How to beat the Overseer (The Island) in Ark: Survival Evolved

Once players have managed to triumph over the three bosses in The Island, there should be a couple of things ready at the base. Tek has slowly been unlocked as bosses fall, a decent stable of high-level dino tames and breeds with full imprints, and an urge to complete the boss progression for The Island.

The final dungeon leads immediately to the final boss, meaning your preparation stage will need to be complete without error. Ensure to bring the three trophies (one from each completed boss) to open the door. Players must be at least level 60 to open the door for the easiest (Gamma) difficulty.

The Dungeon: Tek Cave

• Location: (42.8, 39.2)
• Equipment per survivor: Tek Armor (or high-level ghillie suit, and fur suit), calien soup (3), fria curry (3), lesser antidote (10), highest-damage ranged weapon (tek rifles are preferable, else ascendants are wise), highest-damage melee weapons, medical brew, pheromone darts, longneck rifle, grappling hook
• Tames: Carbonemys (2), Yutyrannus (1), Therizinosaurus (19), T-Rex (10), Daeodon (2), user preference (16)

The Tek Cave dungeon is a harrowing experience, but after surviving the other dungeons, you should be in good mental shape to complete this dungeon. Note that players only have access to the cave doors for five minutes before the door closes; getting all tames inside the doors within that time frame is vital (a limit of ten players and 50 tames is enforced). Once inside, the group has one hour to complete the dungeon and reach the final boss. Everything outside of the boss arena once the timer expires is killed immediately.

This dungeon holds both the hottest and coldest areas in the game, and there are lava pits to boot. Keep your dinos single-file by having them follow each other, with a daeodon placed intermittently to ensure heals stay up. Gigas spawn in this dungeon, along with packs of high-level carnivores. If an area is looking dicey, send a pheromone shot into a carbonemys and have them head into the lava. We brought them entirely to be expendable.

Keep the therizinosaurs near the back: we need them to fight the final boss, and them dying early to an easily mitigated pack could spell doom within the opening minutes. As is always the case at difficult dungeons, don’t be afraid to work slowly and methodically. Rushing kills survivors more than anything the game can throw at you, and scouting the upcoming dangers should keep everyone alive.

The cave itself is relatively straightforward: soon, players will be crossing a place called the Hall of History and towards the final boss fight, if everything goes well.

Boss: The Overseer

• Location: Observation Deck (End of Tek Cave)
• Equipment: As Tek Cave
• Tames: Yutyrannus, therizinosaur (19), and everything that survived the Tek Cave.

This is the most formidable boss on The Island, and clearing this means that you’ve completed the boss progression for the first map. This acclaim is difficult to get on even the easiest difficulty, so keep communication clear with tribe members and cool wits to notice attack patterns.

If you’re facing this boss fight solo, you’re going to want to stay on the Yutyrannus in the back and use pillars to avoid attacks. If you’re with tribe mates, separate into two groups: one to attack the constant summons, and one to engage the boss. Keep the Yuty alive and roaring for the attack buff, dodge the attacks, and don’t let the summons swarm you.

The Overseer has four stages, shifting from one to another every time it loses 25% of its health. The stages mimic the previous three boss fights (Broodmother, Megapithecus, and Dragon) before shifting to a final form. In most forms, it can kill a high-level Rex in one attack pattern. You want the therizinosaurs to live at least until the Dragon form is completed for the fireball armor and to dodge the one-hit-kill bite attack the Dragon can perform against players.

If you manage to complete this stage, congratulations. You can repeat the dungeons and bosses at a higher difficulty level for more rewards and unlocks. When you’re in the ARK, you’re here forever.