‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Gets Big Dino TLC Update With T-Rex Roar That Makes You Poop Plus A Creative Mode

ARK: Survival Evolved on the PC received a major update Saturday that brings a graphical and ability refresh to a handful of creatures plus a major balance update to other dinosaurs. The developers at Studio Wildcard have also added a long-requested creative mode to allow players to build and craft to their heart’s content.

PC patch 278 is now available to download for ARK: Survival Evolved owners via Steam and represents the first of many “TLC” updates to the open-world survival title’s dinosaurs and creatures. Studio Wildcard is now taking the time to give some much-needed tweaks to some of the older beasts now that the game has been officially released and the Aberration expansion has launched.

PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players should expect the same update to arrive within the next few weeks.

TLC Update

The Procoptodon (aka Kangaroo), Gigantopithecus, Dire Bear, Dire Wolf, and the Rex all received graphical and animation updates along with some new abilities. Perhaps the most hilarious of the new abilities is the Rex’s roar causing non-allied creatures and players to poop. Additionally, creatures will also receive a brief stun effect that will stop them in their tracks. However, the roar will only work on creatures below the Rex’s level.

Other ability changes include the Procoptodon being able to carry smaller creatures and baby dinos in its pouch. The giant kangaroo also gains a knockback kick, which can be used against larger dinos, and an aimed jump. The pouch has other benefits too such as lower food consumption for characters being carried by mate-boosted females. Baby imprints gain more affinity while being carried too.

Meanwhile, the Gigantopithecus’ attack will now reduce armor durability plus it can now jump and climb ziplines. It is also capable of carrying and throwing smaller creatures.

The Dire Bear has some minor tweaks dealing with bees in ARK: Survival Evolved. The insects will not target players riding the creature and the massive bear will also be able to harvest three times the honey from wild beehives without attracting bees.

Finally, the Direwolf receives a pack buff similar to the pack mechanic used with Allosaurus. When the Alpha Direwolf howls, the entire pack will receive a buff for 90 seconds. It also has a useful ability to sniff out nearby explorer notes along with finding hidden creatures that are underground or using stealth.

There is no word on when the next TLC pass will come to ARK: Survival Evolved, but Studio Wildcard confirmed the Sarco will be one of the creatures receiving a graphical refresh and new abilities. This includes an oft-requested death roll attack plus the ability to attack directly behind itself.

Turret Limits

Studio Wildcard warned that turret limits are coming and they have arrived with ARK: Survival Evolved‘s patch 278 release. Players will no longer be able to place more than 100 turrets within a 10k unit radius. Existing turret layouts with more than 100 turrets will continue to function normally until February 18. Random turrets will be turned off then in order to meet the required threshold.

As previously explained, the developer elected to implement the limit due to the negative impact a large number of turrets in a small area were having on game servers. A large, more powerful turret was also introduced.

Creature Balances

The Stegosaurus received 30 percent damage reduction to help compensate for the reduced number of turrets. Meanwhile, the Dunky sees its bullet resistance dropped by 40 percent and its resistance to all other damage by 60 percent.

The Brontosaurus’ hit points were hit hard with a nerf. The base hit points were reduced by 10 percent and the amount of hit points gained with each level were reduced by 33 percent. Similar hit point nerfs were applied to the Paracer and Tuso.

Those are the most notable nerfs, but ARK: Survival Evolved players will be happy to hear Gigas are no longer enraged from fall damage and the Pegomastax will no longer steal Artifacts from players.

Creative Mode

ARK: Survival Evolved players have long asked for a Creative Mode in the game and Studio Wildcard took the first step with patch 278. It’s not quite to the level of Minecraft as players will need to enable it through an admin command. This will unlock all engrams as well as remove all weight restrictions and crafting requirements to enable players to craft and build however they want.