Tame by job, not by size
Creatures in ARK are specialised, and the specialisation is extreme. The Ankylosaurus swings for 50 damage at ore nodes; the Rex bites for 62 at anything that moves. Tame for the job and the creature pays for itself in an afternoon of work.
Best harvesting tames
Every resource has a creature that gathers it in bulk. These are base stats from the wiki creature data:
| Creature | Health | Damage | Weight | Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ankylosaurus | 700 | 50 | 250 | Metal ore |
| Doedicurus | 850 | 32 | 250 | Stone |
| Mammoth | 1020 | 48 | 500 | Wood |
| Therizinosaurus | 870 | 52 | 365 | Fiber and berries |
| Megatherium | 740 | 32 | 725 | Chitin, with a bug-killing buff |
| Castoroides | 450 | 28 | 300 | Wood, and it swims |
| Gacha | 750 | 32 | 550 | Produces resources as crystals |
Metal. The Ankylosaurus is the answer and nothing else is close. A few swings break an ore node, and 250 base weight means a full harvest rides home in one trip. It is docile, so the tame itself is calm.
Stone. The Doedicurus rolls into stone nodes and comes out with far more than a pick ever gets. Its 850 health makes it the sturdiest of the early harvesters.
Wood. The Mammoth hits for 48 with the most health on this list, and its 500 weight carries a real stack. Cold regions are where it shines, which is also where the best wood is.
Fiber and berries. The Therizinosaurus is the broad gatherer: fiber, berries, and the rare flowers and mushrooms that other gatherers miss. Its 52 damage also makes it a competent fighter if something interrupts the harvest.
Chitin. The Megatherium farms bugs in caves, and killing bugs gives it a damage buff that stacks through a run. The 725 weight is the largest here, which is what makes cave trips profitable.
Best hauling tames
Weight is the early bottleneck, and these are the creatures that remove it:
| Creature | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brontosaurus | 1600 | The largest base weight of any tameable, rideable hauler most tribes will own; slow, and worth the wait |
| Quetzal | 800 | Platform saddle turns it into a flying base |
| Woolly Rhino | 750 | Tanky cold-region hauler with a charge |
| Argentavis | 400 | Flies, fights a little, and carries an Ankylo |
The Brontosaurus moves more than any other creature, but it is slow and stubborn to tame. Get it when you are building a real base, not before.
The Argentavis is the hauler that changes the early game, because it flies. Four hundred base weight in the air means metal runs stop being walks.
Best travel tames
| Creature | Health | Damage | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pteranodon | 210 | 18 | 120 | The first flyer; cheap and fast |
| Argentavis | 365 | 25 | 400 | The first flyer worth loading up |
| Tapejara | 325 | 18 | 280 | Two seats, and the passenger can shoot |
| Quetzal | 1200 | 22 | 800 | Slow, heavy, and the platform king |
| Griffin | 950 | 27 | 280 | Carries a passenger and dives |
The Pteranodon is the tame that changes the map. It is fast, it is cheap, and it dies to almost anything, so treat it as a scout rather than a tank.
The Tapejara is the flyer for groups: a second seat means a gunner, and a gunner on a flyer solves ground problems without landing.
Best combat tames
| Creature | Health | Damage | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rex | 1100 | 62 | 500 | The all-round damage dealer |
| Yutyrannus | 1100 | 55 | 500 | Buffs nearby allies instead of only fighting |
| Thylacoleo | 700 | 40 | 400 | Climbs trees and hits hard after a climb |
| Allosaurus | 630 | 35 | 380 | Pack tame that buffs other carnivores |
| Wyvern | 1295 | 80 | 400 | Flying breath attacker, map-dependent |
| Rock Drake | 1950 | 60 | 400 | Cave and cliff specialist |
| Shadowmane | 825 | 35 | 425 | Fast, invisible, and lethal at night |
The Rex is the benchmark: 1100 health and 62 damage, tamed into a trap with Exceptional Kibble. It clears caves, guards bases, and fights bosses.
The Yutyrannus is the force multiplier. Its roar buffs the whole pack, which is why a group of Rexes led by a Yuty outperforms the same Rexes alone.
The Thylacoleo is the mount for climbing problems — it scales cliffs and trees, and it gets a damage boost right after a climb.
Best utility tames
Some creatures solve one problem perfectly:
- Basilosaurus (2400 health, 47 damage) — barely scratched by Electrophorus and Cnidaria, and passive enough that it ignores you while taming.
- Baryonyx (440 health, 35 damage) — fast in water and on land, which makes it the swamp hunter.
- Managarmr (825 health, 35 damage) — an ice breath that slows what it hits.
- Velonasaur (440 health, 32 damage) — sets up and fires spines like a turret.
- Snow Owl (325 health, 25 damage) — heals allies and freezes what it dives on.
- Maewing (700 health, 20 damage) — the nursery tame; baby-raising gets far easier with one around.
- Ferox (55 health in its small form) — shrinks to fit caves and grows into a fighter.
- Deinonychus (200 health, 30 damage) — fast, pack-hunting, and its attacks bleed.
- Roll Rat (850 health, 42 damage) — rolls into a ball for fast travel and carries 400 weight.
- Sinomacrops (110 health, 10 damage) — a glider that can grab small creatures and carry them away.
Order your tames
Start with travel and hauling, because those pay back fastest. A Parasaur (480 weight) solves your first storage problem. A Pteranodon solves your first travel problem. Then tame the harvester for whatever you always run short of — Ankylosaurus on most maps, Mammoth where the wood is thick.
After that the order is Argentavis for flying weight, then the combat pair for caves: a Thylacoleo for climbing routes and a Rex for everything that fights back.
Replace, do not keep
A starting tame is a stepping stone, not a pet. Once the specialist is tamed, retire the old one to guard duty or a storage pen. Keeping a full stable of early tames is a food bill you do not need.