Ark: Survival Ascended’s premium mods may get a bad reputation for having a price tag, but many game-changing ones can be worth the price. While VanillaAscendedis a fun and unique experience, mods can make the game even better. The argument can be made that mods are a large part of the games' longevity and replayability. They also showcase the dedication of a fanbase that wants this truly one-of-a-kind game to succeed for as long as possible.
Among these mods, the most popular tend to be quality-of-life additions or those that add new content. Premium mods usually shy away from QOL changes and are instead hyper-focused on in-depth mods that are guaranteed to be updated till they are complete. This alone semi-warrants the price tag, as it guarantees that the product one is paying for will be finished and ironed out. Premium mods are also howArk: Survival Ascendedplans to do collaborations, with the first one being withPower Rangers.
8Experience A Horror Story With Survive The Night
Created by soundsnc
Survive The Night takes the usualArkexperience and turns it into a zombie horror movie. This mod brings survivors to a new island that is filled with zombie dinosaurs.These dinosaurs mechanically work the same as vanilla, but at night anything untamed will become incredibly aggressive. Survive The Night also introduces one new creature in The Stalker, a terrifying beast that will easily capture any target. Its immense strength is countered by its low chance of appearing.
soundsnc
CurseForge
Although nights are already difficult,the mod ramps them up every fifth night with a Blood Moon that causes a horde of buffed zombie dinosaurs to attack. This is similar to the mechanic from7 Days To Diebut with a twist: each player’s night will be different based on their “Survivor Score.” This score not only determines a player’s difficulty but also how good the rewards will be. In this regard, it is the ultimate balancer of risk and reward.
7Embark On A New Dwarven Experience In Svartalfheim
Created By Nekatus_Modding
Svartalfheim is a premium modded dwarven-inspired map that, while it doesn’t add much new content, is a unique experience.The main new additions are various resources and items that immerse survivors in the Nordic world around them. Alpha dinosaurs also were reworked in the mod to provide a harder experience, but reward better loot in return. There is also one custom boss fight for players to work towards and challenge to test their might.
Nekatus_Modding
Since the map is similar to VanillaArk, it has a few restrictions to help raise the challenge bar. The big one is thatthere are no flying creatures able to spawn, making all transportation ground-based. This is followed by the removal of Titanosaur spawns, eliminating one of the game’s strongest mobile fortresses. Lastly, all caves have cryopods disabled, though othertop dinosaur storage mods inAscendedmay work, to make them a challenging encounter to test a survivor’s strength alone.
6Evolve A New World With Comes Alive Ascended
Created by RyanLucas007
Comes Alive Ascended is a unique twist on vanillaArkthat takes inspiration from other creature catcher games. Essentially, most dinosaurs will have various evolutionary lines that they can take.These evolution paths will give them extra stats or unique buffs that separate them. Evolutions can be acquired by leveling tamed dinosaurs, or by taming a wild dinosaur that already possesses one.
RyanLucas007
Along with these exciting changes,the mod also offers a way to tame Alpha creatures. This won’t be an easy task, but it can be well worth the effort to acquire a dinosaur that may just be one in a million. A new cloning system also offers players a way to create an army of dinosaurs with the desired evolution. This will be vital as there are currently over 15 challenging bosses that await players who dare to tackle Comes Alive Ascended.
5Enclave: Survival Skyward Is A Vertical PvPvE Challenge
Created by looknorthworld
Enclave: Survival Skyward is a unique experience that blends the best aspects of both sides ofArk. This map takes place in an overgrown abandoned city infested with a toxic forest. Thus, not only are the creatures to be avoided, but players cannot survive long on the ground.The result is living in tall skyscrapers that serve as bases that need to be constantly powered to provide a habitable environment, along with an air mask for traversing the jungle in limited spurts.
looknorthworld
Enclave is best played with PvP enabled, as another large chunk of the challenge and fun is other players.This comes with attacking other bases to make them their own or defending against an attacking tribe. Given the divergence from regularArkcombat, encounters will feel fresh, unique, and replayable. Though this mod may not have a true endgame like others, it offers an experience few if any can match.
4Embrace The Medieval With Guilds And Goblins
Created by blitzfire911
Ark Medieval: Guilds And Goblins brings the prehistoric survival game back to the time of chivalry and keeps it there. Everything is medieval-themed and limited to the technology of that time, with a few exceptions for early firearms. This mod also completely changes how crafting and farming work.With the former relying on unique cards that are required to craft a specific item, and the latter being less restrictive with early farming techniques.
blitzfire911
However, the real intrigue of this mod rests in the Goblin helpers that can be recruited.These NPCs can be purchased from a trader and take on the role of working in crafting stations and farming. This not only adds a sense of fantastical immersion to the mod but allows survivors to explore the map without having to handle the tedious survival tasks. Overall, while this mod may be simple in nature, it creates a fun-filled and unique medieval fantasy experience.
3Explore A Magical World With Althemia
Created by j26arkitecto
Althemia Magic Ground may still be a work in progress, but it is a mod with huge potential.Althemia takes survivors to a magical island filled with plenty of new creatures and landscapes to experience. Each biome is beautifully crafted to be an immersive fantasy experience that captivates its audience. From lava-filled ravines to lush magical forests, Althemia will feel like numerous maps carefully combined into one masterpiece.
j26arkitecto
With these changes come hordes of new items and resources to collect. These powerful upgrades are crucial for success, as this mod will challenge even the most experienced players. Caves have been remodeled and rebalanced to provide a fresh and challenging experience. Also,Althemia boasts six new bosses from the maps' own lore that provide encounters only the modpack can offer.
2Turn Ark Into An RPG With Omega Ascended
Created by HexenLord
For those who want to giveArkan entirely new gameplay experience, Omega Ascended is the go-to option. This massive mod turns the prehistoric survival game into a hybrid with numerous new systems. Battles will revolve around set roles and challenge players in new ways.These can be overcome with the mod’s gear rework, introducing set, unique, and legendary items that take player strength to another level.
HexenLord
Omega Ascended also offers a deep quest system that helps explore the world while increasing a tribe’s overall strength. Dinosaurs in this mod also get a huge revamp.With over 1,000 variants for each creature, they can each grow in diverse waysto create tames that are truly unique to each other.
1Primal Nemesis Is A Whole New Ark
Created by MrChaos
Primal Nemesis is such a massive overhaul and content drop forArkthat the argument can be made that it is a sequel in its own right.This mod introduces over 1,000 new creaturesthat bring new challenges and abilities to the game. The custom-made designs are breathtaking and will leave survivors feeling as if they are playing an entirely different game. However, these new creatures are not pushovers, as the mod will take every chance to show as it gets harder over time.
MrChaos
Luckily, there are numerous ways of combating this rising difficulty.New resources bring new technology levels that far surpass the immense strength of Tek tier, with numerous ways of acquiring and using them. Tamed creatures also have evolution paths and stat increases to help raise their strength to match the godlike bosses that players will encounter. Overall, Primal Nemesis is the ultimate moddedArkexperience, and well worth the price tag it comes with.
VanillaAscendedis already a fun game, and free mods, likeDraconic Chronicles, which creates a fantasy world of dragons, already boost the experience. However, free mods have their downsides, like remaining incomplete or falling out of date. These issues are avoided with premium mods, and their price tag helps further existing options while creating new ones, and the above eight mods are the best for overhauling theArk: Survival Ascendedexperience.
Sources: CurseForge (soundsnc,Nekatus_Modding,RyanLucas007,looknorthworld,blitzfire911,j26arkitecto,HexenLord,MrChaos)
Ark: Survival Ascended
ARK: Survival Ascended is a reimagined version of the 2017 action-adventure survival MMORPG by the developers at Studio Wildcard and Grove Street Games. Built in Unreal Engine 5, players will return to ARK to build tribes, fight and tame dinosaurs, and brave the elements as they battle to survive in a unique sandbox where crafting and resource management is essential.
