Two new sea-worthy dinosaurs to add to the deep diversity of prehistoric creatures already living in ARK: Survival Evolved.
From the darkest depths of the ocean looms the outlandish Melanocetus Anglerpescum, an enormous ‘Angler’ fish with bioluminescent light pods at the end of stalks on its head, and the sweet, harmless and prehistoric penguin-like Kairuku Waitaki.
To make things even more interesting, survivors will also find a realistic Creature "Fur" pass, primitive siege Catapult, a modern-tier Gatling Gun Turret, and a new “Tribal Warfare Alliance” system for PvE servers!
Like typical Anglerfish, the Melanocetus primarily uses its bioluminescent light pods to attract smaller fish and trick them into coming close enough for it to consume the prey. This often makes wild Melanocetus itself relatively easy to spot among the briny depths. Whether its size is caused by adaptation to the island's other inhabitants, or by cross-breeding with another larger species, Melanocetus Anglerpescum is one of the largest form of Anglerfish. Additionally, a tamed Anglerfish can use the natural light at the end of its stalks to illuminate the depths for safe exploration, and the luminescent nodules can be harvested to create long-lasting fuel and organic light emplacements for surface homes, too.
The Kairuku Waitaki, on the other hand, is an amazingly docile and friendly creature. Kairuku are useless in a fight, but they nonetheless are tamed for their cuteness and friendly nature, kind of like a pet, and the incidentally cool fact that their bodies run extremely hot. Survival Tip! Standing near Kairuku can help keep a survivor warm through long, harsh nights on the icebergs.
The Kairuku’s only defensive trait: Suspended in Kairuku’s blubber are small, dense particles that act as a light form of armor. Adding to Kairuku's problems, a clever survivor discovered that refining Kairuku blubber can yield a natural form of the same polymer used in advanced tribes' manufacturing processes. This has caused many tribes to hunt Kairuku extensively, especially the blubber-rich infants, a practice colloquially known as "Kairu Clubbing."
Furthermore, in this update, the new “Tribal Warfare Alliance” system allows Tribes to formally declare war against each other for specific mutually agreed-upon timeframes, encouraging large-scale set player-vs-player confrontations rather than offline raiding!
ARK: Survival Evolved will launch in June 2016 on Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, PlayStation®4 with Project Morpheus support, and full release on Steam PC. The game is currently in Steam’s Early Access program and includes Oculus Rift VR support and an integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. Players can host private/LAN servers and have access to a custom-built version of the Unreal Engine 4 Editor for creating mods. The world of ARK is designed to be modder-friendly and ever-expanding!
To join our growing band of survivors, journey over to Steam to download the game.
