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Introducing Dromornis Stirtoni - The Demon Duck of Doom


Ashley14
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"Many Terror Birds and feathered Raptors of menacing size have inhabited the islands for ages, but a colossus such as the Dromornis stirtoni is a different story. Standing similar in height to the Carno, with wings not visible through its thick plumage, it's not hard to see where this monstrosity gets it's nickmane from, the Demon Duck of Doom. Being very heavy set, this duck of demon is too heavy for any version of flying or floating. Instead, this monstrosity insisted on playing water sports.

 

When running at full speed they could use their webbed feet to actually run on water some distance until they fell into a duck slide. Further to this they have been seen jumping out of the water and diving under the waves. Timed correctly, they show great manoeuvrability and speed like a dolphin, able to speed dive past great water predators, or leap onto boats.

 

As for taming goes, the friendly attention of these is hard to get when they are adults, but when they are younger they appear quite susceptible to shiny trophies. Perhaps if we entice a young one with our collection of hunted trophies we can gain its trust and respect as a hunter."

 

Abilities and details are all speculative, but I'd love to see some uses for the Rex arms and Argi talons besides for going into the boss fights. After all this is  a sort of "prove your worth" but to a creature, not to the obelisks terminal. Or even if you feed them to this guy as an adult it gets buffs or group/Yutty styled fun.

 

Just a nod to the big birds out there, gotta keep those reptiles in check ;)

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Edited by Ashley14
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Here's my concept for the Dromornis (also glad you brought up its nickname!)

 

Common Name: Dromornis

Species: Dromornis planei

Time: Middle Miocene

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Territorial

Wild

“The Demon Duck of Doom”: many may either shudder or be confused by such a name. In terms of appearance…let’s say it’s a Terror Bird on steroids. Despite their looks, Dromornis are herbivorous and more related to waterfowl, hence the nickname. In fact, they feed similarly to ducks, and even honk like geese too. That doesn't mean they aren’t as dangerous, however, as they can be quite territorial in the swamps they call home.

And just like ducks, Dromornis dive—or rather sink—to the bottom of lakes in search of water weeds to feed on. But if you’re wondering how they reach back up to the surface to breathe with their heavy bodies, then you’d be flabbergasted to know that they fill their lungs up full of air before descending and then release it all to ascend rapidly to the surface! It’s like a giant torpedo duck.

Domesticated

In my time, some bird species use displays or gestures to communicate with each other, and it’s no different with Dromornis. One step into their territory and they’ll go ballistic, unless you bow and shake your head as it approaches. In turn, it can’t help but do the same to you. This seems to be the only way to approach and feed them directly, so be sure to give them respect and they’ll do the same. When mounted atop a Dromornis, you tend to be faster running through the swamps than on land, and you can go diving for resources with them and ascend to the surface faster than any other creature. Just don’t dive deeper than the Dromornis can hold its breathe, as both of you could drown if you’re not prepared.

Details

A simply fun gimmick Dino to have in ARK’s swamps, the Dromornis could be a step higher than the Terror Birds you see in the redwoods biome. They’re bigger, bulkier and deal a bit more damage with their claw kick attack or peck attack.

Once known as Bullockornis, or the “Demon Duck of Doom”, they were revised and placed in the genus Dromornis in 2016. There is speculation that they may be more related to Galliformes (chickens, pheasants, etc) than waterfowl, but let’s just keep the fun around and have them as giant flightless ducks.

Similar to the Terror Bird and Andrewsarchus mechanic, the Dromornis can sink to the bottom of any water source (to harvest resources) and rapidly ascend to the surface depending on their oxygen level. If you’re too deep and it doesn’t have enough oxygen, you might be screwed. Though once they reach the surface, they’ll rocket into the air like a torpedo and can land on solid ground with reduced fall damage. They also have a speed buff similar to the Spino when in the water, and can prevent Kaprosuchus from dismounting you.

As for taming, I felt like we needed to make use of a mechanic that is overlooked a little: gestures! In the wild (and with Harry Potter’s Buckbeak), an avian know as the shoebill stork will bow and shake its head around other shoebills they have a friendly relationship with, so I figured I’d add this feature to the Dromornis as a way to make gestures useful with taming, and perhaps as a fun feature for all your tames in ARK! If you gesture, they react and do one back. But anyway, to tame a Dromornis, you’ll need to aggro it and then make a gesture to get it to bow back at you. Then it will approach more slowly, and you’ll need to repeat the gesture. Keep doing so until it’s close enough to passively feed and you’ll get some taming progress. Rinse and repeat until you have your own Demon Duck of Doom!

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

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

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Could even lean into the duck aspects here and add a brooder quality to them. We've seen before the incubator type otter, dimetrodons, adding fortitude to assist egg hatching, but what if the Dromornis when in a sitting/nesting state could increase quality of the eggs infant.

Like the way imprinting increases stats, completing tasks, or requests by the Dromornis while it egg sits allows an increase in the babies stats by up to 10%.

The old nature vs nurture at play.

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