‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Patch 240 Hits PC, Adds Gorilla Boss Fight And Lovable New Creatures

ARK: Survival Evolved received a hefty update to the PC version of the dinosaur survival game Wednesday. Patch 240 has been deployed and adds a collection of new creatures to tame and fight, a new weapon to help hunt down animals, and a new boss arena for the giant gorilla, Megapithecus, and more.

The latest update to ARK: Survival Evolved adds three diverse creatures with very different uses – the Arthropluera, Lystrosaurus, and Sabertooth Salmon.

The Arthropluera is a giant millipede-type creature that can be tamed and turned into a war mount. The creature crawls somewhat creepily along the ground. It also prefers raw meat, according to its dossier, for those who want to get a jump on taming it. It comes with some unique defenses. The giant insect has acidic blood that can damage attackers and can also spit acid blood, perfect for wearing down the armor of enemies.

The Lystrosaurs falls into the cute and useful categories in the world of ARK. The four-legged herbivore is quite docile but resilient. It has a high health and torpor recovery, which bodes for a difficult tame. However, the animal not only can gain experience quickly for itself, it also gives nearby allies an experience bonus too. Plus, it can do backflips.

Sabertooth Salmon cannot be tamed, but they do introduce a new resource into ARK: Survival Evolved – Fish Meat. These fish are larger than Coel and Mega Piranha but will not attack unless provoked. This can attract an entire school to lock on to the offending party with their long teeth to drain speed and stamina, which can be dangerous when swimming underwater.

Those tired of chasing fast creatures around The Island can rejoice at the addition of the Primitive Bola. This weapon can be thrown at smaller creatures in ARK to ensnare and stop them from moving. It is even capable of bringing down some flying creatures, such as the Pteranodon, and other players too. It will be interesting to see players test just how big the animals this new utility item will work against.

Higher level player who have tested their mettle against the Brood Mother and her new arena in the previous update, have a new challenge with the ARK: Survival Evolved patch 240. The Megapithicus boss arena has been added. Survivors will need to venture to the obelisk at Whitesky Peak and perform the ritual. This will transport all involved to the new arena to battle the Megapithicus and his monkey minions. Be aware that it does not appear that large dinosaurs will be transported, similar to the Broodmother fight.

Meanwhile, Tribe Member Rankings have finally made it after being cut from the last couple of patches. This allows Tribe leaders to set up different ranks and assign custom privileges.

“This enables Tribes to create arbitrary ‘Sub-Groups’ within their Tribe, name them, and give them all kinds of detailed rank-based access privileges on your structures, inventories, and creatures. Effectively you can now create your very own caste-based society, with Kings, Nobles, Lords, and Serfs, etc!” Studio Wild Card Community Manager Jat Karunakaran explained.

Unfortunately, there were some new features that did not make it into ARK: Survival Evolved with patch 240. The oft-delayed Breeding Mechanics Phase 2 will have to wait along with the Dragon Arena. Also missing from the originally planned notes include 4K textures plus ruins and Explorer Notes to discover.

You can find the official patch notes of what was added to the PC version of ARK: Survival Evolved via the 240 update below.

• New Creature: Lystrosaurus!
• New Creature: Arthropluera!
• New Creature: Sabertooth Salmon, with Fish Meat!
• New Weapon: Primitive Bolas!
• Megapithecus Arenas
• Tribe Member Rankings with Customizable Per-Rank Privileges
• Added Option to Disable Melee Camera Swings (including ‘Harvesting Head Wobble’)

Xbox One owners can look forward to the next update of ARK: Survival Evolved around May 15. Studio Wildcard is targeting that date to add the contents from patch 240 and patch 239. This will also be the introduction of official mods with The Center map coming to official servers.

[Image via Studio Wildcard]