Question of the day-What is the best starter water mount?

[Griffin998]

There's a couple choices-Icthyosaurus, Baryonyx, Sarco, and Megalodon.

I quite like the sarco, as crocodiles are cool and it's got a solid mix of speed and power. It can also walk up onto land, so you don't need a water pen for it. They're somewhat easier to tame than barys because they don't have the stun, and like I said, they're a lot faster than almost anything else in the water. Megalodon are pretty cool as well-once found one stuck on herbivore island and promptly tamed it-only to find I couldn't get it unstuck. Me, being the idiot that I am, killed it, forgetting about cryopds...

Anyway, what are your opinions?

Cheers, good luck, and happy ARKing!

[Pipinghot]

9 hours ago, Griffin998 said:

They're somewhat easier to tame than barys because they don't have the stun

Bary's are easy to tame if you set up a taming pen and lure them into it. If you're on a map with flyers it's easy to aggro them and kite them into the pen. Even on foot it's not terribly difficult, you just need to build a pen with doorframes on the bottom level so you can run up the ramp into the pen and then exit through the doorway.

For pure water mounts, I like basilosaurs. They can kill, or escape from, anything in the waters. Being immune to Cnidaria and  Electrophorus stun and  Tusoteuthis makes them more powerful than many people realize. They can be annoying to tame, a bit glitchy sometimes, but when you consider that they're a passive tame it's not hard to overcome the glitchiness.

[wizard03]

12 hours ago, Griffin998 said:

There's a couple choices-Icthyosaurus, Baryonyx, Sarco, and Megalodon.

I quite like the sarco, as crocodiles are cool and it's got a solid mix of speed and power. It can also walk up onto land, so you don't need a water pen for it. They're somewhat easier to tame than barys because they don't have the stun, and like I said, they're a lot faster than almost anything else in the water. Megalodon are pretty cool as well-once found one stuck on herbivore island and promptly tamed it-only to find I couldn't get it unstuck. Me, being the idiot that I am, killed it, forgetting about cryopds...

Anyway, what are your opinions?

Cheers, good luck, and happy ARKing!

I allways go sharky, then right to basil.....maybe mosa, if situation allow's it

[Griffin998]

9 hours ago, Helianthus said:

Carbonemys. They are not fast, but they are exceptionally easy to tame. 

I totally forgot about the poor turtle...

[St1ckyBandit]

Maewing and its not even close. Theyre easy to tame, and fast as hell in the water.

[wildbill]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:41 PM, Griffin998 said:

There's a couple choices-Icthyosaurus, Baryonyx, Sarco, and Megalodon.

I quite like the sarco, as crocodiles are cool and it's got a solid mix of speed and power. It can also walk up onto land, so you don't need a water pen for it. They're somewhat easier to tame than barys because they don't have the stun, and like I said, they're a lot faster than almost anything else in the water. Megalodon are pretty cool as well-once found one stuck on herbivore island and promptly tamed it-only to find I couldn't get it unstuck. Me, being the idiot that I am, killed it, forgetting about cryopds...

Anyway, what are your opinions?

Cheers, good luck, and happy ARKing!

I get the bary, then the basil, since the bary is a big help in the tame.

I don't like the other three. They just seem to get eaten eventually when I have tamed them.

[St1ckyBandit]

I also see that no one has mentioned the Diplocaulus AKA the living scuba suit.

Super easy to swoop down and pick one with an argy so you can carry it to a safe place to tame. Then you never have to worry about scuba again.

Taming on foot is possible but they spawn in swamps so theyre prone to getting massacred by gators and such.

When pumped with oxygen its a one stop shop. You could go on underwater cave runs literally naked with these things. Not even a saddle required.

Add some speed and you have one of, if not THE fastest swimmer in the game. Not kidding these things dip, as the name suggests.

When I had my underwater tek base on the center official pvp they were my go to transport in and out ( before Fjordhawks).

Edited April 21, 2023 by St1ckyBandit

[RTGLoot]

The raft! Wait 🤔

[Griffin998]

11 hours ago, St1ckyBandit said:

Maewing and its not even close. Theyre easy to tame, and fast as hell in the water.

Forgot about that thing too-although it's technically an everything creature, I'll count it.

[Griffin998]

7 hours ago, wildbill said:

then the basil

Basilo isn't really an early game tame though. Neither is tuso or mosa. Honestly, the most I've journeyed into the water is swimming across rivers as a bob...I suppose this thread is sort of looking for ideas for things to tame.

[Pipinghot]

13 hours ago, Griffin998 said:

Basilo isn't really an early game tame though. Neither is tuso or mosa. Honestly, the most I've journeyed into the water is swimming across rivers as a bob...I suppose this thread is sort of looking for ideas for things to tame.

Oops, yeah I see now that you asked for "starter" water mount, in that case I change mine from bary+basil to bary+shark.

For what it's worth, you only need a few sharks to get your first basil. I you have 3-4 sharks on follow/neutral you can swim down to tame basils. Come to think of it, you could probably do that with 3-4 baryonyx (I'll have to try that on our next map to see if it's as easy as I think it would be).

[Luux]

The Best Starter Water Mount for only Aquatic use imo is actually the Basilosaurus because it is tamed literally so easily and easier than even the Icthy cause the Icthy won't swim away from you into another dimension or wash up on a beach and die instantly as much as the Basi will. I know that's ridiculous but it honestly isn't really a harder tame than anything unless you can't kill the Mantas. You don't need to be on Gen for this btw it just depends on if you find one too. The Island usually spawns some near tropical beaches with shallow but deep enough for Megalodon areas and the snow biome so with a raft and no Leeds you can do it early.

On a more serious note regarding what most people think of as Starter Water tames. Depends on what you are going for and don't want.

Everything that elevator swims is annoying in my book so Icthys and Megalodons are actually really good. A good Mega after their buff is really good and with enough speed won't die to the first random Alpha Encounter. Icthys only get lower cause they die so easily.

On another joke note, Bloodstalkers are also a decent starter Water tame. Why? Because you can use the snow biome in Gen to your advantage and do harvesting for a few in game days or less while eating cooked Mutton and piling up resources to wittle your food down with the cold so you can continuously make blood packs since everything is draining your food and Cooked Mutton restores 100 hp with 35 food so with that and enough grappling hooks you can grab a Bloodstalker of any level quickly.

I see your part about wanting to tame things but not knowing what though. Here's a list of a few accessible animals you can get on most maps that aren't harder or higher tier.

1. Beavers, Frogs, Diplocaulus - avoid these unless you don't mind very clumsy and hard to control elevator swimmers that are also very weak. Beavers may bite hard and frogs could help tame a Shark or something but they are all very squishy. Diplos are cool but very weak unless you plan on swimming in rivers and harvesting trilobites away from the swamps and Spino or Bary areas. They are fast though.

2. Kapros, Sarcos, Baryonyx - Kapros must be avoided at all costs cause they take every reason the last 3 above are possibly weak and combine them all. Swims slowly, doesn't pivot, very weak in all its main stats like hp melee and Stam, its ability is nigh useless underwater, it will likely get you and it killed. Barys are only kinda entry level cause they suck in the water compared to lots of other dinos and are like a land version of a sarco. Sarcastic are okay and generally have better stats than most creatures that can swim for starters in the aquatic areas but they have a major flaw where they are difficult to control and aim their attack, the area is so small and they gouo and down so much you'll fight to even hit stuff and likely take too much damage from it cause of that.

3. Icthys, Megalodons, Anglerfish - Icthys are the obvious answer but they are very weak and often swim off or die to things like beaches or the water plane cause water dinos are still stuck in the sea like that for most of them. Megalodons are probably the best option when they were kinda sup bar before the pack and bleed additions, a few are great for going to start in the Ocean. Anglerfish may not look like beginner tames but they are very weak compared to other water tames and only really require lots of narcotic to tame and meat, theyre slower and much more simple if you can find a pack away from the bigger sea monsters. They also require no saddle and can fit in small spots.

[St1ckyBandit]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:16 AM, Griffin998 said:

Forgot about that thing too-although it's technically an everything creature, I'll count it.

Dont hold the Mae's sky and land prowess against it. Its faster then any wild creature in the ocean too.

[SarraceniaUser]

I would recommend a Baryonyx for combat since you get something close to a carno on land and an op stun in water that can even stun sharks with rider weaponry to boot. Also the best tame for killing all the stupid mantas surrounding your permanent water tame, a basilo. Or even a mosa if you’re brave enough thanks to said rider weaponry(mosas aren’t starter tames though lol)
 

For speed a diplocaulus is far better than an icthy, no saddle and free oxygen tank AND early silica/chitin/oil with its bonus dmg to trilobites. I should even mention you don’t actually have to bite the trilobite corpse, it gets auto harvested when it dies.

All of this for the simplest tame possible:

step 1: make a thatch box

step 2: grab salamander with a pteranodon

step 3: drop it in the box

step 4: club it, shove raw meat down its throat and profit

Not much simpler than that, and if it dies just grab another.

[KingOfAshes]

Barry is the best overall I'd say. It's present in pretty much every map and does it all, speed, jump,water,combat,shoot from the back. It also stuns the ever present sharks/crocs/piranhas if you feel like using something to tame stuff under water further down the line. Maewing is available in less maps and it's main utility traversing around. 

Edited April 26, 2023 by KingOfAshes

[KextV8]

Straight to Basilo for me. Easy to get.

[Griffin998]

On 4/26/2023 at 7:51 PM, KextV8 said:

Straight to Basilo for me. Easy to get.

You have a point, but dealing with the mantas isn't fun. Those things have terrifyingly high base damage, and they shred armor. If you can get rid of them, yeah, I guess basilos are pretty easy to tame.

[sjskdjkfa]

diplodocus lol, jk but i took one into the water once and was surprised ish

[MonstersHunters]

 

In my opinion, the best starter water mount in Ark Survival Evolved, mainly depends on the map, as well as the player.

For something like the Island, Ragnarok or Crystal Isles, I would probably recommend finding a Sarcosuchus at around level 35 or a Baryonyx after level 49 to level 50. My first aquatic tame on Crystal Isles was a Diplocaulus. Not the best tame, but with proper oxygen management and tending to shallow regions, it worked as a basic aquatic tame for finding simple resources and for mobility.

For Aberration, my best starter water mount was a high-level Spinosaurus, one of the only good tames I could find in the area around my base. 

For Genesis Part 1, I would probably suggest a Bloodstalker from the Forest Zone. While not technically a water tame, their ability to stride on aquatic surfaces allows for incredible mobility, coupled with their specialised webbing that can easily ensnare or immobilise prey or hypothetical taming options from the water's surface. They also don't require a saddle and only need blood bags for taming. 

On Genesis Part 2, I would recommend Maewings.

 

These are just some suggestions from my own experiences playing Ark.

Thanks,

MonstersHunters

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by MonstersHunters

[LeDonkaConka]

Yep like others said Baryonyx is a good choice if you can't get Basilo early, its got the stun attack, decent damage and health, you can shoot from its back, and great for getting rid of the mantas when you're trying to tame a Basilo

[Pretz]

Ive always loved icthys early game, they are so fast and cute

[Val94]

Megalodon ^^

[VenatrixPulchra]

I almost always go with a bary first. You tame them on land, and they are amphibious so they're useful most places. They can jump, do decent damage, and can swim pretty fast, plus they have a stun ability underwater.

[Tectiforrm]

Ichthys are my favourite for starter water tames. Cute, can be speedy. Rather be able to get out than fight a bunch of stuff if I’m early game 😂