With over 50 hours already streamed of this series on YouTube before I moved full-time to continue the series on Steemit and Dlive, it is high time to explain what Path to Ascension is:
Ark is a game I have put entirely too many hours into. My Steam profile lists 4,448 hours at the time of this writing. Indirectly, Ark is also the reason I met @BlueTeddy, my girlfriend often seen behind me on stream at her own desk. It is part of a long legacy of gaming, a lot of friendship, and a journey of self discovery that started rolling over 3 years ago.
However, Ark is a difficult game. Studio Wildcard designed this incredible title to emphasize teamwork. Large groups or civilizations have significant advantages over smaller tribes when it comes to surviving the vast and hostile worlds they have so painstakingly crafted for us. And yet, I have always played in smaller groups, as the challenge is what elevates the experience to the heights I can place no other gaming experience in.
This difficulty denies most players the highlight of the experience.
Due to my own appreciation for this incredible work of art, my personal view that the experience of a smaller group encompasses more of the intended experience, and the story that has been formed of the former survivors of the Arks over the past few years, such as Helena WalkerI have long since wanted to do a series with specific intent, to show the smaller tribes of the world what it feels like to reach those heights on your own, a long and lonesome journey in the footsteps of these mysterious and admirable individuals.
LIVING UP TO THE TERM "ASCENSION"
Ascension is a mechanic in Ark designed for only the most hardcore of veterans. We all have a general understanding of what a sandbox game is. But Ark has taken a far left approach to the progression: They've incorporated the mechanics of MMORPGs into the end-game. I am going to spell out in long form what this means on the first map: The Island. Keep in mind, there are a lot more maps, and each is a single step in the journey of Ascension. A thousand hours becomes but a single step towards the completion of the Ark Cycle.
THE ARTIFACTS
Your first step on the Odyssey that is Ascension:
Venture into The Island's 11 ominous caves and return with the Artifacts.
In these caves are artifacts of power, whose nature I will not spoil just now. Each is guarded by a slew of environmental hazards and excessively hostile creatures. These caves range in setting from a series of walkways overhanging massive seas of lava as you flea from clutches of rabid Onycs and broods of Araneo as they attempt to ensare you in their webs, to the frozen chasm in "the belly of the Wyrm" teeming with hostile bands of Direwolves and frigid slopes that will throw you into the frozen waters as the mouths of the hungry Anglerfish await you. The range of scenery and challenges is no small sum, and cannot be easily explained. After fighting through every cave on the Island, you may now be ready to journey the to deepest depths of the surrounding ocean into the Caverns of Lost Faith, and if you succeed, you now stand to test your Hope as well..
Once you've collected each artifact, you'll also have to hunt down NPCs in the world. Often referred to as "Alphas", these are the Apex Carnivores. From giant squids in the ocean known as Teusotuthis, to the ever familiar T-Rex. Alphas are special variants with extreme health, damage and speed. A single alpha can often kill nearly 50 of its own brethren unscathed. From these deadly predators, you retrieve trophies: A demonstration of your skill as a hunter.
Once you've collected all these... Well, you actually have to go back and get more. But we'll come back to that, and assume you only intend to use the keys once.
Because that is what these are: Keys. Giant, badass keys, to a giant, ominous door. Well, one of them is a door. The other 3 are actually portals to something else..
And so, going in the intended order, I introduce...
BROODMOTHER LYSRIX
Broodmother Lysrix is the first guardian of the Ark. She's actually a very straightforward one, as a warm up to the idea of bosses in Ark. As far as the player is concerned, she has no special mechanics to worry about. She simply summons 20 level 500 Araneo spider minions to her side, spawning more everytime enough die, hits like a Semi truck with a jetpack attached, and has a health pool that can easily reach into the millions.
Your job? Kill her in 15 minutes, or the portal collapses and ...everything... dies.
Given her health pool, but relatively straightforward mechanics, she serves as your introduction: "This is what an Ark boss is" would appear to be her message to the player. When fighting Broodmother Lysrix, you'd be well off by bringing along an entire army of T-Rexes and other stronger stronger denizens of the Ark. In fact, due to her nature of being insectoid, I know of a very friendly Sloth with a penchant for bug innards that happens to be an excellent companion to have fighting by your side if you intend to survive her Merciless onslaught.
If you come out of the other side of that portal, you'll be returned to exactly where you stood. Only now you'll have a few new things: You'll have Broodmother's head to hang on your wall, a flag to represent your victory, and a mysterious Element. This is the fuel source and base material of the final progression technology tier in Ark, each item only unlocked by killing certain bosses on certain difficulty levels. Even if another player crafts a Tek item, you cannot use it if you have not unlocked the respective Tekgram in the same way they had to. But we'll get into Tek and the expansive technology progression systems of Ark in another article.
So if you thought you were done, your next challenge is...
MEGAPITHICUS
Megapithicus is the second of the Ark's Guardians: The second Ultimate Life form.
He introduces a change of mechanics to the player: He hurls a massive boulder that can kill the rider of a mount, without having to kill the mount. In Ark, normally a player riding a mount is immune to damage from other creatures. Imagine a tank in most shooters: You have to kill the tank to kill the driver. But some creatures have adapted to target the rider directly. Megapithicus targets both rider and mount, and can kill either with a well placed Boulder throw. Oh, and it ricochets, so be mindful of your surroundings.
Much like Broodmother, and all bosses, he has a horde of minions to assist him. In this case, the Yeti. Almost specifically designed for this arena, the Yeti inflict massive impact damage upon striking, meaning they will knock you back everytime they hit you. And you're fighting on a narrow pass high in an unknown mountain range: Falling is certain death.
In this fight, unlike against Broodmother, you're going to have to pay attention to the environment, and not just whether you or the boss is dying faster. Too close to cover, and the boulder will almost certainly ricochet and kill you even if you dodge it, too far from it, and you can expect a very long fall to a very unsatisfying death. Thankfully, Megapithicus isn't without mercy. Though he and his minions inflict a great deal more damage than your last trials.. He has a lot less health. He's a Glass Cannon. But don't get too cocky, it still only takes a single boulder to grind you into his next shade of lipstick. Consider it payback for all that cosmetics testing.
And so this fight will be your first realization of just how much attention you're going to have to pay to the fights, the preparatons, and the challenges ahead, as strong mounts will no longer be enough.
THE DRAGON
I consider myself to be a veteran of Ark. I have accomplished many impressive feats, and broken many of the most complex and difficult mechanics of the game down into individual tasks so simple I make them look almost relaxing.. To fully explain my past accolades would detract from the praise of this title I am aiming for and just make me look like a glory hogging ass. But given that...
I have still never beaten the dragon solo.
The Dragon takes the mechanics of Megapithicus to the next level. He doesn't just throw a rock at you with a telegraph.. He rains hell from the skies. And the impacts of his fireballs are devestating. A single shot will inflict instant death to any player caught in the impact. Which is considerably larger than you might think. I trust you'll remember it after the first time you've been incinerated.
While he's going Old Testament on you from the skies, he'll also send waves of aggressive Pteranodons and Dimorphodons to keep you busy and make you slip up. The Pteranodons are not strong, but are extremely fast, and will continuously harass you to slow your mobility and prevent you from dodging the brimstone. The dimorphodons however, will attack you directly on your mount. Despite having low health, they are extremely small and unless you've enlisted Mister Miagi with his chopsticks, you're going to take a lot of direct damage before you can effectively kill them. This is a fight of balancing your losses: Don't let your mount get stuck by focusing the pteranodons, or you'll be incinerated before you know it. But if you don't address the dimorphodons, you're going to die anyways, just with a lot more bleeding along the way.
The dragon will occasionally land to confront you directly. But he is no pushover. He can wreathe the area in his fire breath, inflicting damage that scales to your maximum health: Meaning no mount can survive the heat for long, regardless how stocky of a beast you've brought. And his bite and claw swipes are a force of reckoning on their own.
How you choose to approach this fight is best decided before you ever enter. Planning, strategy and cohesion of your unit is paramount in victory over this lord of terror. And this is why I have yet to defeat him in solo combat: He will punish anyone who cannot balance his many mechanics, and in the arena, all offenses are punishable by death.
Though I have not mentioned it in some time... Every Guardian Arena has a timer. The offence even the best fall prey to, is running out of time. We've discussed what happens here with Broodmother. You are not allowed to cower and wait for oppurtunity: You have to rise up and make one of your own, whether in the face of the fires of Hell itself, or standing on the precipice of your own icy tomb.
SO YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE?
So you've defeated the Ark's first 3 ultimate lifeforms. You've collected their heads and mounted them on your walls. Hell, you've even done it on the Alpha difficulty (Props to you if so!)... Well.. Remember those artifacts? Remember how daunting the task of retrieving them was? And you came to realize they were just keys to unlock something bigger...
Yeah, go take that head off your wall. All of them. Because they're going to be your tribute for the next door. Sorry, if you want to have your cake and eat it, too.. You'll have to get a second cake.
The Heart of the Island
Entire Herds of Apex Predators slaughtered for their trophies... The Heads of Each Guardian.. That is the cost of entry into the heart of the Island: The Volcano that towers high above all else, visible from any corner of the 64km squared map.
When that door opens, 50 creatures and 10 players may enter. To open the door at Alpha level, the tributee must have reached the maximum possible level of 100. His followers need not meet this requirement.
Once inside, a timer begins. 45 minutes. 45 minutes to find a way out. The door shall remain sealed for 45 minutes. Whether you live or die, none may enter until that time runs out. And when it does... Well, we all know the anxiety of time.
Inside of this cave you will find every hostile creature that exists in any part of the Ark (so long as it doesn't require water to survive), with the exception of the former Guardians. Every.. Single.. One. Even the almighty Giganotosaurus.
Your mission: To descend into the deepest depths of this awe inspiring cave, to fight creatures you once could not, by the hundreds, until you reach the bottom. Until you walk up, and discover...
The way out.
However, it's not what you expect, and it's exactly what you expect but didn't realize... It's another portal, to a chamber containing your next foe:
THE OVERSEER
Upon approaching this final Guardian, you will learn a great deal of secrets. There are hidden messages to be found, if you're cryptographically inclined to hunt them out. These secrets are not snippets of chat like some games may contain, but the meaning of your existence and even a hint at what you are. They carry heavy weight and dramatic implication. The penmanship of a forgotten time when games made the hairs on your arms stand on end.. The entire scene of entry plays out in such an awe inspiring and amazing way, worthy of the epic that this game's legacy has become for us loyal players.
I deign to not give away The Overseer's mechanics, as I would rather show them than tell them. But know, it is the hardest fight yet in a way you cannot imagine. But should you defeat it, you will learn one more secret..
...you were never on an island...
When this dramatic final fight reaches it's conclusion.. You will be taken somewhere else. You will finally realize where you really are, and then the real questions begin to set in..
Why am I here?
.......Where is here?
...............When is this?
................................................WHAT AM I?
For the sake of not ruining the thrill.. I will end my story here. BUT KNOW THIS..
This is not the end of the Path to Ascension. No. It was only the first Ark. The first of many realizations, and many battles. The first of many worlds to explore.
And come November 6th.. We will have our grand and final conclusion, with the release of Extinction, the fourth and final of the canonical Arks.
As for me.. I am playing on a server with others. We each have our own tribe. We are solo. We are individuals fighting against this world. Our goal? To Ascend.. From the Island.. To the deserts of Scorched Earth.. Into the depths of the derelict Ark of Aberration.. And lastly.. Onto the planet..
EARTH
I am a long-time Ark veteran. I am a massive supporter of this amazing work of art. I can and will be doing this. I have done so before, though not in linear succession or with such a story centric focus of my completions. Some of the challenges before me are new to even me: Though I have bested the Dragon many times, I have never survived him without a team. I have never beaten the Overseer on what I would consider "legitimate" settings, only on 5x or higher rates, which I believe does not count. And I have actually never fought Rockwell at all, although I am confident in my ability to do so.
We wish to Ascend by ourselves. HOWEVER.. My girlfriend, @BlueTeddy, and my friends Nick and @BitFiend are coming along for this ride. I would like to help them. Capable gamers they are, Ascension is truly a mechanic that even the most hardcore will struggle with or fail against by themselves. There may come a point where I decide to turn back and help them in their journeys to uncover the mysteries I have come to adore. Do not take this as belittling. Even the best are intended to fall in this journey. It is one that should not be undertaken lightly, and one never intended to be done alone..
I will go as far as I can alone. And I will comeback and aide those who reach their end. In the end, despite us being the sole members of our individual tribes, we will be ascending together. All the way to the very end, to the completion of the Ark Cycle.
Footage Courtesy of:
Epic Ark on YouTube.
**ALL IMAGERY IS IN-GAME, PLAYABLE CONTENT (except the cosmetic joke), NONE is Photoshopped, NONE is concept Art. That is what you see when you play this incredible journey so lazily called a game.
Imagery provided by:
*Ark: Survival Evolved on YouTube
*Anonymous User Uploads at Cloudinary.com
--If this series interests you, I try to stream no less than 8 hours each day over on Dlive, time allowing:
@tenk.trickpony
If I missed any accreditation for art, please inform me and I will update it in comments. This was a long article and it got hard to keep track, but I do believe I didn't miss anything.