Best Engrams in ARK Survival Ascended

Engrams are crafting blueprints for all items and weapons in ARK Survival Ascended. I quickly realized their importance early on in the game, so I compiled a list for you to reference when starting.

Best Engrams to unlock first in ARK Survival Ascended

ARK Survival Ascended offers players more than a hundred different tiers of Engrams, making this game probably the most versatile and complete survival game on today's market. But this cornucopia of possibilities can lead to choice paralysis, as it did for me. As a result, I got together a list of the best Engrams to unlock when first starting early on in the game.

Campfire

As in real life, building a Campfire is crucial in survival situations. It provides warmth, a way to cook your food, and the light it emits can be helpful in case a predator decides to visit your camp for a late evening bite. Don't forget to douse the flames when you're not using the Campfire to conserve fuel.

Related: ARK Survival Ascended Breeding Guide and Maturation Times

Stone Hatchet

Stone Hatchet will be the first reliable tool you will use to gather resources. Without it, any kind of meaningful progression would be impossible, as it will make the job of harvesting necessities significantly faster. Survival is all about optimizing your time and resources, and the Stone Hatchet is an important step towards that goal (at least until you have the required level to upgrade it to its metal counterpart).

Spear

While you can use the Stone Hatchet as a rudimentary weapon, you will quickly find it lacking. This is where the Spear comes in; it plays just as important a role in your survival as the Stone Hatchet does in resource gathering. Akin to its real-life use, you can throw it at the enemy (but make sure not to miss) or use it to jab at them, hopefully to deadly effect. Its effectiveness will vary significantly depending on the type of threat you are facing. Still, the nature of ASA's wilderness practically makes having the Spear a necessity, at least early on.

Simple bed

Now that we have the most immediate necessities out of the way, one more basic human need still remains unsolved, and that is sleep. Having a Simple Bed made of Thatch will not only provide you with a good night's rest but will also serve as a respawn point when you die. Be sure to build it in an area that's as safe as you can find, because using the bed this way leaves you with a cooldown timer of five minutes. And believe me, even those five minutes seem like an eternity when a Rex comes smelling your blood, as I learned from personal experience.

Cloth wearables

Wearable items made out of Cloth are perfect for fighting against the basic elements, since the game spawns you on the island almost naked. This is why you should get at least a pair of Cloth Pants and Cloth Shirt as soon as possible. Their protection indexes aren't good by any means, but nature is deadly, and the Torpidity will get the better of you in no time, especially if you spawned in a hostile area.

Related: Best ARK Survival Ascended Mods

Thatch building pieces

To create the very first shelter in ARK Survival Ascended, you will first need to unlock Thatch building pieces. They consist of:

• Thatch Foundation
• Thatch Wall
• Thatch Ceiling

There are a couple more items in this Engram tier, but they are less important, as these three are the base building blocks for your first house. When you obtain these Engrams, you will be limited only by the resources you can find and your imagination to build your Thatch dream home.

Cooking Pot

Cooking Pots are instrumental tools if you want to survive and thrive. While the Campfire does provide you with the most rudimentary ways of prepping food, Cooking Pot unlocks two important mechanics that will benefit you greatly:

• Kibble: After obtaining the cooking Pot, you can make Kibble from various recipes, which is important for taming different kinds of Dinosaurs.
• Soups: Soup-making will benefit you in the long run as the soups not only provide nutritional value but also give you various status effects, like boosting your hyperthermal insulation or slowing your rate of water consumption. These effects are beneficial, especially while you're on the move, gathering resources, or fighting.

Looking for more useful ARK Survival Ascended articles to help you in your Dino-wrangling adventures? You've come to the right place, as the Pro Game Guides has all the best cooking recipes! Check out Best stats in ARK Survival Ascended and How to get Oil in ARK Survival Ascended.