Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 700 | +140 | +3.78% |
| Stamina | 400 | +40 | +10% |
| Weight | 400 | +8 | +4% |
| Melee Damage | 100% | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extraordinary Kibble | 7 | ~18 min | 98.8% |
| Raw Mutton | 11 | ~25 min | 95.1% |
| Cooked Lamb Chop | 13 | ~30 min | 93.5% |
Special Abilities
Ok so the Thylacoleo has three abilities that make it arguably the most versatile combat mount in the game. First, it can climb any vertical surface — walls, cliffs, redwood trees, enemy base walls, everything. You just walk up to it and keep holding forward. It burns stamina while climbing but the Thyla has a solid 400 base stamina pool so you can climb pretty high before needing a break.
Second, and this is the terrifying one, it has a bleed attack. When you bite something, it applies a stacking bleed that does percentage-based damage over time. This means it literally doesn't matter how much HP the target has — the bleed will chunk them for a percentage of their max health. I've killed wild Gigas with a bred Thyla using nothing but bleed and patience. Not even kidding.
Third, the pounce — wild Thylas hang onto redwood trees and will drop on you when you walk underneath. It dismounts you instantly. Getting Thyla'd is basically an ARK rite of passage. A tamed Thyla can also pounce smaller creatures, pinning them to the ground for easy kills.
Taming Strategy
Taming a Thylacoleo is scary because of where they live — the redwoods. You're walking through the forest, scanning the trees, and suddenly a furry missile drops on your face. First rule of Thyla taming: never walk through the redwoods on foot. Always be on a flyer, scanning the trees from above. When you spot one clinging to a tree trunk, the safest approach is to build a taming trap on the ground nearby. A simple 2x2 stone box with doorframes as walls and a ramp on one side works.
Use a flyer to aggro the Thyla — shoot it once with a longneck, it'll drop from the tree and chase you. Lead it up the ramp and into the trap. Once it's inside, fly out through the doorframes and tranq it from safety. Their torpor is 700 base which is pretty high, so bring at least 100-150 narcotics or some bio toxin. Yeah I know, that's a lot.
If you don't have a flyer yet (which, honestly, you probably should by level 51), you can use the bear trap method. Place a large bear trap under the tree where the Thyla is perched. Shoot the Thyla, it drops, it hits the bear trap and gets stuck for about 10 seconds. That's your window to either bola it and start tranqing or run like hell. I've tried both. The bola doesn't work on Thylas actually — they're too big for regular bolas but they do get caught by large bear traps and net projectiles. A net gun is even better if you have access to one from Genesis or Extinction. One clean net shot and it's immobilized for a solid minute, giving you all the time you need to knock it out. Extraordinary Kibble is the dream but honestly cooked lamb chop or mutton will do fine — the taming time difference isn't massive.
Best Uses
I'm going to say it: the Thylacoleo is the best cave mount in ARK, period. Not even close. The combination of high base damage (40 per bite), the bleed that shreds high-HP cave creatures, solid health pool, and the ability to climb walls makes it perfect for every cave except the ones that require swimming or flying. The bleed means you can kill level 300+ cave dinos without needing a 500% melee mutation stack. You can climb over obstacles that would stop a Baryonyx or Sabertooth dead. It fits through most cave entrances including the tight ones. And if things go south, you climb up a wall and wait for the aggro to reset. I've solo cleared every land cave on The Island with a single imprinted Thyla.
For PvP, the Thyla is a base raider's best friend. Climb over enemy walls — turrets have a minimum targeting angle and if you climb straight up a wall, you're often under the turret's field of fire. The pounce ability can dismount enemy riders, which in PvP is basically a guaranteed kill. A Thyla hiding in a tree near an enemy base is almost invisible until it's too late. And for griefing, nothing beats dropping on someone's prized tame as they ride through the redwoods.
Niche trick: the Thyla's bleed stacks with other Thylas. In boss fights where bleed is viable (like the Broodmother), multiple Thylas applying bleed simultaneously will melt the boss faster than almost anything that isn't a Rex or Theri army. It's not the meta for boss fights, but it's hilarious and effective for lower difficulty bosses. Also, Thylas are one of the few creatures whose bleed works on titanosaurs — if you're crazy enough to fight a wild titano, bring a pack of Thylas.
Thylacoleo vs Sabertooth: Best Cave Mount Showdown
The Sabertooth was the go-to cave mount for years and it's still solid, but the Thyla outclasses it in every meaningful way. The Saber has slightly better base damage at 41 vs 40, but the Thyla's bleed more than makes up for that single point. Thyla has 700 base health vs the Saber's 250 — that's almost triple. Thyla has 400 stamina vs 200. The Saber does have a slight speed advantage and can jump a bit farther, plus it's easier to tame (Regular Kibble at level 37 saddle vs Extraordinary at 51). But once you have both at comparable levels, the Thyla is just better. The only reason to take a Saber over a Thyla is if you're not level 51 yet or you can't find a Thyla spawn.
Breeding Tips
Thylas are mammals so they gestate rather than lay eggs — pregnancy takes about 4 hours, and total maturation is about 2 days. The baby phase is about 5 hours, which is when they need the most attention. Breed for health and melee first. A high base health Thyla can tank cave creatures while the bleed does its work, and melee increases the bleed tick damage. Stamina is a nice third stat — more stamina means longer climbs. Imprinting is huge on Thylas because the rider bonus applies to both the direct damage and bleed when you're mounted. An imprinted Thyla with a good saddle (blueprint quality if you can get one) is borderline unkillable in most PvE content.
Pro Tips
First tip: when climbing, you can stop mid-climb by releasing the movement key. The Thyla will hold its position on the wall without draining additional stamina. Use this to rest during long climbs or to set up ambushes from vertical surfaces.
Second tip: the Thyla's bite has surprisingly long reach — you can hit creatures below you while climbing, which is great for clearing a path in caves without ever touching the ground.
Third tip: always carry a cryopod with a spare flyer when you're Thyla cave running. Some caves have drops or sections that climbing can't help with, and getting stuck because you can't fly out is a terrible way to lose a good tame.
Fourth tip: if you're in the redwoods and hear a Thyla growl, look straight up immediately and strafe. That half-second reaction window is the difference between a cool story and an "I got Thyla'd" death screen. I've learned this the hard way more times than I can count. Good times.