Recent ‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Updates Hit Xbox One, New Crafting Skill Plus Lots Of Bug Fixes And More

ARK: Survival Evolved for the Xbox One received a major update late Friday that combines the last two PC patches into one. This brings a huge list of bug fixes to the open-world dinosaur survival game along with some significant changes like a new skill for crafting and one-time re-spec of all characters, a new sabertooth model, and more.

Update 756 is available to download now for ARK: Survival Evolved Xbox One owners. It is approximately 16.6 GB so plan your download and hard drive space accordingly.

While the Xbox One update was able to make it out of certification quickly, the PS4 version was not. The same update for Sony’s console will likely land early next week. Both consoles will receive the new Ragnarok map in a separate update currently scheduled for Tuesday, July 4.

Note that Studio Wildcard has already discovered a couple of issues in the 756 update for ARK: Survival Evolved update. A server memory issue is causing crashes on official servers with numerous large bases. Additionally, there are issues with the inventory and sky not displaying properly. These are anticipated to be fixed with another update on Monday.

Here are the major highlights of the ARK: Survival Evolved 756 update for the Xbox One. For a complete list of all changes, see the 759 and 760 PC patch notes posted to the official website.

New Crafting Skill

ARK: Survival Evolved swapped out the Crafting Speed skill with a new Crafting skill. Instead of only determining how fast items are crafted, this new skill will give a chance to increase the quality of the item. The higher the skill, the greater the chance of a better quality item being produced.

The new Crafting skill necessitated a one-time re-spec of all characters. Additionally, the developers have changed the Mindwipe tonic so that it can only be applied once per level up. This is to prevent players from exploiting the tonic and the new Craftking skill and was one of the more controversial changes when released on PC.

Changes to ARK Animals

The Tapejara is the latest dinosaur to receive a Tek saddle with this patch. The sci-fi saddle will require players to gather the Element material to craft, but it will allow the bird to shoot lasers from its head.

The Sabertooth received an all new in-game model and some tweaks. It can now harvest more hide and pelt, making it the preferred beast to do so in the game. The developers also reduced the amount of fall damage it takes.

To help make the Sabertooth the superior pelt and hide harvester, the Dire Wolf took a 15 percent reduction in the amount of the two it harvests. It is still better than all of the other carnivores in the game but is now second to the big cat.

Hope you guys like the new kitty! Comes with superior hide and pelt gathering, and reduced fall damage. ? pic.twitter.com/ARxuwKqSRa

— Jennifer Stuber (@bubblywums) June 30, 2017

The Ankylo will now gather berries using the alternate fire instead of the primary fire. Meanwhile, the aggro range of the Manta has been reduced and Eurypterid spawn numbers have been increased by 50 percent.

Major dinosaur changes include wild dinos no longer fleeing into walls or water. Studio Wildcard also re-balanced the speed gained per level for all creatures. Meanwhile, the Therizino sees its gather rate reduced, Dimetrodon’s insulation ability gets a buff, and Gigas see a base damage nerf.

There are numerous other little tweaks to dinosaurs like Studio Wildcard making sure all animals have proper swim animations and will generate the correct sounds when walking on land or through water and jumping. Additionally, all land creatures can now use their attack while in the water.

Alpha creatures have been given additional unique loot drops. This includes the Giga Heart, Basilo Blubber, Spino Sail, Yuty Lungs, Allo Brain, Therizino Claws, Thylaleo Hook-Claw, Megalania Toxin, Sarco Skin, and Titanoboa Venom.

Finally, players can now fish from the back of the Pelagornis when riding the big bird in the water.

Changes to ARK Structures

The Tek Tier received a balancing pass with the addition of the Tek Trough, which keeps food refrigerated so it doesn’t spoil as quickly like with the regular Trough.

The Tek Generator now uses fewer resources than before to run while the Tek Teleporter no longer requires the Element resource to use. This is good news for higher-level players as the cost of using Tek structures was prohibitive even for large tribes.

Some building exploits in ARK: Survival Evolved were also addressed by Studio Wildcard. Players will no longer be allowed to build multiple floors underneath rafts and platform saddles.

In a nice quality of life upgrade for builders, a placement outline has been placed on structures to indicate the direction facing via color change.

Changes to ARK Weapons

One tweak to the slingshot was included in the ARK: Survival Evolved 260 patch. The weapon was hit with a 25 percent torpor reduction. This will affect the early game for many players as the slingshot is typically used to knock out an animal to tame.

The only other weapon change is an increase in volume for the spear when it hits a target.

Changes to ARK Singleplayer

Single-player specific difficulty settings have been added to ARK: Survival Evolved. Single players and player-run servers also have a new option to disable structure placement collision. This will allow structures to “clip” into the ground and elsewhere where they previously could not.

Those that like to go it alone in ARK: Survival Evolved will also see the automatic creation of tribes, an increase in crop growth speed, and a doubling of the rate of consumption of gasoline and element by the regular generator and the Tek generator. Additionally, the cost to make gasoline has been increased to six oil and five hide to produce five gasoline.

Other Changes

Another significant change is a beam of light to mark a player’s fallen corpse when they die. This is enabled by default on all official servers, and player-run servers will need to turn the feature on deliberately.

The music of ARK: Survival Evolved received a significant refresh. Studio Wildcard re-recorded the game’s soundtrack, composed by Gareth Coker, using a live orchestra at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, England.

Days now last 25 percent longer, Tek rifles will not work during thunderstorms, fishing rod effectiveness has dropped by 35 percent, among many changes.

[Featured Image by Studio Wildcard]