Farming metal on Ark can be quite a pain, thankfully there are a few tricks you can use to speed up the process. Depending on the type of server you are playing on, and the mods in use, some methods might be more relevant to you than others.
Of course, it’s not just Ark mods that will determine how much metal you can farm quickly, the speed at which you can farm metal will also depend on your server’s gathering rates too.
Ark Farming Methods
1. Crab & Ankylosaurus Metal Farming
When Abberation was released, Ark had a wonderfully efficient new metal farming tool opened up to it.
As you will likely know Ankylosaurus reduces the weight of metal so packing an Ankylosaurus full of metal is always going to increase the amount of metal you can harvest in Ark.
But, with the addition of the Karkinos, players could now use the crab-like creature to hold two Ankylosaurus and fill them with precious metal.
If you are playing on Aberration and you can get to either one of the surface entrances or the blue zone, you are guaranteed to score large quantities of metal in no time at all.
2. Quetzel, Mining Drill & Ankylosaurus
The most efficient way to do this one is to make sure that you re-spec and put as many points into weight as you possibly can.
Have someone fly you around on a Quetzel to metal spots, whilst you are sat on an Ankylosaurus.
Run down to the metal and hit it with your Mining Drill. If you have put your points into weight as I mentioned, you will be able to carry a huge amount, as you will also have the Mining Drill’s metal weight reduction too.
Once you near the weight limit, sit on the Ankylosaurus and unload all your metal into its inventory, then simply rinse and repeat until you need a lift home.
Depending on the amount, you might need a ramp on your Quetz so your tribe mate can scoop you and the Ankylosaurus up.
3. Mining Drill & Argy (Solo Ark Metal Farm)
As with the method above, again this one works much better if you are able to respec and add as much to weight as possible.
You will also want to find the best Argentavis possible that has a high weight capacity to make this even more efficient.
- Fly the Argy to a metal spot
- Clear as much metal as possible with the Mining Drill
- Go to the nearest Oblisk or supply drop
- Upload all the metal you have
- Repeat the process
Doing this method I was actually able to max out the amount I could keep uploaded much quicker than I had anticipated.
Within only a matter of hours, the new tribe I joined, which was among the alpha tribes, had already hailed me as their top farmer.
The screenshot above was taken on Astral Ark, which you can find on our Top Ark Servers list, and took no time at all with this method.
4. Steal Other People’s Metal
To be honest, this method isn’t always as fruitful as most other methods, but you can’t deny that it’s fun.
Of course, this will only work if you are on a PVP server, I really do not condone theft on a PVE server and you are taking a gamble that the base you raid has a stockpile of metal.
It should go without saying, do not do this one alone, you’re simply going to die, no matter how good you think you are.
5. Argy & Anky (New players)
This method is one of the easiest methods to get you started if you are fairly new to a server and don’t have the resources of tribe members to pull off the other methods.
It’s pretty simple and straight forward, tame an Anky and an Argy, one person sits on the Anky, while the other lifts them up and points them at metal nodes.
The chances are, you won’t come even close to the amount you would be hoping for, but this really is one of the best ways to just get you going on your new server.
6. Magmasuar Metal Run
The Magmasuar was introduced with the Genesis expansion pack and is a great new metal-farming creature for Ark players.
Not only does it reduce the weight of metal but it also is capable of being a mobile smelter as well, meaning you can turn metal into ingots whilst on the move.
They are incredibly slow, so I recommend using a Cryo Pod to transport them to a spot with plenty of rich metal nodes and then unleash it once ready, this will save you tons of transportation time.
When using a Magmasuar to farm metal, you can push it to black box by taking a whip with you, and continuing to farm metal, even once it can no longer move. Simply whip it to the nearest obelisk, drop, or Tek Transmitter and you can upload your metal for use back at your base.
7. Grind Your Items
If you’re in a bit of a tight spot and need some metal urgently, you could consider grinding some of your excess gear and items.
If you have been drop farming, the chances are you have some excess items stored, grinding these will not only give you metal, depending on what you grind, but they might also give you some other items too.
As a bonus, this will also help you level up quicker too if you’ve not already reached the max level.
Summary:
There are tons of other farming methods and it may be that none of the above suits yourself, your tribe, or your current state in the game.
There are so many creatures on Ark that there are tons of ways to farm metal in Ark, so experiment and see what works for you, let me know in the comments if you find a new exciting way I haven’t mentioned.
Whilst farming metal can be pretty boring at times, much like farming in many games, improving the ways you efficiently farm metal on mass scales will reduce the need to do it as often, leaving you with more time to actually enjoy the game.
