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Name: The Cave Lion Species: Panthera Atrox Time Period: Pleistocene (Ice Age) Diet: Carnivore Temperament: Aggressive Wild Observations: Within the vast tundra's and neighbouring grasslands on the Ark lives a hulking and voracious predator, Panthera Atrox or the Cave Lion is the largest big cat on the island standing almost as tall as the Direbear! Unlike Smilodon these large predatory cats live in strong family Prides. Prides usually consist of mostly females and usually a singular male. They are pale in colour with males sporting a large dark mane with Lionesses lacking the mane. Females tend to do the hunting while males protect the Prides territory and young from other invading male Cave Lions. Panthera Atrox are usually found next to Cave entrances as that's where they usually look after their young, lounge around or hide to escape bad weather conditions. Survivors have been known to be unlucky enough to accidently stumble into a cave of these cats during blizzards, needless to say most of these scenarios end with the cats getting a free meal. The hunting behaviour of Panthera Atrox is something to be respected, the lionesses will utilize ambush tactics to get close to prey and then burst from their stalking positions at incredible speed, during which when close enough the lion will lunge at the prey and take it down with sheer strength. This takedown has been seen to work on small to medium sized creatures however groups of Cave lionesses have been witnessed taking down larger prey in groups. Males have been seen while rarely join on these hunts however they're not usually involved in these group effort take downs and often tend to stick to hunting medium sized prey. They do however seem to encourage females with bellows during hunts when the chase begins, these bellows seem to carry across substantial ranges. Taming: Taming an adult Panthera Atrox is not a viable idea, these predators have grown such strong links to their pride during their growth that having them willing to leave the pride is impossible. It is however possible to sway cubs away from their prides because they have not yet learned to be fully committed to their pride, this is easier said than done however because cubs are usually hidden within cave systems or within cave entrances and also protected by adult males who have increased ferocity and vigour when defending his cubs, he is also joined by a couple Lionesses. If you are lucky or victorious in combat to defeat the protecting adults, cubs tend to be fairly accepting of a survivors taming attempts, cubs will eat raw meat, prime meat and mutton passively from survivor this process can take a while so the survivor is encouraged to bring protection to deal with the caves constant threats or more worryingly more Cave Lions. Domesticated: Domesticated adult Panthera Atrox are incredibly powerful ridable combat animals, perfectly suited to taking on most medium sized threats alone, they have very high resistances to most damage due to their stocky build from surviving in the icey wastes of the tundras and also their fairly head first hunting strategies. In groups these Lions get even more dangerous, with tribes using their wild instincts to their advantage taking down larger foes with groups of female lionesses and the male giving the group encouragement. These make perfect tames for tribes who want to remain a little more obscure on the Ark and don't like the idea of a large thundering theropod to give away their tribes base of operations of position in an ambush but also something strong enough to tackle those larger threats in a group. When it comes to harvesting, the Cave Lion is an excellent gatherer of pelt and hide. Gameplay (Generic): The Cave Lion is based mostly around combat both PVE/PVP and is mainly thought to give the player a mount capable of stealth attacking other players/AI without the need to purely going into invisibility but also rewarding players for doing by allowing the player to tackle down others. A well thought out ambush with multiple Cave lions and players riding them can even be used to take down larger animals so it also promotes teamwork. Movement: The Cave Lion is a slow hulking behemoth of a cat that takes time to reach its full speed, so during a sprint it will accelerate until it hits maximum speed. Ambush: By holding the "C" key, the Lion will go into a stalking stance which is a crouched stance with very slow mobility, this stance gives the player/mount the same abilities a player would gain from ghillie, allowing them to sneak up on most AI threats to a fairly close range. When within a specific range of prey, the Lion then bursts forward, giving it the ability to go into a faster version of its sprinting style, allowing it to reach its top speed much faster, this speed increase part of this ability does go on cooldown after use so it cannot be abused. Grapple: At max speed the Cave Lion gets to use its most dangerous attack, the ability to tackle and take down creatures and knocking off riders unlike the Thylacoleo, the grapple on the Cave Lion can be used to take down small to medium sized dinosaurs and the Cave Lion will end up releasing the grappled creature when it runs out of stamina. Gameplay (Lioness): The Hunter: As The Lioness is the dedicated hunter of the Cave Lion Pride, they gain a buff when among 3 more Lionesses that trigger when all 4 are in proximity of each other in their ambush stance, this buff allows the Lionesses to grapple attack larger animals up to the size of mammoths, knocking them over and knocking riders off. Gameplay (Male): The Protector: Male Cave Lions are the lethal protectors of the Pride, their bellows which can be activated by hitting "left ctrl" give females encouragement, allowing the females to sprint for longer and grapple longer during hunts due to it gaining a stamina buff the lioness, The Male Lion will also naturally gain a damage output buff for himself when surrounded by females, the idea is that the male Lion can help protect his Lionesses from the knocked off rider while they hold down the players tame.