The Megaraptor has the most cinematic taming method in Ark, and it is almost entirely a timing test.
You find an altar, you hold a torch, and an invisible predator circles you in the dark. Every time it materializes to strike, you swing. Hit it before it connects and torpor climbs. Miss and you eat an attack. Repeat until it falls.
Why you want it
Aggression. The Megaraptor is extremely aggressive — it attacks everything and every player in sight, and rarely tolerates other large predators nearby. A tamed one is that same aggression pointed at your enemies.
The package. A large theropod with feathers across its body, curved ziphodont teeth, and large sickle-like claws on its hands. It roams grasslands, redwoods and jungles waiting in the shadows for its next victim.
The rarity of the method. Very few tames in Ark make the taming process itself this memorable, and it is a rite of passage for players on Ark: Survival Ascended.
The numbers
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Group | Dinosaurs |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Temperament | Extremely Aggressive |
| Preferred Kibble | Exceptional Kibble |
| Fallback Foods | Raw Mutton, Raw Prime Meat, Raw Meat |
| Equipment | Megaraptor Saddle |
Before you start
The method only needs a torch, but the preparation list is longer than that.
Bring a torch. That is the only required item, but primitive torches break down, so carry extras.
Bring armor and Medical Brews. The Megaraptor attacks between your swings, and those hits add up over a long ritual.
Optional but strong: a Spring Drakeling on your shoulder gives you a lot of sustain against the damage while your hands are busy with the torch.
Clear the area. Other creatures can disrupt the ritual, which is sometimes the only reason to leave the altar mid-process. A quiet spawn point makes everything easier.
The ritual
Step 1: find the altar
Locate a small spire called a Megaraptor Altar. These are commonly placed where Megaraptors spawn, so find the spawn and you have found the altar. The Megaraptor must also be in the general area to initiate the procedure.
Step 2: interact and go dark
Equip the torch and interact with the altar. This locks you to a small area around it and heavily obscures your vision. You are not going to see this fight clearly — that is the point.
Step 3: swing at the invisible
The Megaraptor enters camouflage and approaches you. After a brief moment it attacks, then returns to camouflage.
Swing the torch at it before it attacks you. A successful swing interrupts the attack and applies torpor, shown as a bar near the bottom of the screen, similar to other knockout tames.
The timing rule. The torch has a long cooldown between swings. Mashing does not work — each swing has to be timed to the moment the Megaraptor materializes.
Repeat the cycle — it cloaks, it approaches, it reveals itself to strike, you swing — until it goes unconscious.
Step 4: feed
Once it is down, feed Exceptional Kibble first. It accepts the general carnivore taming diet as fallback: raw mutton, raw prime meat and raw meat.
Things that will trip you up
Mashing the torch. The cooldown is long by design. Swinging wildly means your swing is on cooldown when the attack comes. Time it.
Wandering creatures. Anything that enters the altar area can break your lock and disrupt the ritual. You can leave the altar at any time using the interact button, but doing so triggers a cooldown before you can interact with it again — so leaving is a reset, not a pause.
Running out of torches. A primitive torch does not last a full ritual. Carry spares or upgrade before you start.
Where Megaraptors live
Megaraptors roam the grasslands, redwoods and jungles, waiting in the shadows to pick their next victim. If you are hunting one to tame, patrol those biomes looking for the altar spires near their spawn points.