Ark: Survival Evolved update v253 releases today on PC, and it features new Dinos, a holiday event and a whole lot more. Keep reading for the full patch notes and download time courtesy of a post on the game’s official forums.
Upcoming Version: v253, ETA: Dec. 23, 1 p.m. EST Deployment
- A special surprise Item! [Something really fun for the holidays :)]
- New Dino: Cnidaria - a docile squid-like creature that can’t be tamed. It can harvest resources and drops raw fish meat.
- New Dino: Troodon - a smart carnivore that can be tamed via loyalty
- New Dino: Tusoteuthis - a larger, aggressive squid that can be tamed and harvested for precious ink
- New Dino: Pegomastax - a small herbivore that can be tamed as a farming aide to collect rare flowers
- New Dino: Therizinosaurus - a versatile and aggressive herbivore with sharp claws for combat and keen harvesting skills
- 2 New Full-Scale Underwater Caves (progression-oriented with Artifacts!)
- Winter Wonderland 2 Event! Follow Raptor Claus around The Island, Scorched Earth, and The Center as he drops items, coal and the occasional tough-as-nails creature to keep you warm at night! Lots of cosmetics and the DodoRex make an appearance, along with new items!
- Additional networking performance gains of approximately +15 percent
- BattlEye is now enabled by default for dedicated servers, use -NoBattlEye to run your server without it
Noticeably absent from the list is the introduction of the Tek Tier, which was originally slated to arrive alongside the update. That feature, bundled with Engrams, a dedicated resource system and a bevy of high-end items, has now been delayed for v254 at the end of January. In other words, today’s update may be a bit more lacking for Ark’s high-level players than originally anticipated.
That being said, taming some of the new Dinos should be fun. The Troodon’s loyalty system seems like it will be a break from tradition, and the Therizinosaurus sounds like a pretty major asset if skilled players can find one. Until the update drops, however, we can’t say much about where these new beasts will be hiding.
It will also be interesting to see if this new update does anything to solve the rampant hacking and tribe swarming problems that have plagued the game’s official servers over the last few days. With any luck, those mentioned network gains might hide a few fixes.
Ark: Survival Evolved is available now on PC, Xbox One and PS4. A similar update is expected to go live on consoles, but we’re unsure how the above release time will compare. New players should check out our guides for beginners and the five best Dinos.
What do you think of the v253 patch for Ark: Survival Evolved? Do the new Dinos make up for the Tek Tier delay? Tell us in the comments section!
