Ark: Survival Evolved has a brand new PC update, and v258 brings lots of exciting features to the game. Patch notes and trailers reveal five new Dinos, a boat and much more. The full details are below.

Ark: Survival Evolved v258.0

  • New Weapon: Harpoon Gun (& Tranq Bolts for the Harpoon Gun)
  • New Dino: Hyaenodon - Hyaena-like Dino. You can’t ride it, but it can be tamed in packs for combat. It recovers damage quickly.
  • New Dino: Hesperornis - A bird that’s tamed for its specialized eggs with helpful proteins
  • New Dino: Megatherium - A giant sloth that is tameable and rideable. It’s not great for combat, but it can withstand Torpor and is vicious against insects.
  • New Dino: Megalania - It’s tameable, rideable and can climb cave walls. It’s not very fast or strong, but it’s good for average travel.
  • New Dino: Yutyrannus - A feathered rex with battle cries that stun enemies and boost the morale of teammates.
  • New Vehicle: Gas-powered speedy Motorboat
  • New Structure: Interactive Toilet
  • Two New Hairstyles
  • Memory reductions, texture memory & mesh optimization
  • Tek Projectiles now will not do any damage if they collide with a Structure after 5,000 units distance (to balance against Auto-Turrets).
  • Greater Achievement set, with various cosmetics, hairstyles & emotes unlocked as you get Achievements
  • New client Options to disable giving cosmetics on respawn and to disable menu music tracks
  • Re-added the ATV vehicle as work-in-progress "Easter egg" for singleplayer and custom servers
  • Fixed various gameplay exploits and edge cases
  • Direwolf now has pack logic with pack buff
  • Fixed bug where Alpha Wild creatures were sometimes improperly buffing enemy (tamed) creatures
  • Updated various new UI's to the new style
  • 66 new Explorer Notes (between The Island and ScorchedEarth)
  • Ballista/Harpoon Bolt now has significant piercing properties akin to the Composite Arrow
  • Redid The Island's ambient sounds and various gameplay sound effects
  • Explorer Notes subtitle option button, Explorer Notes translations are WIP
  • Various misc map fixes

Primitive+ Update v1.5

  • Added Industrial Forge, Industrial Cooker, Alchemy Bench, Sorghum, Soybean, Spinach, Ark Cannon, Coal, Steel Locker and Sticky Bomb
  • Added visual and sound indicators for exploding barrels
  • All Ark engrams updated
  • All Ark saddle engrams updated
  • Ark chair engram added
  • Re-added mailbox engram
  • More adjustments and bug fixes here.

These changes arrive as a part of the larger journey to prepare Ark Survival Evolved for its final release. While this patch offers more new content than some previous ones, it’s clear the emphasis of Studio Wildcard is slowly shifting from expansion to optimization. It’s already possible to reach the game’s end credits, so anything that comes next is further window dressing to sweeten the experience.

Read: Ark: Survival Evolved Update 1.20/v754 Arrives On PS4 & Xbox One

For those unaware of Primitive+, it’s essentially an officially sanctioned mod for the PC version of Ark: Survival Evolved. While it just got a bunch of new items today, the aim of its gameplay is to offer a stripped down Ark experience with more emphasis on wood and stone and less on metal. This update has been in the works for quite some time and has finally been published.

Ark: Survival Evolved is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, OS X and Linux. This content will likely be pushed to consoles sometime next month.

What do you think of Ark: Survival Evolved v258? Do its new Dinos and other patch notes make you excited? Tell us in the comments section!

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