Modded SOTF Rebalancing Mod Guide

Modded SOTF Rebalancing is a creature rebalance mod for ARK: Survival Ascended by Megalus (CurseForge ID 1387531). It was made for the Modded SOTF server and reworks well over a hundred creatures so they fit ASA's Survival of the Fittest (SOTF) mode, where every creature fights at level 1. Every creature gets its own copy, with new stats, new abilities and its own spawn entries. Our database holds 141 creature entries from the mod and 14 items: thirteen pieces of creature armor and the Mantis sword.

Before you start

• SOTF only: the author says the mod is meant for SOTF and causes problems in normal ARK. Fertilized eggs can hatch vanilla creatures, some creatures end up out of balance, and flyers can be grabbed. Do not add it to a regular survival server.
• You need SOTF itself: to join a SOTF server, filter the server list for "SOTF" and download its two mods, "Survival of the Fittest (Core)" and "SOTF (The Island)".
• DLC creatures are left out: anything that needs a paid DLC, such as Lost Colony, Fantastic Tames or Bob's Tall Tales, is not included. The author says those may come as a separate mod.
• Headshots: players get a buff by default that lowers their headshot damage multiplier from 3x to 1.5x.
• Beacon: the mod is supported in Beacon, the server config editor.

How the mod works

Its own creatures and spawns

The mod does not edit vanilla creatures. It adds a copy of each one, named with an MSOTF tag, for example DeinotheriumMSOTF_Character_BP_C. It also ships its own spawn entries, which end in _MSOTF and replace most of The Island's and SOTF's spawn entries. That is how the new creatures get into the world in place of the old ones.

Free armor on taming

Most creatures get a saddle or helmet the moment you tame them. Each helmet gives 25 armor and has no durability. Some creatures, such as the Moschops, Kentrosaurus and Nameless, get Saddle Generic MSOTF, an invisible piece that also gives 25 armor. Creatures the SOTF mod already saddles, like the Rex and Trike, get nothing extra, and bosses and their minions get no armor at all. The helmets in our database are the Chitin, Cloth, Fur, Hide, Metal, Miners, Riot and Scuba versions. The Mantis is also handed a Weapon Sword MSOTF.

Passenger protection

Creatures with passenger seats give riders a Passenger Protection buff, which blocks most incoming damage. The Procoptodon goes further and keeps a carried creature safe too, though buffs like the Carno's bleed or a Reaper's death acid still get through.

Names

The mod fixes many name tags, so in game you see "Morellatops" rather than "camelsaurus". Our database lists the creatures under their internal names, so use this table to find them:

The giants

Creatures with huge vanilla health pools are cut down to a level where they can fight everything else:

• DodoRex (Dodo Rex MSOTF): base health falls from 666,666 to 1,750 and its bite from 666 to 126. Its fireball now takes 7.5% of the target's max health instead of 20% and can no longer hurt the rider. It gets a custom saddle based on the Giga's, which is in our database as DodoRex Saddle (engram level 96, 75 points).
• Dodo Wyvern (Dodo Wyvern MSOTF): 1,575 health, 30% smaller and unable to fly, but with five attacks: bite, lightning breath, fire breath, poison breath and a new ice breath. In the spawn tables, each DodoRex spawn has a 50% chance to be a Dodo Wyvern instead.
• Dreadnoughtus MSOTF: health drops from 100,000 to 2,500 and its damage is halved. Its EMP roar now comes every 30 seconds and hits for 400.
• Carcharodontosaurus (Carcha MSOTF): 70,000 health becomes 1,300, and it is now built as a support creature. Its Incite gives allies 15% more damage, and its Bloodrage stacks cap at 50.
• Rock Elemental (Rock Golem MSOTF): 25,000 health becomes 1,200, and it can no longer disguise itself. In exchange it takes far more damage than before. The tameable Rubble Golem is a smaller version with 600 health.
• Titanosaur and Giganotosaurus: both have MSOTF versions (2,800 and 1,600 health), but the author says neither is used at the moment because of an overpopulation problem.

Bosses

The Broodmother, Dragon and Megapithecus are rebuilt to match their SOTF versions, and the Manticore is added as a new encounter. They do not come from boss terminals. They spawn in the wild and share the Titanosaur's spawn slot.

• Bosses cannot tier up and cannot trade Dino Tokens for health. They and their minions ignore SOTF's Poison Grenade.
• The Broodmother, Dragon and Megapithecus can use Turret Mode. Every boss has a cosmetic roar.
• To make bosses tameable in SOTF, set PreventRetameBosses=False (or 0) in the [TSOTF] section of GameUserSettings.ini.
• Anything killed after a tamed boss or minion has hurt it gives no Dino Tokens and no XP.

Rare variants

Divergent creatures

Divergents are the mod's tameable alphas. They are 25% larger, deal 15% more damage, are tougher than the normal version and have special colors. A Divergent also gives nearby wild creatures an Alpha boost that doubles their damage and resistance. In SOTF alphas come from Dino Crates, but here they spawn in the wild, very rarely. Their name tags start with "D-", so a Divergent Kentrosaurus shows as "D-Kentro". There are Divergent Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Brontosaurus, Carnotaurus, Chalicotherium, Diplodocus, Dire Bear, Direwolf, Gigantoraptor, Grand Tortugar, Kentrosaurus, Mammoth, Megalosaurus, Megatherium, Paraceratherium, Raptor, Rex, Sarco, Spino, Stegosaurus, Therizinosaur, Thylacoleo, Triceratops, Troodon and Yutyrannus. Some spawn alone, such as the Rex and Spino, while others come in groups of up to six (Raptors).

Tek creatures

The Tek Giganotosaurus, Parasaur, Quetzal, Raptor, Rex, Stegosaurus and Triceratops have the stats of their MSOTF counterparts plus 15% more health and damage. Each has a 5% chance to replace a normal spawn of its species. The Tek Giganotosaurus can replace a Carcha or a Giga.

New forms

The mod adds a few variants of its own: a Unicorn with much higher stats than the Equus, a Polar Bear and a Yeti that each have 15% more health than the Dire Bear and Gigantopithecus, a large rideable Dilophosaur, the Rubble Golem and a Reaper Queen. The Reaper Queen trades the King's webs for armor-piercing spikes and has 1,600 health.

Creature changes worth knowing

Every species gets its own list of changes. These are the patterns that matter most in a fight:

• Newly tameable: the Attack Drone, Defense Unit, Nameless and Rubble Golem.
• Grounded flyers: the Quetzal, the four Wyverns and the Rhyniognatha cannot fly once tamed. The Dimorphodon, Ichthyornis, Microraptor, Onyc and Vulture no longer count as flyers.
• Stamina instead of torpor: creatures are immune to torpor in SOTF, so the Basilisk, Beelzebufo, Pulmonoscorpius and Titanoboa now drain stamina with their melee attacks instead of adding torpor. The Cryolophosaurus's bite and Torpor Spit drain stamina too.
• New shoulder pets: the Dodo, Kairuku and Archaeopteryx ride on your shoulder. The Archaeopteryx still lets you glide with a weapon in hand.
• Armed riders: rider weapons are enabled on the Carnotaurus, Archelon, Gacha, Gasbags, Enforcer, Xiphactinus, Defense Unit and the large Dilophosaur. PvP rider weapons are enabled on the Megalania, Ravager, Rhyniognatha and Rock Drake.
• Special Attacks option: the Hyaenodon's taunt, the Stegosaurus's Impale, the Pachyrhinosaurus's Rage Cloud and the Purlovia's jump attack only fire on tamed AI once Special Attacks is switched on.
• Pack hunters: the Direwolf now gains resistance with each pack member, and the Deinonychus and Gallimimus get pack bonuses of their own.

Spawns

• The Giga spawn entry also spawns the Carcha, DodoRex, Dodo Wyvern, Reaper Queen and Rock Elemental.
• A group of one Defense Unit and two Attack Drones can appear in the grasslands and jungle.
• The Archaeopteryx and Thylacoleo spawn entries are switched off because of overpopulation. The Carnivore Island and Megalania entries are off because SOTF does not support those areas.
• A Grand Tortugar has a 5% chance to spawn as a Megachelon. SOTF's own Carcha is blocked and replaced by the MSOTF one.

Server settings and commands

The mod's options go in a [MSOTFRebalancing] section of GameUserSettings.ini:

• UseTitanosaurPathfind is on by default. Set it to False and Titanosaurs walk straight at their target instead of pathfinding.
• ForceDisableDinoPathfind is off by default. Set it to True to turn off pathfinding for every creature.

To spawn a creature, use cheat SDF with its MSOTF name. The first number picks wild (0) or tamed (1), and the second is the level. For example, cheat SDF DiloMSOTF_Large 1 1 1 1 gives you a tamed level 1 large Dilophosaur, and cheat SDF EquusMSOTF_Character_BP_Unicorn 0 1 1 1 spawns a wild Unicorn.

Tips

• Do not judge a creature by its vanilla reputation. Giants like the DodoRex and Dreadnoughtus now have 1,750 and 2,500 base health, not hundreds of thousands.
• Pack your team with a stamina drainer. With torpor gone, stamina is the way to slow a target down.
• Watch for "D-" and "Tek" name tags. Those creatures hit harder, and a Divergent also buffs the wild creatures around it.
• If you farm Dino Tokens, do not let a tamed boss or its minions soften up your targets. Those kills give no tokens and no XP.
• The mod is still being updated, and the author plans to support the next SOTF version if possible. Check the changelog when numbers here differ in game.

Further reading: the author's Steam guide Modded SOTF Rebalancing Info lists every change for every creature and all spawn entries.

Every creature and item of the mod is listed on its mod page, with spawn commands.