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Astraeos is officially ARK's biggest map - more than three times the size of The Island - built around a Greek-mythology theme and stocked with creatures from every story map, Aberration included. It is still being expanded, but there is already a huge amount to do. This guide gets you oriented fast: where to start, the travel mount that changes everything, and the resource, loot and boss knowledge that matters.
Where to Spawn and Start
There are four spawn islands - Corinthos, Fokinos, Lemnokis and Thorrois - and the answer is almost always Corinthos. It was the first island released, so it is fully self-sustaining, it is by far the safest, it is the central resource hub, and the Maeguana travel mount spawns there.
Tip: Make a stone pick and raid the campsite at 61.9/23.1 (or 61.1/24.3) - the tents are full of crates that hand you metal picks, hatchets and crossbows before you can even unlock them. A veggie patch sits near 24.4/74.2 with pre-built starter houses you just need to gate up.
The Maeguana: The Best Travel Mount in ARK
The Maeguana is not technically a flyer, but it is the fastest way to cross Astraeos. It has a huge jump, glides at effectively infinite speed if you keep momentum (look slightly up and down as you glide), skids along ground and water to preserve that momentum, and swims with no oxygen stat. To tame one, trap it in four or five wooden billboards, roof it over with pillars and ceilings so it cannot jump out, then knock it out with a couple of longneck or crossbow shots - its torpor is low. It also raises babies like a Maewing, though nursing efficiency no longer upgrades.
Resource Locations
| Resource | Location | Note |
|---|
| Metal | 58.6/16.9 (also Crystal and Obsidian) | The densest and safe; a second field sits at 38.3/15.7 by the boss statue |
 Crystal | 33.1/12.9 on Corinthos | Very safe, nothing interferes |
 Obsidian | 40.5/15.7 | Shares the area with Metal |
 Oil | 65.1/14.1 (pure) or 48.6/29 (mixed) | The mixed spot also has Silica, Black Pearls and Astral Mosas |
 Silica and Black Pearls | 47.8/28.8 | Bring an Anglerfish; eels and Mosas make it dangerous |
 Cementing Paste | Beaver dams at 4.2/9.3, or the chitin cave at 29.9/9.5 | The dams are in the far top-left corner |
 Polymer and Honey | Bee cave at 46.1/11.3 | Hives at the back; pickaxe or anky for honey, hatchet or chainsaw for polymer |
 Sulfur | Bottom of the Wyvern trench | Swim in and out - Wyverns cannot hit you in the water |
Leveling and Loot
Astraeos has no dossier notes, so leveling is slower - the map makes up for it with Astral creatures, alpha-like variants that glow blue (raptors, argents, wolves, rexes, mosas and more). They give high XP and drop cave-quality loot, and killing them is the best raw-loot farm on the map. For drops, there are no white or green low-tier drops early; blue drops give structures and gear, while green drops are level-90 endgame rewards with saddles, kibble and up to ~150 Element.
Note: Thorrois is a mini-Extinction with its own OSDs and Element veins. The veins use the same 10,000 / 25,000 / 50,000 health tiers as Extinction - ride a Carcharodontosaurus with more Caras defending the other sides, and farm the outer nodes before the center. OSDs are the best loot on the map and the only source of the Maeguana saddle blueprint.
The Artifact Caves
| Artifact | Location | Note |
|---|
| Massive | 37.4/22.5 | Button-sequence puzzle (press 1, 2, 3) plus an underwater end; doable on foot |
| Hunter | 29.9/9.5 | One of the easiest in ARK - a few jumps and two Minotaurs |
| Clever | 24.5/23.9 (underwater) | Bring a Basilosaurus or other stun-immune mount |
| Brute | 48.6/49.8 (underwater) | Eight-button puzzle at the back; relog if the buttons do not render |
| Devourer | 21.8/43.3 | Puzzle cave, easy to get lost - bring a grapple |
| Pack | 67.4/62.9 | The Thorrois lava cave; high-level Rexes and Pyromanes, parachute through |
The Bosses
Astraeos has its own Guardians, and they sit at opposite ends of the difficulty scale.
The Ogre (Widowmaker) - the easy one, and the best Element farm on the map. It has a big health pool but low damage and a weak area attack, so a Rex or Deinosuchus army walks it. It uses the Brute, Pack and Devourer artifacts plus apex items, and Gamma reportedly pays a large amount of Element (up to ~750 on Alpha). Farm the Gamma version on repeat.- Medusa (the Devious) - one of the hardest bosses in ARK. It dismounts you, drains health with leech attacks, inflicts rabies and deals saddle-bypassing damage in the thousands. Bring Megatheriums - they kill the summoned spiders and snakes for the buff and can actually reach the bats, which a Deinosuchus cannot. It uses the Hunter, Clever and Massive artifacts plus apex items, and rewards up to ~600 Element with the same unlocks as the Alpha Broodmother.
Note: The newer Pyranthos region adds a Manticore and a Hydra boss at the red obelisk, plus a Roman King Titan world event that spawns roughly an hour per day at random difficulty and grants a server-wide world buff on death. Bring Dreadnoughtus or Gigas for the Titan. Treat the Element figures as reported values and confirm on your server.
If you would rather skip straight to a Maeguana, a bred boss team or a stocked base, Layeh's Market carries tames and kits and gear and resources. Join the Discord to check current Astraeos coverage.
FAQ
Common questions
Where should you spawn on Astraeos?
Corinthos, almost every time. It is the safest island by a wide margin, it is the central hub for the map's resources, and the Maeguana travel mount spawns there. Grab free metal tools from the campsite at 61.9/23.1.
What is the Maeguana and how do you tame it?
The Maeguana is Astraeos's exclusive travel mount and the fastest way around the map - it glides at high speed, skids to keep momentum and swims with no oxygen limit. Trap it in wooden billboards with a roof, then knock it out with a couple of longneck or crossbow shots; it has low torpor.
What is the best loot on Astraeos?
Astral creatures (alpha-like variants that glow blue) drop the best raw loot, and OSDs on Thorrois are the best for quantity and quality. Cave drops are not worth farming here by comparison.
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