What Dinos are Best for Metal in Ark: Survival Evolved?
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The pursuit of metal is a cornerstone of survival in Ark: Survival Evolved. This vital resource is crucial for crafting advanced tools, structures, and weapons. While a trusty metal pick can get you started, relying on specialized dinos will significantly boost your metal-gathering efficiency. The best dino for metal gathering in Ark are the Ankylosaurus and the Magmasaur. The Ankylosaurus is renowned for its ability to harvest metal while providing an 85% weight reduction for metal in its inventory. The Magmasaur, on the other hand, is a versatile creature that can gather significant amounts of metal, while also having the capability to smelt metal ingots directly at the source. Each dino excels in different areas, and understanding their strengths will drastically improve your resource gathering.
Top Metal Gathering Dinos in Ark
Ankylosaurus: The Weight Reduction King
The Ankylosaurus is arguably the most iconic metal-gathering dinosaur in Ark. Here’s why it’s a top pick:
- Efficient Harvesting: Its powerful tail swing is incredibly effective at breaking down metal nodes, yielding substantial amounts of raw metal.
- Weight Reduction: This is the key advantage. The Ankylosaurus provides an 85% weight reduction for metal in its inventory, allowing you to carry far more before becoming encumbered. This saves multiple trips and drastically speeds up the harvesting process.
- Relatively Easy to Tame: While not a beginner’s tame, the Ankylosaurus is reasonably straightforward to acquire once you’ve established a basic base and a few tames.
- Versatile Mobility: While slow on foot, the Ankylosaurus can navigate most terrain with ease, making it a reliable option for different maps and locations.
Magmasaur: The Forging Furnace
The Magmasaur, found primarily on the Genesis maps, is a unique and powerful contender for metal gathering. Here’s why it’s highly effective:
- High Yield: The Magmasaur is capable of collecting large quantities of metal from nodes.
- Smelting Capabilities: This is where the Magmasaur truly shines. It can smelt raw metal into metal ingots on the spot, using stone as fuel. This eliminates the need to transport heavy raw metal, streamlining the entire process. It is important to turn on the smelting feature in the radial menu.
- Enhanced Durability: The Magmasaur is a tanky creature, capable of withstanding significant damage, which is invaluable when harvesting in dangerous areas.
- Combat Capabilities: While primarily a resource gatherer, the Magmasaur has decent combat abilities, making it useful for defense while harvesting.
Other Notable Metal Gatherers
While the Ankylosaurus and Magmasaur are the frontrunners, other dinos contribute to metal harvesting. They may be situational or have some drawbacks:
- Dunkleosteus: This underwater creature is particularly useful for harvesting metal from underwater nodes. While it lacks the weight reduction of the Ankylosaurus, it can access metal in otherwise inaccessible areas.
- Mantis: While the mantis doesn’t inherently harvest metal better than most tools, it can wield a metal pick, allowing you to effectively use a mastercraft or ascendant metal pick, for higher gathering yields.
- Tek Stryder: This advanced tame can gather resources effectively with the right modules, making it a good choice for large-scale harvesting operations. However, its complex mechanics can be challenging for new players.
- Phoenix: A hard-to-obtain creature, but can gather metal.
- Gacha: These peculiar creatures can produce various resources, including metal, making them valuable to any base. It is the least effective way to gather metal.
FAQs: Metal Gathering in Ark
Here are some frequently asked questions about metal gathering in Ark: Survival Evolved, with detailed answers.
1. Is a metal pick as good as an Ankylosaurus for metal?
A mastercraft or ascendant metal pick can be comparable to an Ankylosaurus in terms of metal yield per node. However, the Ankylosaurus offers a crucial 85% weight reduction that a metal pick cannot replicate. Therefore, using a high-quality metal pick while mounted on a Mantis can be an effective strategy for gathering.
2. What is the best method to harvest metal early in the game?
Early in the game, a metal pick is your best option. Focus on crafting a metal pick as soon as you can, and use it on metal nodes. A tamed stegosaurus with high melee can help carry the heavy weight and increase the amount of metal you can carry.
3. Where is the best place to find metal nodes?
Mountains and caves are the most common locations for metal nodes. Look along cliff faces, rocky outcrops, and within cave systems. There are also nodes underwater in many locations of the different maps.
4. How does weight reduction work in Ark?
Weight reduction means that items in a dino’s inventory weigh less. The Ankylosaurus’s 85% weight reduction means that one metal which normally weighs 1 unit will only weigh 0.15 units, allowing it to carry much more.
5. Can a Giga break metal structures?
No, a Giganotosaurus cannot directly destroy metal structures. However, they can destroy lower-tier structures that might be connected, potentially bringing down a metal structure indirectly.
6. What is the fastest way to smelt metal in Ark?
The Industrial Forge is the fastest method to smelt metal. The Magmasaur is also efficient because it allows you to smelt on the spot, but it consumes more food, and is not as fast as the industrial forge.
7. Can a Magmasaur cook metal?
Yes, a Magmasaur can smelt metal directly on the spot by having the feature turned on in the radial menu. It consumes stone as fuel and converts raw metal into metal ingots.
8. Is a Magmasaur better than an Industrial Forge?
Not for speed; the Industrial Forge is faster. However, the Magmasaur is better for mobile smelting, eliminating the need to carry heavy metal back to your base, and only requiring stone as fuel.
9. What is the most versatile dino in Ark?
The Shadowmane is considered one of the most versatile dinos in the game due to its wide range of abilities, including stealth, damage, and traversal capabilities.
10. What is the strongest dino in Ark?
The Rex is one of the strongest dinos, known for its high health and melee damage. Other powerful creatures include the Giganotosaurus, Titanosaur, and King Titan boss.
11. What is the fastest dino in Ark?
The DodoRex is one of the fastest dinos, which is only obtainable during special events. The Gallimimus is also one of the fastest dinos in the game.
12. Is a Giga stronger than a T-Rex?
A Giganotosaurus is generally considered stronger than a T-Rex, possessing more health and raw damage output. The T-Rex does have a stronger bite force however, but does not do as much damage.
13. What is the best first dino to tame in Ark?
Dodos or Dilos are great early-game tames. They are easy to knock out and tame, and are great at gathering basic resources and meat.
14. What are some good weapons for destroying metal in Ark?
Explosives, the Tek Rifle, and the DodoRex are effective tools for destroying metal structures.
15. Can I damage metal with corrosion?
Yes, in real-world scenarios, corrosion can damage metal. However, this mechanic is not present within Ark: Survival Evolved.
Conclusion
In summary, the Ankylosaurus and Magmasaur are the standout choices for metal gathering in Ark: Survival Evolved. The Ankylosaurus’s weight reduction ability is unmatched and its metal harvesting efficiency is very efficient. The Magmasaur’s smelting capabilities on the go, makes it the ultimate mobile metal processing beast. Depending on your situation, both creatures will significantly boost your metal gathering productivity. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these creatures, alongside other tools, and utilizing the resources around you will greatly enhance your ability to thrive in the harsh world of Ark.