Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 2,400 | +480 | +5.4% |
| Stamina | 300 | +30 | +10% |
| Weight | 700 | +14 | +4% |
| Melee Damage | 100% (47 base) | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exceptional Kibble | 7 | ~4h | +99.7% |
| Raw Mutton | 19 | ~1h | +98.1% |
| Raw Prime Meat | 23 | ~1h 15min | +97.1% |
Special Abilities
ok so the Basilosaurus has a bunch of abilities that make it the single safest ocean mount in the entire game. once you tame one you'll never be scared of the ocean again. first and most importantly — it's completely immune to Cnidaria stuns. those jellyfish that have ruined every ocean trip you've ever taken? yeah, they can't touch you. it's also immune to Tusoteuthis grabs, which is massive because getting grabbed by a Tuso is basically a death sentence for any other ocean mount. I've lost so many Megalodons to Tuso grabs that I stopped counting.
then there's the Electrophorus shock immunity — electric eels can't do anything to you either. cherry on top, really. and on top of all that the Basi produces oil passively in its inventory over time. free oil farm once you have a few of them parked at your ocean base. trust me, you'll never need to harvest oil nodes again if you have a couple Basilos chilling at base.
the insulation buff is low-key underrated too. the Basi keeps you warm in cold water and cool in warm water, so you don't need to worry about temperature at all when you're riding it. it's kind of like having a scuba suit built into your mount. not even kidding.
Taming Strategy
taming a Basilosaurus is passive which sounds easy but it's one of the more stressful passive tames in the game. the Basi is always surrounded by a swarm of Mantas that will absolutely shred you if you're not prepared. I've died to these Manta swarms so many times that I now approach every Basi tame with like three backup plans and a full set of scuba gear.
the first step is clearing the Mantas. you cannot just swim up and start fighting them because they'll swarm you and you'll die in about 3 seconds. trust me on this. the best approach is to use a crossbow or harpoon gun from a safe distance and pick them off one by one. or bring a strong water mount like a Megalodon or a tamed Basi if you already have one to clear them for you.
once the Mantas are dead the actual taming is pretty chill. you just swim up to the Basi with Exceptional Kibble in your last hotbar slot and feed it one piece at a time. the Basi is passive so it won't attack you. but here's the thing — the feeding interval is really long with kibble. you're looking at about 4 hours total at 1x rates with 7 kibble required. so bring a lot of patience and maybe a podcast or something, you know what I mean.
the Basi also takes damage in deep water, so make sure you're taming it in relatively shallow water. if it goes too deep during the tame it'll start losing health and can actually die. which I've had happen once and it was heartbreaking. so keep an eye on depth and try to stay above like 30 meters or so if you can. if you're using mutton instead of kibble the tame is way faster, like about an hour, which is way better for your sanity even though you lose a little effectiveness. worth it in my opinion.
one more thing the Basi heals when it's near the surface of the water which is great for keeping it alive during the tame but it loses health in the deep ocean which means you absolutely cannot tame it at the bottom of the sea like you might with a Mosa or Plesio you need to find one in the shallows or lure it up there which can be tricky because they're not exactly cooperative swimmers and getting them to go where you want is like herding cats but underwater and with a whale
Best Uses
the Basilosaurus is your daily driver for literally anything ocean-related in ARK 2 and I use mine more than any other water mount including my Mosa because the immunity to disables is just such a quality of life upgrade that I can't go back to anything else I've explored every underwater cave on every map with my Basi and never once had to worry about getting stun-locked by jellyfish or grabbed by a Tuso which is a level of peace of mind that no other ocean mount can give you and once you've experienced it you can't un-experience it nothing else feels safe anymore
for underwater resource runs the Basi is amazing because it has a massive 700 base weight and you can just cruise around picking up silica pearls, oil, and angler gel without a care in the world. the oil production is passive too, so even when you're not doing anything your Basi is just sitting there making oil for you. adds up fast if you have multiple Basilos. it's better than having an oil pump running because you don't need to maintain anything. just free oil forever.
in boss fights the Basi is decent for the Moeder and other underwater bosses but it really shines in the regular ocean as an escort for taming other water creatures you can park your Basi nearby while you tranq a Mosa or a Tuso and nothing can touch you because the Basi tanks everything and can't be disabled and then you hop back on it and swim away like nothing happened it's basically a mobile safe zone for underwater operations and every tribe that does serious ocean stuff should have at least one
Basilosaurus vs Mosasaurus - Which Ocean King Do You Need?
this is the classic ocean debate and you need both. the Mosa is the apex predator — massive damage, massive health, can take on anything in the water. but it can get stunned by jellyfish and grabbed by Tuso, which are the two deadliest things in the ocean besides the Mosa itself. the Basi can't deal nearly as much damage as a Mosa, but it's completely immune to everything that makes the ocean scary.
so for general exploration and resource gathering the Basi wins every time. for actually fighting alpha Mosas or doing underwater boss fights you want the Mosa. if you can only get one, get the Basi first because it'll keep you alive while you tame everything else — including a Mosa. that's exactly what I did and I have zero regrets.
Breeding Tips
breeding Basilos is a bit of a commitment because they're mammals. the female carries the baby through gestation which takes about 8 hours. baby phase is about 11 and a half hours, with total maturation around 4 days and 20 hours — on the longer side. but worth it because an imprinted Basi with a good saddle is virtually unkillable in the ocean.
for mutations you want health and melee primarily. the Basi already has the highest base health of any ocean mount, so stacking that even higher through mutations makes it a legitimate tank. weight mutations are nice for resource runs, but 700 base weight is already so generous that you don't really need them. just level weight on your farming Basi and leave the mutations for health and melee on the combat line.
Pro Tips
first off always keep at least one stack of cooked meat or raw fish in your Basi's inventory the healing near the surface is fast but it's not instant and if you're in a fight and need to retreat to the shallows to heal having extra food in the inventory speeds up the natural regen significantly and can mean the difference between losing your Basi and walking away with a scratch and I have lost a high-level Basi before because I didn't have food on it and the regen was just a little too slow to outpace the damage and I still think about it sometimes
second the Basi's depth mechanic works like this it takes about 3 damage per second below a certain depth threshold roughly 60 meters or deeper and the deeper you go the faster it stacks so when you're diving for deep sea loot crates or fighting at the bottom of the ocean you need to plan your route so you can surface periodically to heal and this is the one real downside of the Basi compared to other ocean mounts and you absolutely have to manage it because if you forget about depth and just keep fighting you'll look down and realize your Basi is at half health from pressure damage alone which is a horrible feeling trust me
third if you're using the Basi to tank for taming other creatures make sure to set it to passive and park it nearby rather than having it on neutral because if it aggros onto something while you're trying to tranq a Mosa the whole operation falls apart and you'll probably lose both the Basi and whatever you were trying to tame and then you'll just be floating there in the ocean wondering where it all went wrong which I've experienced more than once
and tame multiple Basilos. they're not that hard to get once you clear the Mantas. having a fleet of them parked at your water base generating oil passively while also serving as backup combat mounts is one of the best investments you can make in the game. you'll never regret having spares when your main Basi is healing, or on cooldown, or whatever ARK nonsense happens to you that day. that's just how it goes.