Ark: Survival Ascended: Best base locations on The Island

Building a base in Ark: Survival Ascended is a necessary task, but finding the ideal location can be tricky.

With a variety of landscapes and various threats, both from wild creatures and from other players if you are in PvP, an area that looks like the perfect spot can quickly turn into a home from hell.

Fortunately, we’ve done the groundwork and have selected a variety of great base locations for you to look over, offering fantastic scenery, safety, and plenty more.

Clifftop starter base – Lat: 84 Lon: 23.6

Located near the beaches where the majority of players will initially spawn in Ark: Survival Evolved, this clifftop base offers plenty of flat ground to build on and some great views.

Raised above the river, you’ll have easy access to a steady water supply for your irrigation and farming needs, while the cliffs present a natural barrier against most threats from the wild creatures you will face.

In this area of the map, there aren’t too many aggressive creatures that spawn nearby and you can defend yourself fairly easily against those that do once you’ve built any walls you may require and are ready for a scrap.

Secret retreat – Lat: 93 Lon: 59.3

Located in the south of the map, this area boasts plenty of potential with decent access to plenty of biomes and several locations for you to build your base.

Among them is a small lake, shielded by cliffs, that may be appealing, or you can opt to live life on the beach. There are plenty of options here, which gives you a great amount of creativity.

Creature-wise, there are a few minor threats that can be irritable when you start building but, once you are built up, you won’t have to worry anymore.

Herbivore island – Lat: 86.6 Lon: 89.5

Herbivore Island is a location that will likely be familiar to long-term Ark players, as it’s one of few areas of the map where aggressive dinosaurs cannot be found. Instead, you’ll be surrounded by peaceful herbivores.

While they can turn hostile when attacked, you can build away to your heart’s content in the comfort that you won’t have to remain on alert for wild threats. In fact, the only hostile creatures you’ll find are the occasional Megalodons in the sea.

Herbivore Island has plenty of cliffs if you want some height to your build, or you can simply opt to follow the natural boundaries in the area to create your ideal base.

Beach outcrop – Lat: 74.8 Lon: 95

Located north of Herbivore Island, this beach outcrop can be found and offers an interesting base location—particularly if you opt to build using the cliffs as natural walls.

Threats from aggressive dinosaurs are few and far between, while you have easy access to plenty of resources. The downside, however, is that there aren’t many other biomes within quick reach, though this can be counteracted once you have a flier.

Though beach bases can be vulnerable in PvP, as they are an area that will regularly be visited by rival players, this spot offers picturesque views and a great building location for PvE and private multiplayer.

Hidden Lake – Lat: 17.9 Lon: 72.5

Another area that will be familiar to long-term Ark players, the Hidden Lake is one of the most fiercely-contested base locations on the map due to easy access to other biomes and the ability to easily build defenses.

Getting this spot in an official server will be difficult, and could leave you open to regular attacks from rival players, but it’s difficult to take over once someone is established. Of course, if you’re not in PvP, this won’t be a problem.

You can either build around the lake itself or on the cliffs nearby, with the latter having the added benefit of not blocking the spawn of beaver dams—meaning you’ll have easy access to a regular source of Cementing Paste.

Frozen cliffs – Lat: 31.9 Lon: 9

The frozen landscape in Ark is an unforgiving environment and will whittle down your health quickly if you’re not prepared, but if you can brave the environment, there are some picturesque locations to build on.

My favorite can be found in the coordinates posted, where you can find a thin cliff sticking out into the ocean. Once you remove those trees, you’ll have a great area to build—with a castle fitting into the landscape superbly.

While the frozen biome in Ark has plenty of wild threats, few spawn on the cliff itself and, once blocked off, you shouldn’t encounter many issues.

Cliff ruins – Lat: 97.5 Lon: 21.1

If you’re looking to build a great base in Ark, why not opt for an area where someone has built before? If that appeals to you, these ruins offer a great background to build your own creation.

There is easy access to water and plenty of resources, while few aggressive dinosaurs will spawn atop the cliff itself. Once you clear it out, you’ll have plenty of room to build whatever you need.

You’ll also have quick access to a nearby obilisk which, once other maps are added to Ark: Survival Ascended, will allow you to transfer tames and characters to different maps.

Pride Rock – Lat: 47.3 Lon: 77.8

This mostly flat, evergreen cliff looks eerily similar to Pride Rock in The Lion King and, if it’s good enough for Simba, it should be good enough for you.

While the clifftop itself isn’t flat and will, therefore, be troublesome to build upon, there is still plenty of potential. There’s a lot of open space nearby, all of which are viable options for building a base.

You’ll also have quick access to a variety of biomes and plenty of resources within reach, though you’ll also need to be careful of the occasional Spinosaur that can spawn in the river nearby.

Redwood Lodge

If you want picturesque views in Ark, few locations are better than finding a tall Redwood tree and building your base on the side of it. Using walkways, you can spread your build across the trees and truly embrace the life of an Ewok.

While you’ll be safe at height, the ground level in the Redwood Forest can be a nightmare with plenty of threats to encounter, so I’d only recommend this base location once you have access to a tamed flying dinosaur.

The height also provides some difficulties for keeping other spawned dinosaurs safe, as many won’t be able to head into the trees with you, so a good spot should also have access to a flat area nearby where you can store other tames.

Raft

If you don’t fancy being tied down to a single location, life on a Raft may be the right choice for you and is a great way of navigating around the map.

While your Raft will start off extremely basic, you can build it up with platforms, walls, and anything else you require to build a floating fortress—but life at sea comes with plenty of risks.

The biggest threat is undoubtedly the Leedsichthys, which can quickly turn your beautiful boat into a bunch of splinters, while passengers not driving the boat can attract the aggression of other creatures.