Tips, Mods, and.. Mutations?

This guide is mostly for future me, I have the memory of a Trilobite. Reminders of useful mods, changes for game.ini, mutation guide, etc.

Let's Start w/ Settings!

The settings I use are meant to be fair, and keep the game challenging and fun. It really focuses on time-saving, as not everyone has hours to wait for one Rex egg to be laid, hatch, and the baby dino to grow to maturity.... and then do that 19 more times. Let's get started:

GAME RULES

STRUCTURE
Structure Resistance: 0 (don't break my house.. 😑)
Disable Structure Placement Collision: ON

WORLD
XP Multiplier: 3
Taming Speed Multiplier: 3
Harvest Yield Multiplier: 2
Allow Speed Leveling: ON
Allow Flyer Speed Leveling: ON
Maximum Difficulty: ON (for 150 max wild level)
PVE NEEDS TO BE OFF

RULES
Enable Crosshair: ON
Use Singleplayer Settings: ON

ADVANCED

PVE
(idk if this section matters for a pvp world, but better safe than sorry)
Disable Structure Decay: ON
Flyer Carry: ON

PVP
Dino Decay: OFF

WORLD
Mating Interval: 0.1
Lay Egg Interval: 1 (0.5 to half the time)
Egg Hatch Speed: 5
Anyone Can Baby Imprint Cuddle: ON
Baby Mature Speed: 5
Baby Cuddle Interval: 0.2
Baby Imprint Stat Scale: 5 (could be less, but this is the settings I prefer)

XP MULTIPLIERS
Unclaimed Creature Kill: 2.5 (sacrifice Farm those baby Rexes!)

MISC
Allow Raid Dino Feeding: ON
Supply Crate Loot Quality: 2 (ASA doesn't need as much help as ASE did, leave this alone if you are content with the drop loot as it is.)
Show Floating Damage Text: ON

Some Game.ini Anyone?

Some things can't be changed in the settings, but instead forces you to change the world in two different game files! Here is where you will (likely) find the files:

NOTE: this has to be done after you create the world, or the "Saved" folder will not exist yet.

C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\Windows
You can also get to the game folder by right-clicking on your game in Steam, hover "Manage", and click "Browse Local Files".

Game.ini

Find the note document named Game.ini, click on it to edit it.
Directly under [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode] add this line:

• BabyImprintAmountMultiplier=5

This makes reaching 100% imprint much easier, especially since we changed the timing so drastically. Most large dinos will still need multiple imprinting sessions, so I still find it fair.

Easy enough! Save and go to the next file!

GameUserSettings.ini

This is the same process, only you will be adding this line of text under [ServerSettings].

• DisableCryopodFridgeRequirement=True

ASA added the annoying cryofridge dependency when it comes to using your cryopods. Nobody wants to carry a cryofridge and generator with fuel around everywhere.. I say get rid of it!

Save and you should be good to go!

Mods to Make Your Ascension Epic

So, thankfully we have amazingly talented people who create mods for quality of life, etc. Here is my list of those mods! Thanks to all these creators!

"Necessary" Mods

• A Simple Performance Mod (60 FPS)
  This mod broke the hair and other graphics for laptops, though I had no issue with my pc..
  
• Prevent Hibernation
  
• Mx Modified Spawn Level Distribution
  
• Utilities Plus
  
• Der Dino Finder
  
• Awesome Spyglass
  
• Cryo Sickness Protection
  Doesn't seem to work on multiplayer.
  
• Explorer Notes Tracker WIP
  
• Stackable Prime Meats (x50)

Quality Of Life Mods

• Fall Damage Shield For your friends that like to walk off cliffs consistently..👀
  
• Expanded Passive Tames
  
• Jerky and Spoiling Bins
  
• Egg Collector
  
• Big Storage Box
  
• QOL+
  
• Crazy's Crazy Ascended Potions
  This one will save you your time and sanity, and it doesn't feel overpowered.

Cosmetic Mods

• MarniiMods Hairstyles
  
• Cliffans Wardrobe (CDM) [ARMOR & CLOTHING]

_______________________________________________

Thankfully, ASA comes with the ability to easily look up and install mods, feel free to discover more on your own! These are my suggestions, and their pages have the best descriptions of what they do!

X-Men (Mutation) Reminders

So! You have a lot of Ark memorized and down to a science. Now time to breed dinos! Not just any dinos.. BOSS KILLING DINOS. You could just imprint a bunch of strong Megatheriums, Rexes, and Therizinosaurs then call it a day, but I am here with a chart from Apollo_Syx on Reddit! Thanks for the most concise chart I have ever seen, so easy to understand!

Apollo_Syk's Mutation Guide



Honestly, I have found that trying mate the mutated female with the original unmutated male, extremely time-consuming and not worth it in my opinion. So, for me, I will only keep mutated males. 🤷‍♀️

MUTATION REMINDERS

• A good thing to remember is that a mutation is a percentage chance. One male can breed with multiple females, all eggs having the chance to have a new mutation. However, if the female has the mutation, it can only lay one egg occasionally with the same (low) percentage as the others. Quantity is what is the best for us here. So only breed for mutated males.
  
  
• Also, not sure how true this is but.. apparently as long as one genetic side (Maternal or Paternal) does not go beyond the 20/20 mutations, you can keep mutating the other side. Another reason to keep mutations to only the Paternal side. You can check this by clicking on the "Ancestry" button in your dino's inventory.

Here is a good example I found online:

This is why I recommend the mod Awesome Spyglass. The numbers next to the stats of the dinos tell you where the levels went. Here are my 2 Base Rexes, tamed wild at 150. (Normally that would make this dinos level 224 NOT 225,150+74 lvls for 100% effective tame= 224 but we are going to ignore that... FOR SCIENCE!)
Also ignore "Tribe of Human".. I renamed my character later in game..

This is the female, you can see numbers like 33-0-0 on Melee and 37-0-0 on Health. The numbers go as such:

Random Levels Pretame-Mutation Levels-Levels Added MANUALLY After Tame


So, here I have these Rexes that I haven't added any levels to since I only use them for breeding. However, it is SUPER important to remember that the highest stats have a higher chance of getting more points added to that stat.

With that in mind, here is my male Rex:



Here we see a MUCH better set of stats with 41 into Melee and 51 into health. This makes it much more likely that we will get mutations on these stats! Let's see one of their mutated babies!



So cute! And a health mutation! But there is something not right here.. can you tell what it is?
That's right! This baby Rex has it's mother's base health(37) and NOT it's father's(50). Making this mutation useless. A+!

• This☝️is why I would make sure my "Base Male" and "Base Female(s)" dinos have the same stats. This way, your base unmutated male and female(s) will be the unmutated offspring from your original dinos. Just keep breeding the originals until you get a male and a female(s) with the same stats. Once you get one gender with the stats you want, getting the second is a LOT easier... ~sWeEt HOmE AlaBAmA~🎤

TLDR; Breed identical stats onto your new unmutated parents. When satisfied, go for the mutations.

• It is always a good idea to keep your original unmutated male and female dinos in case you make a mistake down the line and need to start over!
  
  
• It is also good to note that there can only be a max of 255 mutated points into one stat. For instance, My female rex, if mutated fully could have: 33-255-0 on Melee and 37-255-0 on health! After one stat is capped(or close to it), move on to another stat or call it good and fight the dragon!
  ___________________________
  P.S: Easy Mutations is a good mod for quick mutations! Remember C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\Windows?
  
  Good! Go to GameUserSettings.ini, search for MaxMutationStacks, and change the 1 to 20! That way this mod actually works with your game!
  
  P.P.S: There is also a mod called Mutation Kibble! This seems to work very well, I am content so far. It even comes with kibble to change genders of your baby dinos (keeping the paternal line~) and a kibble to reset the mutation counter. I probably won't use that one, but I thought I would mention it!
  
  

  DO NOT REPLACE YOUR UNMUTATED FEMALE(S) WITH MUTATED ONES. THIS WILL CLUTTER UP THE MATERNAL LINE!

  
  For other help, refer to this handy-dandy guide on dododex! 😎
  
  Dododex Mutation Guide[help.dododex.com]
  
  
  

Quick Backup Reminder!

If you want multiple saves on one pc, you have to create backups!

Start by going to: C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame

Copy the Saved folder to a safe place.
We copy the files to make sure that it doesn't bug out during transfer and you lose your world, better safe than sorry!
You now have a backup of the worlds currently saved on your device. (The Saved folder is your backup.) You can rename the folder so you know which world it was, just remember to change it back to Saved when you want to put it back or switch it out.

Feel free to delete the OG Saved folder (or just click Delete All Singleplayer Saves in-game) and start a new world! This will create a new Saved folder with your new world.

Replace the Saved folder in:
C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame
with whichever backup(Saved folder) you plan on using~ Voila! Multiple save files!

NOTE: Creating backups is ALWAYS risky.. Be sure you have done it right before starting a new save! Measure twice, cut once!




TLDR; Switch out the Saved folder in your game files.

Thanks for Coming to my Ted Talk

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my guide! I hope it helps a lot of you, and may your ascension be swift and painless!

Let me know if you think something should be added to my guide! I am always down for suggestions!

[thiing2]

Thanks for da info, I'm still gonna rely on you to do all the mutation stuff tho lololol