This article is about Megachelon, not to be confused with 
Megalosaurus, 
Megaloceros, 
Megalania, 
Megatherium, 
Megalodon, or 
Meganeura
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Genesis/Dinos/GiantTurtle/GiantTurtle_Character_BP.GiantTurtle_Character_BP'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Megachelon (Escort)
cheat summon GiantTurtle_Character_BP_Escort_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Genesis/Dinos/MissionVariants/Escort/Ocean/GiantTurtle_Character_BP_Escort.GiantTurtle_Character_BP_Escort'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Megachelon (Gauntlet2)
cheat summon GiantTurtle_Character_BP_STA_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Genesis2/Missions/ModularMission/Gauntlet2/STA/Dinos/GiantTurtle_Character_BP_STA.GiantTurtle_Character_BP_STA'" 500 0 0 35
Common
Rare
Untameable
Cave
The Megachelon is a Creature in ARK: Survival Evolved's Expansion Pack Genesis: Part 1.
Basic Info[]
Behavior[]
The Megachelon is a tame with a shell that can be built on, Also growing rare resources on its shell. When submerged, air bubbles will be generated around the shell.
Appearance[]
The Megachelon is a giant, six-legged, four-eyed turtle with almost human-like facial features; possessing wrinkled skin, external ears, and a toothy mouth instead of a hardened beak. It can be found swimming slowly through the ocean biome of the Genesis simulation, functioning as a living, breathing island; carrying its own unique little ecosystem on the back of its flattened, stone-like shell where moss, grass, and shrubs all grow out of its body, becoming more and more overgrown with the passage of time. While floating along the water's surface or walking across land, the lush habitat it carries with it attracts flocks of birds, which circle the Megachelon in wheeling flocks.
Color Scheme and Regions[]
This section displays the Megachelon's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Megachelon. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Megachelon will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Megachelon's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Megachelon's "dark scales" magenta.
Dark Scales
Rocks
Region 2 is not used
for this Creature.
Region 3 is not used
for this Creature.
Light Belly
Region 5 is not used
for this Creature.
Drops[]
Base Stats and Growth[]
| Attribute | Base Value | Level Increase | Taming Bonus | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild | Tamed | Additive | Multiplicative | ||
 Health |
1920 | +384 | +4.59% | 0.07 | |
 Stamina |
100 | +10 | +10% | ||
 Oxygen |
150 | +15 | +10% | ||
 Food |
8800 | +880 | +10% | ||
 Weight |
2500 | +50 | +4% | ||
 Melee Damage |
125 | +6.25 | +1.7% | 7% | 17.6% |
 Movement Speed |
100% | N/A | +1% | ||
 Torpidity |
10000 | +600 | N/A | 0.5 | |
- 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 | Stamina | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild | Tamed1 | Tamed2 | Wild | Tamed1 | Tamed2 | ||
| Walking | 235 | 235 | 235 | 352.5 | 352.5 | 352.5 | -4 |
| Swimming | 650 | 650 | 650 | N/A | N/A | N/A | -3 |
- 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.
| Bite | Stamina Cost | Attack Range | Description | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | Minimum | Activation | |||||||||||
| 0 | 750 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 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 | 125 | ||||||||||||
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[]
This section describes how to fight against the Megachelon.
General[]
- The Megachelon is very slow and you should be able to outswim it.
- Structures can be placed on its back without having a saddle. Use caution when removing/equiping saddle for it will destroy structures currently on its back.
Strategy[]
- Lure the Megachelon above water and shoot at it with an Assault Rifle or a high power Rocket Launcher.
- When fighting underwater use a Crossbow or an underwater tame.
- Try to stay on its shell and stab it with a Spear or Pike. The Megachelon can't hit you when on its shell and it will provide you with oxygen
Weaponry[]
- Any weapon that can fire underwater or a high Dps weapon.
Dangers[]
- None except the high damage per hit. However, due to its high health pool, other dangers such as
Electrophorus, Manta and Megalodon are to be expected from as it will take a long while to kill it. Keep in mind that while slow and vulnerable, a Megachelon that manages to land hit on players will make short work of them. Be sure to not expose yourself to its powerful jaws.
Weakness[]
- The Megachelon is extremely slow. Meaning a player can keep their distance while attacking easily.
- Its turning radius is also atrocious, making it very easy to get killed by something like Sarco once you get behind it, because of this, even Wild Electrophorus can easily outflank it, and slowly draining its health.
Taming[]
| “ | You've tamed yourself an island, I reckon. | „ |
| ~ HLN-A |
For general information about domesticating a wild creature see Taming.
Passive Tame[]
The Megachelon must be tamed passively with a unique mechanic; locate a 
Parakeet Fish School (also called Microbe Swarm when they target you) which can commonly be found in the deeper depths and let it target you. Slowly bring the school to the Megachelon and they should start to follow it, initiating the taming process. Make sure that when you are approaching the Megachelon with the Parakeet Fish School, the fish school is targeting you as a survivor, NOT a tame that you are riding. Make sure it says that you are being targeted by a Microbe Swarm when approaching the Megachelon. Otherwise, the fish school can bug out and not properly initiate the taming process. These fish are easily distracted by other tames, structures and even shoulder pets confuse them. If they do stop following you, even when right in the middle of the swarm, you can't force them to pick up the scent, even munching rare flowers doesn't help. If you go far away, like "teleport out of the biome" far, and leave them for a while, sometimes they will sort themselves out. Your best strategy is to head down and get another swarm.
Megalodons commonly attack the Megachelon so make sure you kill any of them in the vicinity. If they attack the Megachelon, or if you accidentally hit it, the taming progress drops down to 0. Also, 
Sabertooth Salmon and 
Coelacanth will constantly spawn and attack the Parakeet Fish School and eventually kill it; this is an "anti-trap" mechanic to ensure that it is being tamed as it roams around the water, though it will still need protection. A Bloodstalker is great for grabbing the fish and instantly killing them when you drag them above water and also helps to bypass the anti-trap mechanic due to their pinpoint precision, so long as you pay constant attention. Otherwise, a pair of SCUBA flippers and a pike is usually enough alongside a mount that you can regain stamina on. Focus on the larger fish that can spawn as smaller fish can't normally catch the Megachelon and swarm as long as it's moving around. You may need someone else assisting to actively kill the fish or be out acquiring more Parakeet Fish Schools to continue the taming if your first fish school is killed. In general, taming a Megachelon is at least a 2-person job in most circumstances though higher taming rates on a server can make it doable with just one.
The optimal strategy is to build a trap with 5 behemoth gates near the surface, but also just above a trench. Then find a chelon and boop it on the snoot to lure it into the trap and close the door behind it. Now head down into the trench and find a parakeet school. This way you only have to deal with the buggy task of getting the fish to follow you without having to worry about finding a chelon at the same time. If you leave the chelon trapped, then killing the aggressive salmon without hitting the megachelon isn't impossible, just incredibly difficult. Often the salmon will actually be inside the chelon (listen for a quiet grunting to indicate it's being attacked). If you do decide to attempt this, then munching rare flowers can sometimes draw the salmon out. A better strategy is to completely dismantle the trap and let the megachelon swim free. If you leave any of the trap behind, then the swarm will probably pay more attention to that than to the megachelon. It's also important that you don't get too far from the megachelon, otherwise the swarm will dissappear.
Utility[]
The Megachelon is tamed for its utility purposes. First and foremost, it can support a base on its back to ferry survivors safely and provide them with constant 
Oxygen while they are around it. The Megachelon itself can shoot a stream of bubbles that captures creatures and survivors in a bubble and make them float upwards to the surface; this is useful if Megalodon or other hostiles are in your way and you want them to be moved. While the Megachelon doesn't appear to have any special reductions on 
Weight for resources, its high weight capacity allows it to ferry materials with ease. While it has a very powerful bite, the Megachelon is very slow and has a slow turning speed which makes it a poor battle creature against anything partially mobile. It's advised to have some guardian creatures to fend off the dangers of the ocean though a high-level Megachelon can take a lot of punishment.
Megachelons also passively produce rare mushrooms and rare flowers with no limitation.
Roles[]
- Mobile Base: The Megachelon offers the ability to create a base on its back in addition to Oxygen vents allowing you to breathe underwater. Along with also being able to clamber onto land, these combined attributes make the Megachelon an amazing and versatile base.
- Mobile Green House: The Megachelon offers the ability to irrigate any number of crop plots placed on it's back.
- Tank: The Megachelon has an extremely large health pool and resistance to projectiles on its shell, allowing it to tank bullets from Turrets if positioned properly against them. Structures can also be built on the back of the Megachelon to protect the rider, so turrets aimed against players can be made ineffective in that purpose.
- Transport: The Megachelon can climb up mountains and cliffs very well (assuming they aren't vertical or near vertical), and doesn't draw aggro on most creatures. They do take heavy fall damage, however, so one must be prepared to dismount in the event of a freefall to prevent the fall damage.
- Chitin Farmer: The Megachelon can be harvested for their shell fragments, which equal 50 chitin when put into an industrial grinder. On top of that, Megachelons can be bred, allowing a constant source of shell fragments, and in turn, chitin. This makes Megachelons a secondary source of chitin with the primary source coming from arthropods.
- Rare Flower/Mushroom Source: The Megachelon passively produces rare mushrooms and rare flowers in large quantities endlessly, nullifying the need to farm these materials in dangerous locations. They also produce azulberry seeds and amarberry seeds, but these are usually tossed out. The level of the Megachelon does not appear to determine the production rate of these materials, so taming a low-level one is sufficient if this is all you want one for.
Limitations[]
All structures except for Tek Transmitters, 
Pipes, 
Auto Turret, Crop Plots with 
Plant Species X, 
Behemoth Gateway, 
Vault, and 
Industrial Forge can be built on its back including feeding troughs, storage chests and beds. However, the saddle has a limit of 188 structures on its back. Every little thing counts from foundations to electrical keypads (including structures that are built alongside the saddle like ladders).
Weight inside the inventory of storage structures on the saddle is not ignored by the Megachelon. Take advantage of animals that have weight reduction capabilities to greatly enhance your overall carry capacity.
The saddle cannot be removed from the Megachelon if structures are still on the platform. To remove the saddle, all structures must be destroyed first.
The saddle cannot be dyed if structures are still on the platform. To dye the saddle, all structures must be destroyed first.
Spotlight[]
Notes/Trivia[]
- The Megachelon is the first aquatic creature that can house an underwater, waterproof base.
- Megachelon is often followed by a flock of small birds which it doesn't control, but the birds make for a nice aesthetic.
- The amount of cosmetic vegetation that grows on the Megachelon's shell is directly tied the combined weight number of Rare Flowers and Rare Mushrooms it has produced in its inventory, slowly and subtly changing its cosmetic appearance with a new 'growth stage' for roughly every 100 weight units that have been produced; reaching the final stage of plant growth at around 1,000 units of weight. This final cosmetic growth stage can be kept indefinitely as long as the combined weight of flowers and mushrooms is equal to or greater than 1,000 units. Removing flowers and mushrooms to below this weight amount will result in reverting the Megachelon's plant growth cosmetic in proportion to the amount of weight that remains (E.G. 500 weight units of flowers and mushrooms will result in the 50% growth appearance, less than 100 units of weight remaining will revert the Megachelon's growth stages completely and reset it to bare-shelled). The transition in appearance is not instant, however, and the change in cosmetic growth will occur the next time the Megachelon produces flowers and mushrooms in its inventory, functioning as a 'growth check' mechanic. Note: although it also produces Amarberry Seeds and Azulberry Seeds, these do not contribute to the cosmetic growth stages. (Needs further testing)
- When submerging (pressing C on PC version) any players standing on the back of the Megachelon are moved to a passenger seat.
- Like all Genesis: Part 1 exclusive creatures, the Megachelon does not have a proper Dossier made by Helena, as Helena was not present as a normal survivor in the simulation.
- Megachelon can only be bred or hatched at extreme depths. The by far easiest way to breed it is on The Center under the flying island under water. Seafloor on The Island formerly was not deep enough, but at least one location has been independently verified on official servers that breeding can be done at (12,50) deep below the icebergs. Can be bred/hatched in particularly deep parts of the Genesis ocean. Some spots include the area around the mission beacon for "One Tough Moeder". Yet some particularly deep parts of Ragnarok are deep enough to breed and raise the megachelon. Tested on or The Center, great depths works there as well. Can’t be bred on Valguero. Babies can be Cryopoded and moved to shallow water or land after hatching.
- Its base Weight capacity beats the Basilisk and can level further than a Gasbags, making it the best permanent tamed creature to carry a lot of stuff.
- The code name of the Megachelon is Giant Turtle.
- The Megachelon is one of the two creatures that provides oxygen to the player while underwater, with the other being Diplocaulus.
- The Megachelon looks a bit similar to Valhiem's Leviathan.
- Megachelon seems to spawn on Fjordur.
Changelog[]
| Patch | Changes |
|---|---|
| 306.41 Genesis: Part 1 Expansion Release | Megachelon is added to the game. |
| 306.63 |
|
| 307.2 |
|
| 309.4 | Reduced the cloning cost for a Megachelon using the  Cloning Chamber.
|
| 310.41 | Reduced the Megachelon's bubble-blowing attack when above the ground, such as in an elevated state off the ground. |
| 312.35 | Megachelon dermis now works on the Large Taxidermy Base. |
| 312.65 |
|
| 313.30 | Fixed a bug which prevented Megachelon from counting towards platform creature limits. |
| 316.18 | Reduced depth requirement for Megachelon breeding so that it can be bred on other maps. |
| 334.3 | Fixed some areas that prevented Megachelon from building. |
3 Must be in deep water.