Picking the right dinosaur is not only important when it comes to harvesting materials, it’s also important to pick the right one for PvP combat as well. There are a lot of different combat scenarios you’ll be faced with in Ark, and each is best approached with a certain dinosaur or combination of dinosaurs.

In this guide we’ll present some of the more common scenarios you’ll confront on the island and the dinosaurs that can help you come out victorious. If you have any suggestions or past experiences you would like to share, let us know in the comments below!

Early Level Guerilla Warfare

In the early levels you won’t have a lot of options when it comes to weapons or dinosaurs, so you’re going to have to use guerilla tactics in order to come out on top. The perfect dinosaurs when trying to pull off hit and run attacks at lower levels is without a doubt the good old raptor.

Not only is he one of the fastest land creatures you can tame on the island, his saddle is relatively cheap to make and you get access to it early on. Just be sure and put lots of points into melee attack to minimize the amount of time you have to stay in combat.

If the tide starts to turn against you, the raptors quick speed can help you escape to safety where you can heal up quickly with some force fed meat and head back into the fight.

Dealing with Rex’s and Other Large Animals

When confronted with the biggest dinos in the game there are two routes you can take to counter. You can go big as well, throwing your heavy hitters against their heavy hitters in a battle that would rival a Godzilla movie, or you can try to eliminate the relatively weak humans controlling the beasts.

The last place you want to be when facing a Rex without one of your own is on the ground, so find your nearest air borne animal and tame it up. Argentavis and Pterodons are your only real choices as they both have the ability to grab dino riders right out of their saddles and carry them away.

When that army of Rex riders gets in close, all you have to do is swoop in from above, get close enough to right click grab with your talons, carry the rider high into the air and drop them to their death by right clicking again. Don’t carry the rider too long though as they are able to attack you with any weapons they have on hand even while being carried by your bird.

Packs of Smaller Dinosaurs

Sometimes it’s not the size but the numbers that count. Large amounts of even the weakest dinosaurs like the Dilo can present a challenge for larger beasts. To counter this swarm threat, one of the best ways to go is with a dinosaur/ creature with a large attack area. The Trike is a great example of a dinosaur that has a large frontal attack cone. What this means is that when it uses its basic attack, it hits a large area in front of it, perfect for dealing with packs of weak dinosaurs.

One draw back of using a Trike or Mammoth is that they can be flanked and have a slow turn rate. Be sure you come at your enemy head on and deal with them quickly to avoid get out maneuvered.

Survivors Armed with Rifles

To take on players armed with rifles you can approach it in many different ways. One way is to come at them with big dinosaurs like the T-Rex who can absorbed a lot of bullets and hopefully block any from hitting you. The second is to use a fast creature like a raptor or a sabre tooth. While they can’t take near as many hits as the big guys, they are a lot harder to hit at full speed. You should also make sure that their melee damage is high enough that you’re not in a face to face fight with a rifle longer than you need to be.