Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 250 | +50 | +5.4% |
| Stamina | 200 | +20 | +10% |
| Weight | 200 | +4 | +4% |
| Melee Damage | 100% | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Kibble | 4 | ~12m 0s | 99.6% (+74 levels) |
| Raw Mutton | 7 | ~13m 0s | 98.6% (+73 levels) |
| Raw Prime Meat | 9 | ~16m 0s | 97.7% (+73 levels) |
Special Abilities
The Sabertooth's main thing is its hide and chitin harvesting efficiency — and it's kind of busted how good it is. A Sabertooth gets something like 3-4 times more hide per kill compared to using a pickaxe, and it gathers chitin from bugs at a rate that rivals the Megatherium (though without the damage buff). It doesn't have a fancy rage mechanic or a special ability with a cooldown — what it has is pure, efficient farming speed. Not even kidding.
The Sabertooth is also one of the faster land mounts at base speed, and its turning radius is tight — you can spin on a dime in caves which is crucial when you're getting swarmed by Titanoboas and Araneos. It also has a natural 50% damage reduction against falling damage, which sounds minor but will save your life repeatedly in caves with vertical sections. The Sabertooth can jump too — not as high as a Raptor but enough to clear small obstacles and gaps.
Oh and the Sabertooth has a second attack (right-click) that does slightly more damage but has a longer animation — stick with left-click for DPS and use right-click as a finisher when the target is fleeing. The most underrated thing about Sabertooths is that they're one of the few mounts you can use weapons while riding — pull out a shotgun or crossbow while mounted and you've got a mobile turret. Yeah I know.
Taming Strategy
Sabertooths are aggressive and will attack on sight, so you need to be ready. They spawn in mountains, snow biomes, and redwoods — basically all the sketchy places on The Island. A level 150 Sabertooth hits hard for its size but it's not tanky — 250 base health means it'll go down fast to concentrated fire. Your best bet is a simple stone trap — 2x2 foundations with doorframe walls, a ramp on one side, and you behind the trap with a longneck. Aggro the Saber by shooting it once from range, run up the ramp and jump into your safe spot behind the trap, and the Saber will follow you in. Close the door (or just shoot it through the doorframe gaps — doorframes let tranq darts pass through).
If you're feeling brave you can just kite it on foot since they're not that fast when wild, but one wrong move and you're eating a face full of saber teeth. I've died to this exact scenario on the Frozen Tooth more times than I can count — you're backing up while tranqing, you hit a rock, the Saber closes the gap, and suddenly you're the respawn screen. Good times.
For a level 150 at 1x rates, you need about 17-23 tranq darts from a primitive longneck, or about 30-40 tranq arrows from a crossbow. The torpor drain is moderate — about 1.04 torpor per second — so you'll need around 8-10 narcotics to keep it down for the full tame if you're using Regular Kibble. The tame is pretty quick with kibble — 4 Regular Kibble in about 12 minutes with near-perfect effectiveness. If you don't have Regular Kibble (which takes medium eggs like Ankylo or Stego eggs), Raw Mutton is the next best at 7 pieces and 13 minutes. Raw Prime Meat is the budget option at 9 pieces and 16 minutes. Don't use regular raw meat — you'll need like 26 pieces and the effectiveness drops below 85%. Pro tip: if you're taming in the snow biome, bring a campfire or two. The taming process can take a while and you don't want to die of hypothermia while babysitting an unconscious cat.
Best Uses
Hide farming. I'm going to say it again — hide farming. Take your Sabertooth to any area with dense herbivore spawns (the beaches near the south zones are perfect early game, and the plains near the Green Obelisk are great mid-game), and just run in circles killing everything. A 200%+ melee Sabertooth will one-shot most low-level Parasaurs and Dilos, and you'll come back with 2,000+ hide after a 15-minute farming run. Compare that to a pickaxe run where you'd be lucky to get 500 hide in the same time. Hide is needed for saddles — lots of saddles — and the Sabertooth makes the hide bottleneck completely disappear. It also gathers pelt from creatures in the snow biome with the same efficiency bonus, so if you need fur armor or pelt for crafting, a Sabertooth in the snow is your best friend.
Cave running is the Sabertooth's second job, and it might be the most fun use for this cat. The Sabertooth fits through almost every cave entrance (except the narrowest ones like the Snow Cave artifact chamber — you'll need to go on foot for that last section), and its combination of speed, jumping ability, and tight turning radius makes it perfect for fighting in enclosed spaces. The Lower South Cave is a cakewalk with even a mid-level Sabertooth — you can clear it in under 5 minutes. The Upper South Cave is doable with a high-level one (aim for 3k+ health and 300%+ melee).
For the harder caves like the Caverns of Lost Faith, you'll want a bred and imprinted Sabertooth with 5k+ health and 400%+ melee. The Sabertooth can't fit through the Snow Cave entrance — don't try it, you'll get stuck — but it handles the Central Cave, Lower South, Upper South, and Lava Cave just fine. Trust me on that one.
Chitin farming is the Sabertooth's third strong suit. Bugs are everywhere in caves and the Sabertooth's hide-gathering bonus also applies to chitin from Araneos, Pulmonoscorpius, and Arthropleura. One cave run with a Sabertooth can net you 500-1000 chitin easily. It's not quite Megatherium-tier because you don't get the Insect Killer damage buff, but for a mid-game tame that you can get at level 37, it's absurdly efficient. Combine the chitin from cave runs with stone from a Doedicurus and you've got an early-game cementing paste pipeline long before you get a chemistry bench.
For PvP, the Sabertooth is a decent flanking mount — it's fast enough to get behind enemy lines and you can use weapons while riding, which means you can charge in with a shotgun and ruin someone's day. It's not a frontline fighter like a Rex or Spino but as a hit-and-run mount it's seriously underrated.
Sabertooth vs Raptor vs Direwolf
This is the classic early-to-mid game carnivore debate and they all have their place. Raptors are faster and can pounce small targets but they're made of glass — a couple of hits from anything bigger than a Dilo and they're dead. Direwolves don't need a saddle which saves resources, and they get a pack bonus that increases damage when near other wolves, but they can't jump or use weapons while riding.
The Sabertooth splits the difference — it's tougher than a Raptor, can jump like one, and you can shoot from the saddle. The saddle requirement at level 37 is the only real downside — it means you can't tame-and-ride on day one like you can with a Raptor. But once you hit level 37, the Sabertooth is the better long-term investment. For caves specifically, Sabertooth > Direwolf > Raptor. For hide farming, Sabertooth > Direwolf > Raptor. For PvP shenanigans, Raptor's pounce is unique but the Sabertooth's weapon use gives it more versatility. It's that simple.
Breeding Tips
Sabertooths are mammals so you're dealing with gestation. On 1x rates, gestation is about 4 hours 10 minutes and the baby takes about 2 days to fully mature — faster than most large carnivores. The key stats to breed are melee damage (for farming efficiency and combat) and health (for survival). Stamina is worth a few points too — a Sabertooth with 300+ stamina can sprint for noticeably longer in caves. A good starting breeding pair should have at least 2000 health and 250% melee post-tame. Imprinting is crucial if you plan to ride one — a fully imprinted Sabertooth gets 30% bonus damage and damage resistance when ridden by the imprinter. Breed a line of imprinted Sabertooths for cave running and you'll notice the difference immediately. Sabertooth babies eat raw meat and can use a feeding trough, so they're low-maintenance. Keep a breeding pair safe and cryopod your best imprinted offspring for expeditions.
Pro Tips
First tip: prioritize melee damage above all else when leveling. A Sabertooth with 400% melee will one-shot most things in caves and will gather hide at an absurd rate. Health comes second — you need enough to survive a few hits but you shouldn't be tanking with a Sabertooth anyway. Use hit-and-run tactics: sprint in, bite 2-3 times, sprint out.
Second tip: the Sabertooth can wear a helmet skin — it's purely cosmetic but let's be real, your Saber looks sick with a Chieftain Hat or a Santa Hat.
Third tip: if you're using the Sabertooth in caves, bring medical brews. The Sabertooth can't heal itself and cave creatures apply torpor, not just damage. If you get knocked out while mounted, the Sabertooth will likely die before you wake up. Yeah that one hurts.
Fourth tip: the Sabertooth gets stuck on rocks CONSTANTLY in caves. The hitbox is bigger than the model suggests. When navigating tight passages, dismount and walk the Sabertooth through on follow — the pathing AI can sometimes squeeze through gaps that you can't navigate while riding.
Fifth tip: always carry a spare Sabertooth in a cryopod for cave runs. Nothing worse than losing your main Saber to a lag spike in a cave and having to walk back through the entire cave naked to retrieve your stuff. Been there.