Every Ark player who has seen a wyvern on screen has asked the same question: can I have one?
You cannot tame an adult wyvern. Knockout does not work on them at all. The only path to a wyvern is to steal a fertilized egg from a nest and raise it yourself, which means the moment you decide you want one, you are signing up for a heist.
This page covers the heist. Raising the baby is a separate problem with its own rules, and it is covered in the wyvern taming guide.
What you are stealing
Wild wyverns lay eggs at predetermined nest locations. When a wild wyvern is ready to spawn an egg, it looks for the nearest possible spot within a kilometre. Those nest spots are fixed, so once you learn where they are on your map, you can plan runs around them.
The eggs come in four main varieties: Fire, Lightning, Poison and Ice. The variety you steal decides what you hatch, so pick the trench that holds the wyvern you want.
One rule matters more than any other: the moment you take an egg from a nest, the wyverns give chase. Not the one guarding it — the flock. Plan your exit before you touch anything.
Method 1: the Pteranodon dive (solo)
This is the standard solo approach, and it trades cargo capacity for speed.
The build. Strip everything at base except water, food and Medical Brews. No armor, no shoulder pet, no tools. You want the lightest possible Pteranodon, and you want it fast — put levels into Movement Speed. The Pteranodon is expendable by design; treat it as a single-use vehicle.
The run. Fly into the trench and look for nests. Do not linger in any one spot, because patrolling adults aggro when you get close even without touching an egg. Spot a lone, high-level egg, land, grab it, and leave immediately. Stimulant in its inventory buys stamina back in a pinch, so bring a stack.
The limit. A Pteranodon carries very little. This method is good for one or two high-level eggs per trip, not for emptying a trench. If you want volume, use the next method.
Method 2: the two-player grab (multiplayer)
With a second player, the trench becomes much safer and much more productive.
One player takes a fast mount and runs interference, deliberately grabbing the attention of every wyvern in the area and leading them away. The second player flies in behind them on an airborne beast of burden — an Argentavis is the classic choice — and sweeps the crevasse, collecting eggs while the flock is occupied.
The division of labour is the whole trick. The wyverns chase the first player, and the second player works the nests behind them.
Method 3: force
If neither of those appeals, you can fight. Bring a strong mount with high health and high melee damage — an Argentavis, or a wyvern raised on an earlier run — kill the adults, and take the eggs by force.
This is the most straightforward method and the most expensive one. Wyvern breath attacks hit hard, and a flock does not fight fair. Use it when you already have the gear to survive.
Where each variant nests
| Variant | Where it nests | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Wyvern | Scorched Earth | The classic trench run; breathes fire |
| Lightning Wyvern | Scorched Earth | Breathes a concentrated lightning beam |
| Poison Wyvern | Scorched Earth | Breathes balls of poison |
| Ice Wyvern | Ragnarok, Valguero, Lost Island, Fjordur | The frozen trenches |
Scorched Earth holds three of the four main variants, which is why most egg runs happen there. The Ragnarok trench is the place for Ice Wyverns, and Extinction holds the Corrupted variant.
The level trap
Here is the detail that catches every first-time egg thief: a wyvern hatches at the same level as the parent who laid the egg, and unlike other tames it gets no post-tame level boost. The egg you steal is the level you get.
Two consequences follow. First, the ceiling on what a stolen egg can be is your server’s difficulty cap, which on official PvE commonly runs 150 or 190. Second, and more importantly, low-level eggs can produce babies with stats under 100% of base. Wyverns use a negative additive multiplier similar to the Giganotosaurus, so a sloppy egg grab can cost you stats you can never get back.
Read the egg’s level before you commit to a run. A level 150 egg is worth a death; a level 5 egg is not.
Getting the egg home
Once the egg is in your inventory, you have two jobs: keep it from disappearing, and keep it at the right temperature.
Wyvern eggs require far more heat than standard eggs — a range of 80 to 90 °C (176 to 194 °F). If you are carrying it home rather than incubating on the spot, keep it in your inventory. The temperature behaves differently there than on a dropped egg. Get it to your base before you start building the incubator.
Airtime is where eggs die. Do not stop to loot, do not detour, and do not fight something on the way home. Fly the shortest line back to your base.