Motorboat vs Raft - Ark Survival Evolved

The raft is an awesome way to explore a map in Ark Survival Evolved in relative safety, as long as you avoid Leeds and swamps infested with various crocodile-like animals.  You can turn a humble raft into a compact and capable base.  After years I finally got a look at the motorboat.  It sort of snuck in under my radar and I discovered it there in my list of engrams.

I finally decided to try it out, and holy crap is it great!  The motorboat is so much faster than the raft or canoe, it simply doesn’t compare.  I think a total coked out and leveled up Icthy might be faster, but an Ichthy can’t really carry much weight at all.  The raft doesn’t use much gas, so it is easy to keep fueled up. 

Driving the motorboat in Ark Survival Evolved

Just like a raft, you can build on it, either by just placing campfires, storage boxes, etc. right on it, or you can put foundations down and build a proper base.  As a mobile base, the motorboat would be great, especially on maps with a lot of water access, which is about half. 

Resources to Craft the Motorboat

• 1,200 Metal Ingots
• 200 Hide
• 250 Wood
• 180 Fiber
• 150 Obsidian
• 400 Polymer
• 60 Black Pearls

On the Ragnarok map this thing could really shine.  The cost is full lined with metal nodes.  Using the motorboat as a cargo ship could be really useful, and pay for the 1,200 metal ingots it costs in short order.  The motorboat might be useful on the Island map too for hauling wood or stone around the coast.  The Island doesn’t have any really fast beasts of burden. 

Motorboat top view 

I play PvE and I really don’t have much practical use for the Ark motorboat, by the time I can learn the engram. By that time I have enough dinos for harvesting and transport.  However, maybe it will be time for a video series living on a raft, and then a motorboat.  Hmmm.