Engrams and Engram points - ARK: Survival Evolved Guide - IGN (2024)

Engrams are, in essence, blueprints that you need to learn in order to build the many items and structures in the game. Unless you are playing a modded game or on an unofficial server with mods, no one player can learn every engram in the game by him- or herself. There are simply too many engrams and not enough engram points, which are awarded each time your survivor levels up. To be able to craft everything in the game you will need to be in a tribe where each player specializes in a certain area such as weapons, armor, or buildingmaterials. There are also opportunities to get blueprints from airdropsand chests inside cavesthat will allow you to craft those items without having to learn them first.

Since there are hundreds of engrams in the game each one will not be explained here. The sections that follow will give all the details including which level each item is unlocked at, how many points are required, what materials are needed and where to craft them at.

Here we will briefly explain how the engram point system works. Each level your survivor progress' you are allotted a certain amount of engram points which are used to unlock any engram in the game. A good portion of the higher tier engrams require lower engrams to be unlocked first, similar to a tech tree in other games. For instance, you need to unlock the Thatch Foundation before being able to learn the Wood Foundation. How many engram points you earn is based on what level your survivor has reached. Below is a table detailing this info.