In ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) there are a variety of different creatures. Especially when you are new to the world of dino adventures, this can quickly lead to confusion. Which creatures are worth it and which are not? MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller shows you 10 creatures that you should definitely tame.
What criteria were used to select the creatures? The creatures mentioned in this article all serve a specific purpose and are correspondingly a great help in the course of the game. The list is not a ranking and the order does not reflect the usefulness of the mentioned creatures.
Feel free to let us know in the comments which creatures you think should not be missed.
Dung Beetle – The Manure Collector
The Dung Beetle is a beetle that is particularly important in ARK when you want to grow plants and run a greenhouse. The special ability of the Dung Beetle is to turn dung into fertilizer and oil.
This made the Dung Beetle very useful in ARK: Survival Evolved ASE, but with ASA the helpful beetle received a slight upgrade and can now even autonomously collect dung and store it in its inventory. In ASE you had to collect the dung by hand and place it in the beetle’s inventory.
You tame the Dung Beetle by feeding it dung. This is a so-called passive taming. This means that taming occurs without sedation. Place the creature’s preferred food – in this case dung – in the last item quick access slot, approach the animal and press the displayed interaction button to feed it.
Otter – The Living Scarf
The otter is incredibly cute and you can cuddle with the furry companion in a way. That is actually reason enough why you should tame an otter, but additionally the mammal possesses one of the most useful abilities in the game.
Otters are called shoulder pets in ARK. These are creatures that are so small that you can comfortably carry them on your shoulder – like Ash Ketchum does with his Pikachu. Although otters can’t shoot lightning, if you carry an otter on your shoulder, it snuggles around your neck and acts as a kind of scarf that keeps you warm – or cools you down.
Having the otter on your shoulder increases your resistance value. This indicates how well you can survive at certain temperatures and is influenced among other things by your clothing. How much the otter affects your resistance depends on its melee damage, which is why you should definitely level it up.
With the otter, you can easily survive in any area of the game at any temperature. If you want to tame an otter, it must also happen peacefully. You need to hunt a fish and bring the intact carcass (important, not fish fillet or other by-products) to the otter and feed it with that.
Doedicurus – The Stone Collector
If you need stones, you should tame a Doedicurus. Especially in the early phases of the game, there is no other way to farm stones in bulk like the Doedi can.
Only the Magmasaur can compete with the prehistoric armadillo, but you won’t find it on the first official ASA map “The Island” nor is it easy to acquire for beginners – quite the opposite to the Doedi.
If you want to add the stone-collecting dino zoo, you just have to feed it berries, vegetables, or kibble after you have knocked it out in battle.
Ankylosaurus – The Metal Mace
The Ankylosaurus is the perfect complement to the Doedicurus. The Ankylosaurus is very good for mining flint, which you need for making gunpowder.
In addition, you can farm metal very well with the Ankylosaurus. But collecting obsidian and crystal is also possible with it.
You also tame the Ankylosaurus by knocking it out and feeding it berries, vegetables, or kibble.
Therizinosaur – The Farming All-Rounder
The Therizinosaurus is a real all-rounder when it comes to farming resources. While you cannot mine stones or metals with it, you can collect wood, thatch, fibers, and berries.
However, the Therizinosaurus can do this not only in large quantities but also very precisely. Depending on which attack you perform with the sickle lizard, you will receive a different resource.
This way, you can extract either berries or farm fibers from bushes. When chopping down trees, you can also separate whether you want more thatch or more wood. In addition, the Therizinosaurus is quite agile.
When taming the Freddy Krueger of dinos, it’s important to watch out for its attacks. Although the Therizinosaurus usually doesn’t visit you in your nightmares, it is still aggressive. But once you have knocked it out, you can feed it kibble, vegetables, or berries.
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