The Phoenix is a mystical creature that you can find and tame in ARK Survival Evolved (PC, PS4, Xbox One). However, taming the firebird is quite challenging. It is rare and only appears on the “Scorched Earth” map. Additionally, you can only find and tame the bird within a tiny time window. The taming strategy works differently than for most creatures in ARK: You need flames!
The Phoenix is also known as the firebird and only lives in Scorched Earth.
The bird undergoes a recurring cycle: The Phoenix is born from ash in the heat. Once the heat is gone, the creature turns back to dust. Only in the merciless desert of “Scorched Earth” is there enough heat to bring the Phoenix to life.
The Phoenix has a friendly disposition and would never attack. If survivors dare to play with fire, they can tame and ride the mystical creature. This is, however, not easy.
The Phoenix only spawns during the “Super Heat” in Scorched Earth – You have 5 minutes
The biggest problem you will encounter when taming the firebird is the time limit.
Here’s what you need to know about taming the Phoenix:
- The Phoenix only spawns during the “Super Heat” in Scorched Earth
- The heatwave lasts for 5 minutes, during which you need to find and tame the bird
- Only one single Phoenix spawns across the entire Scorched Earth map
- The Phoenix is friendly – It does not run away and does not attack
- The Phoenix is always flying and will never come down!
- The Phoenix is a passive tame – It does NOT need to be unconscious to be tamed
- Fire is needed for taming the Phoenix. The firebird must be doused in flames
- You can tame the Phoenix with fire arrows, a flamethrower, or a fire wyvern. However, fire arrows are not recommended, as they significantly slow down the taming process
If the Phoenix turns to ash, the taming progress is retained
You only have 5 minutes with the bird during the heatwave in Scorched Earth. Once the “Super Heat” is over, the Phoenix turns to ash. If you have already started taming the Phoenix with fire, your tame progress will be preserved!
This means that if the ash pile turns back into the Phoenix, you can continue taming where you left off. So be sure to remember where the Phoenix’s ash pile is when it turns to dust. Then you won’t have to start searching for the creature all over again.
Taming the Phoenix with a fire wyvern – Watch out for stamina & attack damage
The wyvern has the advantage of being a fast and strong flying creature in ARK Survival Evolved. With it, you can circle over the desert and look for the Phoenix.
If you have a fire wyvern, you can use its flame attack to tame the Phoenix. You need to fly close to the Phoenix and cook it well with the wyvern’s attack. Since the Phoenix is not aggressive and does not fly away from you, you can get close to it.
- Use a wyvern with high stamina: The Phoenix stays in the air and will never land. Remember that it only stays for 5 minutes during the heatwave. If your house dragon has too little stamina, you will have to land repeatedly, costing you valuable time.
- Use a wyvern with high attack damage: For taming the Phoenix, you need significant firepower. The higher the attack damage of the wyvern, the faster the taming will go.
Taming the Phoenix with a flamethrower & cage – Watch out for high walls
Another effective method is to build a cage around the Phoenix’s ash. The advantage is that you can tame it comfortably from the ground.
- If the Phoenix despawns after the “Super Heat”, it turns into a pile of ash
- The ash falls to the ground and here the Phoenix will respawn
- Build a cage over the ash pile
- Make sure the cage is high enough! The Phoenix spawns well above the ash pile. It is advisable to stack at least 5 walls on top of each other.
- If the Phoenix spawns again, it is now trapped and the cage can be minimized
- Now you can burn the Phoenix with the flamethrower. However, you will need more than one flamethrower.
- If you fail to tame the Phoenix within the 5 minutes of Super Heat, you will need to build the cage even higher. Because it will now spawn above the cage.
Tamed: The Phoenix smelts metal, cooks meat & produces silica pearls
Once you have tamed this gem, you primarily have a prestige mount. In combat, it will be less useful, even though it can attack. There are stronger alternatives, such as the wyvern.
The Phoenix feeds on sulfate.
You can also use it as a super fast metal smelter. To do this, simply place the metal in the bird’s inventory. If you put raw meat in the Phoenix’s inventory, it will be cooked. As a resource, you will obtain silica pearls from the firebird – these it excretes.
Another mystical mount is the unicorn. In our Equus taming guide, we explain how to get the unicorn.
