‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Xbox One Patch Adds Underwater Caves And Memory Improvements
Studio Wildcard is still hammering away at ARK: Survival Evolved. A new update for the Xbox One version of the open-world survival title was released Tuesday with five new dinosaurs, new underwater caves for The Island, and a promise of big memory savings to help with the game’s performance and crashes.
ARK: Survival Evolved update 749 arrives as two separate downloads. The base game patch weighs in at 4.5 GB while the Scorched Earth expansion update is a much smaller 40 MB.
The big additions to ARK: Survival Evolved on the Xbox One is two new caves to The Island. These were included with the 253.0 PC patch released last month and offer Survivors new high-end areas to explore and earn loot. Both have artifacts hidden deep within.
Sadly, the Tek Tier did not make the last PC patch and is thus absent from today’s Xbox One update. The developers held it back for a January release on PC, which means console owners will have to wait until February.
This Xbox One update also adds all the subsequent smaller patches to the PC version, all the way through 253.95. These are Studio Wildcard’s smaller changes to ARK: Survival Evolved to fix issues that have cropped up and adjust to player behavior. For example, Non-Quetz flyers can no longer pick up characters carrying C4. Additionally, spike walls can no longer do damage to underwater creatures.
The memory savings are perhaps of most interest to Xbox One owners dealing with performance issues and crashes in ARK: Survival Evolved. The growing number of creatures and large structures built by players puts a strain on consoles.
Community Manager Jat explained on Twitter: “This Xbox patch has a lot of memory savings, even with the additional creatures + caves – we’re much better off than before, it’s sweet.”
There are five new dinosaurs included in ARK: Survival Evolved PC patch 253.0. Two make the seas more dangerous while the other three are a unique collection of land-based animals.
The Cnidaria is a giant and untamable jellyfish. While its bioluminescent body provides some light underwater, its tentacles can provide a deadly sting. They can be used as a passive underwater barrier by players or harvested for their venom, which can be used to create torpor darts.
The Tusoteuthis is a giant squid that will literally suck the life out of its prey. Its long tentacles can subdue and crush prey while its blood is drained. These can be tamed and used to harvest its oil, but it is not an easy catch.
Meanwhile, Pegomastax is a somewhat ugly land dinosaur that is a bit of a kleptomaniac. This creature is a scavenger that can steal loot from other players, which may add a surprising new dynamic for Survivors that tame one.
The giant-clawed Therizinosaurus is a harvesting machine in ARK: Survival Evolved. Those giant claws can also be used for defense as the creature is almost as powerful as a Rex. It is relatively passive, though, but don’t underestimate the taming difficulty.
Finally, the Troodon is a unique animal in that it cannot be tamed, but its loyalty can be earned. These small, Raptor-like dinosaurs can be used to scout by ARK Survivors out on the hunt.
Here are the complete patch notes for 749.0 via the official website:
- All PC equivalent content up & functionality through v253.x
- New Dino: Cnidaria!
- New Dino: Troodon!
- New Dino: Tusoteuthis!
- New Dino: Pegomastax!
- New Dino: Therizinosaurus!
- 2 New Full-Scale Underwater Caves (progression-oriented with Artifacts!)
ARK: Survival Evolved players on the PlayStation 4 will need to wait a little longer to receive this update. Studio Wildcard has submitted the update to Sony for certification, but are waiting to hear back.
[Image by Studio Wildcard]
