Element Node (Extinction)

“

Spires of corruption attracting many Corrupted Creatures.

„

DLC

Extinction

Structure

Type

Structure

Health

10,000

Item

Added in

v285.104

The Element Node is a temporary harvestable structure that is added to the game in the Extinction DLC. It functions in a similar manner to Orbital Supply Drops in that it must be defended from Corrupted Creatures for a total of 5 waves while all the nodes are maturing. The difference is that instead of random loot, the Element Node will yield commonly Element Dust, sometimes Element Shard and rarely Element after being defended based on how many of them remains standing.

As of v288.113 when PvE is activated only the tribe that "claims" the Node can harvest it once it is successfully defended. The claiming is optional.

Overview[]

Element Nodes follow a similar setup compared to Orbital Supply Drops in that there are varied difficulties based on the actual size of the Element Node in question. Of course, the larger the Element Node, the larger the rewards and the larger the threat. There are two other differences aside from the loot of acquiring Element over items. The first is that there is no shield to protect the node. The second is that the survivor's performance on defending the main Element Node and the smaller Element Nodes does matter. The more Element Nodes that have been kept alive at the end of the defense, the larger the Element harvest will be. After a successful defense, it's important that the lesser, outer Element Nodes are harvested before the main Element Node; failure to do so will result in the loss of precious additional Element. It's also important to note that only metal tools such as the Pick or Hatchet can be used to harvest the Element, as using Creatures to harvest them will only result in the destruction of the Element Nodes without any Element harvested (but the Mantis can be used with a Metal Pick or Metal Hatchet for harvesting larger quantities). The main element node gives more full Element and Element Shards compared to the smaller nodes found around it.

When fighting King Titan, after a while it will stop, causing a nearby Corrupt Element Node to spawn with only two waves. Unlike the ones found around the wastelands, these do not yield any element once defended, but rather, deter it from restoring a portion of its health.

Difficulty[]

The strategy required to defend the element nodes can greatly vary depending on the actual difficulty. Difficulty can be measured both by the size of the main vein itself or by simply using a spyglass to check the health of the main node. See below for details. While it isn't really possible to over-prepare for such a defense since the quality of your defense matters, you can most certainly under-prepare by mistake and lose valuable dinos and resources in the process. Assess the threat and if you find yourself struggling on the initiation wave or first wave, you may be better to cut your losses and abandon the defense. It's advised to keep non-ridden dinos on the outside parts of the defense to cull the incoming numbers. They can damage the nodes just as easily as the corrupted dinos can.

Tek weapons and MEKs are ill-advised for element vein defenses; they easily destroy the nodes.

Easy: If the main element node has 10,000 HP, it is an easy node and is just a little more difficult than the blue drops. The dinos that spawn are typically between level 1-30 (except for the initiation wave which oddly has Dilos over level 100 on occasion.) A small tribe can easily defend against the waves with nothing much more than primitive crafted crossbows and average tames such as Trikes, Raptors, and perhaps Carnos. Those who have managed to tame a few Velonasaurs will have a much easier time thanks to their ability to shoot down the Corrupted Pteranodons without using ammunition.They also can't damage the element nodes with their ranged attacks.

Medium: If the main element node has 25,000 HP, it is a medium node and is on par with a yellow drop's difficulty. While larger threats such as Corrupted Spinos and Paracers start to make the main bulk of the threat, their levels are generally between 30-90 and can be managed surprisingly well. Some good-level Carnos and Velonasaurs are fine to handle many threats at this difficulty. If you have access to high-quality Enforcers, they can make quick work of the corrupted hordes while also doing minimal damage to the nodes you are defending. Be careful of their fragility and consider using cryopods on those near death in order to preserve them! Quality-level fabricated weapons and flak armor is preferred for those who prefer to be on foot and handing threats that breach the outer defenses such as the pesky Corrupted Pteranodons.

Hard: If the main element node has 50,000 HP, it is a hard node and while the levels of the corrupted horde are lower than they are for the red OSDs (roughly level 100-180 compared to the 200-300 from red OSDs), the difficulty lies in the ability to weave through all of the element nodes to address threats that may get past your outer defenses. Corrupted Wyverns are also a serious threat and can easily flame breath survivors to kill them and make a mess of dinosaur-based defenses. Keep your main defenses outside the nodes and have someone keeping watch of the main vein to handle stragglers that get through or to assist with corrupted wyverns or Enraged Trikes.

Corrupt: This special element node has 150,000 HP and spawns at certain points of the battle against the King Titan. The levels of the corrupted horde matches that of the red OSD (approximate 200-300). Because these spawn in the middle of a fight, you have to make use of whatever you have brought to fight against the King Titan. Corrupted Hordes spawn from both the spawn point for the node and from constant shadow spawns generated by the presence of the King Titan, but the ones that spawns from the node are your main priority. If the main node is destroyed, it will restore a portion of the King Titan's health, prolonging the fight. Thankfully, there are only 3 waves involved in this defense (the preliminary "wave 0" and then 2 main waves.)

The main danger of these element node defenses is if you come underprepared. Since these events are optional and can be checked prior to setting up a defense, judge your power level compared to the threat; failure to respect the power of the corrupted horde will commonly result in the death of you and/or your tames. Know when to fight, know when to run.

(Note for any element vein: Using a tamed Giganotosaurus sounds appealing due to their sheer power and this is not as a bad idea if you're riding it. However do NOT let them wander on aggressive as they will outright obliterate the element nodes and greatly reduce your rewards. Don't rely on a Dino Leash to contain the Giga either as they are easily destroyed. A strong Giga that is ridden can handle a choke point by itself but is abysmal for core defense.)

Team Builds[]

This section addresses various tames that would be useful in the defense of harvestable Element Nodes (section work in progress).

Offense: Giganatosaurus > Enforcer > Reaper > Rex / Spinosaurus
Offense Support: Thylacoleo > Allosaurus > Carnotaurus > Deinonychus
Defense: Wyvern > Managarmr > Velonasaur
Defense Support: Yutyrannus > Daeodon > Snow Owl > Mammoth
Crowd Control: Magmasaur > Pachyrhinosaurus
Harvester: Mantis (Note only players with metal tools or mantis with metal tools can harvest.)
Reward Transport: Gasbags > Basilisk > Quetzal

Enemy Spawn Rates[]

These Corrupted Creatures can spawn in each wave with varying number. (Keep in mind that this list has yet to be separated based on node difficulty.)

Easy (10,000)[]

Very Common[]

Corrupted Dilophosaur

Common[]

Corrupted Pteranodon

Uncommon[]

Rare[]

Corrupted Carnotaurus

Very Rare[]

Normal (25,000)[]

Very Common[]

Corrupted Dilophosaur

Common[]

Uncommon[]

Rare[]

Very Rare[]

Enraged Triceratops

Hard (50,000)[]

Very Common[]

Common[]

Uncommon[]

Rare[]

Corrupted Wyvern

Corrupt (150,000)[]

Note: These only spawn during King Titan fight around the arena, and only appears in two waves.

Very Common[]

Corrupted Pteranodon

Common[]

Uncommon[]

Very Rare[]

Corrupted Rock Drake

Node Locations[]

Blue = Orbital Supply Drop, Purple = Element Node, Orange = Both

Blue = Easy, Orange = Medium, Red = Hard, Purple = Legendary

Number	UE4 Coordinates			GPS Coordinates		Difficulty	Type
Number	x	y	z	lat	lon	Difficulty	Type
36	39948	-218508	-13341	22.7	54.9	Easy	Both
10	-13600	-190230	-18471	26.2	48.3	Hard	Both
31	-71338	-183338	-9988	27.1	41.1	Easy	Both
32	-81725	-164800	-7620	29.4	39.8	Easy	Both
23	-114745	-254692	8218	18.2	35.7	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
30	-173416	-244821	-10130	19.4	28.3	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
29	-250785	-269614	-929	16.3	18.7	Medium	Orbital Supply Drop
28	-298297	-263829	-6865	17.0	12.7	Hard	Element Node
27	-301167	-219611	-14048	22.5	12.4	Hard	Both
16	-289630	-121120	-19710	34.9	13.8	Hard	Both
19	-293939	-52003	-25691	43.5	13.3	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
20	-278813	33744	-23907	54.2	15.1	Hard	Both
21	-248277	8958	-25871	51.1	18.9	Hard	Both
35	-183570	-80381	-21634	39.9	27.1	Easy	Orbital Supply Drop
34	-138625	-84001	-17506	39.5	32.7	Easy	Both
4	-102943	-124199	-18400	34.5	37.1	Hard	Element Node
33	-77101	-124032	-13110	34.5	40.4	Easy	Both
39	-23028	-116731	-14712	35.4	47.1	Easy	Both
3	18289	-131414	-18760	33.6	52.3	Medium	Both
11	22080	-157490	-18540	30.3	52.7	Medium	Both
37	64890	-168223	-9438	28.9	58.1	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
38	63073	-112684	-15808	35.9	57.9	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
2	157900	-85700	-18900	39.3	69.7	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
17	220166	-53831	-11577	43.3	77.5	Easy	Both
6	284336	-31796	8915	46.0	85.5	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
15	272780	28700	-19620	53.6	84.1	Medium	Both
22	323824	68314	933	58.5	90.5	Easy	Both
0	170960	85925	-24271	60.7	71.4	Hard	Both
14	78900	125910	-30882	65.7	59.9	Medium	Both
12	58090	229810	-39186	78.7	57.3	Easy	Orbital Supply Drop
40	50376	149102	-30882	68.6	56.3	Medium	Orbital Supply Drop
8	-4950	133220	-33687	66.7	49.4	Easy	Orbital Supply Drop
7	-55910	135020	-33760	66.9	43.0	Easy	Both
41	-51651	175821	-27644	71.9	43.5	Medium	Both
25	-74607	255055	-41675	81.9	40.7	Legendary	Orbital Supply Drop
26	-96957	166875	-27734	70.6	37.9	Medium	Both
9	-99390	124510	-32684	65.6	37.6	Medium	Both
18	-151068	142736	-32687	67.8	31.1	Hard	Both
24	-174446	281271	-43337	85.2	28.2	Medium	Orbital Supply Drop
5	-256000	162500	-32900	70.3	18.0	Easy	Element Node

Notes[]

The Yutyrannus is useful for defending the central Element Node, as its fear roar will aggro Corrupted Creatures away from the Element Node. At full fear, they will aggro instead of flee, but still take increased damage and deal reduced damage, allowing the smaller Corrupted Creatures to be lured away from the Element Node and taken out a short distance away, lowering the risk of collateral damage to the Element Node.
An Element Node at the nearest spawn position can be summoned with cheat StartNearestHorde Element <1-3> (1= Easy, 2= Medium, 3= Hard)
While the Chainsaw and Mining Drill are considered better than a metal tool, they cannot harvest matured Element Nodes.
Corrupt Element Vein has "Initiating Sequence..." instead of "Maturing..." when it was recently activated.
A melee-invested Mantis that is ported over from Scorched Earth or Ragnarok can increase gains from Element Veins when given a proper tool for harvesting. Quality of the tool can matter as well!
A well-bred Managarmr is a good defender for the Easy and Medium difficulty veins as It's breath weapon can hit the corrupted creatures but will not damage the Element Node itself. It is recommended that you knock down trees and get rid of rocks prior to defending with a Managarmr to avoid getting hung up on obstacles. Make sure you are riding it though as it will just shoot off into the stratosphere if it defends on its own.
The Corrupted Creatures will agro on smaller pieces of the veins, you can set up battery turrets to try to stop them.
When element nodes first spawn, they spawn underground and surface after some time.
- You can see a hidden element node with a Snow Owl's heat vision.
- If you are nearby when an element node surfaces you will hear a loud rumbling followed by a music cue.
- Nodes spawned via Console Commands will spawn this way and you must wait for them to surface
The Scout Remote is useful for finding Corrupted Creatures that may be stuck somewhere without risking going too far from the node and having it destroyed
- Its first-person mode can see the creatures through terrain