So, what is your favorite creature?

[Griffin998]

This seems like an entertaining topic to read (what with all the arguments), so why not? Mine personally is probably the wyverns. They're like flying rexes with a ranged attack! Granted, they are fairly difficult to get, but the payoff is well worth it. Either those, or rock drakes. They're breed able now, they can climb, they can glide, they can swim...their attack is decent too. I just remembered something-reapers. For me, it's a tie between these three. What about you?

[Yggdrassil]

I'm probably alone on this one but mine is Deinos, they are fun to ride, explore on and take on every boss with monster bleeds, they can climb, they are fast, breed quickly and the only thing that i don't like is the tail swiping me around the room when i get near it 😛

[resincake]

I love Thyla's. They can get about the maps pretty quickly, climbing difficult terrain when needed. They can easily face tank creatures like a Rex, and because you can use weapons from the saddle, you can comfortably tame/shoot any of the aforementioned wild creatures whilst letting them chew on you. Plus, when they torpor run, not a lot can get away from you..

[ObstinateSparrow]

Thylacoleo are awesome!  Not sure why you can't use them in Aberration, considering Rock Drakes and all...

Oddly, one of my favorite creatures is the Stegosaurus.  They're slow, but their plates make it hard for other creatures to hit you (the rider).  Take a Stego through the swamp, and Kaprosuchus can't dismount you.

I also like Argentavis.  They can fly, have lots of weight, and get weight reduction on many materials to boot.  And compared to the Stegosaurus, they're fairly fast.

I prefer creatures based in reality.

[wizard03]

10 hours ago, Griffin998 said:

This seems like an entertaining topic to read (what with all the arguments), so why not? Mine personally is probably the wyverns. They're like flying rexes with a ranged attack! Granted, they are fairly difficult to get, but the payoff is well worth it. Either those, or rock drakes. They're breed able now, they can climb, they can glide, they can swim...their attack is decent too. I just remembered something-reapers. For me, it's a tie between these three. What about you?

My main staple is argies and yeah thylo's, but I am also favorable to the phoenix. I just wish they had the weight reductions that argies or ankies have. Due to that, they are more of a show peice than anything else. =/
But I might have to substitute them with the magmasaur. They can gather metal much faster than ankies can. Maybe if i find a egg over 100 someday? =3

[maxplanck58]

I have decided to shun all the overpowered creatures like wyverns, gigas, rexes and manas and just keep them cryoed: they take all of the risk out of the game.  With the exception of a few special circumstances like purple OSDs and alpha hunt missions, you are pretty much unstoppable on them.  My favorites now are all early to mid-game tames: I like equus riding with a small wolf pack, and love those adorable carnos.

[DeliaHaze20]

magmasaur lava lizard A+

[L4D2]

my top 5 fighting dino

rex (vs boss) 

thery (+ veggy cake vs boss)

giga (osd meat gatherer)

mana (traveling in hostile aberation zone and nameless poison gatherer)

deino (awesome bleed effect and group bonus)

 

top 5 non fighting dino

maewing (traveling + raising)

stryder (ultimate gatherer with dedi storage)

equus (fantastic early game tame)

sinomacrop (weigh reduction and flying gliding ability)

yuty (boss fight support)

[AllOfTheAllos]

Gigas. Big! Powerful! Lots of health, on passive can be used as a safety rock for taming stuff! And due to the way I got my first two (very first one was stuck on some rocks when I found her, still stuck when I came back with darts and a rifle, STILL stuck when I made better darts and came back with them, just generally was stuck on small rocks the whole time, second one got stuck in the Abb cave's entrance after some chasing) I can't help but associate my gigas with ARK having things randomly happen in MY favor for once.

Rexes (tek rexes specifically). While I no longer breed them (though I still have my breeders - they're just podded), tek rexes DO take a place on the list of my favorites: my first serious breeding project, for a long time - my main ride. Also, most players breed rexes FOR bosses. I did bosses (which I never really planned to do) to give a purpose to a bunch of breejects after getting tired of killing perfectly good rexes whose only crime was not getting any new mutations. So in a way rexes made me progress in the game way past what I'd achieve otherwise.

Wyverns (fire and ice specifically). They're wyverns. How can you expect me NOT to like them?

Maewings. Well, obviously! I mean, the first thing on the list are GIGAS. Which I breed. Maewings are life-saving, oddly platypus-shaped angels, anyone who previously raised gigas maewing-free on official and then got a mae would agree with me. And they're cute or whatever.

Sinomacrops. My base is huge, and riding something around is not ideal, as I'd have to either keep appropriate food in every trough, or ALWAYS return my ride to the trough that has food for it. But with a sino I can just fly and glide around, quickly getting from my house to any end of the base. No need to remember to leave it at the proper trough - a few stacks of chitin can last it a long time and weight basically nothing. Also, safe trapless taming (if the sino has enough stamina). Also - if I'm taming on the other shore and need more supplies, there's no need to take the land mount that was with me there (usually my giga) get down from the cliff, to the other shore, up, then to my base - I can just leave my ride there and fly back to my base with my sino, grab what I need and be back! Quickly!

Magmasaurs. Hit hard, harvest things, look cool, aren't picky about their food, decently fast, fun to use (You get a glob of molten metal! And YOU get a glob of molten metal! Don't want it? Maybe don't exist in my path while I'm riding my awesome fire lizard, then. (just in case: I'm a PVE player, so it's just wild dinos that get globs of molten metal. I'm not setting beach bobs on fire or anything like that). Sure, an anky may be better at some things, but can an anky cook you a dinner? I don't think so! But  magma can (as long as you don't mind it being cooked meat of some kind).

Allos. Well, duh! I'm not named "AllOfTheCarnos", am I? They may be a bit too loud, but they look great. An all-black allo was my first large carnivore on official, and after I lost her I spent a long time obsessively trying to breed a new one (that first one was a wild-tame, and I didn't have any other allos while she was still alive. Stupid, I know). I succeeded in the end, and now I'm trying to work on improving my all-black allos so that they not just look cool, but bite hard, too.

Gachas. Need metal but don't feel like doing a metal run today? Gacha. Need obsidian but don't feel like doing an obsidian run ever? Gacha. Need sulfur but the only place on your map where you can get it is the wyvern trench and you still value your life thank you very much? Gacha. Oil? Gacha. Crystal? Gacha. Pearls? Gacha. Want to wear all riot but don't want to spend your precious resources on making it? Gacha and a bit of luck. Gachas are great.

[kyranight]

I love the looks of Yuty but when it comes down to it the Griffin it's hands down my most favorite, so reliable feels and looks good to ride them.

[CosmicSkeleton]

Fantasy wise its a tie between Rock Drakes and Shadowmanes. Both are quite aesthetically pleasing, solidly powerful, great for map traversal, and can allow me to slip past anything that would aggro on me and give me a hassle (Drakes are admittedly better at this in a non pvp scenario as they can still run while cloaked). The fact that they're also a hassle to get is also fun for me as I enjoy a challenge

Non fantasy wise it's probably gotta go to dinopithecus or deinonychus, once more for map traversal, however deinonychus' bleed and dinopithecus' propensity to only aggroing the largest carnivores are also a nice boon.

Honorable mention goes to dunkleosteus, bloodstalkers, basilisk, reapers, and ravagers.

[Foxkid]

Top 5 in general would be:

Direwolves

Hyaenodon

Ferox

Snow Owl

Deinonychus

 

Wolves and Hyenas because what can I say, I like dogs. Ferox is on par with Otter with an approachable cuteness, but it has a bit of coolness to it as well, especially if it has a nice color. (Now if only Wildcard would fix them so they could move without needing to super jump because they'll just rubberband immediately back to their spot when walking, running, or swimming if being ridden.)

Snow Owls are great with predator vision, and while they may not be able to carry like an argie, they make up for it with gliding, freezing/healing, and predator vision (which is a godsend considering most times I go out, the location I wanna go at that time is always, always blinded by the sun).

And Deinos lastly because what's not to love about a raptor on steroids? Stackable bleed, a vicious cling on large animals, wall hanging, and to top it off with no fall damage and a nice little speed? Perfect traversal mount even if they can't fly.

 

(Honorable mentions go to Mantis (high melee and blueprint clubs. Things either die or go to sleep, either one is great to watch a giant bug do with sticks), Velonosaur (a living turret that's fueled by meat instead of copious amounts of expensive bullets), and Kentrosaur (You may not be able to ride them, but as annoying as they are in the wild, they're really scary when bred up in a pack with high health)

[Griffin998]

Dunkys are cool. They have a pretty high Base DMG, if you check the wiki. Also, @Yggdrassil, you are not alone in liking deinos! I like so many creatures in ark, it's impossible to mention them all. Deinos are insanely powerful. Also, about shadowmanes-they're legitimately better than Gigas. You can get better dmg with less mutations, and they have more abilities than "big thing bite hard". So, in my opinion, Shadowmanes are superior to Gigas. They look way cooler, they do better damage, have a pack bonus, and have more abilities. Granted, I will admit that Gigas are considerably more intimidating than spiky water cat. And, they are the best on the Island. Also, completely unrelated, but cool anyway-here's a sort of list of the best creatures on each canonical map:

THE ISLAND:

Giganotosaurus: They're big, scary, mutatable, and have great damage straight off the bat (generally, I got one giga that does downwards of 200, even with, like, 50 levels pumped in-disappointing)

SCORCHED EARTH:

Wyverns: Flying rexes with breath attacks that are now mutatable. Why the heck not?

ABERRATION:

Reapers: Upgraded rexes that look mad cool. I'm pretty sure they do damage even when they roar (according to the dossier, they have acidic saliva). Also when they do their death animation I believe. They have natural armor, multiple attacks, and can burrow into the ground. Rock drakes are equally good, just in different areas. I'm talking pure hitting power here.

EXTINCTION:

Managarmr: They're fast, you can mutate them, and their breath attack hits (I think) three or five times per second. Crazy. If you mutate that... (also I know Gigas spawn on this map, but Manas can freeze a giga solid, if you didn't know)

GENESIS:

Magmasaur: Huge lava lizard that shoots huge long range fireballs that you can mutate. Why would you not like it? Also ferox. A high level on full addiction is stronger than a good rex.

GENESIS PART II:

Shadowmane: Like I said before, huge damage, thorn effect armor that's essentially bleed, pack boost, mate boosted powers, invisibility, hydration buff, fast in water, chain stun attack, super attack by holding down RT or pressing Alt, looks amazing. I could go on, but...why?

[ObstinateSparrow]

Another weird favorite from the Sparrow here.  Lately, I've been having a ton of fun with the Beelzebufo (toad).  I named mine Gamakichi.  Granted they don't have the best stats, but they're fairly fast.  But the best part is that when they eat a small bug, they get cementing paste.  They also do increased damage to small bugs.  Toads would be a huge help on maps that don't have beavers, like Scorched Earth or Aberration.

It's also fun to just hop around on the back of a toad.  And isn't that reason enough?

[Griffin998]

True. True. FYI, they do extra damage to bugs in general. Arthros, mantis, araneos, you name it. They're an excellent choice for the swamp cave, and leeches do not aggro to them, which is just the cherry on top. THat, and their cementing paste utility, makes them incredible utility creatures.

[Pipinghot]

Dimorphodons.

Oh sure there are lots of bigger and more powerful dinos, and more efficient dinos, but for the good old fashioned fun factor it's hard to beat the enjoyment of sending in a swarm of 50 dimos and they wreck something or someone. I wouldn't send them in against stuff with AOE damage, for obvious reasons, unless they're the result of a good breeding program, but for just wandering around the map exploring and harvesting it's entertaining to have a flock of dimo's to destroy almost anything that bothers you.

[Griffin998]

Have you watched Syntac's video on Dimorph mutations? If not you totally should. No spoilers

[Pipinghot]

18 hours ago, Griffin998 said:

Have you watched Syntac's video on Dimorph mutations? If not you totally should. No spoilers

Yeah, a long time ago, whenever it was new, pretty good video.

The main bummer about dimo's is that breeding them on an Official server is a monstrous waste of time. They take as long to mature as any of big carnivores and of course the benefits you get from that amount of time are much smaller. It's understandable, of course, if people were able to do mass breeding of small animals like compy's and dimo's then every Official server would be bogged down with thousands of small, less important dino's. Looking at the game from WC's point of view, it's important to make sure that mass breeding of small dino's on Official servers is simply not worth the time, but if anyone ever plays on an Unofficial or solo with enhanced breeding rates, they're a ton of fun.

[GAMBITSareWild]

Tek raptors, just for looks..favorite for utilization shadowmane 

[Griffin998]

Shadowmanes rule (as you can tell by my PFP).

[LordKel]

Picking just one creature Is difficult.   

For land mounts my favorites are the thyla and the rock drake. Both are great for travel, combat and utility, and the colors can be quite nice.   

For air travel,  I'd have to say the wyvern, as who doesn't want to ride a dragon?

Water mounts hands down is the basilosaurus. The fun electrical creatures pose no harm making the ocean experience a little less stressful.

And, finally, shoulder pets.   This one solidly was awarded to the otter, as its cuteness factor, thermal insulation and artifact carrying made it the most useful IMHO.   However, with the introduction of the sinos my poor otters are feeling severely neglected.  A pet that's a hang glider, a backpack and can scare away those darn ants and thief birds...yes please.   Plus, they are cute in there own right.

[Griffin998]

On 3/19/2022 at 4:26 AM, LordKel said:

For air travel,  I'd have to say the wyvern, as who doesn't want to ride a dragon?

 

So true XD.

On 3/19/2022 at 4:26 AM, LordKel said:

And, finally, shoulder pets.   This one solidly was awarded to the otter, as its cuteness factor, thermal insulation and artifact carrying made it the most useful IMHO.   However, with the introduction of the sinos my poor otters are feeling severely neglected.  A pet that's a hang glider, a backpack and can scare away those darn ants and thief birds...yes please.   Plus, they are cute in there own right.

Oh yeah, sinos are amazing. I haven't played around with them much, but enough to know that they're the best. I may have to change my opinion once Fjordhawk releases, but for now, hands down sino is the best shoulder pet. Weirdly enough, I like compies too. They're rather cute too, but they are a pain to tame, since they accept prime meat and nothing else (I think). Also, looks like you're an early bird. 4:26 am!

[Griffin998]

What is your favorite tame? I know this may be an overasked question, but...whatever. I personally love the all the Draconis species (or genus-not sure) in ARK. The wyverns, rock drakes, and managarmrs. I also like carnos, since something about them is just appealing to me. Magmasaurs, reapers...the list goes on!

[ThePryBar]

My favorite would be the Dunky as they are great at harvesting metal and there are way more metal nodes underwater it seems.  But beggingers mounts would be Direwolfs and Pelegornis (spelt that last one wrong probably) because if you don't have cryopods unlocked yet you can ride both through double doors into your base or boat.

[Griffin998]

45 minutes ago, ThePryBar said:

Direwolfs

Direwolves can be difficult to tame, but they are a valuable asset once tamed. It's not really about the creatures themselves, it's just that the environment is obscenely terrifying and very dangerous.

Also, fun fact-the dunky has a higher base damage than a rex! That, coupled with their insane resistance, could make them pretty amazing fighters.

Good luck taming, and happy ARKing!