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Normandem

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  1. I hadn't mentioned in the submission- this suggestion is for the extinct giant aye-aye (Daubentonia robustus) and not the living aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascarensis), however I’ve used aspects of the modern aye-aye’s natural history for some inspiration.
  2. Matchups against other creatures in Aberration These matchups are based on how a solo ridden aye-aye fares against the main Aberrant threats. The rider of either tame in this matchup can use a weapon (as most aye-aye riders will be using a strategy of stun and shoot, then back away until they can repeat). These matchups can also apply to taming many of the following creatures as well! The idea of this is to assess how balanced my suggestion for aye-ayes is, and show it would be viable and useful in the Aberrant meta (PVE and PVP) but also not completely overpowered. Rock drakes- The aye-aye’s detection ability makes it far easier to spot invisible rock drakes. As wild rock drakes have a poor turning circle, it is possible to stun and run circles round while either biting or firing a weapon. Therefore, a very good matchup against wild drakes. Ridden drakes however would have a more skilled rider and likely be able to overpower or flee from an aye-aye so a much poorer matchup. With good aim, an aye-aye can be used to stun a rock drake out of the sky! Basilisks- Basilisks would be easy to detect, and with their large turning radius, easy to stun and kite. Therefore, even against alpha basilisks, aye-ayes have a very good matchup Roll rat- Aye-ayes would very easily out-manoeuvre and defeat wild or tamed roll rats Aberrant purlovia- detection is far easier, reducing the risk of getting dismounted Aberrant spinos- Wild spinos have a poor turning radius so can be stunned and kited. Ridden spinos with their bipedal ability have a better chance but would still lose if the aye-aye’s rider has a gun, especially when latched to a wall Aberrant stego- Able to be kited but very tanky. The aye-aye wins the fight but it would take so long to win it may be better to flee Reapers- Reapers are much harder to out-manoeuvre due to their spin attack and slowing abilities but a skilled player would be able to do it. The large charge range of a featherlight would help an aye-aye keep its distance and therefore be able to take down a subterranean or even alpha surface reaper king. The queen’s healing and torpor damage would make the fight very difficult with an aye-aye; a rock drake would be more suitable for this fight Aberrant raptors- They would be easier to detect and able to be stunned, but they can still dismount. The best strategy is to shoot when latched high up on a wall to prevent dismounting. Therefore, not the best matchup but less bad than most creatures in Aberration against the raptors. Aberrant raptors are the worst. Ravagers- Wild ravagers’ bleed would make the fight trickier but if distance is kept, stunning and separating ravagers is a good strategy. And high-level aye-ayes should be able to face tank low-level packs Aberrant Megalosaurus- the dismount attack and overall fast speed on a megalo would make combat very tricky, especially against groups of tamed megalos. The player would most likely need to shoot while the aye-aye is latched high up on a wall. Still a better matchup than against karkinos but a difficult fight. Karkinos- Karkinos require getting up-close to melee damage to win a fight, therefore aye-ayes would fare more poorly. Using stun-attacks and a crossbow is still an option however.
  3. Introducing the giant aye-aye, Daubentonia! Aberration is where horrors of the night thrive: the aye-aye is a nocturnal lemur who, in folklore, could mark people for death by pointing at them! In-game it would be a rideable climbing creature that is reactive to charge light, and who attacks by stunning/hypnotizing players and dinos at range. If you like my idea, please give it a vote! Feedback and suggestions would be great! I hope you like it! Here’s some reasons why I think it would be a great addition- o Nocturnal creatures are a great fit in Aberration- and an opportunity for jump-scares, including making the player hallucinate. It would be extra-powerful at night and on Aberration, but unlike the Megalosaurus, would not be useless once the sun comes up. o Climbing and using ziplines- a more support/utility alternative to rock drakes and ravagers. Great for building, taming and stealing rock drake eggs! Aberration, especially on single player, really needs a smaller creature that can climb and help with building taller structures. o Easy-to-aim ranged stun/ torpor attack by pointing/ glaring at enemies. Only applies torpor at night or on Aberration but can still stun during the day. When used at night on players, will cause them to hallucinate visions of predators (as well as stun/ torpor). o Enemy detection by echolocation, including being able to spot hidden rock drakes, basilisks and purlovias. o Turret mode that uses both enemy detection and ranged stun, even when latched to walls and ziplines. o Reactive to charge lights- A reason to turn off glow pets in the blue zone, and to go high up in its tree roots (where there’s currently not much to do). Can be passively tamed when charge lights are off, but be ready to fend off the Nameless! o Most predators will not attack it unless provoked, and aye-ayes are immune to red-zone radiation, perfect for a first tame to explore the red zone and rock drake trench with. o Auto-harvesting sap and giant bee honey when latched to trees or next to wild beehives. o Auto-feeding its rider with giant bee honey, which takes longer to spoil in its inventory. (Credit to Metatrox for the dossier template provided on the forum) Background The giant aye-aye (Daubentonia robusta) lived until around 1,000 years ago in Madagascar. Under the cover of darkness, it would search for fruit, sap and insects. It would find insects by tapping tree trunks and detecting the vibrations off the bugs, almost like echolocation. The latin name for the Ark’s aye-aye could be Daubentonia torvexspiravit (meaning ‘glaring ghost aye-aye’). Its modern counterpart, the aye-aye, is now endangered (but was itself once thought to be extinct, just like the coelacanth). It is the target of Malagasy superstition; it is believed that those pointed at by an aye-aye have been marked for death. Their ears and long fingers have evolved a similar sense to echolocation. This, coupled with its creepy appearance and large, nocturnal eyes, are a fantastic inspiration for Ark’s own version of this evolutionary experiment. It’s believed D. robusta looked like a larger version of the modern aye-aye but there is not enough fossil evidence to confirm this. D. torvexspiravit will be even bigger, much larger than the player and able to be ridden. While the local folklore surrounding aye-ayes does make for an interesting addition to the game, it is in real life a cause for wild aye-ayes to be hunted. Aye-ayes are endangered (and at one time themselves were believed to be extinct). Adding this to Ark would help raise awareness about modern aye-ayes and their persecution. Dossier Wild While the Arks are patrolled during the daylight by towering reptiles and fierce predators, Daubentonia has made a life for itself under the cover of darkness. Wild aye-ayes shy away from all light sources, including charge light. While you’re unlikely to see an aye-aye, you may hear them tapping trees to hunt insects with their freakishly long fingers. Aye-ayes prefer to hide away from combat, but when cornered can stun a would-be attacker with a hypnotic glare. Even the largest foes can be frozen for long enough to allow an aye-aye to escape! If you can approach an aye-aye in the dark without startling it then you may be able to tame it with its favourite food, honey. Domesticated While not the most appealing-looking creature on the Arks, aye-ayes make for intelligent and loyal pets. When ridden, they can climb up trees and along ziplines. They will even share their favourite food with a hungry rider! For the more sedentary tribes, they can latch onto trees or beehives and gather sap or honey. Daubentonia’s unique set of talents can provide valuable support to any tribe. During the night, their stunning glare can be used just as effectively on command as in the wild. I have seen a tribe keep aye-ayes inside their homes to detect and stun intruders. Their enhanced senses allow them to detect nearby aggressors, even in caves. Wild Behaviour Spawns high up in the trees of the bioluminescent zone- it’s such an amazing part of the map but there’s currently little reason to go there. It’s also fairly hard to get to, so the chance to tame an Aye-aye would make the journey worthwhile. An alternative is the redwoods of the Green Zone but this would be too easy to get to and doesn’t punish you for having charge lights off in the area. Unlike other aberrant creatures, aye-ayes should not be bioluminescent. They should be dark and hard to spot; their glowing eyes and sounds of tapping on branches the only signs they are near. This would make a surprise encounter, especially for the first time, even more thrilling. Other wild dinosaurs do not attack aye-ayes as they fear their mysterious abilities. Nameless and reapers do not attack wild aye-ayes however they will target tamed ones. Their temperament is defensive- if the player comes too close with charge lights on it will retaliate with a ranged stun attack. This stun attack can induce torpor even when a player is riding a dino. This however is not used to kill the player: only in self-defence and the aye-aye will retreat afterwards (to match the lore behind it looking much creepier than it really is). In the dark of the blue-zone this stun could be a creepy jump scare (including showing hallucinations of predators on the screen). With all lights, including charge light, turned off, a player can approach the aye-aye to tame it. Taming Passive tame- Approach them with charge light/pets/torches turned off. If the aye-aye is up a tree or a blue zone root it can be lured down with giant bee honey. Once on the ground it can be passively fed honey, sap, citronal, berries or chitin (in order of decreasing effectiveness). Just like many passive tames if it takes damage the taming progress will reset. Passive tames are usually quite easy, however the real challenge will be surviving long enough with charge lights turned off to complete the taming process. You’ll have to fight off the nameless and reapers without hitting the aye-aye and resetting your progress. Utility These are ideas and abilities I think would fit the Aye-aye and be a good fit for Ark, hopefully WC will follow this same idea. Ridden- The aye-aye would require a saddle to ride. The saddle should be craftable at around level 60, requiring hide, fiber, fungal wood and blue gems. The aye-aye is adept at climbing, able to climb like a thyla or dinopithecus. They can use ziplines, walking on top of the zipline like ravagers. It has a fairly fast sprint on land (similar speed to a Baryonyx) and good ability to jump. It would be immune or resistant to fall damage. Being a smaller climber on Abb would be super helpful for building as rock drakes are too big and clumsy for this and climbing picks have limited durability. Players can use weapons from the back of them, even when climbing or on ziplines. Even when ridden they can still detect enemies. When the player’s hunger is below 50% the aye-aye will automatically feed the player giant bee honey from its own inventory. Like the dinopithecus, most predators will not attack a tamed aye-aye unless provoked. The exceptions (on Aberration) to this are rock drakes, reapers, nameless, karkinos, spinos and direbears. Alongside an immunity to the red zone’s radiation, this makes aye-ayes a great first tame for exploring the red zone and artifact caves. Combat- Instead of relying on biting in combat (the bite should do around base 35 damage), the aye-aye has a ranged stun attack that can also apply torpor. The ranged attack’s animation should look like the aye-aye pointing, just like in Malagasy superstition. Night vision goggles could prevent this attack from affecting players or tames that can wear it. When ridden, a reticle would be on-screen to help aim the attack. This attack would require good aim and is therefore easier to use against large creatures than players. At night time (or always on Aberration) this ranged attack will hypnotise its target and apply significant torpor. Stun recharge is too long to stun-lock but each stun lasts long enough to out-manoeuvre enemies. Torpor is applied gradually, so will still stack despite the lower frequency stun. During the day the attack is still useful for stunning enemies before using tranqs. At night and on Abb extra tranqs won’t be needed for knocking out creatures! When the ranged attack is used on players it will cause hallucinations to appear on the screen; this will take the form of Aberrant predators (randomly chosen, could be raptors, ravagers, carnos or megalosaurus) running towards them, vanishing once they get too close. This can also be caused by wild aye-ayes. This effect makes more sense to only happen at night or on Aberration. This attack would be especially scary as the target would also be stunned! This ranged attacked would work in turret mode, alongside enemy detection. This makes aye-ayes a perfect base defence tame. Enemy detection- As modern aye-ayes can ‘echolocate’ by tapping their long fingers on trees, they should be able to detect nearby enemies in-game. The in-game animation would be the aye-aye tapping the ground and then listening. It can also detect invisible rock drakes and underground basilisks/purlovias, and is therefore useful as a more versatile alternative to parasaurs. Can be used when ridden or set to turret mode (turret mode can also auto-stun, auto-detect or both using the radial wheel). Can even work when latched to walls. When ridden, enemy detection is the ‘roar’ attack. Resource gathering and auto-feeding- When dismounted while climbing, it stays latched onto any surface. If latched onto redwood trees it will passively gather sap slowly. If near wild beehives or honey resource nodes it will passively gather giant bee honey (but more slowly than a tamed hive). Auto-gathering can be turned on or off using the radial wheel. Only gathers sap and honey, not berries. The bite attack will gather small amounts of berries or mushrooms if used near a bush. The amount gathered is very small, less than an iguanodon, to prevent the rider being encumbered after every fight. This bite can still harvest meat and hide, but less effectively than carnivores. It has a weight reduction of 50% for berries, honey and sap. Honey spoils more slowly in its inventory to make it better at auto-feeding and auto-gathering. When the rider’s hunger is below 50%, the aye-aye can automatically feed them some giant bee honey from its inventory. This ability can be toggled with the radial wheel, just like turret mode settings. Overall, functions similarly to a mid to late-game rock drake/ravager but also has its own unique uses. Being smaller than rock drakes, it can be used to climb structures and make base-building easier (it’s currently a pain on Abb). Its stun attacks, rock-drake detection and climbing abilities would make it great for helping steal rock drake eggs or caving. It can be used on Abb, or at night time, for taming (and in the day time you can fire tranqs off its back). It’s also different enough to the previous two to not fully outclass them- ravagers will still be better for pack-based combat and as a pack mule, and rock drakes would have better health and faster movement when gliding. As well as being a traveling and taming mount, aye-ayes could be useful in PVE and single player for gathering honey or sap in an alternative way, reducing the need for tree taps. In PVP it could have a niche use for stunning enemies or riders- it’s stunning abilities can be devastating when used right! They would also make a great turret tame and synergise well with other turrets by stunning targets. Wikipedia for Daubentonia robusta- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_aye-aye Wikipedia for the modern aye-aye- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aye-aye Thanks for reading! What are your thoughts on the aye-aye? What do you think its stats should be and do you have any additions that could improve this creature? I’ve tried hard to make a creature that would be a fun, useful and balanced addition to Aberration that fits the theme. I think all of the suggested abilities make sense for this creature but I’m happy to hear your opinions!
  4. What if it has a high oxygen stat, but to reduce risk of drowning, the oxygen resets every time it gets an underwater kill? This can even be used to reset air bubbles to allow the player to breathe. This means that despite being semi-aquatic/ for earlier sea travel, that it can in theory still stay underwater indefinitely if it keeps getting kills. As well as reducing the need for scuba gear without fully outclassing it. That would make it useful in a few other situations- 1) artefract running for the underwater artefact on Rag 2) once Genesis is out, can be used for missions that involve going in/out of water lots 3) once Crystal Isles is out would be amazing at traversing the map 4) Upper South Cave
  5. I made a change to the damage calculations- if using 7 of them together, damage stacks high enough to kill a giga in 20 seconds! As crazy as the damage is, In PVP I imagine this would be quite difficult to actually pull off since they would all be unridden and attacked by other gigas or shadowmanes. And should rock elementals take reduced damage from the sound attacks? As otherwise they are so slow they would die before reaching a Macrauchenia to attack
  6. 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
  7. Hi all, I would like to introduce a new way that herbivores could be used to join the fight, Macrauchenia sommesonus! Macrauchenia was a lipotern ungulate living during the Pleistocene epoch until around 10,000 years ago and looked like a giant llama with a trunk. In Ark its trunk could be used for sound-based combat and deafening opponents. Macrauchenia was a large herbivore that would be able to hold its own against most predators on Ragnarok as well as harvest thatch and berries. As a pack animal Macrauchenia is specialised at carrying building pieces, perfect for assisting cave runs and boss fights. Here's some reasons why Macrauchenia would be great for Ragnarok- · Shout attack- the more Macrauchenia are using the attack, the louder the sound! Damage caused by their attack will stack, eventually preventing enemy command whistles and courage roars and doing crazy high damage. · Has a sound buff caused by enemy roars · Reduced carry weight on building pieces · Tamed using wardrums · A herbivore that’s good in combat, and a more unique mechanic to fight with Dossier Wild Since humanity all but disappeared, the Arks became much quieter. That is, except for one creature who’s booming calls fill the silence- Macrauchenia. These giant, long-nosed llamas wander across the plains and communicate at distance with deep, trumpeting calls. And the more Macrauchenia that get involved, the more deafening the noise becomes. Wild Macrauchenia are drawn towards other loud noises; more musical tribes have been able to domesticate them by playing wardrums. They are the only creatures I have seen that even enjoy the roaring of predators and are able to defend themselves against a louder foe much more effectively than a silent one. Domesticated Macrauchenia can be used as a beast of burden just as well as camels back home. They are particularly adept at carrying walls and flooring material to wherever you plan to build. One single Macrauchenia is not very powerful in combat, however a large group of them can be devastating. With enough Macrauchenia you can completely deafen your opponent, making them unable to hear commands. The only protection I have found from this is to wear a fur hat to muffle their sound. Wild behaviour · Lives in the plains, desert and snow (near rexes and yutys) · Only attacks when provoked · If nearby rexes or yutys roar, then will become aggressive to all nearby enemies (and receive a defence buff) · Herbivore Taming · Will move towards wardrums when played · Starts a minigame where you play the wardums to the same rhythm as the Macrauchenia’s noise. Good timing will tame more quickly. Losing the beat will reduce taming effectiveness. Utility Pack mule · Fast walk speed and slow stamina drain · Reasonably fast swim speed for a large herbivore (similar speed to an Amarga) · High stamina (450), weight (800) and health (720) stats · Weight reduction of 50% on all building materials In combat · Bulky herbivore with a similar power level to chalicotheriums and woolly rhinos · Significant power buff when roared at, either by rexes or yutys. Similar buff to bug killer on Megatheriums. · Immune to enemy fear roars · Main attack is the sound attack but can also kick and bite for reasonably good damage. · As it’s a herbivore can eat sweet veggie cakes Sound attack · Attack that has a medium distance and large AOE (meaning they can stand behind your more tanky tames and still do damage) · Disables nearby enemy parasurs · Takes damage twice per second and has fast stamina drain · Very low damage when only using one Macrauchenia but stacks as you add more creatures becomes exponentially more powerful. Damage is also increased by levelling. · Three or more using a sound attack will trigger the deafened debuff- blocks targets from hearing commands and courage roars · Damage caps at six Macrauchenia- at this stage the damage would be insane and probably enough to shred through many bosses · Can be blocked by wearing a fur hat or Tek helmet Damage calculations for sound attack · Starts at base 1 damage per tick if 100% melee · Every Macrauchenia added doubles the power of the attack · Although these numbers don’t seem too huge this attack has a longer range than biting, and is much faster. The DPS is probably not far behind that of gigas and would be much higher than many rexes. Number of Macrauchenia attacking Base DPS at 100% melee Total DPS if all have 100% melee Base DPS at 1000% melee Total DPS if all have 1000% melee 1 1 1 10 10 2 2 4 20 40 3 4 12 40 120 4 8 32 80 320 5 16 80 160 800 6 32 192 320 1920 7 64 448 640 4480 (is this too broken?) · 6 Macrauchenia with 1000% melee will do faster damage to most bosses than Deinonychus bleed (so there may need to be a damage cap to stop this being completely broken). 7 1000% damage Macrauchenia could kill a level 1 wild giga in less than 20 seconds · These calcs are not even using the yuty courage buff or sound buff mentioned earlier- maybe these should not affect the sound attack to stop Macrauchenia from absolutely destroying everything What are your thoughts? I've tried to make this concept a little balanced (but have got carried away with damage calc at the end). Are there any changes you would make? Thanks for reading!
  8. A cool way to tame it, to make it different from a phoenix may be instead of using fire, what about smoke? Smoke grenades aren't that useful so needing them to tame a Pyroraptor would be a great way to make them useful. They could even be stronger when in smoke. Also what if they have different effects from each weather? Maybe immunity to sandstorm? In heatwaves keep an ability to burn metal. And in lightning storms gain significantly increased movement speed and a thorns-like effect similar to Kentros?
  9. Here's the wikipedia link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_aye-aye
  10. Aye-Aye A bit of a weird suggestion but it's a creature that could be very useful in PVP and PVE. The Aye-Aye is a modern lemur but it had a giant extinct relative. In Malagasy folklore, aye-ayes forewarn death. This, and their unusual way of feeding (tapping on logs to find insects) could make for an interesting and useful tame on the Arks. While it looks like a foest creature they can also live in the deserts- the spiny forest of Madagascar is one of the coolest desert environments. It's a fun addition to caving as Scorched definitely has the best maps in the game. Background The giant aye-aye (Daubentonia robusta) lived until around 1,000 years ago in Madagascar. Under the cover of darkness it would search for fruit and insects. The latin name for the Ark’s aye-aye could be Daubentonia perititafulgor (meaning mesmerising glare aye-aye). Its modern counterpart, the aye-aye, is now endangered. It is the target of Malagasy superstition; it is believed that those pointed at by an aye-aye will soon perish. This, coupled with its creepy appearance and large, nocturnal eyes, are a fantastic inspiration for Ark’s own version of this evolutionary experiment. Dossier Wild While the Arks are ruled during the daylight by towering reptiles and fierce predators, Daubentonia perititafulgor has made a life for itself under the cover of darkness. While you’re unlikely to see an aye-aye, you may hear them tapping trees for insects with their freakishly long fingers. Aye-ayes prefer to hide away from combat, but when cornered can stun a would-be attacker with a hypnotic glare for long enough to retreat to the treetops. I have seen a dinosaur as large as a Carnotaurus be frozen in place by a spooked Daubentonia. If you can approach an aye-aye without startling it then you may be able to tame its favourite food, honey. Domesticated While not the most appealing-looking creature on the Arks, aye-ayes make for intelligent and loyal pets. They can collect berries, sap and honey from the comfort of a human’s shoulders and are happy to share their food. For the more sedentary tribes, they can latch onto trees or beehives and gather sap or honey respectively. Daubentonia’s unique set of talents can provide valuable support to any tribe. During the night, their stunning glare can be used just as effectively from the back of their tribemate. I have seen a tribe keep aye ayes inside their homes to deter intruders. Their enhanced senses allow them to detect nearby aggressors, even in caves. Wild Behaviour - Spawns in trees (or the bee canyon) and only leaves them if disturbed. Will return to the trees once safe - Defensive temperament- if the player ventures too close they can stun the player with a hypnotic glare, similar to a mesmer in Subnautica. Unlike the mesmer however, this is only to allow the aye-aye to flee Taming - Passive tame - Approach the tree wearing ghillie armour or after consuming cactus broth - Throw down giant bee honey- the aye-aye will leave the tree and can then be passively tamed with honey, sap or berries Utility Shoulder mount- o When on the player’s shoulder will passively (slowly) collect berries, sap and giant bee honey from nearby nodes o When the player’s hunger is below 85% the aye-aye will automatically feed the player berries (except stimberries or narcoberries) o Can detect nearby enemies o Can stun nearby enemies Enemy detection- o Similar to a parasaur, but smaller range. Still works when on the player’s shoulder, useful when caving Resource gathering- o When thrown can latch onto any surface o If thrown onto redwood trees will passively gather sap slowly o If thrown onto beehives will passively gather giant bee honey (but more slowly than a tamed hive) o Weight reduction of 75% for berries, honey and sap Stunning- o Can stun enemy players or non-ridden dinosaurs o Slow recharge and only affects one enemy at a time to stop from being way too overpowered o Recharge must faster at night time, allowing a single target to be stun locked o Works on all creatures up to drag weight of a carno o Blocked by the effect of charge light or night vision goggles
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