Everything You Need to Know About ARK: Survival Evolved Patch 253

Patch V253 will add in new dinosaurs, caves, a Christmas event and more.
Patch V253 will add in new dinosaurs, caves, a Christmas event and more.

The latest update for Wildcard Studio’s Steam Early Access survival title ARK: Survival Evolved is just on the horizon. Currently scheduled to release on December 22nd, the patch V253 will add in an array of new features. Let’s take a look at what is in store for the players.

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Five new dinos!

Let’s start with the five new dinosaurs Wildcard Studio is implementing into the game. The new dinosaurs are: 

  • Cnidaria
  • Troodon
  • Tusoteuthis
  • Pegomastax
  • Therizinosaurus

The first new dino is Cnidaria (Pictured below) is a relatively large jellyfish-like creature that lurks underwater. Using its long trailing tentacles, it poisons both prey and predator alike. The poison acts as a sedative leaving it’s victim defenseless.

Next up is the Troodon, a relative of the raptor family. It has large eyes that are perfect for spotting its prey in the dead of night. To make things worse it has serrated teeth that are also venomous — meaning it isn’t capable of just ripping you apart, but also poisoning you.

Tusoteuthis is another aquatic addition to the update. This creature bears a resemblance to the giant squid but it is far more terrifying than its kin. It has powerful tentacles that have hooked suckers on them, allowing it to drawn blood. Not even a Megladon could escape such a horrible fate. 

Pegomastax is a small herbivore. While it looks like a creature of nightmares, its aggressive appearance is more an illusion than reality. They have a beak that allows them to crush nuts and fruit. Inside the beak is a small boarlike tusk for defending itself against threats both human and dinosaur. The porcupine-like quills on its back may look lethal but are nowhere near as dangerous as the real thing.

Finally, the Therizinosaurus one of the largest creatures that a survivor will ever find on the ARK. While it is built like a T-Rex it is actually a herbivore. It uses it scythe-like claws to pull down leafy-vegetation for it to eat. Its claws, however, are equally as good for defending itself against enemies too.

The new dinosaurs are all looking absolutely amazing and are sure to get fans excited. They are a real Christmas present from Wildcard Studios to its audience. From underwater horrors to gigantic scythe clawed herbivores, there really is a nice variety available.

What else is the patch bringing to the ARK?

As if the excitement of new dinosaurs isn’t enough to get fans eager to play over the holiday season is an array of other new features and changes too including:

  • 2 New Full-scale underwater caves (Progression orientated with artefacts)
  • Tek Tier Phase 1
    • Tek Engram system, Element Resource system, Tek Replicator, Tek Rifle, Tek Helmet, Tek Visor, Tek Jetpack, Tek Boots, Tek Gloves, Tek Rex Saddle
  • Additional networking performance gains of approximately +15%
  • BattlEye is now enabled by default for dedicated servers, use NoBattlEye to run your server without it
  • 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!
  • A special surprise Item!

With two new underwater caves to explore and the Tek Tier set for players to work towards and the Winter Wonderland 2 event, there is plenty to get excited about keep the fans of ARK very busy over the Christmas holidays.

But wait, that is not all

Along with the announcement and details for the upcoming update, Wildcard Studios also gave a few details on what is to come in the very near future that includes:

  • New Structure: Dynamic-Length Bridges
  • More Creatures, Gear, Armors, Weapons, & Structures!
  • Tek Caves, “Ascension” Game Progression, “Boss Wars”
  • Aquatic and Amphibious Mating/Lifecycles
  • DirectX12 Mode for Windows 10! Approximate +20% perf
  • Specific Representative “on-ground” meshes for all dropped items
  • Random GPU Driver crash fix: TrueSky

As if the update for Christmas wasn’t enough, the promise of even more performance updates and new features is enough to get fans of the game absolutely ecstatic for the New Year.

A good time to be an ARK fan

With everything going on with Wildcard Studio’s ARK: Survival Evolved — between a PS4 release, a big update for Christmas and already notes on what is to come in the very near future — it is a good time to be a part of the ARK community.

With so much still to come it is a very exciting time for fans. As if the content that is already in the game wasn’t enough to persuade you to buy the game, with all the new additions, there is no better time than now to get started.

What are your thoughts on the update? Are you excited for it? Let me know in the comments below!

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Author
Damien Smith
Playing video games for over 23 years, love to write and love everything video game related.