Dino Overhaul X 2 (DOX2) - The Ultimate ARK: Survival Ascended Overhaul Mod
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Available on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, DOX2 delivers a seamless experience across all platforms.
Join the Community:
Discord: https://discord.gg/qctUxVc Connect with players, share strategies, and influence development on the DOX2 Official Discord.
Guide: Dive into the DOX2 Guide for detailed insights and tips.
DOX2 Guide: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-jrLSas6GdD1_o4m-1Rtc6cmBXgKCPtQodKp15-b3jE/edit?usp=sharing
Official Server: Join the action on our server. Info is in the Discord.
What is DOX2?
Dino Overhaul X 2 (DOX2) takes the best of vanilla ARK: Survival Ascended experiences and elevates its into a far more complex, in-depth, challenging, and rewarding adventure. By integrating the critical thinking, preparation, and execution of PvP into a PvE environment, wild dinos become an ever-growing threat that demands strategy and skill. This transformative mod redefines gameplay with innovative systems, where every battle feels like a high-stakes showdown, and triumphs deliver that ultimate dopamine rush. Built on over a decade of ARK modding expertise, DOX2 evolves the legacy of Dino Overhaul X, offering a thrilling experience that keeps you on the edge—whether taming elusive creatures through hand-feeding or dropping food to earn their respect, or evolving your dinos from Basic to Mega tiers for unmatched power. With its core foundation complete, weekly updates continue to introduce fresh content, ensuring a dynamic and ever-evolving world where not even death can save you from the chaos!
Key Features
Unique Gameplay Systems
Trait System: Earn powerful passive and active traits through intense combat, enhancing your dinosaurs with versatile boosts like +15% damage reduction for Tough traits or +25% movement speed for Runners. Traits stack additively or multiplicatively, earned naturally by taking damage in battle and dishing out damage to formidable foes (up to 3) or artificially via genetic strings (up to 6), offering massive customization for speed, melee, and defense—turning your dino into a juggernaut that rewards smart progression.
Hunting-Based Taming: Ditch outdated knockout methods; tame by earning respect through hand-feeding favorite berries, meats, or kibbles for higher effectiveness, or dropping food nearby for aggressive dinos (requiring 2-3x more Hunting XP but faster results). Accumulate Hunting XP from kills, subtracting 2% of the dino's affinity per feed—preparation is key, as any damage cancels taming for 2 minutes, making every tame a strategic hunt.
Inspired Mechanics: Drawing from Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Diablo 2, and Souls-like games, DOX2 introduces dynamic battle stages with temporary traits like Bleeding (causing shock below 50% HP) or Last Stand (50% damage boost below 25% HP for herbivores), bounties every 1-1.5 hours for massive loot, seekers targeting high-level players, world bosses like Primordials with phased fights (regaining 25% HP per transition), doppelgangers cloning your ridden tame, loot bosses like Golden Dodos (loot piñatas that vanish after 8-12 seconds), legacy dinos tamed only below 10% HP, and pack perks for group-fighting dinos—delivering unparalleled depth and adrenaline.
Balanced Scaling: Every dino's drag weight, damage, speed, movement, step height, climb angles, knockback, and bite range has been meticulously reworked for fair variance. Dinos fall into Agile (fast recovery, high stamina), Strong (high melee, slow recovery), or Tough (balanced, high health) categories, with paragon levels (up to 10) granting 1.5-3% damage and reduction per level from kills—ensuring challenging, fair progression that scales with your skill.
Expansive Evolution and Customization
Tiered Evolution System: Evolve dinos from Basic (early farming) and Unique (with traits) to Alpha (evolvable to Mega), Prime (25% health boost, up to 50x melee in wild), Mega (another 40% health, abilities like ignoring traps or torpor immunity, and elusive), Primordial (boss mimics with all evos), and powerful Pygmies (shoulder pets with random 5-35%++ rolls on traits, evolving via kibbles). AB variants spawn with 50% extra damage and 20% health—customize with enhanced armors for stat rolls and set bonuses (e.g., melee, damage reduction, stamina, health regen), amplifying power multiplicatively.
Enhanced Armors: Dropped by Seekers, Golden Dodos, Bounties, Megas, and higher bosses, these armors boost your ridden dino's damage, damage reduction, and speed on a 1:1 basis. Mix and match sets for multiple bonuses at 2, 3, or 5 pieces—e.g., combine Chitin for HP and DR perks with Flak for speed and stamina. Stats roll in tiers (Common to Legendary, with max values shown), and full sets provide resistance to radiation, gases, and poisons, plus 100% rider protection. Recycle for element or re-roll stats at the Summoning Shrine (costs 1 CCS or 5k Hunting XP, but excessive re-rolls can brick them). Note: No cosmetic skins supported. Specific resistances vary, like Desert's 35%/25% fire/lightning or Riot's 40% against small/medium dinos. Tek armor totals 150% boosts, includes vanilla features without needing element.
Here's a summary table of max roll values and set bonuses for select armors:
| Armor Type | Set Bonuses | Piece Examples | Total Boost | Special Resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Chitin | (5) +25 HP; (3) 7.5% Dmg; (2) 12.5% DR | Boots: 7.5% Dmg / 5% DR / 10% Spd; Helm: 5% Dmg / 10% DR / 5% Spd | 112.5% | Poison/Torp 25% |
| Enhanced Cloth | (5) 30% DR / +25% Craft Quality; (3) +15 HP; (2) 15% Stm | Gloves: 12.5% Dmg / 0% DR / 7.5% Spd; Pants: 10% Dmg / 2.5% DR / 12.5% Spd | 112.5% | Small Dino 25% |
| Enhanced Desert | (5) 25% Stm; (3) 20% DR; (2) +10 HP | Boots: 10% Dmg / 0% DR / 12.5% Spd; Chest: 10% Dmg / 5% DR / 10% Spd | 112.5% | Fire/Lightning 35%/25% |
| Enhanced Flak | (5) 15% Spd; (3) 15% Stm; (2) 15% DR | Boots: 15% Dmg / 5% DR / 0% Spd; Helm: 5% Dmg / 15% DR / 0% Spd | 112.5% | Small/Medium/Large Dino 25% |
| Enhanced Tek | (5) 15% DR; (3) 15% DMG; (2) +50 HP | Gloves: 17.5% Dmg / 10% DR / 2.5% Spd; Pants: 12.5% Dmg / 15% DR / 5% Spd | 150% | All vanilla features |
Custom Items and Abilities: Use dozens of unique consumables like Genetic Strings (random traits from alphas), Superior Strings (desirable traits), Prime/Mega Strings (evolutions with perks like +30% step height), Corrupted Strings (+/-25% trait boosts), Paragon Orbs/Elixirs (up to +10% traits, boss buffs), Hunting XP Orbs (store 5000 XP), HP Regen Elixirs (2.5% max HP/sec, capped at 750), Cleansing Elixirs (clear traits for re-rolls), and Trait Extraction Darts/Elixirs (harvest traits from KO'd or tamed dinos)—unlocking AOE group mechanics, evolution boosts, and game-changing abilities like Overcharge (33% chance for massive damage spikes).
Advanced Structures: Streamline progression with the Summoning Shrine (boss summons, armor recycling for element, re-rolling), Mining Forge (passive resource extraction powered by Corruption Shards, yielding black pearls and artifacts), and Advanced Crafting Station (all DOX/vanilla items, requiring fragmented artifacts from empowered dinos)—turning late-game into an efficient empire-builder.
Meaningful Progression
DOX2 delivers a rewarding journey across early, mid, and late game stages, where corruption (1.5-3x damage, up to 55% reduction) empowers foes, Overlord flybys spawn ambushes and necrotic veins (ticking 2% HP/sec if undestroyed), and systems like kill streaks (up to 50% damage at 10 stacks, timed by dino weight) and grudges (bosses hunt you for 45 minutes) test your critical thinking. Breed in groups (5 females max, 25m apart) with variance (small dinos 20-45 breeds), gaining sterile perks (+15% reduction) for fighters—intense challenges yield triumphant breakthroughs, with high stakes and epic rewards that feel truly earned.
Continuous Development
Weekly content updates introduce new features, balanced responsibly based on player feedback.
Designed for both PvE and PvP, DOX2 offers a steep yet rewarding challenge with a PvP-like intensity.
Future updates will expand mechanics, items, and systems, ensuring long-term engagement.
Why Choose DOX2?
Unlike typical overhaul mods, DOX2 prioritizes deep, balanced mechanics—like dynamic trait power (additive damage/speed/reduction) and pygmy synergies (multiplicative boosts up to 75% caps)—over flashy visuals that strain performance. With a focus on immersive gameplay, quality-of-life improvements (e.g., reduced aggro during taming), and robust coding, DOX2 offers:
A challenging, dopamine-driven experience that rewards skill and strategy through evolved dinos and boss conquests.
A community-driven approach, with player feedback shaping the mod’s evolution.
Compatibility for solo, multiplayer, PvE, and PvP adventures.
A polished experience backed by 9+ years of ARK modding expertise.
Developer’s Vision
“DOX2 is my passion project, built to push ARK: Survival Ascended to new heights. It’s not just a mod—it’s a reimagined, adrenaline-fueled ARK experience with deep mechanics, meaningful progression, and endless replayability. I’ve avoided excessive particle effects and power creep, focusing instead on solid gameplay and balance. Whether you’re a solo player or running a server, DOX2 is crafted to challenge and reward you for years to come.” – DOX2 Developer
Get Involved:
Join the Discord: Share your tames, theory craft, or flex your Hall of Fame-worthy achievements (coming soon!).
Check the Guide: Master DOX2’s systems with our comprehensive guide.
Shape the Future: Your feedback directly influences development—join the discussion today!
Embark on an unforgettable ARK journey with DOX2, where every victory is hard-fought and every reward is deeply satisfying. Conquer the challenge and claim your place in the DOX2 Hall of Fame!
- Mike.C
