Hunters Eclipse
If you have been searching for a way to completely reinvent your survival experience in ARK: Survival Ascended, Hunters Eclipse delivers a bold, ambitious overhaul that touches nearly every corner of the game. This isn't just another creature reskin or a handful of stat tweaks. It is a full-blown transformation of how you approach combat, base building, taming, and progression. The mod introduces a dynamic day-night cycle where the sun and moon directly influence the power of every creature on the map. During daylight, dinosaurs and creatures draw strength from solar energy, while the night unlocks a completely different set of abilities tied to lunar forces. This simple but brilliant mechanic forces you to plan every encounter around the clock, making each hunt feel fresh and unpredictable.
Core Mechanics: The Sun and Moon Tiers
At the heart of Hunters Eclipse for ARK: Survival Ascended are the main Sun and Moon tiers. These are not just cosmetic differences. Each tier brings substantial stat multipliers that change how you engage with the world. The Fire and Ice tiers represent the first level, granting 2x health and damage to land and water creatures. Spirit and Demon tiers step things up with 4x multipliers, while Star Sighted and Cosmic tiers push the envelope to a staggering 6x health and damage. For those who prefer the skies, the Elemental, Veiled, and Astronic tiers are designed exclusively for flying creatures, offering a mix of health, damage, and speed adjustments that make aerial combat a completely different beast.
This tier system is not just about making enemies harder. It also applies to the creatures you tame. Collecting and taming these powered-up dinosaurs becomes a core loop, especially for PvE players who enjoy the challenge of building a menagerie of rare and powerful beasts. The mod also includes Resource Golems, Resource Equus, and Resource Jerboa variants that guard valuable cores. These cores are essential for crafting high-tier items, so hunting them down is a rewarding risk-reward proposition.
New Structures and Crafting Stations
Base building receives a massive upgrade in Hunters Eclipse. The mod completely remaps Metal and Tek structures, giving them a unique visual identity that fits the sun and moon theme. More importantly, these structures come with a 1.5x health bonus compared to their vanilla counterparts, making your PvP bases significantly more durable. The Eclipse line of crafting stations is another highlight. The Eclipse Industrial Forge operates 5x faster than vanilla, while the Chem Bench, Fabricator, Smithy, and Industrial Cooker all receive substantial speed boosts. The Eclipse Fridge offers 200 slots, and the Eclipse Vault provides 500 slots, solving the storage headaches that plague late-game play.
For PvP players, the Sun and Moon Auto and Heavy Turrets are a game-changer. They deal vanilla damage but also set enemies on fire, causing additional damage over time and slowing their movement. This adds a tactical layer to base defense that goes beyond simple damage output. The Eclipse Air Conditioner is also worth mentioning, as it combines the strength of 20 vanilla units into a single structure, saving space and resources.
Innovative Tranquilizing and Combat Items
Capturing the powerful creatures in this mod requires better tools. Hunters Eclipse introduces a wide array of tranquilizing options, including Metal Tranq Arrows, Stone Tranq Arrows, Tranq Darts, Shock Tranq Darts, and even Tranq Sniper Bullets. These come in 10x and 25x potency variants, making it easier to bring down even the most resilient tier creatures. For close-quarters taming, there are Tranq Pikes and Tranq Swords that deliver the same knockout power in melee form. The mod also adds specialized C4 and Rockets for the Elemental, Veiled, and Astronic tiers, ensuring you have the right explosive for every situation.
Beyond combat, the mod includes a range of potions that boost Growth, Imprint, Health, and Mating. These are invaluable for breeders and players who want to accelerate their progress. The Tek Golem Summoner is another standout item, allowing you to call forth a powerful ally or a formidable foe, depending on your needs. Advanced Sun and Moon Bullets round out the arsenal, providing turret ammo that matches the elemental themes of the mod.
Boss Fights and Endgame Progression
The climax of Hunters Eclipse is the ability to summon a unique boss. This ultimate challenge is designed to test everything you have learned and crafted throughout your journey. Defeating this boss grants extraordinary rewards, making the effort worthwhile. The mod also includes Beta, Gamma, and Alpha Engram Givers, which unlock new Tek Engrams based on the bosses you have defeated in vanilla ARK. This creates a satisfying progression path that rewards both PvE and PvP players.
When you are ready to dive in, knowing how to install the mod is straightforward. Simply subscribe to the mod on the Steam Workshop or your platform's mod browser, and enable it when launching your server. For single-player or dedicated servers, ensure the mod is listed in your load order. The mod is compatible with official maps like The Island, Scorched Earth, and The Center. For modded maps, you need to ensure the map uses the spawn containers from one of those three official maps for the dinos to appear correctly. This is a minor limitation but easy to work around with popular map mods.
One of the easiest ways to get started is to download Hunters Eclipse through a dedicated game launcher. The foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install for Hunters Eclipse for ARK: Survival Ascended, handling version compatibility and mod dependencies automatically. It also features a curated add-on catalog that makes discovering and managing your mod list much simpler than doing it manually. The launcher checks for updates on every start, so you always have the latest version of Hunters Eclipse without worrying about breaking changes.
Balance and Community Support
Despite the massive power increases, Hunters Eclipse is surprisingly well balanced. The developers have carefully tuned the multipliers so that PvP battles remain competitive rather than one-sided. The mod is specifically designed for PvP enthusiasts who want a faster, more chaotic experience, but PvE players will find plenty to enjoy in the taming and collection aspects. The complete remap of Metal and Tek structures also means you get a full PvP experience without the slow crafting times of vanilla stations.
The development team has stated that the mod is no longer receiving updates unless the original commissioner returns. However, the current content is extensive and stable, offering hundreds of hours of gameplay. The community around the mod remains active, with a Discord server where you can find detailed information, ask questions, and connect with other players. A Google Doc spreadsheet provides a comprehensive breakdown of all the tiers, structures, and items, so you can plan your strategy before you even load into the game.
Final Thoughts on Hunters Eclipse
Hunters Eclipse is a passion project that delivers on its promise of a complete dino overhaul. The day-night mechanic alone is worth the download, as it fundamentally changes how you approach every encounter. The new structures, crafting stations, and tranquilizing methods add depth to both base building and creature capture. The resource guardians and the final boss provide clear goals for endgame players, ensuring there is always something to work toward. Whether you are a PvP veteran looking for a fresh challenge or a PvE player who loves collecting rare creatures, this mod has something for you. Build smart, prepare your army, and fight to the last survivor. The world of Hunters Eclipse is waiting, and it is more dangerous and rewarding than ever.