Ark: Survival Ascended's Aberration DLC adds an amazing new mechanic to the prehistoric survival franchise, but sadly most players won't be able to use it. Aberration is the next free DLC to be upgraded to the newer title, and with it comes some of the best experiences in the game. Plenty of new creatures, mechanics, and challenges await players on a broken-down Ark unlike any previous maps.
The new release also came with a new free dinosaur in the Yi Ling, a powerful hit-and-run combat tame with some debuff capability. However, not everything has gone well for Ascended. The title has a high graphical demand, which has ostracized much of the potential playerbase. Beyond that, there have been numerous microtransaction features that have added borderline pay-to-win content. This has brought up concerns about the PvP aspect of the game, along with its future with Ark 2.
Ark: Survival Ascended's New Cosmo Spider Issue
Paying For Power In The Steampunk Ascent DLC
The new issue comes from the Cosmo Spider added as part of the newest update of Bob's Tall Tales Steampunk Ascent DLC. This continues a big problem for Ark: Survival Ascended that started with the Pyromane, a powerful fiery lion that could also be made into a shoulder mount for players.
However, the fact that these new additions can only be tamed by those that buy the DLCs has been a large issue. Another issue with the Cosmo Spider is its striking resemblance to a modded one created by a player.
Cosmo Spiders can passively collect webs and then use them for a variety of abilities.
The new Cosmo Spider is one of a kind and brings a whole new style of play to Ark. Once passively tamed with Chitin, Cosmo Spiders can passively collect webs and then use them for a variety of abilities. These include shooting webs that slow enemies, swinging from webs, collecting items from far, and using them as a makeshift whip. While these are all amazing additions in a gameplay aspect, they introduce a major balance issue.
PvE wise, the amount of fun and convenience from this tame, which is one of the best new creatures from Aberration, is immense. This is why locking it behind a $30 DLC bundle is unfair.
While it is understandable the studio needs some income since all DLC is free with the initial purchase or upgrade to Ascended, there are other ways to go about it than this. Given how dedicated the fanbase of the game is, other avenues like cosmetics would likely have worked while avoiding outrage.
How The Cosmo Spider Breaks Ark PvP
Gaining The Advantage Thanks To DLC Split
Though these abilities are perfectly fine in a PvE setting, when put into PvP, which is a popular part of the title, it breaks the balance. One tame, especially one that turns into a shoulder pet, combining multiple different gears into one is powerful.
Players can now smoothly and safely traverse the maps with ease. Any advantage in a competitive situation can have a major impact, and in a case where some can't even get the tame, it's a large problem.
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Aberration brings one of the largest maps to Ark: Survival Ascended, filled with unique biomes and creatures that pose a new challenge to survivors.
Though servers can be split between those that have and don't have the DLC, splitting players in games rarely ends well. Especially for a case such as Ascended which is already limited in who can access it. In this regard, there were two ways this could have been implanted to avoid any issues.
One is making it so the Cosmo was not part of the paid DLC, or making it so the paid DLCs are not active on official regulated PvP servers. However, both have their cons that argue against it, such as having someone pay for content they then cannot access in a mode they desire.
What Else Is In The Steampunk Ascent DLC Bundle?
Ark: Survival Ascended DLC Explained
While Steampunk Ascent has some cosmetic options, it also has a lot of new structures and items that are huge helps. One notable addition is the Sir-5rM8 buildable automaton that can be set on a base to perform certain tasks.
This alone is a huge boon to help reduce the tedious parts of the survival game without any mods. Another large change is the Stopwatch, capable of teleporting the player back to their position a few seconds prior.
The other large theme of this DLC is gene science. With the new Gene Scanner item, players can extract traits and embryos from dinosaurs for later use. Traits can be placed in the Gene Storage and later used to give tamed dinos new abilities they would not otherwise have. Meanwhile, embryos are put into the Embyro Incubator to speed up the process of acquiring tamed creatures from those that have more tedious acquisition methods.
Overall, while it is exciting to get new content in Ark without using mods, the method it has taken has been flawed. This has created much more discourse than positive reviews of the franchise, especially with the lack of polish for lower end platforms.
These types of issues could be a serious threat to the longevity of the franchise and Ark 2 if it continues. Regardless, for now, this new amazing mechanic in Ark: Survival Ascended is one many players won't be able to experience.
Source: IGN/YouTube
Ark: Survival Ascended
Survival
Open-World
Systems
- Franchise
- ARK
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- October 26, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Studio Wildcard
- Publisher(s)
- Studio Wildcard
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Use of Alcohol, Violence
