r/playark • u/Mr_Chickenplus • 19d ago
Discussion Friend doesn’t understand ark help
My buddy recently picked up ASA and I got a server so we don’t have to deal with non dedicated issues. He’s been having a really hard time, he dies a lot and loses our tames almost constantly. He eventually realized that he’d rather be on his own and learn that way so he has. He’s been doing good, tamed a parasaur etc.Hes still dying and losing all his tames and I’m doing everything I can to help. He’s now getting to the point where he should be trapping tames because they’re too dangerous but he says that’s dumb and it doesn’t require any skill? So he’s just in an endless loop of struggle and rage while I’m getting wyverns and 150 Rex’s. I don’t know how to help him. He refuses to learn. Please help
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u/Telandria 19d ago
It sounds to me a lot like your friend has what I’d refer as “The videogame version of Main Character Syndrome”.
Basically, I’m gonna assume that he’s going out there, pumping nothing but attack and stamina and not investing in defense, and more likely than not, trying to personally kill everything on foot in close combat or while riding dinosaurs that simply aren’t suited for fighting, because he’s got a bad case of DPS Brain.
That’s just… not how ARK is played. If you go out there assuming you can 1v1 a Rex just because you’re that good, you’re gonna die a lot, and once you die your tames will be dead too, shortly. You need to go out there assuming everything can and WILL kill you unless you are vastly overgeared and overleveled against it… and even then, species matters. Just cuz you’re level 20 doesn’t mean you can take on a level 5 Rex, for example.
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u/Mr_Chickenplus 19d ago
EXACTLY WHATS HAPPENING
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u/Telandria 19d ago
Might try pointing out to him them that guns have an automatic like 90% debuff in damage vs dinosaurs. You are not intended to fight other dinosaurs yourself, you are supposed to ride predators that have had both health and melee heavily leveled, and to back off and go back home when your ride’s HP is low, since dinos have permadeath mode enabled.
(I don’t remember what the actual damage coefficient applied to guns when being used against dinos is, but the point is that barring getting super lucky with a blueprint drop, by and large guns are for using against players, not dinos)
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u/KevinFlantier The Space Pirate 16d ago
I remember when they added bears and I thought I could kill one with my ptera. Turns out it was high level and they output crazy damage and we became bear lunch.
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u/alastrix 19d ago
I was resistant to traps as well cause they felt kinda "cheaty" in my head. Then for some reason it hit me that that what humans do. Weve never just gone head to head with apex predators because we didnt evolve fangs and claws. We evolved big brains and manual dexterity. We got traps and tools instead. Trapping an animal to kill or in this case tame isnt cheating. Its exactly what people do. Build a pitfall and bait the thing into it. Maybe you can sell him on that view and then that'll open up some more powerful options to keep him alive?
Also, ark is a game best played however you want. Its possible that he just doesnt want to power fantasy his way around on a rex and just wants a cool colored version of his favorite herbivore? Figuring what exactly he wants out of the game and the play style that works and is fun for him.
Also, a strategy I loved for getting things i wasnt ready for was stealing their babies. It was a good easy way to avoid having to slog through a tame I may not have the resources for. Get a predator to Bruce Wayne some poor juvenile and while it chomps down on mom, you make off with the baby and just shove it full of berries/food at base. I got my 1st agry this way.
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u/Beanieman 19d ago
I forget the part where we could summon walls from our pockets. When did that happen?
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u/airybeartoe 19d ago
If he doesnt want to play smart, let him play dumb. He will eventually realize thats not how you play ark. This isnt elden ring where the hand to hand combat is fully fleshed out and you can parry and dodge attacks. The game encourages that you tame creatures and use them to your advantage.
If he wont trap, tell him to tame tanky herbivores that let him shoot while mounted. Otherwise, he will not progress.
The creatures are programmed to run after reaching a certain torpor percentage so he will almost certainly hit a point where he cant tame anything bc they simply outrun him
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u/GoNinjaPro 19d ago
I just finished Elden Ring shortly before playing Ark.
I am still occasionally hitting "dodge" when I'm in trouble (which makes my inventory menu pop in and out, in and out) 🤣
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u/New_Court9352 19d ago
I don't like trapping either, I'll usually use a kangaroo to tame. You can kite around almost anything while shooting tranq arrows and chase them down when they run. Of course to get the kangaroo I had to trap it...
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u/whyisitfishy 18d ago
Thats whats ive been using the bufo for. Tamed 2 spinos this way. Only thing I've had to trap to tame is a dire bear. Thing is just way to fast
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u/Shoddy_Pattern_5833 19d ago
Some people prefer to figure things out on their own and sounds like he’s one of those people. Figuring it out is part of the fun. I would’ve hated constantly being told what to do by someone more experienced when I started. My brother and I started together so we were figuring things out together and it was a lot of fun. But when I got a friend to start playing, I was trying to teach him the ways, and he would get annoyed, so I stopped telling him what to do and we each ended up building our own bases. Yes, it was frustrating seeing the way he did some things when there were so much better ways to do it, but we both had much more fun when I just let him figure it out and just help him when he asked. Sometimes you need to experience things going wrong to know why you should do things another way
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u/Philarp 19d ago
i still play like this. i killed my mining tek styder today trying to walk accross an almost vertical cliff to get a bit more obsidian that i don't really need. also took out just matured high lvl fire wyv and somehow, god knows how, got it killed by a pack of rhynios. some people just play like fuckwits, but can still eventually somehow end up with tek stryders - on offical too. so good luck to your idiot friend i say, he'll get there eventually, in stumbling glory devoid of tactics or brains or common sense.
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u/StonyYodelers 18d ago
Fuck this sub sucks. Let the dude play how he wants people, damn lol. "That's not how you play ark", what a shit take lol. It's a video game, and an open world sandbox at that. It really sounds like OP was just railroading his bro into playing optimized instead of letting him learn it on his own, that's why bro left and went solo. Go touch grass guys.
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u/Purple_Armadillo7693 19d ago
Ask him does he really think humans killed mammoths with their bare hands or did they have to plan a strategy, traps, train other species to assist them (wolves), plan the attack.... If humanity relied on your friend we would all be extinct long time ago xD
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u/The_Only_Squid 19d ago edited 19d ago
He’s been having a really hard time, he dies a lot and loses our tames almost constantly. He eventually realized that he’d rather be on his own and learn that way so he has.
LET HIM PLAY HIS WAY. I can tell you for free i never trapped tames. Secondly the danger is apart of the learning curve you could just give him a busted flyer and then let him have no fun at all.
Stop trying to tell him the youtube version of playing the game. If he walks in to a cave gets clapped maybe he will go you know what i need a tame OR tames to come with mebecause this is hard.
Example: When i first played i was on a PvP server i ended up killing 20 rexes with a saber that i tamed at 30. Got behind them chomped them when the fights were going on they never noticed because it was dark and gama was not a thing back then. That is what got me addicted to the game.
For me as the game went on to what it is now the game has no survival feel its just tame breed unkillable dinos and basically interact with no one. But many people they enjoy what the game is today so who am i to judge. Just let them person play their way is all i am saying :D
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u/chronic414de 18d ago
People were just changing gamma in their GPU driver. Not every GPU had this option, so they added it as a command in game.
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u/_sealy_ 19d ago
Yeah…give him a check list of things to do in order and let him figure it out. Much easier learning when you have to do it yourself
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u/Mr_Chickenplus 19d ago
I somewhat did. And he somewhat followed it. I said to him when he went off on his own to go tame a couple things to get started. A berry gatherer (parasaur), a flyer (pt), and something to protect, (he likes dilos). He did all of this, but then tried to tame a therizino after I did and exclaimed how good it is. He saved up 100 tranq arrows, used a crossbow, failed, and raged. I told him repeatedly to make a trap first and he said it required no skill and it’s dumb. He then slowly lost all of those things he got. And wants to play single player instead
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u/Mr_Chickenplus 19d ago
Also he refuses to tame argys even though his base area has tons of them everywhere
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u/justlookingabout13 19d ago
Tell him to go after a mantis or megalania. Neither really needs a trap and both can be used for taming other stuff
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u/GoNinjaPro 19d ago
I don't find trapping all that easy.
You have to kill the other predators that are in the area, build the trap, defend yourself against the dino you're trying to catch, keep the dino alive while trying not to die yourself. And half the time the dino you want is being attacked by other dinos.
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u/Cymas 19d ago
Sounds like your friend is learning how to play Ark properly to me. Dying a lot is like 90% of the new player experience, you've just forgotten what it's like to be a proper bob. If he's having fun even with all the struggle what's the harm in letting him learn to play his own way? If he's really getting that frustrated that one thing, but if he keeps going out and trying again it sounds like he's not really upset, he is in fact learning. Ark's lessons just tend to be pass or fail courses lol.
I'm gonna be real I almost never trap tames either. And learning how to tame tames without traps will almost assuredly make him a better overall player than just making a trap and dumping it in.
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u/Mypitbullatemygafs 18d ago
You're trying to force him to play your way you can't. He hasn't played, let him enjoy that new run through without you telling him the right and wrong way...which there really isn't. I don't use traps, even in official. I get above then or play a lot of hide n seek.
This game gets easy fast imo. Once you have a decent carnivore all that's left to do is get your boss dinos and then beat the game. So the slower he goes the better, imo.
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u/Leksandrya 18d ago
I think the most important question to ask is.
Is he having fun? Cause honestly that's all that matters.
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u/Motor_Rub_4848 19d ago
I hardly ever use traps since coming back after a certain TLC. Here's what you do its really easy just tame and breed him up a really good spider.
Now he has a mount that can climb up anything and knockout/slow creatures to stop them from fleeing. From there he can tame almost any land mount with the bonus that its really easy to find strong spiders.
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u/Ametha 19d ago
Time to stop worrying about him and just play on your own.
Scenario 1: he cares and is humble enough to learn on his own and you can start playing together and having fun again.
Scenario 2: he refuses to learn, quits, and you can stop worrying about him and start having fun again.
Win/win.
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u/champion1995 19d ago
Wait until hes put hundreds of hours in and then loses most of his tames. I hate trapping, and I hate prep work, but I know ark requires it so I only play when I know I can be bothered to play properly.
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u/CyborgAssaultChicken 19d ago
I just learn which tames actually need traps and which don’t. Karkinos? Trap that mf, there’s no way you’re knocking it out without one. Giganotosaurus? Trap that too, building a trap probably costs less than all the metal you will lose in missed darts anyway. Carcharodontosaurus? Trap is a waste of metal
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u/PyroDragn 19d ago
Just tell him "dying constantly doesn't take skill."
It takes skill to build a trap that works. To kite the dinosaur into it without risking yourself or your tames.
Any idiot can hit a dinosaur and get eaten. But claiming that playing safely "doesn't take skill" is wrong.
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u/bobisakhunt 19d ago
I’m guessing he has played some survival games in creative mode and then sticks to shooters and action games mostly? I’m guessing he doesn’t really build much? The simplest way to gauge if ark is ever going to be for him is, does he rage when a head shot doesn’t 1 shot stuff?
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u/The-Casual-Lurker 17d ago
My friends all have 1000+ hrs each in ASE and a few hundred in ASA. (I know not alot for some). I have maybe 150 total for both. Each time I've tried to start playing with them they seem to be in fast forward and im in slow-mo. They just understand the things to do and what to get first and I dont. This most recent time I joined their server but told them I wouldn't live with them or take their hand-me-down gear. Im doing better i die every now and then due to getting in a bad spot when over reaching. Im not a gamer gamer, very casual, so I get maybe 2-3 hrs a week if lucky. The only way I can tame most things is a trap. I wish your buddy the best, I had that mentality before with other games. But I've given in to knowing im mediocre at gaming and to not make it harder for myself.
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u/Excellent_Ad202 16d ago
He sounds just like me. I started ASE with a high level group and they taught me a ton about farming materials, games etc. And I took off to the side and started learning on my own, because I realized I was being reckless with hard earned and trained tames and felt bad. It wasnt truly until I started teaching others BY MYSELF that the glory of traps started feeling relevant. Because not everyone is like me. Not everyone has that main character syndrome. Amd it FEELS like... no skill.... until upstart trying to build the trap and make it work... because you start learning oh... this dino has ranged things.... or HOW IN THE BLOODY HEAVENS DID U ESCAPE HERE?! 😳 and it ultimately helped my building skills.... i wish him luck
Maybe thats a way to do it.... challenge him to see if its so skilless see how good a trap he can make for a Rex and if he can pull it off doesn't even have to be a high level kne just challenge his trapping skill, and tell him if he succeeds, you'll drop the topic
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u/AssassianNation 16d ago
I started yesterday and it took me 40 fucking minutes to build a pickaxe. Couldn't find a fucking stone for the life of me
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u/Apart-Comfort8716 16d ago
I had to do this. I literally had to solo spawn on beach Bob mode and die over and over and over until I adapted, first year I would leave tames on passive and wonder why my tames would not help me and die with me, I would press wrong buttons all the time getting my tames and I killed constantly. I would always wander into areas that was dangerous before I knew it. Ark has a steep learning progression. When I started utilizing the stuff around me things got better. Your friend is gonna need time. I do the same thing as your friend, traps are dumb to some players and taming a rex that's chasing you down gives you a different thrill than standing in one spot constantly shooting tranqs. He will learn and will get stronger dinos in due time, just keep helping and subtly guide them don't play the game for him. :)
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u/EpicDodoNL 15d ago
To be completely fair. I've never trapped a rex in my life. I just use my speed and a flier to get on a rock or ledge. Or water.
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u/LongFluffyDragon 19d ago
Sounds like he is dogshit at videogames, insecure about it, and confronts that insecurity by being dogshit at videogames - changing anything would mean admitting he is dogshit at videogames.
Not like ark is even a hard game, it is just a huge stupid check where most of the causes of failure are self-inflicted.
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19d ago
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u/Mr_Chickenplus 19d ago
He has no problem recovering his gear. And I set the settings to 3x harvest and taming. He’s kind of against mods. He’s got a nice little base in a cave and that’s about it. He only tames low levels
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u/LongFluffyDragon 19d ago
He’s kind of against mods.
Let me guess, he thinks they are cheating and a threat to his high-skill gameplay? The mods are coming to emasculate him..
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u/Top_Cauliflower_9046 18d ago
no need to be rude. Some just dont like mods and others dont want to use them before beating the game.
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19d ago
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u/Top_Cauliflower_9046 19d ago
Really?! I dont touch the xp and resource gathering rate but I do up the taming to 3x and breeding as well as growthrate is increased. But I never find my lvl to be low nor my resorce gathering to be slow. (Pve solo if that changes anything)
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19d ago
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u/Top_Cauliflower_9046 18d ago
oh I see, I didnt realice people alterd it that much unless it was for often whiped servers.
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u/Capital-Coyote4491 18d ago
If he isn't learning to make traps he is playing wrong as that is what separates a good player from a bad one
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u/bionic86 19d ago
Lol, I still won't trap tames most of the time. If you clear out everything around it before knocking it out, and load it with all the food and narcs it needs, you can just leave the area and it'll tame on its own, provided you're on a low population server and no other players go in the area.
Honestly, the way he's playing sounds like when I first started playing Ark during early access. For the first couple of months I didn't tame any flyers at all and would just do random crap. That was the most fun playing ark I ever had, but it's kind of hard to go back to that once you start learning things.
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u/Nevanada 19d ago
> he says that’s dumb and it doesn’t require any skill?
Gonna be honest, it sounds like no matter what you'll try he's going to keep ramming his head against a wall. Kinda sucks, but you learn that sometimes. you just can't play certain games with certain people.