ARK 2 Biome & Exploration Guide: Arat Regions, Resources, Dangers & Best Base Spots

Honestly Arat is like Studio Wildcard's biggest map ever and I've wandered through pretty much every corner of it by now ngl, it's got eight totally different biomes and each one kind of plays by its own rules you know with different resources and creatures and hazards and honestly some of these places I've died in so many times it's not even funny but that's the game I guess, so this guide breaks down all eight biomes with coordinates and resource density and danger levels and where to actually build because I've made all the mistakes so you don't have to tbh, I mean I've set up bases in the worst possible spots and learned the hard way and stuff like that

Southern Beaches

Coordinates: 70-90 Lat, 30-60 Lon • Danger Level: Low • Biome Tier: Starter

So the Southern Beaches are basically where everyone spawns and it's the safest zone on Arat hands down, flat terrain everywhere and water access and you know the predators are pretty much just Dodos and Dilophosaurs and maybe a Raptor if you're unlucky but honestly I've been killed by a Raptor on the beach at like level 3 and it sucks, anyway resources are abundant for starters you've got thatch and wood and stone and fiber and berries literally everywhere but metal is basically nonexistent tbh you're gonna have to go inland for any real metal deposits and I'm not 100% sure but I think the beach from (80, 40) to (85, 55) has the flattest terrain and it's closest to the Southern River metal spawns so I'd build my 2x2 starter right there and then set up a secondary metal base when you hit mid-game, honestly the beach life is chill until you outgrow it and then you're like okay I need metal and crystal and all that

Jungle

Coordinates: 40-70 Lat, 30-60 Lon • Danger Level: Medium-High • Biome Tier: Early-Mid Game

I love the jungle but ugh it's also kind of terrifying, the dense jungle covers the central-southern part of the map and the tree coverage is insane like you get so much wood and thatch it's ridiculous and berry bushes are literally everywhere but here's the thing the predator density is honestly scary Raptors and Carnotaurs and Titanoboa and sometimes an Allosaurus pack just shows up out of nowhere and the canopy blocks your flyer's visibility completely so scouting is a nightmare, but there are multiple cave entrances hidden in the jungle cliffs and that's kind of the whole point you know, resources wise there's moderate metal nodes along the western jungle edge and abundant crystal in the central jungle caves plus a few obsidian nodes near the waterfall at (55, 45) but I mean the real value is the cave systems because three artifact caves are only accessible through jungle entrances, so for base building I'd honestly build on the elevated plateaus not the forest floor because I've tried building on the ground and got wrecked by an Allosaurus pack at 3am, the plateaus at (50, 50) and (60, 45) have natural terrain defense with 360-degree views and it feels awesome up there, the trade-off is no water access so you'll need water tanks and pipes from a nearby river and that's kind of annoying tbh

Swamp

Coordinates: 30-50 Lat, 55-75 Lon • Danger Level: High • Biome Tier: Mid-Game

The swamp is honestly one of the most dangerous biomes on Arat and I hate going there, slow movement through water and you can barely see anything because of the tall mangrove trees and the creatures are just awful Sarcosuchus and Titanoboa and Leeches and the Kaprosuchus which can literally grab you off your mount and drag you underwater and I've died to that exact thing like four times now, but the swamp also has rare mushrooms and leech blood which you need for medical brews and there's no other place to get them so you kind of have to go there whether you like it or not, resources include abundant wood and thatch and rare flowers and rare mushrooms and leech blood and silica pearls in shallow water but zero metal and limited stone so it's not a base biome at all tbh, just visit for specific materials and get out as fast as you can, for exploration I'd say traverse on a Baryonyx or Spinosaurus because both move faster in water than on land and their combat stats handle Sarcos and Kapros pretty effectively, never foot-traverse the swamp like seriously don't do it I did it once and it was the worst experience, use a grappling hook to reach high-value mushroom clusters on fallen logs and tree platforms and that's pretty much it

Western Mountains

Coordinates: 50-70 Lat, 10-30 Lon • Danger Level: High • Biome Tier: Mid-Late Game

The Western Mountains are the premier metal and crystal and obsidian farming zone and honestly I've spent so many hours farming here it's kind of ridiculous, rocky terrain with steep cliffs and rock elementals spawning everywhere and it's cold so you need fur armor or an otter for extended stays or you'll just freeze and die which has happened to me more times than I'd like to admit, predators include Sabertooth and Dire Wolves and occasionally a Giganotosaurus shows up at the highest peaks and when that happens you just run, resources are insane though there's 15+ metal nodes at the main peak (60, 25) and 5-6 crystal nodes along the ridge and 3-4 obsidian nodes near the summit and I'm pretty sure this is the richest single-location resource zone on the whole map, a well-organized tribe can fill an Argentavis with metal from the peak in under 20 minutes which is honestly crazy, for base building the Cliffside Plateau at (60, 30) is maybe the best PvP base location on the map with two narrow approach paths and three metal spawns within 50 meters and a 360-degree view of approaching raiders, but the downsides are no water and high winds that lower structure HP over time and the climb from the valley floor takes 2+ minutes on foot which is brutal

Northern Frozen Peaks

Coordinates: 15-35 Lat, 30-55 Lon • Danger Level: Very High • Biome Tier: Late Game

The snow biome is brutal honestly, constant cold drains your food and water meters 3x faster than temperate biomes and blizzards reduce visibility to 15 meters and deal damage-over-time if you're not in a shelter or wearing full fur armor and I've lost so many tames to random blizzards it's not even funny, creatures include Dire Wolves and Yutyrannus and Mammoths and the feared Yeti boss spawn which I've never actually killed because it's terrifying, resources are moderate metal and abundant crystal honestly the best crystal farming zone on the map and oil rocks on the surface and organic polymer from Kairuku and Penguin kills, the frozen caves contain some of the highest-tier loot crates in the game and that's worth the pain I guess, for exploration always carry 5+ med brews and a stack of cooked meat because blizzards last 3-5 minutes and if you get caught in one without shelter you need to build a quick 2x2 thatch hut with a campfire as emergency shelter and fur armor is non-negotiable like cloth or hide will not protect you from hypothermia at all, I learned that the hard way

Desert

Coordinates: 15-35 Lat, 60-85 Lon • Danger Level: Medium • Biome Tier: Mid-Game

The desert biome spans the northeastern corner of Arat and it's honestly kind of underrated imo, high temperatures require ghillie armor or an egg incubator for taming and sandstorms reduce visibility and apply the sand-blasted debuff which deals minor damage-over-time, creatures include Morellatops which is the desert equivalent of Parasaur and Thorny Dragon for wood gathering and Mantis and the rare Phoenix spawn which I've only seen once and it was awesome, resources are abundant stone and flint and moderate metal at the desert's rocky outcroppings and rare flowers in the oasis areas and silica pearls in shallow water pockets, the desert ruins contain several artifact cave entrances and high-level loot crates which is probably the main reason to go there, for base building the Oasis at (25, 70) is the only reliable water source in the desert so build near it if you plan a desert base and the surrounding cliff walls offer natural defense, desert bases are uncommon so most PvP players will not check the desert for raiding targets which gives you a stealth advantage and I've had a base there for weeks without getting raided once

Ocean

Coordinates: All deep water • Danger Level: High • Biome Tier: Late Game

The ocean covers roughly 30% of the map area and underwater visibility is limited which honestly makes it kind of scary, deep water zones have pressure thresholds requiring scuba gear and creatures include Megalodon and Mosasaurus and Plesiosaur and Tusoteuthis and Anglerfish and Coelacanth and Trilobite and Cnidaria which everyone calls the jellyfish of death and for good reason because they've killed me so many times I can't even count, resources include abundant oil from underwater oil veins and silica pearls and metal from scattered underwater nodes and rare black pearls from Eurypterid kills, the deep ocean trenches contain the highest-tier underwater loot crates and that's worth the risk tbh, for exploration always bring a Baryonyx or Mosasaurus for underwater travel and carry multiple scuba tanks because one tank only lasts about 20 minutes and you don't want to run out at the bottom of the ocean trust me, the ocean floor at (30, 70) has the highest density of oil veins on the map and the deep trench at (60, 85) has 6+ underwater loot crate spawns which is pretty much the best loot farming spot in the game

Caves

Arat has 8 major cave systems each with unique loot tables and artifact locations and honestly caves are always dangerous no matter how prepared you are, tight spaces and limited mobility and high creature density make every run stressful and I've wiped in caves more times than I can count, always bring grappling hooks and medical brews and a pump shotgun like don't even think about going in without them, the three artifact caves for the Broodmother which are Hunter and Clever and Massive are all in the jungle biome and the Megapithecus artifact caves are in the Western Mountains and Northern Frozen Peaks, who knows maybe I'll learn to stop dying in caves someday

Biome Quick Reference Table

Use Cases

So if you're a solo player trying to establish multiple outposts across biomes here's what I'd do, build a starter base on the Southern Beaches for safety first because you need somewhere to fall back to, then establish a metal outpost at the Western Mountains just a small 2x2 shack with a bed and a forge and a smithy nothing fancy, then place a hidden cache in the desert oasis because nobody checks there honestly, and keep a raft base for ocean resource runs and stuff like that, that way you've got three biomes covered and no single point of failure which has saved me so many times it's not even funny

But if you're a tribe controlling resource flow on a PvP server then you want to control the Western Mountain metal spawns by building a defensive outpost at the Cliffside Plateau, and assign one member to patrol the Swamp for rare mushrooms and leech blood which everyone needs for med brews, then set up a crystal farming route in the Northern Frozen Peaks because that's the best crystal zone on the map, if you control these three biomes you basically control the server's resource economy and I've seen tribes do this and dominate for months, it's honestly kind of beautiful when it works

Tips

Biome-appropriate armor literally saves lives tbh, fur for snow and ghillie for desert and scouting and flak for combat and scuba for ocean and dying because you wore cloth in the mountains is completely preventable and I've done it and it sucks, also learn cave layouts before artifact runs because each artifact cave has a unique layout and respawning creatures and honestly just watch a community guide or scout the cave with a Pteranodon before bringing your boss rexes through or you're gonna have a bad time, desert and swamp bases are low-profile because most raiders check jungle and mountain bases first so if you want to avoid attention build in low-traffic biomes and that's pretty much how I've survived on PvP servers, cross-breeding across biomes is important because some resources like oil and polymer and electronics are only efficiently farmed in specific biomes so establish outposts rather than hauling everything across the map which is just a waste of time, and water crossings break scent trails because the sensory AI tracks scent through biomes and crossing a deep river or ocean inlet resets your scent trail completely which is honestly kind of a weird mechanic but it works

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