ARK: Survival Evolved PvP players need a special kind of resilience to survive on official servers for more than a few months. With maintaining bases, tedious farming, and the constant threat of enemy tribes, PvP fans already have it rough. However, six years ago Studio Wildcard decided to add even more trouble by introducing the formidable DodoRex during holiday events.
The DodoRex started out as a fan creation and had its debut in ARK’s first ever Halloween-themed “Fear Evolved” event in 2015. At the time, it was a novelty creature that spawned in a random location every three nights somewhere on The Island map. Being almost as large as a Giganotosaurus and having the head, feathers, and wings of a dodo bird, this crossbreed of creatures is as intimidating as it is kind of goofy. To make matters worse, the DodoRex spawns in with an army of aggressive zombie dodos and has a fire-breathing ability, which is enough to make this creature utterly unapproachable - and a great Halloween treat.
Understanding the DodoRex
Fortunately, players are warned when a DodoRex is spawned into their server, giving tribes the opportunity to either hunker down for the night or actively go out searching for the beast. A silhouette of the DodoRex’s head can even be seen against the full moon during its visit. Although tracking down the DodoRex may seem a strange task to those who dwell on PvE servers or play solo, successfully hunting and killing the elusive creature does grant a feeling of accomplishment. Unfortunately for the hunters, there are no rewards or achievements granted upon slaying the DodoRex, something that doesn’t seem fair considering the immense effort.
For tribes with many members, tames, and resources, taking down the DodoRex is a possibility, albeit a daunting one. With a health bar of 666,666 points in the wild at level one, its resilience surpasses all the ARK gamma bosses, most of ARK's titans, and even some alpha bosses such as Megapithecus and Rockwell. The 666 melee damage it deals when attacking makes the DodoRex a dominating entity, oozing malice that players must team up against and strategically oppose. To add even more difficulty, the DodoRex despawns once the sun rises, giving players less than ten minutes to complete the task.
With the introduction of more special events in ARK, the DodoRex now makes appearances at various times throughout the year, including Easter and Christmas. Although it only randomly spawns during Halloween, in other seasons players can gather materials in a cooking pot and summon the DodoRex. Once spawned in, the creature follows the commands of the tribe who summoned it, acting like a regular tame that can even be ridden. For large tribes with infinite resources and impregnable bases, this isn’t a problem. Weaker tribes, however, may feel a growing paranoia with the knowledge that they could be attacked any minute by an alpha tribe and their summoned DodoRex, capable of destroying stone, metal, and even tek structures.
With Halloween looming, it is only a matter of time until ARK: Survival Evolved players see the feathered beast spawning in their servers. Despite the horror associated with the DodoRex, it does undeniably bring excitement for ARK fans, and unnecessary stress for those trying to survive the toxicity of official PvP servers. This mix of emotions makes the holiday addition something that's worth paying attention to.
ARK: Survival Evolved is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
