The point of high lvl giga trades on pve?

[brandon0335]

8 hours ago, Demerus said:

Meat runs for feeding babies
Wyv chomper
Dimorph Chomper
Titan Killer
Golem Killer
Death Worm Killer
Alpha Killer

Most importantly, kick ass lawn ornament with the bionic skin.

yeah the bionic skin looks especially nice when u throw some paint on it

[LouSpowells]

It's not nearly as complicated as people are making it. People want high level gigas on PVE servers because they want high level gigas. Gigas in and of themselves are pretty pointless outside of vanity or intimidation. Beyond that there are few things a Giga can do that a bunch of Rexes can't do just as well...and considering Rexes can be bred much more quickly, the risk/return ratio is skewed as hell. Gigas as they stand are pointless at best, a liability at worst.

So why do people want high level gigas? Because they want them.

[Kallor]

24 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

Gigas in and of themselves are pretty pointless outside of vanity or intimidation.

I'd suggest you actually read the replies in this thread before making statements like that.  Three pages of posts detailing how they are useful and you post that they are pointless.  /facepalm

[LouSpowells]

1 hour ago, Kallor said:

I'd suggest you actually read the replies in this thread before making statements like that.  Three pages of posts detailing how they are useful and you post that they are pointless.  /facepalm

I read them and disagreed with them. My experience in the game indicates something entirely different than those who are looking for reasons to justify a preference. When it comes to PvE, there isn't a thing that Gigas can do that other tames can't do faster and/or better with less time/material investment and risk.

I'm not telling people to dislike it or not use it. I could care less, but the question was asked so I answered.

 

[Kallor]

4 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

I read them and disagreed with them. My experience in the game indicates something entirely different than those who are looking for reasons to justify a preference. When it comes to PvE, there isn't a thing that Gigas can do that other tames can't do faster and/or better with less time/material investment and risk.

You can't just disagree with a fact (well, you can but it's not wise).  There are numerous explanations in this thread as to what Gigas can do better / faster than anything else.

Kill Titans, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga.

Kill wild Gigas, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga.

Meat runs, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga (possibly a Wyvern on Rag map because of the low density of dinos). Remember, it has to be better/faster.

Killing all dinos in a massive area to force new respawns for potential tames.

 

You might want to edit your post.

[LouSpowells]

1 hour ago, Kallor said:

You can't just disagree with a fact (well, you can but it's not wise).  There are numerous explanations in this thread as to what Gigas can do better / faster than anything else.

Kill Titans, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga.

Kill wild Gigas, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga.

Meat runs, please explain what dino does this better / faster than a Giga (possibly a Wyvern on Rag map because of the low density of dinos). Remember, it has to be better/faster.

Killing all dinos in a massive area to force new respawns for potential tames.

 

You might want to edit your post.

Titans: 3-5 bred rexes. Or 1 Wyvern.
Gigas: A Wyvern, 3 bred rexes 
Meat runs: Wyvern or 3 bred rexes
Killing all dinos in a given area: Rex, wyvern, allo pack, wolf pack, 3 tickle chickens, dimo flock, bronto...me with a good compound bow...a pack of hyenadons...a couple of stegos...any of these things will get the job done just as well in roughly the same amount of time. (Much more quickly if you are counting the time it takes to kill what's attacking your giga from behind)
 
There are multitudes of playstyles. Some are more fun than others, some are more efficient than others. With the addition of dinos since the Giga was released, it's become a novelty dino in whose value-to-investment ratio is all jacked up...especially considering the hatch and maturation times. It is simply inefficient in comparison to any of the dinos that do the same thing. Is it more or less fun? That's up to you. At the end of the day you're free to do what you like. It doesn't bother me either way. You can tell me what is or is not fact all you like...but if you're only hatching and raising gigas in PvE because you think they're the most efficient wild dino killers and meat gatherers, then you're wasting time you could have spent on more valuable and more useful tames.

 

[Kallor]

You specifically said Better / Faster.

You have provided alternatives that are different, but not better or faster.

[LouSpowells]

Just now, Kallor said:

You specifically said Better / Faster.

You have provided alternatives that are different, but not better or faster.

I know what I said. Now I also know what you glossed over.

[Kallor]

So are you going to provide a list of the better and faster options or just going to continue ducking and diving.  None of the options you listed are better/faster, they are different, but worse/slower.

If you didn't really mean better/faster then just say so. If you did mean it, then what's better/faster?  Fairly simple to answer surely?

[Sideswipe]

A singular giga is much faster than a pack of anything. No annoying AI to control. 

[LouSpowells]

2 hours ago, Kallor said:

So are you going to provide a list of the better and faster options or just going to continue ducking and diving.  None of the options you listed are better/faster, they are different, but worse/slower.

If you didn't really mean better/faster then just say so. If you did mean it, then what's better/faster?  Fairly simple to answer surely?

Let me put it as simply as I can for you:

If you have the ability to tame a high level Giga, you already have the utility a Giga provides. (You'll need a few good rexes to kill the gigas you don't want.) You're going to spend hours locating and taming a Giga (if you're lucky you'll have one in 4-5 hours), killing all the mediocre and crap Gigas along the way, along with anything else that needs to die when put down a taming pen. Once you have one Giga you will realize that Gigas without imprints are garbage. (Low health, stamina, melee, move speed) If you're lucky, they'll be marginally better than the Rexes you used to attain said Giga. So, double your time and effort (at minimum, if you're lucky) to find a similar-level Giga of the opposite sex. Then you breed them to make an egg...which you still need to hatch and imprint.

OR

If you have the ability to pay for a Giga egg, you have already farmed for an inordinate amount of hours for other things to pay for said Giga egg...which you still need to hatch and imprint. (Or you could buy it with real money if you're an idiot...but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here.) 

THEN

Hatching and imprinting takes approximately 13 days and 18.5 hours...or 330.5 hours. 

___________________________________
So, conservatively we're looking at the following:

330.5hrs + ? hrs spent hunting and taming
or
330.5hrs + ? hrs spent farming

That is what's involved in attaining this glorious benefit of some more meat and hide, and the ability to kill things maybe a little bit faster than Rexes...which can be mated, imprinted, and hatched at 3x the rate of a Giga.

High level rexes are vastly more available than Gigas, meaning locating high level rexes will take a fraction of the time. Rexes you don't want can be killed vastly quicker without any risk. Rexes you do want can be tranqued with 35 shocking tranq darts, compared to 225 shocking tranq darts, meaning the taming process is ~30 minutes shorter with a rex. Rexes you breed will be fully matured in 5 days, one hour (121 hours) compared to the 13 days, 18.5 hours (330.5 hours) meaning you can build an army of expendable rexes in the same amount of time you can get 5-6 Gigas. (Assuming 36 hours between mates and a 1 in 2 chance per hatch for another female) Due to their bountiful (in comparison) availability, adding new Rexes with better stats into your breed is far more likely than it would be with a Giga, thereby increasing the effectiveness of your efforts. Rexes are cheaper, faster, easier to replace, easier to breed, easier to maneuver, better at long distances, easier to transport by air, and nearly as effective as Gigas in ALL aspects outside of killing Gigas and Titans...and the only difference there is that you'll need 3-5 rexes instead of 1 Giga for the same results.

So you tell me, which is better and faster...using Rexes or using Gigas? 

Raising Gigas on PvE servers is a pointless waste of time if you're only keeping them around for utility, but if you want them for funsies, none of it is a waste.

 

[Kallor]

So what you meant was that Gigas take some effort to find/tame/raise/buy and that you can do without them by using other dinos, and even though they aren't better than Gigas, they are easier and "good enough".  Fair enough viewpoint.

And what you accidentally typed was;

5 hours ago, LouSpowells said:

When it comes to PvE, there isn't a thing that Gigas can do that other tames can't do faster and/or better with less time/material investment and risk.

Which was and still is flat out wrong.  Gigas may require some initial investment (which no one is arguing), but faster and better? Nope.  Although I expect you now realise this and are trying to move the goalposts and equate faster/better with less time/materiel investment.

Faster and/or better than a Giga. You still haven't provided a single example where this is true.

40 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

So you tell me, which is better and faster...using Rexes or using Gigas? 

Gigas are better and faster at performing the tasks people listed in this thread.  You don't even dispute this in your last post where you have reverted to "nearly as effective" instead of faster / better.  Combined with the terrible AI/pathfinding in this game and having to use multiple Rexes for everything and still being worse than a Giga, probably means that even with the much harder raise of a Giga, you still end up ahead over time, plus a lot less effort every single time you use it.

Gigas take more effort to raise than Rexes. Sure, no one ever disputed this, and it's not even part of the argument.

Gigas are harder to find than Rexes. Sure, no one ever disputed this, and it's not even part of the argument.

You said other tames are BETTER and/or FASTER than Gigas at EVERYTHING. You are wrong.

[GreenRoc]

1 hour ago, LouSpowells said:

Raising Gigas on PvE servers is a pointless waste of time if you're only keeping them around for utility, but if you want them for funsies, none of it is a waste.

I don't share the same sentiment.

I personally prefer to use the bred giga I got as a gift, over the boss-fighting rexes I adopted from a retired tribe, for harvesting meat. Jake (the gifted giga) is most certainly (in my opinion) not pointless, he never has been pointless, nor has he been for vanity. Ever since I got him, he has been the best meat gatherer in my tribe. That is my personal opinion. I dont use him as a status symbol. I'm not a person who says "my dilo is bigger than yours", that's not my kinda game. My only competition is myself. I hate competition in general.

I use Jake for functionality as a meat gatherer, and another use he has for me is as a yard guard. He has chewed on many bats during this halloween season. Good Jake, you have additional uses. As for how Jake compares to meat harvesting, I prefer Jake over my imprinted Wyvern or boss-fighting Rex anytime, because he moves farther, gets stuck on less, and kills things faster, and fills up on meat faster. Jake is NOT pointless at all imo. Jake is not a status symbol either. He is sentimental too, a gift from a friend.

My first ever baby in my time with ark, was a giga. I enjoyed raising it yes, and did I use it for utility? I most certainly I did. Was it worth it? That is subject to personal opinion. I'd say yes, raising the giga was worth it. What is "it"? It is how much meat he harvested, and memories I retained from the experience lasting years. I can't put a price on that.

Not pointless, imo.

7 hours ago, LouSpowells said:

Gigas in and of themselves are pretty pointless outside of vanity or intimidation.

I feel that your statement should have had "I feel that" in front of it. Additional words could help to alleviate the disagreement that others may have with your opinionated statement(s). Clarifying that you are making a statement of your own personal opinion, can be made in many creative ways, or simply by adding imo, imo.

 

Edit: I realized after posting some statement may have been hypocritical, so edit to correct myself.

[LouSpowells]

 

 

1 hour ago, Kallor said:

So what you meant was that Gigas take some effort to find/tame/raise/buy and that you can do without them by using other dinos, and even though they aren't better than Gigas, they are easier and "good enough".  Fair enough viewpoint.

And what you accidentally typed was;

Which was and still is flat out wrong.  Gigas may require some initial investment (which no one is arguing), but faster and better? Nope.  Although I expect you now realise this and are trying to move the goalposts and equate faster/better with less time/materiel investment.

Faster and/or better than a Giga. You still haven't provided a single example where this is true.

Gigas are better and faster at performing the tasks people listed in this thread.  You don't even dispute this in your last post where you have reverted to "nearly as effective" instead of faster / better.  Combined with the terrible AI/pathfinding in this game and having to use multiple Rexes for everything and still being worse than a Giga, probably means that even with the much harder raise of a Giga, you still end up ahead over time, plus a lot less effort every single time you use it.

Gigas take more effort to raise than Rexes. Sure, no one ever disputed this, and it's not even part of the argument.

Gigas are harder to find than Rexes. Sure, no one ever disputed this, and it's not even part of the argument.

You said other tames are BETTER and/or FASTER than Gigas at EVERYTHING. You are wrong.

 

You can stomp around here about "wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong" all you want, but let's recap before I close the lid on this one:

OP asked for peoples' opinions on Gigas in PvE. People gave theirs, and in response I gave mine. That apparently triggered the hell out of you and you demanded I should "actually read the replies in this thread", despite the fact I opened with, "It's not nearly as complicated as people are making it." Helpful tip: That's shorter way of saying, "I've read what you have all said, and I believe that a number of your opinions are overcomplicating the situation." When I told you I read the posts and was disagreeing with them you flipped out, told me my opinion was wrong, and demanded an explanation about what I meant by "faster/better less time/material." 

Thus far in this thread I have said that a Wyvern is better/faster for meat/hide. I've said that a wyvern and three rexes is faster/better (with a lightning wyvern it's godmode) against gigas. I said that 3-5 bred rexes or a Wyvern (depends if it's on a mountain or not) will kill a Titanosaur faster than a Giga. I said that there are a number of animals alone or in packs that could clear an area of wild dinos better/faster than a Giga. I also explained that you can use rexes you would have needed to hunt gigas (along with newer better rexes you find) to quickly breed up a tasty, beefy, disposable fleet that can take on literally anything a PvE server can throw at it. 

You don't need to explain to me or anyone else that one tamed rex is not as powerful as one tamed giga. It's not a state secret. We all know that a tamed giga is far more powerful than a tamed rex at the same level. Similarly, we all know that a giga gets more hide/meat per dino it eats than a Wyvern. But due to the wonder of winged flight you can get more meat/hide faster with Wyvern on all of the maps, and (again) similarly, you can kill any dino on the map quicker with a fleet of rexes, or a wyvern/rex combo than you can with a giga...and you don't have to waste an insane amount of time taming, breeding, and hatching Gigas to do it. Unless you want to because they're cool and fun. Which they are...which is why I have one among my 40+ rexes and various Wyverns on the PvE server I play on.

Anyway, that's about as crystal clear an explanation as I can give. If you need further clarification, I'd suggest glasses.

[edskelly]

@LouSpowells is quite simply wrong.

Ive got wyverns that ive killed titans with but its a pain compared to on my giga.

And taking a pack of rexes to do anything over a single giga is just nonsense.I couldnt think of anything more annoying than dealing with crappy AI following half way round the map.

And no a wyvern does not get meat faster than my gigas.I walk out my base, do a lap and im done.

They are faster and easier than all the options you put up...FACT.

Buy you just keep doing it your way.

[AngrySaltire]

1 hour ago, edskelly said:

@LouSpowells is quite simply wrong.

Ive got wyverns that ive killed titans with but its a pain compared to on my giga.

And taking a pack of rexes to do anything over a single giga is just nonsense.I couldnt think of anything more annoying than dealing with crappy AI following half way round the map.

And no a wyvern does not get meat faster than my gigas.I walk out my base, do a lap and im done.

They are faster and easier than all the options you put up...FACT.

Buy you just keep doing it your way.

I have to agree here. There is no way a single wyvern can take out a titan faster than a giga. I have not seen wyverns take out a titan efficiently since the flyer nerf and even before then it took quiet a few wyverns to do it over alongish period of time. It just takes waaaaayyyy too long on a wyvern now. Spend too much time restamming. Giga munches through a titan in minutes rather than the tens of minutes required for a flock of wyverns. 

Not going to talk about taking on wild gigas with tamed gigas because I just leave well alone. Tangled with them with wyverns but usually ends badly.

Gigas deffinatly better and faster at meat gathering on the island. I have used wyverns, rexes and gigas for this and giga was definitely the best. Nothing beats being able to one hit or two at most on a meat run. 2 bites and a third for harvesting without breaking a stride.Might have used wyverns for extremely quick meat runs but those were for filling up a single trough at best rather than the massive meat runs of filling up fridges which required giga runs. Cant speak for meat gathering on Ragnarok but I could see it being faster on a wyvern just because of the landscape, but I dont know.

[yekrucifixion187]

May have been said but loved taking our fresh raised Rex's or Yuty's out with the Giga to kill Titans and get their levels up fast.

Favorite was fresh Yuty, followed the Giga, buffed the Giga, Giga killed Titan oh look another Titan, rinse and repeat oh look a 3rd Titan. That Yuty grabbed like 40 levels in one outing minutes after becoming fully matured. Much more fun and quicker than sitting and running the 4 grinders plus chem bench with Lystro buff. You want to talk about status symbol? Invite some noobs to come a long on that trip. Lol. 

Awesome trade value (got us our last line of Boss rex eggs on legacy, two mute eggs got us our Squid), plus mutated colors, ease of meat farming (6k meat in 10 minutes which is great when raising 10 Quetzal's and 10 Rex's at once). 

The number one use of a Giga in PvE is personal enjoyment which in Ark is all the reason you need. 

[Palenor]

On 10/31/2017 at 10:47 AM, MirageUK said:

I guess they do collect a lot of meat quickly but to be chosen over my 2-6 REX meat collecting squad the inventory limit would have to be increased on the Giga to allow more than 300 stacks to be held at one time.

To me it's more fun running a squad of REX than walking 1 Giga to the swamp.  Espectially since the AI of REX following seems much better at not getting stuck on pebbles these days.

Thats 12 fridges or 6 Tek troughs in on 10 minute run.

granted you won't be able to do that with a wild tame giga and still move. Needs to be a raised FIFA with pretty good imprint to do this

[LouSpowells]

5 hours ago, edskelly said:

@LouSpowells is quite simply wrong.

Ive got wyverns that ive killed titans with but its a pain compared to on my giga.

And taking a pack of rexes to do anything over a single giga is just nonsense.I couldnt think of anything more annoying than dealing with crappy AI following half way round the map.

And no a wyvern does not get meat faster than my gigas.I walk out my base, do a lap and im done.

They are faster and easier than all the options you put up...FACT.

Buy you just keep doing it your way.

"Nuh uh!"

Test it.

[Sideswipe]

Delete

[LouSpowells]

10 minutes ago, Palenor said:

granted you won't be able to do that with a wild tame giga and still move. Needs to be a raised FIFA with pretty good imprint to do this

And that's the point I've been making. It's going to end up taking 1000+ hours on average just to get a decent Giga, when you just as likely could use the same stuff you'd use to tame the giga to get what you need. By the time you have a giga you really want and have it fully imprinted, you could have filled your troughs hundreds or thousands of times over, and you'd have enough hide to build ascendant saddles for a fleet of rexes.

Again, it boils down to personal preference, but if you value efficiency in even the slightest way, a Giga is simply vanity.

 

Just now, Sideswipe said:

A singular giga is much faster than a pack of anything. No annoying AI to control. 

What patch are you playing on? Or are you still going on that mindset from a year ago that AI pathing is horrible? It's really not anymore, especially when it comes to Rexes, even in the mountains unless your server is lagging like hell.

[Sideswipe]

7 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

"Nuh uh!"

Test it.

I have.  On my giga I spent a max of 5 minutes killing a titan. On a wyvern? You’re looking at double. Mayhaps triple that time. All of that time spent restammimg and repositioning so that your wyvern isn’t tanking hits and firing off shots on the titan. Giga is the only thing that can and will face tank a titan. 

[AngrySaltire]

18 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

And that's the point I've been making. It's going to end up taking 1000+ hours on average just to get a decent Giga, when you just as likely could use the same stuff you'd use to tame the giga to get what you need. By the time you have a giga you really want and have it fully imprinted, you could have filled your troughs hundreds or thousands of times over, and you'd have enough hide to build ascendant saddles for a fleet of rexes.

Again, it boils down to personal preference, but if you value efficiency in even the slightest way, a Giga is simply vanity.
 

You are correct. That time could be better spent. I flat out refused to bread gigas cause of it. You could spend 1000+ hours breeding up the perfect giga. Beauty of official is that the chances are someone else has done the leg work (plus the combined effort of all the servers breeding them up) and I can come in and trade for a half decent one. Wala sorted I have myself a half decent giga, able to farm meat for days and take on titans with ease. Its what I did back on legacy (Well a friend gifted me a second hand one). A giga will simply out strip rexs and wyverns in those regards.

18 minutes ago, LouSpowells said:

 

What patch are you playing on? Or are you still going on that mindset from a year ago that AI pathing is horrible? It's really not anymore, especially when it comes to Rexes, even in the mountains unless your server is lagging like hell.

While the AI pathing is much much superior to what it was ( I actually watch in amazement as my rex navigates a rock, its amazing to watch it work it out haha) it still is a pain to take out a pack. Still got to keep a really close eye on your pack.

[Loui]

Let me be honest the worst part about breeding anything is the baby phase, once it hits juvenile it's easy sailing from there on. That being said when it's a 2x breedig event, raising a giga is a piece of cake. And actually, taming a giga is super easy, the hardest part is knocking it out...so I disagree with saying a giga takes 1000+ hours too get .... you could probably mutton tame one your first day lol 

[Sideswipe]

2 hours ago, LouSpowells said:

What patch are you playing on? Or are you still going on that mindset from a year ago that AI pathing is horrible? It's really not anymore, especially when it comes to Rexes, even in the mountains unless your server is lagging like hell.

It’s a thousand times better than it was but still annoying to wait for them to catch up while I’m miles down the beach needing their support. If anything the value of the pack is that I can ride the strongest and offload meat onto the weak ones. It’s what I do with my Wyvern hunting pack on Ragnarok. At least with 1 singular giga run just walking out of our base in the redwoods with it I would have to turn around and unload meat because I hit slot limit. With the wyverns? I barely hit slot limit because their weight capacity is so atrocious. You have to level them in everything to make them viable for meat running. Health/STAM/WEIGHT. 

 

You don’t need the worlds most amazing imprint. I usually only imprinted my gigas anywhere from 10-30% which is utter garbage and was still able to efficiently gather more meat on my single giga than any of our other carnivores. 

 

Having 1 good giga is certainly a requirement for any PVE player simply for defense and any kind of quick meat gathering. More than 1 maybe 2 for eggs to tame oviraptors you approach vanity levels. It doesn’t take a lot to get a decent giga. 1k hours is an exaggeration. Does it take a significant time investment as well as preparation? You bet it does. If it takes you 1k hours to tame a giga then perhaps you aren’t going into taming/breeding one correctly.