Electronic Binoculars

One tool for scouting at range

The Electronic Binoculars are an observation tool in ARK: Survival Evolved; according to the ARK Wiki, the ARK: Survival Ascended version goes by the name Tek Binoculars. They arrived with the Genesis: Part 1 expansion, and our records place them on the Genesis Part 1 map. The game presents them as the ultimate tool for long-range reconnaissance, and that is their job: watching a distant spot without having to get close.

What they combine

Rather than carrying several gadgets, a survivor gets a set of functions in a single item:

• Zoom: magnification like the Spyglass, but able to zoom in much further.
• Direction and position: the heading and location readouts of the Compass and GPS.
• Range: a readout of how many meters away the observed point is.
• Night vision: a mode taken from the Night Vision Goggles is built in, although the ARK Wiki notes that it does not actually work.

Recipe and weight

A pair costs:

• 50 Metal Ingot (Scrap Metal Ingot also works)
• 50 Crystal (or Primal Crystal)
• 10 Electronics
• 25 Obsidian

The wiki gives a crafting time of 5 seconds, and each craft is worth 50 XP. The binoculars weigh 0.5 and stack to 100, so a full stack weighs 50; durability is 45. According to the ARK Wiki, their blueprints can occasionally turn up in any loot crate.

Limits worth knowing

• The styling matches Tek gear, yet the binoculars are not part of the Tek Tier.
• Unlike the Spyglass, they are unusable on a mount that does not permit rider weaponry.
• Whenever they are selected the crosshair appears, even if the game's crosshair option is switched off.
• They were originally planned for Scorched Earth, the DLC our database still lists for them, and only debuted much later with Genesis: Part 1.