Spear

The earliest melee weapon

No melee weapon unlocks earlier than the Spear in ARK: Survival Evolved: it needs level 2 and 3 engram points. It can be used two ways: attack in melee with the fire button, or hold and release the alt fire button to throw it. The ARK Wiki notes that a thrown spear can deal higher damage than one used in melee, above all when the throw lands a headshot.

No durability, but a risk of breaking

The Spear has no durability at all, so in theory it can be used forever. The catch is a 3.5% chance that it breaks instantly with each melee attack, which can be dangerous mid-fight, and a thrown spear breaks on impact 5% of the time. Otherwise a thrown spear can be picked up again where it landed, unless it struck a living, conscious creature or player; spears left on the ground decay after a while. The wiki recommends keeping several in the inventory until a better weapon comes along.

Crafting spears

One spear takes 5 seconds to craft and gives 0.6 XP. It needs:

• 12 Fiber
• 8 Wood (or Fungal Wood)
• 2 Flint

Each spear weighs 3 and a stack holds 10, so a full stack weighs 30. Keeping the Spear on the action bar lets you craft new ones on the go when you run out, as long as you carry the materials; with its engram on the action bar too, you can craft more before running out.

Other uses and cautions

• Early game: no melee weapon outclasses it until the Pike arrives at level 25, and no ranged one until the Bow at level 10. The Pike is the weapon that supersedes it.
• Fishing: a single hit almost always kills a Coelacanth, and the wielder starts dragging the body automatically.
• Corpses: used on a carcass it yields more Raw Meat than Hide, like a Pick, but Picks and Hatchets gather better and do not break at random.
• Taming: a thrown spear stays in its target for a while, yet the wiki advises against hitting a creature you plan to tame: most flee or fight back, unconscious ones lose taming effectiveness, and lost health leaves them less able to survive attacks. Noting its surroundings, level and colours, a Transponder Tracker with a Transponder Node, or Glow Sticks are the alternatives the wiki suggests.
• Against players: a spear that hits another player can block their view with its large model, making it harder to move and aim.

Our records count 71 loot entries that can contain spears, such as those named after the Acrocanthosaurus, Allosaurus and Alpha Karkinos, and list the weapon on 9 maps.