Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 800 | +160 | +5.4% |
| Stamina | 150 | +15 | +10% |
| Oxygen | N/A (Water only) | N/A | N/A |
| Melee Damage | 100% (40 base) | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exceptional Kibble | 10 | ~20min | +99% |
| Raw Fish Meat | 40 | ~40min | +80% |
Key Features
The Dunkleo is basically an underwater mining rig and honestly I love this thing, ngl it's saved my base more times than I can count. The underwater mining part is kinda the whole point, it harvests oil metal crystal and stone from underwater deposits with 80% weight reduction on all resources and I mean that's literally the best underwater farmer in the game, nothing else comes close for bulk resource runs. Taming it is a passive tame so you feed kibble or fish meat while underwater and the Dunkleosteus is neutral, don't attack it first, approach slowly from above and you'll be fine, tbh the hard part is clearing the area not the feeding itself. The damage reduction is honestly insane, the armored body reduces incoming damage by 50% which means you can survive deep sea encounters with mosasaurs and tusoteuthis, I've literally tanked a mosa while mining and just swam away laughing. And the high HP is no joke either, base 800 health at wild level 1 and with leveling you can reach 15k plus HP, extremely tanky for aquatic combat and stuff like that.
Strategy Guide
For ocean mining routes I always start at herbivore island and follow the reef north, the oil nodes crystal deposits and metal rocks are concentrated along the underwater cliff walls and honestly once you learn the route it's basically free resources, one loop nets you so much stuff. The oil farm setup is where the Dunkleo really shines honestly, Dunkleo plus oil nodes equals 200 plus oil per trip which is essential for gasoline polymer and electronics production, no more hand-picking oil jars like some kind of beach bob, you get the idea. And for deep sea survival you want to level health and melee, avoid mosasaur packs obviously, if attacked swim toward the surface because the dunkleo is faster ascending than most aquatic predators, I've escaped some pretty hairy situations this way and it works every time tbh.
Underwater Passive Taming Walkthrough
Passive taming a Dunkleo underwater sounds scarier than it actually is but you do need to prep right or it goes sideways fast, first thing get a good aquatic mount before you even think about taming a Dunkleo, an Ichthy or a low-level Megalodon works, you need something that can handle the deep water and fight off threats while you're busy with the tame and I mean don't try to swim up to a Dunkleo with just flippers and a dream because I've done that and you will die, like literally dead in seconds. The Dunkleo is neutral which means it won't attack unless you hit it first so don't hit it, approach from above slowly with Exceptional Kibble or raw fish meat in your last hotbar slot, the feeding prompt shows up when you're close enough, hit E feed and immediately swim backward, the Dunkleo will do a little animation and then go back to cruising around, wait about 30 seconds between feeds and you're good. For a level 150 on 1x rates you need 10 Exceptional Kibble and about 20 minutes, with raw fish meat it's more like 40 pieces and 40 minutes, the real challenge isn't the tame itself it's keeping the area clear, wild Megalodons Mantas and Eels love to patrol the same areas Dunkleos spawn in, I always bring a strong water mount and clear a wide radius before I start the tame, a Basilosaurus is ideal for this since it's immune to jellyfish stuns, if you don't have a Basilo kill everything within render distance and keep your head on a swivel during the tame, basically just clear first tame second and stuff like that.
Dunkleo vs Other Ocean Resource Gatherers
So you need underwater resources and your options are basically the Dunkleo the Angler or doing it by hand, the Angler is great for silica pearls it gathers way more pearls per node than anything else but for everything else the Dunkleo wins, oil metal crystal stone obsidian the Dunkleo gathers it all with an 80% weight reduction and that weight reduction is what makes it irreplaceable, without it a full run of underwater metal would encumber you after like four nodes. Compared to the Anky for underwater metal the Anky gathers more metal per rock but has no weight reduction underwater and moves at a crawl, the Dunkleo is faster tankier and can carry way more, if you have a water base or need bulk underwater resources for an extended build you want a Dunkleo, period, the Anky is for land mining the Dunkleo is for ocean mining, different tools honestly. The one area where the Dunkleo falls short is that it's purely aquatic, you can't bring it on land so you need a water pen or cryopod setup to store it, it's also not a combat mount, it can tank damage but its damage output is mediocre, use it for farming not fighting, you get the idea.
Pro Tips
The Dunkleo's armored body gives 50% damage reduction which is honestly insane for a farming mount, this means you can mine resources right in front of a wild Plesio or Mosa and survive long enough to escape, still don't go looking for fights but if you get jumped you have options, just swim straight up toward the surface while tanking hits, most deep sea predators won't chase you past a certain depth. For efficient mining routes the underwater cliff walls along the western coast are the best spot, start around 80/20 on the map and follow the continental shelf north, the concentration of oil nodes metal rocks and crystal deposits along that route is the highest in the game, one loop with a good Dunkleo nets about 300 oil 500 metal and 200 crystal in under 15 minutes, ngl that's pretty much unbeatable. And here's something not obvious, the Dunkleo doesn't need oxygen, it's a fish, so you don't need scuba gear while riding it which frees up your armor slots for something with better protection, wear full flak while riding a Dunkleo and you'll survive way more deep sea encounters than you would in scuba armor, I learned this the hard way obviously.
Common Mistakes
The classic Dunkleo mistake is trying to passive tame one without clearing the area first, I cannot stress this enough, deep sea creatures have huge aggro ranges and they will swarm you mid-tame, a single wild Manta bumping into you during the feeding animation can reset the entire tame, bring a combat mount kill everything then start the tame, it takes five extra minutes and saves you thirty, I've had this happen and honestly wanted to quit the game. Another rookie error is not leveling weight, the 80% weight reduction is fantastic but it's not magic, if your Dunkleo has 300 base weight that's effectively 1500 weight for resources which is great but if you're running a long mining route you'll fill that up, put at least 10 levels into weight before anything else, a Dunkleo with 500 base weight effectively carries 2500 units of resources per trip. And don't forget that the Dunkleo is a passive tame, I've seen people spend 20 minutes shooting tranqs at a Dunkleo wondering why it's not going down, read the dossier it tells you it's a passive tame, same goes for trying to knock it out, if you hit it it turns aggressive and you lose taming effectiveness even if you manage to calm it down later, approach peacefully or don't approach at all, tbh it's that simple.