Simple Bed, Bunk Bed and Sleeping Bag in Ark Survival Evovled

One thing you can't live without in Ark Survival Evolved is a fixed spawn point.  For one of those you need a hide sleeping bag, simple bed, or bunk bed.  Without they you will have to spawn in a random location of a region, which could be far from you resources and very close to danger, which is something you definitely don't want when you have weapons and armor.  All of these items can be named so they are easy to identify on the respawn screen.

In addition to using beds as spawn points you can use them to fast travel to any point on the map where you have another bed.  The main drawback of this is that you have to take off all your armor and deposit your entire inventory before you travel, so you had better have a spare set of weapons and armor waiting for you by the other bed.   

Hide Sleeping Bag

This is simple to craft and the engram is available to learn at level 5.  The main problem with them is they only work once.  However you can put them down anywhere there are no obstructions.  They are great on an adventure to a dangerous cave or near an enemy base when your tribe is going on a raid.  

25 - hide

15 - fiber

Simple Bed

This is the best of the three for general use.  It must be placed on a foundation and has a cool down time so if you die shortly after respawning you won't be able to use it for awhile.  That problem is easily solved by putting down multiple beds.  The nice thing is you can place them right on top of one another. 

15 - wood

80 - thatch

30 - fiber

40 - hide

Simple Bed

Bunk Bed

Bunk Beds look really cool, but they are super expensive to craft for what you get out of them.  Their only advantage over the simple bed is they have half the cool down time.  It is much cheaper to craft multiple simple beds and place them all in the same spot, save your 320 metal ingots for something important.   

80 - polymer

200 - pelt, wool, or hair

320 - metal ingot

280 - fiber

120 - hide

Bunk Bed

Note: since publishing this post the devs have introduced the Ark Canoe, which can also be used as a spawn point/

Ark Survival Evolved Spyglass - The Most Useful Item

I think the most useful non-weapon gadget in Ark Survival Evolved is the spyglass.  The spyglass is a small telescope that magnifies the world at a distance of course, but it also gives you valuable information.  Point it at a dino and it will tell you what it is, its level and whether or not it is mate boosted.  If you’re riding a low level 10 Rex and spot a level 5 and 10 carno in the distance you can take them easy.  If you spot a mate boosted level 50 and 110, both you and your dino are probably going down.  The only drawback of the spyglass telescope is that it can be difficult to use, due to its high magnification.  It takes some getting used to especially when riding on a flyer. 

To craft a spyglass you will need these materials:

5 – wood

10 – Hide

10 – fiber

2 – crystal

Crystal can be hard to get early in the game.  I believe it may require a metal pick to harvest, or the chance of getting crystal is very, very low with a stone pick.  No equipment such as a smithy is required to craft the spyglass in the game. 

I hope you found this short review helpful if you have you can follow the blog and see: Ark Survival how to, review, tip videos playlist on YouTube.

How to Craft the Simple Pistol and Review in Ark Survival Evolved

Is the Simple Pistol in Ark Survival Evolved worth it?  In my opinion, it’s a fun little gun probably better suited to PVP than PVE.  It is patterned after an 1850’s colt cap and ball revolver.  These guns were very popular in the American Civil War.  In the game, the simple pistol has a removable cylinder, and while the real guns do have a removal cylinder, it really can’t be considered a quick reload.  In the game, the pistols appear to be about three times the size of the real-life gun, and least compared to my survivor. 

The simple pistol isn’t really that expensive to craft.  It only requires 60 metal ingots, 5 wood and 15 hide.  It must be crafted in the smithy.  The gun only does 63 damage per shot, but you can fire 6 shots in rapid succession to deal 378 damage before reloading, not too bad.

The only thing that I would say is not really worth it, is the scope on this gun since it is a close-range fast-firing weapon.  Some of the pistol attachments, like the scope or flashlight can be handy. The scope on the long rifle is great, but on the pistol, it is not very useful.  However, there is little reason not to equip it if you just happen to have an extra lying around since it only adds a weight of 0.1.  I liked playing around with the pistol in PVE, but I have to admit that it really isn’t very useful in most day-to-day game situations.  Maybe if I was trying to get through a cave it might be nice to deal some quick damage to titan boa or another creature as it closes the distance and then switch to a sword.   

The longneck rifle is probably the best firearm in the game, see video below.  

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M39 EMR DMR: Battlefield 4

Long range kill with the M39 EMR

The M39 EMR DMR in Battlefield 4 is based off of the M14, or M1A battle rifle which shoots the 7.62x51 NATO cartridge.   The M14 is a direct descendant of the M1 Garand, so this gun essentially dates back to the 1930’s, but it still works today, and is still in limited use in the arms forces.  

The DMR’s are an interesting group of weapons, and the differences between them are not huge because of the way they are used in the game.  DMR’s are usually not used on the front lines where close quarters combat takes place.  Therefore, things like reload speed, recoil and rpm are less important than it is for assault rifles, carbines, and lmg’s.  There are a lot of you that probably disagree with that statement and that’s fine with me. 

The M39 EMR has no real advantage over other DMR’s in Battlefield 4.  Its biggest drawbacks are its higher recoil and longer reload times in the DMR weapon class. In my opinion its major advantage are superb iron sights, and the nostalgia of its M1 Garand heritage.  I think the M39 is outclassed by SCAR-H SV and my favorite the MK 11 MOD 0.  For those who want to spam bullets downrange as fast as possible the SKS is great.  All that said you’re really not at that much of a disadvantage with the M39 in Battlefield 4, so if you like it keep it and have fun. 

Running with the M39 EMR DMR on Silk Road - Battlefield 4

CS5 Sniper Rifle Unlock – Aggressive Recon Battlefield 4

Fast reload for the CS5 sniper rifle in Battlefield 4

It’s time to use the CS5 Sniper Rifle in Battlefield 4.  Are you ready to put on your try hard pants as the aggressive recon?  This rifle looks unique in the game and the fast firing rate (53 rpm) of the sniper rifles.  It also has one of the slowest bullet travel time of 400 m/s, but it is tied with the FY-JS and SRR-62 for lowest bullet drop of 6 m/s.  It also has the shortest maximum range of 2,000 m, but really how many shots are you going to take beyond 2,000m?  For full stats check symthic.com.  Nearly all the stats for this gun are very good, but it is the slow bullet travel time that makes this weapon a try hard rifle. 

I think few hate the CS5, but most recons will leave it at home when heading into battle.  The average recon wants the ability to take targets out at long range, and it is difficult to do with the CS5 with its slow bullet speed.  I’ve killed several enemies at more than 500m, but they were very cooperative opponents, lying prone, thinking they were hidden.  A moving target is very tricky to hit with this weapon.  However, the aggressive recon should take a good look at this rifle.  When you unlock the gun you immediately get the suppressor, which allows you to stay off the mini-map while firing.  For most sniper rifles it takes 80 kills to unlock a suppressor, which can feel like forever with the bolt actions.

First you need to unlock this rifle by completing The “I” in Team Assignment

How to Unlock the CS5 Sniper Rifle:

• Reach rank 10

• Play a Dragon’s Teeth Map (so you must have the dlc)

• 2 Sniper Rifle Ribbons

• 10 Radio beacon spawns

• 10 Spot assists

There are a lot of tasks to check off with The “I” in Team Assignment, but it isn’t very difficult if you play the recon class fequently.  I unlocked the CS5 without really even thinking about it, and that is probably the case for most players. 

Aggressive Recon – Recon that plays the object, putting them in the thick of the fighting rather than at the edge where recons typically play.

CS5 sniper rifle kill seen through 3.4x M145 scope

CS5 Loadout for the Aggressive Recon

1)      Let’s start with the scope.  If your point is to work at close to medium range, and to be stealthy they you have to use a 4x or a 3.4x scope.  The main reason for this is to avoid the scope glint in Battlefield 4.  It will be much harder for the enemy to spot you when there isn’t the tell-tale shine from the rifle.  The second reason it is easier to follow targets at close range with low magnification.  Also in the game, you can see around the scope making it easier to find new targets, and see if someone is targeting you.   Depending on your playstyle you may want to run with a red dot sight. 

2)      The most important accessory for the CS5 is the suppressor, and luckily it comes with the gun from the start.  Take advantage of the suppressor by staying off the mini-map. 

3)      Use the straight pull bolt to take full advantage of the rifle’s rpm.  With the low power scope, you can keep aiming down sights while not having to worry about scope glint or losing your peripheral vision. 

4)      Good pistol.  If find yourself with multiple enemies at close range you are going to want to switch to your secondary.  Even though it is the fastest firing sniper rifle it still can’t out damage any other primary weapon in the game.  It is a good idea to use something with a suppressor to match your stealthiness, but use whatever you are most effective with, because it is more important to stay alive.  I run with either the G18 or the Deagle (Desert Eagle). 

1. 5)      Optional- you can add laser sight to the loadout, but it will increase your chances of being seen, Canted iron sights aren’t a bad idea, but I don’t use them personally.  A rangefinder might come in handy for those times when you see someone at long range, and they aren’t moving.  Right now I just leave this accessory slot empty.

6)      For the kit I always have a spawn beacon.  You can really help your team, by placing it close to the M-COM in Rush, or close to an objective in Conquest.   The second tool in the kit will depend on the map, C4 if there are lots of vehicles, tugs if I’m defending a M-COM. 

If you can give the CS5 sniper rifle a try, it fills a niche in BF4 not filled by the other bolt action rifles.  It and the SR338 are the most unique of the otherwise similar sniper rifles in Battlefield 4.

Weird M26 Shotguns: Battlefield 4

The cray bulky M26 Shotgun attached

to the C-805 assault rifle in Battlefield 4.

The under barrel M26 Mass and the resto of the M26 shotguns are a ridiculous set of stand alone, or under barrel assault rifle attachments for the assault class.  In Battlefield 4 they may have some advantages, but real life I can’t imagine the use of these things, but this is a video game, so let’s take a look at their usage in game.  I think these weapons are silly, but that doesn’t mean they can be used to good effect in the game if you use them wisely.

The M26 can be attached to the bottom of an assault rifle.  The main advantage of this is switching from primary to shotgun takes less time.  The disadvantage of having the M26 attached to the gun it takes the place of a grip on the assault rifle, not having a grip may make you less accurate.  A lot of people with just run with the M26 as a separate weapon.  Either way this shotgun takes up one of your toolkit slots.

As a straight up shotgun the M26 has its draw backs.  There are a lack of barrel options.  There is no option to have modified, full chokes.  There are no grip options for the shotgun either.  This lack of accessories makes the M26 shotgun less functional than regular BF4 shotguns. 

M26 kill shot

M26 Mass

The M26 Mass fires buckshot just like any other shotgun can in Battlefield 4. This shotgun seems to be as effective as the average BF4 shotgun.

M26 Dart

This shoots flechette rounds, which are small darts.  In game the M26 Dart will do more damage at range than buckshot.  I prefer the buckshot, but the darts are very effective. 

M26 Frag

This shotgun shoots exploding frag rounds.  Essentially a frag round is a tiny grenade.  Frag rounds are useful to do splash damage against enemies that are behind cover.  Shoot the frag rounds on the ground next to them and they will get splash damage.  It will take several rounds to kill most opponents, depending on weather they have already taken damage.  I think this is the most useful version of the M26 shotgun.  Having the ability to kill hiding enemies is a great asset to any soldier.  In real life frag rounds are probably useless and inhumane. 

Exploding frag round - M26 Frag

M26 Slug

Why would you use this unless you ran out of ammo in your primary weapon?  Any assault rifle is better at any range when compared to a shotgun slug.  Sure the slug has more damage potential at close range, but I’ll take the ability to spit bullets down range over the slow pump action shotgun any day.  I don’t like shotgun slugs in real life either, although they are devastating at close range, they lose velocity quickly and drop like a stone. 

Real World Uselessness

The M26 shotguns are incredibly bulky and would be a huge pain in the ass to carry around.  It would also add a lot of weight which slows down how fast you can move a gun up to your shoulder and acquire a target.  To a real soldier I think this gun would be a major liability.  I don’t think anyone would use these shotguns by themselves either.  There are just so many better standalone pump action shotguns like the 870.  On the gun range it would be kind of a neat and expensive “toy.”  I suppose for the hunter it could open up your options for the quarry your after just like combination guns do, but the bulkiness and weight would make using it a chore, and the weapons they attach to aren’t really used for hunting anyway. 

M26 Mass shotgun killing the enemy. 

Unlock the SR338 Sniper Rifle - Battlefield 4 Gun Review

The SR338 is a semi-automatic sniper rifle available only to the recon class.  It is an often ignored weapon, because statistically it fits into an awkward spot between DMR's and Sniper Rifles of Battlefield 4.  I like to call it a super DMR.

How to Unlock the SR338

 To unlock the SR338 you need to have the Naval Strike DLC and complete the Always Deadly assignment.  Luckily, this is one of the more straightforward and easy assignments.  All you need to do is obtain three sniper rifle ribbons and get 5 C4 kills on Naval Strike maps.

Hiding in the rocks with the SR338 sniper rifle (supper dmr) in Battlefield 4.

SR338 Review

In the real world there is little difference between the accuracy, and power of a match grade semi-automatic rifle and a bolt action sniper rifle if both rifles are chambered for the same cartridge.  In Battlefield 4 however, they have to balance things out and no one would choose a super powerful bolt action rifle over a super powerful semi-automatic.  Therefore, the SR338 does less damage than all the bolt action weapons.    

 Currently in Battlelog you will see the SR338 does 88 damage, and if that were accurate, holy crap this would be a great gun.  However, if you want accurate stats got to symthic.com and you will see the rifle only does 50 max damage.  That’s plenty of damage, but it means two body shots at ranges of 150 meters or less, and if your foe is using the defensive perk it is now three body shots, or a head shot and a body shot, which is not very impressive compared to a one shot one kill at any range to the head with a slow firing bolt action.  My biggest gripe about this gun is losing a fire fight and seeing that my opponent has 10 or less health left.  Expect to get a lot of “assist counts as kill” with this weapon. 

Unlocking the RPK-74m In Battlefield 4

The RPK-74m is a cool weapon, but not because it is the best at anything, or the sum of its parts make it exceptional.

The RPK-74m is cool because it one of the few weapons in the game with a wood stock, and I like traditional weapons.  Because of its wooden furniture it looks more like a traditional AK-47.  I'm not sure why there are no AK-47s in Battlefield 4.  The AK-47 is one of the most widely used guns in the world, and that will continue for many decades. 

The RPK-74 isn't really much of a light machine gun in the game.   It is really just an assault rifle for the support class, but an assault rifle with a large 40+1 round magazine.  It pretty low rate of fire at 600 rounds per minute.  One nice thing about this gun in the game is the iron sights.  The front post is thin and really helps line up long range shots.  

Unlocking the SW40 Pistol in Battlefield 4

The SW40 pistol in Battlefield 4 is patterned after the real Chiappa Rhino is easy to unlock, and many have probably done it by accident.  To unlock the revolver you need to complete the Curve Ball assignment.  To do so kill ten enemies with impact grenades, and that's it.

 Once you completed the assignment you will be rewarded with a strange looking gun that has similar stats as the REX.  Both SW40 and the Rex do the same amount of damage, and have other similar stats. 

Unlocking the MTAR 21 Carbine in Battlefield 4

In order to unlock the MTAR 21- Carbine in Battlefield 4 you need to complete the Multi Talent Assignment.  The requirements for completing it are:

Reach Rank 10

Have the China Rising DLC

Then in one round you must get

A kill with a sniper rifle, light machine gun, assault rifle and a grenade.

The first three kill requirements aren’t hard to do, even though I am a bad sniper.  However getting a grenade kill is not always easy to do.  There is a lot of luck in the grenade.  The best bet is to go to a level where there are often a concentration of enemies, and hope some have already taken damage.   Operation Locker of Metro are good examples.  The next tip if you are waiting to get a grenade kill is to run as the support class so you can replenish your supply of grenades, even though it can take some time. 

After you have completed the Multi Talent Assignment, you will be rewarded with a digital version of the Israeli made MTAR – 21 carbine.  This carbine has a fast rate of fire, blasting away at a rate of 900 rounds per minute.  That statistic alone makes it a great close quarter combat weapon in game, but its other stats make it a poor choice for medium to long range.