ARK: Survival Evolved offers players a huge amount of customization when it comes to changing the colors of various items, creatures, and structures in the game. Whether you want to paint your armor vibrant shades or give your tames unique looks, ARK provides plenty of color options if you know where to find them.
Dyes
The primary method of changing colors in ARK is through the use of dyes. There are several natural dyes found around the ARK maps that can be harvested and processed into paints and applied to a number of objects.
To make dyes in ARK, you will need to collect the following resources:
- Amarberry – Red
- Azulberry – Blue
- Mejoberry – Orange
- Tintoberry – Purple
- Sap – Green
- Raw Charcoal – Black
- White Berry – White
- Yellow Flower – Yellow
In order to process these ingredients into usable dyes, you will need a Mortar and Pestle crafted at the Smithy. Simply place one of the above resources into the Mortar and Pestle and select “Craft Dye” to create paints and dyes of that color.
Painting Creatures
Dyes in ARK can be used to paint and color certain creatures through a Dye UI available to the creature. To access the Dye UI, open the creature’s inventory and select the ‘Dye’ button at the bottom right. This will open a screen that allows you to paint regions of the creature’s body.
Simply select the region you wish to paint and choose the desired color dye to apply that color. Most mammals and reptiles can be painted, along with some aquatic creatures like the Basilosaurus. Even humans can utilize dyes through clothing or paint to change their look.
One thing to keep in mind is that painting a creature does not permanently change its color. The dyes must be reapplied after a certain duration or after the creature dies. So you’ll need to regularly re-dye your creatures to maintain their custom colors.
Coloring Structures & Armor
In addition to creatures, many of the structures, tools, weapons, and armor sets in ARK can also have their colors changed with dyes. This allows for lots of customization options.
To dye structures and equipment, simply access their inventory and select the ‘Dye’ option to bring up the coloring UI. Most wooden structures like Thatch, Wood, and Tek can be painted, as well as all armor sets. Even saddles, weapons, and blueprints can have their colors adjusted.
One tip is that applying dyes to a blueprint before crafting it will pass that color to all structures or items crafted from that blueprint. This allows you to easily create multiples of an item with your desired custom coloring.
Color Regions
When dying creatures and equipment in ARK, you’ll notice that there are different color regions that can be painted separately. For example, a Trike has regions for its main body, its back plates, horns, and more.
Being able to dye these different regions allows you to create unique color combinations on your creatures and gear. Experiment with the various regions to see the effects of coloring them individually.
Unlocking New Dyes
In addition to the basic dyes mentioned previously that can be crafted in a Mortar and Pestle, there are some advanced dyes that require more complex crafting to unlock. These include:
- Forest – Made from Sap and Amarberry
- Magenta – Made from Tintoberry and Azulberry
- Aqua – Made from Sap and Azulberry
- Royalty – Made from Sap and Amarberry
To craft these rare dyes, you’ll first need to unlock their engrams by leveling up your survivor. Once learned, they can be combined in a Chemistry Bench with the required resources.
These advanced dyes allow for even more colorful options and combinations when painting creatures, structures, armor, and more.
Coloring Dinosaurs
Painting dinosaurs is a great way to distinguish your tames from wild ones and give them unique character. Nearly every dinosaur in ARK can be dyed in some way.
Some examples of dinosaurs you can dye:
- Rex – Dye main body, belly, back plates
- Trike – Dye main body, head/horns, back plates
- Parasaur – Dye main body, crest, belly
- Raptor – Dye body stripes, main body, belly
- Therizinosaur – Dye arms, main body, belly
- Moschops – Dye mane/mohawk
Get creative with dinosaur dye schemes to make your tames stand out. Give your Rex bright red back plates, paint your Trike’s horns rainbow colors, or make your Parasaurs all have blue crests.
Coloring Your Character
You can dye the clothing and body paint on your human character model in ARK for aesthetics and to stand out.
Clothing like shirts, pants, gloves, boots can be individually dyed by accessing them in your inventory. There are also cosmetic skins that apply dye color patterns across your whole model.
For more control, body paint can be applied on different regions just like painting creatures. Face paint, body markings, and more can be colored this way.
Experiment with different hair styles, facial hair, clothing combinations, and body paints to create a unique look for your survivor.
Creative Uses of Dyes
Beyond basic color changes, creative survivors have figured out some clever uses of dyes in ARK:
- Use dyes to color code your storage boxes, structures, beds, etc. for easier organization.
- Paint foundations vibrant colors and arrange them to create pixel art.
- Use dyes to designate tribe-owned creatures.
- Create colorful beacons by dyeing lamps, flares, etc.
Think outside the box when applying dyes. With some creativity, you can use them for much more than just changing colors.
Important Tips for Dyes
Keep these tips in mind when working with dyes in ARK:
- Dyes applied to creatures and gear eventually fade and must be reapplied over time.
- Coloring Tek structures requires Tek dyes which come from defeating the bosses.
- You can mix dyes to create custom color combinations.
- Dyes will transfer their color to blueprints when applied before crafting.
- Aim for higher dye quality for longer lasting colors.
Learning these key points will help you get the most out of the dye system and creating custom colors.
Conclusion
With dyes, ARK provides tremendous flexibility for changing the look of your creatures, structures, equipment, and character. Take the time to experiment with the dyeing system and find colors that you love.
Dyeing your possessions makes them feel much more personal and unique. It also helps identify tribe ownership and creates aesthetically pleasing builds. Mastering dyes will let you stand out on the ARK!
| Dye Resource | Color |
|---|---|
| Amarberry | Red |
| Azulberry | Blue |
| Mejoberry | Orange |
| Tintoberry | Purple |
| Sap | Green |
| Charcoal | Black |
| White Berry | White |
| Yellow Flower | Yellow |
