Base Stats (Wild Lv150)
| Stat | Base Value | Per Level (Wild) | Per Level (Tamed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 450 | +90 | +5.4% |
| Stamina | 175 | +17.5 | +10% |
| Weight | 200 | +4 | +4% |
| Melee Damage | 100% (20 base) | +5% | +1.7% |
Taming Guide
| Food | Amount (Lv150, 1x) | Time | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Kibble | 6 | ~12min | +99% |
| Mejoberry | 50 | ~25min | +78% |
| Berries | 90 | ~40min | +60% |
Key Features
The charge attack is honestly one of the most satisfying things in early game ARK hold sprint to build charge then release to deal knockback and 3x damage it staggers medium creatures and breaks small structures which is kind of insane for a level 16 tame you know. But honestly the real reason everyone remembers their first trike is the charge it's just so satisfying to send a raptor flying. And then there's the berry farming which is basically why everyone tames one the right click swipe gathers from a large area way better yield than the parasaur it's not even close tbh. Also for base defense the trike's charge can repel raptor packs and single carnotaurus so park 2 or 3 near your base and you're pretty much safe from most early game threats and the secondary attack gathers thatch efficiently which is good for early wood building and roof repairs and stuff like that
Strategy Guide
So for taming the trike has moderate torpor drain so you'll want crossbow tranqs from high ground or a cliff keep those narcotics ready I've lost tames before because I got cocky and walked away thinking the torpor would hold it won't maybe for a parasaur but not a trike basically the torpor drops faster than you'd think so babysit it or you'll wake up to an empty taming pen and a very angry dinosaur and that's a mistake you only make once trust me I've been there ugh. Anyway for berry farming just ride through swamps and forests one lap around the swamp fills 500 plus mejoberries which is essential for narcotics production you get the idea. And for early PvP the trike charge breaks wooden doors and doorframes it's not exactly a raid mount or whatever but it's useful for soaking tower aggro with its high health pool imo
Taming Strategy
Alright so you want to tame a trike without getting flattened honestly it's not that hard once you know the trick the classic trap is a 2x2 stone foundation with doorframes all around and a ramp on one side just aggro the trike run up the ramp hop out through a doorframe and now the trike is stuck walking in circles pretty much foolproof I've done this so many times it's basically muscle memory at this point. But here's the thing people always mess up torpor management the trike's torpor drains faster than you'd think so you need to babysit it bring at least twice as many narcotics as you think you need I've found that biotoxin works way better than narcotics if you can get your hands on some. And for the love of god don't use stimberries thinking they work like narcotics seen too many newbies make that mistake also aim for the body not the head the head has damage reduction on trikes so you're just wasting tranqs shooting at that giant frill kind of counterintuitive I know but that's ARK for you sometimes the obvious target isn't the right one and tbh you'll figure it out after your first few failed tames like I did
Best Uses
So what do you actually do with a trike once you've tamed it berry farming is the obvious answer and honestly it's the main reason you tame one a single swamp run on a trike fills your inventory with hundreds of mejoberries and narcoberries in like two minutes you basically never run out of narcotics again which is sort of a game changer for crafting and taming other creatures. But the trike is more than just a berry mule I mean in PvE it's a really solid early base guard park a couple around your base and they'll handle raptor packs without breaking a sweat they can even stall a carno long enough for you to grab your real weapons the charge attack staggers stuff which is super underrated IMO lemme tell you. And for PvP the trike has a niche role it can soak turret bullets with its decent health pool and the charge attack breaks wooden structures not exactly a raid meta mount but for early game server life it can open doors literally and figuratively. Also you know what else it's actually a pretty decent thatch harvester if you're still in the wood base phase and need thatch for early structures the trike's secondary attack gathers it way faster than picking by hand basically the trike is your early game Swiss army knife not the best at any one thing but useful for a lot of things and that's honestly what makes it worth taming every single playthrough
Comparison With Similar Creatures
People always ask whether they should tame a trike or a stego and honestly it depends on what you need the stego is tankier no question it has higher base health and the hardened plate mode gives it serious damage reduction. But the stego is slow like painfully slow and it can't charge the trike feels way more mobile in comparison against the parasaur the trike wins in pretty much every category except speed the parasaur is faster and has that alarm ability which is nice for scouting but for actual berry gathering the trike blows it out of the water. And an iguanodon is an interesting alternative it gathers berries almost as well as a trike and it has infinite stamina when running on all fours which is honestly amazing for long trips but the iguanodon has zero combat ability beyond a basic kick if a raptor jumps you on an iguanodon you're running or dying on a trike you just charge it into next week. So for pure utility the iguanodon might edge it out but for a creature that can gather and fight and defend your base the trike is still the better all rounder IMO. Anyway the therizinosaurus is technically in the same herbivore category but that thing is a whole different league and way harder to tame so not really a fair comparison for early game and who knows maybe you'll fall in love with your trike and keep it way longer than you planned I sure did with mine
Breeding Tips
Breeding trikes is worth it if you plan to use them long term the incubation temperature range is 26 to 30 degrees Celsius which is pretty forgiving you can hatch eggs in most starting areas without any air conditioners just drop a few standing torches around the egg and you're good. So for mutations the two stats you really want are health and melee damage health because a tankier trike survives longer in base defense and turret soaking roles melee because more damage means faster berry gathering faster thatch harvesting and harder hitting charges. And stamina mutations are nice to have but not worth chasing unless you're doing some kind of marathon berry run or whatever weight mutations can help too since you fill up fast when gathering berries. But honestly though don't go crazy breeding trikes unless you really love them most players upgrade to a therizinosaurus or a bronto for farming by mid game still a well bred imprinted trike with a few health and melee mutations is an absolute beast in the early to mid game if you're playing PvP on a boosted server where early raids are common breeding a line of mutant trikes is actually a pretty underrated strategy in my experience the imprint bonus makes a noticeable difference on the charge damage so try to get that imprint to 100% if you can and honestly the baby trikes are kind of adorable too so there's that
Pro Tips
Here are some things I wish I knew when I first started taming trikes so trikes get a pack bonus when near other trikes similar to wolves but less powerful having two or three trikes together gives them a slight damage buff so don't just tame one if you're using them for base defense tame a small herd and park them together. Also the charge attack does knockback to most medium creatures and even some large ones you can use this to push raptors off cliffs or into your base traps it's surprisingly fun once you get the timing down and I've literally spent hours just yeeting raptors off ledges not gonna lie. And don't sleep on the trike as a narcotics farming machine one trike plus one chemistry bench equals unlimited tranq arrows for your whole tribe split your narcoberry stacks with spoiled meat and you'll never need to buy narcotics again. But if you're taming a high level trike and running low on tranqs you can kite it through natural terrain lead it through dense trees or around big rocks its turning radius is terrible so you can buy yourself time to reload and shoot honestly saved my butt more times than I can count. So you know the trike saddle at level 16 is one of the earliest mid tier saddles in the game that means you can ride a trike way before you can ride a stego at level 30 or a mammoth at level 31 this timing alone makes the trike one of the most impactful early tames in the game basically you should have a trike tamed and saddled by level 20 at the latest if you're past level 25 and still walking everywhere you're doing it wrong and your tribe is probably wondering what you've been doing with your time lol