ARK: Survival Evolved update 2.11 has just gone live, and that means Winter Wonderland 4 is underway. RaptorClaus and GachaClaus return this year, and this time they've brought more than 50 new Chibi creatures with them. The full patch notes detail everything survivors will find across their favorite maps through January 7.
ARK Update 2.11 Patch Notes - PS4, Xbox & PC
Initiation of Winter Wonderland:
- Can be manually activated with: -ActiveEvent=WinterWonderland launch parameter
- Increased rates to 2X Breeding (mating interval, egg hatch speed, and maturation)
- Increased rates to 2X Player XP
- Increased rates to 2X Harvesting
- Increased rated to 2X Taming
- Added Event-themed wild dino spawns
- The Island has been given a makeover with a winter landscape and foliage.
- Coal and Mistletoe can be obtained from Raptor Claus gift drops
Raptor Claus:
- Will spawn at midnight and drop gifts across the island.
- Gifts some special items like holiday structures, some skins, color candies, and chibis.
Gacha Claus:
- Spawns on all maps
- Placing coal/mistletoe in the inventory of a wild Gacha Claus will cause it to grow crystals.
- The crystals have higher quality loot and a chance for chibis
Added new items:
- Bronto Ugly Sweater
- Carno Ugly Sweater
- Chibi Ugly Sweater
- Red-Ball winter hat
- Gray-ball Winter Hat
- Purple Ball Winter Hat
- Reindeer Antlers Hat
- Nutcracker Slingshot
- Christmas Bola Skin
- Two sets of Event-themed underwear (tops and bottoms)
- Chibi pets
Added new emotes:
- Happy Clap Emote
- Caroling Emote
- Nutcracker Dance Emote
Added prior event skins:
- Reindeer costume for Megaloceros
- Dino Party Hat
- Party Hat
- Top Hat
- Dino Santa Hat
- Santa Hat
- Candy Club
Added prior event creatures:
- Gacha Claus
Added prior event items:
- Coal
- Mistletoe
- Christmas Tree
- Snowman
- Stocking
- Christmas Gift
- Wreath
- Holiday Lights
Chibis:
- Over 50 chibi pets from various DLC - including Genesis
- Randomized coloring
- Can be 'leveled' to increase character player level
Wild Event Colors:
- Red
- Green
- Light Grey
- Light Red
- Dark Green
- Dark Red
- Dino Light Red
- Dino Light Green
- Dino Medium Green
- Dino Albino
- NearWhite
Despite the fact that ARK's developers at Studio Wildcard remain hard at work polishing the game's upcoming Genesis expansion, Winter Wonderland 4 offers the widest assortment of holiday-themed goodies the game has seen to date. The GachaClaus and RaptorClaus return in similar form, with the special Raptor appearing at midnight in the day-night cycle, while GachaClaus stalks the land during those in-between intervals. Collect Coal and Mistletoe from the Raptor, then turn it in to the Gacha to earn one of the above-listed holiday cosmetics. For those who were a bit frustrated by last month's botched Turkey Trial, the premise of Winter Wonderland 4 sounds far more straightforward.
This year, quite possibly the biggest new addition of all is the Chibi creatures. By description alone, these 50-strong collectibles sound a lot like the back-adorned pets found in games like Fortnite. Unlike those, however, these traveling companions offer a distinct gameplay advantage that allows survivors to level up faster. Winter Wonderland 4 doesn't totally reinvent the wheel when compared to the ARK holiday events we've seen before, but it adds some interesting wrinkles to the tried-and-true formula.
ARK: Survival Evolved is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
What are your thoughts on Winter Wonderland 4 and ARK update 2.11? Tell us in the comments section!
