So what does Enhydriodon bring to the table for Aberration?
First of all, it will be the only creature on Aberration to have jellyfish immunity.
Enhydriodon will also have built up a natural resistance to poisons, due to how much biotoxin is in its diet. Because of this, it can tromp through mushroom spores without pause.
Enhydriodon will have a chance to harvest black pearls from silica pearl deposits, making it useful for obtaining a small amount of black pearls without having to brave the red zone. It will also gain increased black pearls from trilobites, and if you're brave enough to take it down into the red zone, it will harvest significantly higher quantities of black pearls from black pearl deposits.
Enhydriodon is feisty, having learned to compete with other creatures much larger than itself for food in Aberration's waters. It will receive a damage bonus to Spinosaurus and Karkinos. On top of this, wild Baryonyx and Sarcosuchus (and probably Kaprosuchus on other maps) will not bother an Enhydriodon unless it picks a fight first.
---Overarching concept, with all maps in mind---
The overall idea is to provide players with a jack of all trades water mount that opens up many doors for early game. It will have features of the Basi, Diplocaulus, Otter, and Anglerfish, but each of those creatures will far outclass it in their respective uses. This creature is meant to be an early-midgame tame, one that is for opening up new routes in your playthrough that are normally locked behind either later game gear or having to combine multiple other tames together to get the same easy access to the ocean.
Early oxygen tank- Enhydriodon will give an oxygen boost underwater. It will NOT be a free oxygen tank like the Diplocaulus, but instead provide the same extended dive period that the Genesis 1 ocean has. This is based on the air-trapping properties of beaver fur, which normally insulates its skin underwater. The bubbles trapped in the Enhydriodon's mane are easy access for its rider.
Cold water insulation- Enhydriodon makes it easier to dip your toes into the frigid oceans of the Arks. Perhaps not as well as having its miniature relative tucked around your neck, but enough to get you by!
Pearl gatherer- Enhydriodon can harvest more pearls than the player can by hand, but less than an anglerfish.
Stun immune- Enhydriodon can't be stunned by Jellyfish or slowed by Eels, but it isn't as tanky or hard-hitting as a Basi. This stun immunity is again thanks to the insulating properties of the otter's fur.
On top of this, Enhydriodon will be decent on land, probably equatable to a sabertooth, if not a bit slower. The real Enhydriodon omoensis, on which this creature was based, was theorized to be a formidable hunter on both land and in water, so Ark's version should at least be able to manage an ambush sprint on land.
As far as the design goes, it's actually a little nod to how a few other Aberration creatures are based on cryptids (Nameless are based on Chupacabra, and Ravagers are based on Barghest). This Enhydriodon's appearance is based on a cryptid called the Dobhar-chú, which is basically a giant otter/fish hybrid, hence the scaly traits. This is also what sparked the idea for the name Syreni, for both its mermaid appearance and being both a land and water creature.
Enhydriodon will spawn rarely in areas with access to both land and deep water. On Aberration specifically, it will spawn commonly in the waters of the blue zone and rarely near the deeper waters of the green zone. It will be aggressive and have the ability to grab players who are on foot and drag them to the water, attempting to drown them. They cannot grab a player off of a mount. I don't intend to make another Kapro.
Taming them is the fun part! You tame them by playing Simon Says with your emote wheel! So for example the otter will wave at you, and you'll have a few seconds to wave back. If you mess up by missing the time window or using the wrong emote, the otter will try to drown you (they have to be near water to be tame-able) I'm thinking to initiate the tame, you must first offer them a fish corpse above a certain size, that way you don't just have a bunch of otters waving at you all the time, cute as that would be. It also puts a small barrier on an otherwise ridiculously easy tame. They're meant to be early game, but they shouldn't be free.
Enhydriodon is an extremely intelligent and social creature, and this carries over to the bond with the person who tames them! Using emotes to interact with a tamed otter strengthens this bond, giving special perks! (A wave emote could give a short harvesting bonus, a fist bump gives a damage bonus, etc.)
Attacks:
Torpedo attack. Basically a Pteranodon spin attack but underwater
Tail Slap. Could possibly do a knockback or a short stun
Drag. Can grab creatures smaller than itself and maintain the grab status when becoming submerged, quickly draining oxygen from the victim in the grab state and drowning them.
As for the saddle, I did put some thought into that and I think it would be cool if the saddle had inflatable canisters on it, perhaps fueled with something like gas or sulphur, that could allow a player to very rapidly rise to the surface of the water in emergency situations. On land, the canisters could be punctured in a pinch to release a cloud of gas, either to let you make an unseen escape or send smaller creatures packing.
Please let me know your thoughts and ideas for interesting mechanics to add or balance this cutie out. Ideas from the comments! (Including comments from past vote threads)
Able to passively scare off Seagulls and Piranha
Able to catch and transport live fish while underwater
Saddle gives perks but isn't needed to be ridden. Possibly faster without it, at the sacrifice of armor
Some kind of sea crate buff?
Finite Oxygen underwater, but oxygen refills if it eats fish, making it viable to remain underwater for longer periods of time but still not quite as good as a scuba tank
Tamed otters are able to rescue you and pull you to the surface if you're drowning
Addressing common grievances
It's just a bigger otter
And Argentavis is just a bigger vulture! Yet miraculously, they still fill entirely different niches from one another in Ark's gameplay, and they aren't the only examples of this by far. Enhydriodon isn't just a scaled up shoulder pet.
Ark's oceans suck and I don't want a water mount
(Mildly obsolete for Aberration but I'll talk about this anyways)
This concept was actually created because I also think Ark's oceans are lacking! A lot of it is the AI and environments, which I really truly hope Ascended addresses on its own. But a lot more of it, at least in my opinion, is due to a lack of diversity and the fact that entering the oceans is a chore. This can be solved by adding more water creatures (like the Enhydriodon!) and smoothing over the early water experience, which is what this concept was originally centered around.
Enhydriodon is useless for PvP
You're probably right. I am a PvE player, and I won't pretend to know anything about PvP metas and what the PvP playerbase is interested in. If you are a PvP player and you have an idea of what could make Enhydriodon more useful for your gameplay experience, please suggest it! I'm more than happy to try and work mechanics into this concept that I never would have thought of on my own.
I don't like the fins/scales
That's honestly fair and okay! The aquatic features were just my personal take on Ark's extra flare that it tends to add to its creatures. Designs that heir more on the side of fantasy are my personal preference, and I understand that it isn't everybody's cup of tea. I completely trust Wildcard to make the final design feel like it belongs in their game, as they have done with all the previous creature vote winners.
Suggestion
Oreloki
BOY HOWDY NOW IT GLOWS IN THE DINGDANG DARK
So what does Enhydriodon bring to the table for Aberration?
First of all, it will be the only creature on Aberration to have jellyfish immunity.
Enhydriodon will also have built up a natural resistance to poisons, due to how much biotoxin is in its diet. Because of this, it can tromp through mushroom spores without pause.
Enhydriodon will have a chance to harvest black pearls from silica pearl deposits, making it useful for obtaining a small amount of black pearls without having to brave the red zone. It will also gain increased black pearls from trilobites, and if you're brave enough to take it down into the red zone, it will harvest significantly higher quantities of black pearls from black pearl deposits.
Enhydriodon is feisty, having learned to compete with other creatures much larger than itself for food in Aberration's waters. It will receive a damage bonus to Spinosaurus and Karkinos. On top of this, wild Baryonyx and Sarcosuchus (and probably Kaprosuchus on other maps) will not bother an Enhydriodon unless it picks a fight first.
---Overarching concept, with all maps in mind---
The overall idea is to provide players with a jack of all trades water mount that opens up many doors for early game. It will have features of the Basi, Diplocaulus, Otter, and Anglerfish, but each of those creatures will far outclass it in their respective uses. This creature is meant to be an early-midgame tame, one that is for opening up new routes in your playthrough that are normally locked behind either later game gear or having to combine multiple other tames together to get the same easy access to the ocean.
On top of this, Enhydriodon will be decent on land, probably equatable to a sabertooth, if not a bit slower. The real Enhydriodon omoensis, on which this creature was based, was theorized to be a formidable hunter on both land and in water, so Ark's version should at least be able to manage an ambush sprint on land.
As far as the design goes, it's actually a little nod to how a few other Aberration creatures are based on cryptids (Nameless are based on Chupacabra, and Ravagers are based on Barghest). This Enhydriodon's appearance is based on a cryptid called the Dobhar-chú, which is basically a giant otter/fish hybrid, hence the scaly traits. This is also what sparked the idea for the name Syreni, for both its mermaid appearance and being both a land and water creature.
Enhydriodon will spawn rarely in areas with access to both land and deep water. On Aberration specifically, it will spawn commonly in the waters of the blue zone and rarely near the deeper waters of the green zone. It will be aggressive and have the ability to grab players who are on foot and drag them to the water, attempting to drown them. They cannot grab a player off of a mount. I don't intend to make another Kapro.
Taming them is the fun part! You tame them by playing Simon Says with your emote wheel! So for example the otter will wave at you, and you'll have a few seconds to wave back. If you mess up by missing the time window or using the wrong emote, the otter will try to drown you (they have to be near water to be tame-able) I'm thinking to initiate the tame, you must first offer them a fish corpse above a certain size, that way you don't just have a bunch of otters waving at you all the time, cute as that would be. It also puts a small barrier on an otherwise ridiculously easy tame. They're meant to be early game, but they shouldn't be free.
Enhydriodon is an extremely intelligent and social creature, and this carries over to the bond with the person who tames them! Using emotes to interact with a tamed otter strengthens this bond, giving special perks! (A wave emote could give a short harvesting bonus, a fist bump gives a damage bonus, etc.)
Attacks:
As for the saddle, I did put some thought into that and I think it would be cool if the saddle had inflatable canisters on it, perhaps fueled with something like gas or sulphur, that could allow a player to very rapidly rise to the surface of the water in emergency situations. On land, the canisters could be punctured in a pinch to release a cloud of gas, either to let you make an unseen escape or send smaller creatures packing.
Please let me know your thoughts and ideas for interesting mechanics to add or balance this cutie out.
Ideas from the comments! (Including comments from past vote threads)
Addressing common grievances
It's just a bigger otter
And Argentavis is just a bigger vulture! Yet miraculously, they still fill entirely different niches from one another in Ark's gameplay, and they aren't the only examples of this by far. Enhydriodon isn't just a scaled up shoulder pet.
Ark's oceans suck and I don't want a water mount
(Mildly obsolete for Aberration but I'll talk about this anyways)
This concept was actually created because I also think Ark's oceans are lacking! A lot of it is the AI and environments, which I really truly hope Ascended addresses on its own. But a lot more of it, at least in my opinion, is due to a lack of diversity and the fact that entering the oceans is a chore. This can be solved by adding more water creatures (like the Enhydriodon!) and smoothing over the early water experience, which is what this concept was originally centered around.
Enhydriodon is useless for PvP
You're probably right. I am a PvE player, and I won't pretend to know anything about PvP metas and what the PvP playerbase is interested in. If you are a PvP player and you have an idea of what could make Enhydriodon more useful for your gameplay experience, please suggest it! I'm more than happy to try and work mechanics into this concept that I never would have thought of on my own.
I don't like the fins/scales
That's honestly fair and okay! The aquatic features were just my personal take on Ark's extra flare that it tends to add to its creatures. Designs that heir more on the side of fantasy are my personal preference, and I understand that it isn't everybody's cup of tea. I completely trust Wildcard to make the final design feel like it belongs in their game, as they have done with all the previous creature vote winners.
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