Chitin

Exoskeleton material from insects

Chitin is gathered across ARK: Survival Ascended and ARK: Survival Evolved and goes into the Chitin armor pieces, among other things. The in-game text: "This firm, flexible material makes up exoskeletons. Hacked primarily from dead insects." Our records list it on 14 maps, from The Island and Scorched Earth to Lost Colony and Fjordur.

Harvesting it

Most tools and creatures can harvest Chitin from corpses. For the most efficient harvesting the ARK Wiki points to a tamed Sabertooth, Direwolf, Therizinosaur or Megatherium with high melee damage; the Therizinosaur through its headbutt, with delicate collection levelled. Among tools, the Metal Hatchet is a strong choice, and the metal pike does about as well while landing more precise hits on small targets such as Meganeuras. A Stone Hatchet and picks work too, while other low-level items only get Chitin now and then. Our database names the Megatherium, Argentavis and Pulmonoscorpius as gatherers, and the wiki lists creatures that drop it, for example the Achatina, Araneo, Mantis, Lymantria and Dunkleosteus.

Good places to farm

• Caves: a Direwolf with melee damage points can kill scorpions and spiders for up to 500 Chitin in 10 minutes, the wiki says. A Sabertooth gathers as well but deals lower base damage.
• Beaches: kill Trilobites, Meganeuras or Titanomyrmas and harvest them with a hatchet or a Sabertooth. A tamed Diplocaulus also collects Chitin by killing Trilobites.
• Rotting corpses: in a forest or swamp, an unharvested kill often draws a swarm of Meganeura. A Beelzebufo used against the insects brings in more Chitin, and the frog makes Cementing Paste at the same time.
• Karkinos: on Valguero or Aberration they give large amounts, provided your tame is strong enough.
• Crystal Isles: Anthills yield it in large quantities, as do the Titanomyrma and Dung Beetles around them.

Grinding Shell Fragments

Chitin can be produced as well: the wiki lists the Industrial Grinder, which turns 1 Shell Fragment into 50 Chitin in 0.2 seconds for 4 XP.

What Chitin goes into

Our data counts 6 recipes in ASE and 4 in ASA. Both lists hold the Chitin Chestpiece (20), Chitin Gauntlets (10), Chitin Leggings (25) and the Bladewasp Hive, which takes 600; the ASE list adds the Chitin Boots (12) and Chitin Helmet (15). The wiki also names the Aerial Symbiote and says Chitin can replace Keratin in a range of items, for example the Argentavis Saddle, Pteranodon Saddle, SCUBA Flippers, Silencer Attachment and Cementing Paste. The Archaeopteryx accepts it as taming food as well.

Weight and loot

A piece weighs 0.01 and stacks to 100, so a full stack weighs 1. Loot is another source: 88 crate types can contain Chitin, among them Aberration Blue and Aberration Green.