Studio Wildcard released various DLCs throughout ARK’s life since the game’s launch. Players can download and install new content to their ARK games, improving their gaming experience. But which of these DLCs should you download? Continue reading as we give you the information you need in this ARK DLC guide.

Breaking Down All ARK: Survival Evolved DLC

At the time of writing, 12 DLCs exist for ARK: Survival Evolved. Five are expansion packs, six are expansion maps, and the other DLC converts an essential game system.

ARK DLC: Expansion Packs

Expansion packs generally add new content to ARK without changing the core vanilla experience. The items typically added to the main game from the following DLCs are new creatures, equipment, and maps.

Scorched Earth

ARK: Scorched Earth brings a large desert to the game. This map also includes new biomes, items, and creatures, including tameable dragons and wyverns. Although these additions may not be mind-blowing, the additional content can help bring an extra “flavor” to the vanilla ARK experience.

Aberration

Released on December 12, 2017, ARK: Aberration places survivors in a derelict environment. The harsh environment, along with the intense radiation, delivers new dangers to veteran ARK players in this DLC. While playing in Aberration, you’ll encounter various hazards, including earthquakes, gas leaks, and radiation exposure. But you’ll also find the items needed to combat these dangers. So, download this expansion pack if you want to experience new challenges in ARK.

Extinction

Return to Earth in ARK: Extinction, but this time you’ll explore a decimated planet filled dominated by new creatures. In Extinction, you’ll find corrupted versions of different dinosaurs, ranging from the Corrupted Arthropluera to the Corrupted Wyvern. But you’ll also be in a lush yet densely overgrown metropolis with various sites to explore. Go through Extinction with its mainline story, and find out what happened to the planet. With this ARK DLC, you’ll find many things to do to help keep you entertained for hours.

Genesis

ARK: Genesis is a two-part DLC available on the game’s Season Pass. The first part released on February 25, 2020, and players started downloading this expansion pack after its launch on June 3, 2021. The core of the Genesis DLCs is that they take players into new worlds, bringing new missions with them. Like Extinction, Genesis has hundreds of hours’ worth of content, along with a multi-layered story that can keep you coming back for more.

ARK DLC: Expansion Maps

Unlike expansion packs, expansion maps typically only focus on exploration by bringing new biomes, items, and creatures to the game. Also, these additional maps are free to download.

The Center

The Center is almost twice the size of The Island. The beauty of this map is its hand-drawn topography, with views complimenting the main map’s biomes. Here, you have various new places to explore, including some areas that can be your next base. Download The Center if you’re into traversing through a large underground cave system to a series of floating islands.

Ragnarok

Ragnarok combines elements found in The Island and Scorched Earth maps. But it adds to the existing content with new biomes, which includes extreme weather conditions. Despite Ragnarok bringing only a few new things to the vanilla ARK experience, it’s still a map worth downloading. In particular, players can stay in Ragnarok to kill certain enemies and find loot found in The Island and Scorched Earth without transferring to those maps.

Valguero

Known to be the first expansion map to have a roaming boss, the Broodmother, Valguero adds new biomes to ARK: Survival Evolved. It also has multiple cave systems for you to explore, bringing extra hours of gameplay. Still, Valguero may only be for players who want to challenge the three hard-hitting bosses on the map. Consider downloading the other ARK map DLCs if you’re unsure about your equipment and skills in trying to take down these enemies.

Crystal Isles

The Crystal Isles map is home to the Crystal Wyvern, a tameable creature that can help players gain massive XP. Aside from the wyvern, this beautiful map has various regions that are stunning in their own right. You can also build a base in the tree canopy if you wish.

Lost Island

Lost Island is a large map with several new biomes, each flourishing with various flora, dinosaurs, and new challenges. It also brings a Wyvern Trench to the game, which is home to various wyverns. Download this ARK DLC to experience a new yet still familiar in-game experience.

Fjordur

Fjordur is the ARK expansion map for players who are also fans of Norse mythology. Here, you’ll explore mystical realms reminiscent of the different mythological locations in Norse legend: Asgard, Vanaheim, and Jotuheim. Players can also find Norse-inspired enemies on this map, including the wolf Fenrir.

ARK Primitive+ Total Conversion DLC

Primitive+ is a free, official ARK DLC. However, it adds the least value to the game compared to the other expansions. It does at least change many tools to replicate the behaviors of their real-world counterparts as much as possible.