Metal is one of the must-have resources that you will need to find when playing Ark: Survival Evolved. It can be difficult to find as it is often kept in more dangerous areas of the maps. This resource is used to craft a variety of items, so it is important you know where to look and how to obtain it.
Luckily, it is more plentiful than you think, but make sure you are prepared to deal with some fairly dangerous creatures and landscapes. Metal is needed to craft the items needed to better protect you, although, you must first mine it in Ark: Survival Evolved.
Where Do You Find Metal?
Metal can be found within rocks, but different types will yield different amounts. There are normal metal rocks, but the Rich Metal Rocks with a golden hue will give you the most success and some players choose to build their base near them. You can hit normal rocks, although they will only give you a few pieces compared to rocks that have a shinier appearance.
It is usually a more dangerous venture to find Metal, as these specialty rocks are often located near these natural formations no matter what map you are playing:
- Mountain Tops
- Caves
- Rivers
- Coves
- Deep Underwater
The most plentiful Metal Ore formations are at the summits of mountains, but be careful on your descent as it is easy to fall on the way down and lose all of your hard work.
How Do You Harvest It?
Metal must be mined from rocks, and it is easier to add this resource to your inventory than oil. There are a few ways that are guaranteed to help you get the most out of it. The best item to use is a Metal Pick, but any Pickaxe will work as it will help you mine the most from the rocks.
If you prefer to use a tame, then you should consider having an Ankylosaurus under your control. It can not only carry a ton of metal, but if you boost its melee damage it will also allow you to break the rocks even faster.
A few other options you have for mining include:
- Gacha
- Magmasaur
- Dunkleosteus
- Phoenix
- Mantis
- Stone Pick
What Is It Used For?
Metal is used to craft a variety of items and some of them include:
- Ammunition
- Electrical Cables
- Electrical Devices
- Elevator Structures
- Explosive Weapons
- Fabricator
- Firearms
- Flak Armor
- Fur Armor
- Metal Buildings
- Metal Hatchet
- Metal Irrigation Pipes (these can be used to create an irrigation system)
- Metal Pick
- Metal Sickle
- Metal Structures
- Pike
- Platform Saddles
- Several Saddles
- Smithy
- Vault
- Weapon Attachments
However, before you can craft items out of Metal, it must first be smelted into Metal Ingots. You need two pieces of Metal Ore in order to create a Metal Ingot and the smelting method you decide on will change the amount of time it takes for it to be transformed.
The different methods you can choose are as follows:
- Refining Forge
- Industrial Forge
- Magmasaur
- Phoenix