‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Patch 238 Brings 3 New Animals, Extinction Servers

After a bit of delay, ARK: Survival Evolved finally received the three promised new creatures in the PC version of the prehistoric survival game. Patch 238 was delivered late Saturday afternoon with a surprise addition of a new server type intended to try and keep things fresh in the game.

The release of patch 238 to ARK: Survival Evolved came with an April Fool’s joke from Studio Wildcard. The ARK: Survival Devolved trailer flipped the game around to have dinosaurs ride humans. Stick around, though, as the trailer gives a look at the three new animals added to the game in the latest content update.

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. The update trailer shows it is capable of destroying a stone Behemoth Gate. Expect to see Raw Prime Meat and Chitin drop when it is killed.

The third and final new animal added to ARK: Survival Evolved with the 237 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 and increased damage the faster the beast is moving. The accompanying trailer for the update shows it one-shotting a Rex. The Wooly Rhinoceros is tamable and can be killed for its Pelt and Keratin.

Possibly of more interest is the addition of what Studio Wildcard calls “Extinction Servers.” These servers will reset once a month complete with a meteor impact to signal the reset. This is in response to some ARK: Survival Evolved players seeking a fresh experience in-game instead of dealing with servers where established tribes dominate the island.

“These time-limited servers are a great way for new players to start on a level playing field and a challenging gameplay choice for those who want to see how far they can progress before the end of days! Participants will earn badges to mark their accomplishment,” Studio Wildcard explained.

The Extinction Servers are an experiment for now, so it will be interesting to see the response. It will also be worth keeping an eye out to see if these servers reach the Xbox One version of the game. The next update to ARK: Survival Evolved on the console is planned for next week and will contain the improvements from this PC patch along with the previous patch, as covered here.

Here are the complete patch notes for ARK: Survival Evolved patch 238.

• New ‘Dino’: Woolly Rhino!
• New ‘Dino’: Eurypterid!
• New ‘Dino’: Dunkleosteus!
• New “Extinction” Servers which reset after each month, with an in-game countdown and dramatic meteor impact!
• Fixed Wild Beaver Dams Spawns

Breeding Mechanics Phase 2 were pulled from the update at the last moment, once again. Studio Wildcard did not give any details on what that might entail. It does not include aquatic mating, though, as that is still listed as a future update. Additionally, the listing for “Tribe Member Ranking with Customizable Per-Rank Privileges” also was pulled, though there are few details on those priviledges at the moment. It’s expected to allow a tribe admin to restrict what actions tribe members can take based on their rank. This would allow an admin to prevent a new player from destroying walls, for example.

The Basilosaurus was also not included with this update.

[Image via Studio Wildcard]