nanuqsaurus

[Abrokenlull]

lot of armor, feather, protection of the rider from the cold

Edited June 10, 2023 by Abrokenlull

[TheKraahkan]

Disclaimer: as with all creature submissions, voting for this is only voting for the creature itself. Any ideas in this are merely suggestions for Wildcard and are not guaranteed.

Nanuqsaurus

I've been wanting to submit this ever since Rhyniognatha won the final creature vote for ASE. I've been fine-tuning the concept since then, but never thought I'd have a chance to actually put this forth. I didn't realize Wildcard would be doing votes for non-story maps as well, so I didn't have a chance to commission a proper Dossier. Hopefully people are receptive!

Have you ever found it odd that Yutyrannus has a pack of Carnotaurus that follow them around? They're not unique to the snow biome, and are very far removed from Yutyrannus in the dinosaur family tree. Maybe we can change that? Introducing, Nanuqsaurus!

 

BASIC INFO

Full Name: Nanuqsaurus devotensi

Group: Theropod

Diet: Carnivore

Temperament: Aggressive

Equipment: Nanuqsaurus Saddle

DOSSIER

Wild:

While the Yutyrannus of many of the Arks seem to prefer Carnotaurus as companions, here on Ragnarok things seem to be different. The first Yutyrannus we saw after arriving was surrounded by rather similar, but noticeably smaller companions. Upon closer inspection, I decided these animals must be Nanuqsaurus, another tyrannosaur that lived in very cold climates right up to the end of the Cretaceous. They're roughly the same size as the Carnotaurus I've grown used to, but aren't quite as fast. They're still faster than most larger theropods I've seen.

Nanuqsaurus seem to only ever spawn alongside Yutyrannus, and seem to follow its every wish even better than any other that I've seen. Much like their namesake, they seem to have a particular appetite for mammals, especially those covered in fur. Their hearing seems to even be finely tuned to listening to their Yutyrannus leaders, to the point that they seem to ignore the calls of any other animal they go after, as well as allowing them to mimic the sounds of their Yutyrannus leader.

Domesticated:

While they may not seem like much on the surface, Nanuqsaurus has some surprisingly helpful aspects to any survivor. The first thing I noticed was the insulation provided by riding them. Even through the saddle, heat seemed to radiate from them, keeping me warm even in the coldest areas of the dome. The second thing I noticed, was that it ignored completely other wild Yutyrannus fear calls. Allowing a tamed Yutyrannus to buff our new friend also seemed to cause it to become even more vicious, with it's bites causing massive bleeding to even the largest of prey.

Taming this animal was surprising. While it was with it's pack, it knew only rage. Even trying to knock one out was fruitless. Once We separated one from the group, its temperament seemed to change. It was much more curious, but still wasn't afraid to attack if we got too close. One of us decided to eat some Fria Curry they had brought along, and the smell of the food seemed to pique the animal's interest. They were able to walk right up to it and climb onto it's back. The effect did not last long, but repeated testing found that hunting mammals, especially Mammoths, seemed to build trust, allowing us to tame one.

 

 

BEHAVIOR

Nanuqsaurus will attack from great range when near other Nanuqsaurus and a Yutyrannus. If alone, their aggro range is reduced, but not gone.

 

Drops:

Raw Meat

Hide

Raw Prime Meat

 

TAMING

 

Taming Nanuqsaurus is reminiscent of other creatures, notably Dinopithecus, Amargasaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus. Like Dinopithecus, you first have to get them alone and separated from other Nanuqsaurus/Yutyrannus. If you're well-equipped, killing the others that your target spawns with may be the easiest way. If not, you can try and aggro a single one and lead it far away from the others.

 

Once it is alone, consume Fria Curry and approach it. This will let you sync with your target, like you can with Amargasaurus. Once synced, hop on its back and kill things with it to tame it, like the Carcharodontosaurus. Mammals with fur give more progress (Their immunity to Mammoth debuffs can make them ideal targets).

 

UTILITY

 

Abilities:

Bite: [LMB], [RT] – A simple bite attack. Yutyrannus buffs increase the base damage and add a bleed effect to this attack.

Rally Call: [C], [R3] – While under the effect of a Yutyrannus courage buff, Nanuqsaurus can mimic the call, spreading the buff further. This does not stack with the courage buff on other creatures within range of both the Nanuqsaurus and Yutyrannus, but allows the Yutyrannus to cover a wider area.

 

Roles:

Boss Killer: Ideally, these could be the glass cannon counterpart to the tankier Rex. They'd have roughly half the health of a Rex, but could deal twice (or more) the damage of a Courage-buffed Rex when being buffed by a Yutyrannus. Not sure on the best ratio of health/damage, but I'd like to see these as viable and competitive alternatives to Rex's.

Frozen Explorer: Their insulation buff would make navigating the frozen areas of Ark much more manageable, as well as being able to ignore Yutyrannus and Mammoth debuffs.

Yutyrannus Taming: Being able to ignore wild Yutyrannus makes Nanuqsaurus the perfect dinosaur to use for luring a Yutryannus into a trap to tame.

Pelt Gatherer: With an 80% weight reduction on Fur, a gather rate on par with a metal hatchet, and being able to ignore Mammoth debuffs, this could be a great mid to late game pelt gatherer for any tribe.

Buff Relay: Being able to spread a Yutyrannus courage buff can be helpful in large PvP (or PvE) engagements, allowing one Yutyrannus to cover a much wider area.

 

Weight Reduction:

Pelt – 80%

 

Harvesting:

Raw Meat

Pelt

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