[b][h1]Your questions, our answers![/h1][/b] [h1]Survivor, Moonlight101 asks, “Could you please dive more into the skill tree? Specifically, what attributes will there be to level up?”[/h1] Answer: This has been asked a lot so I guess it’s time for us to share some details ;). As you level up via playing the game, you gain Stat points and Engram points. You’ll be given one stat point per level and Engram points which scale per level. This is a key part of ARK: Survival Evolved as what you spend these points on determines the role you play. [h1]The stats you have available to you are as follows: Health, Stamina, Oxygen, Food, Water, Weight, Melee Damage, Movement Speed, Fortitude, Crafting Speed and Torpor.[/h1] [h1]Health[/h1] This is the one the core-stats that you see in many games, it determines your life value, if this hits 0 – your character is dead. When you reach below the 25%, your character becomes injured. You will have to regenerate your health using food, blood packs or natural regeneration to regain normal functionality. [h1]Stamina[/h1] This is another key trait used in many games, it is generally used to determine how much energy your character has. Eating and drinking certain food will help replenish stamina. As you find yourself playing the game, you’ll see the bar plummet, especially when working tirelessly. So if you’re always chopping trees or sprinting, you’ll need to take time regenerate. [h1]Oxygen[/h1] This is an uncommon trait you won’t see in many games. Rivers, Lagoons, Underwater pools and the Ocean plays a huge part in the ARK. It’s often a place of sanctuary or potentially a place of danger. There are times you’ll find yourself diving to the bottom of a pool, riding on aquatic friend, or swimming across to escape a deadly predator... only to find yourself in the mouth of another ;). Increasing oxygen allows you to stay submerged for longer periods of time. [h1]Food[/h1] This is a stat you’ll find in pretty much every survival game. Simply put it tells you if your character is hungry, ensure that you’re well fed otherwise you’ll risk starvation. Increasing the amount allows for your character to eat more, therefore you’ll have more time available to you in between meals. [h1]Water[/h1] This is a stat you’ll also find in pretty much every survival game. Water is something that will need to be monitored as if you’re thirsty you’ll find yourself suffering from dehydration. [h1]Weight[/h1] This is something that’s core to the game. Unlike many other survival games that are primarily slot-based when it comes to inventory, ARK is not. ARK is a weight-based game. This means you can hold as many materials as you like, as long as you have the weight to withstand it. Weight is very useful stat, though something to keep in mind is that the more you carry, the slower you run and the lower you jump. When you reach a certain level of weight, you become encumbered and will find yourself unable to do much. [h1]Melee Damage[/h1] This is just as the name states. There are always going to be plenty of weapon options in games and normal circumstances dictate that range has an advantage, you deal a lot of damage, you can avoid taking it. It’s the most common way that survivors chose to fight, however we’ve introduced the melee damage stat to give players the opportunity to consider using it as a fighting option. [h1]Movement Speed[/h1] This is another key stat to the game, it’s used to determine how quickly a survivor can travel by foot. It is very useful in terms of escaping, hunting, in fact just about everything. It has great synergy with Stamina! [h1]Fortitude[/h1] This is a very useful stat that not many may consider. Living life on the ark, experiencing the weather and the eco-system; you’re at risk! Increasing fortitude will help provide some resistance from the elements, as well as provide you some crucial resistance from torpor, which we’ll talk about later on ;). Fortitude is increased by 1 for each point you spend. [h1]Crafting Speed[/h1] This is a unique stat and not seen in many games. This will allow survivors the opportunity to craft quicker, at first glance you may think it’s not as useful as the other ones. However you might end up in a pinch where you have seconds to live and you really need to make a bow, those points spent in crafting will definitely make all the difference. The difference between kill or be killed. It’s also a fun trait to consider having on servers where you just want to build as quickly as possible and make many grand structures. [h1]Torpor[/h1] Also known as torpidity is a stat which you will not be able to increase. However it is incredibly useful and very important that you watch your levels of torpor. It is used to monitor whether your character becomes unconscious and how long it stays unconscious for. When you have a high amount of torpor, you’ll be knocked out and will have to wait for it to decrease before you can function again though it decreases at a fairly rapid rate. As mentioned before, Fortitude provides resistance to Torpor in the sense that weapons, tools or consumables may not provide as much. Torpor is a key element when knocking out players and dinosaurs, if you find that your torpor is increasing – you better consider gobbling some Stimberries or some Stimulant otherwise find yourself potentially in grave danger. Now that’s it for the stat points… now for the Tech Tree and Engram points! As well as gaining stat points for leveling, you’ll also find that you receive Engram points. Engram points are spent on a pseudo-tech tree and it can determine the knowledge your character has. Everything you spend an engram point on, you’ll learn permanently. You’ll have the opportunity to learn a wide variety of engrams, such as the ability to craft tools, weapons, building structures, saddles, signs, crops, pipes, fridges, turrets, flares, parachutes, notes, clothes, armor, and well… you get the point. There are loads of things that you can craft, too much for one person to handle. This is why it’s suggested you find a group or a tribe to play with, or consider looking for some blueprints ;) [h1]What about the Alpha?![/h1] The alpha is currently still ongoing and we’re receiving a lot of feedback! We’ll still be recruiting more candidates, so keep an eye on your emails! Be sure to check out the pinned topic in general discussion for more details :) Thanks for tuning in to this week’s ARK Digest! Hope you’ve enjoyed and wishing you all the best! Your friendly neighborhood Community Manager, Jat