LITHIUM
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C H I L L
IMMERSIVE TAMING
OVERVIEW
Immersive Taming is a mod that completely overhauls the way creatures are tamed in ARK: Survival Evolved. Rather than needing to stock up on tranq arrows or wooden clubs to knock something out then force berries into it until it wakes up magically wiling to follow you, you instead need to gain the creature's respect and trust before it chooses to commit itself to your ownership. For almost all roleplay scenarios, this more realistic way of taming fits much better.
In this guide, you'll learn about each part of the mod, and how to use them to find your new companion.
TAMING JOURNAL
A guide in and of itself, the Taming Journal contains all information on how to tame any creature. It is crafted within one's inventory after learning the engram. For this season, the journal is restricted to the Hunter profession for crafting.
To use the journal, you have two options. First, you can simply activate it in your inventory to open its menu. Second, you can put it into your hotbar, then exit your inventory and select it from your hotbar to place the book down like a prop, on which you can press E to open its menu. When the book is placed you can hold E to open the radial menu, where you can tell it to lay down flat by choosing 'unmount,' or pick it back up.
When the journal menu opens, it will take a moment to load all of the creature entries. The time this takes depends on how many creatures, and therefore how much data, it has to pull from the server to display. Once everything is ready, you will see a search bar at the top, icons of creatures on the left page, and information on the settings of the mod, or the information on a selected creature on the right page.
The search bar is rather self-explanatory: it is used to type in a creature's name to search for its journal entry.
The icons on the left page represent each creature, along with its name listed beneath. An icon that is black is a creature that is tameable. An icon that is faded grey is a creature that is not tameable, but does spawn in the world. Clicking on an icon will bring up its information on the right page.
The right page will display various pieces of information about the base settings, and what is required and the rates of taming the selected creature. It will display what bait(s) a creature accepts, listed in descending order of effectiveness with the most effective at the bottom of the list. It will display the modifiers to actions such as petting, caring for, and the intervals between them. All tames are considered passive unless the 'requires combat' section is marked, and a red fist icon is displayed. Furthermore, combat tames require trophy baits in addition to normal baits, so only combat tames will have trophy baits listed. If a tame requires being knocked out before taming, that will be marked as well.
The journal can be closed by pressing the 'close' button at the bottom right, or by hitting your escape key.
BAIT STATIONS
Now that you know what you need to tame a creature, you need to have the crafting stations to make it!
There are three different bait stations, each of which create different baits. These are the Bait Station, the Kibble Station, and the Trophy Station. All three of these can be made in your inventory. For this season, all three bait stations are restricted to the Hunter profession for crafting and using.
The Bait Station is where all basic baits are made. These baits are Mutton, Sulfur Rock, Spoiled Meat, Blubber, Prime Fish, Fish, Aberrant Mushroom, Prime Meat, Meat, Botany Bale, Veggie, and Berry.
The Kibble Station is where kibbles, made in the cooking pot or stove, are turned into baits.
The Trophy Station is where all trophy baits are made. These baits are Lightning Talon, Fire Talon, Giga Heart, Rock Drake Feather, Yutyrannus Lung, Spino Sail, Rex Arm, and Poison Talon.
Each bait station can also craft arrow versions of their baits, which puts the bait on the tip of an arrow so that you can fire from a safe distance rather than drop directly on the ground. On with this, there is a Bait Balloon that is craftable in your inventory that can be used to suspend baits in the air, if needed.
Baits do not spoil overly quickly, but it is still highly recommended to store them in a cooler to keep them fresher for long. There is a specific Bait Cooler included in the mod that can be crafted in your inventory that can be used for this purpose, or you can use any other cooling storage. When meat-based baits spoil, they turned to Spoiled Meat bait, then spoil again into nothing. Trophy baits have no spoil timer.
PASSIVE TAMES
All creatures are considered passive tames unless their information has 'requires combat' marked and an icon of a red fist displayed. Passive taming is the easiest method, and requires only baits and some caution to accomplish.
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When looking to passive tame a creature, you must first take into account the creature's disposition. Even if it is a passive tame, if the creature is naturally aggressive it will still attack you. Same for naturally flighty creatures. In such cases, using a baited arrow to fire a bait near the creature from a safe distance is recommended. Otherwise, place the bait in your last slot of your hotbar, then get near the creature and activate the bait to drop it on the ground. When a creature has noticed the bait and is going to eat it, it will do a startle animation, then turn and begin walking toward the bait.
Once a creature has eaten a bait, a message will appear at the top of your screen indicating such. From here, there are multiple stages of taming that will display their own messages as the taming percentage increases through feeding of more baits.
When a creature reaches 25% tamed, a message will appear that they are no longer afraid of you and will not attack unless provoked. For those creatures that are aggressive or flighty, this means they will no longer attack or flee from you if you get close, now allowing you to hit E to pet them. This does not mean, however, that other members of their species will show the same consideration.
When a creature reaches 35% tamed, a message will appear saying that the creature can now be hand fed baits and corpses. Now, in addition to petting and throwing baits down, you can get close and hit E to feed a bait directly to the creature for a boosted increase in taming. If the creature is an omnivore or carnivore, you can also slay other creatures and drag the bodies to them, getting close and then hitting E to feed the corpse to them in place of a bait.
When a creature reaches 45% tamed, a message will appear saying that the creature may occasionally begin following you around. Indeed, at random intervals, the creature will stop its wandering, turn, and begin walking to you. If it reaches you, it will stop for a moment, then begin wandering again. Though there is no extra interaction added at this stage, it is very useful to lure the creature to a more peaceful place while you continue taming them.
When a creature reaches 55% tamed, a message will appear saying that the creature may want cared for now and again. This stage adds another option to increase taming: caring. At random intervals, now taking over the slot for following, the creature will stop and turn to make its way toward you. On reaching you, it will wait for a moment, allowing you to then hit E to care for it. Doing this increases taming progress much more than simply petting, though you can still pet when the creature is ready.
When a creature reaches 65% tamed, a message will appear saying that the creature may present you with a gift after being cared for. No new option is added for this stage, but there is a good chance that the creature will throw a package from it as a gift after you have cared for it. This gift is typically a resource that the creature can either gather or will drop when harvested.
When a creature reaches 75% tamed, a message will appear saying that all nearby species of that creature will no longer attack you. Again, there is no new option added for this stage, but you can now rest assured that you won't be attacked or fled from by any of the same creatures nearby. The range for 'nearby' isn't exactly clear, so take care that you don't unintentionally stumble too far away and end up in a spot of bother.
When a creature reaches 85% tamed, a message will appear that the creature will defend you in battle. This is a crucial stage of taming, and requires caution. If you are attacked by any other creature, the one you are taming will come to your defense, and gain taming progress while doing so. However, they are still wild, and so you can unintentionally hit them while trying to defend them or yourself, thereby decreasing its taming progress and/or ending the taming entirely through distrust... if you don't accidentally kill it. Keep an eye on your surroundings so as to prevent the creature needing to join you in battle.
When a creature reaches 100% tamed, it will be, of course, entirely tamed. It can now be used as any other tamed creature, saddled, ridden, and so on. There will be a message that appears that says that its previous bonds will be forgotten, and a timer will appear on the bottom right of your screen. If the creature was an aggressive one, and you reached the point that other members of its species would not attack you, they will continue to ignore you until that timer ends. At which point they will become aggressive toward you and your new companion once more. The same goes for creatures that would otherwise flee. So ensure you're both safe before that timer finishes!
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There are a few other instances that can happen that can either initiate taming, boost taming, degrade taming, or end taming. While they aren't always common, it is good to know about them and how to respond to keep your creature safe and taming.
If a creature is being attacked by another, and you kill its aggressor without hurting them, this can initiate a tame by rescue. A message will appear that the creature is grateful that you've saved its life, and has become curious. This will put its taming progress at 0%, but will allow you to immediately approach and pet it, and drop baits for it to increase taming as normal.
On with this, if a creature you are actively taming is being attacked, or is attacking another, you can save it or aid it in battle to increase taming progress with each hit.
Unfortunately, if you or anyone in your tribe or a creature already in your tribe does damage to the creature you are taming, even if you are rescuing it or fighting alongside it, it will lose trust and become upset. If it is hit too much, the taming will end entirely and it will turn hostile or flee as it otherwise would.
If you're able to stop the damage before the taming ends, there is a way to recover; The creature will be too upset to eat any baits, regardless of how far along in the taming progress it is. Instead, it will display a message when you get close to press E to comfort them. This follows the same interval as petting. Comfort them enough, and they will forgive you and go back to taking baits, pets, and so on, as normal.
One more important thing to remember is that dealing damage to any nearby creature of the same species will anger the creature you are trying to tame. A message will appear that harming one of its allies has caused it to lose trust. Anyone in your tribe, or a creature in your tribe, can inadvertently inhibit taming by even just defending themselves from an aggressive 'ally' of the creature being tamed. In these cases, it's best to simply lead the offending creature far away so that it can be killed without repercussion to the taming progress.
Allies of your own tribe, however, cause no such issue. They are considered separate from you in the taming progress entirely--which means they cannot help or hurt your taming, but are also not protected by the same perks of reaching certain stages.
COMBAT TAMES
Some creatures, especially those who are more powerful, are not so easily swayed by simply having bait tossed at them. Instead, they require that you provide them with a token of challenge, then engage them in combat to prove your strength. Only once they have gained a true measure of your worth, will they then allow you to offer them baits, pets, and care.
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To begin, you must have a worthy trophy bait to present to the creature you wish to tame. Then, you should prepare yourself for battle. Toss the trophy bait down where the creature can see it. Once it approaches the bait and sees you have issued a challenge, they will immediately begin attacking.
When the attack begins, a message will appear at the top of your screen, and a health bar will appear above the creature's head. You must deal melee damage to the creature until this bar depletes, which is equal to roughly half the creature's overall health. It is important to note that projectile damage is rejected as cowardly tactics, so it must be melee. Furthermore, using any type of debuff attack will be counted as cowardly as well. Occasionally, using a mount to deal damage is seen the same, though not always. The reason isn't clear. Any unmounted creature, even if it is your tribe, dealing damage causes the same reaction. To be absolutely sure you are proving yourself in a worthy manner, it must be you, and only you, who deals direct melee damage to the creature.
Once you have depleted the health bar, a message will appear saying that you have proven your worth to the creature, and it will become neutral to you. You can then begin taming it as though it was a passive tame.
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Though it is incredibly rare, some creatures may require knockout before they can be tamed. This can be seen in their information on the right page, with the 'requires KO' being checked. If this is the case, you need only to induce torpor until it is unconscious--no need for trophy bait or challenge fighting. Once it is asleep, toss a normal bait that the creature will accept out before it, and retreat a safe distance. The creature should begin waking as soon as the bait hits the ground, and eat it. Once that bait is accepted, it can be tamed as any other passive tame.