What the Patch Brings to Your Survival Game
This update dives deep into bug squashing, targeting those pesky issues that disrupt your ocean adventures. Abyssal creatures lose their Oxygen stats, which means no more weird drowning mechanics in a biome where they shouldn't apply—now you can focus on taming strategies without stat glitches throwing off your plans. Infected Barnacles get their augment properly implemented, opening up new ways to enhance your dinos for underwater combat or exploration.
On the structure side, Hydrosphere collisions and locking problems are resolved, so your aquatic bases won't clip or trap you anymore. That directly impacts how you design fortified outposts in the depths, letting you forge more reliable paths through ARK's mysterious seas without constant rebuilds.
What's the Deal with the Permanent Prequatica Branch?
The preaquatica branch, previously a limited beta test for ARK: Survival Evolved's Aquatica content, now stays open to all players forever. This shift means you can hop in anytime to experiment with upcoming features, test dino behaviors, or scout map changes before they hit the main game. It's a boon for tribes planning long-term strategies, as you get to uncover secrets and refine builds in a persistent preview environment.
How Does Server Downtime Affect Official Play?
Official ARK: Aquatica servers face a one-hour downtime starting at 9:30 PM UTC on October 20, 2025, to apply the patch. If you're mid-session taming a massive sea beast or harvesting resources, wrap it up soon—this brief outage ensures everyone gets the fixes without major disruptions. Once back online, expect smoother runs through the game's open-world survival challenges.
These tweaks reinforce ARK's core loop of discovery and adaptation, letting you delve deeper into its primeval lore without technical hitches holding you back.