Rockwell
This article is about Rockwell as a boss. For Rockwell as a character in the lore, see Edmund Rockwell.
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This page may contain spoilers related to the background-story of ARK: Survival Evolved. If you want to experience the story ingame, you probably shouldn't continue reading on this page. |
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This article is about content exclusive to the DLC: Aberration |
   
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This article is about content exclusively available in the version on Steam, Xbox One, PS4, Epic Games. This creature, item, or feature is not yet released in the version on Nintendo Switch. |
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/Rockwell/Rockwell_Character_BP.Rockwell_Character_BP'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Gamma
admincheat summon Rockwell_Character_BP_Easy_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/Rockwell/Rockwell_Character_BP_Easy.Rockwell_Character_BP_Easy'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Beta
admincheat summon Rockwell_Character_BP_Medium_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/Rockwell/Rockwell_Character_BP_Medium.Rockwell_Character_BP_Medium'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Alpha
admincheat summon Rockwell_Character_BP_Hard_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/Rockwell/Rockwell_Character_BP_Hard.Rockwell_Character_BP_Hard'" 500 0 0 35
Variant RockwellTentacle
admincheat summon RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/RockwellTentacle/RockwellTentacle_Character_BP.RockwellTentacle_Character_BP'" 500 0 0 35
Variant RockwellTentacle (Gamma)
admincheat summon RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Gamma_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/RockwellTentacle/RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Gamma.RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Gamma'" 500 0 0 35
Variant RockwellTentacle (Beta)
admincheat summon RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Beta_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/RockwellTentacle/RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Beta.RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Beta'" 500 0 0 35
Variant RockwellTentacle (Alpha)
admincheat summon RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Alpha_C
or
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/Boss/RockwellTentacle/RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Alpha.RockwellTentacle_Character_BP_Alpha'" 500 0 0 35
Yes
Rockwell (formerly known as Sir Edmund Rockwell) is the Boss in ARK: Survival Evolved's expansion pack Aberration and the overarching primary antagonist of the ARK storyline. He was one of the few explorers who had written Explorer Notes containing recipes before he went insane "ascending" with his Edmundium (simply known to villagers as 
Element) experiment, as evidenced by his notes in the Aberration Map.
Contents
Basic Info[edit | edit source]
The place to activate the teleporter to the Rockwell Arena depends on currently unknown conditions. For some players only the Terminal shows the summon icons, other players can see them also in the Obelisks on the surface or in loot crates.
Behavior[edit | edit source]
When you enter the Rockwell Arena, Rockwell's Tentacles will attempt to attack you by slamming into the ground, electrocuting the ground, and shooting balls of energy at you and your tames.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
This former explorer is a humanoid monstrosity. He is gargantuan in size, ranking second largest in game. His limbs and hair have been replaced by many tendrils with the larger tendrils possessing wicked spikes presumably made of bone. His face is an equal atrocity with one half still resembling a human face whilst the other half is covered in element filled veins topped off with overgrown fang like teeth. His torso is more or less a guard box for his only surviving organ, his heart, that acts as a pump for his element filled veins that are present all over his body.
He stands at 142 meters tall, with his tentacles being 160 meters long on the surface, and he weighs 52,236 metric tons.
Lore[edit | edit source]
Rockwell was one of the survivors from the story of ARK. He was Helena's closest friend on the Island due to their common passion for science and tea along with their specialties helping the various tribes on the Island. When referring to his past life, he seems to be from 19th century England during the Victorian Era due to his knowledge of hunting creatures from Africa and India since areas of Africa and India were territories under British authority during the time. In the Island's tribal affairs, he settled uneasy tensions among the tribes as he was the leader of his neutral tribe that is well respected by other Island tribes. In terms of science on the Island, Rockwell doesn't hesitate to snatch unsuspecting survivors to use as test subjects for his Rockwell recipes. Also, he was the first survivor to discover an artifact and hired the Island tribes to gather the artifacts.
When Helena went to an obelisk on the Island with Mei Yin without sending Rockwell a letter of wanting to join, Rockwell's trust was shattered when he saw her in New Legion custody. When Rockwell entered the Island's Tek cave, he gained an obsession with Element. As he traveled the arks, he became more unstable until he eventually became the Overseer of the Aberration Ark by injecting himself with liquid Element, while having the desire to mercilessly give survivors a painful death. When the Aberration ARK fell onto Earth, Rockwell makes plans to gather an army by making the Genesis Simulation a factory for generating survivors that rally to his cause.
Color Scheme and Regions[edit | edit source]
The Rockwell always spawns with the same color scheme and has no color regions.
This means it is currently impossible to make alterations to the Rockwell's colors.
Known Information[edit | edit source]
Tribute Requirements[edit | edit source]
The following items are needed to open the Aberration Portal:
| Item | Quantity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gamma | Beta | Alpha | |
| Player Level | 60 | 75 | 100 |
 Artifact of the Depths  |
1 | 1 | 1 |
 Artifact of the Shadows |
1 | 1 | 1 |
 Artifact of the Stalker |
1 | 1 | 1 |
 Basilisk Scale |
0 | 4 | 8 |
 Nameless Venom |
0 | 12 | 20 |
 Reaper Pheromone Gland |
0 | 2 | 7 |
 Rock Drake Feather |
0 | 2 | 7 |
 Alpha Basilisk Fang |
0 | 0 | 1 |
 Alpha Karkinos Claw |
0 | 0 | 1 |
 Alpha Reaper King Barb |
0 | 0 | 1 |
Tribute Spawn Commands[edit | edit source]
Uses these commands to give yourself all the items needed for tribute:
| Gamma |
| cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB.PrimalItemArtifactAB'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_2.PrimalItemArtifactAB_2'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_3.PrimalItemArtifactAB_3'" 1 0 0 |
| Beta |
| cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB.PrimalItemArtifactAB'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_2.PrimalItemArtifactAB_2'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_3.PrimalItemArtifactAB_3'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_RockDrake.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_RockDrake'" 7 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_XenomorphPheromoneGland.PrimalItemResource_XenomorphPheromoneGland'" 7 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk'" 8 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemConsumable_NamelessVenom.PrimalItemConsumable_NamelessVenom'" 20 0 0 |
| Alpha |
| cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB.PrimalItemArtifactAB'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_2.PrimalItemArtifactAB_2'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifactAB_3.PrimalItemArtifactAB_3'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_CrabClaw.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_CrabClaw'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_ReaperBarb.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_ReaperBarb'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk_Alpha.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk_Alpha'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_RockDrake.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_RockDrake'" 7 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_XenomorphPheromoneGland.PrimalItemResource_XenomorphPheromoneGland'" 7 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilisk'" 8 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/Aberration/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemConsumable_NamelessVenom.PrimalItemConsumable_NamelessVenom'" 20 0 0 |
Drops[edit | edit source]
Unlocks[edit | edit source]
Base Stats and Growth[edit | edit source]
Note that creatures will have different stats in Survival of the Fittest
| Attribute | Base Value | Level Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | ||
 Health |
42000 | +8400 |
 Stamina |
400 | +40 |
 Oxygen |
2000 | +200 |
 Food |
2600 | +260 |
 Weight |
3000 | +60 |
 Melee Damage |
0 | +0 |
 Movement Speed |
100% | N/A |
 Torpidity |
350 | +21 |
- For a comparison of the stats of all creatures, see Base Creature Statistics.
- For an explanation of exactly how the levelup calculation works, see Creature Stats Calculation.
| Movement | Base Speed | Sprinting Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | ? | ? |
| Swimming | ? | ? |
- These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
- For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.
Note that creatures will have different stats in Survival of the Fittest
| Attribute | Base Value | Level Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | ||
| Health |
68500 | +13700 |
| Stamina |
400 | +40 |
| Oxygen |
2000 | +200 |
| Food |
2600 | +260 |
| Weight |
3000 | +60 |
| Melee Damage |
0 | +0 |
| Movement Speed |
100% | N/A |
| Torpidity |
350 | +21 |
- For a comparison of the stats of all creatures, see Base Creature Statistics.
- For an explanation of exactly how the levelup calculation works, see Creature Stats Calculation.
| Movement | Base Speed | Sprinting Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | ? | ? |
| Swimming | ? | ? |
- These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
- For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.
Note that creatures will have different stats in Survival of the Fittest
| Attribute | Base Value | Level Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | ||
| Health |
115000 | +23000 |
| Stamina |
400 | +40 |
| Oxygen |
2000 | +200 |
| Food |
2600 | +260 |
| Weight |
3000 | +60 |
| Melee Damage |
0 | +0 |
| Movement Speed |
100% | N/A |
| Torpidity |
350 | +21 |
- For a comparison of the stats of all creatures, see Base Creature Statistics.
- For an explanation of exactly how the levelup calculation works, see Creature Stats Calculation.
| Movement | Base Speed | Sprinting Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | ? | ? |
| Swimming | ? | ? |
- These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
- For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.
Wild Stats Level-up
Type in values of a wild creature to see on which stats it's emphasized. Green values on a high-level creature are very good for breeding. If you have already tamed your creature you can try to recover the breeding-stats with an external tool.[1]
The stat-calculator does not work in the mobile-view, see here for alternatives: Apps
Note that after the creature is tamed it gets bonuses on some stats depending on the taming effectiveness. This makes it hard to retrieve the levels on a tamed creature, so this tool is only for wild ones, but gives a first impression, how well the stats are distributed.
Combat[edit | edit source]
General[edit | edit source]
Rockwell stands inside the middle of the arena with a single path to him, surrounded by both his tentacles and a pool of inaccessible pure molten Element. While his tentacles are up he can not be harmed. The arena is not irradiated, because of this feel free to bring any armor better than hazard suits to ensure survival.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Destroy each of his tentacles before being able to attack his stunned body. Rinse and repeat until he is dead. The more mounted players fighting, the better the odds.
When the tentacles begin their AoE shock/dismount attack avoid it immediately and wait it out. It has a short wind-up animation and charge-up sound indicating when it's about to start. The attack can also be canceled if the tentacle is destroyed.
Nameless will begin spawning in, with a strong mount these can be dealt with.
Plant Species Z Fruits are not recommended as you can accidentally dismount and blind yourself with them. 
Charge Lantern could also work, however they are unreliable and inefficient when compared to any of the four lantern pets.
You can use meks to kill Rockwell but to get the mek in you have to throw it out of the cryopod when you hear the whoosh of the boss fight .
With the utilization of 
Cactus Broth you are able to do the entire boss fight on foot. Both reapers and nameless ignore you(unless you come too close to them) and you are able to clear the tentacles entirely with shotguns.
On gamma difficulty the fight can take less then ten minutes with two players(no less then 3 cactus broth each) with 
Pump-Action Shotguns with more then 230% damage, with 400 bullets each. You won’t use all of your ammo, but keep in mind reapers and nameless may still attack if they come too close to you, so it’s best to plan for that with extra armor, bullets, and a charge pet(this won’t affect the cactus broth unless the tame is thrown down).
For higher difficulties, you could be looking at needing not only 3-4x as much ammo, but more armor and weapons as durability will be used up quickly.
Bring standard food materials and any buffs you think will help you. 
Medical Brews or healing custom foods are highly recommended as Rockwell will still attack periodically.
When you are fighting Rockwell, you can fight him from one position at his front. You can shoot all of the tentacles(on gamma taking between 3-4 shots each with 230% dmg) and then shoot him in the chest. There is no need to run around the arena to shoot the tentacles as the barrier that blocks you from falling into the molten element does not affect projectiles. (You might need to run around a little bit to hit the ones behind him, so don’t except not using stamina)
This strategy can be considered cheaper then with tames as your only risking items, which can be farmed without spending days raising 
Rock Drakes or 
Reapers. Plus, you don’t have to deal with bunches of creatures chasing after you for the entire fight.
•If you wish, instead of using defensive armor, you can use a full set of 
Ghillie Armor to reduce your detection range from 12 meters(which is an effect of cactus broth) to 6 as ghillie halves your detection range. This can be used to help deal with nearby creatures if one is anxious of the such. But this does come with the added risk of less armor, but high quality ghillie might still help and have decent protection. But because of durability this is risky.
Recommended Tames[edit | edit source]
- Light pets such as the
Bulbdog, 
Shinehorn, 
Featherlight and the 
Glowtail will all be effective and are recommended due to helping against the Nameless and Elemental Reaper minions. - Due to Aberration not having Rex's for Rex Rushing
Aberrant Megalosaurus can be used as a substitute instead thanks to it always being night on Aberration they will always have the night buff. Pair a megalosaurus of the opposite gender with the one you are riding for the mate boost to deal its maximum damage to Rockwell. - A couple of Rock Drake can also be very effective due to being able to not only compete with the arenas Elemental Reaper minions but also doing increased damage against Nameless, the ability to turn invisible, allowing the rider to fire from the saddle while mounted, allows a passenger to ride on it as well, and they can also be equipped with a tek saddle. The Tek Saddle can allow one more passenger, allowing 3 players to ride one rock drake with. This allows 3 Rock Drakes with a Tek saddle to carry 3 players each, giving the final player the option to ride a megalosaurus for raw damage. This in turn allows the rest of the tame slots to be used for megalosaurus to damage Rockwell in his downed state, allowing maximum damage to be done in a short amount of time.
- Given that it is the player's first time and the Rock Drake Tek saddle isn't available, the Rock Drakes can carry 2 people each with their normal saddle.
- While not nearly as mobile,
Aberrant Stegosaurus are often chosen as an alternative to the Rock Drake due to it's tankiness and ability to heal from 
Sweet Vegetable Cakes. - Having a
Reaper King can also be useful as a way to deal heavy damage once Rockwell is downed thanks to its increased stats when not around charge light making it a very strong tame. - A
Yutyrannus or 2 (preferably mate boosted) should always be brought into any arena as it's one of the most valuable creature for Boss Fights due to it's courage roar ability and good stats, making them a jack-of-all-trades mount. - If players are willing to put the effort into micromanaging their food, the
Daeodon can also be valuable due to their healing ability.
Dangers[edit | edit source]
- Rockwell will often spew out purple energy balls at the target player, wounding anything around (including shoulder-mounted dinos) and inside of it with the exception of his tentacles. This includes the player while riding a mount, to be prepared for this bring multiple suits of armor and Medical Brew to increase your chances of survival. This projectile will also target camouflaged Rock Drakes. The darker the projectile color (with red being the most dangerous), the more damage it will do upon exploding.
- Shooting the projectiles will cause them to burst. Shooting it near other projectile will cause them to explode them as well, but if any survivor or dino comes into contact, they will get hit by it.
- He will also call out a constant wave of Nameless and a few
Elemental Reaper Kings to defend him after he emerges from the Element Pool for the second time. The last time he emerges from the Element Pools, the aforementioned dinos will constantly spawn and could overwhelm every survivor and their dino, making killing Rockwell a priority to stop them from spawning.
- After losing a certain amount of health, Rockwell's tentacles start an electrification AoE attack. This attack dismounts, hinders, and damages players. Watch the tentacles and stay away from this attack which will be especially deadly when other creatures are nearby. You cannot remount in the electrified area.
- For some reason, wearing a full set of riot armor is ill-advised as your character can die from hyperthermia despite it being 50 degrees fahrenheit. Be sure to wear 4 riot armor pieces and a different armor type for the 5th piece.
Weakness[edit | edit source]
Edmund Rockwell has only one weakness to his health: His heart. It becomes exposed after all the tentacles are killed momentarily.
Elemental Reaper Kings are weaker than their other wild counterpart, making them very easy to kill. Despite this, to be able to kill them effectively, they must be affected by charge light.
Nameless spawns disregard presence of other enraged alphas, and transforms into them after a while. Unlike the ones outside the arena, these do not call for Subterranean Reaper King. Despite this, it's best not to underestimate them due to their swarm.
Other than his tentacles and his inability to move around, he does not possess any other weakness.
Dossier Code[edit | edit source]
There's an encoded message on the teaser dossier, which uses the same code as in Ascension. The message decodes to
| “ | "I am not a god. I am more than that. Infinitely more. I am everything. This world, this ARK, it is my body. "
"I can feel every bit of it, every footstep of man or beast that falls upon my skin, and every root that digs into my flesh. They are all mine. Everything in this world happens only by my will. " "The ones who put me here have long since fled, but though I hate them, I accept their escape. It is their reward, for they placed me upon this throne. " "Yet should anyone else challenge me, they shall receive no mercy. My wrath will be swift and terrible, and my enemies will know only pain. I am everything. " |
„ |
Notes/Trivia[edit | edit source]
- In-game/Media
- The boss was first introduced in the community crunch 111 on 2017-12-08.[2]
- In the Genesis part 2 teaser video, Doctor Who star David Tenant voices the evil Rockwell.
- In another article it was stated that Tenant would be the De facto voice of Edmund Rockwell for Genesis part two
- Rockwell is sometimes referred to as ‘the Master’ or just Master, évidence by his new role as the corrupted master controller in the Genesis DLC and the Explorer notes
- Interestingly Rockwell is the only Corrupted Human in the entire game, it's unknown if Humans can even become naturally Corrupted as Rockwell turned into a massive abomination by experimenting on himself and despite the entire planet being taken over by the Corruption and the Titans not a single Corrupted Human was ever shown aside from Rockwell.
- Rockwell is the largest creature on Aberration.
- Rockwell was the Largest creature in the game until the Extinction Expansion Pack came out with the
King Titan replacing Rockwell for that title. - Unlike the other bosses, Rockwell's dossier appears purple in tint (perhaps due to Aberration's color and its theme of mutation/corruption), as opposed to the turquoise color associated with normal bosses. This shares a similarity in terms of different colors with King Titan and
Alpha King Titan - You can summon Rockwell at an
Obelisk like other bosses. However, Rockwell possesses his own Terminal in the style of a Tek Cave. - Rockwell is one of the only 2 bosses to have a tek cave with the other being the
Overseer. - When a Rockwell tentacle comes in contact with a dead Reaper's acid burn, it's temporarily stunned and left in a "t-pose" state until the effect wears off.
- Rockwell remains stationary, if not invulnerable, until all his tentacles are destroyed.
- The
Dermis of Rockwell is obtainable by hitting him with a 
Taxidermy Tool from the platform where his chest is exposed as he is doing his death animation. - A force tamed Rockwell does not and will not obey whistles.
- Rockwell is one of the only 2 characters the player meets with the other being Helena and he is the only one you fight against.
- Interestingly neither are technically "human" anymore by the time you meet them as Rockwell had become a Corrupted Human/Overseer hybrid and Helena became a Homo Deus.
- Lore
- Edmund Rockwell proclaims Element as Edmundium.
- Contrary to popular belief, Rockwell is not the creator of the Nameless and Reapers, as both were on Aberration during the time Rockwell was there as a human, and long before then. They were present during Mei-Yin's first hours on the Aberrant ARK, and she had arrived much earlier than Rockwell and Helena, almost 2 years prior to their arrival.
- In terms of amount of time, Mei Yin arrived 1355 days or 3.6 years after Diana woke up on Aberration and Helena and Rockwell arrived on day 1898 or 5.2 years after Diana woke up on the ARK.
- Santiago refers to the events in respective chronological order where Rockwell ascended with Element as the "Rockwell Incident" in an addendum in his Extinction explorer notes.
- The Incident began when the Tek village was celebrating Helena's mission with Mei Yin and Santiago on managing to prevent the ARK's self-destruction by hacking into the Obelisks and shutting them down while Rockwell moved undetected to gather Element samples to what he considered "enough". His right arm has grown to abnormal sizes by a self experiment with Element.
- Rockwell ascended by an injection of a mixture of his blood with molten, pure Element and transformed into a horrible monster of tentacles. He proceeded to attack the Tek city while a Tek villager sent a distress call to Helena, Santiago, and Mei Yin. When the trio arrived back at the village, Diana died in Mei Yin's arms with Rockwell heading into Aberration's depths.
- He was eventually defeated by Mei Yin and Helena and cast into the depths of Aberration. Helena wrote a letter about who Rockwell used to be out of grief in the aftermath.
- The Incident began when the Tek village was celebrating Helena's mission with Mei Yin and Santiago on managing to prevent the ARK's self-destruction by hacking into the
- Evidenced by the Explorer Notes, and by what happens in the boss fight, it appears that when Mei Yin and Helena banished Rockwell into the depths of Aberration, he somehow fell into the Guardian's chamber before assuming its place. This is likely how Rockwell states that he was "placed upon this throne". Since the Guardians are technically part of the ARK itself, Rockwell was connected to the programming and everything else which runs the station. This could easily explain what he means by saying the ARK is "his body".
- Evidenced by the same as above, Rockwell may have "taken over" Aberration. Granted the ARK was already damaged beforehand.
- Upon his defeat in the boss fight, as there is a purple dome which seems to suddenly appear around the arena, that then begins to shatter and break apart, being replaced with a blue light, while showing the player various holograms. In a sense, Rockwell's defeat seems to trigger the ARK to properly work again.
- Since Rockwell is technically a Guardian, he becomes an autonomous part of the station. The station continues to summon him in a never-ending cycle of imprisonment, battle, and death by the survivor's hands, serving as a strangely dark, yet poetic end for a man who became so corrupt and deluded.
- It seems that if an Overseer is completely destroyed, the ARK it is operating will slowly start to crumble and ultimately self-destruct.
- After Diana and company's Tek bomb completely destroyed the Overseer, the ARK suffered a malfunction.
- In lore, Helena, with the aid of Santiago, managed to prevent the ARK's self-destruction by hacking into the Obelisks and shutting them down. Cast down into the depths of Aberration, Rockwell began to mutate into a living conductor of Element, therefore claiming his role as the new Overseer, which allowed the ARK to be stable.
- After Diana and company's Tek bomb completely destroyed the
- Evidenced by the same as above, Rockwell may have "taken over" Aberration. Granted the ARK was already damaged beforehand.
- Based on his physical appearance, Rockwell isn't able to talk and only roars. His last 3 explorer notes are all written in ARK code. However, in the Genesis Simulation, Rockwell is somehow able to speak to the survivor via HLN-A and in the Arrival Protocol since the simulation coding and the mysterious ARK code could be translating what he is trying to say.
- Edmund Rockwell proclaims
Rockwell's Role as an Antagonist[edit | edit source]
Rockwell can be considered the main human antagonist for Ark even more so than Gaius Nerva due to his consistency throughout the ARKs and his influence as an antagonist overall increases as the story continues. This is all of the evidence of him being the main human antagonist:
- The Island
- In his first explorer note, he already asks the reader to kill themselves if they stole his journal.
- Every time he chats with Helena, he positions himself to be the superior scientist when talking about science.
- He chooses to accept Nerva's offer of joining the New Legion in exchange for test subjects and a hand in helping out studying the obelisks
- He twisted and manipulated theoretical facts into making Nerva think the obelisks can be turned into a weapon just so the New Legion can be near the obelisks more.
- Rockwell is shocked to find that Helena helped Mei Yin to activate an obelisk. He feels betrayed by Helena.
- Rockwell grows an obsession in learning more about the power of the obelisks, and the secrets of the Tek cave.
- Rockwell doesn't care about the New Legion and Nerva being destroyed several times over in the Tek cave for the night sky view and the mysterious material (Element).
- Scorched Earth
- He steals the artifacts from the survivors of Prophet's rest by making the guards fall asleep with his narcotic.
- He manipulates Timur, the tribe leader of Scorched Earth's in-lore alpha tribe, the Burning Phoenix into serving him.
- Rockwell gains Timur's trust by helping his wife, Nasrin, deliver their child, which was a success.
- With Timur in a good mood, Rockwell tells him about the obelisks, its artifacts, and a guardian to overcome while the tribe throws a feast in celebration of Timur becoming a father.
- The Burning Phoenix tribe holds a feast in celebration of besting the Manticore, but Rockwell poisons the whole feast and leaves their compound with Element samples.
- He hides his true self and Element samples from Helena Walker who, with Raia, found him after a sandstorm.
- Aberration
- Rockwell sees Helena as a useful, yet disposable bodyguard for him.
- Rockwell manipulated Diana into serving his needs by placing him on the tribe's research team, an expedition into the Element region for molten Element samples.
- There are instances when he writes about his experiences and suddenly, he talks in the third person as if something else took over his mind and that force is telling Rockwell to do what it wants. Since he has too much exposure to Element, this could be the Element hive mind talking to and taking over Rockwell's mind.
- Rockwell gets furious over people mocking him directly or indirectly, or if they don't treat him as a scientist.
- Mei Yin wearing a suit of Tek armor.
- His fellow researchers treat him like an old man
- The researchers lecture and scold him like a child after he injected a full dose of molten Element into a charge pet.
- When he overheard that Helena has done a great achievement, he was furious and wanted to prove that he is the better scientist.
- Rockwell injects a full dose of molten Element into his body, turning himself into a monster and killing most of the survivors at the Tek Village. He vows to watch the entire world upon a throne of Element.
- Extinction
- On Extinction, if the King Titan is defeated on Alpha difficulty, a secret ending cutscene will play, revealing that even after being slain by your hand, Rockwell is still alive and now on Earth alongside the crash-landed Aberration ARK and says a message to the player in a distorted mechanical voice, I AM COMING FOR YOU.
- The One Who Waits/Homo Deus Helena mentions that Rockwell is delusional in thinking he is high up when he has already finished descending down the ladder of madness. She admits that Rockwell chose to live as a monster who lives with inverted values where he loves tormenting people and hates caring for them.
- Genesis: Part 1
- He is rallying all of the subservient survivors from the Genesis Simulation to his cause due to his awareness and in preparation for "The Arrival", something the player doesn't really know about.
- Rockwell adds new things to the Genesis Simulation with some of them not appearing. The overall result is turning the Genesis Simulation from being a test to find the ultimate survivors to a factory in choosing people who will serve Rockwell in making Earth a world of his image.
- Criteria in measuring servility, a person's willingness to excessively serve their master.
- Invisible camera that surveys a survivor. HLN-A manages to fix this glitch.
- Adding back doors to the Simulation's security systems.
- Adding new AIs as well as a copy of HLN-A into the simulation.
- Rockwell is manipulating any survivor he gets his hands on and turns them into Corrupted Avatars. The overall result is infecting the various survivor's real bodies with Element.
- Rockwell prevents several survivors from respawning by putting them in a holding pattern inside the Genesis Simulation
- Rockwell accessed the Genesis Simulation's back up files of survivor's memories and personality that were on the consideration list.
- Rockwell made the Genesis Simulation cause errors where people are respawning in unfamiliar bodies.
- Rockwell adds the Corrupted Avatars to the Genesis Simulation.
- Rockwell is going through the survivor minds, not in the Genesis Simulation and is harshly editing them to a point it makes glitches.
- Rockwell constantly mocks the player anytime he takes over HLN-A. He mocks the player about:
- Running back to where we died only to die all over again.
- Perfectly fitting the role as a janitor by fixing glitches and in short, cleaning his mess without knowing why.
- How we are starting to struggle with the traits of civilization bounding the player.
- Gathering food, hunting the creatures, and inventing new technologies while being safe in a bell curve that someone made.
- Our memories being real or if someone else, including himself, fabricated our current childhood memories.
- Being the simulation of a real human being.
- Really knowing what the Genesis Simulation tests, himself, Helena Walker, and the Homo Deus are preparing the player for. He even notes the player doesn't really know what is going on and how everything fits together.
- Fighting against him is like shaking a fist at the sky.
- Rockwell might be the one who grabs us at the end of Genesis: Part 1. It might be possible because
- The story explorer notes of Genesis: Part 1 when Rockwell talks portray himself in the visuals as a person with tentacles and a malformed face.
- We might still be above the earth, and he was able to grab us before we got to Arat Prime. The ship that the player and other survivors are on is possibly flying over to Arat Prime instead of walking all the way and Rockwell somehow managed to intercept the ship. A possible way that Rockwell intercepted the ship is by flying, which is highly unlikely and unusual for him to do.
- He said he was coming for revenge at the end of Extinction.
- It could be possible that the tentacle at the end of Genesis: Part 1 belongs to Rockwell, as it shares many similarities to a Rockwell Tentacle.
- Very similar sound effects to Rockwell can be heard when you're grabbed.
- However, it is problematic if he is the one that grabbed you. It is true that Rockwell grabbed you, but there is a possibility that the tentacle came from the survivor we saw becoming corrupted since direct contact with corrupt Element turns a person into a tentacle monster like Rockwell and that person grabbed you with their tentacle.
- With what he is doing to survivors in the Genesis Simulation, Rockwell is intent on building an army of corrupted humans and dinosaurs outside the simulation with him leading it.
- Not only is Rockwell's return might happen but also a sentence at the end of the Genesis end credits say that Helena Walker and Mei-Yin Li will return but how they will return is unknown.
- Other than gaining servants, and pawns for his cause, Rockwell arrogantly gives the player hints about his grand plan.
- Rockwell is getting adjusted to his "tools" where they can alter the foundation of the world and describes his tools being relatively primitive to him.
- In HLN-A Story Explorer Note #40, he states the entire Genesis Simulation is under his control but an image of an entire city shows he has control of the city as well, calling it "his personal walled garden", implying that he has control over not only the Genesis Simulation but the entire city where the simulation resided and the planet Earth itself. The image includes ARKs that dot the perimeter of the city.
- The city could be Arat Prime, a mysterious location that is associated with the Genesis Simulation.
- Rockwell tells the survivor that he will do some "weeding", implying that he is planning to use Arat Prime to root something out on a grand scale.
- With the end goal of his plan involving Element being rampant on Earth, and the fact that ARKs are referred to as giant seeds, the ARKs have a pivotal role in his plan.
- Genesis: Part 2
- He almost has full control of the colony ship that is depicted in the teaser trailer to a point he can alter the creatures living on the ship, but he is currently not able to change the ship's initial destination.
- In the teaser trailer, Rockwell declared the end result of his plan: to endlessly spread his Element-empowered influence and will across the infinite universe.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
Original Teaser Image.
Boss Dossier.
Rockwell Boss
References[edit | edit source]
- Spoiler
- Aberration
- DLC exclusives
- Platform exclusives
- Unavailable on Mobile
- Unavailable on Switch
- Unavailable on Stadia
- Bosses
- Fantasy creatures
- Mammals
- Aggressive creatures
- Creatures released in v275
- Creatures released in 2017
- Creatures released in v768
- Creatures released in v518
- Untameable creatures
- Unbreedable creatures
- Creatures that are immune to torpor
- Creatures that don't drop feces
- Creatures
