Levelling and Engram Points - Where to spend them

So you've finally reached level 86 and unlocked the amazingly cool stuff that is available there. Along the way you put your engrams into areas you thought would be useful later one but wait!

After 360886 exp and buying whatever you want you've finally seen the truth.... You can no longer afford the late game items!

With a level cap of 86, netting you a grand total of 2284 engram points, which is more than enough to cover most bases. I at first didn't believe so until I checked it out myself. How many people will be unlocking everything they can early game, only to find that they are now screwed for anything in the late game? I know I did at first, so here's a little guide of things to get as you level that mean you can get the most out of a single player experience while not losing to the elements!

PLEASE NOTE. This guide doesn't cover the level requirements for any engrams, nor does it tell you what is needed to make anything. This is a guide to show how much it'll cost for what I personally believe to be the most optimal way to use your engrams while being able to cover as many bases as possible, allowing for a more stable single player method of playing as well as allowing you to be a supportive multiplayer role. If there is a demand for it, I will add in the level requirements for each item as well.

Change Log

1.0 - Guide was made

1.1 - Added Polymer as it is required to repair/make assault rifle, rocket launcher, gps etc

1.2 - Added Electronics and removed Auto Turret due to it needing power generator + cables which removes all chance of getting any other engrams.

1.3 - New level cap of 65! 159 more engram points added onto the old total (devs said 120 and a cap of 64 but I'm not gunna complain).
- New section added! My personal max level setup can now be seen with explanations on my choices!

1.4 - Stone Tier added, level cap increased from 65 to 67 (more engram points!). Character stats, engrams etc changed. Also edited a few mistakes over the guide!

1.5 - Massive Updates! New biomes, new mobs, new engrams! Level cap now increased to a whopping 86 netting a massive 900 extra engram points since the last guide update!

The Basics - Staying Alive

Forgetting the total amount of engram points you have to spend when you get to level 86... What are you going to START by getting? These are the basics of basics, the items you'll want to start with so you can actually survive in this unknown land...

First things first, you're going to want an axe, a campfire, a spear and a waterskin. This world can have some very extreme temperatures, ranging from anything as hot as 42 degrees Celcius to anywhere as low as -12 if not colder. Having a waterskin handy will greatly reduce the need to constantly gather berries to quench your thirst, while having a campfire will allow you to keep yourself warm and give you a place to cook your food. To get that fire going you'll need wood, hence the axe, and you'll need food, so that's why you'll want a spear! Simple no?

Now that you're well fed and won't die of thirst or cold (and you WILL die from the cold without proper protection), you'll want to make sure you can keep your temperature at a more stable level without the need for a campfire every ten steps. You'll be wanting clothes and a place to sleep!

A set of thatch building materials (foundation, wall, doorway, door and roof), a full set of cloth armour and a sleeping bag to have a one time respawn if you die might take a few levels so get smacking those dodos. It will all be worth it when you can stay out of the rain!

These basic engrams will keep you alive but not indefinately... We need to go bigger and better... We need some real damage and some defence that actually lasts.

A Good Defence is a Good Offence

So you've got clothes... You have a home... You have a spear... However is that really going to be enough? There are a lot more dinos out there than dodos and a lot of them are very aggressive... You've met your fair share of Dilos and even a few Raptors which are easy enough to handle with your spear, but as soon as you see a scorpion that's game over. Run or die... Also these one time respawns are getting REALLY expensive... Not to mention if you get caught near home, your thatch walls don't do you any good and break down way to quickly... We need a better alternative, and fast.

First of all, we want to get ourselves a slingshot. This will probably be your most used tool in the early stages of the game, as it not only counts for ranged warfare, but also knocks the dinos out (It takes a long time for the big ones like the t-rex or the bronto though so be careful!) so that you can either get an easy kill, or you can attempt to tame them to have your very own battle pet! (Or item chest... your choice).

This will allow you to make your next dangerous weapon, the bow and arrow and the even more powerful tranq arrows. These have a downside of doing more damage to dinos, but can even knock out the big ones with ease and from a safe distance! This requires narcotics however, which are a tech tree of their own. You'll also want a bed for a more permanant sleeping spot, a way to store things and perhaps it's time to upgrade those walls...

While we're at it, we'll have the level requirements to upgrade to Hide armour for better protection, both defensively and Hypothermally. It might be a good idea to instantly update that storage box as well, so you can hold more items! I mean... Who doesn't want more storage space?

The slingshot, mortar and pestle, narcotic, bow, arrows, wooden building blocks and storage box are all important, but we can't forget some of the most important items that you'll need for later on. Make sure to get the spark powder, cementing paste, gunpowder and flare gun for those end game needs!

You might also want to grab a cooking pot, because some of the recipies you can make are extremely useful. However if you want to make proper use of these, you will need to get yourself a small crop plot, a stone water reservoir, all of the stone irrigation pipes, and a compost bin so that you have a better chance at growing crops efficiently.

Strike While the Iron is Hot

Finally we break into what I've felt in my current state of gameplay is the slowest part of all... Getting your first chunks of metal to move into the metal processing... Lets make it easier on ourselves and say we "came across" some metal, and now it's ours... What do we do with it?

Well, first we need a forge, and then we need thngs to make with the metal, so we'll need the metal tools and the smithy. These can take a while to make but they are worth it. You'll also start to see Chitin Armour coming up - which offers decent protection against damage, but nothing else - as well as the final piece of wood building blocks, the window. Now you may be asking youself "why get the window?" Well it keeps the cold out of course! Yup, an open window will let the cold in and the heat out, so on a cold night you'll want to close those windows up and set that fire going for even better protection! You'll need to go back and get the window frame of course, but it's worth it.

Not only this however.... are those.... guns!?

Yes they are! Remember the sparkpoweder? Well that's used to make gunpowder, which you'll need for all of the guns. You might want to go back and get the spyglass so you can make scopes for your guns as well.

Now that you have these, you can unlock the pistol, the shotgun, the longneck rifle and their ammo. The pistols not that good, the shotgun is only good at close range, which you won't want for dinos, however the longneck rifle is a different story. A decent power and with a scope it's got some crazy range meaning no dino will ever be able to attack you before you've sniped it down!

By this point, you'll have also unlocked the higher tier irrigation for farming. If you chose to get the stone irrigation and started farming, I would suggest leaving these alone, but DO get the medium crop plot as that will be very useful.

If you are having problems with lots of broken pipes, my sugestion would be to encase them inside a wall and roof so that dinos can't step on them and break them. You won't have that problem with metal pipes, but I would avoid them for now, in case you want to use your engrams in other areas!

The Final Approach

Finally... The last stretch... Well, almost... At least now you've gotten past the hard part and can now survive the wilderness! Lets grind out those levels and get ourselves some tasty engram points!

You've probably passed over the metal building blocks because you've seen the outline of the later engrams... That looks like a rocket launcher, and that looks like a mounted machine gun! Well you aren't far off!

Pick up the Fabricator and the silencer as you're going to want these. One because why would you ever want to attract more of the dinos to you (or perhaps scare them away) and the other because you're not going to be able to make those end game guns without it! You might also want to grab the Flashlight Attatchment for later on.

Don't forget to unlock Polymer and Electronics so you can make and repair the guns you'll be looking to make! These are VERY important to the lone wolf as they won't be easy to come by if you're on your own.

Electronics will be needed for things such as the Auto-Turret, but they cost you a lot of EP and we want to maximize customisation while keeping it "optimal" (and I use that term lightly) for a single player. So lets miss out on that, going on a killing spree with however many bullets you've managed to miraculously make. You've finally unlocked the secret wonders of the higher levels ... Finally you have access to the Assault Rifle and it's Advanced Rifle Bullet.

As well as this however you notice the Holographic Sight and... Laser Attatchment? Hell yeah! What next!?

The final levels produce the best yet... The Rocket Launcher is now available... It packs a punch sure, but it's not really going to do much if you end up blowing the T-Rex AND yourself up is it? However there is a tracking device available which could be useful if you die and can't remember where your pack mule was, and there's also diving gear! Not only that, but if you choose do dabble in the ways of electricity, there are elevators, refrigerators... You name it!

Level 86

You've done it! You broke through to level 86, there's nothing else beyond this point. If you've followed through this guide and not unlocked anything extra, you'll still have a good 1400+ Engram Points to spend on whatever you want!

Maybe finally upgrade to stone or metal walls so you don't have to fear even a t-rex breaking through your front gate.

Perhaps you'll want to test out the grenades and work towatds a C4 or Grenade launcher?

Those electronics you skipped past earlier are looking pretty tempting right about now... Especially with it being able to keep food for longer and playing around with the magic of elevators and such...

Maybe you'll want to craft a few saddles to ride dinos... Know what it feels like to ride the back of a shark, be the arms of a t-rex, touch the clouds with a pteranodon... The world is your dino egg and your engrams are ready to help you hatch out and break free. From here on out, you can go any way you want and still be able to do a few extras that you normally wouldn't (unless you want to get every saddle... Those things are expensive and there's a lot of them!)

Please also note that I did not included EVERY part of the "building blocks" for the base materials. You might want catwalks for some safe movement between buildings, or maybe some ladders so that you can save on space from the ramps. This is all up to you!

This guide was created to be a semi "optimal" setup for using your engrams as a solo player, while leaving enough engram points to choose where you might want to specialize into if you were to be playing with a group of friends. (In which case you might not want clothing, but instead choose to spend all those points in metal walls etc so someone else can cover clothing. That is what makes teamwork so potent in this game!)

With all of the updates, I have been changing my character around quite a lot, testing out different things and seeing what I find to be the best. With each level cap update or large engram addition, I will be editing the images further down the guide with my choice of engrams and character points along with why I chose what I did. Go by the guide or go by what I've got there it's up to you :)

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will be playing on a twitch sub server for twitch.tv/tangentgaming under the name Warlock and there will always be members of the community about that will be willing to help with whatever questions you may have. We have had a dev Q&A (can be found in the highlights of tangents profile page) and enough people that have played the late game to answer your questions :)

Item Table

Item	Engram Points
Campfire	3
Stone Hatchet	3
Spear	3
Cloth Pants	3
Cloth Shirt	3
Thatch Foundation	3
Thatch Doorframe	3
Waterskin	6
Cloth Gloves	3
Cloth Boots	3
Cloth Hat	3
Hide Sleeping Bag	3
Thatch Rood	3
Thatch Wall	3
Thatch Door	3
Slingshot	6
Storage Box	6
Simple Bed	8
Mortar and Pestle	6
Sparkpowder	3
Narcotic	6
Wooden Foundation	9
Wooden Wall	9
Gunpowder	3
Flare Gun	6
Spyglass	6
Wooden Cieling	6
Wooden Doorframe	6
Wooden Door	6
Wooden Ramp	3
Hide Pants	9
Hide Shirt	6
Bow	12
Stone Arrow	3
Large Storage Box	9
Wooden Fence Foundation	6
Wooden Pillar	9
Wooden Hatchframe	9
Wooden Ladder	6
Hide Gloves	9
Hide Boots	9
Hide Hat	12
Tranq Arrow	15
Refining Forge	21
Dinosaur Gateway	9
Dinosaur Gate	6
Wooden Catwalk	12
Wooden Trapdoor	9
Wooden Windowframe	12
Smithy	16
Metal Pick	12
Metal Hatchet	12
Pike	18
Cementing Paste	3
Wooden Window	12
Chitin Leggings	15
Chitin Chestplate	18
Chitin Helmet	18
Scope Attachment	13
Chitin Gauntlets	15
Chitin Boots	15
Longneck Rifle	18
Simple Rifle Ammo	6
Fabricator	24
Silencer Attachment	13
Polymer	6
Electronics	6
Flak Leggings	15
Flak Chestplate	18
Flashlight Attachment	18
Flak Boots	16
Flak Gauntlets	16
Flak Helmet	20
Assault Rifle	24
Advanced Rifle Bullet	8
Laser Attachment	24
Holo-Scope	24
Rocket Launcher	32

My Personal Setup (Stats)

For anyone wondering, here are some screen caps of the engrams + stats I put into my character at level 86. This will be a long section!

STATS



Stamina is a must when you are running long distances or fighting in a cave where social aggro puts you against 10+ bats and 14 spiders. You do NOT want to run out of stamina and even worse, torpor yourself, when fighting those odds. 1 point = 10 stamina.

It was confirmed in a Q&A that more oxygen = more swimming speed, and if you were to specialize into it, you could eventually outswim a megalodon (would require 40+ points in oxygen) so the more the better. 1 point in oxygen = 20 points.

The more melee damage you have, the more torpor you deal as well. With 200% melee damage for example, you can knock out a level 18 dodo in just 6 hits, and can kill a Cole in just 2 punches. Minor examples, but every little helps. 1 point in melee damage = 5%

I used to say that I would never put movement speed past 130% as there were some very dangerous consequences in the past... Like, flying off a cliff because you couldn't turn fast enough... This is still the case, but not as much. I would still suggest caution when going over 140-150%. 1 point in movement speed = 2%

Fortitude allows you to survive higher and lower temperatures better than those without. With high enough fortitude, you could walk into a cave full of lava and not get thirsty as quickly from the heat! Personally I feel that any more than 5 points is a waste, at most 10. From personal experience this stat seems to have a very quick drop off point. Yes with enough you will not freeze, but that would probably be half of your levels if not more. There have been reports of some people noticing a difference, and others noticing none, please note that you will still die from extreme temperatures even with a fortitude of 200, you just won't die as quickly. 1 point = 2%

The reason I didn't put any points into health was I never find myself in too much trouble. If i'm on a mount, most things are going to die or not be able to catch me, if I'm caught off-guard, my movement speed should be enough or I'll have a way to protect myself (such as a pike).

Food and water are the same, I never find myself lacking food and if I'm in a tight spot I can grab some berries on the way back to base or jump in a river quickly to keep myself hydrated/fed. If you invest some engrams into, or get lucky from a drop pod and come across a preserving bin, then you really shouldn't be having problems with hunger ever again.

As for weight, a lot of people will find this stat important. On my multiplayer character I have levelled weight to about 260. 100 isn't bad, it's just a pain to get about with things. Most of the time I will use a mount that covers this however, so as soon as you get a mount, you're sorted. I myself, use a mammoth. I have a friend who uses 3 trikes. The taming process by hand is the only problem that you will get to begin with, however after that it's clear sailing. I put 10 points in this just for convenience while playing, however those points could be better used in oxygen (About 400 oxygen on yourself and a scorpion + a lazarus chowder is one of the methods people have been using to tame plesis, so half of points into oxygen would put you at that level) it entirely depends on the situation.

Crafting speed isn't a huge problem, it can help you fix your box in a fight but that's no quicker than going into your inventory for a spare, so I found no reason this would be worth levelling when there are plenty of other things that you would benefit from more. You just have to be prepared before going into a fight. Don't try to knock something out with only one more use on your bow for example.

My Personal Setup (Engrams)

Now onto the engrams:























In the guide, I avoided mentioning Chitin or Flak much, nor did I take the engrams in my personal setup. This is mainly because of three reasons.

1) You can still repair these items with the correct materials
2) The blueprints for them are commonly found in drop pods
3) They provide poor hypo and hyperthermic protection

They do have good physical protection, so I will have a set on if I feel I am going to need it, however I would much rather limit the amount I need to eat and drink as these are essential for regaining stamina and health. I did get the helmets, however that is for the sole purpose of being able to craft the mining helmet, which allows for mining metal in the caves once you decide to explore them and removes the need to set up torches every 5 feet.

I forgot to mention the newly added fur set in the guide, which gives the best Hypothermal protection of them all, and is pretty much 100% needed if you want to live in the snow biomes. I might edit this in at a later date, but as I'm mentioning it down here I will probably just leave it at that.

The saddles were originally Megalodon, Anklyo, Mammoth, Spino, and Argevantis. However with the new mobs added in and the changes to old mounts, this has changed.

Now I prefer the Ichthyosaurus over the Megalodon simply because of the better swimming speed. Anklyo is used for gathering metal and stone, Mammoth for wood, Argevantis for flying (argev has been nerfed a bit too much for my liking so sometimes I'll go ptera instead), rex for killing (worse in water, better on land and better for meat gathering) and for overland travel I now use the Beelzebufo (the frog from the swamps). Don't underestimate those frogs, their jumping power is insane which equates to rediculous overland travel, they have decent stamina and their attacks have a decent range, good speed and a poison + narco effect, meaning that once you get the hang of their attack power, you can easily decide if a creature is going to live... or die. With some levels in Melee Damage, they can even have enough strength to knock out a Rex in just 6 or so hits!

All of the farming equipment was learnt as metal pipes can't be broken by brontos whereas stone ones can. The preserving bin can be very useful if going out on long trips and the plants that are grown are invaluable for cooking pot recipies and the like.

I chose to learn almost all of the building blocks as I am a builder, and I love to make my buildings aesthetically pleasing, not just the best you can get. (I missed out on the catwalks because I don't expect I'll be needing walkways between buildings etc, only walls and maybe some pillars + floors for the outline of the base) Every gate because eventually the walls will be more than one high and you can't get a rex over those. Elevators for science as I have yet to use them, but only the medium one (I should have gotten the large tbh as they don't require the smaller sizes, I am sure this is a bug that's going to be fixed in the future, the same as how the wooden spike wall isn't required for the metal version)

With the remaining points I got a flag and paintbrush (again for aesthetics) and a multitude of random saddles. These included the bronto and plesi saddles so that I could play around with mobile bases and see how they worked (same can be said for the raft). I also got the industrial gril however I am still unsure if this requires electricity or not. I would assume it does, however that won't matter too much. All in all this left me with 5 engram points and only the note paper as something I could afford, so I took it.

[dandinks]

now I know this guide is from a time before people were civil but what are those playerstats

[lloydron]

ark stopped leveling at 61 level single player

[Serinitus]

maxlevel is now 130ish, we have mindwipes if you really need this guide here is my tip: do whatever you want and then mindwipe when you hit that wall......NOTE on official PvE mindwipe ony works once per level i.e (you can reset at 98-99-100 but not three times at 98 or 100.) also that limit isnt based on your xp based level but the levels of the stats you have pumped, so you cant just fail to hit that last few levels to reset again if you just needed to build a big one off item

[TheWarlock]

Last played ARK in January so not been about to update it in a long time. Afraid it's no longer valid. I was thinking about checking it out again now that it's fully released but work etc has gotten in the way :(

I'll drop a comment in here once I get round to getting on, playing a bit on scorched etc and seeing what it's all like since there seems to still be a bit of traffic to this guide!

[Avarice]

Yo, if this was updated it'd be top notch*tsk tsk*. Could you also do a Scorched Earth setup? I found this one very helpful.

[Hydrolithen]

Or once you get to max level for single player you can open the admin UI menu in the console by using the cheat ShowMyAdminManager then scroll down and hit the give enegrams button It'll unlock every enegram in the game

[76561198125668501]

Blacm

[Entstehung]

Is this still valid*

[Fishy]

Hey I made an engram calculator, maybe you would be nice enough to include it in your guide (use it to give a link to your build for people)

Engram Calculator [martinblackburn.github.io]

[-Crest-]

cant wait for the updated version got my amnesia soup ready :)