Ark: Survival Ascended’s newAberrationDLC introduces a new item that’s perfect for PvP, but hard to come by.Aberrationis the fifthDLC to be released forArk: Survival Ascended, and the third major map. Like other maps before it,Aberrationwas once a player-made creation forArk: Survival Evolved, but is now being re-released in the reimaginedASA. Also like its predecessors,Aberrationintroduces new creatures, new threats, and new mechanics of survival to the ever-popular dino-taming game.
One of those new mechanics is a plant that can be harvested and utilized by players, with a very handy application in combat. However,getting access to this rare fruit is difficult, and requires significant player patience on two different fronts. Still, their usefulness in combat can’t be overstated, and is well worth the effort if the player is willing to put in the time.
Ark: Survival Ascended Introduces Powerful Plant Species Z Fruits
Organic Flashbangs
TheAberrationDLC forArk: Survival Ascendedintroduces a kind of organic flashbang: the unusual fruit of Plant Species Z. Resembling a purple bulb, with tendrils that grow silvery as they curve upward from the base in a dragonfruit-like structure, Plant Species Z Fruit makes a striking, desirable collectible from the very start. However, unlike most fruit inArk, the Z fruit isn’t actually edible - it functions as a throwable grenade. Once thrown at enemies, it explodes in a blinding flash of light, effectively leaving any enemies in the area stunned for a period of roughly ten seconds.
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Z fruit does have its limitations: it only works on humans and lesser creatures, so it won’t do much good against bosses, Alpha Predators, or similarly powerful foes. The higher level the creature, the less time it’ll take for the stun effect to wear off. And it only really works when the target is looking in the direction of the light - if they’re on the edge of its range and facing the other direction, they may be immune to its effects.
That said,it’s easy to see how Z fruit is great for both PvP and PvE. It can be used to stun raiding players, giving the player who uses it a major opportunity to strike. Z fruit has a similar effect on many lower-level creatures, but is especially useful against Karkinos and Kaprosuchus.
Although its stun effect can create a useful opening,the Z fruit does no actual damage.
These creatures can grab players in their giant claws and gaping maws, respectively, and drag them off to deal fatal amounts of damage in some disadvantageous position. However,when hit with a Z fruit grenade, Karkinos or Kaprosuchus will immediately drop the playeror their tame, and remain stunned for a full ten seconds, giving the player ample opportunity to turn tail and run in the other direction.
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This is the easiest, most reliable way to counter these often deadly maneuvers, so it’s always advised to carry a few Z fruit when venturing into either creature’s territory. However,Z fruit can’t be found organically, as it doesn’t spawn in the wild. It can only ever be grown on a player-controlled base, but that’s a complicated and time-consuming process.
How To Grow Your Own Z Fruit In ASA: Aberration
Finding & Growing A Z Seed
Unlike other plants inArk,players can’t simply walk up to a Plant Species Z bulb and hack at it with a tool until it drops a seed. They can certainly try, but the plant won’t even budge, and they’ll inevitably end up wasting their time and energy trying to get seeds this way.
Instead,the player will need to wait for the Z plant to drop a seed, which it does roughly every 60 seconds. However, once they spawn, Z seeds only stick around for roughly 30 seconds, so it’s incredibly unlikely the player will ever happen upon one; they’re better off finding a plant and waiting until it spawns a seed.
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Once they’ve obtained a seed, the player can take it back to their base, where they’ll need to have a Large Crop Plot prepared for the Z seed. This is the third and final crop plot players can craft, and the most flexible by far; it’s the only one that can grow rare seeds such as this one.With the seed planted, players will need to be patient once again, but thankfully, they won’t have to stick around near the plant this time. They can go out and gather materials, fight bosses, tame creatures, or do whatever else it is they do inASA, then return later to check on the fruit.
Crafting a Large Crop Plot requires 80 wood, 40 thatch, 60 fiber, and 100 stone.
Finally,once a Z fruit is picked, it only stays good for a limited time. Like all other fruit inArk, the moment a piece of Z fruit leaves the vine, a Spoilage timer begins ticking. Z fruits last for six hours before spoiling. So players will need to use them quickly, almost immediately after picking them, to ensure that they actually work. And any Z fruit left in the player’s inventory after logging off for an extended period of time, or overnight, will almost certainly spoil in the interim, so it’s best to use Z fruit as soon as an opportunity presents itself.
While Z fruit can be hard to come by, it’s an endlessly useful tool in the player’s arsenal, especially against some of the more difficult enemies making their debut inAberration. As a result, it’s always worth the effort to grow these rare fruits inArk: Survival Ascended.
Ark: Survival Ascended
ARK: Survival Ascended is a reimagined version of the 2017 action-adventure survival MMORPG by the developers at Studio Wildcard and Grove Street Games. Built in Unreal Engine 5, players will return to ARK to build tribes, fight and tame dinosaurs, and brave the elements as they battle to survive in a unique sandbox where crafting and resource management is essential.
