The Footpaw

From ARK Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Footpaw
Footpaw.jpg
“

Island in the south

„
Location
The Island Topographic Map.jpg
Map
The Island

The Footpaw is a location that holds a special place in many people’s minds. For those who started Ark in the traditional manner, this is probably the very first place you ever explored! The Footpaw is a small island located in the south, bordered by two rivers on the east and west, the sea to the south and the Swamp Biome to the North. Due the fact that there are not many aggressive dinos around and that the Southern spawn points are near The Footpaw, it makes for a well populated area in which many beginners set up their first base. The many hills, small cliffs and closely packed stands of palm trees cause skittish herbivores to get stuck very easily, making hunting relatively easy. In the middle of The Footpaw you can find the Weathertop, a grassy plateau. Watch out, because sometimes a  Carnos will wander down from Weathertop! While poor in  Metal aside from the smooth rocks along the rivers, The Footpaw is lush with vegetation, making gathering  Berries easy, and has plentiful trees and rocks for  Thatch,  Wood,  Stone and  Flint. In addition, there are  Castoroides typically in the stream separating the area on the east, making for abundant  Cementing Paste at an early stage. The small peninsula on the south side is a defensible location for PvP, as the peninsula is narrow. This allows for a small wall or  Wooden Spike Wall and  Behemoth Gateway to discourage raiders.

Surroundings

Situated south of The Redwood Forests and north-east of Craggs Island. Further, the Writhing Swamps connects to The Footpaw Isle, which makes some parts dangerous! It is separated from the westernmost of the Southern Islets to the east by a wide, deep river, and from the Southern Jungle and Craggs Island to the west by a shallower one. This area boasts the best crossing point across the Swamps and into the Redwoods, around the middle-north of the The Footpaw there is a sandy bridge across the Swamp waters that is only around 30 foundations long, it can be crossed in mere seconds without the fear of  Leeches or hidden predators. Fortify this area, and you will be able to cross between the south and the Redwoods whenever you feel like it in complete safety, which is normally a difficult task. Also, it is much quicker to travel from the swamps to the ocean (in case you live in the redwoods and want  Oil or  Silica Pearls) through the The Footpaw than through the Southern Islets, which gives this route to the ocean another great reason to travel.

Creatures

Common

Uncommon

Rare

Very Rare

Resources

  •  Berries
  •  Stone - the raised southwestern peninsula at 78.5/28.4 with the beacon spawn point near Cragg's Island is densely packed with stone or others resources.
  •  Flint
  •  Wood - trees are plentiful on The Footpaw, both on the beaches and in the highland forests.
  •  Thatch
  •  Oil - there are two oil nodes relatively close to The Footpaw in the deep eastern river - one is at 80.6 / 37.7, and the other is at 78.7 / 39.4.
  •  Metal - while lacking metal nodes the rivers along the edges of The Footpaw has many smooth stones which occasionally drop some metal.
  •  Fiber

From local creatures

Location/Resource Notes

  • The area is home to multiple Supply Crate Locations, with three of Green to Yellow quality in the lagoon and in the northern highland areas, and four of White to Blue quality in the south. Several other White to Blue  Supply Crates on Cragg's Island to the southwest can be reached easily with a  Wooden Raft.
  • Be careful exploring the highlands near Weathertop on The Footpaw while on foot, especially when chasing  Supply Crates at night - at low level, you can easily be killed falling off a steep cliff.
  • Three  Oil nodes can be reached by swimming in the deep eastern river between The Footpaw's southeastern finger peninsula and the westernmost of the Southern Islets. One is deep in the center of the river at 78.7 / 39.4; another is southeast off the tip of the peninsula, at the end of the shelf at 80.6 / 37.7. The third is deeper still, at the bottom of the mouth of the river where it meets the ocean at 81.3/38.4. If you are swimming to these nodes unassisted, with a slow water mount, or attempting to dive from a raft, be prepared to aggro every  Piranha in the river (unless a wild  Spino has already cleared them out).  Megalodons are less likely to come up the eastern river, but have plenty of room when they do. There are two more on shallow shelves off the southern coast of the westernmost of the Southern Islets at 83.3/40.6 and 85.2/41.8.
  • Five  Oil nodes on top of seamounts can be reached using a  Wooden Raft in the ocean south of The Footpaw. A very shallow node can be reached at 85.4/34.4; four others can be found at 85.0/39.2, 83.2/33.8, 84.6/32.5.
  • A divided bed of  Silica Pearls can be found in the ocean south of the westernmost of the Southern Islets at 86.7/39.4 and 87.6/41.0. The bed is separated by a large rock formation.
  • For an early source of  Chitin, your best bet is hunting the  Trilobites that spawn on the beaches - the southern portion of The Footpaw is nearly entirely bug-free. You may encounter a few  Meganeura and  Titanomyrma in the Weathertop area, though. On the other hand, the northern portion of the island bordering the Writhing Swamps is swarming with  Meganeura!
  •  Plant Species X Seeds can be harvested by a tamed herbivore such as a  Trike,  Stegosaurus, or  Castoroides from the grey weeds on the northern part of the island near the edge of the Writhing Swamps. Be on the lookout for  Sarcos and  Titanoboas!

Creature/Taming Notes

  • While Spinos can be seen in the rivers around The Footpaw, the lack of large carnivore spawns means the The Footpaw is very safe for beginning players. The safest locations for beginners are along the southern shores, away from the deep eastern river where the Spinos usually spawn. The northern and northwestern sides border the Writhing Swamps: as such, you will often encounter  Titanoboas and  Sarcos here. However, the abundance of  Paraceratheriums makes the northern end of the island an attractive location for hunting  Raw Prime Meat.
  •  Spinos usually tend to spawn in the deep eastern river separating The Footpaw from the westernmost of the Southern Islets, and rarely in the pond at the far end of the small creek on the other side of the peninsula. They usually spend more time in the water dueling with  Piranhas (and the occasional  Megalodon) and hunting  Coelacanths than they do on the shores - look for their telltale fins circling in the river.
  •  Carnos and  Pulmonoscorpiuses usually spawn in the upland areas near Weathertop and the Writhing Swamps, but occasionally wander down to the beaches.
  • Small groups of  Castoroides spawn in the waters in and around the little sandy island to the northeast at the border to the Writhing Swamps, and may leave  Giant Beaver Dams in the water and on the nearby shores, assuming they survive long enough.  Castoroides tend to be tough, though, so it's likely they'll make some dams if they're not overwhelmed by  Sarcos and/or  Titanoboa. If a pen can be built in their spawning area and the local beavers moved into it for protection, the beavers will continually spawn dams. Relocate the beavers to a second pen far away from the first to harvest the dams without aggroing them.
  •  Paraceratheriums,  Sarcos,  Titanoboas and  Beelzebufos generally only spawn in the northern part of the island near the swamps, though one may wander further south. If you're attempting to tame a  Sarco near the little northeastern island near the swamp, where the  Castoroides spawn, you may want to clear out the beavers first, as they may very well kill your Sarco before you can tame it. You can also sometimes find a Sarco on the southernmost tip of the westernmost of the Southern Islets, across the big river from the eastern shore of The Footpaw.
  • The shallow southern river on the western side of the finger peninsula which ends in a lagoon is a great place to tame an  Ichthyosaurus. Ichthyosaurus occasionally will swim halfway up this shallow river and sometimes get stuck on the smooth metal-bearing stones that form a natural "fish trap" in the river. If one gets stuck on a rock, it a simple matter to hand-feed it and then mine the rock out from under it to free it.
  • The rocky area at the mouth of the shallow river near (where it reaches the sea) is just deep enough to admit wild  Megalodons and  Mantas while being shallow enough to restrict their movement. Meanwhile, an  Ichthyosaurus can make it much further upriver where a Megalodon cannot go (note: kiting strategy untested with Mantas). With care, one can kite a Megalodon into the mouth of the river and tame it in a relatively safe spot from other Megalodons or  Spinos, while also keeping one's Ichthyosaurus out of trouble.
  •  Plesiosaurs can be found in the deeps off the eastern coast of Cragg's Island to the south of The Footpaw. Beware when searching for  Oil and  Silica Pearls in this area!
  •  The shallow river near the finger peninsula, southeast of The Footpaw is narrow, shallow, and a notable amount of  Fish such as  Coelacanth and  Sabertooth Salmon spawn here. The absence of  Piranhas in these waters and the rare presence of any terrestrial predator other than the  Dilophosaurus around the small river make this area easy access to food sources for novice survivors, and  Dodos are also frequently found on the surrounding beach. However, it is common to find  Ichthyornis in this area, which can be a headache for unequipped players. And on rare occasions, a  Baryonyx can roam the riverbanks.

Trivia


Retrieved from "https://ark.wiki.gg/wiki/The_Footpaw?oldid=558969"