ARK: Survival Evolved is free on PC until June 11 via the Epic Games Store this week and it’s yours to keep forever as part of Epic’s Free Game Fridays’ deal. What makes ARK: Survival Evolved stand out from other survival games isn’t just the presence of dinosaurs, but the fact those dinosaurs can be tamed by you and used for many different tasks. To help you grab the ultimate virtual pet, we’ve put together this quick-start taming guide.
Choose the right animal
Taming animals in ARK: Survival Evolved is a fundamental aspect of progressing through the game. Different creatures will help you perform different tasks, and it’s important to consider what you want a dinosaur for before you set off to tame it. Major carnivores like T. Rex’s and Velociraptors are great for defending your base while flying creatures like Pteranodons make navigating the island a cinch. Other creatures are useful as pack animals, while some are great for farming specific kinds of resources (such as Mammoths and wood).
Prepare accordingly
Alongside picking the right animal, there are many other secondary considerations you’ll need to think about when taming. All animals have different levels, even within the same species, and a higher level means that creature will take longer to tame. Also, to actually tame an animal, you first have to knock it out (for most animals anyway) and then feed it a combination of food and narcotics. There are lots of different foods and two different kinds of narcotics, all of which affect taming differently for each animal, so it’s worth looking into the most effective ways of taming animals before setting out.
Playing the waiting game
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about taming is that it takes time. Not only does this mean you have to be patient, but it also means you need to be careful about where you do your taming. You don’t want to lose your triceratops to a wandering T.Rex because you were cavalier about your taming location. So before knocking an animal out, try luring it to a secluded spot on the map.
