The First Hours
When you wake up on the beach, you have three immediate enemies: hunger, thirst, and the environment.
💡 The Golden Rule of Spawn
Always choose "South Zone 1" or "South Zone 2" when starting on The Island. The north is freezing cold and packed with carnivores.
Immediate Actions
- Punch a Tree: It hurts, but you need Wood and Thatch. Don't overdo it or you'll die of health loss.
- Pick up Stones: Walk along the beach and press E (or equivalent) to pick up loose stones.
- Craft a Pickaxe: Open your inventory, go to the Crafting tab, and craft a Stone Pick.
- Drink Water: Walk into the ocean or a river until you are waist-deep and press E to drink.
- Pick Berries: Walk up to bushes and press E repeatedly. Eat Mejoberries, Tintoberries, and Amarberries. Avoid Narcoberries (black) and Stimberries (white).
Basic Crafting & Engrams
As you do anything (harvest, craft, kill), you gain XP. When you level up, you get Engram Points (EP) to unlock crafting recipes.
Essential Early Engrams
Gathers more Wood from trees and Hide from corpses.
Your first real weapon. Craft at least 3, as they break easily.
Essential for cooking raw meat and keeping warm at night.
The most important early item. Stops small/medium dinos from moving for 30 seconds.
Your First Tames
ARK is impossible alone. You need dinosaurs to harvest resources and defend you.
1. The Dodo (Food Farm)
Punch it in the head until it passes out. Put Mejoberries in its inventory. It tames in a few minutes. Female dodos drop eggs which are great early food.
2. The Moschops (Harvester)
A passive tame. Walk up to it and feed it whatever it asks for (usually a specific berry or meat). It is a cowardly but excellent early mount for gathering fiber and berries. You don't even need a saddle to ride it!
3. The Parasaur (Beast of Burden)
Throw a Bola at its legs to stop it from running away. Hit it in the head with a Wooden Club until it sleeps. Feed it Mejoberries. It can carry a lot of weight and has an alarm system to detect enemies.
Building a Base
Your first night will be cold and dangerous. You need a shelter.
- Thatch (Lvl 4): Very weak, but cheap. Build a 2x2 foundation hut to survive the first night. Don't stay here long; a raptor can break it.
- Wood (Lvl 11): Stronger, but takes a lot of resources. Crafting a Moschops or Castoroides will help you gather wood fast.
- Stone (Lvl 24): This is your goal. Most wild dinosaurs cannot damage stone structures. Once you have a stone base, you are safe from 90% of the game's threats.
⚠️ The Simple Bed (Lvl 4)
Place a Simple Bed inside your base immediately. If you die, you can respawn at your bed instead of a random beach.
Predators to Avoid
If you see these dinosaurs in your first few hours, turn around and run.
They run faster than you and attack in packs. If one jumps on you, you are dead. Counter them by throwing a Bola at them and running away.
Looks like a giant bird with Edward Scissorhands claws. It is a herbivore, but fiercely territorial. It will shred you and your thatch house to pieces in seconds.
Small, glowing eyes at night. Their bite inflicts massive torpor (sleep poison). If you get bitten, you will pass out, and they will eat you slowly while you watch. Carry a torch; they are afraid of fire.
If a dinosaur is glowing red, it is an Alpha. They cannot be tamed, have massive health, and will destroy anything you own. Do not engage.
💬 Community Strategies & Discussion
Did you find a hidden chest? Struggling with a boss? Share your tips and questions with other mercenaries below!