Tek Shield

The last shield to unlock

The Tek Shield belongs to the Tek Tier set of items in ARK: Survival Evolved. It is the final shield a survivor can unlock and the most durable of them all, at 2300 durability. Its description starts with the basics: "Absorbs damage from the front when activated." What sets it apart is Element: once the shield is infused with it, blocked projectiles and bullets fly back at the shooter, at a cost in Element.

What it can reflect

The ARK Wiki keeps a list of projectiles known to bounce back. Against players, that covers all kinds of bullets and arrows, Rocket Propelled Grenades, Cannon Balls and SpearBolts. Against creatures, it includes:

• spit from the Magmasaur, Basilisk, Dilophosaurus and Arthropluera
• rocks thrown by the Rock Elemental, Megapithecus and Ferox, and the rock and mud attack of the Chalicotherium
• the tail needles of the Thorny Dragon and the tail projectiles of the Reaper
• the breath attack of the Poison Wyvern and the ice projectiles of the Ice Titan
• the web attack of the Araneo, and the acid and web attacks of the Broodmother Lysrix
• the poop thrown by the Mesopithecus

In PvP the reflection discourages others from shooting at you and can catch out anyone who does not know about it. The flip side, as the wiki notes, is that a lost Tek Shield is a valuable find for whoever picks it up.

Unlocking and crafting

To get the Tekgram, beat the Manticore on Alpha difficulty, either in the Ragnarok Boss Fight or in the Manticore Arena. The shield is then made in a Tek Replicator or an Exo-Mek in 5 seconds, for 35 XP, from:

• 900 Metal Ingot or Scrap Metal Ingot
• 240 Polymer, Organic Polymer or Corrupted Nodule
• 240 Crystal or Primal Crystal
• 100 Black Pearl
• 70 Element or Red Element

Our data gives the repair cost as 450 Metal Ingot, 120 Polymer, 120 Crystal and 55 Black Pearl.

Weighing up the Element cost

The 70 Element can put players off building one at all. On a map where Element is easy to come by, such as Genesis: Part 2, the price is manageable. On The Island, where Element only comes from boss fights, the wiki doubts the shield is worth it. As a general rule it also suggests putting Element into Tek Armor, Tek Rifles, Tek Pistols, Tek Generators and Tek Teleporters first, as those have more uses or need far less of it. Loot offers a way around the cost: the wiki mentions Tier 3 Loot Crates on Genesis: Part 1 and Genesis: Part 2 as a chance at a high-quality shield, and our records list 15 crate types that can contain it, for example the hard versions of the Bulbdog Fetch, Circuit Chase and Ferox Cull missions on Genesis Part 2. The shield weighs 30, does not stack, and our records list 12 maps for it.