The Helicoprion is the only ocean tame in Ark where the food is not the first step. You cannot walk up and feed it, and you cannot knock it out. You have to lure it with loot, then ride it while it thrashes.
That one detail is where most attempts die. Players load up on treats, swim out, and nothing happens.
The step everyone gets wrong
The bait must be looted gear — something pulled from a supply drop, a cave crate or a boss. Crafted armor and crafted weapons do not count.
Bring a spare set you do not mind losing. Drop it near the shark and back off a few metres.
It enters a feeding frenzy that lasts roughly ten seconds. That window is your only chance to mount.
If you bring crafted gear to a Helicoprion, you will sit there feeding nothing. Check the item’s source before you swim out.
Base stats
| Stat | Base value | Per wild level |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 1,300 | +260 |
| Stamina | 500 | +50 |
| Food | 2,000 | +200 |
| Weight | 500 | +12.5 |
| Melee damage | 100% | +5% |
| Torpor | 800 | +48 |
| Oxygen | 0 | — |
Torpor of 800 with no knockout path means every tranq dart you fire is wasted. It has no oxygen stat at all, so it never drowns you while you are riding it.
The tame, step by step
- Clear the water first. Megalodons and Tusoteuthis will kill you mid-minigame. Bring a combat mount and thin them out.
- Drop the looted item. Aim it at the Helicoprion, not at the seabed.
- Mount during the frenzy. Swim in and hit the interact prompt while it is still eating.
- Follow the prompts. Movement and jump inputs appear on screen. Miss them and you get thrown off and aggroed.
- Feed after the sequences. Once you clear them, feed one Little Ratfish Treat.
- Repeat. Each cycle adds affinity — how much depends on the wild level, so run the numbers in a taming calculator rather than trusting a fixed figure.
At level 150 the calculator shows a 99.7% effectiveness finish and a jump to level 224.
How many treats
Sources disagree here, so plan for the larger number. The calculator shows five treats for a two-minute tame. Community guides report around ten in practice.
One community guide lists the craft as 10 Ammonite Bile, 4 Tusoteuthis Tentacle and 6 Giant Bee Honey in an Industrial Cooker. Bring spare materials rather than one exact batch.
Where to find one
The Helicoprion is rare, spawning on six maps — The Island, The Center, Ragnarok, Valguero, Genesis: Part 1 and Astraeos — in deep ocean and cave water. Ragnarok’s western sea is a confirmed spot, and they move in groups of about three.
Use the spawn command guide if you would rather not search. It is also not aggressive on its own — it fights back when provoked.
What it does after taming
| Ability | Key | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Bite | LMB | 50 base damage, 275 vs Thatch |
| Tail Whip | RMB | torpor plus a stun |
| Convert Item to Blueprint | Menu | Turns looted gear into a blueprint |
| Smithy Crafting | Menu | Crafts from its inventory |
| Surface Swimming | C | Speed buff near the surface |
| Breach | Space | Launches clear of the water |
The tail whip is the reason to own one. Each hit adds torpor and knocks out wild ocean creatures for you, which turns a Helicoprion into a taming tool rather than a fighter.
It also carries a 50% weight reduction on many resource types, including Metal, Crystal, Obsidian, Silica Pearls and Black Pearls. Add that to 500 base weight and it hauls like a small Ankylo.
It can pick up small mounts such as an Ankylo or Castoroides with its claws. A Quetzal or Karkinos can also airlift the Helicoprion itself, which is how you move a new tame home.
Mistakes that waste the attempt
Feeding before mounting. The treat only registers inside the minigame. Eating first does nothing.
Bringing crafted bait. Already covered, but it is the single most common failure.
Taming alone in open water. The frenzy locks you in place. One Megalodon ends the run.
Ignoring the saddle. The Helicoprion Saddle is a separate engram, so check it before you commit to the tame.
For the squid that supplies one of its treat ingredients, see how to tame a Tusoteuthis. The taming guide covers the passive-versus-knockout split in general. You can also compare it against the Xiphactinus, the other new ocean predator.