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ARK: Survival Ascended Gameplay Video
ARK: Survival Ascended Key Specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5 |
| Developer | Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games |
| Publisher | Snail Games USA |
| Release Date | October 25, 2023 |
| Platforms | PC (Steam, Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
ARK: Survival Ascended System Requirements
1080p
tune Minimum – Low Preset, 1080p (30-45 FPS with Upscaling)
tune Recommended – Medium/High Preset, 1080p (60 FPS Target with Upscaling)
1440p
tune Enthusiast – High/Epic Preset, 1440p (60+ FPS Target with Upscaling)
2160p
tune Ultra – Epic Preset, 4K (60 FPS with Upscaling)
Hardware Below These Requirements?
Play ARK: Survival Ascended on Boosteroid Cloud Gaming in 1080p or 4K 60FPS on any PC, Mac, or phone with zero hardware upgrades.
ARK: Survival Ascended Laptop Recommendations
cloud 1080p / 4K 60FPS
flash_on Zero Install / Storage
devices Any Laptop or Phone
Instant Access
memory Intel Core i7-12700H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 140W
storage 32GB DDR4-3200MHz
US $1349
Model: MSI Pulse GL66 with RTX 3070 and i7 12th Gen
memory CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H (Score: 900)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (Score: 6600) @ 140W TGP
storage RAM: 32GB DDR4-3200MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i9-13900H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 140W
storage 16GB DDR5-5200MHz
US $999
Model: Acer Nitro V with RTX 4060 and i9 13th Gen
memory CPU: Intel Core i9-13900H (Score: 1058)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Score: 6700) @ 140W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR5-5200MHz
save Storage: 512GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i9-14900HX
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 140W
storage 32GB DDR5-5600MHz
US $1749
Model: Lenovo Legion Pro 5i (i9-14900HX, RTX 4060)
memory CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX (Score: 1200)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Score: 6700) @ 140W TGP
storage RAM: 32GB DDR5-5600MHz
save Storage: 2000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i9-12900H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 150W
storage 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
US $1397
Model: Asus Rog Strix Scar 15 with RTX 3070 Ti and i9 12th Gen
memory CPU: Intel Core i9-12900H (Score: 1030)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (Score: 7100) @ 150W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 2560 x 1440 (QHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i5-12450H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 75W
storage 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
US $645
Model: HP Victus 15 with RTX 3050 and i5 12th Gen
memory CPU: Intel Core i5-12450H (Score: 628)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (Score: 7220) @ 75W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i5-12500H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 80W
storage 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
US $710
Model: Acer Nitro 5 with RTX 3050 Ti and i5 12th Gen
memory CPU: Intel Core i5-12500H (Score: 633)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (Score: 7220) @ 80W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
save Storage: 512GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 75W
storage 32GB DDR5-4800MHz
US $799
Model: ASUS TUF A15 with RTX 3050 and Ryzen 7
memory CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (Score: 1655)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (Score: 7220) @ 75W TGP
storage RAM: 32GB DDR5-4800MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory AMD Ryzen 7 6800H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 140W
storage 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
US $1299
Model: ASUS ROG Strix G15 with RTX 3060 and Ryzen 7
memory CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (Score: 880)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (Score: 7448) @ 140W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 1920 x 1080 (FHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 100W
storage 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
US $1489
Model: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 Ultra with RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9
memory CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS (Score: 820)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (Score: 7904) @ 100W TGP
storage RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 2560 x 1440 (QHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
memory Intel Core i7-13620H
developer_board NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
storage 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
US $1350
Model: MSI Katana 15 with RTX 4070
memory CPU: Intel Core i7-13620H (Score: 843)
developer_board GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (Score: 8700)
storage RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800MHz
save Storage: 1000GB NVMe
desktop_windows Display: 2560 x 1440 (QHD)
Meets criteria for tier: 1080p - Minimum (Low Preset, 1080p).
-
Core Requirements
- desktop_windowsOperating System: Windows 10 / Windows 11 (64-bit) with latest updates
Requires a 64-bit OS for modern memory management and DirectX 12 API support, which is the backbone for UE5's advanced rendering features.
- memoryDirectX: DirectX 12
Mandatory for Unreal Engine 5 features such as Lumen and Nanite, enabling highly detailed meshes and dynamic lighting.
- save_altStorage Note: 70 GB available space (Solid State Drive Required)
An NVMe SSD is strictly required to stream high-resolution textures, complex base structures, and seamless map loading without devastating hitches or crashes.
settings_applications Optimization Notes:
Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, and XeSS are heavily supported and essentially required for maintaining a stable 60 FPS, even on high-end hardware.
Key Settings: Global Illumination, Volumetric Clouds, and Advanced Shadows will severely impact performance. Lowering volumetric clouds yields the highest FPS boost for struggling GPUs.
ARK: Survival Ascended: Map Size and Regions
Rank #1
It features distinct biomes ranging from dense tropical jungles, redwood forests with massive climbable trees, deadly irradiated swamplands, and freezing, snow-capped mountains. The map also includes complex underwater ecosystems and deep, hazardous cave systems filled with rare artifacts, leading to massive instanced boss arenas. Future DLC maps scale even larger, offering distinct environmental hazards like volcanic eruptions and aberrant radiation.
ARK: Survival Ascended: Post-Launch Content / DLC
ARK: Survival Ascended: Skills & Upgrades Overview
ARK: Survival Ascended: Game Editions
ARK: Survival Ascended: Cross-Platform / Crossplay
ARK: Survival Ascended: Top 5 Weapons (Subjective/Iconic)
'Fabricated Sniper Rifle', a crucial long
range weapon utilized in both hunting large predators and PvP base defense.
'Pump
Action Shotgun', essential for tight cave runs and clearing out swarms of aggressive insects or smaller carnivores.
'Crossbow', a highly versatile early
to-mid game weapon capable of firing tranquilizer arrows necessary for taming the game's toughest beasts.
Rank #4
'Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG)', the great equalizer used in PvP raids to blow open enemy metal gates and destroy defensive turrets.
end
game 'Tek Rifle', an advanced sci-fi energy weapon that fires explosive plasma bursts, powered by the game's rare Element resource.
ARK: Survival Ascended: Specific Game Elements
Explore in-depth equipment, cast, combat mechanics, and world collectibles documented for ARK: Survival Ascended:
ARK: Survival Ascended Weapons
An early-game staple that remains useful forever, largely due to its ability to fire under water and deliver potent tranquilizer arrows to knock out dinosaurs.
An advanced, scope-equipped rifle crucial for picking off enemy tribe members during base raids or safely aggroing dangerous predators from a distance.
A devastatingly powerful weapon at short range, practically mandatory for surviving the tight, claustrophobic caverns filled with aggressive arthropods.
The primary tool of destruction in PvP, used to blow open heavily fortified metal base walls and destroy automated auto-turrets.
An end-game rifle unlocked by defeating bosses; it fires explosive plasma rounds that require the rare resource 'Element' for ammunition, capable of leveling structures and melting armor.
ARK: Survival Ascended Vehicles
An upgraded, gasoline-powered metal boat that moves significantly faster than the wooden raft and can support heavier, more fortified base structures.
A player-crafted wooden platform that can be sailed across the oceans. Players can snap structures onto it, turning it into a mobile, floating base.
ARK: Survival Ascended Animals / Creatures
Role: A gargantuan herbivore that can be equipped with a 'Platform Saddle', allowing players to build mobile, walking fortresses on its back.
Role: A newly introduced creature for Ascended that 'swims' through the sand dunes of Scorched Earth, utilized for ambushing enemies and rapidly traversing deserts.
Role: The largest and deadliest predator on the map. It is primarily tamed as the ultimate PvP siege engine, boasting an enrage mechanic that massively increases its damage output when hurt.
ARK: Survival Ascended Characters
Lore Biologist
An Australian biologist from the modern era who meticulously documented the artificial ecosystems of the Arks, eventually ascending to become a higher-dimensional being.
Antagonist / Lore Chemist
A brilliant 19th-century scientist who became obsessed with the power of 'Element', mutating himself into a horrifying, god-like monster to dominate the Arks.
Player Character
A customizable, blank-slate human cloned and dropped onto the Ark with a mysterious diamond-shaped implant embedded in their wrist.
workspace_premium Top 3 Characters
'Helena Walker', a modern
day Australian biologist whose detailed notes and creature dossiers serve as the player's primary guide to the ecosystem.
'Sir Edmund Rockwell', a brilliant 19th
century London chemist whose descent into madness and obsession with the alien element transforms him into the franchise's overarching antagonist.
'Mei
Yin Li', a fierce warrior from 3rd century China known as the 'Beast Queen' for her unparalleled ability to tame and command armies of the deadliest carnivores.
ARK: Survival Ascended Missions / Objectives
Objective: Capture high-level wild creatures and breed generations of offspring to stack stat mutations (Health, Melee), creating a super-powered army capable of fighting bosses.
Objective: Gather all artifacts, defeat the three planetary guardians (Broodmother, Megapithecus, Dragon), and brave the volcanic Tek Cave to fight the AI controlling the Ark.
Objective: Gather fundamental resources (wood, thatch, stone) to construct a secure shelter with a bed, providing a safe respawn point and protection from nocturnal predators.
workspace_premium Top 3 Missions/Objectives
Rank #1
'Tame Your
Mount', the crucial early
game objective of knocking out and domesticating a creature (like a Parasaur or Raptor) to significantly boost travel speed and resource gathering.
'Secure Artifacts in the Caves', a perilous mid
game loop requiring players to navigate trap-filled dungeons crawling with mega-rabies-infected bats and spiders.
'Conquer the Overseer', the ultimate end
game objective where players take their bred army of apex predators into the Tek Cave inside the volcano to defeat the island's ultimate AI boss and 'ascend' to the next map.
ARK: Survival Ascended Companions / Summons
Ability: Can be carried on the player's shoulder. It provides massive insulation against freezing temperatures and is the only creature capable of carrying multiple Artifacts at once.
Ability: A shoulder-mounted companion that functions as a living jetpack and parachute, allowing the player to glide across massive gaps and safely descend from great heights.
ARK: Survival Ascended Collectibles
Location/Use: Glowing, alien relics located at the deepest, most dangerous points of the island's natural cave systems, defended by deadly swarms of insects and bats.
Location/Use: A highly radioactive, advanced alien resource strictly obtained by defeating the colossal end-game bosses, used to power the futuristic Tek technology tier.
Location/Use: Hidden in ancient ruins, broken chests, and hollowed trees across the map. Finding one grants a significant, temporary multiplier to earned experience.
workspace_premium Top 3 Collectibles
Rank #1
are 'Explorer Notes', hidden dossiers and diary entries scattered across the map that piece together the lore of previous survivors (like Helena Walker and Sir Edmund Rockwell) while granting a massive temporary XP boost.
Rank #2
are 'Artifacts', glowing relics hidden deep within perilous cave systems, which are strictly required to summon the island's massive boss monsters.
are 'Chibi
Pets', rare, cosmetic mini-dinosaurs obtained during seasonal events that can be leveled up to permanently increase the player's level cap.
ARK: Survival Ascended Armor
Focus/Stats: High Physical Defense, Low Thermal Resistance; The standard mid-game combat armor crafted from metal ingots, essential for surviving direct confrontations.
Focus/Stats: Low Defense, Massive Cold Resistance; Bulky pelts stitched together, strictly required to survive the freezing temperatures of the northern Snow Biome.
Focus/Stats: Maximum Defense, Special Abilities; Powered by Element, this end-game sci-fi suit features a jetpack, night vision helmet, and super-speed leggings, completely transforming how players traverse the map.
ARK: Survival Ascended Clothing / Appearance
Options: Basic woven fibers providing minimal protection but crucial heat dissipation for surviving the sweltering tropical beaches.
Options: Crafted from organic polymer and leaves, this suit provides excellent heat resistance and reduces the aggression radius of wild predators, perfect for stealthy taming.
Options: Includes an oxygen tank and flippers, granting the player vastly increased swim speed and unlimited underwater breathing to explore the ocean depths.
ARK: Survival Ascended: Other Features & Info
- labelMultiplayer ModesThe core experience is defined by Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) servers holding up to 70-100 players. These servers are split strictly into Player vs.Environment (PvE), where tribes cooperate to build and defeat bosses without fear of raiding, and ruthless Player vs. Player (PvP), where massive wars are fought over territory, resources, and alpha status.Players can also host private dedicated servers, run non-dedicated co-op sessions with friends, or play entirely offline in single-player mode.
- labelUser InterfaceThe UI received a significant modernization in Ascended, moving away from the clunky menus of the original game to a sleek, transparent, and highly customizable HUD.It features a hotbar for quick item access, dynamic crosshairs, and cleaner inventory management systems that make sorting thousands of resources significantly easier.The tracking menu for tamed dinosaurs has been vastly improved, allowing players to set waypoints, track lost tames via a map UI, and easily manage massive breeding operations.
- labelSound and MusicThe soundscape is a major component of survival.The audio engine has been overhauled to provide realistic directional audio, meaning players can hear the terrifying, heavy footsteps of an approaching Tyrannosaurus Rex echoing through the jungle canopy before they see it.The game features an iconic, soaring orchestral soundtrack composed by Gareth Coker, which dynamically swells during intense combat encounters or when sunrise breaks over the prehistoric horizon.
- labelGraphics and VisualsVisually, ARK: Survival Ascended is a generational leap.Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it utilizes Nanite to render millions of polygons for incredibly detailed rocks, trees, and dinosaur scales without traditional LOD pop-in.Lumen global illumination provides realistic lighting that dynamically bounces off water and reacts to the changing day/night cycle.Water simulation physics realistically deform as massive creatures wade through rivers, and dense, interactive foliage parts realistically as players run through the brush.
- labelAccessibility FeaturesThe game includes various accessibility options such as scalable UI elements, fully customizable keybinds and controller layouts, adjustable field of view (FOV), and toggles for head bobbing and camera shake to prevent motion sickness.Additionally, players can heavily modify server settings in single-player or private servers, allowing them to drastically increase taming speeds, harvest rates, or decrease difficulty, tailoring the gruelling survival experience to their personal preferences.
- labelStory and SettingPlayers awaken completely naked, freezing, and starving on the shores of a mysterious, prehistoric island known as The Ark.Surrounded by untamed jungles, deadly swamplands, and freezing mountain peaks, survivors must quickly learn to hunt, craft, and build to stay alive.As players delve deeper into the island's treacherous caves and unlock ancient obelisks, they discover that The Ark is not a natural landmass but a massive, artificially constructed space station.The lore, uncovered through scattered explorer notes left by previous survivors, reveals that these Arks are advanced, floating ecological preserves created by humanity to escape a corrupted Earth and test the ultimate resilience of the human spirit.
- labelTop 3 Mounts/Companionslooks_one Rank #1
Rank #1
'Tyrannosaurus Rex', the quintessential apex predator and the absolute backbone of any end-game boss-fighting army due to its massive health pool and devastating bite.
looks_two Rank #2Rank #2
'Pteranodon', the essential
looks_3 Rank #3Rank #3
flying mount that drastically changes the game, allowing players to safely scout bases, transport goods, and bypass dangerous ground terrain.
looks_4 Rank #4Rank #4
'Argentavis', a giant eagle that serves as the ultimate utility flyer, possessing massive weight capacity, stamina, and the ability to pick up smaller wild creatures to drop them into safe taming pens.