Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 350 | +70 | +5.4% |
| Stamina | 200 | +20 | +10% |
| Oxygen | 500 | +50 | +10% |
| Melee Damage | 100% (28 base) | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superior Kibble | 8 | ~18min | +99% |
| Raw Fish Meat | 30 | ~35min | +85% |
Key Features
ok so the Baryonyx has a bunch of features that honestly make it one of the best cave mounts in the whole game hands down first thing is the spin stun RMB spin attack that stuns all enemies in a 5-meter radius works on land and underwater 8-second cooldown best CC ability for a mid-tier mount and I've used this to survive so many cave runs it's not even funny it literally saves your life against piranha swarms and jellyfish swarms and you know those moments where you're surrounded and think you're dead and then you hit spin and suddenly everything is frozen and you just walk away feeling like a god yeah that's the Bary the fish diet thing is kinda annoying tbh it only eats fish meat no regular meat at all so you gotta farm from rivers and coastlines fish basket traps are efficient for bulk collection but I mean it's manageable once you get used to it the amphibious movement is huge though fast in water fast on land no movement penalty when transitioning between surfaces perfect for cave systems with water sections and the claw swipe primary attack has extended range hits multiple targets in a 180-degree arc which is nice for crowd control and stuff like that and honestly I've cleared entire rooms of bats with just the claw swipe alone
Strategy Guide
for cave crawling the Baryonyx is honestly the number 1 cave mount for underwater caves the spin stun deals with piranha swarms eels and jellyfish and the amphibious nature means no dismounting at water crossings I've taken my Bary through every underwater cave in the game and it just handles everything you throw at it you don't have to dismount and swim through piranhas like you do with other mounts which is a literal lifesaver tbh because those water sections in caves are where I've lost most of my non-amphibious mounts and you just feel helpless when you're swimming and getting eaten but the Bary just walks right through like it's nothing
and for fish farming build a fish basket trap near a river gather 100+ fish meat then go taming Baryonyx tames are fast with fish meat no need for prime which is honestly a huge relief because farming prime meat is such a pain and I'd rather spend 10 minutes spearing coelacanths than chasing paracers around the map so that's a win in my book in PvP the spin stun plus dismount is devastating in water combat bait enemies into water stun their mount then attack the rider directly it's pretty nasty if you pull it off right and I've pulled off some ridiculous water ambushes with this thing that I still think about sometimes
How to Tame a Baryonyx Without Dying
Baryonyx taming is tricky because these things are fast aggressive and almost always spawn near water and I've lost count of how many times I've had a perfect tame ruined because it ran into the water and piranhas finished it off ugh the last thing you want is to be tranqing one on a riverbank and have it dash into the water where everything goes wrong in about three seconds so here's the move build a simple 2x2 stone trap on flat ground near the spawn area but not right next to the water four stone doorframes on the bottom and a ramp on one side kite the Bary into the ramp it falls in and now it's stuck use a pteranodon or just run on foot but bring stimulants because if you get hit you're taking torpor damage and that's how people die to Barys honestly I've died to torpor damage from these things more than I care to admit and each time it's because I thought nah I don't need stimulants
For a level 150 on 1x rates Superior Kibble is the way to go 8 pieces will do it in about 18 minutes raw fish meat works too but takes about 35 minutes and gives lower effectiveness the Bary's torpor drops moderately fast so you'll need about 100 narcotics on hand not crazy like a Galli or Theri but don't wander off for ten minutes either check every five minutes or so I've learned this the hard way when I went to grab a drink and came back to a wake-tame and I still remember staring at the empty trap like wait where did it go
One thing that trips people up Barys eat ONLY fish meat after taming they won't touch regular raw meat at all so before you tame one make sure you have fish meat ready for after it wakes up go spear some coelacanths or salmon beforehand I've seen people tame a perfect 150 Bary and then watch it starve because they forgot to bring fish don't be that person I was that person once and I still feel bad about that level 145 Bary that starved to death in my base because I had a fridge full of raw mutton right there and it wouldn't touch any of it and I didn't notice until it was too late
Baryonyx vs Other Cave Mounts
For cave running you've got several choices Baryonyx Thylacoleo Dire Wolf Sabertooth and Raptor the Bary's unique advantage is water no other cave mount handles water sections as gracefully most caves with water crossings force you to dismount swim through piranhas and eels and remount on the other side the Bary just walks in and keeps going honestly it's such a quality of life thing that once you get used to it you can't go back its oxygen stat means you can stay underwater long enough to explore submerged cave sections without panicking about air and I've found some really good loot in underwater cave sections that other mounts just couldn't reach because their riders were too scared to swim down there
Compared to the Thylacoleo the Bary loses on raw damage and climbing ability a good Thyla can climb cave walls to bypass dangerous sections entirely but the Thyla is slower in water and can't use its climb in submerged areas for the underwater caves specifically like the Caverns of Lost Faith the Bary is hands down the best non-aquatic mount you can bring the spin stun handles jellyfish swarms that would otherwise stun-lock and kill you and I've died to jellyfish stun-locks more times than I'd like to remember so having something that can deal with them is huge imo it's basically the difference between clearing Lost Faith and losing all your gear at the bottom of the ocean
The Dire Wolf pack bonus is great for damage but wolves can't swim well and have no stun ability the Sabertooth is quieter and faster but squishier I've found that for all-around cave exploration the Bary is the safest pick you might not clear caves the fastest but you'll clear them consistently without dying to water hazards and in caves consistency matters more than speed kinda like how in ARK in general not dying is more important than killing things fast you get the idea
Pro Tips
The spin stun isn't just for offense it's also an escape tool if you're getting overwhelmed in a cave spin to stun everything around you then immediately swim or run in the opposite direction the 8-second cooldown feels long in a fight but it's short enough that you can stun reposition and stun again against jellyfish and eels this rhythm is basically mandatory for survival and I've had so many clutch escapes where I spun repositioned and got out with like 10 HP left and honestly those moments are what make ARK so thrilling
For fish meat farming don't sleep on the fish basket it's an engram most people skip because it seems pointless but placing a fish basket in a river near your base gives you a passive source of fish meat that you can harvest whenever for a Baryonyx-heavy playstyle this is huge no more running to the river every time your Bary gets hungry honestly I ignored the fish basket for like my first 500 hours and now I can't live without it and I've got three of them running near my base at all times
The Bary's hitbox is deceptively small for a mid-tier carnivore it can fit through cave passages that Thylas and Carnos get stuck in if you're exploring a new cave and not sure if your mount will fit take a Bary it's basically the largest cave mount that can navigate the tightest cave layouts and the amphibious movement means you never have to worry about whether a cave has water sections or not and stuff like that makes it my go-to for any cave I haven't memorized yet which is honestly most of them because I'm terrible at remembering cave layouts
Common Mistakes
The most painful Bary mistake is taming a low level one and expecting it to handle high-level caves a level 20 Bary has maybe 500 HP and hits like a wet noodle it'll get shredded by a couple of high-level megalodons or a swarm of bats if you're planning to use a Bary for caves tame at least a 130 the time difference between taming a 20 and a 130 is about 10 minutes with kibble but the survival difference is the difference between clearing the cave and losing everything inside and I've learned this one the expensive way when my level 35 Bary got absolutely destroyed in the first room of a cave I thought I was ready for
Another mistake is forgetting that Barys only eat fish after a long cave run your Bary will be hungry and you might instinctively toss raw meat into its inventory it won't eat it you need fish meat specifically always carry a stack of fish meat when you're out on a Bary run either in the Bary's inventory or your own if you run out and can't find fish your Bary starves I keep a preserving bin full of cooked fish meat at my base just for this because losing a good Bary to starvation is just the worst feeling and I've had a couple of close calls that still make me anxious when I think about them
And don't get overconfident with the spin stun it stuns for about 3 seconds and has an 8-second cooldown which means there's a 5-second gap where you're vulnerable against fast attacking enemies like piranha swarms or high-level bats those 5 seconds matter a lot don't blow your spin stun on one enemy and then stand there taking hits from six others use it strategically when you're surrounded not when you're just fighting one thing I've gotten cocky with the stun so many times and paid for it every single time honestly the overconfidence is real when you first get a Bary because the stun feels so powerful but then those 5 seconds of vulnerability remind you that you're not invincible at all