Normally it’s a good idea to stay away from someplace called a scorched earth, but in the case of ARK: Survival Ascended, it’s the hot new destination to hop into, as the Scorched Earth map went live this past weekend for players of the dino survivalbox.
As regular players of the originally launched Survival Evolved might know, Scorched Earth brings an unforgiving desert landscape to explore, with plenty of new dangers in terms of environment and dinos, over 50 new items to craft, and a high-level boss fight against a manticore.
The release of Scorched Earth also brings a new DLC in the form of Bob’s Tall Tales: Frontier Showdown, an add-on pack that introduces some unique quests styled around a “legendary” survivor by the name of Bob, along with unique items to build like Wild West-style trains and building pieces, a wagon to transport goods, a shovel to dig up buried treasure, and a massive oasisaur zurzura that can have a small community built upon its back. This is the first of several such planned DLCs, with more coming for the Island, Aberration, and Extinction maps later.
For those looking to see what these features all entail in video form, a trailer awaits below, while the more mechanically minded can read the patch notes for all of the latest updates.