Introducing...the Allodesmus! The Oblivious Lifesaver!

[RaephClark]

Common Name: Allodesmus

Species: Allodesmus demerei (or turgidus, meaning “blubber”)

Time: Miocene

Diet: Piscivore

Temperament: Friendly

Wild

I’ve seen my fair share of pinnipeds off the coast of my lovely home in Australia, but these guys are something else. If you imagine a cross between a sea lion and an elephant seal, the Allodesmus turgidus is probably the one creature you might have in mind. These blubbery sea-fairing mammals can be found all around the coasts of the ARK, though their favorite spots are where Kairuku like to hunt, their favorite prey. The males are significantly larger than the females and have an inflatable snout that signifies their leader status. They are well adapted to the chilling waters of the north and deep below the sea, as their bodies are full of insulating blubber. If harvested properly, it can be used as a fuel source or can even be padded into your armor for extra insulation, for a brief period.

Though they have ravenous appetites, they are quite playful around Survivors, and will sometimes pick up dropped items that anyone might have dropped in the sea and bounce it back at them. I’ve also heard reports of Allodesmus saving lost souls at sea from drowning or being attacked by underwater predators and will bring them back to the shoreline or boat. Talk about being a natural lifeguard! Though one should be aware of trying to escape the land predators as the Allodesmus may bring you right back to them unknowingly.

Domesticated

Taming an Allodesmus is an interesting task, as you must take advantage of their playful behavior. You’ll need to pass a feeder ball between you and the Allodesmus over and over to tame it successfully, almost like a game of hot potato. As arduous as it seems, it’s the only way I’ve seen it done. Though it’s truly worth the effort as the Allodesmus is a great insulator for freezing temperatures as you dive down into the depths of the ocean, and they are incredibly fast for their size. They can also grab items left behind in the ocean for you, so you don’t have to dismount. From what I’ve seen tribes use them for, you could say these mammals are the wolves of the sea.

Details

Allodesmus will be similar to how wolves hunt, but in the ocean. The males, being sexually dimorphic in size and with inflatable snouts, can have an alpha status with a group of Allodesmus and give an attack/defense buff with a bellow. Only higher level males can be the leader of a group of lower level Allodesmus and are more difficult to tame. Once killed and harvested for their blubber, the resource can be used for either fuel or attachable insulation for armor (this won’t take over the skin slot but be similar to an ammo slot). The blubber has a spoil timer though, and is only recommended for long excursions in the deep ocean or ice caves.

Wild Allodesmus won’t attack Survivors unless provoked, though if they see a Survivor actively drowning or being attacked by sea life, they will drag them to the surface and then to the closest shore or boat. As good as this may be, they will still do this even if a Survivor is trying to escape from a land predator into the water. They are semi-aquatic, but are mainly found in the water unless they are hunting Kairuku on land, to which they are somewhat slower, but fast enough to catch the flightless birds.

Allodesmus are passively tamed, and you’ll need a new craftable item called the feeder ball to tame them. This item is equipped with a food item inside and can be tossed at Dinos for them to play with. In the case of Allodesmus, you’ll either need to insert raw fish or kibble into the ball and play a mini game of hot potato with it. Males are more competitive and will put up more of a challenge for Survivors. Once tamed however, they can be given a saddle and can be used as extra insulation for diving into the depths. They also have a weight reduction for silica pearls, black pearls, and organic polymer, and will have decent carry weight. They can also pick up dropped items that Survivors have left behind while riding so they don’t have to be dismounted.

If anyone has any other thoughts, feel free to comment below!

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodesmus
 

Edited June 4, 2023 by RaephClark

[CosmicSkeleton]

A pretty amusing idea, especially given the fact that there aren't any pinnipeds in the game. The fact that it can also inadvertently get you killed may or may not bring me a great amount of mirth at the thought of someone running from a yuty in the tundra and diving into the water, having a mini panic attack at the seal coming at them until they realize it's friendly, and then having a stronger panic attack when they realize it's basically shoving you right back to the thing that was trying to kill you by trying to help you.

[UnknowUserZ]

Paleontological Informations:

Allodesmus is an extinct genus of pinniped from the middle to late Miocene of California and Japan that belongs to the extinct pinniped family Desmatophocidae. Measured about 8 feet (2.4 m) long and weighed 800 pounds (360 kg).

Dossier

Common name: Allodesmus
Species: Allodesmus apex
Time: Miocene
Diet: Carnivore
Temperament: Short-Tempered (Females)/ Agressive (Males)

Wild

Allodesmus apex are generally lazy creatures, spending most of their time resting on cold shores or crawling to a cozier spot on beaches. But don't be fooled by their slow way of life, the females will not tolerate much if the presence of a survivor remains in place, while the male is extremely territorial for his area and females and will defend his harem at any cost. Running away through the water is totally unfeasible, the great agility of these pinnipeds can overcome even the fastest aquatic mounts and its long fangs can pierce it easily. When not resting, they roam the icy seas looking for prey, especially Kairukus, even traveling to the icebergs where these flightless birds are abundant. Some survivors who managed to kill a solitary Allodesmus found that its blubbler is very useful, being able to be converted into an oily substance capable of keeping a fire burning for up to several days.

Domesticated

Taming one of these big boys is not easy, the male is always the owner of the piece and remains alert to any intruders in his territory. I met a tribe of tundra survivors who managed to tame an entire group of Allodesmus, they created a strategy, one member of the tribe served as bait, luring the male away from the harem, while the others approached a female each, feeding them with fish meat, while they rested, finally the male calmed down after the survivors offered some dead Kairukus to him. When domesticated, Allodesmus can become powerful marine fighters, I like to compare them to true "sea wolves", the presence of the male seems to strengthen the females, making them very faithful for hunting and collecting underwater resources, however keeping more than a male in the group may not be a good idea, his fighting instinct can lead to a rivalry that is difficult to break apart. I found that they have an appreciative taste for Ammonite bile, apparently the substances present in the mollusk organ make these heavyweight seals more confident and bold in confronting the big predators of the deep ocean.

In Practice: Allodesmus would be a large pinniped, approximately of similar proportion to a Wooly Rhino in size. Particularly its appearance I was inspired by some current pinnipeds, Allodesmus body patterns resemble that of a leopard seal, it would have a pair of upper tusks like a walrus (but not as long) and a pair of smaller canines exposed in the jaw, its position and locomotion would be based on both seals and sea lions. There would be sexual dimorphism in this creature, the females would have smaller tusks than the male, while these, in addition to long tusks, would also have a type of "mane" just like male sea lions (by the way, in the skulls of the real animal that were found, there are differences in the dentition of individuals, suggesting sexual dimorphism). They would spawn in groups of 4 to 5 individuals, always having a single male. They can be found with some rarity along the beaches of cold regions

Behavior and Taming: Its domestication would be something very complicated (even for me to describe). Their general behavior is territorial, they are usually passive to other wild land creatures (with the exception of Kairukus) unless they are attacked, but they are aggressive to any aquatic creature of similar or smaller size (from a Coelacanth to a Megalodon). The females, if bothered, will not chase him very far from the beach, giving up shortly afterwards, however the male can see the player from a greater distance (slightly greater than a Carno's range) and will chase him even beyond the beach, giving up only if you get far enough out of its territory (I don't know if the game would be able to apply this behavior, but even if the male saw and chased the player, the females would not follow the male's behavior like other creatures of aggressive behavior that if one sees a target the rest of the species will go together).

And if you think that using a Ghillie Suit can help you pass unprepared by the male's vision, know that this is the worst idea you can take, because the armor is composed in part of Organic Polymer that would attract the smell of Allodesmus and immediately they would all go after the player and devour him (it may seem pointless, but if we think that the Chitin Armor causes the same effect with Sinomacrops, I think it would be an interesting and contradictory proposal for the Ghillie Suit, since Allodesmus would be the first creature to be attracted by armor that leaves the player unnoticed by other creatures).

To tame an Allodesmus you must separate the male from the females, as these are very loyal to him and the aggressive behavior of the male would not allow you to easily tame him among them. If you intend to tame only the male, it's simple, after taking him away from the females, take dead Kairukus for him to eat (Similar to taming Carcharo where you must feed him with some creature killed by you, however the dead Kairukus must have been first tamed or raised by you, Allodesmus would not accept wild Kairukus), Allodesmus will feed on the Kairuku carcass and change its aggressive behavior to territorial, from then on the male will also rest (just for the record, the Allodesmus rest time is random, can vary from 5 seconds to 30 seconds), you can continue to feed it with your dead Kairuku (the age of the Kairuku does not influence the taming percentage) or choose to feed it directly with Organic Polymer (this method is similar to taming the Shadowmane, put Organic Polymer in slot 0 and wait for Allodesmus to rest to feed him, however this method takes longer and will require you to have a good amount of this resource, so it is more advisable to use dead Kairukus, as besides being faster you don't have to wait for Allodesmus to rest).

The females separated from the male can be tamed, if you intend to tame them (or one of them) the safest thing is to focus on the one you want and wait for her to rest to give you Organic Polymer (the same process explained above), if you want you can take dead Kairukus, however all the females will come to the carcass and only one randomly will devour, maybe not the one you want to tame (you can't attract a female to separate her, if one is bothered all the others will feel threatened and tried to attack him, kill the others to have only the one that is his focus on taming, it won't work either). After the taming bar completes, you've tamed your Allodesmus!! (Don't worry if the other wild female Allodesmus are in the area they won't attack yours unless attacked).

Skills and Capabilities (In land): Allodesmus would have two instances on land, one posture would be more seal-like and the other more like a sea lion, with differences between the two.

Left Click: Allodesmus will make a strong bite, its fangs can penetrate the survivor's armor.

(Seal-like): Allodesmus would move and run like a seal, be slow, clumsy, and have a large turning radius, but capable of two attacks of his own in this mode.

Space bar: Allodesmus will perform a belly slam into the ground (very useful for ward off pesky creatures on the sides where Allodesmus cannot bite).

Right Click: Allodesmus would use its strong hind flippers to catapult small and medium-sized creatures forward, allowing you to get rid of these annoyances (you wouldn't need to look back at the camera to perform this ability, but unlike Gigantopithecus's catapult throw, you can't set the height or distance for throwing, however it is not necessary, as Allodesmus would throw very high and a good distance). This ability would also be very useful for PVP, as you could use your Allodesmus to catapult your allies and even creatures over walls or gates (not Behemoth) into enemy bases.

(Sea lion-like): By clicking on the C key, Allodesmus would change his posture, becoming more like a sea lion, in this way he could move more easily, running faster with a lower consumption of stamina and a much shorter turning radius, however he could not catapult with the rear fins.

Space bar: Instead of a belly slam, Allodesmus would slam its front flippers on the ground with the same function of pushing creatures to its sides, but at a shorter and weaker range.

(In water): You might be surprised to discover the incredible versatility of the Allodesmus in the water, after all that is this creature's main purpose. Allodesmus is surprisingly fast in the water, with a body designed for hydrodynamics, using its flippers it is able to reach a speed almost as high as a Plesiosaur, in addition to having great maneuverability being able to change direction quickly through a 180° angle while swimming. Allodesmus can also swim vertically, allowing it to reach deeper areas of the ocean faster and even when stopped, when directing the camera in any direction, the creature will automatically turn in that direction.

Right Click: By holding down this key, the creature will use its long fangs to harvest Silica Pearls from oysters on the ocean floor. Hold down for Allodesmus to drag its sharp canines into the substrate and it can chain damage to other creatures, but as an attack it's pretty weak.

X Key: Allodesmus will be able to perform a spiral spin that can damage nearby creatures (similar to Pteranodon's Barrel Roll, but longer, faster and more spins), with this also this attack will create a vortex in the water which can pull creatures the same size as Allodesmus or smaller.

Passive Skills and Utilities: Allodesmus can exert a range of functions. This creature is immune to Cnidaria shock, in addition to being able to farm a good amount of Biotoxin and also provides Isolation to the player when mounted (at first many may think that this creature would be a compact version of Basilosaurus, but in fact it would be a copy or rather a complete version of Liopleurodon).

Allodesmus can harvest silica pearls in large quantities from the sea floor, better than Angler (this is inspired by the eating habits of walruses which are mainly based on bivalve molluscs), but in fact Allodesmus would be the best Organic Polymer harvester in the game, collecting large amounts when feeding on Kairukus, especially babies (poor things) and having a weight reduction of this resource by up to 85% (I know that Pelagornis can reduce Organic Polymer by 80%, but it has a low weight, Argentavis although it reduces it by 50% is very useful and has a good weight, but it is slow, Allodesmus even if slow on land can travel quickly through the waters, being excellent for tribes that have their bases on the beach or submerged, such as in underwater caves).

In addition, Allodesmus is also an exceptional Black Pearls farmer, collecting a good amount of this resource in Eurypterids, Ammonite and Tusoteuthis (second only to Gacha who is able to produce Black Pearls in his crystals) and still has a reduction of 25 % of this rare resource.

Allodesmus can also drop an exclusive resource when killed, the Allodesmus Blubber, this item can be harvested from the creature's corpse inventory with amounts ranging from 5 to 10, but unlike the Basilosaurus Blubber that serves as a tribute required for bosses, the Allodesmus Blubber when mixed with Sparkpowder it can be converted into an item called Grease Oil (in Mortar and Pestle you will need 10 Allodesmus Blubber and 5 Sparkpowders to create 5 Grease Oils, in Chemistry Bench it is 20 Allodesmus Blubber and 10 Sparkpowder to create 10 Grease Oils). The Grease Oil does not have the function of crafting items derived from conventional Oil, but fuel for Campfires, Cooking Pot and Refining Forge, being more durable than Sparkpowder, taking up to 15 minutes to burn each unit (if you have a male Allodesmus and several females, you can breed them for the females to have babys, then just kill the poor babys and get the Blubber in your inventory, it's sad I know, but it's based on what many seal hunters do these days).

Another very interesting ability of Allodesmus is that it works as a dispatcher for Ichthyornis (just like Sarco is a terror for the Megapiranhas), now you can finally walk along the beaches without worrying about being robbed by those annoying pesky seagulls!

Saddle: Allodesmus's saddle can be unlocked at level 56 and crafted at the Fabricator, with 230x Hide, 120x Fiber, 45x Metal Ingot, 25x Crystal, 30x Polymer/Organic Polymer, 24x Cemeny Paste and 12x Silica Pearls (sorry if I'm exaggerating, I'm not very good at defining in that aspect). When mounted on Allodesmus, the saddle will provide the player with oxygen so they don't drown, however the amount of oxygen provided by the saddle will be reduced by 3x the oxygen provided by a Primitive Scuba Tank (it's a way of balancing, as the saddle does not wear out), if you run out of oxygen you will have to take your Allodesmus to the surface to replace the oxygen tanks in the saddle (the saddle would have two oxygen cylinders, one on each side). Also when mounted on the creature your view under the sea will be clearer, just like with the Scuba Mask, but without the edges to get in the way (pinnipeds have great vision).

Buffs and Debuffs:

Owner of the Piece: This buff is similar to the Alpha of the Pack buff from Dire Wolf and Allosaurus, but what makes it unique is that only male Allodesmus can have it in the presence of at least one female (with a maximum of 4 females), automatically the male will gain the buff and females will also be strengthened, being able to deal 50% more damage and the damage received is reduced by 25%. However if there is more than a single male in the pack (or even another tamed male that exceeds the pack limit of 5), the buff will not trigger. Obviously an all-female pack will also not get the buff.

Assassin of the Seas: This buff is activated after forcing your Allodesmus to consume Ammonite Bile, this cause your creature to take less damage by 25%, increase movement speed by 20%, providing greater regeneration of health and stamina and the main one, the damage caused is multiplied by 200% (it would be like an aquatic version of the Bug Killer buff of Megatherium), and in soft-bodied invertebrates like Tusotethis, the damage will be multiplied by 300%. (one of the main preys of some pinnipeds are cephalopods such as octopuses and squids). Apply this buff on each of your Allodesmus individually, plus the male's buff and you can do a real frenetic slaughter, this would make Allodesmus an excellent helper for water caves and fighting Moeder. The buff would last for 120 seconds.

Rival to Height: This buff is activated only by male Allodesmus in the presence of another nearby male (whether wild or tamed by enemy tribe, both males will receive the buff, females are unaffected), increases damage by 30% and damage taken is reduced by 15% (not counting previous buffs). In PVE this buff would also activate, even though the males of the tribes are not able to deal damage to each other.

Dehydrated: It's a debuff, if your Allodesmus stay too long without contact with water (even rain), they will become dehydrated (equivalent to 5 game days), they will not die, but their stats will be drastically impaired, the damage dealt is reduced by 30%, damage taken is increased by 40%, movement speed is reduced by 30%, and stamina is drained faster.

Rival in the Pack: This debuff is activated when more than one male tamed Allodesmus are nearby (within a maximum radius of 20² foundations), when they have this debuff, both males will be affected, the damage taken is increased by 50%, but the damage dealt increases by 50%, maybe you wonder, why is that? Well, first of all, when two or more tamed Allodesmus males from the same tribe are nearby, the Owner of the Piece buff will not be activated at all (or else it will be deactivated), even if one of the males is a higher level than the other, to remove this debuff you must push the males as far away as possible or freeze one of them in the cryopod, otherwise even the player himself will be harmed, after 3 days (in the game) with this debuff the males if they have a saddle will not accept the player to ride it and another 3 days later the males will end up fighting each other until one of them dies (even if friendly fire is not activated, this fight is inevitable if you don't take early measures).

[RaephClark]

For some reason, I don't know why my post took away the image attached to it.