Tek is the endgame, and it works differently from every other tier in Ark. You do not unlock tek with engram points. You unlock it by killing bosses, and you pay for it with element forever after.
How tek unlocks: the tekgram loop
The system has three parts:
- Bosses award tekgrams. Defeat the Island bosses — Broodmother, Megapithecus, Dragon — and each kill grants tekgrams. The Overseer and later-map bosses grant more.
- Tekgrams unlock engrams. Each tekgram permanently adds entries to your craftable list. The list is character-bound: unlock it once and it stays unlocked on that character.
- Element pays the bill. Every tek craft consumes element, and element is the endgame resource.
The consequence: tek progression is gated behind boss progression. A player who has not cleared the Island bosses has no tek, regardless of level or hours played.
What the tier contains
Tek spans a large family of items. They group into four families:
| Family | Examples | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Structures | Tek Replicator, Tek Transmitter, Tek Generator, Tek Teleporter | The powered base tier |
| Gear | Tek Rifle, Tek Armor, Tek Gauntlets | The endgame combat loadout |
| Saddles | Tek Saddles | Endgame mount equipment |
| Utilities | Tek binoculars, tek creatures and their gear | Quality-of-life endgame tools |
The replicator is the keystone: it is the station that crafts the rest of the tier. Until you can place one, the unlocks are entries on a list you cannot use.
Craft order: what to build first
1. Tek Generator. Everything tek is powered, and the generator is the power. Without it, nothing else runs.
2. Tek Replicator. The crafting station for the tier. This is the unlock that turns tekgrams into usable gear.
3. Tek Transmitter. The network hub: remote access to your bases and the artifact transfer system. Build it once your power is stable.
4. Tek Teleporter. The fast-travel network. Expensive, element-hungry, and the quality-of-life upgrade that makes a multi-base tribe actually work.
5. Gear last. The rifle and armor are element sinks that compete with structures. Build the infrastructure, then the loadout.
The element economy
Element is 0.01 weight and 2,000 hexagons per unit on Genesis — the highest exchange rate in the dataset. The supply is the constraint:
- Extinction — the map built around element. Shards in the wasteland and city regions, corrupted creature drops, and node harvesting.
- Genesis — missions and the hexagon shop feed element and shards.
- Crafting — 100 shards convert to 1 element when you have volume but not units.
Plan tek like a subscription, not a purchase. Every structure you place adds to the upkeep bill, and the players who enjoy tek are the ones whose element income covers the meter.