¶ Cluster Alpha System - Competitive ARK PvP Seasons
¶ ⚔️ Raid. Conquer. Rank Up.
Cluster Alpha turns every kill and raid into points. Climb the leaderboard across the season, and the top tribes split massive VertCoin payouts and exclusive starter kits when the map wipes.
Join the Battle on Discord¶ 🏆 Why Cluster Alpha?
¶ 💯 Zero-Sum Economy
Every point you earn is stolen from a rival. No farming, no exploits, only real PvP moves the leaderboard.
¶ 🗡️ Raids That Matter
Wipe an enemy base and steal up to 75% of their points. Raiding is finally worth the C4.
¶ 👑 Season Rewards
Top 3 tribes earn up to 15× their Alpha Points in VertCoin, plus a Fighter, Tamer, or Builder starter kit next wipe.
¶ 📡 See It Live
Every day and week, the bot auto-posts recaps to our alpha-feed channel: top killers, top raiders, biggest point swings, active rivalries, and the reigning alpha tribe.
Live weekly recap, auto-posted every Monday at 10am Eastern.
The Cluster Alpha System is a competitive ranking mechanism for ARK PvP seasons. Tribes earn Alpha Points through base power, PvP kills, and raiding.
See Also: PvP Scenarios & Examples
¶ Design Philosophy
Problem: ARK's default meta is defensive. Tribes transfer loot off-server during raids, making raiding feel unrewarding.
Solution: Make points the reward. The system uses a zero-sum economy where all PvP points are transferred from victim to killer. This makes every kill and raid meaningful.
¶ Power Rating
Power represents your tribe's base strength, calculated from defensive structures.
¶ Structure Power Values
| Structure | Power |
|---|---|
| Electric Generator | 1 |
| Plant Species-Z | 2 |
| Plant X / Plant-X Turret | 5 |
| Tek Generator | 8 |
| Ballista/Catapult Turret | 9 |
| Auto Turret | 20 |
| Heavy Turret | 35 |
| Tek Turret | 55 |
| Tek Forcefield | 100 |
¶ Requirements
- Turrets must be powered ON
- Turrets with 100+ rounds = Full power value
- Turrets with 1-99 rounds = Half power value
- Empty turrets (0 rounds) = No power
¶ Turret Ammo Examples
| Turret | Full Ammo (100+) | Low Ammo (1-99) | Empty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Turret | 20 power | 10 power | 0 |
| Heavy Turret | 35 power | 17 power | 0 |
| Tek Turret | 55 power | 27 power | 0 |
¶ Base Detection
Your power comes from your single largest qualifying base, not all structures.
How it works:
- Structures are grouped by density clustering (10+ structures within 2.1 lat/lon)
- Each cluster must have: 2+ foundations, 2+ walls, 1+ door
- Only the highest-power cluster counts
This means:
- FOBs and outposts don't add to your power
- Scattered turrets around the map don't count
- Only your main, defended base matters
¶ Power Cap
Power is capped at 10,000 for passive point calculations. Tribes above this still benefit from better defense, but won't earn more passive points.
¶ Alpha Points
Points determine rankings. The tribe with the most points at season end wins.
¶ Point Sources
| Source | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Passive (hourly) | Minted | Only source of new points |
| PvP Kills | Zero-Sum | Transferred from victim to killer |
| Bounty Board | Zero-Sum | Extra points from top 3 tribes |
| Most Wanted | Zero-Sum | Extra points for killing top killers |
| Raiding | Zero-Sum | Proportional to power destroyed |
¶ Passive Income
Every hour, active tribes earn: power^0.23 points
| Power | Points/Hour |
|---|---|
| 500 | ~4 pts |
| 1,000 | ~5 pts |
| 5,000 | ~7 pts |
| 10,000 | ~8 pts |
¶ Activity Requirement
You must have PvP activity within the last 7 days to earn passive points.
Activity means:
- At least 1 PvP kill (as killer), OR
- At least 1 enemy power-contributing structure destroyed
Tribes that "turtle" (sit in base without fighting) earn nothing.
¶ Zero-Power Decay
Tribes with 0 power lose 10% of their points per hour. Build a base or lose everything.
¶ PvP Kill Points
When you kill an enemy player, you steal points from their tribe.
¶ Base Formula
base_points = 5 + log₁₀(victim_tribe_power) × 2
| Victim Tribe Power | Base Points |
|---|---|
| 100 | 9 pts |
| 500 | 10 pts |
| 1,000 | 11 pts |
| 5,000 | 12 pts |
| 10,000+ | 13 pts (capped) |
¶ Tame Kills
When your tame kills an enemy player, you earn 20% of normal PvP kill points.
Example: If killing a player from a 5,000 power tribe normally gives 12 points, your tame killing them gives 2.4 points.
This rewards tame-based kills while keeping direct player kills more valuable.
¶ Kill Streak Multiplier
Consecutive kills against the same tribe within 1 hour stack:
| Kill # | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| 1st | 1.0x |
| 2nd | 1.5x |
| 3rd | 2.0x |
| 4th+ | 2.5x |
¶ Defense Bonus
1.5x multiplier when your structures were damaged in the last 30 minutes.
This rewards defending your base against raiders rather than logging off.
¶ Underdog Bonus
Smaller tribes get bonus points (up to 50%) when killing players from stronger tribes.
Formula: bonus = min(50%, (victim_power - killer_power) / victim_power × 25%)
Example:
- Your tribe: 1,000 power
- Victim's tribe: 5,000 power
- Bonus: (5000-1000)/5000 × 25% = 20% bonus
¶ Multi-Kill Medals
Kill multiple unique players within 2.5 minutes for bonus points:
| Kills | Medal | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Double Kill | +25% |
| 3 | Triple Kill | +50% |
| 4 | Overkill | +75% |
| 5 | Killtacular | +100% |
| 6 | Killtrocity | +125% |
| 7 | Killimanjaro | +150% |
| 8 | Killtastrophe | +175% |
| 9 | Killpocalypse | +200% |
| 10+ | Killionaire | +250% |
Note: Consecutive kills against the same player don't count toward the chain, but don't break it either. You can kill Player A, then B, then A again (counts as 3).
¶ Bounty Board
The top 3 tribes by points have bounties on their heads:
| Rank | Bonus When Killed |
|---|---|
| #1 Tribe | +15% |
| #2 Tribe | +10% |
| #3 Tribe | +5% |
The bonus comes FROM the victim tribe's points (zero-sum).
¶ Most Wanted
The top 3 players by total kills have personal bounties:
| Rank | Bonus When Killed |
|---|---|
| #1 Killer | +15% |
| #2 Killer | +10% |
| #3 Killer | +5% |
¶ Raiding
Destroy enemy structures to steal their accumulated points.
¶ How It Works
- When you destroy a power-contributing structure (turret, generator, forcefield), it's logged
- Every hour, the system calculates how much power each tribe lost
- Points are stolen based on how much power you dropped them
¶ Points Stolen Formula
Simple linear scaling:
Points Stolen = Power Loss % × 75%
| Power Loss | Points Stolen |
|---|---|
| 25% wipe | 18.75% of their points |
| 50% wipe | 37.5% of their points |
| 75% wipe | 56.25% of their points |
| 100% wipe | 75% of their points |
Example: Tribe B has 1,000 points and 5,000 power. You wipe them completely (100% power loss).
- Points stolen:
100% × 75% = 75%of their points - You gain 750 points, they lose 750 points
¶ Multi-Tribe Raids
When multiple tribes raid together, points are split based on power destroyed.
Example: Tribe A destroys 3,000 power worth of structures, Tribe B destroys 1,000 power worth.
- Tribe A gets 75% of the stolen points
- Tribe B gets 25% of the stolen points
¶ Home Tribe Attribution
Points always go to your "home tribe", the tribe you belong to with the highest power in the cluster.
Why this matters:
- You can't abuse FOB tribes to hide points
- If you're in "FOB Tribe" (300 power) but also in "Main Tribe" (5,000 power), your main tribe gets the points
- Prevents shell tribe abuse
¶ Requirements
For raid points to transfer:
- Victim tribe must be 48+ hours old
- Victim tribe must have 200+ power
- Attacker tribe must have 200+ power
¶ Why Can't I Steal More Than 75%?
Once you've wiped a tribe (0 power), they have nothing left to lose power-wise. The remaining 25% of their points will naturally decay over time while they're at 0 power.
This prevents "foundation wiping" from being too rewarding - you get the majority of points from the wipe, but there's diminishing returns for continued aggression against a tribe that's already been destroyed.
¶ Raid Alerts
When a tribe destroys 10+ structures in 5 minutes, a live alert is sent to the alpha channel.
¶ Home Tribe System
Your "home tribe" is your tribe with the highest power in the cluster.
All points (kills and raids) go to your home tribe.
This prevents:
- Using alt accounts to farm points
- Creating shell tribes to stockpile points
- FOB abuse where small tribes accumulate points
Minimum Power: Your home tribe must have 200+ power to receive any points.
¶ Alliance Detection
Two tribes are considered "allied" if any active members share the same home tribe.
How it works:
- System checks each active member's home tribe (highest power tribe)
- If a member from Tribe A and a member from Tribe B both call Tribe C "home", A and B are allied
- Allied tribes cannot earn points from interactions with each other
Activity Requirement: Only members active within the last 24 hours are considered. Inactive alts don't count.
Example:
- Player "Bob" is in both "Alpha Raiders" (5,000 power) and "Beach Bobs" (200 power)
- Bob's home tribe is "Alpha Raiders" (highest power)
- "Alpha Raiders" and "Beach Bobs" are now allied through Bob
- Kills and raids between them award zero points
¶ Visibility Commands
Use these commands to check alliance conflicts BEFORE raiding:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
.conflicts <tribe> |
Check if raiding a specific tribe will earn points |
.myalliances |
View all tribes you're connected to (can't earn points from) |
¶ Zero-Sum Economy
The most important anti-abuse feature: all PvP points are transfers, not created.
¶ Why Zero-Sum Prevents Abuse
| Abuse Attempt | Result |
|---|---|
| Kill trading between friends | Net zero, you gain what they lose |
| Farming your own alt | Net zero, your alt's tribe loses what you gain |
| Creating shell tribes | Can't accumulate without fighting |
| Bounty farming | Bounty comes from victim, not created |
The only way to add points to the economy is passive income, which requires both power AND activity.
¶ Rivalries
When two tribes have 10+ combined kills against each other within 7 days, they become RIVALS.
Kill notifications show the rivalry score:
🔥 RIVALS (TribeA 6 - 4 TribeB)
Rivalries add narrative to the competition without affecting point calculations.
¶ Announcements
¶ Milestones
Tribes are announced when reaching: 100, 500, 1K, 5K, 10K, 25K, 50K, 100K points
¶ Daily Recap (10am UTC)
- Top killer of the day
- Top raider of the day
- Biggest point swings
- New rivalries formed
¶ Weekly Recap (Mondays 10am UTC)
- Top 5 killers
- Top 5 raiders
- Active rivalries
- Current alpha tribe
- Weekly totals
¶ Season Warnings
Countdown announcements at: 7d, 3d, 1d, 12h, 6h, 3h, 1h before season end
¶ Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
.power |
View power leaderboard |
.alpha |
View alpha points leaderboard |
.mystats |
View your personal statistics |
.mostwanted |
View top 3 killers with bounties |
.rivalries |
View active tribal rivalries |
.conflicts <tribe> |
Check if raiding a tribe will earn points |
.myalliances |
View tribes you're connected to through shared memberships |
¶ Season Rewards
24 hours before wipe, the top 3 tribes receive virtual currency:
| Place | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1st | 15x their alpha points |
| 2nd | 10x their alpha points |
| 3rd | 5x their alpha points |
Example: 1st place with 80,000 points = 1,200,000 VC split among members
¶ 1st Place Bonus
Each member of the winning tribe gets a starter pack next wipe:
Fighter Kit: 10 bolas, wyvern chibi, microraptor, 1 set of mid flak, 1 set of prim flak, 10 bear traps, shotgun (double barrel), 35 shells, slingshot, prim whip
Tamer Kit: 5 cryopods, stego chibi, gallimimus with saddle, harpoon and 35 nets, 10 large bear traps, 105.5 longneck, 35 tranq darts, 100 mutagel, 50 mutagen, 100 narcotics, 10 dino gateways and 5 gates, 5 wooden billboards, wooden club
Builder Kit: Raft and stone base with smithy, regular forge, cooking pot, 2 simple beds, and a parasaur
¶ Ready to claim the top spot?
Pick a tribe, build your power, and start stealing points. The next season is waiting.
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