Studio Wildcard has turned its attention back to new patches for ARK: Survival Evolved now that ARK: Survival of the Fittest has successfully been split off into a separate game . Patch 237.0 was detailed by the developer Friday with plans for a release to the PC next week.
The seas surrounding The Island in ARK: Survival Evolved will get a little busier with the 237.0 patch. Two new creatures will be added to the game that will make the waters a bit more dangerous and rewarding.
The Eurypterid is like an underwater version of the Giant Scorpion. It can’t be tamed, but it is a good source of Chitin and Silica Pearls. Its inclusion also suggests Black Pearls will be added with this patch, although the rare item is not listed in the patch notes yet.
It will be joined by a tamable and rideable armored fish called the Dunkleosteus. It’s not particularly fast, but it comes with a set of powerful jaws that can be used to harvest stone and oil in the depths of the ocean or chew through any other seaborne creature. Expect to see Raw Prime Meat and Chitin to drop when it is killed.
The third and final new animal added to ARK: Survival Evolved with the 237.0 patch is the Wooly Rhinoceros. This beast will be found in the snowy Whitesky Peak area of The Island along with some of the grassland regions. As expected, its horn and armor make it formidable in a fight with a possible charge attack with damage increased the faster it is moving. The Wooly Rhinoceros is tamable and can be killed for its Pelt and Keratin.
More changes are coming to ARK: Survival Evolved beyond the addition of new prehistoric animals. The Snow and Swamp caves that were taken out of the 236 patch due to performance issues are now back in. Ironically, it was work performed on Survival of the Fittest that discovered the solution to the performance issues, according to a Reddit post by Community Manager and Associate Producer Jat Karunakaran responding to complaints by players who fear Survival Evolved might be abandoned.
Another previously pulled update will also be included in the next ARK patch. The second phase of Breeding Mechanics will be introduced. There’s no confirmation of what this entails, but it is thought to include penalties for inbreeding animals along with possible mutations of some sort. Mating for aquatic animals is still down the road.
The 237.0 patch notes also mention “Tribe Member Rankings with Customizable Per-Rank Privileges.” Presumably, this means you can set up a new tribe member with a low rank to prevent them from destroying structures or releasing tamed animals. It will be interesting to see the full details of this.
The current patch notes for the ARK: Survival Evolved 237.0 update can be found below. It is estimated to be released on Wednesday, March 23. Don’t be shocked if that date slips based on the last few releases.
- New “Dino”: Woolly Rhino!
- New “Dino”: Eurypterid!
- New “Dino”: Dunkleosteus!
- Snow and Swamp caves
- Breeding Mechanics Phase 2
- Tribe Member Rankings with Customizable Per-Rank Privileges
- Increased Server Performance
The notes include an annotation noting there is more to come. Hopefully, this includes a fix for the issue of players unable to harvest resources while riding an animal. The issue was acknowledged by Jat as something Studio Wildcard is aware of and working on.
Xbox One owners will have the same new creatures and features to look forward to in the 733.0 update to the console version of ARK: Survival Evolved . Details for it haven’t been released yet by the developer, but expect it within a couple of weeks after the PC release of patch 237.0.
[Image via Studio Wildcard]