ARK: Survival Evolved presents a unique challenge for players seeking to power vehicles and generators: crafting gasoline. This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough on how to produce gasoline efficiently in ARK, covering all necessary steps and offering valuable tips for beginners and experienced survivors alike.
Understanding Gasoline's Importance in ARK
Gasoline is a crucial resource in ARK, acting as fuel for several essential items:
- Motorized vehicles: Cars, boats, and other vehicles require gasoline to operate, enabling faster travel and transportation of resources.
- Generators: Powering generators with gasoline provides electricity for various bases and structures. This is essential for running crucial devices such as lights, crafting stations, and security systems.
Without access to gasoline, many aspects of the game become significantly more challenging. This guide ensures you'll never be left stranded due to a fuel shortage.
Gathering Necessary Resources
Before you can craft gasoline, you need to acquire the primary ingredient: Oil. Here's how:
1. Locating Oil Veins
Oil veins are randomly scattered across the ARK maps. Identifying them requires exploration. Look for dark, viscous puddles or geysers that frequently erupt. Use a high-quality pickaxe to harvest the oil.
2. Harvesting Oil
Using an efficient pickaxe is crucial. Higher-level pickaxes yield more oil per swing, significantly speeding up the process. Always bring extra pickaxes as they can break during extensive mining.
3. Refining Oil into Gasoline
Raw oil cannot be directly used as fuel; it needs refining. This requires two components:
- A Refining Forge: This crafting station is crucial. Its blueprint can be learned from an engram or found in loot drops.
- Oil: The raw material gathered from oil veins.
Crafting Gasoline: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Construct a Refining Forge: Build this at a safe location, ideally near an oil vein to minimize travel time.
- Place Oil in the Refining Forge: Add the harvested oil into the forge's input slot.
- Activate the Refining Forge: Begin the refining process.
- Collect Gasoline: Once the refining is complete, collect the gasoline from the forge's output slot.
Advanced Techniques for Efficient Gasoline Production
- Build Multiple Refining Forges: Increasing the number of forges significantly increases your gasoline production rate.
- Automate the Process: Utilize conveyor belts and automated storage systems to streamline oil extraction and transportation to your refining forges. This is especially useful for large-scale operations.
- Explore different maps: Different ARK maps offer varying levels of oil vein density. Find a map with plentiful oil sources to maximize your yield.
- Use better tools: Investing in higher-tier pickaxes is a crucial investment to improve the speed of oil extraction.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
- Not enough oil: Explore more extensively to locate additional oil veins. Remember to use efficient pickaxes.
- Forge not refining: Ensure the forge has sufficient fuel (usually thatch or wood). Also, check that the oil is properly placed inside the input slot.
- Low gasoline yield: Upgrading your refining forge or using a larger number of forges can significantly improve yield.
By following these steps and utilizing the advanced techniques, you'll be well on your way to establishing a stable and efficient gasoline supply in your ARK survival journey. Remember to prioritize safety and always carry extra tools and resources when venturing into the wild to find oil. Happy crafting!
