ARK Survival Ascended: Best map to start on as a new player

ARK Survival Ascended provides you with a variety of maps to start your journey, but as a new player, choosing one can be difficult. Many of the maps are a part of paid DLC expansions, which may not be accessible to everyone. However, the game recently added the free Ragnarok map, which is where you should start as a new player.

Let’s explore why this map can be the perfect starting point, apart from being free for everyone.

Why start on ARK Survival Ascended Ragnarok as a new player?

Ragnarok was among the most popular maps in ARK: Survival Evolved, which was recently reworked and added to ARK Survival Ascended. Along with the visuals, the developers added new islands to explore, creatures to capture, and several quality-of-life updates.

Detailed below is why you should start with this map.

Biome variety

Different biomes to explore on Ragnarok (Image via Studio Wildcard)

Among the most significant reasons to play Ragnarok is its rich variety of environments. It is one of the largest maps in the game, which features all kinds of biomes. The four new landmasses across each corner of the map have not increased its size, but added more places to explore.

Creature variety

The Bison can be an all-purpose creature (Image via Studio Wildcard)

Along with the old roster, Ragnarok also brings some of the most requested creatures. Griffins, Drakelings, and Veilwyns were added to the map, alongside an exclusive creature, Bison. The boss fight for the map, Nunatak, is, as of this writing, considered among the most challenging ones, which gives you something to work toward.

Quality-of-life

The Building Template Hammer is a game changer (Image via Studio Wildcard)

This is the most important aspect while choosing a map. The more time you save across various tasks, the more you can spend it exploring. Compared to the older map, several areas have been improved. These include:

Updated visuals
Rework of several new areas
Improved lighting
Balance changes
Building tools

A significant highlight for this map was the addition of the Building Template Hammer, which can copy the entire base or a part of it as templates. These templates can be used later to set up a new layout of a building.

If the Ragnarok map were not present in ARK Survival Ascended, we’d probably recommend you "The Island" as the starter map. It also covers most of the biomes you can expect to see throughout the game. However, it is smaller and has less QoL.

Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Mayank Singh Rathour is an MMO writer at Sportskeeda. He graduated from college with a degree in Business Administration and has over two years of experience as an esports journalist.

Mayank was introduced to gaming at an early age and played Contra, Double Dragon, Castlevania, etc., on his Nintendo DS. When he was a little older, Counter-Strike — a title that majorly helped develop his passion for gaming — became his favorite pastime. Though he's played a bunch of games since then, his love of CS has remained strong. Shroud, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro, is an inspiration to him. He's also a fan of series' esports scene, following teams like Vitality, NAVI, and The Mongols closely.

When Mayank has some free time, he plays basketball and helps people build PCs.

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Edited by Ritoban "Veloxi" Paul