Release the Kraken: Taming Tusoteuthis in ARK

Looking to nab one of the five snazzy new creatures introduced in ARK: Survival Evolved’s patch 253? We’ve already covered the thieving pegomastax, aquatic cnidaria, and elusive troodon, so now its time to take a look at the very hard-to-spell tusoteuthis.

While the smaller cnidaria jellyfish can’t be tamed (but can be harvested for useful materials), the gigantic tusoteuthis squid can be convinced to join your retinue of dino companions and lend a helping tentacle during underwater escapades. Ready to release the kraken?

Getting Ready To Tame Tusoteuthis

Actually managing to tame one of these giant squid requires quite a bit of prep ahead of time, not the least of which is acquiring the engrams necessary for underwater survival and having a tamed aquatic mount already.

Next up is finding the tusoteuthis, which will require some searching through dangerous areas. These squid greatly dislike shallow water, so you need to dive deep to get one, and they typically hang out in caves or near cave entrances instead of open water.

Before getting started, you may want to bring around a few tribe members, as tusoteuthis taming is much easier as a two-man job than done solo all by your lonesome.

 Might be ugly, but he’s a useful companion!

Tusoteuthis Taming Strategy

Taming a giant squid is quite a bit different than many creatures released in previous updates. First you have to lure the tusoteuthis into latching onto something else — usually your current underwater mount — while a brave soul feeds black pearls into the squid’s exposed mouth.

The taming process can only be begun (and increased) while something is being held in its tentacles. If you try to feed a squid while it is swimming idly, you are either going to be ignored or attacked, and the timer won’t budge.

Before you even try any sneaky workarounds — the creature being used as bait can’t be unconscious or drowned. This means that eventually your mount is going to die as the tusoteuthis attacks, so its very likely (depending the level difference between the two creatures) that you will need multiple sacrificial dinos to fully tame a wild tusoteuthis.

Sorry pal, but we really want this squid.

Your best bet is two or three tamed carbonemys (the large turtles with the spiked shells) because they won’t drown and have decently high health to survive being mangled by a tusoteuthis.

Any creature of a comparable size that can survive underwater will work, however, so if you’ve already got a different high level aquatic beast on hand, go ahead and give it a shot. Keep in mind that you can’t re-mount your tame dino while it’s being held by the squid.

To start the taming timer you have to place black pearls into the squid’s beak area, which only becomes exposed when the tentacles are engaged by grappling. The number of pearls required and amount of time the squid needs to be grappling your poor tamed creature will be entirely dependent on its level.

After feeding a stack of pearls, there will be a cool down timer before feeding any more will have an effect, which is why its useful to have two or more players ready nearby with fresh mounts to offer up as distractions.

Here’s where you need to deposit those pearls!

Going Further Into ARK

There’s a whole lot more to this massive early access game than just giant squid! Whether newcomer or ARK veteran, we’ve got you covered with our master list of guides for all aspects of the game:

• How to survive the first few hours of ARK
• Best ARK weapons for beginners
• Best mounts in ARK: Survival Evolved
• Why you should try ARK with an Extinction server
• Most terrifying ARK dinos
• How to build new tribes
• Stealing and hatching wyvern eggs
• Mods to spice up your ARK experience