Ark: Survival Evolved is a popular survival game that features a vast array of creatures, including various bird species. One of the most well-known bird creatures in Ark is the Pteranodon. In this article, we will take a deep dive into what the Pteranodon is, its key attributes, how to tame it, and tips for using it effectively.
What is a Pteranodon?
A Pteranodon is a large, flying reptile that heavily resembles a Pterosaur. It is one of the smallest creatures that can be ridden by players in Ark. The Pteranodon is an aggressive carnivore that primarily feeds on fish and small mammals. It inhabits the beaches and inland regions of the Ark map.
Some key facts about the Pteranodon in Ark:
- Species: Pteranodon longiceps
- Diet: Carnivore (fish and small mammals)
- Temperament: Aggressive
- Rideable: Yes
- Breedable: Yes
- Tameable: Yes
Pteranodon Appearance and Physiology
The Pteranodon has a large wingspan with aerodynamic, elongated wings that enable it to swiftly fly through the skies of the Ark landscape. Its body is covered in a leathery hide that protects it from light combat damage. The Pteranodon has a long, toothy beak filled with sharp teeth for grabbing fish and ripping flesh.
These flying creatures come in a variety of bright colors, including red, blue, green, cyan, purple and black. Males and females look distinctly different. Males have vibrant, multi-colored face paint resembling war paint covering their beaks and eyes. Females have more subdued, duller facial coloring.
In terms of size, the Pteranodon is a small-to-medium sized mountable creature. An average Pteranodon has the following dimensions:
- Height: 1.8 meters tall
- Length: 4 meters long
- Wingspan: 8 meters wide
- Weight: 50 kilograms
The Pteranodon has high base stats for speed, stamina, and stamina recovery. This allows it to fly rapidly across long distances without tiring quickly. However, its health and damage stats are lower, making it vulnerable in combat.
Where to Find Pteranodon
Pteranodons spawn frequently on the beaches and inland regions across the Ark island map. They can often be found in groups of 2-3 flying together or roosting on the rocky cliffs near the shore. The best areas to find Pteranodons include:
- Southern Islets
- Western Coast
- Northern Coast
- Eastern Coast
Pteranodons will often spawn at levels between 10 to 80. Higher level spawns can be found but are less common. Lower level Pteranodons are easier to tame, while higher levels provide greater base stats if successfully tamed.
Taming a Pteranodon
There are two methods for taming a Pteranodon – knocking it unconscious and feeding it food, or hatching and raising it from a fertilized egg.
Knock-out Taming Method
To knock out a Pteranodon, you need to attack it from range or lead it into a taming trap. Useful ranged weapons include the bow, crossbow, slingshot or boomerang. Be careful not to kill it outright when firing ranged attacks. Once knocked out, feed it raw meat or prime meat to tame it.
Knock-out taming tips:
- Build a taming trap to immobilize the Pteranodon
- Bring extra bows/arrows in case it wakes up early
- Have plenty of raw prime meat to decrease taming time
- Stay crouched and hidden when shooting to avoid detection
- Use headshots for increased torpor gain and damage
- Team up with tribemates and have one player draw aggro
Egg Hatching Method
To obtain a Pteranodon egg, you need to find a female with a mating bar that is ready to mate. Feed the female Pteranodon raw meat, then enable mating with a male Pteranodon nearby.
After mating, the female will drop a fertilized egg that you need to quickly retrieve. Hatch the egg in a campfire, torch or air conditioner set to high heat. Make sure you have enough raw meat ready to feed the baby once it hatches.
Egg hatching tips:
- Breed high level Pteranodons for better base stats
- Maintain mating pairs to ensure consistent egg supply
- Hatch multiple eggs at once for imprinting efficiency
- Keep the egg temperature at optimal incubation temperature
- Claim baby Pteranodon immediately for imprinting
- Keep troughs stocked with raw meat for baby feeding
Pteranodon Saddle
To ride a Pteranodon, you need to equip it with a Pteranodon Saddle. Pteranodon Saddles can be crafted at level 38 by putting the required materials in a smithy or fabricator:
- 30 Fiber
- 45 Hide
- 75 Thatch
- 50 Metal Ingots
Equip the saddle on the Pteranodon like you would any other creature saddle. The lower level the initial Pteranodon is when tamed, the more points it will have available to distribute for upgrading speed, health, stamina, etc. Higher level Pteranodons are able to spawn with more base points.
Raising and Training a Pteranodon
Once tamed, you need to spend time raising and training your Pteranodon to improve its abilities. Here are some tips:
- Ride frequently to gain experience and level up
- Increase movement speed to fly faster
- Level up stamina for longer flights
- Add points into health for survivability
- Enable harvesting to farm meat on the go
- Carry extra food to heal during flights
- Do frequent touch-downs to recharge stamina
- Fly to avoid predators and enemy tribes
As you level up your Pteranodon, continue to upgrade its saddle. This will allow you to equip gear like parachutes, flare guns, GPS trackers and other useful airborne items.
Pteranodon Uses
There are many uses for having a highly trained Pteranodon:
- Scouting – The Pteranodon’s fast speed and high stamina allow you to quickly scout large areas by air.
- Travel – Get across long distances faster by flying instead of walking on ground.
- Raiding – Use Pteranodons to swiftly airlift items from enemy bases.
- Taming – Shoot tranq darts from the air to knock out creatures for taming.
- Harvesting – Kill ocean creatures and harvest meat and oil.
- Aerial Battle – Pick up players/creatures for drops or fight other flyers.
- Caving – Fly in and out of caves quickly to loot artifacts.
The Pteranodon’s ability to swiftly fly allows it to shine in utility roles that involve rapid transportation, scouting, and mobility.
Pteranodon Strengths
Here are the key strengths of the Pteranodon:
- Fast Flying Speed – The Pteranodon is one of the fastest flyers in Ark. It can swiftly traverse long distances.
- High Stamina – Excellent stamina recovery allows it to fly for extended periods without landing.
- Powerful Grab – Can pick up players, dinos, and cargo for transport or dropping.
- Maneuverability – Agile with tight turning radius to navigate terrain and structures.
- Small Size – Fits into caves and tight spaces that larger flyers cannot access.
- Cliff Platforms – Build cliff platforms for parking, storage and bed respawns.
Leveraging these strengths makes the Pteranodon a valuable tame for tribes who want to unlock rapid flight capabilities.
Pteranodon Weaknesses
While extremely useful, the Pteranodon also comes with these weaknesses:
- Low Health – Susceptible to being one-shot by high damage attacks.
- Low Damage – Relatively weak in direct combat versus other creatures.
- Stamina Drain – Continuous flapping drains stamina which requires frequent landing.
- Slow Underwater – Very slow swim speed makes it vulnerable in the water.
- No Carry Protection – Players and creatures held expose the rider’s underside.
- Prone to Bolas – Can be immobilized and dismounted using bolas.
Despite these weaknesses, strategic use of the Pteranodon and leveling up key stats makes these issues manageable.
Finding a High-Level Pteranodon
The spawn levels of wild Pteranodons can vary greatly. Here are some tips for finding a high-level Pteranodon:
- Tame a low-level Pteranodon first to help locate higher levels.
- Search inland mountains and cliffs away from beaches.
- Kill low levels to force respawns for potential high-levels to appear.
- Use spyglass to spot high-levels before they detect you.
- Check at dawn and dusk when new creature spawns occur.
- Have multiple tribesmen scout different areas to cover more ground.
- Drop wild creatures into taming pens using an Argentavis.
While rare, max-level 150 Pteranodons can spawn with enough patience and exploration. Finding high-levels over 120 can provide a major stat boost over average levels between 40 to 80.
Pteranodon Taming Traps
Knocking a Pteranodon unconscious can be challenging without a proper trap. Here are some common Pteranodon traps:
- Cage Trap – Build a cage out of doors and ceilings, then lead the Pteranodon inside and tranq it.
- Cliff Trap – Tranq a Pteranodon standing on a cliff, then net balls it to keep it from falling.
- Box Trap – Lead Pteranodon into a stone box and hit it through window openings.
- Sky Box – Lure Pteranodon into a stone cube in the air, then tranq through openings.
- Grappling Trap – Grappling hook onto Pteranodon, then tranq it while it’s immobilized.
Trapping a Pteranodon takes some coordination but makes the taming process far safer. Always clear the area of other aggressive creatures before attempting to trap a Pteranodon.
Breeding Pteranodons
Breeding is the process of mating a male and female Pteranodon to fertilize an egg and hatch a baby that inherits its parents’ stats. Some tips for breeding Pteranodons:
- Tame both high-level males and females to have breeding pairs.
- Provide mating pairs with Extraordinary Kibble to reduce breeding cooldown.
- Build a hatchery with air conditioners to incubate eggs.
- Enable mating and wait for females to drop fertilized eggs.
- Keep many campfires burning to quickly hatch eggs.
- Claim and imprint new babies to boost their stats.
- Stack mutations over generations for even better offspring.
Pteranodon breeding requires significant investment but allows you to create bloodlines of high-stat flyers. Remember to disable mating when finished to prevent wandering females from dropping and losing eggs.
Pteranodon Mutations
Mutations randomly occur during breeding when a baby inherits a stat better than its parents. Some tips for getting mutations:
- Breed high-stat male and females to improve mutation odds.
- Hatch eggs in large batches to increase chances.
- Keep breeding single mutations into clean females.
- Stack different mutations onto male breeders.
- Max out mutation counters on each side.
- Imprint every baby to 100% for stat bonuses.
- Neutral mutations have no effect and can be ignored.
Achieving multiple stacked mutations can result in insanely high-stat Pteranodons. This requires diligent monitoring of ancestry to isolate the best offspring. Use breeding calculators to identify mutations.
Conclusion
The Pteranodon is one of the most versatile flying creatures that survivors will encounter in Ark. Its speed, stamina and maneuverability allow it to adeptly traverse land, sea and sky. Mastering use of the Pteranodon unlocks an entirely new aerial dimension.
While it has some weaknesses, intelligent use and selective breeding allows tribes to breed squadrons of formidable war Pteranodons. Scout for high-levels, build optimal traps, and breed mutations to obtain top-tier flyers.
So take to the skies, survivors, and unleash the full potential of the majestic Pteranodon! Just be sure to watch out for those flying boulders…
