See also: 
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Leech/Leech_Character.Leech_Character'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Diseased Leech
cheat summon Leech_Character_Diseased_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Leech/Leech_Character_Diseased.Leech_Character_Diseased'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Leech (Gauntlet2)
cheat summon Leech_Character_STA_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Genesis2/Missions/ModularMission/Gauntlet2/STA/Dinos/Leech_Character_STA.Leech_Character_STA'" 500 0 0 35
No
Yes
Common
Rare
Untameable
Cave
The Leech is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.
Basic Info[]
Dossier[]
This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.
Haementeria laetus
TimeHolocene
DietSanguinivore
TemperamentAggressive
- Wild
It is difficult to be angry with Haementeria laetus, despite its rather terrible nature. The creature has practically no intelligence, and just attaches to any nearby living flesh in an attempt to drain that creature's blood. Removing Haementeria requires precision bladework, or access to an open flame. Both of these can be nearly as dangerous to the host as to the leech itself. Once Haementeria attaches to a host, it drains blood at a rapid pace, and the host experiences hunger, loss of health, and lowered stamina. Some Haementeria are also carriers for a dangerous disease I've dubbed "Swamp Fever," which persists beyond the leech's own lifespan. Few creatures on the Island are transmitters for this disease, and it can ultimately be cured with a rare medicine.
- Domesticated
While Haementeria is not intelligent enough to be tamed, it is always useful to keep a few around for antidotes and fishing lures. When processed properly, Haementeria venom can be made into a powerful antivenom!
Behavior[]
Leeches lurk in the water, waiting for tames or survivors to pass by whereupon they leap gleefully and attach themselves to their victim.
Diseased Leech (Variant)[]
The 
Diseased Leech is a variant of the 
Leech distinguished by its red and orange color scheme as well as its name in the HUD. It transmits Swamp Fever, which can be cured with 
Lesser Antidote. The carcass of the Diseased Leech can also be harvested for significantly more 
Leech Blood than its normal variant.
Appearance[]
One of the most revolting creatures that inhabits the island is Haementeria laetus, a leech that grows as long as a man's arm. A blood parasite, the soft-bodied creature actively seeks out hosts in the swamps it calls home, propelling itself with fluttering fins and latching on with a mouth full of sharp rasping teeth.
In the wild, leeches are the primary vector for a debilitating disease commonly known as swamp fever.
Color Scheme and Regions[]
The Leech always spawns with the same color scheme, but the Diseased Leech has different colors from the Leech.
The Leech always spawns with the same color scheme and has no color regions.
This means it is currently impossible to make alterations to the Leech's colors.
Drops[]
* The Diseased Leech drops significantly more Leech Blood than its normal variant.
Base Stats and Growth[]
| Attribute | Base Value | Level Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | ||
 Health |
40 | +8 |
 Stamina |
100 | +10 |
 Oxygen |
N/A | N/A |
 Food |
450 | +45 |
 Weight |
10 | +0.2 |
 Melee Damage |
7 | +0.35 |
 Movement Speed |
100% | N/A |
 Torpidity |
50 | +3 |
- 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 [u/s] |
Base Speed | Sprinting Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Wild | Wild | |
| Walking | 50
|
? |
| Swimming | 70
|
175 |
- 1These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
- 2These are the speeds of the creature tamed and non-imprinted.
- For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.
| Melee | Stamina Cost | Attack Range | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | Minimum | Activation | The Leech bites the target until it can latch onto its host. While leeched, both the host's  Health and  Stamina will slowly drop. If it is a Diseased Leech,  Swamp Fever may be transmitted to a Human host. |
||||||||||
| 0 | 150 | 0 | 200 | ||||||||||
| Attack Type | Damage | Projectile Values | Torpor Values | Status Effect: Stamina | Status Effect: Torpidity | ||||||||
| Life | Impulse | Radius | Base | Mult | Duration | Damage Mult | Amount | Duration | Damage Mult | Amount | |||
| Melee | 7 | ||||||||||||
The Diseased Leech has the same values except of Health, which is 120.
Combat[]
This section describes how to fight against the Leech.
General[]
- To get rid of a leech that is already hanging on your body you need fire, e.g. a
Campfire or a Cooking Pot. Jump into the burning fire for a short time, the leech will then disappear. Dying and removing the leech off your corpse also works. Keep in mind, however, that sometimes the leech you see on your screen actually lives on your mount. Go back to your mount and remove it manually. - If you see a leech approaching and wish to kill it, a few long ranged attacks should do the trick. Even simple stone arrows will stop it dead in its tracks. Be aware that it can still jump towards you from a distance larger than you may expect, so keeping a slight distance is advised. Keeping it at a distance with a spear or similar weapons could work as well, but a longer ranged weapon is more highly advised, as you are not required to get as close and risk the leech attatching on to you.
- To remove a leech from a creature, press and hold the Use key (E by default) and select remove leech from the menu that appears.
- There is a diseased variant of this creature (Diseased Leech). You can cure the disease by consuming Lesser Antidote.
Strategy[]
- Bug Repellant will make you invisible to all leeches even if you touch them. If you attack them, however, they will still be aggressive.
- Travel well-mounted; you need something tall enough to keep you out of the water and large enough that you stay standing on its back when dismounted. This way you can remove leeches from your mount without having to expose yourself to them.
- If your mount needs an escort in the swamps, use a flock of flyers; ground-bound escorts are likely to be leeched without you noticing, and if you do notice, you will have to step entirely off your mount to remove them, potentially exposing yourself to other leeches.
- Keep your eyes peeled; use your mount's attacks to 'plow the road' in front of you as you navigate the swamps in the hopes of killing leeches before they latch on.
- If you see a leech from far enough away, attack it with ranged weapons to kill it before it has a chance to latch on; once they do, it will not be possible to harvest them even if you remove them.
- At present, all mounts are immune to Swamp Fever; only humans and Dodos can catch it.
- Leeches don't attack or attach themselves to tamed Beelzebufos and any other mounts native to the swamp, making them great for hunting Leeches.
Weaponry[]
- The leech does not require any serious weapons to kill, although killing it before it reaches melee range is valuable; try to finish it with ranged weapons or, failing that, hold it at a distance with spear or pike.
Dangers[]
- Make sure to bring a friend with you, or stay out of its attack range with a tall mount. If the leeches latch onto you, another player is the fastest way to remove it; if it's attached to your mount, you can remove it yourself.
- When they attach onto you, you wont regenerate stamina, and you will lose health slowly. Make sure to use that remaining stamina to get to a safe place fast.
- Leeches are often found in areas that contain other dangerous enemies. Beware they don't weaken you at a fatal moment.
- You can use campfire to remove the leech by standing on the fire.
Weakness[]
- As it is harmless unless entering melee range, ranged weapons are ideal.
Taming[]
Leeches can be 'tamed' using 
Fish Basket 
. However, as they lack the required intelligence, they will not return once they have latched onto someone or something.
Utility[]
Roles[]
- Pet: Leeches can add life to your base with a pond or an aquarium
- Bait: Leeches drop leech blood when harvested this blood can be used to catch Coelacanths, Sabertooth Salmons and Piranhas.
- War: Due to the ability to carry diseases one of these can affect a dodo then the dodo could be dropped into an enemy base to infect the base with disease assisting with a raid.
- Swarmers:
Spotlight[]
Notes/Trivia[]
For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Leech, see the relevant Wikipedia article.
- Dino Dossier was revealed on 02/08/16 on Steam.[1]
- On The Center, Leeches are more commonly found in deep water that the player can submerge him or herself in.
- When going into certain waters while raining a swarm of Leeches will come after you. Which will allow you to obtain large amounts of Meat, Chitin, Leech blood and Silica Pearls.
- Despite Lesser Antidote being the go-to cure for Swamp Fever, there are a few other ways to cure it. Consuming Nameless Venom will cure you, but it will also take 50 health away. Transferring from any server to Scorched Earth will also cure you.
- A maximum of 6 leeches can latch onto you and your dinos. The rest will bite you and your dinos to death.
- Harvesting leeches with the Megatherium will get you hundreds of chitin.
- Leech do not produce Feces
- The Leech along with the Coelacanth, Piranha, Sabertooth Salmon, and Trilobite, all became tamable with the Fish Basket introduced in Aberration.
- This creature was originally proposed by /u/Coloumbia in 2015 on Reddit.com/r/playark
- Tamed leeches do not have an inventory or any way for the player to feed them.
- The Leech's genus, Haementeria, refers to a modern genus of leeches which includes the Amazon Giant Leech, which can grow up to 17 inches.
- Real Leeches lay eggs, which is not the case for ARK's Leeches
- When real Leeches give birth they put themselves and their eggs into cocoon.
- Real leeches have multiple tiny eyespots to help them see.
- Unlike most creatures, real leeches don't have gills or lungs, instead, they breathe by absorbing oxygen through their skin. They can breathe on land and in water.
Changelog[]
| Patch | Changes |
|---|---|
| 242.0 | Leech and  Diseased Leech are added to the game
|
| 242.3 |
|
| 242.6 |
|
| 243.3 | Fixed Leeches and other swamp water creatures not spawning |
| 243.4 |
|
| 244.6 | Diseases are now permanently cleared every time you level up |
| 246.3 | Lesser Antidote can now be crafted with  Deathworm Horns as an alternative to Leech Blood or  Woolly Rhino Horn
|
| 252.1 | Leech Blood can now be placed in the quick item slots, allowing to feed it to  Moschops for taming
|
| 262.0 | Added Leeches to the Swamp Cave on The Island |
| 275.0 | The Leech can now be tamed with the Fish Basket
|
| 279.261 | Fixed a bug which caused  Pachyrhinosaurus pheromone gas to give  Swamp Fever
|
| 279.275 | Fixed a glitch when the player would die with a Leech attached and the Leech would be stuck to the player's screen after death |
| 305.12 | Fixed a bug where the Fish Basket wasn't returning creatures properly
|
Gallery[]
Multiple Leeches attacking players
A swarm of Leeches
1 Tameable using a
Fish Basket 
. Untameable on ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile.