Creature design and dossier by Maira, concept art by Wren
Quote
Common name: ZUUL
Species: Zuul Lumens
Time: Late Cretaceous
Diet: Fungivore
Temperament: Docile
WILD Zuul Lumens is the only larger creature I've observed capable of generating charge energy; but rather than emitting light and attracting attention from Seekers, Zuul stores accumulated charge in its specially adapted tail club! The luminescent body markings light up along its tail as charge is stored, almost like a gauge!
In the radiation zone crawling with ferocious enemies, any Reapers or Nameless will regret picking a fight with Zuul when the tail club for which the Earth Zuul was named "Destroyer of Shins" releases an explosive blast of charge light!
While this explosion of charge takes some time to regenerate, enemies attempting to dogpile a Zuul will be scattered like pins as it unleashes a deadly spinning attack!
A crafty enemy might keep its distance until the spinning has stopped and the Zuul becomes exhausted from its efforts—but would still have to get through that thick armored hide, which is impervious to the acid blood of Reapers. For most predators in the radiation zone, a Zuul is simply not worth the effort of a meal!
DOMESTICATED Zuul has become highly prized by survivors for the safety they provide those exploring the radiation zone and their incredible effectiveness against Reapers. Not particularly fast, nor great harvesters like their Ankylosaurus cousins, nevertheless the adaptations Zuul has developed to counter the many significant threats of its biome make it a highly valuable beast.
Moreover, keeping your Zuul supplied with certain mushrooms will result in the critter munching as you travel, scattering spores from its feast. In its delight, the cloud of spores created by the Zuul's munching of some mushrooms can protect the rider against the effects of other mushrooms growing wild!
TLDR:
ENDGAME HERBIVORE
Aberration bossing alternative to Megalosaurus
Very armoured, high damage reduction - optional: reflected damage?
High damage tail swipe - optional: broken bone slowing debuff?
Massive explosion of charge light as a special move - optional: attack has a time-based cooldown rather than giving Zuul charge stats like a glowpet
AoE spinning attack with high knockback, can keep spinning until stamina runs out
Not as good as anky at harvesting but can move much faster
Optional: When in sunlight (ie on other maps), charge explosion becomes superpowered by the sun and deals fire damage
Trying to eat one of these guys is just poor decision making - GIF from Tenor
Real Zuul Zuul crurivastator is an Anky cousin famous for being one of the most complete ankylosaurid specimens ever found—the genus "Zuul" was named because the people who discovered it decided its face had a passing resemblance to the demon Zuul from Ghostbusters; and the species "crurivastator" is Latin for "Destroyer of Shins", as this tanky boi is the suspected culprit for the many cracked and shattered leg bones frequently found on carnivore skeletons in the area!source
ABERRATION CONCEPT
I've always said that ARK lacks endgame herbivores, and I've also frequently bemoaned that Megalosaurus is the exclusive boss meta for Aberration. So my goal was: how could a large herbivore be a viable bossing mount, especially on Aberration? What niche could it fill that no other creature currently occupies? The most important points for the game meta to me were:
I decided that Zuul should live in the rad zone, as currently the only radiation immune herbivore (not including glowpets)—Paraceratherium—doesn't spawn in the rad zone! And in speculative biology, I feel it's important to think about what sorts of adaptations a creature might have developed to be specialized for its environment. So after some thought I came up with:
Highly armoured defence (so many carnivores)
Impervious to Reaper acid blood
Doesn't emit charge light (because Seekers)
Eats mushrooms
So how can it both be super-effective against Reapers, but not emit charge light and get constantly harassed by Seekers? Have it store charge within its body and give it an explosive attack that works like a Charge Lantern! When I asked Wren to draw Zuul and she asked me how it should look, my main request was "its glow pattern should go up its tail as a visual indicator for when the charge attack is ready! Like: boop, boop, boop, boop, BING! READY TO LAUNCH!"
I would also suggest that Zuul's charge explosion becomes superpowered when exposed to sunlight, becoming so intense that it sets things on FIRE! That way it's still a powerful tame on other maps.
Moreover the tendency in the depths of Aberration is to be ruthlessly mobbed by everything at once. What if it could have an AoE attack to deal with that? Well I've been playing a lot of Genshin Impact lately and I immediately thought of the spinning attack some claymore characters use. Other people thought of Beyblades, and... I don't disagree!
Finally, one of the most painful things for me when leaving the Green Zone in Aberration those freezing spores, ahhhhh. And Zuul is naturally going to be quite close to the ground, a rider would absolutely get hit by those spores constantly. So I figured, if Zuul was walking around munching on mushrooms, maybe it could protect its rider? Keep your Zuul supplied with Aquatic Mushrooms, and it would be such a messy eater that the spores of the Aquatic Mushrooms it scatters into the air would cancel out those pesky freezing spores!
CONCLUSION
Spiky pancake boi calmly munching on mushrooms as nearby Reapers with noticeable limps visibly flinch when Zuul looks at them sideways. Rockwell spends his boss fight hip-deep in liquid element, he vehemently denies this is to ensure his shins are inaccessible.
__
CREDIT FOR THE DOSSIER ARTWORK goes to the talented Wren (little.wren) who did an amazing job! Thanks also to Mega for getting me started thinking about how Zuul might fit into Aberration!
Also, I love speculative biology. Have some additional suggestions? Have some criticisms of Zuul's proposed niche and adaptations? I confess to not be great at game meta and balancing, got some ideas to make Zuul a more balanced creature? I would love to hear them!
Suggestion
MermaidMaira
Creature design and dossier by Maira, concept art by Wren
TLDR:
Trying to eat one of these guys is just poor decision making - GIF from Tenor
Real Zuul
Zuul crurivastator is an Anky cousin famous for being one of the most complete ankylosaurid specimens ever found—the genus "Zuul" was named because the people who discovered it decided its face had a passing resemblance to the demon Zuul from Ghostbusters; and the species "crurivastator" is Latin for "Destroyer of Shins", as this tanky boi is the suspected culprit for the many cracked and shattered leg bones frequently found on carnivore skeletons in the area! source
Image from The Guardian 2017 article "Meet Zuul, destroyer of shins - the 75m-year-old 'Ghostbuster' dinosaur" by Hannah Devlin
ABERRATION CONCEPT
I've always said that ARK lacks endgame herbivores, and I've also frequently bemoaned that Megalosaurus is the exclusive boss meta for Aberration. So my goal was: how could a large herbivore be a viable bossing mount, especially on Aberration? What niche could it fill that no other creature currently occupies? The most important points for the game meta to me were:
Just look at those unprotected shins! - Image from Aberration Steam page
I decided that Zuul should live in the rad zone, as currently the only radiation immune herbivore (not including glowpets)—Paraceratherium—doesn't spawn in the rad zone! And in speculative biology, I feel it's important to think about what sorts of adaptations a creature might have developed to be specialized for its environment. So after some thought I came up with:
So how can it both be super-effective against Reapers, but not emit charge light and get constantly harassed by Seekers? Have it store charge within its body and give it an explosive attack that works like a Charge Lantern! When I asked Wren to draw Zuul and she asked me how it should look, my main request was "its glow pattern should go up its tail as a visual indicator for when the charge attack is ready! Like: boop, boop, boop, boop, BING! READY TO LAUNCH!"
I would also suggest that Zuul's charge explosion becomes superpowered when exposed to sunlight, becoming so intense that it sets things on FIRE! That way it's still a powerful tame on other maps.
Moreover the tendency in the depths of Aberration is to be ruthlessly mobbed by everything at once. What if it could have an AoE attack to deal with that? Well I've been playing a lot of Genshin Impact lately and I immediately thought of the spinning attack some claymore characters use. Other people thought of Beyblades, and... I don't disagree!
F*** everything in particular - GIF from Tenor
Finally, one of the most painful things for me when leaving the Green Zone in Aberration those freezing spores, ahhhhh. And Zuul is naturally going to be quite close to the ground, a rider would absolutely get hit by those spores constantly. So I figured, if Zuul was walking around munching on mushrooms, maybe it could protect its rider? Keep your Zuul supplied with Aquatic Mushrooms, and it would be such a messy eater that the spores of the Aquatic Mushrooms it scatters into the air would cancel out those pesky freezing spores!
CONCLUSION
Spiky pancake boi calmly munching on mushrooms as nearby Reapers with noticeable limps visibly flinch when Zuul looks at them sideways. Rockwell spends his boss fight hip-deep in liquid element, he vehemently denies this is to ensure his shins are inaccessible.
__
CREDIT FOR THE DOSSIER ARTWORK goes to the talented Wren (little.wren) who did an amazing job! Thanks also to Mega for getting me started thinking about how Zuul might fit into Aberration!
Also, I love speculative biology. Have some additional suggestions? Have some criticisms of Zuul's proposed niche and adaptations? I confess to not be great at game meta and balancing, got some ideas to make Zuul a more balanced creature? I would love to hear them!
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