Studio Wildcard’s Ark: Survival Evolved features many unique ways of game progression. Some of these include building bases and exploration while others can be as simple as upgrading your current assets. Regardless, the world is your prehistoric oyster. Therefore, you hold the power of choosing what’s best for you.
While there are multiple ways to go about leveling up in the game, there are some player-perfected formulas that tend to work much better than others. The main way of strengthening yourself is through the stats. These attributes can work wonders on you and your dinosaurs.
You get to choose a certain stat to improve upon each level up. This can be done by doing various tasks including crafting, harvesting, and hunting. Leveling up in Ark is a time-consuming venture and making it worth it can be tough for beginners.
Therefore, you should give more priority to certain stats when it comes to leveling. Stats can go long ways in helping you get stronger. Here are the best stats for you to upgrade in Ark: Survival Evolved:
- Oxygen
- Water
- Food
- Fortitude
- Weight
- Stamina
- Melee Damage
- Health
- Torpidity
- Movement speed
These stats are generally good when it comes to upgrading. However, your focus should incline more towards your given role in a tribe. For instance, a craftsman might not need the movement speed stat as much as a scout does.
Best Stats for Ark: Survival Evolved
This list will be mentioning the best general stats to level up in Ark: Survival Evolved. If you are aiming to be the perfect hunter, or if you just want to maintain your dino park, having these stats can make your life easier in achieving just that.
Oxygen
This is a much-needed stat in the later portions of the game. Therefore, it is better to start upgrading it early. The reason for this is due to the fact that oxygen is your primary resource when diving underwater. Oxygen will also determine your swimming speed and will begin to run out with time.
Once you are out of oxygen, you will begin to suffocate, losing your health with each tick. An empty health bar can cause your death while submerging beforehand can remove the suffocate status.
Water
This stat shows your hydration levels. The Water stat bar will start to fall if you fail to rehydrate yourself for a certain period of time. Stamina-dependent activities or eating Stimberries and Auric Mushrooms will also partake in reducing your hydration levels and you will gradually gain Torpidity.
If the water stat falls to zero then you will face a rapid health decline at the steady rate of 1 HP per 5 seconds.
Here are the ways through which you can refill your water stat:
- Drink from a body of water or a nearby tap.
- Submerge yourself.
- Stand in Rain
- Use the following:
 | Waterskin |
 | Canteen |
 | Water Jar |
| N/A | Custom Drinks |
Food
Similar to the water stat, food is also stamina dependent. This means that you will gradually gain hunger as time passes. Health and stamina-related tasks can boost the food consumption rate. You will start losing health if your Food stat reaches zero.
The food stat will also affect Torpidity which is a measure for weariness. You will fall into an unconscious state if your Torpidity reaches 50. You are unable to move your character in this state. Therefore, you are susceptible to enemy players. Hence, make sure to consume as much food as you can in order to stay healthy.
You can eat the following consumables in order to prevent your food stat from reaching zero.
 | Berries |
 | Meat |
 | Crops |
 | Jerky |
 | Eggs |
 | Custom Consumables |
Fortitude
Ark: Survival Evolved features many kinds of ailments. These include the Weather, Torpidity, and Diseases. The Fortitude stat increases your tenacity against such effects essentially making you tougher. Fortitude can do the following:
| Attribute | Effect |
| Hyperthermic Insulation | Increases |
| Hypothermic Insulation | Increases |
| Rate of Defecation near Tyrannosaurus Roar` | Reduces |
The Fortitude is an essential stat to upgrade in Ark. It can help you in dealing with multiple negative status effects. Any kind of resistance can take you a long way in surviving the world of Ark.
Weight
Each and every item is assigned a certain weight in Ark. The amount of items a player can carry is solely dependent on this weight stat. If your carried weight reaches 85% of your total weight then you will be inflicted with the Encumbered ailment. This will not only slow down your movement speed by a lot but will also render you unable to jump.
You May Also Like: How to Get Humanity in Dark Souls (4 Easy Ways)
Traveling and exploring are key components in Ark: Survival Evolved. Therefore, we recommend you to pay close attention to this stat. There are certain tames that can reduce the weight of the carried items. Hence, you can use them as a workaround if needed.
Stamina
This stat essentially works as your energy meter. Performing actions and tasks requires stamina. Your stamina can also deplete over time as well. Burning more stamina directly correlates to an increased appetite. This in turn means that your Water and Food stats will drop faster than normal.
It is worth mentioning that any action regardless of how menial it is will deplete your stamina. Thus, you need to have enough reserves in the tank for a better survival rate.
Melee Damage
As the name suggests, the Melee stat determines the amount of damage your character is able to dish out from a single attacking action. Your damage can be modified by equipping weapons. Therefore, the damage from this stat is applied as a bonus effect instead. High melee damage can help you defend yourself against deadly creatures. If this stat is high enough, it can potentially kill multiple creatures with a single attack resulting in an easier exploration.
Each and every creature in Ark possesses the melee damage stat. It is also worth understanding that higher melee damage will lead towards a better yield of resources harvested from a renewable resource. You also gain a higher chance of getting rarer resources.
Health
Health is currently the most basic stat available in Ark: Survival Evolved. Your current life value is dependent on this stat. Thus, upgrading it will make you much tankier. You will die as soon as your health bar drops to zero. You will be affected by the injured ailment if your health drops to 30 and below.
This in turn, will also decrease your movement speed, making the game needlessly difficult. Therefore, it is important to keep your character healthy. There are certain foods and items that can replenish this stat upon consumption, we will be listing them below:
 | Cooked Meat |
 | Blood Pack |
 | Medical Brew |
Alternatively, you can also regain health through natural regeneration. You will be needing high health in order to function normally. Therefore, make sure to invest points in health for a better game experience.
Torpidity
Your weariness is calculated through Torpidity. If your Torpidity reaches the 50 mark then you will fall unconscious. Therefore, it is better to keep track of your Torpidity. An unconscious player can be dragged, force-fed narcotics or can simply be robbed by other players. If you are lucky, the enemy might not kill you, however, it is common for players to finish the deed once initiated.
Once you are unconscious, your Torpidity will begin to fall at a faster rate causing you to wake up once it reaches zero. Once again, it is worth remembering that the Ark: Survival Evolved environment isn’t very friendly towards unconscious players.
The attacks of the following creatures can also increase Torpidity. Thus, it is possible to fall unconscious mid-fight:
Araneo
Arthropluera
Basilisk
Beelzebufo
Broodmother Lysrix
Cnidaria
Electrophorus
Equus
Eurypterid
Gacha
Lightning Wyvern
Manticore
Pachy
Pulmonoscorpius
Reaper Queen
Therizinosaur
Thorny Dragon
Titanoboa
Troodon
Tusoteuthis
Movement Speed
As the name suggests, it is a measure of how fast your character moves. Every creature in the Ark has this stat. A higher movement speed stat can help you travel between places quicker. You will also be consuming lesser stamina by increasing this stat. In PvP servers, this can matter a lot since you will be moving a lot in order to dodge attacks. Each upgrade will be netting you a 1.5% increase.
You can also tame a mount much later in the game in order to travel. However, this stat will be carrying you for most of the early potions of Ark. While your weight is also factored in when it comes to calculating movement speed, it is not as effective as movement speed. You can also use the Focal Chili in order to get a movement speed boost.
Ultimately, it will all boil down to how you want your character to be. There are players that tend to maximize one stat while leaving the others at the bottom. However, we recommend you to invest in every mentioned stat in order to find success in your Ark: Survival Evolved sessions.