How to change Tribute Requirements for Boss Arenas in ARK: Survival Evolved

This guide will show you how to change the tribute requirements for boss arenas in ARK. There are a few boss tributes that kinda nag me, like why is the Artifact of the Strong always required for Beta difficulty boss fights on Valguero and Crystal Isles and Lost Island, and why is the Artifact of the Brute not used to enter the Ragnarok Arena?

Setup

First, find your Game.ini file, located in the file explorer. This is the file: "SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\Game" (DO NOT COPY THE QUOTES!) Go all the way to the last line and input this code: "ConfigOverrideItemCraftingCosts" (Again, DO NOT copy the quotes!)

Boss Portal Item Class Strings

The Island:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Spider_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Gorilla_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Dragon_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Spider_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Gorilla_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Dragon_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Spider_Hard_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Gorilla_Hard_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Dragon_Hard_C

The Center:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_TheCenter_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_TheCenter_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_TheCenter_Hard_C

Scorched Earth:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Manticore_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Manticore_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Manticore_Hard_C

Ragnarok:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Ragnarok_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Ragnarok_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Ragnarok_Hard_C

Aberration:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Aberration_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Aberration_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Aberration_Hard_C

Extinction:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_DesertKaiju_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_ForestKaiju_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_IceKaiju_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_KingKaijuEasy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_KingKaijuMedium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_KingKaijuHard_C

Valguero:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_ValThreeBoss_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_ValThreeBoss_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_ValThreeBoss_Hard_C

Crystal Isles:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_CIBoss_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_CIBoss_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_CIBoss_Hard_C

Lost Island:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_LostIsland_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_LostIsland_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_LostIsland_Hard_C

Fjordur:
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Beyla_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_Steinbjorn_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_HatiAndSkoll_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Spider_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Gorilla_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Dragon_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Spider_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Gorilla_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Dragon_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Spider_Hard_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Gorilla_Hard_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FJ_Dragon_Hard_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FenrirBoss_Easy_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FenrirBoss_Medium_C
PrimalItem_BossTribute_FenrirBoss_Hard_C

How to set up the code in the .ini

The code may seem strange, but this is how it is entered (COPY ALL QUOTES INTO YOUR .INI!):
ConfigOverrideItemCraftingCosts=(ItemClassString="<Class string>",BaseCraftingResourceRequirements=((ResourceItemTypeString="<Class string>",BaseResourceRequirement=<Numerical value, 1.0-18446744073709552615.0>,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=<true/false>)))

You can only have up to 20 different items for a single crafting cost or boss tribute requirement, and the boss tributes have order priority: they must be in the order that the map was released. Found that out the hard way: if, for example, you put a modified boss tribute for Valguero into your .ini, and then put another boss tribute for The Center, you won't be able to access the boss tribute for The Center, it won't have a valid crafting cost, much like the S+ Plant Species X seed from the Structures Plus (S+) mod, and will be uncraftable. Also found out the crafting limit out the hard way: the original crafting costs for Valguero's boss arena contained 24 items for beta and alpha, the last 4 items were cut off the crafting requirements. So, if you want to make Ragnarok's boss fight also require the Artifact of the Brute, you're going to only have space for nine more items, which just so happen to be the combined number of different items for the Dragon on The Island and the Manticore on Scorched Earth, excluding the Artifacts.

Example 1: Alpha-difficulty Valguero fight as it should be

ConfigOverrideItemCraftingCosts=(ItemClassString="PrimalItem_BossTribute_ValThreeBoss_Hard_C",BaseCraftingResourceRequirements=((ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_02_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_06_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_07_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_08_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_09_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_11_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifact_12_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifactSE_01_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifactSE_02_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemArtifactSE_03_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Allo_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_FireWyvern_C",BaseResourceRequirement=20.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Gigant_C",BaseResourceRequirement=2.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Megalodon_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Rex_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Spino_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Theriz_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Thylaco_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Tuso_C",BaseResourceRequirement=15.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Yuty_C",BaseResourceRequirement=10.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true)))

Example 2: Using Extinction Titan trophies to summon the Fjordur boss (Gamma)

ConfigOverrideItemCraftingCosts=(ItemClassString="PrimalItem_BossTribute_FenrirBoss_Easy_C",BaseCraftingResourceRequirements=((ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Dragon_Gamma_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=false),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Gorilla_Gamma_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=false),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Kaiju_Desert_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Kaiju_Forest_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Kaiju_Ice_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=true),(ResourceItemTypeString="PrimalItemTrophy_Spider_Gamma_C",BaseResourceRequirement=1.0,bCraftingRequireExactResourceType=false)))