Best Ways To Level Up Fast In ARK Survival Ascended

Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned player, an integral element of ARK Survival Ascended crucial to your survival is your player level. This determines the efficacy of your stats (higher being better) and influences the number of Engrams you can unlock. 

This prompts many to contemplate strategies for leveling up rapidly, particularly when starting a new game or engaging in PvP scenarios where swiftly accumulating levels is advantageous. Fortunately, we've got you covered in this aspect.

In the following discussion, we will outline some of the most effective methods for quickly advancing your level in ARK Survival Ascended.

How To Level Up Fast in ARK Survival Ascended

There are currently many ways to earn levels when playing ARK Survival Ascended, and while some are easier than others, it's advised that players try them all as they progress through the game. The stronger you become, the more of these options become viable for each player. So let's take a look at some of the best ways players can farm levels in ARK Survival Ascended.

Harvesting

The harvesting process begins from the moment you wake up on the island as you scurry around to collect resources, avoid dangerous dinos, and begin building up your first base. This process does slow down as you automate your harvesting and have tames collect resources for you, but during the early stages of the game, it's your best bet to gain levels quickly.

Crafting

While it can be repetitive at times, crafting items is one of the best ways to passively earn XP as you create items you need for your journey, and the more complex the items you're crafting, the more XP you'll gain per craft. However, you can take it a step further and even deconstruct or un-craft items for XP.

For instance, using the Industrial Grinder to break down items into their composite materials grants you roughly 4X per grind, and while this is a small amount when compounded, you can easily get tons of XP for those scrap items sitting in your storage boxes and closets.

Hunting and Breeding

This is arguably the best way to gain XP throughout your journey, as hunting and breeding dinos yield tons of XP. Hunting scales with your strength and hunting choices, so for instance, as you get stronger, you'll be able to hunt stronger dinos and clear out caves (which refill after a specific amount of time), increasing the XP you get from them, and so the cycle continues as you can now go find even stronger dinos to do it all again.

From here, you can move to hunting more powerful versions of the base dinos, called Alpha dinos, and defeating them can yield even more XP than their base variants. For instance, a normal Rex will yield 120 XP, whereas an Alpha Rex will yield 3540 XP, a massive jump to say the least. 

Finally, you can breed dinos as well, as each one you breed grants you XP, and similar to the Alphas, if you breed high-level dinos, you'll get more XP for your troubles, which can easily become a breeding farm if you're so inclined.

Explorer Notes

Explorer notes are more strategic methods of gaining XP rather than a farming method, as finding one will boost your XP gain by x2 or x4 once you've found them. They can usually be found in pots and chests backpacks and tek boxes but are usually found in ruins or hard-to-reach spots.

These notes are best utilized for when you're ready to hunt or do a ton of crafting, so be sure you have some XP options available to you before grabbing them, then go wild with collecting your XP, which will now be boosted. You can also stack this effect for up to x8 XP gains, but you need to collect the boosts of the same kind, so either three x2 or two x4 boosts.

Tribe Work

Finally, tribes are one of the more passive yet convenient ways to gain XP in the game. Simply put, whether you're in a PvP tribe (focusing on attacking rival tribes, forming alliances, and engaging other players in combat) or a PvE tribe (a single-player tribe consisting of you and your dinos, which may focus on end-game bosses), you can gain XP from your fellow tribe members when they perform any of the XP gathering methods outlined above.

This is far more passive, but it's worthwhile since when your dino kills another one, you get a sliver of the XP gained, and when your buddy in PvP kills a powerful dino or another player, you also get a small amount of the XP gained. So don't overlook this method if you're looking for passive XP gains.

And there you have it, our comprehensive look at the best tips and tricks for farming levels quickly in ARK Survival Ascended. As always, be sure to try out all these methods when they become relevant to you, and play cautiously above all else.