Ark Survival Ascended: Best Raid Dinosaurs

Summary

• Quetzal with platform saddle is essential for raiding bird bases due to its unique ability to carry heavy dinosaurs efficiently.
• Reaper acts as a support dino, slowing down enemies and offering protection, critical for maintaining a strong FOB during raids.
• Karkinos is a versatile support tame for raids, especially useful for throwing turret-soaking dinosaurs into enemy bases, creating chaos.

Ark Survival Ascended is developed by Studio Wildcard and is the remaster/re-imagining of the successful dinosaur survival game Ark Survival Evolved. The game sees 70 players on a server compete against each other to form tribes, survive the wilderness, craft items, build bases, and tame powerful dinosaurs. The overall goal is to become an “Alpha Tribe,” a server ruler and/or “Mega Tribe,” one who rules multiple servers.

To become an Alpha Tribe in Ark, it goes without saying that players need powerful dinos for raiding. The best tames for raiding depend on where the fighting takes place. One cannot fly a Wyvern inside a cave. So, with that in mind, this list will rank the best tames on their utility and necessity in raids, as per the current meta.

Dinosaurs not included on this list, which should be considered for raiding purposes: Tapejara with a Tek Saddle, Griffin, and Arthropleura.

10

Quetzal

Platform Saddle

An avian predator, the Quetzal finds niche, but practical uses in PvP. Not all bases are in caves or on the ground, some are on cliff edges, cliff platforms, or tree platforms. To tackle these bases, a good approach is a Quetzal with a platform saddle.

A Quetzal can lift a Karkinos, which throws Stegosaurs and Carbonemys directly into enemy bases, draining the turrets. A Quetzal can lift players riding Stegosaurs and hover above their base to drain “player-only” and “dinosaur-only” turrets. The best kibble to tame these avian behemoths is Exceptional Kibble.

Players will be shot off their Quetzal if they do not cover themselves with a 1×1 base on the platform saddle.

9

Reaper

Support Dinosaur

The Reaper is the towering apex predator of Aberration, capable of slowing down dinosaurs and grounding those that can fly with its “Acidic Shrapnel.” It can also burrow underground for protection, if required. When targeted by multiple flying dinos, the Reaper can make a quick escape with its powerful leap. Combining to create an excellent deterrent for enemies attempting to push the FOB (Forward Operating Base).

To obtain a reaper, trap a Reaper Queen with dinosaur gates, place a charge lantern to weaken it, and shoot the Queen with a shotgun or sniper until it reaches 10-5% HP. Once completed, turn off the light and wait to be impregnated. Afterward, the player’s health decreases rapidly, and they will need to heal using medical brews. Players should build a small base and wait for the baby Reaper to burst from their chest like a Xenomorph from Alien. Using a Pheromone Gland (obtained from killing a Reaper Queen), imprint the baby Reaper immediately, and raise it as normal.

8

Karkinos

Dino Laucher

The Karkinos is a scary, giant crustacean, similar to the modern Spider Crab, but much bigger. This tame is a unique support tame that is utilized in raids for its throwing ability. The Karkinos are used for “Stegosaurus and Carbonemy bombing.” This tactic involves a tribe throwing their own “turret-soaking tames,” which they do not care to lose, into an enemy’s base to aid in draining their turrets. Possibly draining all, but the “player only” turrets.

The Karnikos is a good farming tame as it can harvest venom, carry dinos, and toss them whenever they are over-burdened, like an Ankylosaurus. This is useful in Aberration servers, because there are no flying mounts to lift farming tames back to the base. The best way to tame these Arachnophobia-inducing crabs is by using Exceptional Kibble.

The crab can lift certain enemy dinos and players over into turrets. Additionally, for fun, players can throw Troodons into an enemy’s base on aggressive, to instill chaos.

7

Giganotosaurus

The Iconic Melee Dino

The Giganotosaurus (Giga) is an iconic apex predator. In Ark Survival Evolved, alphas were decided by their Giga bloodlines, and even now, these dinos instill fear during raids. The Giga possesses more health and melee at base than their newest competitor, the Carcharodontosaurus. They lose out in most instances due to their slow movement and their ability to enrage and kill their rider and allied tames.

However, you can offset this issue somewhat with a good saddle. In addition to their excellent combat skills, they are arguably the best dinosaurs for collecting meat, which helps to keep your Daeodon and Snow Owl stocked, so they can pump out healing. Gigas must be respected in any raid. To tame these monstrous dinosaurs, use Exceptional Kibble.

6

Yutyrannus

Buffing & Debuffing Dino

A feathered, ferocious predator. The Yutyrannus (Yuti) is an underrated must-have in a raid. It functions as a support dinosaur that can apply strengthening buffs to your stronger dinos, while applying negative debuffs to enemies that will send them into disarray. The buff and debuff do the following:

• Troop Support: This buff applies a 25% damage boost and a 20% damage reduction to all incoming attacks on your dinos, lasting for 25 seconds.
• Intimidation: A roar that can terrify enemy creatures with or without a rider. This debuff makes enemies take more damage and reduces their overall damage output by up to 50% and 30%, respectively.

The Yuti can prevent the enemy-mounted Pteranodon from picking tribe members off their dinos through the utilization of its intimidating roar. This causes the enemy to have no control over their mounts’ flight path. The debuff and buff also give tribe members the edge in large-scale Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus fights. Further, players can use the Yuti buff to boost their soakers’ damage reduction, helping drain turrets more efficiently. The best food to tame this beast is Extraordinary Kibble.

5

Wyvern

Lightning

Straight out of European legends, the Wyverns are powerful and come in multiple forms: Fire, Poison, Ice, Blood, Tropical, Zombie, and Void. However, Lightning is the preferred PvP mount at the moment. Due to its high single-target damage and relatively easy aim. They can hover at mid-range, shoot at Carchas, Gigas, and their riders simultaneously without punishment.

They can pick up a Stegosaurus (not the rider of the Stegosaurus) and throw it away from the battlefield, or pick off riders from their dinos. They are great for protecting against enemies pushing your FOB. Wyverns can only be obtained through stealing eggs from the Wyvern nest, unless you have a pair to breed.

4

Daeodon

Raid Healer

An omnivore with a ferocious appetite, the “hell pig” typically roams in packs. The Daeodon is a staple in raids and a necessity in long PvP altercations due to its healing, able to heal 30 tames at once! It allows your tames to recuperate before or after a fight. It heals players for 10-300 HP per second and dinosaurs for 20-400 HP per second.

However, players will need to supply large amounts of food for their healing. That being said, the Daeodon is amazing for raids and doubles as a solid cactus sap collector on Scorched Earth. To tame this pig, players will need Superior Kibble. Players can use a Snow Owl instead, but they are situational and less effective healers.

3

Carcharodontosaurus

Pure Melee

Every formidable raid demands a powerful land predator. None fulfill that role quite like the Carcharodontosaurus (Carcha). The backbone of many raids, the Carcha has superseded the once-mighty Giganotosaurus due to its inability to be enraged, which ensures the riders’ safety in the heat of battle. Further, the Carcha has a plethora of buffs:

• Killing Frenzy: Upon felling a creature, the Carcha’s movement speed increases, and it becomes immune to stuns for 10 seconds.
• Bloodrage: Gained alongside Killing Frenzy, Bloodrage grants the Carcha a stacking buff: Landing killing blows increases the Carcha’s healing rate and melee damage by 1.75% per stack, up to an impressive 175%. This decays over time whenever the Carcha stops killing wild/enemy dinosaurs.
• Incited: Upon roaring, all the Carcha’s stacks of Bloodrage are consumed and provide a temporary movement speed buff to allies, but not itself, which lasts up to 55 seconds.

The Carcha’s buffs have some great passive benefits, able to out-damage and outmaneuver the Giganotosaurus, provided they have sufficient stacks, while providing some niche team utility. However, that and insane damage are not all it provides. It has an AOE tail whip to knock back enemies if it is ever under pressure, and it does not require force-feeding to heal, due to being a “hyper-carnivore.” Rather, it just requires raw meat to relieve its hunger and heal. To tame this beast, it is best to have dinos with high health in cryopods. Trap the Carcha inside a bunch of gates, kill a few creatures, and drag them over to it, until its trust is gained. Then throw the dinos with high health out of the cryopods, unclaim them, and mount the Charcha to kill them. Higher health dinos give better taming affinity.

During the taming process, players can ride a wild Carcha and attack players with much better wild attributes until it either tames, the player dies, or runs out of time.

2

Rex

Tech Saddle

The Tyrannosaurus Rex needs no introduction. It is a popular rideable carnivorous dinosaur, but possibly the most controversial placement on this list. Nevertheless, a Rex with a Tek saddle may not beat a Giganotosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus in a straight fight, but that is not what a raid is. A Rex with a Tek saddle will destroy structures and make enemies more cautious when pushing, as the Tek saddle deals splash damage to enemy riders, not just dinosaurs.

The Rex is another support dinosaur and is situated behind your soaking dinos, and its role is to destroy structures and kill players, not dinos. All players should aim to tame and breed a high-level Rex. The best food for this dino is Exceptional Kibble.

1

Stegosaurus

Soaking Turrets

The Stegosaurus (Stego) is a mountable four-legged armored herbivore. It is undoubtedly the best dinosaur for raiding, due to its necessity. Both raids on the surface and in caves require a Stego to drain the plethora of X-Plants, Tek, and heavy turrets. Without them, these defenses would shred other raiding dinos. The Stego comes with three modes:

• Heavy Plate: Reduces the enemy’s movement speed and can ground flying dinos on hit, and boosts thatch-gathering rate. (Do not switch to this stance near turrets, as they will be able to hit the player).
• Sharp Plate: Attacks penetrate armor and boost berry-gathering rates.
• Hardened Plate: Halves damage taken and boosts wood-gathering rates (The Best Stance).

These stances make it versatile, as both a farming and a raiding dinosaur. All modes also prevent the rider from being knocked or picked off, making it good for the Redwood Forest and PvP. Additionally, if needed, the Stego can impale enemies the size of a Carnotaurus with its secondary attack to cause damage and hold them down, so long as its drag weight is 550 pounds. Further, it can ground Wyverns in its “Heavy Plate” stance. This makes it the most versatile turret-draining dinosaur, and it is a must-tame. To tame a Stego, Regular Kibble is the most efficient way.