Do I need Ultimate Edition?

[Man of Stone]

Looking to get into the game and play it before Ark 2, do I need all the dlc?

[Bardock]

Before ark 2?! I assume you want to play the game just for the story?! If that's true for you, I would advise against buying it. "ARK 1" basically has no "real" story.

[🦊 Hermit]

You won't need the DLC in order to play a decent length game - the base game mechanics and the base map will keep you occupied for a good length of time.

However the DLCs do add a host of extra challenges, new maps to explore, and game mechanics to learn which are not in the base game, and these increase lifespan several times over. Also, if you want to play through the story you will need the DLCs yes.

Contrary to the above, Ark does have a story, but it is true that it isn't presented in the same way as other games through cutscenes or dialogue. Rather, you have to find diaries hidden in places across the map, left behind by survivors who came before you, and read those to piece together the game's plot little by little. If you've played Subnautica with it's PDA entries, it's a little bit similar to that.

[zerassar]

Originally posted by Man of Stone:

Looking to get into the game and play it before Ark 2, do I need all the dlc?

Ultimate edition is all you can buy currently.
It includes the first 3 paid DLC.

Edit: Scratch that... Appears they started selling the base game on its own again.

[EDM_Room]

Just buy base game. There are plenty of free DLC maps. The last map that they came out with has added a ton of dinos too making paid dlc obsolete. And you can get ppl that have the paid dlc craft/obtain items in the Gen1/2 expansions for you. Yeah you can use them still.
5k hrs played.

[Man of Stone]

Thanks guys!
Hotly was thinking of hosting a server and starting a Ark Community after learning the game