Farming metal from distant locations

[JoraJukov]

I'm new to the game. I'm playing on official PvE server on Island map. Currently my first character is 53 lvl and I feel like I'm going to need a lot of metal. I know that I will need to tame Ankylosaurus in order to collect it in huge amounts but the question is how do I transport it to my base which is not so far but not as close as it could be from nearest rich deposit (about 10 latitude and 3 longitude units). Do I need to lead slow "caravans" of Trikes to transport a lot of metal per run or is better to make more trips by myself?
Despite deposit I'm talking about is located at the South of the Island, there are some strong enemies including Therizinosaurs and Raptors on my way.

[Nevaia]

get a quetzal or an argy and boost weight. Get more of them for bigger runs.

If you can get a karkinos from trading you can make giant runs if you know how to abuse it.

[Nicoliolio]

Load them on a raft

[Nevaia]

Originally posted by Nicoliolio:

Load them on a raft

that also works since rafts have infinite weight

[crimsondrac]

I find Argents are the best. They have weight reduction when it comes to metal and some other resources and can fly over most threats and obstacles. Just put points into weight and soon you will have an aerial transport that can hold a lot of metal. Also, it helps to smelt the metal into bars at the resource site then just transport the metal ingots. They weight the same but you will be able to carry twice as many ingots as you can raw metal.

[KitsuneShiro]

Anky gets weight reduction and can be carried by an argy.

[Nevaia]

Originally posted by crimsondrac:

I find Argents are the best. They have weight reduction when it comes to metal and some other resources and can fly over most threats and obstacles. Just put points into weight and soon you will have an aerial transport that can hold a lot of metal. Also, it helps to smelt the metal into bars at the resource site then just transport the metal ingots. They weight the same but you will be able to carry twice as many ingots as you can raw metal.

if you only have one argy theres no point in pre smelting because it would just make it heavier

[retsam1]

Originally posted by JoraJukov:

I'm new to the game. I'm playing on official PvE server on Island map. Currently my first character is 53 lvl and I feel like I'm going to need a lot of metal. I know that I will need to tame Ankylosaurus in order to collect it in huge amounts but the question is how do I transport it to my base which is not so far but not as close as it could be from nearest rich deposit (about 10 latitude and 3 longitude units). Do I need to lead slow "caravans" of Trikes to transport a lot of metal per run or is better to make more trips by myself?
Despite deposit I'm talking about is located at the South of the Island, there are some strong enemies including Therizinosaurs and Raptors on my way.

Welcome to ark.

The island map, like each other map has different survival considerations. It partially functions to begin to teach new survivors that resources are just as important as where they are located.

Due to that players over the last 5 years have employed various considerations in order to handle some resource management such as metal.

1. You build a mini base near(not so near as to cause metal to not spawn) the metal nodes. This means you can keep the needed creatures close, refine the metal, and then use transporting dinos to take it back to your base such as argents or quetzals.

2. Breed very good weight bearing flyers like argents(who also get a resource weight reduction bonus for some things btw).

3. Cryopods can also be used to transport anky to harvest then pod up when done and leaving you just to transport the unrefined metal.

4. If playing in single player or on unofficial servers(like most) you play with modded content that not only allows metal to be put in higher stacks but also removes much of its weight to allow for easier transporting.

5. Building your main base more strategically near metal locations. 2 locations on the island map are very popular for this.

One is to use the stone elbow shaped islet as a base at the mouth of a river in the south of the map. If built right, not only does this allow you a very short hop to 8 metal nodes, but it also lets you enjoy multiple beaver/dam spawns for easy cement paste and other resources. Just dont build too close to the water's edge as you'll make the beavers not spawn. This is my favorite base building spot on the map for that and many other reasons.

Second is west of the first location where a mountain with not only metal but a small amount of crystal spawns too.

Both locations also allow access to the ocean for water dino pens etc too.

----------

Also some other things to keep in mind, dinosaurs you are concerned about are the low end game concerns. There are far worse creatures that roam the island and some of them can spawn in most any where(like alpha raptors carnos etc).

Eventually you'll learn how to deal with these and much worse so that you can challenge the bosses of the map. And then you can move on to other more challenging(and different survival challenge imposing maps).

Additionally, some opt to not follow this path of things and instead play on the free dlc maps such as ragnarok, valguero, soon to come crystal isles, and others (lots of mod made maps) which, in general, are considered easier maps due to resource distributions and a higher variety of biomes.

[crimsondrac]

Originally posted by Nevaia:

Originally posted by crimsondrac:

I find Argents are the best. They have weight reduction when it comes to metal and some other resources and can fly over most threats and obstacles. Just put points into weight and soon you will have an aerial transport that can hold a lot of metal. Also, it helps to smelt the metal into bars at the resource site then just transport the metal ingots. They weight the same but you will be able to carry twice as many ingots as you can raw metal.

if you only have one argy theres no point in pre smelting because it would just make it heavier

Um, 1 raw metal is the same weight as 1 metal ingot. Thus, you can carry twice as much ingot as you could make with the same amount of raw metal. I.e., 1000 raw metal is 1000 pounds and makes 500 ingots. However, you can carry 100 ingots for the same weight as 1000 raw metal so, you can essentially carry twice as much ingot as you could make carrying the same amount of raw metal.

[margalus]

if you are by water rafts make good barges to carry your miners back and forth.

[Nevaia]

Originally posted by crimsondrac:

Originally posted by Nevaia:

if you only have one argy theres no point in pre smelting because it would just make it heavier

Um, 1 raw metal is the same weight as 1 metal ingot. Thus, you can carry twice as much ingot as you could make with the same amount of raw metal. I.e., 1000 raw metal is 1000 pounds and makes 500 ingots. However, you can carry 100 ingots for the same weight as 1000 raw metal so, you can essentially carry twice as much ingot as you could make carrying the same amount of raw metal.

the anky has a 75% weight reduction, so it would end up the same weight anyways.

1k metal = 250 weight (pounds,kg,idk) 0.5k ingots = 250 weight

[Leoscar]

Breed a good argentavis, breed a good anky, Use the argentavis to carry the anky. Enjoy having your industrial smelter run 24/7.

[JoraJukov]

Originally posted by retsam1:

Originally posted by JoraJukov:

I'm new to the game. I'm playing on official PvE server on Island map. Currently my first character is 53 lvl and I feel like I'm going to need a lot of metal. I know that I will need to tame Ankylosaurus in order to collect it in huge amounts but the question is how do I transport it to my base which is not so far but not as close as it could be from nearest rich deposit (about 10 latitude and 3 longitude units). Do I need to lead slow "caravans" of Trikes to transport a lot of metal per run or is better to make more trips by myself?
Despite deposit I'm talking about is located at the South of the Island, there are some strong enemies including Therizinosaurs and Raptors on my way.

Welcome to ark.

The island map, like each other map has different survival considerations. It partially functions to begin to teach new survivors that resources are just as important as where they are located.

Due to that players over the last 5 years have employed various considerations in order to handle some resource management such as metal.

1. You build a mini base near(not so near as to cause metal to not spawn) the metal nodes. This means you can keep the needed creatures close, refine the metal, and then use transporting dinos to take it back to your base such as argents or quetzals.

2. Breed very good weight bearing flyers like argents(who also get a resource weight reduction bonus for some things btw).

3. Cryopods can also be used to transport anky to harvest then pod up when done and leaving you just to transport the unrefined metal.

4. If playing in single player or on unofficial servers(like most) you play with modded content that not only allows metal to be put in higher stacks but also removes much of its weight to allow for easier transporting.

5. Building your main base more strategically near metal locations. 2 locations on the island map are very popular for this.

One is to use the stone elbow shaped islet as a base at the mouth of a river in the south of the map. If built right, not only does this allow you a very short hop to 8 metal nodes, but it also lets you enjoy multiple beaver/dam spawns for easy cement paste and other resources. Just dont build too close to the water's edge as you'll make the beavers not spawn. This is my favorite base building spot on the map for that and many other reasons.

Second is west of the first location where a mountain with not only metal but a small amount of crystal spawns too.

Both locations also allow access to the ocean for water dino pens etc too.

----------

Also some other things to keep in mind, dinosaurs you are concerned about are the low end game concerns. There are far worse creatures that roam the island and some of them can spawn in most any where(like alpha raptors carnos etc).

Eventually you'll learn how to deal with these and much worse so that you can challenge the bosses of the map. And then you can move on to other more challenging(and different survival challenge imposing maps).

Additionally, some opt to not follow this path of things and instead play on the free dlc maps such as ragnarok, valguero, soon to come crystal isles, and others (lots of mod made maps) which, in general, are considered easier maps due to resource distributions and a higher variety of biomes.

Very clear and detailed answer. Thanks a lot!