Giant Bison - Ice Age Cattle/Tatanka with a Tachanka

[TheIronWolf45]

Name: Giant Bison

Species: Bison longicornis

Time: Pleistocene

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Territorial

 

Wild: Traveling in massive herds for greater pastures, the largest bovine in existence is a sight to behold. With their massive pair of horns, they are known to be aggressive chargers and capable of goring any predator willing to challenge them including wolves and bears. Their large bodies capable of withstanding the harshest winters with their ever-growing pelts, making them durable enough to resist freezing to death. If however one Bison is aggressively locked onto you, the entire herd will follow and you will have more than one angry bovine charging towards you without halt.

 

Taming: Extremely sought for their pelts, horns, and the rich bovine milk, taming a Bison isn't as easy at it looks. Many tribesmen attempt to bull-ride in hopes to tire them out and begin feeding them when they aren't wide awake. Beware getting bucked off, I've seen many tribesmen knocked out with that heavy bull kick to the face. Some get gored if unlucky enough.

 

Domesticated: The milk produced by the females gives any baby animal being raised a quite needed boost, potentially can be warmed up in an cooking pot for a special buff against the cold weather. With their hulking bodies, they offer extra warmth and can carry weight much like modern ox. Like modern cattle, their feces is much more potent fertilizer often referred to as "cow pie" that gives crops a boost of extra harvest.

 

Sexual dimorphism between male and female Bison, males would have extremely long horns and a massive humpback, while the females would have normal sized ones, looking similar to the modern counterparts.

 

 

ARK Meta:

Combat:
Males - Built in with a charge mechanic similar to Triceratops and the Woolly Rhinoceros, the Bison could impale its victims into their horns and gore them to bleed out, as well a herd buff to boost their strength with mate boost activated, dealing extreme damage. 

Females - While not as dangerous as the bulls, the cows when in mass numbers can trample and wreck an environment whether forested or rocky in its path, as well any poor unfortunate animals to be in the path of a charging herd.

Carnivore Buff - When attack by any sort of predatory carnivores, the Bison will be empowered with an aura similar to the Tyrant-buff on a Triceratops, enraging it for battle and alerting the herd to an impending attack. A large herd of bison can go into stampede to overpower an unfortunate foe who dared tried to disturb your herd from their greener pasture.

Utility: Another farm animal for the common PVE (or RP) players who would love a cow in ARK (like the ones in Atlas). Female Bison milk in turn could be cooked warmly to drink as an insulation buff against the cold, or fed to babies, especially baby Wyverns who require milk themselves.  When Bison defecate, they drop a special feces called "cow pie" which is much better than other dinosaur feces, and more efficient, sometimes giving the crops a boost of extra harvest. With a unique cart or wagon saddle, depending on the type of saddle chosen affects how the player how much weight they can carry back and forth from point A to point B with more speed. The amount of Bison needed for the type of cart or wagon saddle affects not only speed, the weight and the mobility of the mini-wheeled base. If Bison are left on wander, they can harvest even without any actual bushes or trees, and simply graze to gather berries, veggies, flowers, mushrooms or fiber. Sometimes you might see 

Snow-Gatherer - Bison are masters at excavating vegetation from the deep snow, even when there is NO bushes left. You might get lucky to extract some berries or luckily some crops from the bare snow.

Bison horn = keratin - Harvest over time from a bull bison their extremely long horns for raw keratin. If you let it grow until it reaches max, you will get an insatiable amount of keratin, but this will render the bull only with a ram attack and not its impaling ability. Be sure to select which bison you want to fight vs which you want to farm off.

Dust Bath - Bison loves to bathe in the dirt and cause a dusty mess, but this in fact helps prevent the bugs from bothering them, acting as a temporary bug-repellant. Let your bison bathe in the dirt, you will be dirty too but the dust bath covering you will act as a temporary bug-repellant. Maybe it will keep the Deathworms from attacking when crossing a desert, let you steal honey from bees, enter a cave without resistance before the bison tramples and squashes all who stand in their way.

Or keep that nasty Rhyniognatha from targeting you and your tames.

Bison Milk - Like other bovines, Bison can be milked for their nutritional sweet baby food. If fed to warm blooded babies, the calcium would help them grow much faster than normal than any other food if given the proper care. Can be substituted for any food a baby might require care such as kibble.

Bison Milk Cheese - A crafting recipe requiring warming Bison milk, a very delicious cheese with a very wild yet sweet taste.
- Temporary immunity to cold weather

- Temporary immunity to ice-based attacks such as Ice Wyvern, Managarmr, Snow Owl, Ice Titan, Steinbjorn, Fenrir, Fenrisulfr, etc.

Cart Saddle - Using one or two Bison, a cart saddle can be faster travel and can help you stock up resources in mass quantity to travel across the map, can be optionally armed with a gatling gun to ensure you don't get chased by dinosaurs.

Example: The Cart Saddle depicted in ATLAS, driven by cattle.

Types of Cart Saddles:

Conestoga Wagon - Similar to a tent from Scorched Earth, this light-weight wagon can be driven across the map with a Bison or two while keeping you insulated in the harshest weather but will have to be repaired overtime. Can be customized with storage boxes and ammo crates to act as a mobile base, can carry as much storage as you can fit.


Gatling Gun Wagon aka "Tatanka with a Tachanka" - A gatling gun wagon drawn by horses or cattle can be used as a war-wagon alternative to the Andrewsarchus saddle, but instead of one player, two players, the rider and the gunner utilizing simple revolver or rifle bullets.

Artillery Wagon - Tired of being stuck with a cannon that can't be moved? Allow your Bison-drawn artillery war-wagon to be driven around and positioned without having to place a new cannon down, and aim the cannon in a different position in battle.

Cow Fertilizer "Cow Pie" - can be used to grow and accelerate faster crop quantity, but also can be used in a similar manner as an oil jar, but when shot with a fire arrow, is detonated as the equivalent as a rocket launcher shot. If tossed in mass quantity, a massive hole will open in an enemy's base, but also splatter a nasty crappy mess on anyone who was in the explosion radius.

Hair styles - Want to change the hairstyle on your bulls and cows? When changing the hairstyle, you will cut away alot of bison hair which can be used as an alternative to human hair if you're not growing enough.

Bison hair - As an alternate to pelt, the bison can be too hot if you ride it full of hair into a warm environment. Be sure to shave it down for its pelt for usage in other things later on.

Mane style

Afro style

Maybe you want your bison to have extremely long hair, looking like a highland cattle.

 

Be a cowboy, ride your wild bovine into battle with guns drawn!

RAGNAROK:

- Useful in colder areas, especially the below-freezing snow biomes, the bison's thick fur pelt will keep the player protected from the dangerous sub-zero temperatures and deter off any nasty wolves or bears who dare come too close.

- Major harvester if on a trip on foot to harvest metal or wood, or various other resources, depending on the cart or wagon saddle will speed determine the rough terrain. Use different cart saddles to either wander as a nomad, gather resources or go to war.

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by TheIronWolf45
Adding more info to the submission.

[ShadowShadex]

Please let this win this time!!!!!

[Naiz]

please don't let this win

[TyranntX]

13 minutes ago, Naiz said:

please don't let this win

Please Let this win and ONLY let herbivores win every single vote from now on!

[AndyWGaming]

this would be very good for ragnarok you can spawn in the highlands, i really hope this wins, i want more herbivorse so badly no more giga copy!

Edited June 4, 2023 by AndyWGaming

[Normandem]

I really like the bison suggestion but I think it's a little too close to the cow in atlas. I think a few small changes would be great for it-

The cart saddle could work like a small platform, but with only one single snap point (offensively can be used for a ballista turret, or used for mobile crafting with a furnace or pestle and mortar) to work like a closer to the ground platfom saddle. This would make the bison one of the few creatures that can defend itself very well  in the murder snow from wyverns but also be useful for early to midgame crafting

A requirement for both males and females to be farmed together- Obviously the males cannot produce milk so how about a mate boost is required for females to produce bison milk?

And since milk and cheese are high in protein and calcium how about a few extra effects from consuming them? As well as cold resistance and taming wyverns, it could increase the players melee damage and fall resistance (milk makes the bones grow stronger). The status effect 'strong bones' would be quite amusing in game

 

[Somes]

While I really like this, I feel like having a creature that is at constant odds of being attacked and needing defending is annoying and makes it useless as a mount with a cart. The only use would be for milk farming and slaughter for prime...you would need to pen them up all the time to keep them safe and they will become a creature that just takes up space.

I like the creature but the mechanics and stuff are not well thought out.  

[MazdaTiger]

CARTS FTW

[katann77573]

This should be on Rag. I love this idea and it would be very helpful in game.

[ILikeReptiles]

Hmm.What about rage like gigas but bison won't dismount u and it will increase its damage?I have an idea about taming, u should use a red flag and when it will rush on you u should dodge it and feed.

[UnknowUserZ]

And idea of mine, I think that Bison Milk could give and advantage to mammalian babies, for example you would force this baby to consume the milk, instantly it would gain 15% of imprint and when it reached the adult stage it would have 50% more resistance and 50% more damage (but would only work on mammals and when they are stills babies, juveniles ou adolescents and non-mammalian creatures, would not inflict any beneficial effects.

[Nickkok]

Fantastic creature

[AmanaTishala]

I've wanted the bison since the very first votes and have been REALLY wanting to see them in the game. I felt they really should have won Fjordur (though the bats were my 2nd pick and I LOVE them) but Ragnarok is the 2nd perfect spot for these animals! It's the original "murder snow" Supreme cold temperature debut and they're made to keep us toasty and be strong charging beasts! Plus the milk could help with the wyvern (if they do that tactic) and the temperatures. I could see them spawning in the snow and the grasslands by the green obelisk and DEFINITELY in the highlands!!!! I would love a cart/wagon saddle and just love charging with a herd of them into battle with boosts for being a wall of horns and muscle!!!! I think bison are very cool animals and soooooo want these guys in the game! I'm not a big fan of the "base raids" idea but I could live with it to have them. 

[margifish]

13 hours ago, Naiz said:

please don't let this win

Feel free to go vote in one of the numerous mega-carnivore/PVP- based creature threads then, instead of coming in here to whine and troll about a creature a lot of other PVE/RP players WOULD love to see added.

[AtlanteanJack1]

I’ve seen the bison suggested a few times now and I like it I feel it’s be a nice break to have another mammal join ark and before you say anything imagine how cute the babies are gonna look 👀 need I say more?

[imahuntya]

Bro's still here after so many votes 💀

[gabeluna27]

This dossier isn't perfect admittedly, but it has the best design of a giant bison in dossier form in my opinion.

I think one of the best ways to get enough voting attention, specifically for the second round and assuming this creature will be in it, is to show a great dossier design at the beginning top of our post the moment potential voters click and view the option. Obviously, it isn't necessarily needed as what happened with Fasolasuchus which showed a great generalized Ark design image at the top of the thread, but it does seem like a good idea to do dossiers as well on the top of the post. I think that was partly how Gigantoraptor got second place the last time. I also believe the Desmodus won the Fjordur voting session partly because of that too.

[FutureBug96]

I love Giant Bison, but those ideas are just simply boring (except for the cart). It's treated as just a cow in every vote. I mean it is inspired by Bison latifrons, the largest bovid ever, it needs to have some distinctive abilities. This is what I would suggest:

Remove carnivore livestock raiding thing - I mean who even came up with this and thought other people would like this? It sounds very frustrating.
Make cows the "farm animals" that main use is to produce milk and feritilizer.
Make bulls the combat mounts with pack boost and stampede ability (so if there is a lot of them running they can instantly destroy trees, rocks and even maybe up to stone tier structures?).
A vertical type of knockback would also give it something uniqe.
Cold resistance for players? Useful for exploring Murder Snow areas.
Also something very unique would be to give the bison customizable haircuts and beards - wild ones spawn with random beard and haircut. Tamed ones can be stylized using scissors.

[RaephClark]

Here's my concept:

Common Name: Giant Bison

Species: Bison latifrons (or longcornis (long-horn)

Time: Pleistocene

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Defensive

Wild

Bison latifrons is the long-horned ancestor of the modern-day bison, or buffalo as a some of the Survivors call it. Their impressive horns extend longer than their entire body and are strong and resilient. In fact, they are so strong, can prevent larger creatures from moving past them! This is particularly useful against larger predators that go for Bison calves, as the adults will circle around their young and push back anything that tries to get past them.

Like the Triceratops, the front of their faces is quite defensive, but what’s more impressive is their hair. It is so fluffy and thick; it can reduce damage from gunfire! But what’s also bizarre about their heads of hair is that they are surprisingly malleable.

Domesticated

Though Bison latifrons are tough, they are still susceptible to fire from behind, so some well-placed shots in the rear can knock them down. It’s best that you tame several Giant Bison together as they become quite stubborn if left alone. I’ve seen Survivors build literal barricades on their horns so they can press forward toward or prevent anything from getting past them…unless it flies.

The females also produce extraordinary milk that can help cool survivors and strengthen their bones. What’s more is that with their malleable heads of hair, you can design them however you’d like with a simple pair of scissors! Just don’t cut it too short otherwise they’ll lose their bulletproof hair until it grows back.

Details

The Giant Bison has been a fan favorite for everyone in the community polls, from what I’ve seen. So why not make a fun dossier of it?

Their horns can prevent even the biggest creatures from moving past, and they have a knockback effect that can send even Gigas back. And with a saddle equipped, you can attach a barricade (or walls?) to prevent even smaller creatures from moving past…except flyers. Their fronts are also resilient as their heavy mats of hair can repel gunfire and physical attacks.

The females can produce delicious milk that can give a cooling effect as well as strengthen Survivors bones so if they’re at critical health, they won’t be slowed down by their broken bones.

Another fun thing you can do with the Giant Bison is give them hairstyles! Just use Scissors and cut it as you see fit! Just don’t cut it too short, otherwise they’ll lose their bulletproof hair until it grows back.

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

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

[Cosequin]

We desperately need more mammals in ark! No more insects or flyers or scalies! Yay for bison!!

[ashgcy]

6 hours ago, FutureBug96 said:

I love Giant Bison, but those ideas are just simply boring (except for the cart). It's treated as just a cow in every vote. I mean it is inspired by Bison latifrons, the largest bovid ever, it needs to have some distinctive abilities. This is what I would suggest:

Remove carnivore livestock raiding thing - I mean who even came up with this and thought other people would like this? It sounds very frustrating.
Make cows the "farm animals" that main use is to produce milk and feritilizer.
Make bulls the combat mounts with pack boost and stampede ability (so if there is a lot of them running they can instantly destroy trees, rocks and even maybe up to stone tier structures?).
A vertical type of knockback would also give it something uniqe.
Cold resistance for players? Useful for exploring Murder Snow areas.
Also something very unique would be to give the bison customizable haircuts and beards - wild ones spawn with random beard and haircut. Tamed ones can be stylized using scissors.

THIS. I'm personally withholding a vote from the giant bison because I feel it leans faaaar to heavily on the cow aspects of bovines, rather than leaning into the fact the thing is a literal meat tank with enormous horns, being a bison. Seeing what's basically a mammalian ceratopsian be little more than a farm animal is a bit disappointing.

These suggestions would actually give it the personality and arkification I feel the concept is really missing!

[GhostCreep]

Definitely the main Farming / Role Play creature missing from ARK.

[NERDPotion]

Hadhayosh - The "Flaming" Bison

Hello Survivors!

This is my first time ever submitting so take it easy on me. I know there are misspellings above  Also I know there is another "Bison" Submission but mine is based on one during a diff era and has a twist with a mythological creature. 

Enjoy!

Dossier:

(Wild)

The Hadhayosh (Ancient Bison) is a land creature primarily found in the hot deserts or open grasslands. 
Despite their massive size and incredible power, the Hadhayosh behave very much similarly like the modern 
mundane ox, spending most part of their lifetime wandering around grazing, and primarily sticking close to their pack. 

But a few of the more rare Hadhayosh have a secret trait that sets them apart from the herd. When
Provoked, these "Alpha" pack leaders will enrage, growing in size, sprouting new horns and engulfing themselves
and the surrounding area in an intense heat that few can withstand. Furthermore the female Hadhayosh 
produce a milk that will calm even the most "Hot Headed" of creatures.

(Domesticated)

(Male)

Hadhayosh Make a fearsome companion on the battlefield, although their "hot headed" temperament make them hard to control when they are enraged. Once the rider has fully "Battle Bonded" with his new companion, the Hadhayosh undergo a transformation like no other. A fully bonded Hadhayosh grow in size, gain 4 additional horns and can be fully controlled during their intense rage as their mane catches FIRE! While enraged they have the bravery of a hundred Rock Elementals. This adrenaline rush increases their speed, defense and causes fire damage to those that dare attack them.  They also secrete a substance that smells of death, but when used properly allows the drinker to live through death itself. For a short time that is. It is also said that these creatures have special metal armor allowing them to damage even the hardest of structures with their fearsome charged attack. (Males can be ridden with or without a saddle)

(Female) The female Bison provide milk that can be used for many different things. To satiate hunger, calm the "Hot Headed" males, and even used in combination with something deathly to sustain life even in the most hopeless situations. (Females do not have a saddle but can be ridden)

Taming:

(Female)

The female of the pack must be lured away from the rest using the males Pheromones which can be obtained from killing the Alpha Pack Leader. Simply apply the Pheromone to yourself and the female will part from the pack and follow you around as long as it lasts. During that time you are free to milk here or tame her passively with thatch.

(Male)

The male is a lot trickier. Only the Pack Leader male can be tamed. Even though the Hadhayosh are primarily aggressive creatures, and will attack anything that threatens their herd, they have rather bad eyesight. Stealth is the key to taming these creatures. Once within range the Hadhayosh will have cravings that only include stews, (Crafted foods). Once fed, they become over stimulated and burst into a short term rage, transforming their size, appearance and the temperature of the area becomes too hot to handle. This lasts until their next feeding, but only the females milk will calm them to allow for another feeding.

Enjoy the creature and of remember that Wild Card can completely change everything about this

 

 

Edited June 6, 2023 by NERDPotion

[Makasu90]

Make it happen 

[soepie7]

On 6/4/2023 at 8:54 AM, Normandem said:

I really like the bison suggestion but I think it's a little too close to the cow in atlas.

This would be a valid argument... if this were Atlas. But it isn't, so everything Atlas's cow has is still not necessarily something Ark has.