Ascension
This article is about Ascension as a game mechanic. For the cave you have to complete in order to ascend, see Tek Cave.
This page may contain spoilers related to the background-story of ARK: Survival Evolved.
If you want to experience the story ingame, you probably shouldn't continue reading on this page.
Ascension is the process of beating the last boss in ARK and ascending to the next level.
Ascension involves beating all the bosses of an official story ARK, and discovering the true nature of the ARK. After a Survivor has beaten the Overseer in Island, Manticore in Scorched Earth, Rockwell in Aberration, the Corrupted Master Controller in Genesis Simulation (Genesis: Part 1) or Rockwell Prime in Genesis Ship (Genesis: Part 2), their maximum level is increased by 5, 10, or 15, depending on what difficulty one ascended on. Defeating King Titan doesn't increase the Survivor's maximum level.
Survivors are able to ascend on the following:
- The Island after defeating the Overseer
- Scorched Earth after defeating the Manticore
- Aberration after defeating Rockwell
- Extinction after defeating King Titan
- Genesis: Part 1 after defeating Corrupted Master Controller
- Genesis: Part 2 after defeating Rockwell Prime
This allows Survivors to reach a maximum level of 205 (5 can be obtained by leveling a Chibi-Pet 5 times, another 10 by reading every explorer note, and another 10 by finding every rune on Fjordur).
Ascension will also upload your character, which entails the loss of any Elements gained with the fight. A solution is to put the element inside a creature inventory before the ascension, during the short final countdown after defeating the boss.
Tek Cave
The Tek Cave, located in the Volcano, is the final cave of the game and completing it and defeating the Overseer Boss will allow the player to undergo ascension. To access the caves, you need the Broodmother, Megapithecus and Dragon trophies of the appropriate rank, which in turn require you to have already acquired all the artifacts (or fought the bosses with somebody who did). Ascensions above Gamma require you to also have the special drops from Alpha Creatures.
Upon defeating Overseer, the survivor's Specimen Implant will change into their respective type after returning to Island, along with the additional prefix "(Difficulty) Ascension". This is also shown whenever any inventory is accessed.
Achievements and Rewards
There are 3 achievements to be unlocked by ascending in The Island, awarding skins and hairstyles in addition to a higher level cap.
 |
    Gamma Ascension You ascended off the ARK, at Gamma level! |
- Awards
DodoRex Mask Skin - Unlocks Hairstyles: Mohawk Hair & Moustache Facial Hair
 |
Beta Ascension You ascended off the ARK, at Beta Level! |
- Awards
DodoWyvern Mask Skin & 
Survivor's Trophy - Unlocks Hairstyles: Afro Hair & Goatee Facial Hair
 |
Alpha Ascension You ascended off the ARK, at Alpha level! |
- Awards
Clown Mask Skin & 
Rex Bionic Costume - Unlocks Hairstyles: Dreadlocks Hair & Dread Beard Facial Hair
Ascension on Scorched Earth
With update 355.3, additional levels can be gained for defeating Manticore depending on the difficulty. To access the Arena, you need the three Artifacts (Artifact of the Gatekeeper, Artifact of the Crag and Artifact of the Destroyer). All ascension battle require specific number of Wyvern Talons gathered from killing adult wild wyverns of specific type.
Upon defeating Manticore, the survivor's Specimen Implant will register the difficulty (Green for Gamma, blue for Beta, and orange for Alpha) on the implant.
Ascension on Aberration
With introduction to Aberration, additional levels can be gained for defeating Rockwell depending on its difficulty, located below the Grave of the Lost in its terminal (or in multiplayer servers at any of the damaged obelisk at surface as well as loot crates). To access the Arena, you need the three Artifacts (Artifact of the Depths, Artifact of the Shadows and Artifact of the Stalker). Ascensions at Beta requires specific drops, and ascensions at Alpha require you to also have the three special drops from Alpha Creatures.
Upon defeating Rockwell, the survivor's Specimen Implant will be mutated with their respective color icons depending on the difficulty (Green for Gamma, blue for Beta, and orange for Alpha) at upper-left corner of the implant, along with the additional prefix "(Difficulty) Aberrant" (If Tek Cave Ascension is completed, the text will appear at the right after the comma). The Aberrant light glow on the implant will show its respective pattern as well.
Ascension on Extinction
With Extinction being accessible through the Aberration Ascension, the plot thickens. To be able to access and defeat the 
King Titan, you have to find its terminal located at the Forbidden Zone. Unlike the other Bosses and like Overseer, the three Trophies of the Titans along with other drops are required. While there is no level requirement to activate the fight, it is recommended that one comes prepared, especially as the zone containing the terminal is teeming with 
Corrupted Creatures.
Upon defeating King Titan, the survivor's 
Specimen Implant is permanently removed, and in place, 
Homo Deus Record takes over the slot. Unlike previous Ascensions, the item remains the same regardless of the difficulty you faced, with only difference being the record labeled as "Gamma", "Beta" or "Alpha" based on the difficulty of the King Titan that was defeated. Unlike the other version, this does not give any additional level. However, if you don't stay in the area, the ascension won't apply.
Ascension on Genesis: Part 1
With Genesis: Part 1 being accessible through VR, more levels can be added in the survivor. To access the boss battle against the Corrupted Master Controller, you have to interact with HLN-A to pick "The Final Test". Unlike the other Bosses, the survivor initiating the battle must have cleared enough missions for its relevant difficulty.
Upon defeating the Master Controller, the survivor's Specimen Implant will have an additional attachment on their implant based on the difficulty at the upper-right hand corner of the implant, without any prefix and, like previous ascensions, will add in additional levels. However, if King Titan was already killed with the survivor, it will not show up, as Homo-Deus Record will be in the Implant place instead.
Ascension on Genesis: Part 2
With Genesis: Part 2 accessible inside the corrupted insides of Genesis Ship, more levels can be added in the survivor. To access the boss battle against Rockwell in his prime state, you have to reach the mission terminal found below the heart inside the Void.
Upon defeating Rockwell Prime, the survivor's Specimen Implant will have a summoning icon below in the inventory with no additional prefixes. This does not show up on their arm, regardless whether or not they have already killed King Titan. Like other ascensions however, this adds in additional level.
ARK Code
A code can be seen during ascension, it can be decoded here. Input the ARK code in the input field below. Use the letters according to the following principle. Characters other than w, a, s, d or space are ignored.
 W | ||
 A |
 S |
 D |
daadddasdasw
dddwdswwdwasdswadsdaasws- Four consecutive symbols are needed to encode one character. If you see less than a multiple of 4 characters, omit the incomplete group of four at the beginning or the end - wherever the image you try to decode is cut off. If the resulting text doesn't make sense, you can add 1 - 3 zeroes (A) at the beginning of the row to see if a shift gives a better result.
- Sometimes you will see the picture containing the code mirror-inverted. Use the S symbol as an indicator.
Alphabet
| Lowercase Alphabet | Uppercase Alphabet | Symbols | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Code | Character | Code | Character | Code |
| a | dsad | A | daad | 0 | awaa |
| b | dsas | B | daas | 1 | awad |
| c | dsaw | C | daaw | 2 | awas |
| d | dsda | D | dada | 3 | awaw |
| e | dsdd | E | dadd | 4 | awda |
| f | dsds | F | dads | 5 | awdd |
| g | dsdw | G | dadw | 6 | awds |
| h | dssa | H | dasa | 7 | awdw |
| i | dssd | I | dasd | 8 | awsa |
| j | dsss | J | dass | 9 | awsd |
| k | dssw | K | dasw | : | awss |
| l | dswa | L | dawa | ; | awsw |
| m | dswd | M | dawd | < | awwa |
| n | dsws | N | daws | = | awwd |
| o | dsww | O | daww | > | awws |
| p | dwaa | P | ddaa | ? | awww |
| q | dwad | Q | ddad | ! | asad |
| r | dwas | R | ddas | " | asas |
| s | dwaw | S | ddaw | # | asaw |
| t | dwda | T | ddda | $ | asda |
| u | dwdd | U | dddd | % | asdd |
| v | dwds | V | ddds | & | asds |
| w | dwdw | W | dddw | ' | asdw |
| x | dwsa | X | ddsa | ( | assa |
| y | dwsd | Y | ddsd | ) | assd |
| z | dwss | Z | ddss | * | asss |
| + | assw | ||||
| , | aswa | ||||
| - | aswd | ||||
| . | asws | ||||
| / | asww | ||||
Code translations during Ascension
- Before transfer
| Location | Translation |
|---|---|
| ARK Transfer Panel (Gamma ascension on single player) |
Experiment Group 4 Trial 6174
Observation Facility Transfer Security Protocol: Gamma |
- After transfer
| Location | Translation |
|---|---|
| First Room | |
| Holobanner | Observation Deck
Testing Facility @survivetheark |
| Dragon Panel | Fire Lizard
Status: Dormant @survivetheark |
| Megapithecus Panel | Giant Ape
Status: Dormant @survivetheark |
| Broodmother Panel | Broodmother
Status: Dormant @survivetheark |
| Second Room | |
| Holo Banner | Prehistorical Species |
| Control Panel | Extra Hominid Preservation Record: Extinct |
| Third Room | |
| Holo Banner | Ancestral Records |
| Control Panel | Homo Sapiens Preservation Record: Extinct |
| Fourth Room | |
| Holo Banner | Homo Deus |
| Control Panel | Homo Deus Colonist Group 1327: Endangered |
Spotlight
Notes
- Studio WildCard has announced the addition of Scorched Earth Ascension as part of a narrative content update that is scheduled for the 14th of December 2022.
- Although ascension is impossible on The Center, Ragnarok, Valguero, Crystal Isles, Lost Island, and Fjordur, you can still use admin commands to ascend. Almost every ascension is possible through admin commands on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
- Gamma:
cheat playercommand Ascend1 - Beta:
cheat playercommand Ascend2 - Alpha:
cheat playercommand Ascend3 - Aberration Gamma:
cheat playercommand AbAscend1 - Aberration Beta:
cheat playercommand AbAscend2 - Aberration Alpha:
cheat playercommand AbAscend3 - Extinction Gamma:
cheat playercommand EXTAscend1 - Extinction Beta:
cheat playercommand EXTAscend2 - Extinction Alpha:
cheat playercommand EXTAscend3 - Genesis Part 1 Gamma:
cheat playercommand Genascend1 - Genesis Part 1 Beta:
cheat playercommand Genascend2 - Genesis Part 1 Alpha:
cheat playercommand Genascend3 - Genesis Part 2 Gamma:
cheat playercommand Gen2Ascend1 - Genesis Part 2 Beta:
cheat playercommand Gen2Ascend2 - Genesis Part 2 Alpha:
cheat playercommand Gen2Ascend3
- Gamma:
- Forcing Ascension on Scorched Earth will force the player back to the Main Menu and result in some items missing. put your items into a container before proceeding
- To avoid that you can use the following command :
DefeatBoss player_id Manticore difficultywith difficulty being a number between 0 and 2 included (2 being alpha) and player id being the number on the player's implant after the # - Ascending a lower Ascension such as Beta after Alpha glitches out the Character's Profile resulting in issues such as the game crashing on a second log in during the play session.
- To avoid that you can use the following command :
- Ascended characters cannot enter maps with item download disabled through character download without removing their gears first in another server.
Gallery
Extinction as shown in the Ascension cinematic for Aberration.
Ascension in action.
