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Heracles inexpectatus- Squawkzilla/ Your Friendly Neighbourhood Murder Parrot


Normandem

Suggestion

This suggestion is for Heracles inexpectacus, a flightless parrot that could be tamed by playing the wardrums and is heavilly themed around sound.

 

I'd like to introduce you to one of the more bizzare creatures that could be found on the arks- Heracles inexpectatus, the giant parrot! Heracles lived during the Miocene 19-16 million years ago in New Zealand. It's possibly the ancestor to the modern Kakapo, a flightless parrot known for it's booming courtiship call. Despite their small size, many parrots have an extremely powerful bite, some strong enough to break bones!

Heracles would be a shoulder pet with multiple useful abilites both in base and battle. While it is slow and cannot be ridden, it makes up for this with its good bulk and unique set of abilities. It's smaller stature makes it an excellent indoor base defense creature and it's prowess in battle is not to be underestimated.

The main use of Heracles is as a shoulder pet that it can squawk in battle. This applies the deafened debuff to nearby enermy dinosaurs and players- affected players will be unable to hear nearby sounds. Affected dinosaurs will be unable to respond to player whistles, or dinosaur roars (blocking the yuty buff). This effect lasts for 15 seconds. The effect can be prevented by wearing a fur helmet (looks like ear muffs!) which can be worn by both players and dinos.

In the wild it will make both squawks and drumming sounds. Where it spawns can spawn an in-wild structure (the Heracles pit) , like a beaver dam, that can contain useful items in its inventory (maybe silica pearls, gems, metal ore). Going to close to the pit will trigger aggression. When standing on the pit they can make drumming noises.  It can be tamed by attracting it over by playing war drums then passively feeding it seeds (plant X or Y best, then vegetable seeds)

This is a cool creature that while most don't know exists or wouldn't expect on the Ark, would be a very fun addition that balances well into the metagame!

 

Heracles inexpectatus

Dossier-

Wild-

I have encountered so many weird and wonderful creatures on the Arks but the large flightless parrot, Heracles inexpectatus, truly lives up to its name as one of the most suprising. Living deep in the jungles, you're far more likely to hear a wild Heracles than see one; on top of their deafening squawks every midnight, they communicate across long distances with a booming drumming made by a pit they've dug into the ground. While usually timid, they can be fiercely territorial around their pits and will noisilly attack or chase away any small creature that ventures too near. If you would like to get close enough to tame them, you can entice them away from their pits by using your own drums before offering them their favourite food- plant species X seeds.

Tamed-

A tamed Heracles makes for a suprisingly versatile companion.  A Heracles can be trained to squawk on command, deafening nearby dinosaurs and preventing them from hearing their tribe's commands. But beware- any humans or dinosaurs wearing a fur hat will be unaffected by these shrieks. Even when not sitting on someone's shoulder, a tamed Heracles is strong in battle, able to ignore the armour provided by dinosaurs' saddles. One tribe even used the sound of war drums to lift their Heracles' battle spirits! But my favourite use for a Heracles is as a pet; they'll even show their affection back by gifting you with shiny items they have collected!

Diet: Herbivore

Tameable: Yes (passive tame)

Rideable: No

Breedable: Yes

Meet Heracles the 'squawkzilla' | Daily Mail Online

Stats-

Health: 550 (fat bird has bulk)

Stamina: 100

Oxygen: 200

Food: 1000

Weight: 220

Melee damage: 50 (being bitten by a parrot really hurts!)

Torpidity: 400

Abilites when tamed-

Shoulder pet that applies 'Deafened' debuff to enemis on command (can be preventted by wearing a fur hat). This prevents dinos from hearing player commands, yuty roars, shadowmane roars or mammoth roars.

Lays eggs at the same rate as a dodo- these eggs can be used for Regular Kibble

When left to wander will occasionally gift the player with items they have found- these can include gems, metal ore, or items of quality depending on the level of the Heracles

In battle can bypass enemy saddle armour and wearboots for armour

Significant buff (x5 attack, x0.2 damage taken) when a player is playing drums or a mammoth saddle nearby- this would be hilarious if it could be used in boss fights

Effects on metagame-

Useful as a shoulder pet in PVP, and its ability to be blocked by fur helmets gives dinos that can wear these a chance to be more viable

Early game tame- when you're fighting other bobs with your dilos and dodos become the ultimate bob with your very own battle parrot

A new way to gather resources

Caving- although it cannot be ridden, is still a tanky creature that can fit through small spaces

Small enough to fit in your base to ruin any potential raider's day

Parrots killing a dragon would be GOAT

 

If you play the warmdrums near it then it should dance like parrots do in Minecraft

 

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for this creature! 

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22 hours ago, CursiveKai said:

The Heracles Inexpectatus is a giant parrot that I could see go both ways,

Shoulder mount or Rideable (depending on how big you make it)

                                        Shoulder:                                                                      Rideable (Ultimate stealth Flyer)

                             * Lowers Dino's agro range                                       * Lowers Dino's agro range

                             * It'd be fun if it would imitate your emotes             * Cancels Dino's sound based abilities EX: Yuti's Courage/fear roar

                * You can hear tribes voice chatting from further away       * Immune to most if not all negative dino effects 

                * can confuse dinos in packs to not have a pack bonus      * Cannot be detected by parasaurs

                                                                                                                  * Right Click Ability: Chaos: confuses wild dinos into running around randomly for a couple of seconds

                                                                                                                  * C ability: can pick up very small creatures

Avoiding parasaurs would be cool but stopping parasaur or desmodous detection could be a lot of fun, albeit very pvp focused

 

Stopping pack bonuses would make it such a good taming dino in pve though

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The Heracles Inexpectatus is a giant parrot that I could see go both ways,

Shoulder mount or Rideable (depending on how big you make it)

                                        Shoulder:                                                                      Rideable (Ultimate stealth Flyer)

                             * Lowers Dino's agro range                                       * Lowers Dino's agro range

                             * It'd be fun if it would imitate your emotes             * Cancels Dino's sound based abilities EX: Yuti's Courage/fear roar

                * You can hear tribes voice chatting from further away       * Immune to most if not all negative dino effects 

                * can confuse dinos in packs to not have a pack bonus      * Cannot be detected by parasaurs

                                                                                                                  * Right Click Ability: Chaos: confuses wild dinos into running around randomly for a couple of seconds

                                                                                                                  * C ability: can pick up very small creatures

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Images are on the bottom of the post

Based on real-life Heracles inexpectatus - largest parrot to have existed, also known as Squawkzilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracles_inexpectatus


While real-life Heracles was most likely flightless and not as large as the one that would be in the game, we all know that ARK's creatures are not the most realistic and due to gameplay reasons, we can apply a few changes.


Wild:

Heracles Giganteus is a medium sized flyer, soaring above jungles and forests of The Island (or any other map it would be added to).
Colorful plumage is not it's only attribute; Heracles Giganteus possesses dexterous claws, sharp beak that's able to crush even the strongest materials and outstanding intelligence.
While not the most agile flyer, it makes up for it with it's excellent climbing abilities thanks to it's claws and strong, curved beak.


Abilites:

- Climbing
If it's too dangerous to land on the ground, Heracles can latch onto walls and even ceilings with it's claws, and use them alongside it's beak to climb in any direction (think of it as a weird mix between Tapejara and Megalania). Climbing not only consumes no stamina but allows the bird to regenerate it for the next flight.

- Grabbing
Dexterous, zygodactyl claws of Heracles are perfect for holding small creatures or humans (and thanks to it's intelligence perhaps even tools?).
Mid-flight, it can carry up to 3 additional passengers - two in each foot (or one medium creature, using both feet) and one in it's beak. Although it won't be able to climb while carrying them, if it lands on the ground it can still hold a creature in it's beak and one of the feet (similar to how real life parrots hold things using one of their legs). This is helpful if you need to hold a creature that you don't want to escape while taming, or perhaps a hostage.

- Beak
While Heracles inexpectatus is not a fighter, it's beak - naturally used for crack-opening nuts and fruit - can chew through most types of armor (either ignoring part of the armor stat or breaking them), as well as easily and quickly bite through wooden and thatch structures. While naturally passive, if threatened, Heracles will also defend itself, crushing bones of the attackers (attacks apply slow effect, similar to the one when you're low HP), or scream at the attackers, scaring away smaller predators.

- Intelligence
Potentially it could apply crafting skill bonus when close to an allied Heracles, or use melee tools while holding them in one of it's feet, although it's intellgence might complicate the taming process, which leads us to...


Taming:

Due to high intelligence and their natural curiosity, Heracles Giganteus is a passive tame, requiring the survivors to approach the Squawkzilla and, if lucky, the critter will get interested, land near them and grab them in it's claws, carefully inspecting their new potential pet human. After realizing that not only does the human pose no threat, but also gives treats and scritches, it will accept the survivor as it's new servant master. (could be somewhat similar to taming horses in that case - every now and then there's a short moment when you have to feed it in order for the taming efficiency to increase)


Unfortuantely I have no drawing skills, but here are some images of real-life Heracles inexpectatus (not mine) that can serve as an inspiration of how ingame Heracles Giganteus could look like:


A Dinosaur A Day — Heracles inexpectatus

Giant parrot was nearly as big as a kindergartner, scientists say - The  Washington Post

 

Heracles the Giant Parrot Stood 3 Feet Tall | Discover Magazine

 

Criadero Kimbi: ▷ Heracles Inexpectatus, El Loro Gigante de Nueva Zelanda

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5 hours ago, NOU123 said:

I've noticed that lately the ark community has been wanting a new flyer, to give them a fresh breath of air, literally. I have done some research and found the largest parrot that ever flew, Heracles, or as the discoverers called it, "Squawkzilla".

GENERAL INFO:

Heracles would be a new utility flier that would survive by mimicking dinosaurs. It could reduce mating timers by making "sexy dinosaur sounds" to invigorate the female. The Heracles could be a flying noglin, as it could mimic the sounds of a tamed dinosaur's owner to lure the tame away from their base or force them to destroy a structure or kill a fellow tame. To nerf this and make it so that the heracles isn't a banned tame on every unofficial server, the effect would only work as long as the dinosaur isn't being ridden, or until the owner whistles a different command. The heracles could glide like a desmodus to make it faster but it wouldnt use the momentum like a griffin does. The heracles could also make "angry dinosaur sounds" to buff allies and give them a buff similar to the yutyrannus courage roar(This would not completely rule out the yutyrannus due to the heracles being unusable in most boss fights and it's lack of a fear roar).

In addition, just for parrot's sake, it makes a little dance if the rider emotes and can seed fruits in it's inventory. It would be a passive tame by (your gonna hate this) singing. You have to run up to a heracles before it runs away and feed it some nice herbivore food. Then you have to do a fancy thing like the mammoth drum minigame where you press a certain button at a certain time to sing a note that the heracles likes. After a bit of singing, the heracles comes down and lets you feed it again. Rinse and repeat and you've got a parrot. Another fun feature just for jokes is that the parrot would speak human words in a funny parrot voice in correlation with whistle commands by it's owner, such as "Attack!" if they whistle attack or "peekaboo" if they whistle stop. Overall the heracles inexpectatus is just a funny tame with it's good uses.

DOSSIER:

HERACLES

Species: Heracles Inexpectatus

Time: Miocene Epoch

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Skittish

 

Wild:

Heracles would be frightening for most as an argentavis-sized parrot, but it's actually very fearful of us survivors. Before domestication, I have observed it in the wild singing to other parrots high up in the trees and eating fruits. Sometimes when I talk to myself during a walk through the woods, I can hear faintly the sound of a Heracles mimicking my voice. 

Domesticated:

I've met tribes who make use of the Heracles by luring enemy dinosaurs out of their fortresses to be slaughtered during raids. They also enjoy it as a form of entertainment, dancing with it and singing to it. They informed me that a combination of singing and food is the best way to domesticate the bird. I even saw one group utilize the bird to make mating sounds to females who had just got out of heat, which surprisingly made them get back into it much quicker!

DISCLAIMER:

I'm very bad at drawing so yes, i did use google images. Just imagine it being larger than a human.

Let me know what you think!

download (5).jfif 9.11 kB · 2 downloads

there is no actual shot that the actually interesting dinosaur ideas are taken up by garbage like this :|

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I've noticed that lately the ark community has been wanting a new flyer, to give them a fresh breath of air, literally. I have done some research and found the largest parrot that ever flew, Heracles, or as the discoverers called it, "Squawkzilla".

GENERAL INFO:

Heracles would be a new utility flier that would survive by mimicking dinosaurs. It could reduce mating timers by making "sexy dinosaur sounds" to invigorate the female. The Heracles could be a flying noglin, as it could mimic the sounds of a tamed dinosaur's owner to lure the tame away from their base or force them to destroy a structure or kill a fellow tame. To nerf this and make it so that the heracles isn't a banned tame on every unofficial server, the effect would only work as long as the dinosaur isn't being ridden, or until the owner whistles a different command. The heracles could glide like a desmodus to make it faster but it wouldnt use the momentum like a griffin does. The heracles could also make "angry dinosaur sounds" to buff allies and give them a buff similar to the yutyrannus courage roar(This would not completely rule out the yutyrannus due to the heracles being unusable in most boss fights and it's lack of a fear roar).

In addition, just for parrot's sake, it makes a little dance if the rider emotes and can seed fruits in it's inventory. It would be a passive tame by (your gonna hate this) singing. You have to run up to a heracles before it runs away and feed it some nice herbivore food. Then you have to do a fancy thing like the mammoth drum minigame where you press a certain button at a certain time to sing a note that the heracles likes. After a bit of singing, the heracles comes down and lets you feed it again. Rinse and repeat and you've got a parrot. Another fun feature just for jokes is that the parrot would speak human words in a funny parrot voice in correlation with whistle commands by it's owner, such as "Attack!" if they whistle attack or "peekaboo" if they whistle stop. Overall the heracles inexpectatus is just a funny tame with it's good uses.

DOSSIER:

HERACLES

Species: Heracles Inexpectatus

Time: Miocene Epoch

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Skittish

 

Wild:

Heracles would be frightening for most as an argentavis-sized parrot, but it's actually very fearful of us survivors. Before domestication, I have observed it in the wild singing to other parrots high up in the trees and eating fruits. Sometimes when I talk to myself during a walk through the woods, I can hear faintly the sound of a Heracles mimicking my voice. 

Domesticated:

I've met tribes who make use of the Heracles by luring enemy dinosaurs out of their fortresses to be slaughtered during raids. They also enjoy it as a form of entertainment, dancing with it and singing to it. They informed me that a combination of singing and food is the best way to domesticate the bird. I even saw one group utilize the bird to make mating sounds to females who had just got out of heat, which surprisingly made them get back into it much quicker!

DISCLAIMER:

I'm very bad at drawing so yes, i did use google images. Just imagine it being larger than a human.

Let me know what you think!

download (5).jfif

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