Best Ranged Weapons In ARK: Survival Ascended

ARK: Survival Ascended has an arsenal of spectacular ranged weapons, from the primitive, wooden Bow to the beastly, industrial Rocket Launcher. While some weapons are built to quickly assassinate lone targets, others shine best in the thick of battle against clusters of foes.

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Each weapon in ARK: Survival Ascended relies on ammunition, which can sometimes be costly to craft. With many different factors to consider, including damage output, reload speeds, clip sizes, and fire rates, some ranged weapons clearly stand out for being better than others. Players should note that different dinosaurs, engram types, and armors, will change the outcome of weapon damage.

7 Crossbow

Engram Unlocked At Level 25

• Damage Per Shot: 95
• Headshot Damage: 285

The Crossbow is a sturdy upgrade to the Bow, dealing greater damage. Shots to the chest will deal around 95 damage, while headshots hit for 285. Unlike the bow, crossbows cannot rapid-fire arrows and take a couple of seconds to reload between shots. However, similar to the Bow, both the Crossbow and its ammunition, arrows, are relatively cheap to craft.

Costing just 35 Fiber, 10 Wood, and 7 Metal Ingots, the only setback to using a Crossbow is that it cannot be repaired on the go and requires either a Smithy or a dino with a Smithy saddle to craft. However, its low material requirements combined with a decent durability of 100 make the Crossbow the superior early-game ranged weapon.

6 Longneck Rifle

Engram Unlocked At Level 35

• Damage Per Shot: 280
• Headshot Damage: 840

While the Longneck Rifle has a mediocre durability of 70, it also only costs 35 more Metal Ingots than the Simple Pistol and deals significantly higher damage. Despite having a slow reload speed and rate of fire, the Longneck Rifle’s solid headshot damage combined with great accuracy make up for its drawbacks.

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Using Simple Rifle Ammo, which has an alright crafting requirement compared to the damage output of 12 Gunpowder, and 2 Metal Ingots, the Longneck Rifle is a fantastic firearm that functions well in both mid and long-range combat.

5 Shotgun

Engram Unlocked At Level 39

• Maximum Damage Per Shot: > 800
• Minimum Damage Per Shot: < 100

The Shotgun is a fantastic firearm with great early-game damage and a fair crafting requirement of 25 Hide, 20 Wood, and 80 Metal Ingots, making it cheaper to craft than the Longneck Rifle. Dealing significantly more damage the closer the player is to the target, the Shotgun has the added benefit of not relying on accuracy as much as the Rifle does.

Depending on spread, the Shotgun at close range has the potential to deal around 800 damage per shot, which is only 40 less than the Longneck Rifle’s head-shot damage. The Shotgun uses Simple Shotgun Ammo, which is somewhat costly, requiring 3 Gunpowder, 3 Simple Bullets, and 1 Metal Ingot per craft.

4 Assault Rifle

Engram Unlocked At Level 58

• Damage Per Shot: 47
• Headshot Damage: 141

With a clip size of 40 and an extremely fast rate of fire, the Assault Rifle mows down targets in seconds. At 100% base damage, each Advanced Bullet deals 47 damage per second, with headshots dealing 141 damage instead. While both the Assault Rifle and its Advanced Bullets are relatively expensive to craft, the fantastic overall damage output makes the time spent gathering the necessary materials worth it.

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The Assault Rifle is a great firearm to take into caves, where needing to control its excessive recoil matters less while firing into a large cluster of enemies. The rifle's aggressive recoil also does well against large dinosaurs.

3 Compound Bow

Engram Unlocked at Level 79

• Damage Per Shot: 175
• Headshot Damage: 525

The Compound Bow is a late-game variant of the Bow, with greater damage numbers and improved durability. Unlocked at level 79, the Compound Bow can fire Stone Arrows, Tranquilizer Arrows, and Metal Arrows. When notched with Metal Arrows, the Compound Bow is fantastic at tearing through heavily armored enemies, though it deals less damage than the Crossbow when armed with normal Stone Arrows.

The Compound Bow does great at both mid and long-range combat, especially if the player can successfully land headshots. To craft the Compound Bow, players will need to sacrifice 95 Polymer, 85 Metal Ingots, and 75 Cementing Paste.

2 Rocket Launcher

Engram Unlocked at Level 87

• Damage Per Shot: 3,150
• Headshot Damage: 4,275
• Blast Radius Damage: 2,587

The Rocket Launcher is a relatively cheap firearm to craft, only costing 60 Cementing Paste, 80 Polymer, and 50 Metal Ingots. However, the Rocket Propelled Grenades, which it uses as ammunition, are extremely expensive. The crafting requirements for a Rocket Propelled Grenade include 20 Cementing Paste, 40 Gunpowder, 10 Polymer, 10 Crystal, and 12 Metal Ingots.

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Able to damage structures as well as enemy players and dinosaurs, the Rocket Propelled Grenade deals significant amounts of damage. Once fired, the Rocket Propelled Grenade will detonate on impact at the target location, creating a small but strong explosion that's sure to destroy anything in its path.

1 Pump-Action Shotgun

Engram Unlocked at Level 55

• Maximum Damage Per Shot: > 1,900
• Minimum Damage Per Shot: < 1,000

Craftable at the Fabricator for as little as 45 Cementing Paste, 55 Polymer, and 30 Metal Ingots, the Pump-Action Shotgun is arguably the best weapon in the game. Simple Shotgun Ammo, the ammunition required by the Pump-Action Shotgun, can easily be stockpiled during the mid to late game, where the required crafting materials are easy to retrieve.

At close range, the Pump-Action Shotgun easily topples opponents, dealing over 1,900 damage in a single shot if every pellet successfully hits the target. Even at medium range, where it's not guaranteed that every pellet will connect with the target, the Shotgun can deal a substantial amount of damage. The Pump-Action Shotgun shines in every aspect of ARK: Survival Ascended's PvP combat but is especially lethal in PvE against grouped enemies, such as the critters found in The Island's caves and large dinosaurs.