Ark can get very confusing when it comes to taming creatures. Everyone generally knows how it works, but it can be difficult because every creature is tamed differently. If you don’t know how to tame a specific animal, make sure to look up what that animal needs and how much time it will take. One big problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to keep creatures unconscious.
There are 3 main ways to keep dinos unconscious and those are applying more blunt trauma, feeding it Narcotics/Narcoberries, and using tranquilizing weapons. Obviously, using Tranq weapons is the best option, but feeding them Narcotics is probably the safer route to take.
If you want to know more about each way, then keep reading the article. We go through each step, and we also give some information on how to tame creatures if you didn’t know already. Taming dinos can be very confusing, especially if you are in one of the DLC maps, so it helps to be prepared by having all the information you need.
How to keep dinos unconscious in Ark?
Once a creature has been knocked out, it begins the taming process. What you’ll need to do is gain its trust back and let it know that you’re its friend. You do this by feeding it and taking care of it until it wakes up again. Remember to keep an eye on its consciousness or it will wake up before it can fully trust you.
If they do escape being knocked out, you will need to either chase them down or find another creature to tame. If you try again right after, you might end up killing them because their health has already been lower from your attempt earlier. Just give it some time and you will finally understand how to tame pretty much anything.
Here are the 3 main ways you can keep dinos unconscious in Ark:
Applying more blunt trauma
This is dangerous as it requires hitting the downed creature and is the least effective method. It is also easy for smaller creatures to die after a few hits. This should be used in emergencies to keep a creature from waking up, but it has some negative side effects. A club is a better choice than your fists, but it is dangerous if it is lower on health.
Every time the downed creature takes damage or the longer it takes to tame, its level will start dropping. Basically, if you don’t do everything the intended, way, the dino will not be as good as when you first downed it. If you have to punch the dino for any reason, make sure you have a reason for it.
Feeding it Narcotics/Narcoberries
Upon consumption, Narcotics increase the Torpor of a survivor or creature by 40, which is a bit more than the amount of torpor given by the 5 Narcoberries required to make it. In addition, unlike the berries themselves, the narcotic doesn’t spoil. If you do need to use Narcoberries, just make sure you have Narcotics being made at the same time because it makes the taming process a lot quicker.
It does provide some health regeneration for a short time, but if you eat Narcoberries, then your Torpor will literally put you asleep for a small amount of time. This will leave you vulnerable, especially if you are running away from a large creature or enemy players.
Using Tranquilizing weapons
The Tranq Arrow is used for rendering creatures unconscious. Upon hit, they instantly increase the target’s Torpor by an amount equal to 200% of the weapon damage and give an additional amount of torpor equal to 250% of the weapon damage over the course of the next 4 seconds.
They can usually be recovered by walking up to the area of impact but will be recovered as Stone Arrows, the Narcotic being expended. These are the best way to render a creature unconscious because it takes the least amount of work and you don’t need to get super close to the dino you are trying to tame.
How to tame a creature in Ark?
The first thing you are going to want to do is to knock the creature you want to tame unconscious. You can do this by using clubs, slingshots, or Tranq Arrows. It is relatively easy depending on the creature you want, but it gets extremely difficult when you want to tame let’s say a T-Rex. Use these items to knock out the creature.
While unconscious, the dinosaur needs to be fed in order to tame it. Without food, nothing will happen. Once food has been placed in the creature’s inventory, it will eat automatically over time. It is not necessary to stay in the creature’s inventory while it is being tamed. The player is free to run about and do as they wish, but if the dinosaur runs out of food, the taming progress will be reset.
Also, if the Torpor stat gets too low the creature will wake up and must be knocked out again, which also resets taming progress. You need to do everything correctly, or else the creature will either escape, or the level will be drastically lower than before.
What should you feed a dino to speed up taming?
You need to feed the dino whatever they normally eat. Obviously, you are going to want to use Narcotics to keep them unconscious, but you will need to look up what food that specific dino eats. If it is a carnivore, look up which meats are the best fit for that dino. If it is a herbivore, look up which plants are the best fit for that dino.
Everything you put into the dino’s inventory should be useful, or else it will be taking up space. The dino might not like it either and the taming process might be slower because of it. There is a method called starvation taming where you lower their food levels very low, and then speed feed them, but it is risky. There is a chance for them to randomly get up or even die if their health is low enough.