PvP is daunting and dangerous for any player, especially those new to Ark: Survival Evolved. From learning which spots to build in, to where to farm resources, it can be brutal to lose to someone who just seems to have better dinosaurs than you do. This list will show you which 10 dinosaurs are the best out of the extensive roster of possible tames for land-based PvP and why.
1. Giganotosaurus
Wild Gigas are difficult and highly contested tames when they’re high level. That being said, a Giga is one of the main PVP dinosaurs, used in both the defense and offensive aspects of raiding in-game. Gigas are powerful when base tamed, but their true potential is in mutations accessed through breeding, and this is a time-consuming process due to their long maturation time.
2. Tek Stego
Tek dinosaurs have higher wild levels than their normal counterparts, which means that, once tamed, they have the potential to gain more levels on their stats. Tek Stegos come with large HP pools as well as the ability to protect their riders from turret fire. They also let riders shoot rockets off their backs. The spines on their backs reduce incoming damage, and the Tek Stego can also do sweeping attacks with its tail to do damage in an area when being attacked. This makes them ideal for turret soaking.
3. Carbonemys
Carbos are soaking dinosaurs for underwater and land-based raids. Their much smaller size allows them to be thrown from Cryo Pods into bases that are behind crouch spaces. Carbos also have shell armor, allowing them to take less damage from bullets.
4. Therizinosaur
Theris are melee beasts, with strong swiping attacks which damage both riders and dinosaurs, making them excellent offensive push dinosaurs as well as perfect for narrow cave base defenses as cave base locations are highly contested locations. Theris are also herbivores which means flamethrowers, and flame arrows are less effective against them compared to carnivorous dinosaurs.
5. Shadowmane
Shadowmanes are aquatic and land-based. With the ability to stealth, jump long distances, and stun both dinosaurs and players they can be incredibly invaluable when defending or attacking. They also have natural armor and require no saddles to be ridden.
6. Tek Rex
Tek Rexes come with a large amount of base HP and Melee once tamed. They are also able to reach a much higher potential, like all dinos once they’ve been mutated and bred out. Tek Rexes and normal Rexes can use Tek Saddles, giving them the ability to do ranged damage onto base defenses, but unless high tier Tek saddles are obtained they have less armor as compared to normal saddles.
7. Rock Golem
Harder to tame than most other dinosaurs, a Rock Golem functions as an excellent bullet soaker for normal bullets, but take increased damage from Tek-based weapons. They can protect their riders from damage when being reversed into turrets, but they are very slow and easily countered by Gigas.
8. Karkinos
Karkinos are versatile dinos both in PvP and PvE settings. They can grab dinos to toss into enemy lines to soak if they was otherwise impossible to access. Karkinos can even be used to soak by themselves. They cannot be netted by Net Guns so they can easily retreat.
9. Daeodon
Daeodons are ground-based counterparts to Snow Owls. They can heal, but without freezing and immobilizing their targets. Daeodons are also able to transfer over to maps such as Gen 2 and Abberation where flyers are disabled unless the servers are modded.
10. Paracer
Paracers are large, HP-based soakers that are excellent choices in online raids. Platform saddles allow players to construct defenses around them, which protects the rider and even the Paracer to a certain degree from turret fire. Net Guns are also unable to affect these dinos.
Honorable Mentions
Noglins
Noglins are not only cute, but they’re lethal to the unsuspecting dinosaur and raider. With their ability to control other survivors, they can help you trap players, turn off generators or kill their tribe-mates. They’re also able to latch onto tames of a lower wild level than themselves, which means they can turn tames against each other.
Thylacoleo
Thylas are quick, able to climb cliff faces. They do bleeding damage, so they’re able to quickly lacerate and damage any oncoming soaker dinosaurs on the push.
Velonasaur
The lower-level player’s answer to turrets as well as the main way of getting rid of invading Noglins, Velos are great for corner-based defenses, incoming flyers, and general defensive aspects. Velos can be placed anywhere in your base, but if they’re left out in the open, they can be shot down by raiders.
Yutyrannus
These large furry dinosaurs are excellent in active raids. They provide a massive buff to soakers with their roar, which reduces the incoming damage from Tek Turrets. They are also able to use a fear roar to drive off smaller advancing defender dinos like Thylacoleos.
Arthropleura
The budget version of C4 an Arthro can destroy structures and spam cheaply, if a little bit slower. They are great for slower raids and those looking to raid on a budget.
Parasaur
While not useful in any offensive capability, a tamed Parasaur on Turret Mode can pick up all hostile players and tames, singling their positions as red radar pings for your tribe to see. They are also easy to tame and can be placed in turret towers to give a further range of signal.
