Finding food and water in ARK: Survival Evolved is one of the top priorities. This is an essential condition for survival in the game, otherwise the player will quickly be defeated by hunger and thirst.
Discovering food supplies, along with building a shelter, and creating clothes to wear, are important principles for survival on the island. However, the player cannot eat anything he finds. Some items need to be processed to make them safe to consume or increase their benefits, while others have negative side effects that need to be considered before purchasing.
If you’re in need of some help finding your way through hunger, let’s explore the guide to finding food and water in ARK: Survival Evolved to survive the game’s harsh environment.
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How to find food in ARK: Survival Evolved
The simplest form of food in ARK: Survival Evolved that gamers can find is berries, which can be picked up by pressing a button. Use (triangle or Y depending on system) when near vegetation on the ground.
Berries do not provide the energy to reduce hunger, but because they can be found everywhere and do not require processing, they can satisfy some hunger quickly.
Be aware that some berries can cause effects when consumed, such as dehydration or drowsiness. The player needs to hover over the berry in Inventory for more information before deciding whether to eat or not.
The most nutritious food accessible early on is meat, obtained by killing island animals, or dropped after hitting weapons on small creatures like Dodo or Lystrosaurus. Players need to repeatedly hit their bodies with Pick or Spear for harvesting raw meat, avoid using Hatchet as that favors skin over meat.
Now, raw meat can be consumed as well, but in that state it will only slightly reduce hunger, and at the same time be harmful to health. So, to get the maximum benefit from your cuts of meat, cook them according to the instructions below.
How to cook raw meat
To cook raw meat in ARK: Survival Evolved, people need fire. Also, to collect the necessary resources, use Pick to retrieve Flint from stone, Thatch from the tree and a Hatchet for stone and wood. Combine those to create a campfire, then lay down and interact with it to open the inventory.
Place the wood in an empty slot then follow the prompts to light a fire, before placing the raw meat in another spot and waiting. It takes 20 seconds for raw meat to convert to cooked meat. Then, collect the cooked meat and enjoy some of the benefits such as improved health, reduced hunger and longer spoilage than raw meat.
How to find drinking water in ARK: Survival Evolved
Thankfully, the process of getting water in this game is much simpler, as gamers just need to get close to a body of water and press a button. Use (Triangle or Y) for drinking without further processing.
At Engram Tier 3, people can unlock blueprints to craft Waterskins, which allow them to carry more water with them, but slowly leak over time. Filling a Waterskin with water can sometimes be a bit tricky, but if you’re just standing in the water, then ticking it off in your inventory, you’ll see an additional option (labeled as Consume) will be fully loaded if the prompts are followed.