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ARK: Survival Ascended Guide | All Weapon Traits Everything You Need To Know

A comprehensive breakdown of weapon trait types, qualities, locations, and effects in ARK: Survival Ascended for optimal combat customization.

Game Guide by Monarch on  Jun 29, 2025

In the perilous world of ARK: Survival Ascended, mastering combat is essential for survival. As of the Extinction update, weapon traits give you more ways to customize your weapons and gear, making them better for both PvP and PvE environments.

This guide tells you everything you need to know about all weapon types, their effects, where they are located, and how they work. This way, you'll be ready for any battle.

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Weapon Trait Types

Weapon traits are special upgrades introduced in the Extinction update for ARK: Survival Ascended. These traits can be applied to corresponding weapons and armor pieces using the Makeshift Megalab. Only the appropriate type of weapon trait can be added to each weapon type. There are currently four types of weapon traits available.

The Gun Trait can be added to all guns, ranging from a Simple Pistol to a Fabricated Sniper Rifle.

The Projectile Trait is applicable to all weapons that can be shot, such as the Bow or Slingshot, in addition to guns.

Melee Traits are designed for all melee weapons, including the Pickaxe, Club, or Sword.

Armor Traits can be applied exclusively to the chest piece of any armor set.

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Weapon Trait Qualities

There are three different features for weapon traits, and each one changes how well the trait works. The Lesser Weapon Trait, which is shown in a green color, is the worst quality.

The next level up is the Moderate Weapon Trait, which is shown in blue. The highest quality is the Greater Weapon Trait, marked by purple.

For some traits, obtaining a higher quality is worthwhile, while for others, the quality is less significant.

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Weapon Trait Locations and Farming

Currently, Orbital Supply Drops (OSDs) and the Alpha King Titan are the only sources of weapon traits. The most efficient way to acquire large quantities of traits is by repeatedly farming OSDs. OSDs appear in four different difficulties, and all types of traits can be dropped at any difficulty level.

However, the quality of the weapon traits varies by OSD color. Blue OSDs drop lesser weapon traits, Yellow OSDs provide moderate and lesser traits, while Red and Purple OSDs can yield all qualities. The number of waves in Purple OSDs significantly increases the amount of weapon traits you can obtain.

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Full Weapon Trait List

Gun Traits

There are currently five-gun traits available:

Focusing increases the damage dealt to an enemy with each consecutive hit, stacking up to ten times.

Cannibalizing allows continued use of the weapon after running out of ammunition at the cost of weapon durability.

Protecting reduces the damage you take each time you hit an enemy, stacking up to ten times.

Tracker marks an opponent for a short duration after being hit, allowing you to track their position.

Ricochet provides a chance to hit an opponent standing next to your primary target when you land a hit.

Projectile Traits

Five projectile traits can be added to your weapons:

Assassin increases location-based damage by a fixed percentage, making headshots and similar attacks more effective.

Ambusher boosts the damage of your next attack after not dealing or receiving damage for a certain period.

Anti-Gravity increases projectile speed and reduces drop-off.

Big Game Hunter increases damage dealt to bosses, alphas, or corrupted creatures.

Echoing gives a chance to fire two additional projectiles at the same target after a short delay.

Melee Traits

Five melee traits are available:

Berserker increases attack speed but also increases incoming damage, allowing for faster strikes at risk.

Lifetrinker heals a percentage of the damage dealt, up to a maximum portion of your health per hit.

Rogue deals more damage when attacking an enemy from behind.

Shielding grants a stackable shield, with one stack per hit up to five times, providing extra defense.

Worker increases damage to resources that can be farmed but not to enemy corpses.

Armor Traits

Five armor traits can be added to your chest piece:

Mobile prevents your movement speed from dropping below a certain percentage while wearing the trait.

Marathon allows you to continue running even when out of stamina, consuming water and hunger until depleted.

Catching provides a chance to catch ammunition that hits you, adding it to your inventory.

Cleansing reduces the duration of debuffs while worn.

Medical increases all incoming healing by a certain percentage.

Also, check our other guides below:

Jubair Baky

Editor, NoobFeed

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