You’ve probably been there. You spent three hours babysitting a high-level Rex, feeding it Prime Meat, and dodging Dilophosaurs, only for a stray dragonfly to poke it once. Suddenly, your perfect tame bonus drops through the floor. It’s soul-crushing. Ark: Survival Evolved is a game that prides itself on being brutally opaque, and taming is the hill most players die on. Literally.
The truth is, the Ark Survival Evolved taming guide most people follow is basically just "hit it till it sleeps and shove meat in its butt." But if you want those massive level bonuses, you have to understand the math and the "hidden" mechanics that the game refuses to explain.
The Myth of the Starve Tame
Let’s clear this up first. You’ve probably heard that "starve taming" makes the process faster or more effective. It doesn’t.
Technically, a creature eats when its food bar drops by a specific amount. Whether you put the food in its inventory the second it hits the dirt or wait two hours for its hunger to tank, the total time spent waiting is identical.
So why do people do it? Risk management.
If you put 50 Kibble into a creature and a Raptor kills it halfway through, you lost that Kibble. If you wait until its food is low enough to eat everything at once and then dump the food in, you only risk your resources for the final few minutes. It’s a safety net, not a speed boost.
Taming Effectiveness: Why Your Level 150 Isn’t a 225
Taming effectiveness is a percentage that starts at 100% and begins to drop the moment the creature takes its first bite. The goal is to keep this as high as possible because it determines your "bonus levels."
A level 150 wild creature can gain a maximum of 74 bonus levels, coming out as a 224. If you see people with 225s, they’re usually playing on servers with slightly modified offsets, but 224 is the "perfect" gold standard.
Two things kill your effectiveness:
- Damage after the knockout. If a wild animal (or your own overzealous Tribemate) hits the creature while it’s unconscious, the effectiveness plummets. Honestly, just build a wooden spike wall around it.
- Wrong food. Every time a creature eats "inferior" food, that percentage drops.
The Hierarchy of Food
It isn't just "Meat vs. Berries." The gap between Raw Meat and Raw Prime Meat is huge, but the gap between Prime and Kibble is even bigger.
- Kibble: This is the only way to get near-perfect levels.
- Raw Prime Meat / Mutton: The best for carnivores if you're too broke for Kibble. Mutton (from Ovis) is actually slightly better than Prime for many tames.
- Vegetables (Savoroot, Rockarrot, etc.): Essential for high-level herbivores. Berries are for "I just need a pack mule" situations.
The Kibble System is Weirdly Specific
In the old days of Ark, you needed specific eggs for specific dinos (e.g., Dodo eggs for Pteranodons). It was a mess.
Now, it’s a tiered system: Basic, Simple, Regular, Superior, Exceptional, and Extraordinary.
Here is the secret: Higher-tier Kibble works for lower-tier tames. If you have a Yutyrannus egg farm, you can make Extraordinary Kibble and use it to tame a Dodo. It’s a waste of resources, sure, but it works perfectly. If you're struggling to keep track, just aim for Superior (Purple) or higher for anything you actually care about keeping alive.
Passive Taming: The Art of Not Getting Fisted
Not everything wants to be punched in the face. Creatures like the Ichthyosaurus, Basilosaurus, and the infamous Chalicotherium require "Passive Taming."
Basically, you put the food in your last hotbar slot, walk up to them, and press 'E' (or your interact button).
The problem? Most of these creatures are either skittish or aggressive. For a Shadowmane or an Equus, you’re looking at a mini-game of stealth or riding. For the Basilosaurus, you have to deal with the swarm of Mantas that surround it.
Expert Tip: Use Ghillie armor. It reduces your "aggro radius" significantly. Without it, taming something like a Moschops or a Gigantopithecus is a nightmare of them turning around and deciding they hate you for no reason.
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Torpor Buffering (The "Sleepy" Bar)
You’ve knocked it out. Now you have to keep it out.
Narcotics are the standard, but Bio Toxin (from Cnidaria/Jellyfish) is twice as potent. If you're taming a Giganotosaurus or a Dimetrodon, their torpor drains faster than a leaky bucket.
Don't just spam Narcotics. Each Narcotic adds 40 torpor over 16 seconds. If you spam 100 of them at once, the torpor will rise steadily for 1,600 seconds. While the bar is rising, it cannot fall. This gives you a massive window to go hunt for more Prime Meat or grab a drink in real life without worrying about the creature waking up.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
- Download Dododex. Seriously. No human can remember the specific timings and food counts for 150+ creatures. It will tell you exactly how many Narcotics you need so you don't over-prepare.
- Build a Taming Trap. Don't chase a Rex through the woods. Build four stone dinosaur gateways in a line with a bear trap in the middle. Lead it in, slap a gate behind it, and shoot it through the gaps. Safety first.
- Check the "Taming Effectiveness" mid-tame. If it’s already dropped below 80% because of a mistake, sometimes it’s better to let it wake up, heal it, and start over if you really need those stats for breeding.
- Prioritize an Ovis. If you find a sheep, tame it or keep it nearby. Mutton is the "poor man's kibble" and can save a high-level carnivore tame when you're in a pinch.
Taming isn't just a mechanic; it's the core loop of the game. Get it right, and you're the king of the island. Get it wrong, and you're just another guy with a level 20 Parasaur and a lot of regrets.