The Gigantoraptor is the strangest tame in Ark, and the most charming.
You do not knock it out. You do not feed it. You find a nest with a live baby, distract the enormous parent by throwing eggs on the ground, and then play a copycat mini-game with the baby while the adult is busy.
Why you want it
The nanny. The Gigantoraptor is the ultimate “nanny” creature — a territorial but gentle giant whose wild adults are fiercely protective of nests and babies.
The look. A towering, colorful, feathered theropod that resembles a giant cassowary or exotic peacock: long slender neck, vibrant plumage, a tragopan-like throat flap, large sharp claws and a distinct parrot-like beak.
The role. It acts as a territorial defender, and a tamed one brings that protective behaviour to your base.
The numbers
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Group | Dinosaurs |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Temperament | Territorial |
| Tameable | Babies only — adults cannot be tamed |
| Equipment | Gigantoraptor Saddle |
The taming loop
The whole method has three moving parts: a live baby, a distracted adult, and a mini-game.
Step 1: find a nest with both
You need a Gigantoraptor nest in the wild with both an adult and a baby Gigantoraptor alive. The adult must be alive and distracted while you work, because babies will not approach you while the parent is nearby and alert.
Wear Ghillie Armor to reduce your detection chance while you set this up.
Step 2: distract the adult with eggs
The parent can be lured away by throwing down fertilized eggs. It will try to hatch the egg by cracking it open, and that keeps it occupied.
Larger eggs distract it for longer than smaller ones. Use the biggest fertilized eggs you can carry.
Critical warning: if the egg hatches, the adult will aggro on the babies and kill them. You are feeding it eggs to keep it busy, not to help it reproduce.
The cycle: once the adult has destroyed the egg, it returns to the nest no matter what other eggs are lying around. At that point, leave the nest, run a distance away, and throw down another egg. Return to the nest once the adult is occupied trying to hatch the new one.
Do not use traps to hold the parent. The parent must be awake and able to return to the nest, or the babies will not feel comfortable approaching you. Traps are not a viable way to occupy a parent.
Step 3: the mini-game
With the adult distracted, walk up to the nest and use the option to Hide in Gigantoraptor Nest (default key E).
While you are hiding, the baby randomly runs up to you, does a jump-flap animation, and performs a random action that you must mimic within roughly two seconds:
| Baby’s action | Your key |
|---|---|
| Spin | A |
| Bow | S |
| Flap | D |
A circular timer above the baby’s head shows the window. Perform the same action within the timeframe and the taming percentage advances. Fail to match in time and the attempt is wasted.
Keep repeating the cycle — throw an egg, hide, match the action — until the taming bar fills and the baby is yours.
Practical advice
Bring a stack of fertilized eggs. Each distraction cycle consumes one egg, and larger is better. Running out mid-tame means walking back to your base.
Watch the baby, not the adult. The timer is short. Once the baby starts its animation, your eyes should be on the prompt, not on the parent.
Give the parent time to wander. After it destroys an egg it walks back to the nest. If you rush, it may catch you near the babies before it is properly distracted by the next egg.
The Aberrant version works the same way. The Aberrant Gigantoraptor on Aberration is identical except for its glowing robe, and it is tameable through the usual Gigantoraptor method.