Noob dying constanty

[gigi]

OK played this ages ago but not real long. Have now come back but I get frustrated because it seems like I die every five minutes. So it is very discouraging. Is it really necessary for a newcomer to have mobs that kill you whilst you have basically nothing to defend yourself and still looking for 'fibres' which apparently are like diamonds and gold, i.e. never find them. And before you can kill and eat anything bushes do not offer berries any more either. And you are still 'learning' and looking things up and hunger, and thirst and weapon and shelter and all of that in the first ten minutes?
(played lots of survival games but nothing ever as demanding as this - like f off or die, and die anyway and play something else sucker)

And when you respawn you suddenly are on the island in pitch darkness and can basically just stand there and wait to die for like what is a night, 15 minutes, enough for a bit of dinner because I'll be dead anyway on return.

Any tips to a newcomer?

I looked at a few walkthroughs but they are usually made by old gamers who played this like forever and they race through it like they are on drugs. This is not the Olympics guys.

[retsam1]

Death is a learning tool. To that end you're needing to learn more.

Learn to develop your situational awareness(ie just dont go running through the forest or the like. Be aware of the dangers around you and dont take risks when starting out. Play conservatively.

You're extremely new to the game. Trust me, fiber is not "like gold". If you think so, you're going to have a very sobering realization hit you when other materials later on become very challenging to get but will be necessary for your progress.


Overall it sounds like you're not very adept at survival game play so my best recommendation for you is to stick to either single player where you can adjust settings to be much easier for a beginner such as yourself or for you to play on one of the thousands and thousands of unofficial servers out there with much more relaxted settings to the same effect. One of the strengths of Ark is that it is a very customizable game with both settings and mods and more so take advantage of that.

Later once you are more adept at playing you can perhaps then adjust settings or venture to servers where things are more challenging for you.


Alternatively though, you can just buck up and take the deaths like a champ and plug along.

[Trigger Zero]

first, turn down the frustration meter a notch :3 remember this is a SURVIVAL game. believe it or not this beginning time you're going through is actually the funnest (looking back of course).

Second: hit tab. type (without quotations) "gamma 3", then hit enter. gamma will make it default once sun comes up. gamma 4 if its super dark. You can also craft a torch (which will help protect you from troodons, who are afraid of light).

Third: just set up your first crappy little thatch hut in the safest spot you can find, usually some corner on a beach. kill dodos and moschops for hide and meat, make a sleeping bag, then a bed. Start to put things in a storage box. Expect to die between gathering items, that's why you put them in a storage box.

Try to get some perimeter walls up, this will help protect you against a raptor or carno that may agro to your crappy little thatch hut. Work on making some better armor and weapons, narcotics and when you get high enough, tranq arrows. All the while keep gathering, build up your hide and fiber supply. upgrade to stone when you get high enough. Nothing fancy, just keep your beds and storage safe. When you can expand just a little bit, put a dino door on your hut, make it 3-4 high, and have extra space to shove a trike or stego in there, and a doedi if you can find and tame one.

The ark wiki is a great place to look to start absorbing information what is for what, what dino does what, etc.

If you are on official there isn't much that can help you. If you are on singleplayer or unofficial there are mods that can give you some quality of life.

[Kombucho]

the starting out with nothing is the best experience, once you are set it gets boring

[HARDBALLER]

Every time you die or screw up, you learn.

It's an essential initiation rite to Ark. Few months ago I tried to teach the game to a mate of mine who never played Ark before. Like: " Welcome to your base + large territory, here's your hazmat suit , a 270 spino with journeyman saddle, full mastercraft weaponry/ pickaxes/climbing picks, etc. etc". Nice comfy way to start learning the game, no?

Guess what, he "didn't saw the challenge" comfy on his killer spino, nor did he appreciate all the time that I invested in getting all his gear and dinos, and even after a month he kept screwing up and sucked so bad at everything that I asked him to stop playing and wasting my time. Seriously, initial dying every 30 mins and the hardship + reward of actually obtaining your own stuff and dinos are what create the good players in this game.

[graviphoton]

Fiber: just stand against bush, looking down, empty handed, and press E :-) You will get some berries but also fiber.

[Dex]

First, stay on the beach. It's safer. Second, learn which dinosaurs are aggressive and which ones will ignore you. Third, prioritize getting a pick axe, a hatchet and spears (yes, multiple). If something starts chasing you, run to the water, sharks aren't that close to shore and most aggressive land dinos don't swim well.

When you first spawn in, run to the edge of the ocean and take a good look around you. Are there predators? Is this area fairly safe? if you see aggressive dinos down the beach a ways one way THEY WILL COME FOR YOU EVENTUALLY, go the other way.

[A Terrible Modder]

pro tip, while low level avoid everything with big teeth

[guig]

* bolas : cheap, need a little mastering but easy afterward : can block most threat giving you time to run away. every carnivores up to carno (non included) will be stopped.
+ it will free you from thylacoleo and kaprosuchus (the big cat in redwood trees and the little crocodile). with time and master you'll easily make dino fall cliffs with that and have plenty of time to move around. also very usefull in taming; to prevent running away/shoot safely.

*shotgun: both versions are very effective (short range of course) specially to kill dinos that grab you (including the 2 aboves but the others too).

*pike has range but sword does 50% much damages at the same %tage + it hits faster. imo it's better when you need to spam attack (again specially in case of grab).

*parachute: always in hotbar....just always !

*in caves/near cliffs: grappling hooks. you can then just pass through or shoot from above.

*if in SP : using infinite bolas/parachute/etc.... mod is a great plus. for above tips, to win weight and not having to craft them on the go.

*if not in SP: shields ! one tank, one(+) dps when you're outnumbered. (don't hit the tank !)

*torch vs troodons

*fortitude is great, having it up to 50 is of good help. + it has even more effect on torpor too now.

*2 or 3 pt in O2 are better spent than drawning any time a salmon or a pirhana got your ass.

*learn from your deaths.

*taming weak dinos at first is ok. they will die, you won't have to mourn them and you'll learn how to use them x)

*Otter is the best shoulder pet. increasing its attack will up its buff for your hot/cold resistance,while you have it on shoulder.

[Trigger Zero]

Originally posted by guig:

*learn from your deaths.

I regarly ask a friend, after saving him a couple times "ok what lesson did you learn?" because as long as you learn why it happened and how to NOT do it again, it's a lesson, not a mistake.

[SimpleSiren]

1 Build Hut
2 Build thatch Wall 5 High around it....
3 never worry unless you venture outside fence.

[Geenius]

Its a Survival game after all. Learn from your mistakes/deaths and improvise and adapt :D.

[gigi]

Funny people saying I do not know survival games when I have over a thousand hours with 7 days to die,, over 500 hrs Savage Lands etc, a lot of hours with The Forest as well but thx for all the above advice :)

[Rogue]

The first thing I look for is a gathering of big rocks, close to the tree line. I run to those and hide.
I look for dodo's. If there are dodo's or any grass eaters then there are no predators close by.
I hit a tree just enough times to get material for a pickaxe.

If there are predators in the area I look for the least dangerous direction and run. Most predators will not give chase unless you pass close to them. I listen to the music. When it calms down I know that no predator has eyes on me. Then I look for a good crop of big rocks.

[LittleBlueDuneBuggy]

Originally posted by gigi:

Funny people saying I do not know survival games when I have over a thousand hours with 7 days to die,, over 500 hrs Savage Lands etc, a lot of hours with The Forest as well but thx for all the above advice :)

Don't get your feelings hurt. We don't know you, we don't know what you play, and after eight thousand of these threads, nobody is going to look at your profile. Even with that many hours, that doesn't mean you're any "good" at them.

Even if you die, it doesn't matter in the beginning, as long as you're progressing some while you're alive. You're levelling. Death can't take that from you. Make a box, and put everything in it, regularly. That way, you don't even have to go after your body if you don't want. Get hide, and make a sleeping bag, and bolas. Tame dodos, and eat their eggs. Tame some dilos, and let them follow you around. Find a Trike stuck in a tree, or lure him into one, and tame him. Take him everywhere. Even if you can't make a saddle yet.

Also, don't get attatched to any of your tames. They're gonna die too.

Eventually, you'll get to the point where you miss this part of the game. Even if you start over, you never really get this back.

[FeistyMercy]

I haven't read through all the comments but I'm guessing everyone said it right. I was told when I first started, if I wasn't dying a lot, I wasn't doing it right. This game takes time. Only suggestions is have tribe mates to help and get started at one of the "easy" spots on the map. Build a starter base, some dinos and gear, and you can always move. Even experienced players die and lose tames, it's never ez pz. Don't feel too bad about death.