ARK: Survival Evolved is an intimidating experience for many gamers, despite its far-reaching influence, While experienced ARK: Survival Evolved players may enjoy rushing forward through early levels to reach electricity and other high-tech gadgets, newer players will likely be stuck in the early stone age for days or hours.

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Before making any significant progress, new players may fall into one or more pitfalls that will slow or stop all progression. Given that ARK: Survival Evolved features a number of important and detrimental dangers to avoid, this begs the question, what are the worst mistakes a new player can make while playing ARK: Survival Evolved?

10 Playing With Default Settings

Similar to other survival games, new players may be tempted to hop directly into a public server. But, ARK: Survival Evolved is best enjoyed for new players in small groups. This means that the settings used for public servers aren't particularly necessary or enjoyable for such gamers, and may actually be detrimental to the experience. The default settings are both excessively hard and require a lot of grinding and teamplay to make work. Making the game a little easier will ease new players into the gameplay of this dinosaur survival game.

9 Being Intimidated By Big Dinosaurs

New players may see a giant Brontosaurus or similarly large dinosaur, and while there are some of these that are both terrifying and extremely difficult to take down, many of them are easier than they seem. The T-Rex, for instance, has a number of exploits that can be used to tame it extremely early. While the saddle may take a while to acquire, having a T-Rex following a new player around can make the game significantly easier. They can also harvest meat to make hunting much faster and easier.

8 Angering Herd Dinosaurs

Several dinosaurs in Ark: Survival Evolved will attack if provoked, but some more will attack if a nearby dinosaur of the same type is attacked. These are herd dinos and include the Triceratops and other such herbivores. Some carnivores also follow this pattern and knowing which dinosaur is a herd animal and which isn't will make anyone's game go much smoother. A quick bit of research will help anyone ease into this mindset, but if a new player asks, chances are it's safest to avoid it.

7 Building Health Only

New players will be tempted to attack the game with a large amount of extra health provided by fast early levels. While this can be changed later on, it's nearly always best to generalize the level-ups with a focus on specific stats. That being said, players should be sure not to build only that stat, lest they fall from a tiny ledge and end up dead, or unable to run away from a hungry carnivore. Dividing up the responsibilities of level-ups also helps new players feel that they have a niche, a great strategy for any survival game whether it's Valheim or Ark: Survival Evolved.

6 Attacking High-Level Dinosaurs

While the biggest dinosaurs aren't necessarily the strongest, the most intimidating, and rarest dinosaurs in the game are those that have the highest level. A high-level group of small dinosaurs can often take on and kill low-level large dinosaurs.

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While low-level dinosaurs can be levelled up to match their equivalents, with better stat allocation, in the wild they are often inferior to similarly-sized high-level dinosaurs. Carnivore or not, experienced players always aim for the highest level. But, new players should tame low-level, faster taming, dinosaurs first.

5 Building Too Close to Metal

Much like other survival games, the biggest barrier to progression in Ark: Survival Evolved is the acquisition of metal. Most players build close to, but not too close to, a source of metal for bullets, weapon, and armor. Experienced players know, however, that the best way to stop metal from spawning is to build directly on top of it.

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All resource nodes will stop spawning if they are built next to, including metal, which means that the best way to avoid this is to build some distance away from the group's mines and metal rocks.

4 Playing Alone

It may seem easy and preferable for introverts to hop into this dinosaur taming survival game but new players should be warned that Ark: Survival Evolved is based around team play, split-screen or otherwise. An aspiring dinosaur-tamer should join a group of like-minded individuals, or hop in with friends already made. Otherwise, solo players should be ready for an incredibly boring and unfulfilling experience. Without a clan, the various DLC maps of Ark: Survival Evolved are both barren and present several obstacles to progression, including bosses, building, and effective taming.

3 Not Crafting Armour

New players will often skip over basic armor in lieu of acquiring and saving basic materials. While this is an easy thing for experienced players to do, new players will need protection from the environment that armour and clothes in general provide. Any player should attempt to acquire armour as soon as possible, with leather and flak armour being the most obvious candidates for early-game progression and dinosaur combat. Gamers should be warned, Ark: Survival Evolved is a difficult game for new players, and there's no such thing as overpreparing.

2 Not Using Kibble For Herbivores

Taming is made much easier and faster by the addition of kibble. If a player uses the egg of a dinosaur in cooking, they can acquire kibble which is the best food for herbivorous dinosaurs. Kibble is the equivalent of prime meat, but for herbivores, and speeds up the taming of these creatures to the point of being a necessity for some dinosaurs. Creating an easy source of eggs using dodos is both necessary and fun for new players as well. Players should make sure they are properly protected, though.

1 Leveling Up Too Slowly

Experienced players will recognize the easy gold mine of experience that crafting certain items and killing certain dinosaurs will provide. New players often neglect the mass crafting of certain items such as narcotics that create an easy passive source of experience for aspiring Ark: Survival Evolved players. While these items are often expensive, farming them is both worth the effort and extremely handy for tranquilizer arrows, darts, and taming high-level dinosaurs. Players should be sure that they do their research to get the maximum amount of experience per hour played in order to speed progression.

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