In Ark: Survival Evolved, you can live out the dream of not only taming dinosaurs but also riding them around several massive maps. You have ground-based dinosaurs like the iconic T.rex, sea-dwelling prehistoric animals like the frequent movie subject, the Megalodon, and several flying prehistoric creatures.
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The earliest flier you'll get access to is to the recognizable Pteranodon, and while they aren't the strongest, they're certainly speedy. With them, you can fly through the skies across vast distances quickly, and get to higher areas more easily. However, the Pteranodon isn't as easy to tame as it looks.
How To Find A Pteranodon
No matter what map you're playing on (except for Aberration and Scorched Earth), the Pteranodon is going to be somewhat common, as it can be found on a total of ten maps.
Map | Most Common Spawn Locations |
|---|---|
The Island | Along the beaches of the southern and eastern sections of the map, and the center Redwood Forest island. |
The Center | The massive Redwood Forest to on the far south continent and the Jungles are on the eastern set of islands. |
Ragnarok | Everywhere except for the desert in the southeast portion of the map. |
Valguero | Everywhere within the Redwood Forest forests in the southwest and northeast, and the Chalk Hills in the middle. |
Extinction | Everywhere except for the Tundra biome Ark and the Desert biome Ark. |
Genesis: Part 1 | Only within the Swamp biome zone. |
Genesis: Part 2 | Everywhere except for the ravine area on the left half of the map. |
Crystal Isles | Everywhere except for the desert biomes on the southern and northern middle of the map, and the marshlands on the southeastern island. |
Lost Island | Everywhere except for the tundra biome running near the upper middle of the map and the volcanic area in the top right of the map. |
Fjordur | In the forests and beaches on the eastern half of the largest continent, and the beaches on the southwestern continent on the Midgard plane. |
How To Tame A Pteranodon
The Pteranodon is, simultaneously, one of the easiest but also most tricky dinosaurs to tame. Unlike most other dinosaurs, the Pteradonon will not fight back, but it will fly off at a high speed if it's injured.
Use a Bola to knock it out of the air once it lands or if it lifts off into the air, and if your aim is good, it's possible to hit one with a Bola from a long distance. Regardless of the method, once it's down it's time for you to tranquilize it
Due to their low Torpidity, sometimes you can simply shoot a Pteranodon with a Tranquilizer Arrow or Dart and knock it out before it can fly away, but you run the risk of it landing in danger.
This is where things get tricky, as the Pteranodon has one of the lowest HP values of all dinosaurs, and even a level 150 Pteranodon can easily be killed with a single headshot from a high-damage Crossbow or Bow.
Your best bet to safely tame one without killing it is touse a Longneck Rifle or make sure you do not aim for the head when using a Bow or Crossbow. You'll generate less Torpor than if you hit headshots, but the Pteranodon's low Torpidity will offset the Torpor loss per shot.
A Pteranodon can survive a headshot from a high-damage Crossbow if you've edited the growth of stats of Wild dinosaurs in your world's settings and given them a much higher HP base and growths.
Another issue when taming Pteranodons is that many other dinosaurs will attack them, such as Dilophosaurs, Raptors, and other carnivores, who will quickly kill them before they can fly off, especially lower-level ones. It's best to not only stay beside the Pteranodon you're taming, but also use any accompanying dinosaurs to clear out the surrounding area.
For an extra layer of security from both wild dinosaurs and players, you can surround an unconscious Pteranodon with a few layers of Wooden Spikes. You can also box it in with a combination of Thatch Foundations and Thatch Walls, and Wood or Stone building materials also work if you have excess materials.
Make sure your Dinosaurs are set not to attack unconscious targets, or they could kill your unconscious Pteranodon. This can be configured by enabling "Only Target Conscious" in a dinosaur's radial Behavior settings menu.
Once you've got one knocked out, it's time to get it tamed. Pteranodons want meat, and the best and quickest option is Raw Prime Meat, which can be obtained from a variety of dinosaurs such as Diplodocus, Paracer, Stegosaurus, and Sarco.
The Stegosaurus is the easiest of these to locateas they can be found in most areas of the game without going into more dangerous areas, and you can also get Raw Prime Meat from Dodos and Lystrosaurusif you have a tamed Ichthyornis hunt them.
If you can't find any Prime Meat-giving dinosaurs around, head into the ocean and see if you can get a Megalodon to attack you. They provide Raw Prime Fish Meat, and while it's not the best it does provide more taming than regular Meat.
If all else fails, just give the Pteranodon regular Meat and Fish, take more care to watch over it to make sure it stays unconscious by providing it Narco Berries or Narcotics, and you'll have a Pteranodon of your own soon.
NEXT: Ark: Survival Evolved - How To Find A Lost Dinosaur
