Endgame Guide - All ARK Caves and Bosses

This guide will teach you how to beat the ARK's 10 Caves, 3 Ultimate Life Forms, and how to beat the TEK cave and defeat the Overseer boss to Ascend, gaining 5, 10, or 15 extra levels added to your level cap.

Lower South Cave - Artifact of the Hunter

The Lower South cave is the easiest cave on The Island. This cave is one of the few caves that does not have bats, making this cave quite easy for artifact retrieval. its entrance is located at 80.3, 53.5, and contains the Artifact of the Hunter. As with most caves, just stay out of the water. Megapiranha spawn there en masse. The Artifact is used for summoning the Broodmother Lysrix, one of The Island's 3 Ultimate Life Forms.
CREATURES:
Araneomorphus, Arthropluera, Dung Beetle, Megalania, Megalosaurus, Megapiranha, Pulmonoscorpius, Sarcosuchus, Titanoboa

Upper South Cave - Artifact of the Pack

The Upper South Cave is a large cave that is half-underwater, but the underwater part can easily be skipped, saving you the need for SCUBA tanks. The cave is located at 68.3, 56.1 and contains the Artifact of the Pack. If you don't have a grappling hook or SCUBA tanks, you will find this cave very difficult! The Artifact is used to summon the Megapithecus, the second of the Island's 3 Ultimate Life Forms.
CREATURES:
Araneomorphus, Arthropluera, Dung Beetle, Megalosaurus, Onychonycteris, Megapiranha, Pulmonoscorpius, Sarcosuchus, Titanoboa

South East Cave - Artifact of the Massive

The South East Cave, more commonly known as the Lava Cave, is a cave in the southeast of The Island, north of Herbivore Island, on a peninsula directly east of Drayo's Cove. You can find the entrance at 70.6, 86.1. The Artifact of the Massive is found at the end of this cave, which is basically a large loop with two possible paths you may go down, both ways eventually lead to the Artifact. The Artifact is the second one needed to summon Broodmother Lysrix.
CREATURES:
Araneomorphus, Dilophosaurus, Dung Beetle, Megalania, Megalosaurus, Onychonycteris, Pulmonoscorpius

Central Cave - Artifact of the Clever

The Central Cave is a cave in the central part of The Island, directly east of the volcano. The entrance is at 41.5, 47.1. You can find the Artifact of the Clever here, needed, along with the Artifacts of the Hunter and Massive, so summon Broodmother Lysrix.
CREATURES:
Araneo, Arthropluera, Dung Beetle, Megalosaurus, Onyc, Piranha, Pulmonoscorpius, Sarco, Titanoboa

North West Cave - Artifact of the Skylord

The North West Cave is a small ice cave in the snow biome, carved into a glacier. Its entrance is located at 19.3, 19.0. The Artifact of the Skylord is found here, needed to summon the Dragon, the last of the ARK's 3 Guardians. Navigation-wise, this cave is quite difficult and requires grappling hooks. To find the Artifact, hug the rightmost wall until you reach an area with a drop. DO NOT FALL INTO THAT DROP! There are spikes there that, if even slightly tapped, will deal 5000 damage to any living creature that dares touch them, and snapping all your armor in half. Once you reach the drop, find a hole in the wall, and grapple into that hole. The Artifact is found there.
CREATURES:
Araneo, Onyc

North East Cave - Artifact of the Devourer

The North East Cave is a cave on Carnivore Island in the far northeast of the map. Beware the local dinos! Creatures such as Sabertooth, Pulmonoscorpius, Carnotaurus, and even Rexes live there! The entrance to the cave is at 14.7, 85.4. You can find the Artifact of the Devourer there, the second of 3 Artifacts needed to summon the Megapithecus, along with the Artifact of the Pack and one other Artifact. The cave mostly consists of one large chamber with a broken-up ramp spiraling on the wall. You can easily get the Artifact with the use of parachutes and grappling hooks. Just parachute down, kill every bat that comes your way, and fall down to the Artifact, killing the enemies that are down there. After retrieving the Artifact, grapple up towards the cave ceiling, using parachutes should you fall.
CREATURES:
Araneo, Dung Beetle, Megalania, Megalosaurus, Pulmonoscorpius, Onyc

Swamp Cave - Artifact of the Immune

THIS IS THE FOURTH HARDEST CAVE ON THE ISLAND, SO BE PREPARED! The Swamp Cave is a cave in the Redwoods of The Island. The cave is hard to find, but the coords for the entrance are 62.7, 37.3. What makes this cave so much harder than the others? The cave is toxic. You will need a high quality gas mask (at least 300 durability) to be able to breathe here. Creatures here include Araneo, Arthropluera, and Titanoboa that spawn up to level 300 and are NOT tameable! There is a large leech pool here, so you have a high chance of catching Swamp Fever, even if you use an 800 durability gas mask, which will last 5 hours and 20 minutes. The ARK Wiki says that the whole cave is very hot, but due to a bug, most of the cave except for the lowest points use "The Redwood Forests" as its biome, meaning the cave is not too hot. Still, don't bring fur armor. The Artifact of the Immune is found here, the second Artifact needed to summon the Dragon.
CREATURES:
Achatina, Araneo, Arthropluera, Leech, Megalania, Meganeura, Titanoboa, Titanomyrma
(Creatures here spawn up to level 300 and can't be tamed, with the sole exception of Megalania.)

The Caverns of Lost Faith - Artifact of the Brute

THIS IT THE THIRD HARDEST CAVE ON THE ISLAND, SO GET READY! The Caverns of Lost Faith is the first of two underwater Artifact caves on The Island. Its entrance is in the far west of the map, at 53.7, 10.4. Because this cave is almost entirely underwater, bring high-quality SCUBA gear and a high-level, imprinted Basilosaurus with a high-quality saddle. Why Basilosaurus? It may have less health and damage than an equivalent level Mosasaurus, but the Basilo is immune to Cnidaria stunlocking, while if you bring a Mosa into the cave, you will get dismounted, stunlocked, and killed, while you can't do ANYTHING! The Artifact of the Brute, the final Artifact, along with the Artifacts of the Pack and Devourer, needed to summon the Megapithecus, is found here.
Do not be off your Basilo for long, otherwise you WILL be Cnidaria'd!
CREATURES:
Ammonite, Cnidaria, Coel, Eel, Manta, Megalodon, Mosasaur, Salmon, Trilobite
(Creatures here spawn at high levels and are NOT tameable.)

The Caverns of Lost Hope - Artifact of the Cunning

THIS CAVE IS THE SECOND HARDEST CAVE ON THE ISLAND, DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU ARE AT LEAST LEVEL 81 AND HAVE A PACK OF HIGH-LEVEL, BRED BASILOSAURUS! The second of the two underwater Artifact caves on The Island, the Caverns of Lost Hope lives up to its name. This short-but-brutal cave is located in the far east of The Island, at 46.0, 88.9. The Artifact of the Cunning is located in a small chamber, marked by a TEK-like pillar, and is the third Artifact needed to summon the Dragon. Like I've said before, DO NOT attempt this cave unless you have a speed-levelled Ichthyosaurus, or a high-level, imprinted Basilosaurus specialized in health and melee damage. If using the Ichthy strategy, beware the Cnidaria, as they are not immune to stunlocking. Either strategy, bring SCUBA tanks with high durability!
CREATURES:
Achatina, Anglerfish, Araneo, Cnidaria, Dung Beetle, Dunkle, Eel, Eurypterid, Megalodon, Megapiranha, Mosasaur, Onyc, Plesiosaur, Pulmonoscorpius, Trilobite, Tusoteuthis
(All creatures spawn at high levels and can't be tamed.)

Snow Cave - Artifact of the Strong

THIS CAVE IS THE HARDEST CAVE ON THE ARK, GET READY! The Snow Cave is an ice cave that is incredibly cold and has high-level, untameable creatures. Bring high-quality fur armor, and if you have one, an Otter. Also, if you have a Cryopod, bring in a Yutyrannus and ride it, as it can use the fear roar to debuff the many enemies within this cave's many chambers. The cave's entrance is at 29.0, 31.8. The Artifact of the Strong, the final Artifact needed to summon the Dragon, along with the Artifacts of the Skylord, Immune, and Cunning, is found at the very end of this cave.
CREATURES: Anglerfish, Direwolf, Polar Bear, Purlovia, Salmon, Yeti
(All creatures spawn at high levels and can't be tamed.)

Broodmother Lysrix Fight: What You Need, Tips, and Rewards

Tribute Requirements:
1 Artifact of the Hunter, 1 Artifact of the Massive, 1 Artifact of the Clever, 5/10 Argentavis Talons (Beta/Alpha only), 5/10 Sarcosuchus Skins (Beta/Alpha only), 5/10 Sauropod Vertebrae (Beta/Alpha only), 5/10 Titanoboa Venom (Beta/Alpha only)
You also need to be at least level 30 to enter the arena at Gamma level, 50 for Beta, and 70 for Alpha.
Creatures:
Megatheriums are a MUST for the Broodmother Lysrix fight. The Broodmother is a spider, and it summons spider minions, and the Megatherium does increased damage to insects and spiders, gaining a buff on fatal blows that increases its damage for 2 minutes and the buff refreshes every kill of an insect or spider. NOTE: Even though they deal a lot of damage to bugs, Megatheriums actually have a quite slow attack speed when unridden because they only use their slam attack as AI for some reason, actually lowering their DPS when compared to a group of Rexes/Therizinos. In large groups, they also may not have a constant stream of spider kills, potentially causing their buff to time out, and, as a result, have lowered attack and defense, which further decreases their performance against the boss, alongside their lower HP (when compared to a Rex or a Therizino) and bad attack speed. I recommend 6 Megatheriums at the most.
Rexes, for obvious reasons. Make sure to use high-quality saddles!
A Yutyrannus, because of its courage roar making your allies stronger!
A mate-boosted pair of Daeodons to heal your dinos. Make sure to level up their health or they'll quickly die!
Tips:
The Broodmother is specialized in health, not damage. It has nearly twice the HP of an equivalent difficulty Megapithecus, but less than half the damage of an equivalent difficulty Megapithecus.
The arena is hot. Consider putting at least 25 points into fortitude and bringing a Ghillie suit and consuming a Calien Soup before the fight.
If playing in singleplayer, you can only access the arena from the green obelisk, located in the southeast of the map near the swamp.
Tekgrams (All Difficulties):
Tek Replicator, Tek Foundation, Tek Triangle Ceiling, Tek Triangle Foundation, Tek Triangle Roof
(Beta or higher):
Sloped Tek Roof, Sloped Tek Wall, Tek Boots, Tek Catwalk, Tek Ceiling, Tek Fence Foundation, Tek Ladder, Tek Pillar, Tek Ramp, Tek Staircase, Tek Wall
(Alpha only):
Mosasaur Tek Saddle, Tek Helmet, Tek Turret
Element when boss is defeated:
20 (Gamma), 56 (Beta), 148 (Alpha)

Megapithecus Fight: What You Need, Tips, and Rewards

Tribute Requirements:
Artifact of the Pack, Artifact of the Devourer, Artifact of the Brute
(Beta/Alpha only, also requires Artifacts):
5/10 Megalania Toxin, 5/10 Megalodon Teeth, 5/10 Spino Sails, 5/10 Therizino Claws, 5/10 Thyla Claws
You also need to be at least level 45 to enter the arena at Gamma level, 65 for Beta, and 85 for Alpha.
Creatures:
You only need Rexes, a Yutyrannus, and 2 Daeodons, because the Megapithecus has lower health than the Broodmother, but no specific weakness. Watch out though, as the boss actually is specialized in damage! Pack health onto your dinos and give them a 100 or higher armor saddle!
Tips:
There is a large hole to the right side of the starting area that will one-shot your tames if they fall in. However, it is possible to lure the Megapithecus into the hole for an easy victory, with a high speed Raptor or Gallimimus. The Megapithecus will fall in and instantly die, for an effortless victory. Just remember to have an army of Rexes at the starting area, just in case the Megapithecus becomes wise enough to avoid the hole!
The arena is very cold, so put some points into fortitude and bring high-quality fur armor and consume a Fria Curry.
Most of the dangers of this boss are actually environmental (The one-shot fall, the cold, etc.), but the Megapithecus also has a high-damage rock throw attack that used to be able to directly damage riders. That has since been removed, but it is still a formidable attack.
On singleplayer, you can only enter the arena from the blue obelisk, located at Whitesky Peak.
Tekgrams (All difficulties):
Tek Gauntlets, Tek Hatchframe, Tek Replicator, Tek Trapdoor, Tek Window, Tek Windowframe
(Beta or higher):
Tek Dinosaur Gate, Tek Dinosaur Gateway, Tek Door, Tek Doorframe, Tek Generator, Tek Rifle, Tek Trough
(Alpha only):
Large Tek Wall, Rex Tek Saddle, Tek Grenade
Element:
40 (Gamma), 110 (Beta), 220 (Alpha)

Dragon Fight: What You Need, Tips, and Rewards

Tribute Requirements:
Artifacts: Skylord, Immune, Strong, Cunning
Dino Drops (Beta/Alpha only):
5 Allosaurus Brains (10 for Alpha), 5 Basilosaurus Blubber (10 for Alpha), 1 Giganotosaurus Heart (2 for Alpha), 5 Tusoteuthis Tentacles (10 for Alpha), 5 Rex Arms (15 for Alpha), 5 Yutyrannus Lungs (10 for Alpha)
Minimum Survivor Level Requirement:
55 (Gamma), 75 (Beta), 100 (Alpha)
Creatures:
A combination of 10 Therizinosaurus, 7 Rexes, 2 Daeodons, and 1 Yutyrannus. Stuff the Theris with veggie cakes and food, same with the other dinos, but especially the Daeodons.
If you have a Deinonychus that was bred over many generations, with imprinting, at least 25 mutations, and a high armor saddle, and enough sanity, you can latch onto the Dragon so that while it tries to kill you, it will just walk in circles and do nothing at all! However, you can only get Deinonychus on Valguero or Fjordur. Remember to pack health, stamina, and melee damage on the Deinonychus, as it loses a lot of stamina while latched on to the Dragon! The Deinonychus also has a bleed that not only affects bosses, but also stacks! Remember, the stronger the breeding line, the better!
Tips:
The Dragon is a flying boss, and it starts off in the air. It also spits fireballs at you, which explode, dealing damage directly to the rider! It also summons Dimorphodons as minions, which can directly damage riders, requiring high-quality flak or riot armor despite the heat.
The arena is very hot, so put some points into fortitude and bring a Calien Soup to add heat insulation. Remember that the Dragon can directly damage riders, so bring flak instead of ghillie! Make sure to also bring some medical brews in case you get the "You're injured! Recover some Health in order to move properly again." message or you notice your HP bar looking critically low.
There is lava in the arena, which will burn your tames but not the Dragon.
If you are dismounted, and the Dragon bites you, you will probably die instantly, especially if you are fighting the Alpha variant, as it deals more damage than a Titano or a wild Giga. Keep the high damage of the boss in mind if you are using the Deinonychus strategy.
The Dragon's fire attacks deal more damage to carnivores (actually, I was technically wrong, carnivores take normal damage from being burned or blown up, while herbivores take reduced damage due to their thick hides), so use your Rexes to attack the Dragon from behind. The breath also is percentage based (-20% of max HP over 10 seconds to anything it hits), so make sure you don't have too much health, but enough to survive multiple bites.
Tekgrams (All difficulties):
Behemoth Tek Gate, Behemoth Tek Gateway, Megalodon Tek Saddle, Tapejara Tek Saddle, Tek Leggings, Tek Replicator
(Beta or higher):
Tek Dedicated Storage, Tek Double Door, Tek Double Doorframe, Tek Fence Support, Tek Forcefield, Tek Stairs, Tek Transmitter, Vacuum Compartment
(Alpha only):
Cloning Chamber, Tek Chestipece, Tek Teleporter, Vacuum Compartment Moonpool
Element:
80 (Gamma), 220 (Beta), 440 (Alpha)

TEK Cave and End Boss Fight

The TEK Cave is a cave at the top of the volcano, at 42.8, 39.2. When you get there, the gate will be sealed shut. To open it, you will need:
Broodmother Trophy (Gamma/Beta/Alpha; respective difficulty or higher)
Megapithecus Trophy (Gamma/Beta/Alpha; respective difficulty or higher)
Dragon Trophy (Gamma/Beta/Alpha; respective difficulty or higher)
Alpha Carno Arm (Beta/Alpha only)
Alpha Raptor Claw (Beta/Alpha only)
Alpha Rex Tooth (Beta/Alpha only)
Alpha Leedsichthys Blubber (Alpha only)
Alpha Megalodon Fin (Alpha only)
Alpha Mosasaur Tooth (Alpha only)
Alpha Tusoteuthis Eye (Alpha only)
Minimum Survivor Level: 60 (Gamma), 80 (Beta), 100 (Alpha)
Take note that the items are NOT consumed in the process-you can retrieve your trophies back after the boss fight!
"Respective difficulty or higher" means that the trophy required for entering the TEK Cave has to be of the chosen difficulty or higher, for example, you can use a Beta or Alpha Broodmother, Megapithecus, and Dragon trophy to enter the TEK Cave at Beta difficulty, but you can't use a Gamma trophy. You also need only one of each of the above items to enter the TEK Cave.
The TEK Cave itself is a large volcanic cave with these dangerous creatures:
Allosaurus, Arthropluera, Baryonyx, Carcharodontosaurus, Carnotaurus, Dilophosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Kaprosuchus, Megalosaurus, Microraptor, Purlovia, Tyrannosaurus (Rex), Terror Bird, Therizinosaurus, Yutyrannus
The creatures always spawn at level 195 at Gamma difficulty, 320 at Beta difficulty, and 620 at Alpha difficulty, and can't be tamed. The cave will only be open for 5 minutes, so bring your dinos in within that timeframe! I have also noticed that some creatures are put in squad formations:
1 Baryonyx followed by a couple Arthros
1 Kapro followed by a flock of Microraptors
1-2 Therizinos followed by a flock of Terror Birds
1 Megalosaurus followed by a Purlovia pack
You get 55 minutes to complete the cave and get into the boss fight, but you get unlimited time for the boss itself, unlike all the other bosses.

At the end of the cave, right before the teleporter entrance, you will have to fight a high-level Giga or Carcha, the former induces a bleed, the latter induces a healing debuff (Decreases healing rate), both have high health and melee damage, and the latter also can use a tailspin attack that will knock your dinos into the lava pit.


When you finally get to the teleporter, you can activate it and bring in up to 20 of the maximum of 50 that are allowed into the TEK Cave, of your dinos. The TEK Cave itself is very hot, but the teleporter is very cold! Bring powered TEK Armor to deal with both environments, and put some points into fortitude and consume both a Calien Soup and Fria Curry, with all of that, you will have 112 fortitude insulation + 56 recipe insulation = 168 passive insulation + (30-7-7-4-4=8) heat insulation and (5+15+15+10+10=55) cold insulation from the TEK Armor, totaling 223 cold insulation and 176 heat insulation, power it up with element, and you will have 448 cold insulation and 301 heat insulation, which I think is still not quite enough to survive the extreme heat of the TEK Cave and the extreme cold of the teleporter. Anyways, after teleporting your army into the space station, you will see the three boss arenas for the Broodmother, Megapithecus, and Dragon bosses. Continue on the path, and you will find 3 explorer notes:
Meiyin Note 31: Next to the console, to your right
Rockwell Record 29: Next to the second console, to your left
Helena Note 30: Right before entering the arena, to your left; very hard to miss!
After collecting the three explorer notes, you will come to an area with a holographic, 3-D map of
the ARK. Go toward the end, and you will initiate the boss fight.

For the boss itself, use a combination of Megatheriums, Rexes, Daeodons, Yutyrannus, and Therizinos to defeat the final boss of the ARK. Bring a TEK Rifle with you, as the boss summons drone minions that fly above you, shooting plasma bolts that directly damage riders. It will also transform into one of the three Guardians when it loses 25% of its health. When it is eventually defeated, cryopod all of your tames and go into the portal at the back of the arena. You will Ascend and gain 5 (Gamma), 10 (Beta), or 15 (Alpha) extra levels, and you will get the Tek ATV Tekgram if you beat the boss at Alpha level. You will then be uploaded (in singleplayer, you will be sent back to the main menu if you Ascend) and when you re-download, you can level up a few more times!

[MalarOpossum867]

They are very strong against the Dragon, but kinda large, so some may have been too far outside of the teleport bubble. Either that or their drag weight was increased like last-minute to 561 (creatures can't teleport into boss arenas if their drag weight is above 560, which is why you can't bring, for example, a Giga to a boss fight except for the Titans on Extinction or the underwater boss on Genesis 1).

[TioPepe's dream]

one question... te magmasaurs dont work anymore against the dragon on the island???? because, before, were hiper-op, jus 10 level... random, like 80 or less and the dragon died eaaasy. Becase the the fire didn't made any damagee and... the saddles covers the raider.
(anyway... al we know is much more easy to beat the dragon on Ragnarok, double boss... and very lower stats)

[moxmoz]

My efforts were fruitful with 18 Rexes with Ascendant saddles, seven carnos and A Yuti; after about 45 tries lol. I was finicky about it though and insisted on restarting if I lost anyone on the way down. My lead Rex has 350k health and 200k melee while the rest were right up there too.
ONLY Thing is to save the 'saved' folder on your desktop right before each attempt. Lining up the dinos so they all fit in is the hardest thing on the map. Don't make long conga lines with the Rexes because they jam up sumpin' fierce in the entrance. I set them all to 'attack my target' and floated around over the Overseer shooting with my ascendant shottie. Lots of health drinks and Calien stew I believe it was helped me survive, BUT MOST IMPORTANT is to remember to dump all your stuff into a dino before you get transported out. All living tames will automatically be back at the Tek Cave entrance when you respawn, no need to cryo them though, there wouldn't be enough time anyway.

[MalarOpossum867]

I did not include the cave entrance images for the Northwest and Northeast caves because the ARK Wiki did not allow me to.