Overview
This is a guide to describe the (heavily) revised mechanics and playstyle for the new EVRIMA/long-term recode update. Note that a lot of this information WILL CHANGE during the update process, so this may not always be up-to-date.
Disclaimer, and a Note
As of 8/25/20, I have chosen to distance myself from the Isle. This guide will remain but will not be updated. All information is applicable for update 0.4.3.13 for the EVRIMA branch.
1. This information is heavily WIP. It may change; some of it may be inaccurate. However, I hope you will find this guide useful.
2. Bear in mind this is not a comprehensive guide to The Isle. This is designed for older players who want to learn about the new update, not new players. If you’re one of the latter, there are plenty of guides for you.
3. I’m working on reorganizing the contents more logically at a later date; for now I’m just trying to get the information out there into the wider community.
4. Because of the seamless growth rework, I find myself having to rename things. Thus, I have come up with the following terms (I’ll reference them off utah growth stages for an example).
Juvi: From spawning in up until adult coloration.
Natal juvi: The period where you’re still a spotty boy, a little tail banding.
Mature juvi: When the adult overlay is fully coming in.
Adult: From when your adult colors come in until you die.
Natal adult: Your adult colors just came in, until you’ve grown.
Mature adult: Your full colors are in, they’re vibrant, and you’re one of the largest utahs out there.
I’ll still occasionally use terms like “fresh-spawn”, “fresh adult”, and “full adult” for clarification. But if it isn’t a specific event-in a window of 3 or less minutes-I’ll use one of these. I hope you will become accustomed to these terms.
Essential/Survival Mechanics & Info
Sniff to display a compass, plants and bodies. Herbis can sniff for bodies, not sure if carnis can find plants yet tho. Water will also be shown. If it’s out of view, a plume of scent particles or a cloud of colored dots will show the location. The faster the dots approach you, the farther it is. Otherwise it will be faintly highlighted. The compass has only an “up” arrow for north, a “down” arrow for south.
Corpses are red, footprints yellow. Most rivers are now sniffable too! However, some sections are not drinkable yet.
There’s been no thorough testing of this, but if you stay still your sniff range may improve-a reason not to be constantly sniffing as you traverse.
If you need something badly, it’ll show up more clearly than other things, very useful in a chaotic environment with a lot of foliage.
When you call, if you hold the button it’ll be a longer call that travels a greater distance and is slightly deeper in tone.
If you call often, your voice will go hoarse temporarily. Same with when you’re out of stam.
Hold alt while moving for freecam.
Food and water values work the same way but have been slightly modified for all dinos.
You cannot character-select to choose a skin.
Seamless growth is in.
You don’t really need to know locations right now, just run around until you find water; stick around there and follow the rest of the guide. However, the tall rock is directly to the north, and is an easy landmark.
Nesting is NOT yet introduced.
(Unless stated, controls are likely the same as pre-EVRIMA.)
Insert to see character menu.
Chat as normal, slightly revised UI.
Possibly no local, global, group, etc.?
The growth bar shows progress towards TOTAL growth, not the next stage.
Servers show up the same way.
New blood image around the edges.
When you broadcast, your name appears to other players of the same species. This happens no matter which “version” of the broadcast you perform (long or short).
When you broadcast, birds will fly out of the trees. This is an additional method to find other players, and another reason to not broadcast.
When body-dragging, remember you can only drag corpses your size or lighter. This is only an option for carnivores. If it’s small enough, you can grab it and run; everything else, you have to drag. G drags a body.
If you overeat, you will become sick and receive a stamina (and bite force?) debuff that lasts for 10 minutes.
Rolling in dirt or mud masks your scent for a short time.
Crouching no longer grants ambush speed.
Press and hold e to interact.
Herbivores can graze off the plains grass.
Depending where you are, water physics are either totally broken (you can walk straight under the water) or buggy (you’ll become stuck, and jiggle about until you log off).
There is no AI currently implemented.
You will automatically dodge around small trees, creating a unique forest environment of weaving through the brush.
Rain and other weather may be implemented, but I’m not sure on this one, or what their effects would be.
There’s no nightvision or night cycle, but the deep forest in some places gets almost as dark.
Only a cropped playable area is currently available.
Press directional keys to swing around, and if you’re moving quickly there will be a short “slide-stop” period. I believe a turn of more than 110ish degrees is needed to slide-stop. Note that you can’t sprint until your turn is done, which has positives and negatives: you can hold shift, and won’t have to repress it, but you also can’t start running quickly if you see something coming.
When utah eats, blood appears on its snout. This won’t wash off ’till you drink, and you shouldn’t leave it on, because anyone else you see will realize you ate recently and try to find your carcass.
You’ll become skinnier as your food goes down-an older mechanic.
If you aren’t AFK’ing, lie down in the new grasslands when you sit. You can see preds coming, and will have time to get away- rather than the dense, dark forest.
Combat/Hunting Mechanics
There’s a little collision-you can collide with others’ bodies; when you bite down there’s a slight recoil, and the other player’s body will respond.
If you run into, say, a tenonto’s tail, you’ll get smacked back or slowed down and immobilized for a second, however.
Stamina is more important now, a lot goes away when you perform your “special”. You have a pretty big pool of it though, whatever you’re playing- so when in doubt, run the heck away.
Bites don’t hit where your mouth was, they hit where it’s going to be when the bite lands. Your mouth can pass through someone and not hit them if they weren’t down where the bite lands. This is mostly an issue for utah.
(Unless stated, controls are likely the same as pre-EVRIMA.)
When body-dragging, remember you can only drag corpses your size or lighter. This is only an option for carnivores. If it’s small enough, you can grab it and run; everything else, you have to drag. G drags a body.
There is no AI currently implemented.
Press directional keys to swing around, and if you’re moving quickly there will be a short “slide-stop” period. I believe a turn of more than 110ish degrees is needed to slide-stop. Note that you can’t sprint until your turn is done, which has positives and negatives: you can hold shift, and won’t have to repress it, but you also can’t start running quickly if you see something coming.
When utah eats, blood appears on its snout. This won’t wash off ’till you drink, and you shouldn’t leave it on, because anyone else you see will realize you ate recently and try to find your carcass.
I don’t believe bleeding as a combat mechanic is implemented, but aesthetic injury is.
You can become “injured” when you reach a certain health (30%?). I don’t know if this slows you down or is just an animation.
Questionably useful, but if you hit escape the menu pops up and your surroundings are blurred. This could be good to spot other dinos in a dense environment, by reducing things to basic color patterns.
Utahraptor: In-Depth Guide
Basic Survival:
Natal juvi utahs have a new spotty skin.
You can go for 90 of your 100 minutes without starving.
Growth time is roughly 100 minutes. I don’t know how much time exactly is spent in each phase, but probably somewhere around 55 as a juvi and 45 minutes as an adult.
Sneak in and out of the treeline, lone dinosaurs in fields are your best friend.
If you’re cocky, you’ll be caught. Swamp is death for you. Stick to small rivers, little clearings.
Never stage a hunt where your target is bigger (looks to be a higher growth, not always physically bigger) than you, and/or there isn’t easy cover nearby- a utah with its tail sticking out of a bush is a dead utah.
You can sniff while moving-use it!
Drag corpses into piles of ferns, etc., to hide them.
You’re surprisingly fast as a juvi. Weave between the trees using auto-dodge to avoid pursuers, or attack guerilla-style onto the open plains.
The ideal bushes for hiding are the small palms with a few yellow leaves, these will hide your back VERY well.
To find food, sniff for a body (it will be a red trail) or footprints leading you to prey. Generally you’ll be trawling the wilderness for food. If you find a herd or pack, either stick around and hunt them, join them, or move on if they’re too tough. One strategy, esp. in a pack, is to blockade a water source. Any prey has to go through your “net” to enter, and if you don’t get them on the way in, you can kill them when they try to leave.
Essentials of Combat:
You cannot pounce until full adult.
Utahraptor can pounce with right click, bite down with left click. Swivel the camera to aim the pounce. if you aim straight up under your dino, you won’t move at all and will just perform a sort of high-power jump. If you aim outwards, however-a 70 degrees or so angle (from the ground) being ideal-you can achieve some pretty impressive distances. Note that pouncing down onto an enemy rarely works because of complicated hitbox reasons.
To pounce, you have to HOLD RMB.
Pouncing is high-risk, high-reward. It takes 10% of stamina and if it goes wrong…”You’re dead in the water, boy.”
Jumping is a risk-calculated maneuver. Here are the situations where you should/shouldn’t jump: 2+v1. Yes. 1v1. No. 1v2+. Ys. 2+v2+. Sometimes; if there’s a terrain incident (ditch, ridge, river, etc.) then yes.
Bite timing is key.
Utah v Utah
When facing a pack, size is unimportant. If they have at least one young utah of your size or smaller, it’s worth it. Most packs will be disorganized; fight through the trees to attack them. Run in, weave around them, bite the smallest, run back into the trees. They will be in chaos, distracted, disoriented as you come from different places in the treeline every time. This is especially effective when you’re still a juvi.
If you find yourself facing a solo utah, do not attack unless they are your size or smaller, else you shall not be able to win. The preferred method for this is simply to run at them and bite repeatedly, then perform the typical chase-each-other-in-circles maneuver. Or at least, lure them into this pattern; then use the directional keys, spin, and intercept them. Repeat until they’re dead. Rather little skill in this one; but remember that bites hit where the end point is. That’s about halfway down a utah’s chest for reference.
Pouncing other utahs is good, but only if you outnumber/are on par with them, and only if it’s your initial ambush attack. Otherwise it’s not worth it for the risk incurred with stam drain and a fast-moving target.
To pounce, you have to HOLD RMB.
If you get stuck on a bigger utah, then either run or try to duck out, circle around them. Threading the needle, essentially.
Utah v Tenonto
Sneak in and out of the treeline, lone dinosaurs in fields are your best friend. You’re faster than a tenonto of the same growth- run in, bite the head, weave around it, run into the bush to escape quickly if you have to.
Make them waste their stam trying to chase you, then circle back around them and run in again.
If you’re cocky, you’ll be caught.
Swamps are a death trap for you, unless they have high reed beds (good, especially as a juvi). Stick to small rivers, little clearings. Never stage a hunt where your target is bigger (looks to be a higher growth, not physically bigger) than you, and there isn’t easy cover nearby. A utah with its tail sticking out of a bush is a dead utah.
You can sniff while moving to track prey or find popular locations-use it!
Your speed has been buffed massively whilst you’re a juvi, you’re a little speed demon at this stage. Mostly scavenge while a natal juvi, but if an opportunity presents itself…
You cannot pounce until full adult.
The ideal bushes for hiding whilst on the run are the small palms with a few yellow leaves, these will hide your back VERY well.
If you run into a tenonto’s tail, you’ll get smacked back or slowed down and immobilized for a second.
Don’t chase tenontos! They’ll stop and then back-kick you. Instead, run to their side, then weave back into their path. It’s easier to keep track of them this way too.
Pouncing is high-risk, high-reward. It takes 10% of stamina and if it goes wrong…”You’re dead in the water, boy.” Quick-fingered tenontos can kill you as you pounce.
To pounce, you have to HOLD RMB.
Drag corpses into piles of ferns, etc., to hide them from avenging herdmates or predators who don’t think to sniff.
Jumping is a risk-calculated maneuver. Here are the situations where you should/shouldn’t jump: 2+v1. Yes. 1v1. No. 1v2+. Ys. 2+v2+. Sometimes; if there’s a terrain incident (ditch, ridge, river, etc.) then yes.
If you run into a tenonto, then get the heck out of there. As fast as you possibly can.
Above all, remember: Tenonto 1v1 is NOT supposed to be an easy fight.
Bite timing is key.
Tenontosaurus: In-Depth Guide
Basic Survival:
Growth time is roughly (by my calculations) about 2 hrs 25 mins. 1hr 20 as a juvi, 1hr 5 as a growing adult.
You eat bushes with bright green leaves and red flowers/berries. There’s two types: the old one, which is just…a pale green bush, and another which is more tropical.
You can also hold E over the common plains grasses to graze for a small, but consistent amount of food. This is best done while in a herd. It is mostly just a preventative measure so you don’t starve… However, you can grow a tenonto to full adult by purely grazing and only drinking a few times.
If you’re resting, do it in the center of grasslands. You can see predators coming. If you’re AFK’ing, however, or are a natal juvi, then the forest is preferable. Generally, stay in the forest; while you’re on the plains, you can very easily be spotted. Come out into the open only to find food, quickly grab a drink, or orient yourself if you’re heading somewhere. Swamp is a haven for you. Be there as much as you can, as fast as you can.
Essentials of Combat:
You kick backwards with right click, bite down with left click if you’re moving; if you’re stationary it’s a stomp/thrash attack. The back-kick is an AoE attack that whacks back small attackers.
Do not spam back kick to kill attackers (unless they’re the same size as you, in which case this *might* work. But it’s unlikely.) Bite is much more efficient.
Back kick orients to where your legs are, remember, so consider that when using it.
You have a jump too, but it’s only of any use for exploration. It doesn’t get you off the ground high enough to make a difference.
Tenonto v Utah
Do not spam back kick to kill attackers (unless they’re the same size as you, in which case this *might* work. But it’s unlikely.) Bite is much more efficient. Rotate in a circle, standing still, and using the directional keys to turn. This way, an attacker may get stuck on your body; this will also make it harder to be pounced. If they get stuck on you, notice it, and immediately stop turning and do one of two things. If you’re at least a natal adult, you can try to back-kick them (with about a 40% success rate); or if you’re small/almost dead, you can run. This will only work if there’s immediate cover and the utah is inexperienced with tracking a moving target. I estimate a rough 60% success rate, if conditions are favorable (a fight near the treeline).
Tenonto v Tenonto
You shouldn’t be fighting other tenontos, they’re your best source of protection. But if you’re one of those people…
If they’re bigger than you, don’t try. If they’re same size/smaller, then this is what you ought to do: run at them and start biting. When they realize what’s happening, back-kick them. If they’re small enough, they should get slapped back. Then run over, begin to bite them again, back-kick, repeat. If they weren’t small enough, just do “circle combat” then spin and bite them. Repeat as needed until they’re dead or you almost are; then run away in either case. Alternatively, if in a forest, you can run after them while biting. ONLY in a forest; anywhere else, and they would back-kick you when you caught up with them.
Changelog
A list of recent changes to the guide.
1. Removed a line implying the broadcast didn’t display your name in the current build.
2. Added a suggestion that you should try to make the enemy waste their stam in Utah v Tenonto.
3. Increased estimated Utah growth time.
4. Added a line pointing out that locations aren’t useful right now.
5. Added that Tenonto broadcast also scares birds.
Other Guides
This is a list of guides that may help fill in some of the blank spots in this one. If I didn’t mention your guide, I probably just missed it.
“The Isle: Beginner’s EVRIMA Guide” by Oslo. A guide similar in scope to this one, very good for new players who are jumping in to EVRIMA as their first Isle experience or have limited knowledge about the game.
“Places to go the isle” by Mike0811. A guide lacking in grammar, but full of screenshots of different places of interest in EVRIMA.
Conclusion
I hope this guide was/is useful to you. Please let me know if there’s any way you think it could be improved.
P.S. Adding the obligatory “Please rate up and favorite.”
And remember: when in doubt…
