Szk' Chemicals
When you have spent hundreds of hours taming creatures across the Ark, you quickly realize that the default tranquilizing tools leave a lot to be desired. Either you are carrying a mountain of narcotics, or you are watching a high-level Rex wake up mid-tame because its torpor dropped too fast. The Szk' Chemicals mod for ARK: Survival Ascended solves these problems with a suite of carefully balanced consumables and projectiles that respect vanilla gameplay. This is not a cheat mod; it is a quality-of-life overhaul for the taming and combat loop.
What Does Szk' Chemicals Add to Your Game?
This mod introduces a new tier of regular narcotics, complete with enhanced arrows, spears, and darts. You also get an improved Bio-toxin variant, three tiers of appetizers to help with taming, and three tiers of healing potions. Every item is tuned with vanilla balance in mind, meaning you won't be one-shotting a Giga with a single arrow.
Enhanced Narcotics and Tranq Projectiles
The core of the mod is the Enhanced Narcotic, which is twice as strong as the standard version. The same logic applies to the Enhanced Tranq Arrow, Tranq Spear, and Tranq Dart. However, there is a clever twist: the initial hit applies the same torpor as vanilla, but the over-time effect carries all the enhanced power. For example, a regular tranq arrow deals 40 torpor on impact and 50 over five seconds. The enhanced version from Szk' Chemicals deals 40 on impact and a massive 140 torpor over eight seconds. This makes it perfect for creatures that lose torpor quickly, as you get a sustained drain rather than a single spike.
Toxin Concoction and Enhanced Shocking Darts
For underwater tames or those tough swamp dwellers, the Toxin Concoction is a game-changer. Crafted with leech blood, angler gel, and bio-oil (the kind produced in a Basilosaurus's inventory or gathered from Tusoteuthis), this concoction delivers a total of 1000 torpor very slowly. It is ideal for high-level tames that regenerate torpor faster than you can apply it. The Enhanced Shocking Dart follows the same principle as the tranq arrows—the on-hit torpor is identical to vanilla, but the overall effect is doubled.
Balanced Appetizers and Healing Potions
Taming is not just about torpor; it is also about food. The mod adds three tiers of appetizers that drain 50, 300, or 1000 food from dinos over 30 seconds. But be careful—they also drain torpor at a rate of 5 per second, which means you cannot spam them without risking your tame waking up. This downside is intentional, preventing the "spam to win" strategy found in other mods.
On the healing side, you get three tiers of potions that restore 33%, 66%, or 100% of health over 60 seconds. While players can use them, they are best reserved for your tames, as the slow heal over time is wasted on a player with low HP.
Why This Mod Exists
The creator built this as their first mod, aiming to fix a personal gripe: most tranq mods feel cheaty. They condense the resources needed for 5, 10, or 100 arrows into a single projectile, allowing you to one-shot most dinos with a good crossbow. Szk' Chemicals takes a different path, using rarer resources and slower over-time effects to keep things challenging. The appetizers are inspired by a classic ASE mod, but with added tiers and a meaningful downside. Future plans include healing darts, appetizer darts, and INI settings for further customization.
How to Install Szk' Chemicals for ARK: Survival Ascended
Installing the mod is straightforward. First, head to the mod page and select "download Szk' Chemicals" to subscribe via the Steam Workshop or the in-game mod browser. Once downloaded, the mod will appear in your mod list. If you are using a dedicated server, ensure you add the mod ID to your server's mod list and restart. For single-player, simply activate it in the host session settings.
If you are looking for a smoother experience, the foxygame.net launcher offers one-click installation for Szk' Chemicals, letting you skip the manual file management and jump straight into the action with the add-on catalog. The launcher also handles version compatibility automatically, so you don't have to worry about mismatched updates breaking your save.
Mod Compatibility and Version Support
Szk' Chemicals is built for the current versions of ARK: Survival Ascended, including the latest patches. It does not overwrite any vanilla items, so it is safe to use alongside other quality-of-life mods, stack mods, or building mods. The only conflict you might encounter is with other mods that alter the same tranq projectiles or bio-toxin recipes. As always, check the mod page for updates, as the creator is actively adding new features and INI settings. For the best experience, keep your game updated and use the foxygame.net launcher to auto-update Szk' Chemicals when new versions drop, ensuring your taming arsenal never goes stale.
In conclusion, Szk' Chemicals fills a specific niche for players who want more power without breaking the game. Whether you are taming a Carcharodontosaurus or just tired of carrying hundreds of narcotics, this mod delivers a balanced, thoughtful expansion to ARK: Survival Ascended's taming mechanics.