Deciding Story Maps, Valguero, or Fjordur

[GrouchyMace]

So I’m debating and looking for input I’m thinking of either going through the story mode maps in order or picking valguero or fjordur. A little bit about what I enjoy in the game. I like water tames, I have a fondness for setting my bases up in harsh environments I.e snow biome, redwood or deserts for ultimate challenge. I am more fond of land Dino’s than Flyers. Maps I like to explore on land more than flying so I tend to like the smaller maps. Any thoughts as I’m terribly indecisive lol

 

edit: I play exclusively single player on xbox

 

[wizard03]

have to admit, I like the smaller maps too. Big ones can be a little overwhelming. 12-20 caves is too many

Honestly the story maps run is lovely for fresh runs up till about extinction. Extinction kinda feels like its putting you on the spot to bring over dino's from previous maps. Gotta have a giga for drops, gotta have a rex just to wander around.....argies, ankies, ect. ect. is ok to tame up and use early on, but if you try to do anything "above" the run of the mill farming and bob stuffs, your going to have to have some high grade/quality tames. Typically already well bred lines are needed to just do one of the many events, and while I get it. This was a map to test those who was already very well established in other maps, but it was also estimated to be the last map too.....So all of it was supposed to be "end game, end story, last hoorah"
Because of this, extinction, gen 1 and gen 2 kinda feel like its "anti fresh spawn" Id even be willing to suspect thats its why a lot of youtubers avoid doing any maps after aberration for their 100 days challange.

But if your more interested in a water play through, fjordur is a lot larger on the underwater front. And even has the neat space biome in an underwater cave. So if your not interested in the story mode, you may want to give fjordur a run.

[Pipinghot]

10 hours ago, GrouchyMace said:

So I’m debating and looking for input I’m thinking of either going through the story mode maps in order or picking valguero or fjordur.

First a couple of questions about your goals:

1) Are you single-player or public servers?

2) If you do the story maps, are you planning to have a single main base and then jump from map to map using dinos you've already tamed and maybe done some breeding, or are you planning to play each map separately, starting each map with a new character at Lvl 1?

[GrouchyMace]

I plan on playing single player only and story map I hadn’t quite decided on how to go about it what I was thinking of is starting on the island then loading my survivor up and moving him from map to map and then once I been through all the maps end up on a custom map and make that home.

[Griffin998]

I'd personally suggest just testing out what maps you want to do, then deciding. What I do personally is just go on each in creative and check out their spawns, the world, etc. I started off exclusively on the Island, but then Fjordur happened. Now, I only really play on Fjordur, with a few occasional jumpps back to the Island. To be fair, I haven't gotten any of the other story maps, because I haven't finished my Island ascension, and would rather ascend than just buy them all. But I like Fjordur too, which may leave you with a dilemma. But I still stick with my recommendation. The custom maps (valguero, ragnarok, etc) are all really beautiful and really nicely designed, and some, like lost island and fjordur, give you a taste of all the other maps in one. Val has aberrant cave, Ragnarok has deserts, plains, and forests, and creatures vary by map too-between LI and Fjordur, we have almost all the dlc creatures for free. Again, it's really up to you to decide.

Good luck deciding, and happy ARKing!

[Pipinghot]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:27 AM, GrouchyMace said:

I plan on playing single player only and story map I hadn’t quite decided on how to go about it what I was thinking of is starting on the island then loading my survivor up and moving him from map to map and then once I been through all the maps end up on a custom map and make that home.

It basically comes down to whether you want to visit the maps like a tourist or to feel like you've actually lived on them, so to speak. Which is to say, are you someone who likes to spend time exploring and discovering things about the maps for yourself, or do you just want to know each map ahead of time by reading about them and then "beat" each map as quickly as you can?

Jumping on to a map with a bunch of high level tames, high quality equipment and resources stored in the obelisks is a different experience from just jumping into the map with only your character and then having to work your way through the map. Each of the maps has a different feeling, with different resources being easier or harder to get on each one.

If you just want to briefly visit each map and beat it as efficiently as possible then you want to pick one of them to be your "main" map, build up a base there and then use that base full of all your best stuff to supply you while you temporarily jump into the other maps just long enough to visit them and quickly beat them. But if you like to fully experience a map, to see what makes each of them interesting on their own terms, then you'll have more fun if the only thing you take through the obelisk is your character. No armor, no equipment, just keep whatever levels you've earned and start each map from scratch.

No one can tell you how you're supposed to enjoy the game, the beauty of single-player is that you can make it as hard or as easy as you want. In addition to being able to customize your settings there are a wealth of mods to choose from. You might want to use some mods on every map (like S+ or a spyglass mod) and then you might want to have other mods that you only use for a single map (like some of the architecture mods feel like they fit in better on certain maps).

It all comes down to what story you want to tell as you play the game, and how you want to experience each map.