Summary
Withseveral visually impressive creaturesavailable as shoulder mounts inARK: Survival Ascended, the novelty of owning one has quickly become a dire necessity for many players. From brightly colored lizards with vibrant plumage to fluffy mammals, each shoulder pet comes with unique attributes that can assist the player.
While a number ofARK: Survival Ascended’s shoulder pets are great for PvE, helping the player by carrying items, taking out wild dinosaurs, and clearing caves, PvP’ers also have a few options to choose from if looking for an adorable ally to assist in defeating enemy players. While each critter is useful in its own way, the truth is that some shoulder pets have stronger abilities than others.
8Compy
An Adorable Early-Game Backpack
Foundthroughout The Islandin small packs, Compys are cute little lizards that liketo swarm unsuspecting players. While they aren’t as strong as other shoulder pets, having extremely low health, weight, and melee stats, Compys can function as decent pack mules. With the ability to half their weight while on the player’s shoulder, a Compy with enough points pumped into its weight can act as a neat little backpack.
Compys also have access to a pack boost when surrounded by their kin, giving each of the pack members an increase in damage. Therefore, taming many Compys can be useful in the early levels for farming Dodos and other smaller creatures. Alternatively, Compys can make a great visual addition to any home.
7Pegomastax
The Perfect PvP Pickpocket
While the Pegomastax’s existence serves as an annoyancefor many new players, the tiny thief has a unique set of abilities that can be used to deal with unsuspecting enemies. In the wild, Pegomastax will frequently steal from players, making off with food, ammo, and even precious loot. When tamed, this stealing expertise comes in handy for dealing with enemy players. A friendly Pegomastax can be directed to steal from opponents, robbing them of their spare ammo, causing a distraction, and hindering enemy players.
In addition to its thievery, the Pegomastax can act as a backpack, halving its total weight while carried. With a unique appearance, the Pegomastax makes for an unusual-looking shoulder pet, sure to garner the interest of other players.
6Hesperornis
A Great Egg-Laying Companion
Female Hesperornis, in particular, make great shoulder pets as they have a small chance of laying the rare golden egg, asought-after resource for craftingExtraordinary Kibble. After killing and eating 5 fish, the female Hesperornis will lay either a normal, Hesperornis Egg or the Golden Hesperornis Egg.
The Golden Hesperornis Egg provides a significant 500% experience boost to small dinosaurs, such as the Troodon, while larger dinos will get a very slight 10% boost. Egg-laying abilities aside, Hesperornis make fantastic fishers, able to kill fish such as the Coelacanth in a single bite.
5Ichthyornis
Steals From Enemy Players
Hated by many of theARK: Survival Ascendedcommunity, Ichthyornis haunt the beaches of The Island, attacking and stealing from players. However, similar to the Pegomastax, this annoying trait can be used against enemy players to cause a distraction by stealing items, disarming opponents, and dealing small amounts of damage.
Additionally, much like the Hesperornis, the Ichthyornis is a fantastic fisher, able to hunt and retrieve fish for the player to harvest. Using an Ichthyornis to fetch fish can be a good method for taming Otters, another shoulder pet.
4Mesopithecus
A Feces-Flinging Lockpicker
An adorable monkey with feces-flinging expertise, the Mesopithecus is a goofy creature with utility in both PvE and PvP. In PvP, the Mesopithecus can bethrown into enemy basesto lockpick wood and thatch doors from the inside, opening up an opponent’s base either for looting or an easy attack.
In PvE, the Mesopithecus aids the player by flinging feces at aggressive dinosaurs, poisoning and slowing them. Lastly, the mini-monkey halves its total weight while carried, making it an effective backpack much like the Compy, but with additional abilities.
3Microraptor
Dismounts The Opposition
The Microraptor is a shoulder pet that lacks use in PvE outside of being a very pretty shoulder mount but excels in PvP. It’s very likely that every player in theARK: Survival Ascendedcommunity has at some point experienced being dismounted by a Microraptor, either leading to a very quick death or the loss of their dino.
The small raptor’s ability to dismount players can be used once tamed, too, making the Microraptor extremely effective at knocking opponents from the safety of their mounts and into the waiting jaws of an allied dino.
2Otter
Keeps The Player Warm While Looking Cute
A highly sought-after shoulder mount bythe collective PvE community, the Otter is an extremely cute shoulder companion with equally adorable animations. Wrapping around the player’s shoulders, the Otter provides insulation, protecting the survivor against cold weather.
On top of this, the Otter can collect Silica Pearls and Black Pearls from fish, two very useful materials for crafting late-game gear. As if being cute, acting as mobile insulation, and collecting pearls wasn’t enough, the Otter will also attack any aggressive wild dinos if they are close enough to the player. Plus, the player can even dress the Otter in an assortment of hats.
1Dimorphodon
The Ultimate Caving Shoulder Companion
The Dimorphodon is a jack-of-all-trades shoulder pet with many uses in both PvP and PvE. Able to directly attack a mounted player makes the Dimorphodon a huge threat in player-versus-player combat. Plus, due to its small hitbox, tight turning circle, and flightiness, the Dimorphodon can be incredibly difficult to deal with while riding a large dinosaur, often requiring the player to dismount and deal with the winged lizard personally.
In PvE, this combination of attributes makes the Dimorphodon great at taking out Alpha Dinos, being able to avoid hits while dealing damage. A pack of Dimorphodons can therefore be an effective method of farming Alpha Rex. As a small creature, the Dimorphodon is a good dino to bring into the North-West Cave, a very small cave that most dinosaurs cannot fit into. Leveling the health stat on a Dimorphodon is essential if the player is hoping to use it as a battle dino.
