Most will remember the Dilophosaur from Jurassic Park 1, where he spits acid at the computer nerd and then eats him in the jeep. This ability stays with him in ARK: Survival Evolved and makes him useful early in the game. The Dilophosaur spawns all over the Ark, especially in beginner areas.
Find out everything you need to know about the carnivore in our guide to the Dilophosaur. But also how to catch him, tame him, feed him, and breed offspring too.
This is the Dilophosaur in ARK: Survival Evolved
Appearance: The Dilophosaur in ARK is slightly smaller than the familiar prehistoric version. You can recognize him easily by his ruff, which rises when threatened.
Wild: Dilophosaurs prefer to hunt creatures smaller than themselves. It may well run from you after one of your attacks instead of attacking you. However, if he attacks you, beware of the acid he spits at you from a distance. You can no longer see properly through them and are also significantly slower than before. Even if it “just” spits on your mount, it will also affect you as soon as you mount it, unless the effect has worn off by then.
Basically, dilophosaurs are solitary creatures, but you will also find them in groups of 2 to 3 specimens.
Domesticated: Due to their small size, you won’t be able to ride the Dilophosaur, but they make excellent guard dogs. You can also use it as a catch aid for other dinosaurs by spitting its poison at them, which reduces vision and slows down the dinosaur. But keep in mind its own rather slow movement speed.
In addition, the Dilophosaur can let out a shrill scream that scares some opponents or draws their attention to you.
How to tame the Dilophosaur in ARK
How to hunt the Dilophosaur: There are several ways to hunt the Dilophosaur. One thing to note first though, no matter what method you use, be careful that the Dilophosaur doesn’t hit you or your mount with its acid.
If you’re just starting the game or don’t feel like using resources, you can just grab a bow and arrow. Because of its slow speed, you can just run away from the Dilophosaur, turn around, and shoot it.
You can also trap him with a bola or a bear trap.
To lock him down with a bola, get as close as you need to and throw it at him. If you want to trap him with a bear trap, set it up and lure the Dilophosaur in by provoking it and making it run after you. Then shoot him again with the tranquilizer darts.
How to tame him: Once he’s unconscious, put meat or kibble (recipes below) in his inventory and feed him that. The better the meat, the faster the taming. To keep the Dilophosaur down and the Stun up, use Narcoberries or Narcotic.
How to feed a Dilophosaur in ARK
Once you have tamed your Dilophosaur, it is important to know what it likes to eat. Dilophosaurs are carnivores, which of course makes the choice of food easier.
- Basic Kibble:
- Ingredients: 10x Armaberries, 1x Cooked Meat (or 1x Cooked Fish Meat, or 1x Cooked Meat Jerky), 1x Extra Small Egg, 5x Fibers, 5xMejoberries, 10x Tintoberries, 1x Water
- Ingredients for Cooked Meat Jerky: 1x Cooked Meat, 1x Oil, 3x Sparkpowder
- Raw Mutton:
- Received by gutting Ovis.
- Cooking turns it into the Cooked Lamb Chop
- Raw Prime Meat:
- Gained when gutting larger creatures
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Prime Meat
- Raw Prime Fish Meat:
- Obtained from Alpha Mosasaurus, Dunkleosteus, Electrophorus, Leedsichtys, Megalodon, and Sabertooth Salmon
- Cooking turns it into the Cooked Prime Fish Meat
- Raw Meat:
- Earned by gutting a creature
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Meat
- Raw Fish Meat:
- Received from gutting fish
- Cooking turns it into Cooked Fish Meat
How to breed the Dilophosaur in ARK
This is how you prepare the breeding: If you have a male and female specimen, you build an enclosure that is large enough at best. Put both dinos in the pen and set them to “wander” via the command menu. Alternatively, you can also switch directly to “Pair”, but then there must always be a player nearby, otherwise the pairing will stop due to the rendering.
The breeding interval of a Dilophosaur is 18 to 48 hours.
How to Hatch Eggs: If you have obtained a fertilized Dilophosaur egg from a successful mating, hatching begins. For this, the ambient temperature of the egg should be between 28 °C and 32 °C. According to standard settings, the little Dilophosaur baby hatches after about 1 hour. After that, it takes about 2 hours of your attention, during which you keep putting meat in its inventory.
Once it gains juvenile status, it can feed from troughs on its own. The entire maturing time takes about 21 hours.
Beginner tips on breeding in ARK can be found here:
Looking for more helpful guides on ARK: Survival Evolved? Then take a look at our ARK guide overview, where you will find more of our dinosaur, crafting, resource, and technology guides. You can also chat with us and other players on our Discord server. We’re looking forward to see you!
