Introduction

In this guide you’ll learn how to tame a Dinosaur in Ark. Creatures in Ark can be tamed and used for many different purposes and can greatly improve your chances of survival. You can utilize a tamed animal for a mount, storage, transporting items, storing items, defending your base, hunting, harvesting, and resource production.

There are three different methods of taming a creature in Ark. The method you use depends on the type of creature. There is active taming, which requires you to knock out the creature to tame it. You can also tame some creatures by walking up to the creature and feeding it while it’s conscious. This is called Passive taming. The final method is the Unique method. There are certain dinosaurs in Ark that have method of taming that is unique or specific to that dinosaur. For example, a Troodon requires the sacrifice of other tamed dinosaurs in order to tame it.

For this guide we are going to focus on knock-out taming. This method will likely be the first method you use.

How to Tame a Dinosaur in Ark

In order to tame a Dinosaur in Ark with the knock-out method you will first need to knock out your target. Once your target is knocked out you will want to keep it knocked out and feed it food. It will slowly tame over time until the tame is complete. You’ll then need to craft a saddle and equip it on the dinosaur in order to ride it.

How to Knock Out a Dinosaur in Ark

A dinosaur can be rendered unconscious by several different methods. You can punch the creature with your bare hands. This is the most basic and least effective way to knock out a dinosaur. This method also lowers the dinosaurs health which can lead to death if you’re not careful. If the dinosaur dies you obviously can’t tame it, so you don’t want that.

You can utilize tools such as a wooden club, slingshot, or bow with tranquilizer arrows. There are plenty of other options as you progress in Ark, but those three are your best bet early game. Obtaining tranquilizer arrows might take you little while, so if you are wanting to tame a dinosaur right away a slingshot or club is your best bet. If you’re not using tranquilizers you will need to be cautious of killing your target.

Once you have your weapon you will need to locate the dinosaur you wish to tame. You will then shoot and hit it with the slingshot, tranquillizer arrows, or club until it falls to the ground. You will want to wait a few seconds between each hit to allow the torpor (level of consciousness) to build up. This will help prevent killing the creature and allow it to go unconscious.

Crafting a taming pen to lure your dinosaur into can often times be a big benefit when trying to tame aggressive dinosaurs or dinosaurs that like to run.

Once your target is unconscious you will be able to see the taming progression and the consciousness bar by looking at the dinosaur. You will need to keep your dinosaur fed and knocked out in order to complete the tame.

Feeding Your Dinosaur

After you have the creature knocked out you can begin feeding it. To do this you will need to open its inventory and transfer food from you to your tame. Each dinosaur has a preferred food in order to tame it. The food needed to tame it will vary based on the creature you are attempting to tame.

Herbivores will need berries and crops when their hunger falls below a certain point. Carnivores will eat meat. The type and quality of food you tame your creature with will effect its taming effectiveness. However, to simply tame a creature you can stick to the basics.

Once the creature is hungry enough it will consume one unit of food. You do not have to force feed it, this is an automatic process. This process will repeat until all the food has been consumed or the creature has been tamed. Make sure it has enough food. If it reaches a point where it eats all of the food and still needs more then the taming meter will begin to decrease.

Keeping Your Tame Knocked Out

You will need to keep the creature unconscious throughout the taming process. If it wakes up you will fail the tame. The unconscious bar will decrease over time as you attempt to tame the creature. In order to refill the bar you feed the creature Narcoberries or Narcotics.

To feed an unconscious dinosaur the berries or narcotics you will need to put them into the dinosaur’s inventory. When they are inside the inventory you can right click the berries or narcotics and select eat. You can also hover over one of the items and press the default key of “E” to make the dinosaur eat the item. This will increase unconsciousness meter, giving you more time to tame the dinosaur.

What to do After You Tame a Dinosaur

After you have successfully tamed a dinosaur the first thing you will want to do is name it. You will also want to craft a saddle and equip the dinosaur with it so you can ride it. In order to do this you’ll need to learn the specific saddle engram to craft the saddle. You can then equip the saddle by opening the dinosaur’s inventory and dragging it into the specific saddle slot equipment slot.

You will also want to familiarize yourself with the dinosaur commands. There are several whistle commands such as follow, stop, aggressive stance, neutral stance, passive, attack my target, and many more. You will want to lean all of the commands and what they do. These will be vital as you continue your journey in Ark.

You can also adjust various settings for you dinosaur by targeting it and holding down the “E” key on PC for more options. This will allow you to view a host of options for your tame.