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Palaeophis Colossaeus - Constricting Sea-Snake and Torpedo Terror Hey guys, thanks for clicking on this submission. I hope you like what you see. First off, a quick introduction to explain what inspired this idea. I love the sea, and i've lived beside it for most of my life here in the UK. Once as a kid I was bitten on the lip by a family friend's pet snake when they showed it to me while we visited them in their home (I was fine, just stung a bit), ever since then i've had a slight fear and huge respect for snakes. When the Tropeognathus released, it became my favourite dino, and I really love the weaponised, non-TEK saddle that it has. I've combined all of these elements and created the following: I introduce to you - The Constricting Sea-Snake, the Torpedo Terror, Palaeophis Colossaeus. (See Pictures and Diagrams Below) Palaeophis Colossaeus existed 50 millions years ago in an ocean that today has become the deserts of Nigeria, Mali and Algeria - The Trans-Saharan Seaway. It's fossil was discovered in 1999. It is unknown whether it envenomated it's prey or constricted them, as scientists never found the fossilised remains of skull bones. Due to it's size, it would have eaten large sharks, fish, crocodiles, turtles, and, it is rumoured to have even eaten whales. It's size, paired with it's carnivorous diet would have made them an apex predator in the waters of the Trans-Saharan Seaway. Palaeophis means "Ancient Snake". https://blog.padi.com/sea-snake-facts/ https://a-z-animals.com/blog/meet-the-massive-sea-snake-that-feasted-on-whales-seriously/ https://a-z-animals.com/blog/the-largest-sea-snake-ever-discover-an-ancient-40-foot-long-giant/ ---DOSSIER--- - COMMON NAME: Palaeophis - SPECIES: Palaeophis Colossaeus - TIME: Eocene Epoch (I think i've got that right, apologies if not) - DIET: Carnivore - TEMPERAMENT: Aggressive ---WILD--- If you thought that the ocean was already terrifying enough, then you haven't seen anything yet. Palaeophis are slightly smaller than Basilisks, measuring at 40ft in length. They prefer to hunt in the shallow waters of the ocean and it is common to see them there, but they do also hunt at greater depths in search of prey too. They use their vertically flat tail to propel them through the water with ease, but due to the shape of this appendage, it does mean they move slightly clumsier on land. They grasp smaller prey using their sharp fangs and strong jaw and swallow them whole. Palaeophis hunts larger prey by lunging at them and coiling themselves around them until they are completely immobilised, and then it begins constricting them. Despite being a sea snake, they cannot stay underwater indefinitely and must eventually return to the surface to breathe, however, they can hold their breath for an incredibly long time, and this is because they they can absorb 33% of they oxygen they need through their skin, and get rid of 90% of their carbon dioxide in the same manner. Remarkable, don't you think? You wouldn't want to encounter one of them alone let me tell you. ---DOMESTICATED--- Believe it or not, but I once met a fellow survivor who had somehow managed to tame a Palaeophis and use it to chase after some pesky raiders who had stolen supplies from his camp and tried to escape on a motorboat. At first I thought he was going to swim after them, but then he mounted a Palaeophis that was equipped with a saddle that could fire torpedos and began his pursuit. Needless to say, they made short work of the raiders. When he returned, I asked how he made the saddle and he showed me the blueprints for it, along with the blueprints for the torpedos too. The saddle he designed fires highly explosive torpedos that use propulsion to travel at great speeds underwater and explode on impact, they travel so fast infact that enemy defence systems struggle to shoot them in time and they are still hit by the blast radius and are damaged in the process. Needless to say, these torpedos are likely to inflict heavy damage on creatures if they are hit directly. It does take a few seconds to reload the torpedos though. The Fin Stabilisers on the saddle help with hydrodynamics. Oh, and did I mention that the torpedos could be fired on land too? They don't have nearly as much range as they do underwater and they sort of just launch across the air. Think of the possibilities. He told me that Palaeophis are formidable in the water and most marine life will steer clear of them. In one on one situations, in water or on land, if they manage to coil themselves around their prey and begin constricting, it is game over for the prey, and if by chance they are unsuccessful the first time, they can resort to their powerful jaw and sharp fangs which also packs a punch. Their natural bony plates also mitigate damage they receive in combat, which makes them perfect in combat situations. It turns out he also coated the Palaeophis' fangs with Bio Toxin to help it when hunting and when in combat situations, he preferred to apply it to it on dry land though. ---TAMING--- (I thought of numerous ways that the Palaeophis could be tamed. I liked all my ideas, but I could only pick one in the end. After narrowing the list down, I decided it'd be best to stick to it's nature and create a taming method that revolves around that. I hope you like it.) The Palaeophis is a passive tame. To tame it, you must allow it to constrict you whilst you ride a marine tame underwater. Once it constricts you, you cannot dismount your tame. Upon reducing the constricted tame's HP to zero, the Palaeophis will automatically consume it, increasing the taming bar percentage. It will then swim to the surface for air before it returns to hunt you, then, you must repeat the process until taming is complete. It'd be wise to have more tames ready, and to bring a scuba set at the very least. You don't need to worry about other nearby marine life aggroing onto you whilst be constricted (apart from Cnidaria, Mosasaurs and Tusoteuthis), but you will have to worry about all marine life during periods when you are not being constricted. It's preferred taming food in order from LEAST EFFECTIVE to MOST EFFECTIVE is: Carbonemys, Sarco, Dunkleosteus, Megalodon, Basilosaurus. ---BREEDING--- A unique method for a reptile in Ark. The Palaeophis is ovoviviparous, meaning females give live birth from eggs stored in the snake's body. To breed Palaeophis, they must both be present in shallow waters. Upon giving birth, players simply swim up to babies and claim them. Palaeophis will have a gestation timer. They must give birth in the water. ---ABILITIES--- - PASSIVE: --- BONY PLATES: It's natural armour reduces melee and ballistic damage received. TEK weapons are unaffected by this. --- TONGUE FLICK: When enemy players and player-owned creatures are nearby (includes buried and stealthed), the Palaeophis will flick it's tongue to alert the player. The closer they are, the more frequent the tongue will flick. Keep an eye out! --- SEA NOODLE: Due to it's speed and agility, it cannot be netted or grappled while it is underwater and cannot be grabbed at all by a Tusoteuthis. The Palaeophis can be netted and grappled on land. - BITE: Can be used on land and in water. Attack by pressing RT. Using it's sharp teeth and strong jaw it bites it's target. Bites can drain the target's stamina and increase the target's torpor if you coat it's fangs with Bio Toxin. By placing Bio Toxin in the Palaeophis' inventory and consuming it, you provide it with a buff. The duration of this buff can be increased by consuming more Bio Toxin, much like how consuming Aquatic Mushrooms provides you with longer protection the more you eat. - LUNGING GRASP: Can be used on land and in water. Lunge forward and grab smaller prey in it's jaw by pressing LT. Bite down on the grasped target with RT. Pressing and holding LT enables you to lunge forward and coil around larger targets and immobilise them. From here you can use the Constrict ability. You can let go by releasing LT. (Additional Notes for Lunging Grasp Ability) - The Palaeophis is the only creature in Ark that can bypass the passive ability of the Basilosaurus that protects it from being grappled. - This ability can be used against a Quetzal, even if it has been picked and the Quetzal is flying. - CONSTRICT: Begin constricting larger targets and deal increasingly heavy damage over time by pressing the Right Stick. The more stamina the Palaeophis has, the longer it can constrict. Gradually depletes stamina. Constricting a creature causes it's HP to deplete over time. The rate at which the HP depletes depends on the multiplier you get. Each time you constrict, you must wait for a cooldown timer to reach zero before you can constrict again. Constricting again increases the damage multiplier, thus increasing the damage over time. At the start, constricting deals x1 of the Palaeophis' melee damage over 10 seconds. You must wait 10 seconds before you can increase the damage multiplier. The damage multiplier increases by 1 to a maximum of 10. For example, a Palaeophis with 1,000% melee damage will deal 10,000 damage over 10 seconds at x10, and once at max, you can continuously deal the same damage provided you have enough stamina to sustain it. Take into consideration a creature's natural resistance and armour. It will take a total of 100 seconds to reach the maximum multiplier. This ability will also gradually deplete the oxygen meter for any creature that has one, and that can be subject to constriction. Once the constricted creature's oxygen is depleted, it starts taking the standard damage rate for having zero oxygen on top of constriction damage. While coiled around and constricting a larger creature owned by another player/tribe, friendly fire becomes enabled for the tribe who owns the constricted creature. This means that attacking a Palaeophis in an attempt to save your creature while it is being constricted by it will also damage your creature. This is where the Palaeophis' Passive Ability - Bony Plates really shines. If you are on the same side as the Palaeophis and attack the constricted creature, you will not deal friendly fire damage to it. Palaeophis cannot constrict eachother. (Additional Notes for the Constrict Ability) - Constricted creatures cannot move, attack or use any other abilities. - Riders of constricted creatures cannot dismount. - Dismounting your Palaephis while constriction is at any multiplier will not stop it's constriction, and it will continue to deal whatever damage over time at the current multiplier achieved until it's stamina runs out. - A constricted creature can be netted by any player, which causes constrction to end. The Palaeophis is unaffected by that net. - A constricted creature can't be picked or grabbed by another creature. - The largest creatures that can be constricted are Rexes, Paracers, Wyverns, Diplo, Quetzals and Mosas. Despite using the term "Larger Creatures" this also counts for any medium creatures big enough that they could realistically be constricted by the Palaeophis. - Creatures whose HP are reduced to zero by this ability are automatically consumed, along with their entire inventory. - TORPEDOS: Pressing RB activates Torpedo Firing Mode and brings up the crosshairs. Pressing RT fire the torpedos. (Additional Notes for Torpedo Ability) - The Torpedo Firing Mode is similar to that of the Rock Drake equipped with a TEK Saddle, where pressing RB enables the TEK guns, but prevents you from entering First Person. - Torpedos can be fired whilst the Palaeophis is on land, but they only launch through the air and fall to the ground. They are not propelled forward in a straight line like they are in the water. - Fire 2 Torpedos. Can only be reloaded after both Torpedos have been fired. It'd be best to stockpile ammo in the Palaeophis' inventory. - When entering Torpedo Firing Mode while in the water, the Palaeophis doesn't have a stance, and crosshairs appear. - When entering Torpedo Firing Mode while on land, the Palaeophis starts begins periscoping to give the Torpedos clearance from the ground. - Torpedos explode on impact. Or explode at the end of their travel distance. - When fired from land into water, Torpedos will travel across the surface of the water. See the diagram I made below which displays which ways Torpedos can and cannot be fired: - Green 'X' = Firing Position - Red Arrow Pointing at Red 'X' = Cannot be fired in that direction whilst in the current firing position. - Red Dash Line Arrow = Trajectory of Torpedo that can be fired in corresponding direction from current firing position. ---COMBAT--- The Palaeophis can fight on land, but it truly excels in the water. It's speed and agility in the water allows it to make quick turns and change it's direction fast. It can hold it's own in one on one combat. so long as you have the HP and Stamina to do so. The Constrict ability is it's primary method of attack and it is supposed to be scary, formidable and make players think twice before fighting against it. Victory is almost assured if you managed to lunge at your opponent and constrict them, unless your opponent brings friends, things might be a bit different then. Very useful in water-based combat. It's torpedos can make quick work of rafts and motorboats, and, they can be useful for raiding underwater bases. Torpedos move very fast underwater and auto and heavy turrets will struggle to shoot them in time and will take damage from the blast radius. Torpedos can also be devastating to enemy player's tames if they are subject to repeated fire. The Palaeophis is still a dangerous foe to fight on land, despite being slower. It can still lunge at you and attempt to constrict you. They must always be approached with extreme caution. ---PALAEOPHIS SADDLE--- The saddle is similar to the Tropeognathus Saddle, but more improved. The saddle has a damage % value that increases with blueprint rarity, and it also has an armour % value that increases with blueprint rarity. However, these blueprints are exceptionally rare and very hard to find. Upon equipping the saddle and accessing the Palaeophis' inventory you will be able to craft the Torpedo Ammo. This is similar to the catapult turret and crafting boulders. The player sits on the neck region of the Palaeophis, and on either side of the player are the torpedo launcher tubes that have stabiliser fins for added hydrodynamics. ---UTILITY--- - The Palaeophis is better than using a Mosasaur or Plesiosaur platform saddle with mounted turret placements because you can cryo it after using it without worrying about turret placement being demolished. This makes them ideal for underwater or water based raiding. - It's speed, agility on top of it's combat ability make it ideal for scouting and defending yourself if you run into trouble. - It's fangs when coated with Bio Toxin can be used to help with knocking out and taming creatures. - Can be used to immobilise creatures and aid with knocking out and taming creatures. - And potentially many more. Thankyou so much for taking the time to read this. Sorry it was an essay. I really hope you like what you see and the Palaeophis wins your hearts and your votes. Just want to give my friend Neesh a shoutout for drawing the Palaeophis and Saddle concept art for me using the instructions i provided. I really hope we see the Palaeophis enter the game! Only time will tell. (Edit: for some reason the Torpedo Firing Mode Diagram is too big to upload. I will try to fix this asap)