The $30 DLC in ARK Survival Ascended is officially pay-to-win now

Modified Sep 10, 2024 23:52 IST

Explore how ARK Survival Ascended genes are pay-to-win — ARK Survival Ascneded has a big-time p2w DLC now (Image via Studio Wildcard)

With the release of ARK Survival Ascended Aberration, the game received a major new trait... literally. A newly introduced genetic traits system is a great way to revitalize and shake up the endgame meta, and it might delight returning fans from the original. One small problem—it is practically paywalled behind the $30 Bob's Tall Tales addon.

Traits theoretically exist in the base game whether or not you buy the addon, but to utilize it in any meaningful way, you must make use of the new DLC-gated tools.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

On the flip side, Bob's Tall Tales adds great value now to any ARK Survival Ascended player

Bob's Tall Tales lets you do genetic experiments now (Image via Studio Wildcard)

Bob's Tall Tales was originally released alongside the Scorched Earth map, so what changed? Essentially, the game had two parallel updates earlier this month. ARK Survival Ascended players (including those who have the game through Game Pass) got the free new Aberration map, and Bob's Tall Tales got its own "part 2" update labeled Steampunk Ascent.

The first iteration of Bob's Tall Tales itself raised some eyebrows. The exclusive cosmetics and show tie-in was a reasonable marketing stint, and the train system was a fun side-project; but the Oasisaur was a milestone addition in becoming the first paywalled creature in this game.

With the Steampunk Ascent update, Studio Wildcard is not beating around the bush. Several new goodies can aid progression here: a blueprint-upgrading station, a clock that can increase crafting speed in an area, and Cosmo, another paywalled creature—a web-slinging wrist-mounted pet this time.

The biggest highlight, as you may have guessed by now, was the new traits system. The gist is that dinos can spawn with one of 30 traits in ARK Survival Ascended, which gives them unique buffs and debuffs towards various stats. These can vary from gaining movement speed when you're stuck, to a simple weight-reduction on certain materials if you put it on the dino.

The trait mechanic is not exclusive to the new Aberration map, either. All dinos in the base game can have them after the update—as long as the player owns the Bob's Tall Tales expansion.

Among the offerings of Steampunk Ascent is a steampunk-themed Gene Scanner. Sticking its needle into a tamed dino will let you know whether it has any traits. That's not all: you can extract the trait, save it in a Gene Storage unit, and dump up to ten traits on a baby dino to create a supersoldier dino.

While DLC-gating traits is particularly problematic for PvP, this is also a significant change for min-maxing PvE. There's one trait, for example, that lets you have 5% extra damage exclusive to bosses and Alphas (this increases to 10% if you manage to stack the trait thrice).

With how the Bob's Tall Tales Steampunk Ascent trailer dropped before the Aberration Ascended trailer did, this addon is clearly getting a lot of love from the developers.

It's conceivable that there could also be a third part on its way and that Studio Wildcard will bestow it with more huge quality-of-life perks, making it an essential purchase. That's the same as saying that ARK: Bob's Bundle is the right way to buy the game—for better or for worse.

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Edited by Abhipsito Das