How to Tame and Ride Dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Ascended

Travel across the world with cool dinosaurs by your side.

ARK Survival Ascended how to tame and ride dinosaurs
Screenshot by Prima Games

In ARK, taming dinosaurs is a fun way to have companions alongside you to fight other creatures, gather resources, and provide comfort during brutal days out in the wild. Here’s how to tame and ride dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Ascended.

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How to Tame Dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Ascended

Taming dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Ascended requires feeding them foods they like and, in some cases, knocking them unconscious. While some dinosaurs will peacefully eat food without issues, others require knocking them out, placing food in their inventory, and bringing their tame progress to 100%.

The food you give a dinosaur will depend on its preferences. If you find a small herbivore, you can give it various berries you forage from bushes. Similarly, carnivores eat meat, requiring you to go out and hunt for some before returning and beginning the taming process.

In some cases, dinosaurs will not just eat the food you give them, requiring you to knock them out. In the early game, the best way to do this is by using a slingshot and rocks. Over time, other options, such as tranquilizer arrows and darts, will make the process easier.

How to Ride Dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Ascended

Riding a dinosaur in ARK: Survival Ascended requires taming and equipping it with a saddle. You can’t ride every dinosaur, but the ones that can be ridden have unique saddles you obtain through the Engrams menu. Initially, you’ll only have a few saddles available to unlock, with more appearing as you venture down the skill tree.

Once you unlock and craft your saddle, equip it onto your chosen dinosaur. After taming the dinosaur, you can ride it around the map to your heart’s content.

Do you want to tag-team island survival with a friend? Check out how to make a non-dedicated server in ARK: Survival Ascended, or click the tag below to explore our growing article collection.

About the Author

Madison Benson

Madison was a staff writer at Prima Games who has played video games for over twenty years and written about them for over two years. Her love for video games started with turn-based strategy games like Heroes of Might and Magic and has since extended to casual farming sims, MMORPGs, and action-adventure RPGs.