Taming

This article is about the process of taming a creature. For the uses of a tamed creature, see Domestication.

How to Tame a Dinosaur

Creatures on the island can be tamed and used for various purposes. Uses for tamed animals include riding, item transportation, storage, hunting, harvesting, resource production, and defending property while you are offline. Items placed in a tamed creature's inventory usually take much longer to spoil than they would otherwise.

Taming Basics

Knock-out Taming (KO)

1. First, render the creature unconscious. This can be achieved through the following methods:
   • Punching the creature with your bare hands. This is the most basic, albeit least effective, way to knock out dinos, and lowers your health.
   • Using a  Slingshot,  Wooden Club,  Electric Prod,  Bow/ Crossbow/ Compound Bow with  Tranquilizer Arrow,  Harpoon Launcher with  Tranq Spear Bolts, or  Longneck Rifle with  Tranquilizer Dart or  Shocking Tranquilizer Dart. Crossbows/Bows/Rifles with Higher damage will result in more  Torpor per shot. The Crossbow and Harpoon Launcher can be used underwater.
   • Stinging the creature with a  Scorpion
   • Head-butting the creature with a  Pachy
   • Licking the creature with a  Beelzebufo
   • Kicking the creature with an  Equus or  Unicorn
   • Shocking and biting the creature with an  Electrophorus
   • Biting the creature with a  Basilisk or  Titanoboa
   • Punching the creature when unconscious can make its Torpor stay up, but you will lose taming effectiveness.
2. Once the creature is unconscious, open its inventory and feed it an appropriate food item by dragging food into its inventory and waiting for the creature to eat it. The food needed to tame it will vary based on the creature you are trying to tame. Keep plenty of food in the animal's inventory while taming; if the creature runs out of food, the taming bar will begin to go down until it gets more food. Force feeding them anything other than  Narcoberries or  Narcotic will fill their hunger but will not affect the taming bar, effectively making the tame take longer.
   • Every time the animal raises its head to eat, the Taming bar increases. Herbivores will eat  Berries when their hunger falls 20 points (30 points for mejo berries) and  Crops when it falls 40 points. Carnivores will eat  Raw Prime Meat, Cooked Prime Meat,  Raw Meat, Cooked Meat, Raw Fish Meat, Cooked Fish Meat, Raw Prime Fish Meat, Cooked Prime Fish Meat, Spoiled Meat or Cooked Meat Jerky when their hunger falls 50 points. All applicable creatures will eat  Kibble when their hunger falls 80 points (for a few creatures it is 135, 120, 53.3, 25, or 20). For other food see the table in the section Taming Effectiveness.
   • If a creature's preferred food is in its inventory, they will wait for their hunger to decrease enough for them to eat it, even if other food is present.
   •  Royal Griffin will only eat food in its inventory while unconscious if the survivor that knocked it out meets its requirement to be respected.
3. Keep the creature unconscious throughout the process. The Unconscious bar decreases with the creature's  Torpor, and can be refilled with  Narcoberries or  Narcotic. Narcoberries will raise torpor by 8 points over 3 seconds, and Narcotic will raise it by 40 points over 16 seconds. It also stops the creature's fight against the torpor in this time, so torpor will not fall in addition to the raising. The creature will not voluntarily eat these items, and so they must be force fed by hitting the use-key (E, , ) in the creatures inventory when hovering over the item.

Non-Violent Taming (NV)

Most of the creatures below can be tamed non-violently. Diplodocus can be tamed with both methods.

1. Put the food you plan to feed to the creature in the far-right slot of your hotbar.
   •  Araneo prefers  Spoiled Meat over  Raw Meat
   •  Arthropluera prefers  Broth of Enlightenment over  Spoiled Meat and  Raw Meat
   •  Basilosaurus prefers  Exceptional Kibble over Meat and Fish
   •  Chalicotherium takes  Beer (also Stimberries but with extremely low taming effectiveness)
   •  Diplodocus prefers  Regular Kibble over  Crops and  Berries
   •  Dung Beetle prefers  Feces over  Spoiled Meat
   •  Giant Bee prefers  Simple Kibble over  Rare Flower
   •  Gigantopithecus prefers  Regular Kibble over  Berries
   •  Ichthyosaurus prefers  Simple Kibble over Meat and Fish
   •  Lystrosaurus prefers  Rare Flower over  Crops and  Berries
   •  Manta takes  AnglerGel
   •  Mantis prefers  Deathworm Horn over  Woolly Rhino Horn
   •  Mesopithecus prefers  Basic Kibble over  Berries
   •  Moschops asks randomly for  Tintoberry,  Mejoberry,  Giant Bee Honey,  Organic Polymer,  Rare Mushroom,  Rare Flower,  Raw Prime Meat,  Cooked Prime Meat,  Prime Meat Jerky,  Raw Prime Fish Meat,  Cooked Prime Fish Meat, or  Cooked Lamb Chop
   •  Onyc takes Meat and Fish
   •  Otter takes Raw Fish Meat (on Mobile)
   •  Vulture prefers  Spoiled Meat over  Raw Meat
   • Charge Light-specific dino ( Bulbdog,  Shinehorn,  Featherlight,  Glowtail) prefers  Plant Species Z Seed , but takes in their specific Mushroom.
   •  Crystal Wyvern prefers  Primal Crystal  over  Crystal
   •  Sinomacrops takes Chitin over anything else.
2. Approach the creature and press the use key (default: E, , ) to feed it when prompted.
   •  Lystrosaurus and  Moschops are peaceful and not scared, you don't need to hide yourself.
   • The  Ichthyosaurus is curious, it won’t run away.

1. • For all other  Ghillie Armor is recommended.
   • If touched during the taming process,  Gigantopithecus and  Manta will attack and  Mesopithecus will run.
   •  Diplodocus wants to play with you and shoves you around.
   • You need to have  Bug Repellant applied to yourself to tame an  Araneo,  Arthropluera, or  Onyc and can be helpful to tame the  Dung Beetle and  Manta, as these creatures are aggressive and will otherwise attack you on sight or on being touched.
   •  Ichthyosaurus,  Lystrosaurus and  Moschops can be touched without penalty, and will not attack you under any circumstance.
2. Wait for the creature to become hungry enough up to roughly 90% of its hunger ex:36000-40000 to eat again. This can take varying amounts of time depending on the creature in question and the food you are feeding it.
3. Repeat this process until the taming bar is filled.

Note that the first instance of food you feed to the creature is akin to knocking it unconscious with a violent tame - it binds the tame to the Survivor (or their tribe) and the creature's hunger will begin decreasing. At this point - the taming effectiveness and taming progress will not begin to diminish unless the creature starts taking damage (i.e. enters combat or starts dying of starvation). The initial delay between the first and second feedings compared to all subsequent feedings is also greater. Once fed a second time, progress will begin to reset if you take too long to feed. Moving too far away before a second feeding will also un-bind the tame - resetting everything (although its food may take a few moments to update). As with violent tames, you can bulk-feed a starved creature with an approximately 5-10 second delay between feedings. Due to the complete reset if you move too far away and the fact most long-duration non-violent tames don't have sufficient food to be substantially starved: this trick is only really helpful for taming skittish Ichthys or monkeys .

Unique Non-Violent Taming

Some dinos must be tamed with unique methods.

•  Basilisk eats fertilized  Rock Drake Egg,  Wyvern Egg, Voidwyrm Egg (Genesis: Part 2) or  Magmasaur Egg from the ground.
•  Equus takes  Rockarrot and ridden on, calming with the said food when it starts its attempt to kick the survivor off.
•  Gacha takes just about anything that is dropped by the survivor, but prefers Structure items in stack of 10 over anything else.
•  Hyaenodon needs to be pet without being spooked or aggravated.
•  Liopleurodon swims towards the nearest dropped  Giant Bee Honey from the player. *
•  Pegomastax steals  Berries from survivor placed in the far-right slot of hotbar.
•  Phoenix needs to be constantly burned during a Heat wave, either through  Fire Wyvern or  Flamethrower
•  Roll Rat automatically eats thrown  Giant Bee Honey whilst its buried underground.
•  Titanoboa eats fertilized  Egg from the ground.
•  Troodon kills tamed dino for thrills and sports.
•  Hesperornis and  Otter eats  Dead Fish that the player drags to the creature.
•  Ferox eats Element. However, it becomes aggressive for a while after feeding and is best kept away from it until it returns to its small size.
•  Bloodstalker eats  Blood Pack from the latched victim's inventory if one is present.
• Lure a  Parakeet Fish School towards a  Megachelon while both are submerged in the ocean to start taming, ensuring the latter does not take any form of damage during the process.
•  Tropeognathus must be pinned down with a  Chain Bola to be fed with its preferred food.
•  Noglin control tamed creatures for taming.
•  Tek Stryder must be hacked with  Mutagel . The amount needed varies on its level.
•  Astrodelphis must be fed and pet with  Element. It will flee for a short while after the interaction.
•  Shadowmane can only be fed with filled  Fish Basket  while its resting at afternoon. It will teleport a few distance after the interaction and requires constant tracking via the HUD as the location it warps to are random.
•  Voidwyrm needs to weakened before it needs to be force ridden on, calming with  Mutagen  when it is about to do a barrel roll.
•  Amargasaurus wants to prove the survivor that synchronized its temperature that its worthy to be tamed by killing off any aggressive creature (and taking foods in between).
•  Dinopithecus's alpha in a pack can only be passively tamed as normal after every others on its pack are dead and its trying to flee.

With the exception of  Hyaenodon,  Liopleurodon,  Phoenix, and  Troodon, they too follow the same process in waiting to become hungry enough to eat again.

* =  Liopleurodon automatically disappears without a trace after 30 minutes. Tame only if you need its buff for the said duration period.

Fish Basket Non-Violent Taming

For more details, visit  Fish Basket

With introduction to Aberration, it is possible to tame certain aquatic creatures using  Fish Basket (which must be learned in Aberration map to utilize in other maps). While it requires time for the basket to set up, it can be utilized to capture and tame smaller creatures. Bear in mind it has a certain lifespan while being trapped; letting it "spoil" to zero will kill them. Creatures that have been tamed using the  Fish Basket are considered force-tamed and don't behave normally.

Temporary Taming

Some creatures can be considered "temporarily tamed/commandable" (but not fully temporary tame like Liopleurodon or Titan), but either does not show up as part of the tribe (still rendered as wild), or are only interact-able as survivor.

•  Carnotaurus - Can be temporarily commanded after being "recruited" by, and with a  Yutyrannus for 60 seconds.
•  Giant Bee - Periodically spawned by  Giant Queen Bee. Acts as temporary guardian for the queen who spawned it.
•  Forest Wyvern - Periodically spawned by wild  Forest Titan. Can be ridden long as it still has its flame.
•  Amargasaurus - Temporarily follows the survivor until its no longer synchronized with him/her, its fully tamed or its dead.

Turret Taming

For certain creatures, such as the  Titanosaur,  Rock Elemental,  Karkinos and  Astrocetus, tranquilizers are ineffective. In order to inflict torpor on them, you will need to do damage to their head using a turret weapon. Because turrets themselves are immobile, one may have to mount said turret upon a platform saddle, usually the  Bronto Platform Saddle,  Paracer Platform Saddle, or  Quetz Platform Saddle, or utilizing  Unassembled TEK Hover Skiff . The most efficient weapon is the  Cannon, as it's torpor-to-damage ratio will be the highest. Although you can also use the  Rocket Launcher on  Rock Elemental, and the  Catapult Turret on the  Karkinos. Although related,  Rubble Golem can't be tamed.

* = Tamed  Titanosaur will refuse to eat anything, and will not regain hunger through any methods and will eventually starve to death. But if the private server or single player runs with AllowRaidDinoFeeding setting it can be force-fed.

Raise-only Taming

Due to the nature of these creatures, they cannot be tamed as adults unlike most other creatures. In order to 'tame' the said creatures, they have to be raised from birth. Following creatures can only be tamed from birth.

•  Deinonychus - Steal an egg of their species from a  Deinonychus Nest  located in the The White Cliffs of Valguero, or breed with two raised  Deinonychus.
•  Wyvern - Steal an egg from the  Wyvern Nest  in the World Scar found in Scorched Earth or in Dragonmalte Trench, Wyvern Cave or MurderSnow ( Ice Wyvern only) found in Ragnarok and The Great Trench in Valguero ( Fire Wyvern and  Ice Wyvern only), or breed with two raised Wyverns with similar type (I.E: two poison wyvern)all kinds of wyvern eggs (except crystal variants) can be found on the new Lost Island map.
•  Rock Drake - Steal an egg from a  Rock Drake Nest  in Grave of the Lost, found below Aberration.
•  Reaper King - Weaken an aggravated  Reaper Queen until it is at 1k-2k hp, turn off the charge light of your Glow Pet, and get its attention to be impregnated. Found at any Element Regions in Aberration. In the case of the  R-Reaper King, you need to weaken an aggravated  R-Reaper Queen and get its attention to be impregnated and can be found in Rockwell's Proliferation (Genesis: Part 2).
•  Magmasaur - Steal an egg from a  Magmasaur Nest  found inside the Volcanic Cave at Genesis: Part 1 or in the lava caverns at the coast of the volcano on Lost Island, or breed with two raised Magmasaur in a lava pool/puddle.

Craft-only Taming

Three Creatures can only be "crafted" rather than through regular taming, through acquisition of its Blueprint, or crafted as level 1 (or 51 for the  Mek) at either a  City Terminal or  Tek Replicator within Extinction.

In the case of both  Enforcer and  Scout, these can both be found roaming around the Sanctuary. Destroying them will drop Blueprints related to their level, possibly ranging from Primitive to Ascendant based on their level, with random percentage of stats.

In the case of the  Mek, these can be crafted with a Level 51 Engram. They only come out as Level 51 and unlike the  Enforcer, these cannot level up. Better grade, higher level  Mek Blueprints can occasionally be obtained either from Hard or Legendary  Orbital Supply Drops.

Mega Mek Taming

The  Mega Mek is assembled by using a  M.O.M.I. to combine four  Meks. However, it can only be properly used during the  Alpha King Titan boss fight, so you need to assemble the  Mega Mek only in the presence of the  Alpha King Titan.

Titan Taming

3 of the Titans can be temporarily tamed by attacking corruption nodes on their bodies in a designated sequence. Each Titan is different at where the corruption exist, and thus requires different strategy to eliminate the corruption.

All Corrupt tumors found at its body always take one damage per hit, which makes high damage ranged pointless. Rather, utilizing rapid-firing ranged like  Assault Rifle or creatures like  Velonasaur will help.

Based on how much damage it takes, the titan type when tamed will change, each with higher stat. These are denoted as its prefix when it is first tamed.

• Alpha = Taken less than ?? HP loss
• Beta = Taken between ?? and ?? HP loss
• Gamma = Taken between ?? and ?? HP loss
• None = Kill it

Eerie Taming

 Eerie Creatures cannot be tamed by default at where its originated from. To be able to obtain such creatures, its  Creature Implant (Mobile) must be removed from its inventory after killing it and revived at  Obelisk or  Revival Platform before it can be tamed as per normal like every other creature, assuming they can be tamed.

Taming Effectiveness

The taming effectiveness indicates the amount of bonus the creature gets once it is successfully tamed. It does not have any effect on the taming speed of the dinosaur. The initial taming effectiveness is 100%, and decreases whenever the creature eats the food left in its inventory or takes damage while unconscious. Taming effectiveness decay is reciprocal, meaning that the lower it is, the less it drops. Basically the formula is TE = 1 / ( 1 + [number of food eaten] + [damage taken]), with some additional weighting multipliers, depending on the species and kind of food. Feeding a creature their preferred food will not only tame them faster, but also reward you with a higher taming effectiveness percentage. Most creatures also have a preferred Kibble, which will be the fastest taming food while only slightly decreasing the taming effectiveness. (Side note: Efficiency is not a synonym for effectiveness. The efficiency (how economical a method is) is not taken into account for the taming effectiveness.)

• In the case of Reaper King, Taming effectiveness also applies, but through a different method. While it is still not born, killing dinosaur will absorb experience like effectiveness, affecting its bonus stat when it is born. No other method of earning experience will increase it however.
• In the case of  Bloodstalker, Taming effectiveness always starts at 30% regardless. Instead of decreasing, letting it feast on tamed creatures and killing it actually increases its effectiveness, and will never drop once it is raised.

Effect of the Taming Effectiveness

Taming Effectiveness (TE) determines the number of bonus levels that a creature will gain upon completion of the taming. Each level is another point in a particular skill. These bonus levels are considered "wild levels" for the purposes of post-tame level-ups (e.g. +4% per level refers to 4% of the post-tame value) and breeding, and so maximizing Taming Effectiveness is vital for procuring the best creatures.

At 100% Taming Effectiveness, a creature will get 50% of its wild level as bonus levels. The amount of bonus levels gained is proportional to the Taming Effectiveness (so 50% TE is 25% bonus levels). Where L is the creature Wild Level, the amount of bonus levels is L × TE / 2 (rounded down). For example: a level 90 Rex with a taming effectiveness of 85% will get 90 × 85% / 2 = 38.25 → 38 bonus levels.

With a maximum wild level of 150 and a maximum taming effectiveness of 99.9% for all creatures that have to eat at least once (creature such as the  Troodon and  Pegomastax retain 100% due to not technically "eating") - the maximum amount of bonus levels you can achieve is 150 × 99.9% / 2 → 74 (rounded), for a total level of 224.

In addition to bonus levels, most creatures have at least one stat that has a Taming Multiplier that is based on Taming Effectiveness - e.g. the Rex has 17.6% multiplier on its  Melee Damage. The multiplier is applied after bonus levels and any additive bonuses (e.g. the Rex also has a +7% additive bonus). As an aside, the additive bonuses are unaffected by Taming Effectiveness. Similarly to bonus levels, the multiplier scales proportionately to the Taming Effectiveness. Using the rex as an example again, the full 17.6% multiplier is only achieved with 100% Taming Effectiveness. At only 50% TE, you will only get 8.8% bonus melee damage. Use the external taming calculators to know which method is more cost/effective for your situation.

When breeding, newborns are considered to have 100% Taming Effectiveness regardless of the Taming Effectiveness of the parents. While this will not cause them to gain bonus levels, this will cause them to gain the maximum stat multipliers. This is why bred creatures will often have higher melee or food stats than either of their parents.

{ | class="wikitable sortable" ! Food ! Food-Value ! data-sort-type="number" | Taming Speed ! Taming Effectiveness ! Used To Tame |- |  Broth of Enlightenment | 20 | data-sort-value="50" |50x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Arthropluera |- | Rare Flower | 60 | 25.1x Speed | ★★★★★ | Microraptor |- |  Raw Mutton | 50 | 7.5x Speed | ★★★★☆ | Carnivores |- |  50 Black Pearls | 1500 | 6.6x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Tusoteuthis |- |  Preferred Kibble | 80 | 5x Speed | ★★★★★ | All kibble tames, except those listed below. This does not apply after the Homestead update on PC and Console. |- |  Kibble (Archaeopteryx Egg) | 120 | 3.33x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Diplocaulus |- |  Kibble (Carbonemys Egg) | 53 | 7.55x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Brontosaurus |- |  Kibble (Lystrosaurus Egg) | 53 | 5.2x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Diplodocus |- |  Kibble (Mantis Egg) | 20 | 20x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Rock Elemental |- |  Kibble (Megalosaurus Egg) | 120 | 3.33x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Therizinosaur |- |  Kibble (Moschops Egg) | 53 | 7.55x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Purlovia |- |  Kibble (Oviraptor Egg) | 135 | 2.96x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Megalosaurus |- |  Kibble (Pelagornis Egg) | 25 | 16x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Archaeopteryx |- |  Kibble (Quetzal Egg) | 80 | 6.875x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Mosasaurus,  Giganotosaurus (5x Speed) |- |  Kibble (Tapejara Egg) | 120 | 3.3x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Kaprosuchus |- |  Kibble (Terror Bird Egg) | 53 | 7.5x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Woolly Rhinoceros |- |  Kibble (Titanoboa Egg) | 80 | 3.75x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Gigantopithecus,  Dunkleosteus,  Thylacoleo (5x Speed) |- |  Kibble (Therizinosaurus Egg) | 320 | 1.56x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Basilosaurus |- | Giant Bee Honey |80 |4.9x Speed |★★★★☆ | Dire Bear |- |  Rare Flower | 35 | 4.55x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Lystrosaurus |- | Bio Toxin |45 |4.46x Speed |★★★★★ | Electrophorus |- |  Large Animal Feces | 37.5 | 4.27x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Dung Beetle |- |  Cooked Lamb Chop | 50 | 4x Speed | ★★★★★ | Carnivores |- | Giant Bee Honey |80 |3.72x Speed |★★★☆☆ | Megatherium |- |  Raw Prime Meat | 50 | data-sort-value="3" | 3x Speed | ★★★☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Raw Prime Fish Meat | 25 | 2.4x Speed | ★★★☆☆ | Carnivores |- | Rare Flower | 75 | 2x Speed | ★★★☆☆ | Giant Queen Bee |- |  Spoiled Meat | 50 | 2x Speed | ★★★☆☆ |  Araneo,  Arthropluera,  Dung Beetle,  Pulmonoscorpius and  Vulture |- |  Cooked Prime Meat /  Prime Meat Jerky | 50 | 1.5x Speed | ★★☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Rare Mushroom | 75 | 1.3x Speed | ★★☆☆☆ |  Procoptodon |- |  Beer Jar | 45 | 1x Speed | ★★★★★ |  Chalicotherium |- |  Stimberry | -15 | ? | ☆☆☆☆☆ |  Chalicotherium |- |  Raw Meat | 50 | 1x Speed | ★☆☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Cooked Meat /  Cooked Meat Jerky | 25 | 1x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Crops | 40 | 1x Speed | ★★☆☆☆ | Herbivores |- |  Chitin | 50 | 1x Speed | ★☆☆☆☆ |  Archaeopteryx |- |  Mejoberry | 30 | 1x Speed | ★☆☆☆☆ | Herbivores |- |  Sulfur | 25 | 1x Speed | ★☆☆☆☆ |  Rock Elemental |- |  Other Berries | 20 | 1x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Herbivores |- |  Plant Species X Seed | 50 | 1x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ |  Procoptodon |- |  AnglerGel | 24 | 1x Speed | data-sort-value="1" | N/A |  Manta |- | Sweet Vegetable Cake | 20 | 1x Speed | N/A | Ovis |- | Sweet Vegetable Cake | 500 | 1x Speed | N/A | Achatina |- | Giant Bee Honey |300 |1x Speed |N/A | Roll Rat |- | Giant Bee Honey |200 |1x Speed |N/A | Liopleurodon |- | Deathworm Horn |300 |1x Speed |N/A | Mantis |- | Woolly Rhino Horn |200 |1x Speed |N/A | Mantis |- |  Raw Fish Meat | 25 | 0.8x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Cooked Fish Meat | 12 | 0.8x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Cooked Prime Fish Meat | 25 | 0.8x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Carnivores |- |  Other Kibble | 80 | 0.66x Speed | ☆☆☆☆☆ | Anything other than the creature that prefers the type of Kibble. |- |  Stone | 50 | 0.14x Speed | ★☆☆☆☆ |  Rock Elemental |- |  Giganotosaurus Egg | 300 | ? | ★★★★★ |  Oviraptor |- | Fertilized Giganotosaurus Egg |900 |? |★★★★★ | Titanoboa |- |  Rock Drake Egg | 262.5 | ? | ★★★★★ |  Basilisk |- |  Magmasaur Egg | 262.5 | ? | ★★★★★ |  Basilisk |- | Plant Species Z Seed |75 |? |★★★★★ | Bulbdog,  Glowtail,  Featherlight, and  Shinehorn |- | Dead Fish |N/A |? |☆☆☆☆☆ | Otter and  Hesperornis |- |}

Dino Level and Stats

Spawn level	1-150 (official servers)
Taming effectiveness bonus levels	+0-50% of spawn level (+74 max)
Max level increase after taming	+88

• Dinos/Creatures spawn with a level of 5 to 150 in official, or different depending on the difficulty level of the server. The following dino/creatures are an exception: (Other levels applies like every other dino based on difficulty setting however.)
  •  Wyvern and  Rock Drake - 5 to 190
  • Specific event creatures like  GachaClaus - 50 to 90
  • All Corrupted Creatures - 1 to 500+ (If spawned from  Orbital Supply Drop  or  Element Node , depending on difficulty.)
  • All Tek Creatures - 20% higher level (6 to 180)
  • All Titans - 1500 to 2350
  •  Jerboa,  Leedsichthys, and  Alpha Leedsichthys - 1 (ignores difficulty setting)
• For every level above 1, the animal has an improvement made at random to one of its base stats. Usually one stat in particular will have been upgraded naturally.
• Any animal, once tamed, can be leveled up manually up to 88 times (Except for Titans and  Mek). This means if you tame a level 1 animal, it will cap at level 89 and not level up anymore, but an animal tamed at level 30 may reach level 118.
• Lower level animals are generally easier and less dangerous to render unconscious, and it is faster (and requires less food and drugs) to tame them.
• Beginning players may want to target lower level animals to save time and resources, especially for early game mounts and pack animals such as  Phiomias.
• Established players may want to target higher level animals, as their beginning stats (and thus max-level stats) will be higher. It is common for 'end game' hunters to stalk specific dinos (sometimes with specific colors) within a few levels of a server's cap, knock them out, and then inspect their stats. If their random improvements have gone to less useful stats (such as Food), the hunter may kill or abandon the unconscious dino and search for another.
• Which improvements are desirable will depend on the animal's species and intended use. For instance, it is usually pointless to level up melee damage on a  Parasaur intended as a pack animal, while this may be the most important stat for a hunting  Raptor or a siege  Rex.
• The amount of XP an animal needs to earn to level up is the same, regardless of the level it was at when tamed. E.g., the same amount of XP will take an animal tamed at level 1 to level 2, or tamed at level 26 to level 27, etc.
• Tamed animals will earn XP slowly even while doing nothing, just like the player. The player gets additional XP equal to half the XP earned by an animal they are riding, so it's a good idea to sit on a dino while AFK.
  • Tamed creatures in a  Cryopod receive more passive XP.
• The max dino level (without breeding) after taming and leveling is 312 on an official or non-modded server (i.e. 150 wild level + 74 level taming bonus + 88 domesticated level ups). There are a few exceptions to this rule:
  • Tek creatures - As stated above, they can naturally spawn up to 180 with a maximum taming efficiency of +89 levels and up to 88 levels after taming, making their max possible level 349 outside of breeding.
  • Reaper Kings - Queens spawn at a maximum level of 150, but their offspring can receive up to 75 additional levels during pregnancy and another 88 once matured, making their max level 313.
  • Enforcers and Scouts - Spawn naturally up to level 150 and can receive an addition 88 levels after being assembled, making their max level 238.
  • Deinonychus - Eggs naturally spawn up to 150 and can receive an additional 88 levels after maturation, making their max level 238 outside of breeding.
  • Wyverns and Rock Drakes - Eggs can spawn naturally up to 190 and can receive an additional 88 levels after maturation, making their max level 278.

Taming Hints

• One  Narcoberry will increase an animal's  Torpor by 7.5. One  Narcotic increases  Torpor by 40. A  Tranquilizer Arrow fired by an ordinary bow will increase  Torpor by about 100 (dependent on the body region), but deals damage and decreases Taming Effectiveness.
• To feed  Narcotics or  Narcoberries, use the E, , . -> R2/RT not triangle/Y
• In an emergency, if you run out of  Narcotics and  Narcoberries, you can punch or  Slingshot the animal in the head to keep it unconscious, or shoot it with a  Tranquilizer Arrow. However, this will damage the creature, thereby reducing taming effectiveness and the amount bonus levels gained. It could also kill the creature if you aren't careful.
• Be sure they have food at all times. If they run out of food, their taming meter will fall rapidly until it reaches zero.
• An unconscious animal will remain unconscious until the  Torpor reaches 0. If it wakes up, you will lose all taming progress, plus any items that were in the animal's inventory(If an unconscious tame is killed however it will drop an Item Cache with all the items you had on it when it died).
• Different animals lose  Torpor at different rates (for example, a  Spino loses  Torpor very quickly) and because taming takes longer for higher levels, more  Narcotics are needed.
• Taming can take up to several hours. Keep an eye out for other players or predators, as they may try to harm your unconscious creature.
  • An unconscious creature proves an appetising meal for smaller carnivores that may not even attack when said creature is conscious; be vigilant defending your tame as even a small group of Dilophosaur can quickly ruin a Quetzal tame.
• Your tamed animals can die from starvation even while you are offline, so be sure there is enough food in their inventory. However, like players, inactive animals will use food very slowly.
• If your tame has low health you can force feed it so that it will regain some HP. This will not decrease taming effectiveness if the creature's food is maxed out. This only works on carnivores.
• If your tame gets hit you can let it wake up to reset the taming effectiveness.
• During Valentines Day event,  Box o' Chocolates can be used to quickly knock 40% off taming progress of any knockout tames. However, these can only be used once per wild unconscious creature.
• If you are taming a lot of creature, utilize the taming list to keep track of unconscious tameable dino to check how long before their torpidity runs out, or how long to taming it.
• In ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile, the ARK Unity or Dododex app can be accessed when hovering over a Creature. It will automatically go to the respective Creature to provide taming values for that Creature.

For Carnivores

• All Carnivores prefer  Raw Mutton and  Raw Prime Meat over anything other than their favorite  Kibble, and it will tame them faster than regular  Raw Meat. All babies drop  Raw Prime Meat, as do the adult variants of the following species:

Template:Item list

For Herbivores

• Unlike carnivores, there are no foods you can feed a herbivore to increase its taming speed except for Kibble (with exception to Primitive Plus, which certain crops on certain dinos will very quickly tame), and herbivores also often require significantly more Kibble than a similarly levelled and sized carnivore. Thus - you should set aside a lot of time for taming herbivores, particularly if you've got your eye on a high leveled one.
• Herbivores will eat  Crops, while this will not speed up the overall time to tame, it will result in a higher taming effectiveness.
• Herbivores will not voluntarily eat  Narcoberries.
• Unlike with tamed dinos where  Stimberries will cause them to become hungry, force feeding an unconscious dino will only have their torpidity decreased - causing them to wake up sooner. However, herbivores will eat a  Stimberry if there is no other food in their inventory. Although  Stimberries drastically reduce tame effectiveness, they add a very small amount of taming affinity with no food gain. Therefore, they will eat the  Stimberries at a constant rate. This can be a way to increase taming affinity while starve taming a herbivore at cost of a 0% taming effectiveness.

For Most Creatures

• Most creatures have a preferred  Kibble that will raise the taming meter much faster than their favorite foods while almost halting the Taming Effectiveness decay. Each quality of kibble requires different ingredients, and you can find how to make each type  Kibble here
• Kibbles make taming 5 times faster for every creature that prefers one except for  Brontos, which are tamed 8 times faster using kibbles.
• New players will notice that some taming times will be very high without the use of kibble, and be rightly discouraged. Generally, if a tame takes longer than 3 hours without kibble, it should probably not be attempted. Taming high level creatures without kibble greatly decreases taming effectiveness, negating the advantages of taming a high level creature.
  • This is especially true for herbivores; while there are many types of meat in the game, allowing for most carnivores to be tamed quickly without kibble while still retaining decent taming affinity, herbivores do not get this luxury. Outside of berries, the only other foods most herbivores will accept are  Crops and their preferred kibbles, both of which are generally not utilized by players until the more mid-to-late-game. Because of this, taming high level herbivores will almost always require their preferred kibble, and even then, may still take a considerable amount of time and  Narcotics to keep asleep. For example, taming a level 150  Doedicurus on official settings would take 34 kibble and 130  Narcotics, and would still take 1 hour and 42 minutes. If one were to try and tame and same  Doedicurus using normal berries, it would require nearly 700 berries and almost 900  Narcotics, with the entire process taking nearly 6 hours and 38 minutes, only for the creature to receive 17 bonus levels due to the subtantial loss of taming effectiveness.
• A  Cryopod allows the ease of moving dinosaur from one point to another, especially freshly tamed. Just be mindful not to die as anyone can steal the filled  Cryopod for their tribe from a dead body (If a plan is made to breed, it might be advised to find another way of moving, unless the player is fine with waiting at most 2 days for cooldown).
• If the player has access to  Snow Owl, they can use it to heal up wounded unconscious dino to ensure that they continue to live in case it somehow lost too much taming effectiveness.
• Due to the amount of food some creatures need to eat in order to be tamed, there are some animals that, even with kibble, can never reach 100% TE. A way to tame these creatures at higher efficiency is to wait for an event that boosts taming speeds, such as the ARK: Evolution Event. During these events, less kibble is needed, and therefore it is possible to tame creatures at higher levels of efficiency that otherwise would be impossible on standard official settings. A good example of this is the  Woolly Rhino, which can only reach a maximum TE level of 95.8% on standard official settings, but can reach 98.9% during such events.
  • There are some creatures, however, that cannot hit maximum TE even on x2 rates, such as the  Basilisk. These creatures can only hit maximum TE during events where rates are booster even further, such as during ARK: Eggcellent Adventure.

Speeding up starve taming with Battle Tartare

This method is no longer effective.

There are ways to speed up taming using Battle Tartare. However its not an easy technique, and you need to be aware of several things:

• It should only be done during starve taming. Force feeding anything other than  Narcotics or  Stimulant to a tamed creature during normal taming will cause a massive drop in taming effectiveness. This doesn't apply to starve taming though. Force feeding anything during starve taming will not cause a drop in taming effectiveness.
•  Battle Tartare inflicts damage. Even though it actually doesn't cause any taming effectiveness drop (even during normal taming, although force feeding it still does), it still increases the risk of killing the creature. One battle tartare does a low amount of damage. To be precise 90 damage over 200 seconds. But you will likely need to feed multiple sometimes around ten and sometimes even over a hundred  Battle Tartares to really make it matter.
• As each  Battle Tartare works only for 200 seconds, and it cause the food meter drop 50% faster, the amount of  Battle Tartares you need can be calculated by this formula: normal total taming time(in seconds)/3*2/200, which simplifies to normal total taming time/300. For example: Taming a 150  Castoroides with kibble will normally take one hour, 19 minutes and 10 seconds, or 4750 seconds in total. Thus total amount of  Battle Tartares you need is 4750/300=16(rounded up), and it will take 16*200=3200 seconds (53 minutes) of force feeding  Battle Tartares. At that time  Castoroides should get hungry enough to eat the required 22 Gallimimus kibble, thus saving you a 23 minutes of taming. During that starve taming, the  Castoroides will take 16*90=1440 damage.
• If tamed creature is on very low health already, and thus Battle tartare can potentially kill it, you can instead force feed it  Enduro Stew. It will not speed up taming on its own, but will restore 1080 health over 15 minutes during the duration of the  Enduro Stew. But just as the  Battle Tartare, only force feed  Enduro Stew during stave taming. Force feeding it during normal taming will cause a massive drop in taming effectiveness. Although force feeding  Battle Tartare will instantly cancel the effect of  Enduro Stew, and vice versa. Thus you can't have both active at the same time.
• Be aware that even though  Battle Tartare can potentially speed up taming by 50%, Its not the same as having a 1.5x taming multiplier. It will simply cause a creature to get hungry 50% faster, but it will still need to eat the same amount of food to be tamed.
• Cooking  Battle Tartare is quite tricky, as it requires three portions of  Raw Prime Meat for each portion of tartare. Its recommended to do it only with the  Industrial Cooker, with everything (besides  Raw Prime Meat) already put in it. Thus you only have to bring a large amount of  Raw Prime Meat to be able to cook some of the  Battle Tartare. Killing Alpha Creatures provides very high amounts of  Raw Prime Meat. Another way to get high amounts of it, is by killing  Paracers,  Diplodocus, or  Brontos.

Taming Table

These tables give an overview of the needed resources to tame the Dinosaurs and Creatures of ARK. The numbers in these tables are meant to give a first impression on the needed resources and to compare to other creatures and so are only for a level 30 creature, fed with the standard food (i.e.  Mejoberry for Herbivores and  Raw Meat for Carnivores). For the  Tranq Arrow number it is assumed they hit the body, if there are no other annotations, using a  Crossbow. Targeting the head is more effective for most creatures.

For additional info on the food and time needed for each creature, visit their individual pages, as the needed resources vary largely depend on the level and used food.

Note that the values are for optimal cases, always bring extra supplies!
For a level-dependent count of resources needed, try an external taming calculator.

Herbivore Taming Table (Level 30)

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"

Creature	Rideable	Narcoberries Needed	Narcotics Needed	Mejoberries Needed	Tranq Arrows Needed** [body;head]	Preferred Food	Time Needed [hh:mm]	Level for Saddle
Achatina	No			()		Sweet Vegetable Cake		N/A
Ankylosaurus	Yes	640	132	250	8	Regular Kibble	03:45	40
Brontosaurus	Yes	650	89	834	34	Exceptional Kibble	05:00	63
Carbonemys	Yes	340	62	250	5 (body); 10 (tail); 25 (shell)	Regular Kibble	01:52	25
Castoroides	Yes		547	167	7	Superior Kibble	03:45	55
Chalicotherium	Yes	N/A	N/A		N/A	Beer Jar		42
Diplodocus	Yes					Regular Kibble		32
Dodo	No	22	4	38	1;1	Basic Kibble	00:08	N/A
Doedicurus	Yes	1600	390	284	14	Regular Kibble	04:15	30
Equus	Yes	N/A	N/A		N/A	Simple Kibble		20 / Not Needed
Gallimimus	Yes	1461	550	169	8	Simple Kibble	01:41	30
Gasbag	Yes					Superior Kibble		43
Gigantopithecus	Yes	N/A	N/A	139	N/A	Regular Kibble	03:10	Not Needed
Iguanodon	Yes					Simple Kibble		30
Jerboa	No*							N/A
Lymantria	Yes					Regular Kibble		36
Lystrosaurus	No	N/A	N/A		N/A	Rare Flower		N/A
Mammoth	Yes	786	150	417	10	Superior Kibble	04:23	40
Megaloceros	Yes	221	41	100	4;2	Superior Kibble	01:15	30
Megatherium	Yes					Superior Kibble		52
Mesopithecus	No*	N/A	N/A	84	N/A	Basic Kibble	00:33	N/A
Morellatops	Yes					Simple Kibble		11
Ovis	Yes	N/A	N/A	()	N/A	Sweet Vegetable Cake		Not Needed
Pachy	Yes	121	22	100	3;23 (especially resistant head)	Simple Kibble	00:50	15
Pachyrhinosaurus	Yes	50	18	163	8	Bug Repellant	01:13	25
Paracer	Yes	1506	373	542	23	Superior Kibble	03:56	30
Parasaur	Yes	102	17	125	3;2	Basic Kibble	00:38	10
Pegomastax	No	N/A	N/A		N/A			N/A
Phiomia	Yes	45	3	250	5;2	Basic Kibble	00:25	5
Procoptodon	Yes	653	151	167 ()	5	Rare Mushrooms	01:51	50
Roll Rat	Yes	N/A	N/A	()	N/A	Giant Bee Honey		58
Stegosaurus	Yes	646	127	500	9;6	Regular Kibble	03:45	30
Therizinosaurus	Yes					Exceptional Kibble		69
Triceratops	Yes	306	64	250	5	Simple Kibble	01:53	16
Woolly Rhino	Yes				11	Superior Kibble		45

* These tames ride on the player's shoulder.</small

** Number of tranq arrows shot by a 100% crossbow.

Carnivore Taming Table (Level 30)

Creature	Rideable	Narcoberries Needed	Narcotics Needed	Raw Meat Needed	Tranq Arrows Needed*** [body;head]	Preferred Food	Time Needed [hh:mm]	Level for Saddle
Allosaurus	Yes					Superior Kibble
Archaeopteryx	No			()		Simple Kibble		N/A
Angler	Yes	3513	1153	90	16	Regular Kibble	04:30	Not needed
Araneo	Yes	N/A	N/A	38 ()	N/A	Spoiled Meat	0:21	40
Argentavis	Yes	648	120	100	7;3	Superior Kibble	03:45	55
Arthropluera	Yes	N/A	N/A	? ()	N/A	Broth of Enlightenment		50
Baryonyx	Yes					Regular Kibble
Basilisk	Yes			(), ()		Rock Drake Egg and  Magmasaur Egg
Basilosaurus	Yes					Exceptional Kibble
Beelzebufo	Yes	349	70	81	4	Regular Kibble	00:54	25
Carnotaurus	Yes	663	133	100	7	Regular Kibble	03:45	50
Compy	No*	11	2	5 ()	1	Raw Prime Meat	00:01	N/A
Daeodon	Yes					Superior Kibble
Dilophosaur	No	33	4	23	2;1	Basic Kibble	00:13	N/A
Diplocaulus	Yes					Simple Kibble
Dimetrodon	No	4755	2528	84	14	Regular Kibble	04:12	N/A
Dimorphodon	No*	76	16	45	2;1	Raw Prime Meat	00:11	N/A
Dire Bear	Yes				18	Superior Kibble	06:54	35
Direwolf	Yes	498	100	60	8;4	Superior Kibble	01:52	Not needed
Dung Beetle	No	N/A	N/A	16 ()	N/A	Large Animal Feces	00:13	N/A
Dunkleosteus	Yes				21	Superior Kibble		40
Electrophorus	No	N/A	N/A		N/A			N/A
Giganotosaurus	Yes	8716	5071	196	174	Exceptional Kibble	07:21	85
Griffin	Yes					Extraordinary Kibble
Hesperornis	No*	N/A	N/A	()	N/A	Dead Fish		N/A
Ichthyornis	No*					Regular Kibble		N/A
Ichthyosaurus	Yes	N/A	N/A	32	N/A	Simple Kibble	01:22	10
Kairuku	No	200	35	45	6;2	Basic Kibble	00:25	N/A
Kaprosuchus	Yes					Regular Kibble
Karkinos	Yes					Exceptional Kibble
Managarmr	Yes					Exceptional Kibble
Manta	Yes	N/A	N/A	? ()	N/A	AnglerGel		25
Mantis	Yes	N/A	N/A	()	N/A	Deathworm Horn
Megalania	Yes					Extraordinary Kibble
Megalodon	Yes	509	102	100	14	Superior Kibble	03:45	45
Megalosaurus	Yes					Superior Kibble
Microraptor	No*							N/A
Mosasaurus	Yes	9611	4627	580	53	Exceptional Kibble	08:57	75
Otter	No*	N/A	N/A	()	N/A	Dead Fish		N/A
Onyc	No	N/A	N/A	57	N/A	Raw Prime Meat	00:28	N/A
Oviraptor	No	180	35	247 ()	3;2	Giganotosaurus Egg	01:22	N/A
Pelagornis	Yes					Regular Kibble
Plesiosaur	Yes	3377	1030	250	28	Superior Kibble	05:00	60
Pteranodon	Yes	481	97	60	2;1	Regular Kibble	02:30	35
Pulmonoscorpius	Yes	81	17	38 ()	3	Spoiled Meat	00:38	25
Purlovia	No					Regular Kibble		N/A
Quetzal	Yes	7475	2603	317	22;8	Exceptional Kibble	08:59	60
Raptor	Yes	133	23	60	4;2	Simple Kibble	00:50	15
Ravager	Yes					Raw Prime Meat
Rex	Yes	1891	408	159	27	Exceptional Kibble	05:18	60
Sabertooth	Yes	221	45	60	9;3	Regular Kibble	01:53	45
Sarcosuchus	Yes	627	124	85	7	Regular Kibble	03:32	35
Snow Owl	Yes					Superior Kibble
Spino	Yes	4787	1486	154	15	Exceptional Kibble	06:54	60
Terror Bird	Yes	1449	462	83	6	Regular Kibble	02:04	25
Tapejara	Yes				8	Superior Kibble		50
Titanoboa	No	N/A	N/A	()		Fertilized Giganotosaurus Egg		N/A
Thorny Dragon	Yes					Regular Kibble
Thylacoleo	Yes					Extraordinary Kibble
Tusoteuthis	Yes	N/A	N/A		N/A
Velonasaur	Yes					Regular Kibble
Vulture	No*			()		Spoiled Meat
Yutyrannus	Yes					Extraordinary Kibble

* These tames ride on the player's shoulder.

** The  Dung Beetle is not a Carnivore but prefers  Spoiled Meat after it is tamed.

*** Number of  Tranquilizer Arrows shot by a 100%  Crossbow waiting 5 seconds in between shots to apply all the "over time  Torpor".

Untamable

Not all creatures can be tamed. Most creatures that are tamable through certain ways have the prefix "Wild" next to their name. Untamable wild creatures do not have such prefix.

The following creatures are currently not tamable except by use of the forcetame command.

• Alpha Creatures
•  Ammonite
• Bosses ( Broodmother Lysrix,  Dragon,  Megapithecus,  Manticore,  Overseer,  Rockwell,  King Titan and  Alpha King Titan)¹
  • Any creature spawned in by the bosses.
• Brute Creatures
  • Any creature spawned within Genesis Missions.
•  Cnidaria
• Corrupted Creatures
•  Deathworm
• Enraged Creatures
•  Eurypterid
• Ferox (Large)²
•  GachaClaus
•  Glowbug
•  Jug Bug
•  Leedsichthys
•  Meganeura
•  Nameless³
•  Reaper Queen
•  Seeker
•  Summoner
•  Titanomyrma
• All creatures found in the following caves:
  • Swamp Cave
  • Snow Cave (e.g. Yeti)
  • Tek Cave
  • Old Tunnels
  • Grave of the Tyrants
  • Ruins of Nosti
  • Old Railway Cave (Excluding  Glowtail)
  • Hidden Grotto
  • Elemental Vault
  • Desert Cave
  • Forest Cave
  • Ice Cave

• ¹ = Some bosses can spawn in tamed during the Survive the Ark mission.
• ² = Whilst a Ferox (Large) is spawned in tamed by feeding a  Ferox some  Element, Taming technically isn't possible due to it being considered a different creature.
• ³ = Force-taming a  Nameless will cause it to burrow underground, de-registering its existence, making it the only creature to be untamable by even command means without system abnormalities (e.g: Crashing).

Taming Calculators

See Apps for a list of taming-calculators.

References