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MORE ARTWORK WILL BE ADDED WITHIN A DAY Greetings, survivor. This is Hesperocyon, the Specialized Predatory Slasher. What is this creature? The Hesperocyon is a canid, a relative of modern dogs. However, it also had many cat-like features, such as a long tail for climbing. We designed this creature, Hesperocyon roachi, a “cat dog”. ARK’s Hesperocyon would larger than its real-life counterpart, ridable, and feature some unique abilities for Experience and battle. We hope that this creature could bring something unique to the table. That it could possibly give us the amazing carnivoran we should have. Because let’s face it, the Sabretooth is a little, eh… boring. Some creature submissions are extremely crazy with the ability concepts. While it is good to use your full creative potential, I have tried to make sure our creation features some unique and amazing abilities that still fit balanced into the world of ARK, without going overboard with craziness. Artwork. Thanks to Interstellarpool176 for the amazing Hesperocyon illustration! Nothing loading? Click here. Common name: HESPEROCYON Species: Hesperocyon roachi Time: Eocene Diet: Carnivore Temperament: Aggressive Wild: Even after getting close to this creature, I remain unable to tell if it is a feline or a canine. I’m pretty sure this animal is Hesperocyon, one of the most ferocious mammalian predators of the ARKs. The jaws and endurance of this animal is akin to a dog’s, but the long balancing tail and ears are more like a cat’s. The Hesperocyon uses features from both groups to become an effective predator. Domesticated: Like their pet relatives back when I was alive, Hesperocyon is a rather playful animal. If it gets the chance, it will bat around small critters with sheathed claws, almost like a playful kitten or puppy. However, when battle calls, this beast unsheathes its claws and inflicts terrible scores on enemies. The sheer power of these brutal slashes is too much to put into words. And after the battle, companion survivors can give this critter a nice pat on the head, causing it to purr like an adorable kitten. This succeeds in boosting the morale and focus of the Hesperocyon’s companions. In the Wild. Hesperocyon spawns in around the Wastelands and the Sunken Forest. They always spawn solo, but individuals can still have spawn points near each other. They aren’t very social critters. Hesperocyon is aggressive and will attack the same type of creatures as other predators, like Utahraptor and Dire Wolf. When it aggros onto a creature, it will run up to it, unsheathing its claws when close and attacking. See below for more on unsheathing claws. Taming. Taming a Hesperocyon involves giving it a toy to play with. And by toy, I mean small creature. Only living, tamed creatures that are carriable by survivors will work (for example, Dodo, Noglin, and Otter work, but not Lystro or Parasaur). Instead of aggroing and attacking a small creature like this, the Hesperocyon will keep its claws sheathed and bat the animal, knocking it a distance away. The taming progress will increase depending on the level of the creature and the level of the Hesperocyon. The type of creature being batted around doesn’t matter, only its level. The Hesperocyon will then ignore that creature for the next 1.5 minutes (real time). It will still aggro onto you, however, so stay away! To get your creature to draw the Hesperocyon’s interest, you could perhaps stay a distance away, whistle the creature towards the Hesperocyon, and then whistle passive. Damage to the Hesperocyon does not affect taming effectiveness. After 1.5 minutes, it will be able to bat the creature again, gaining more taming progress. Repeat the process until tamed. You must be sure that any creatures you use to tame the Hesperocyon (it can bat a different creature around each time) are tamed by you. If you use creatures tamed by another survivor, even a tribemate’s, it will count as being tamed by that survivor. The Hesperocyon will only play with creatures that were tamed by the same survivor as the first creature it bats. For example, if it bats a creature tamed by a tribemate named Bob first and the taming process starts, it will aggro and kill any creatures tamed by someone other than Bob. However, it will ignore any other creatures tamed by Bob, or bat them if its ready to. Stats. These are the base stats for the Hesperocyon at level 1. It’s similar to the Sabertooth in power, but with less health and more speed and damage. Health: 200 Stamina: 250 Oxygen: 145 Food: 1500 Weight: 160 Movement Speed: similar to a Thyla in speed Torpidity: 600 Breeding. Just like any other mammal, the Hesperocyon requires a gestation process instead of an egg to have offspring. Baby Hesperocyon will automatically start their lives with a Purr Bar (see below), and you can still set them to “Play” via the option wheel. Get ready to play with kitty pups! Attacks/Abilities. Claws: You can press [C] to sheath/unsheathe the Hesperocyon’s claws. When unsheathed, it can do much more damage, but is also slower. When sheathed, attacks do less damage, but it can run faster and bat around creatures (see below). Nothing loading? Click here. Purr: One of the Hesperocyon’s main features is boosting XP. And it can achieve that function with the PURR. Tamed Hesperocyons have “Purr Bar” on the right side of the screen. As you gain XP, the Purr Bar will fill with “Purr XP”. The amount of Purr XP required to fill the Purr Bar depends on the cat dog’s level. Whatever level it is, the amount of XP required to get from that level to the next level as though you were at 0 XP. The Purr XP needed is equal to half of that value. For example, if the Hesperocyon was at level 1 (X amount of XP required to get from level 1 to level 2), then the Purr Bar would need half of that “X” value to fill up. Even if it is already say… halfway to level 2, the Purr XP required still counts from the beginning of that level, as if you had 0 XP. If the Hesperocyon levels up, the amount of Purr XP doesn’t increase, even if the Purr Bar was full. However, the Purr Bar size does increase, as the XP required to Level Up increases with each level. If you need more information, just let me know below. So how can Purr XP be acquired? Whenever the Hesperocyon gains XP, it gains the same amount of Purr XP. It can also gain extra Purr XP from batting creatures or killing with a pounce (see below). When the Purr Bar is full, you can activate the Purr by petting the Hesperocyon (pressing [E] while riding or while targeting the Hesperocyon). The Hesperocyon and all allied creatures (including survivors) within range automatically are affected with a Purr Buff. The Purr Buff gives creatures a 4x increase to XP gained (additional XP gained does not give Hesperocyons extra Purr XP). This 4x bonus stacks on top of any other XP buffs active. This buff lasts for 5 minutes (real time), and only affects creatures within range of the initial Purr. If a creature leaves the range of the purr, the buff will stay active. Creatures only gain the buff if they are in range when the Hesperocyon purrs. A creature can only have one Purr Buff at a time. Primary Attack: If the Hesperocyon attacks with claws unsheathed, it performs a slash that deals 38 base damage. If claws are sheathed, the Hesperocyon bites and deals a base damage of 18. Climbing: If a Hesperocyon sprint with claws unsheathed (remember is moves slower while claws are sheathed) into a vertical surface, it will automatically latch onto the surface. You can then climb by pointing in the preferred direction and using the same keys as for sprinting. The Hesperocyon detaches if you sheath its claws or reach the top or bottom of the vertical surface. Hesperocyons can climb at a similar speed to a Thyla. Bat: If you right click with claws sheathed you perform a bat “attack”. This attack deals 0 damage but inflicts heavy knock back. The knock back works only on creatures the same size as the Hesperocyon or smaller. Playing: Via the option wheel, you can set a Hesperocyon to “Play”. If the Hesperocyon is next an allied small creature (a creature carriable by a survivors), the Hesperocyon will turn to it and bat it. The creature is knocked back a distance and the Hesperocyon collects Purr XP equal to the creature’s level. After playing with a creature, the Hesperocyon will wag its tail and make a “happy purr” sound. Playing can be a fun way of passively collecting Purr XP. The Hesperocyon won’t play with the same creature again unless a survivor picks it up and drops it next to the Hesperocyon. Whistling the small creature toward the Hesperocyon will not work; you must drop the creature while next to it for it to work. Screeching Death: If you press “Alt Fire” with claws unsheathed, the Hesperocyon charges up a massive pounce. It emits a blood-curdling screech and springs forward a short distance, slashing ferociously with its claws. This attack inflicts 58 base damage as well as 6 stacks of bleed immediately. If a creature is killed by this attack, the Hesperocyon gains 2x the amount of Purr XP from killing that creature. This attack has a cooldown of 1 minute. Saddle. Hesperocyon does require a saddle to ride. It is craft able at level 51 via inventory. It requires 250 Hide, 70 Fiber, and 180 Thatch. Thank you for reading and supporting our amazing idea! I’m sure you all have something to add, so please share below! ⬇