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My submission for the next Ark vote is Titanoceratops scutigerulus, a massive powerhouse of a ceratopsian capable of easily destroying defenses, breaking through metal dino gates like a battering ram, ignoring all placed traps, and fighting off Ark’s deadliest theropod the Giga. Through a labor of love I’ve designed not just a dossier but actual in game quality concept art for this animal. Abilities: It’s main two damage abilities are dealing high amounts of damage to both creatures of higher drag weight (scaling up as the drag weight scales) and dealing high damage to gates and doors up to metal behemoth gates. The trade off for dealing damage to metal is that it must consume raw metal (around 5 to 10 metal per 5 seconds, it allows for a 30 second window to damage metal and has a cool down that lasts for around a minute) through a stance change that makes it slower as a trade off similar to the Magmasaurs’s smelting ability minus the smelting. While it does mediocre damage to metal structures in this state it does high amounts of damage to doors and dino gates making it effectively a battering ram. As for it’s Giga slaying abilities, it will be able to resist it’s gnash and deal higher damage to it than other creatures due to it’s increased drag weight damage. It’s also particularly well protected from the front having a high damage resistance to both it’s frill and legs, this paired with the anti bleed effect and high health make it a great defense against Ark’s largest and deadliest theropod. It’s other prime function is acting as a tower shield for large dinos up to the height of a rex, it’s great for effectively tanking huge amounts of bullets and explosives with little damage. In addition when multiple Titanoceratops are near they gain a herd buff that increases the damage resistance and gives a buff to nearby saddleless dinos, it however does not effect dinos with natural armor like the Reaper and Shadowmane. It can also pivot in place similar to a Rock Golem allowing it to defend against attackers from any angle. Other major abilities of the Titanoceratops are the resistance to all placed traps such as bear traps or spike walls, explosives placed on the ground also deal less damage to it. When the herd bonus is active the eyespots on it’s frill appear and light up similar to the plate change on the TLC Stego. The rider sits on a saddle latched onto the back of it’s frill allowing for a high vantage point across the battlefield (I’m still toying with the concept of adding a second rider on it’s back as a protective gunner). As for gathering it’s a fairly basic gatherer of wood, thatch, and berries but has a very high weight and health making it a good safe pack animal. The specific attacks are a horn swing that does a high amount of damage, a “stance change” that transitions it into it’s metal damaging mode, and a short ram attack that thrusts the animal forward for a high knock back attack good for pushing away enemies and damaging doors. Wild: Titanoceratops can be found around mountainous regions usually around high concentrations of metal either alone or in a small group, they are fairly peaceful unless provoked or attack similar to Dire Bears. They can easily contend with many of the region’s predators like rexes and sabertooths although they are ignored by most small predators. They will ignore you while wearing ghillie however they will become aggressive if approached too closely. In the wild they also cannot damage metal but can damage stone structures. Taming: In order to tame a Titanoceratops you need either a catapult or cannon to knock it out, likely on the back of a Paracer or placed in a trap. They’re not difficult to kite as they’re not very fast so that can be a good and less expensive option but for those looking for a trap they need to use metal structures, bear traps are ill advised as they essentially destroy them while walking over them and completely ignore it’s effects. As for taming food you will need Exceptional kibble or various crops and berries, they need a lot of food and Narcotic so pack a fair bit as this tame can wake up fairly quickly. Once tamed they will act as a beast of burden, a powerful siege beast and living battering ram, a counter to various large creatures including Gigas, and potentially a boss fighter. Weaknesses: While the Titanoceratops is exceptionally powerful it has it’s drawbacks, it can only fit through behemoth gates as it’s size is on par with a rex or mammoth. It’s particularly slow and while it can turn in place it still can’t out turn the faster mounts like raptors, in addition it’s a very slow swimmer and is not advisable to use around wet environments. It’s backside is also fairly unprotected, even with a saddle hitting it from behind will deal massive amounts of damage to it. It’s also very vulnerable from above and can be taken out by fliers with ease. The rider perched on the high saddle is vulnerable to being grabbed by fliers and to sniper fire, being a particularly easy target. It’s also fairly weak to fire weapons, flamethrowers, fire arrows, wyverns, and fire pitch catapults will deal lots of damage to the creature more so than others. Final Notes: I wanted the Titanoceratops to fill the niche other ceratopsians in Ark should have filled, Trikes and Pachyrhinos are particularly weak in game and it bothers me that such powerful animals are ignored in favor of carnivores. I wanted a ceratopsian that could defeat carnivores without breaking a sweat and being large powerhouses players would use late game. These animals in real life were strong enough to fight off tyrannosaurs and were true spectacles of both raw power and incredible diversity, they were truly the most impressive ornithischians to have existed. I also wanted to suggest a powerful and impressive creature that people would enjoy, something both striking and utterly massive. It was also a chance to flex my art skills at designing an Ark creature with both accurate anatomy and the signature Ark style. I have talked in the past about possibly applying for a job at Wildcard as a creature concept artist and wanted to prove to myself that I was able to design something both devs and players would enjoy, I do not think I will apply as I still have a lot of learning to do however this experience has been quite a trip and I am happy that I got to share my labor of love with this wonderful and creative community. I hope you all enjoy and if there’s any suggestions or ideas for this leave them down in the comments. OnFire944 made a short video with a size comparison between it and the other ceratopsians in game, it’s a really nice short video summary on some of this creature’s abilities. I highly recommend you check it out. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P_uziSb-umk&feature=youtu.be