still drown if they are unmounted, which is an effective way to kill enemy dinos due to their AI.

You can knock mounted enemy dinos off of cliffs, dealing significant fall damage to them. Brontos are particularly good at this.

Force feeding a tamed phiomia stimberries will cause it to poop a lot. On official servers, 100 stimberries = 15-16 poop. This makes poop gathering for fertiliser much easier.

The time it takes to hatch a baby and raise it, is constant regardless of level. As such, it is recommended that you only breed very high level, kibble tamed dinos.

A refrigerator will multiply the time it takes to spoil by 100. This is useful when raising a baby, as filling a bunch of refrigerators before hand will allow you to solo hand feeding the baby.

Auto turrets (and plant turrets to a lesser degree) will shoot both grenades and rockets, detonating them before they reach the target.

You only need one male nearby in order to mate boost all females, increasing egg drop rates.

Penguins drop organic polymer. This can directly substitute for regular polymer and is easier/quicker than making regular polymer. Take a quick trip to the snow biome and save your cementing paste.

You can place a raft near all the coastal pearl sites (around 70 pearls a site) in the snow biome in order to significantly reduce gathering time. Put a small building with a box+bed and fast travel every 1-2 hours. Gather the pearls naked and place into the box. Fly out when you feel you had enough and save massively on travel times.

You can still fast travel from a bed that is on cooldown.

Rexs will fit through regular dino gates. Sarcos will not.

Large enemy/wild dinos like Rexs can damage wood/thatch buildings by walking on it. Your own dinos however cannot. This allows you to build bridges, who's ramps are made of thatch, and damage them till they are just about to break. This will allow your large dinos to walk across, but not large enemy dinos.

Buildings take 6x damage when near the entrance of a cave (both land and water).

Frogs can harvest dragonflies and ants for cementing paste.

Dragonflies are attracted to dead bodies. Killing a dino and leaving a corpse, when on a frog, will attract nearby dragonflies making farming cementing paste easier.

Dinos and smithies/vaults/boxes/auto turrets etc., will render in before regular building structures do allowing you to see the inner layout of the base for a short period of time. This can be exploited near the very limits of render range to allow extended looks/pictures.

Dinos/people will render in before surrounding scenery does. This is particularly noticeable on low view distance, so check your fire, there might be a rock in the way. You can check to see if you have an unobstructed view by using the spyglass. If the level/name of the dino/player shows up, it's all clear.

The fastest dino in game is a pteranodon. It gets 3.3% increase to movement speed per level. One that pushes this movement speed very high (around 250%-270%+) can go from one side of the island to the other in about 1 min.

Rafts don't have a carry weight. You can put as many materials on it, as you have box space. Rafts are also useful for transporting dinos and with the proper design, can easily allow 1 person to transport 6 or more Rexs at once.

You can have a dino follow the dino your are mounted on by whistling it to follow you (helped with spyglass). This allows you to create dino trains (each dino following the one in front of it) which makes moving dinos on land much easier under the current following AI.

A structure piece can only be supported 2 sections in the horizontal direction from the nearest foundation section that it is connected/below it. If that foundation is removed, every piece (and anything on top of it except vaults) that violates this rule will then break and collapse. Keep this in mind when building your base or blowing someone else's up.

Don't build metal ladders in pvp. If the surrounding building is stronger than wood, the radius of an explosive will often destroy the ladder first, making reaching upper levels by foot impossible.

[RabidBunny]

This is a great list, but the repeat tames item is just plain WRONG.  Check out the CrumpleCorn taming calculator (http://ark.crumplecorn.com/taming/) I've used this again and again with 100% results, if repeat taming times did effect the taming time, then that calculator wouldn't work.

Other than that, great list!

Also add "Press H to see your current zone name".

 

On 12/10/2015 at 11:53 AM, OurGrid said:

Repeat tames: The more you tame a certain type of dino the faster/easier it will become to tame them.