In the survival MMO Ark: Survival Evolved "Black Pearls" are quite important. We'll tell you where to find them and what they're good for in our guide!
If you're wondering why you need to collect black pearls in the first place, then we'll give you the answer here. First, they are required for some recipes - including high-tech equipment such as the camera, the cloning chamber, and many Tek recipes. You can find a full list of craftable items at the end of this article.
Additionally, Black Pearls are efficient fodder for taming a Tusoteuthis. So it pays to stock up on black pearls.
Black pearls were introduced years ago with patch v238 and unlike regular pearls, they don't just lie around in shells on the bottom of bodies of water. They are a rare resource and can only be effectively looted from dead Eurypterids, Tusoteuthis, and Alpha Mosasaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved. Otters also have the ability to occasionally find Black Pearls.
The fastest way to collect Black Pearls is by hunting Eurypterids. You can basically use almost any tamed sea creature, with the Ichthy having clear advantages here. Unlike the Megalodon, for example, it is unaffected by a Eurypterid's knockback, and its stunning sting has no effect on the Ichthy either.
So you can kill underwater scorpions almost non-stop and then disassemble the bodies with a metal pickaxe if possible. However, since the Ichthy has relatively low health and fighting power, you should still be careful with him. After all, scorpions are far from the only danger in the deep seas of ARK: Survival Evolved.
If you have strong water beasts that can also compete with an Alpha Mosasaur or a Tusoteuthis, then these can also be hunted for black pearls. A total of 100 pieces of these enchantingly shiny balls await you in the inventory of her corpse. However, since this is not entirely harmless and they are much less common than eurypterids, you should only consider this as an additional source of pearls.
Of course, there are also black pearls in other Arks like Extinction, Aberration, or Ragnarök. We'll tell you how to get them!
Black Pearls can be gathered in bulk from the Light Blue Pearls on the Pearl Asteroids in the Space biome. These seem to respawn fairly quickly.
Black Pearls can also be harvested from dead Carniflora in the Corrupted Gardens.
A black variant of the Shell, like Silica Pearls, can be found in Ragnarök. These can be harvested for 5-20 Black Pearls.
Black Pearls are dropped by Death Worms and Alpha Death Worms in the desert. A tamed phoenix will also rarely expel them in place of their usual silica beads.
A black variant of the Shell, like Silica Pearls, can be found near the rivers at Graves of the Lost. These can be harvested for 5-20 Black Pearls, but can be dangerous due to radiation and nearby threats such as Nameless or Rock Drakes.
In Extinction, Black Pearls can be produced by Gacha. This way, you can easily acquire large amounts of black pearls by feeding a gacha stones and other resources.
Black Pearls also drop from large Corrupted Carnivores like Corrupted Spino, Corrupted Rex, Corrupted Wyvern, and Corrupted Giganotosaurus in the north. These creatures have a low chance of dropping 1-7 Black Pearls.
A black variant of the shell, like Silica Pearls, can be found in the Crystal Islands. They can spawn in the water bubbles on Eldritch Isle. These can be harvested for 5-20 Black Pearls.
There are two variations of these black clams, the smaller one that can be harvested by hand and a larger one that can only be harvested by Dunkleosteus.
A black variant of the shell, like Silica Pearls, can be found in Valguero. These can be harvested for Black Pearls.
A black variant of the shell, like Silica Pearls, can be found on Lost Island. These can be harvested for Black Pearls. They are in the Shoola Falls Cave and also in the sunken shipwreck in the bottom left corner of the map.
Looking for more helpful guides on ARK: Survival Evolved? Then take a look at our ARK guide overview, where you will find more of our dinosaur, crafting, resource, and technology guides. You can also chat with us and other players on our Discord server. We're looking forward to see you!