Gasbags

The Gasbags is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved and a native to the Extinction, Genesis: Part 1, and Genesis: Part 2 maps.

Behavior
It acts Docile towards players and creatures unless it is attacked, as it may bite (though its attack is incredibly weak), blast gas, or take flight. It will attempt to scare away predators by puffing itself up but if this doesn't work it will try and flee by floating away. Gasbags naturally make sure they are inflated at all times in anticipation of a threat.

Appearance
It looks similar in appearance to a massive plump caterpillar/cow hybrid or tardigrade with a wide, bulbous body that is divided into four segments. It walks on six short, plump legs. Its head is sunken into the body and is small and features a beak, with two oval shaped eyes and two horn-like antennae with a small patch of fur between them. The front-most segment of its body is wrinkled around the head and appears to have a coarse patch of fur. Its back is dappled sparsely with what appear to be small, round armor plates or gas chambers. Its belly is augmented with a porous element membrane, from which it ejects gas previously inhaled from the air. When it puffs itself up, all its segmented regions swell up to a size around two times larger, while the head remains the same size.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Gasbags.

General
Gasbags are typically docile creatures unless attacked, and will flee rather quickly by jetting away. They may also blast gas out of its Tek meshing on its belly to blow away aggressors.

Strategy
Any hunting strategy will do to bring down a Gasbags, given enough time and patience. Their only valid response will be to flee, and because they blast away quite far and quickly, it can be hard to catch up lest the survivor or a tame is fast enough. However, when fully puffed with air, they take 80% less, so it is important to not allow this. They will slowly lose air when being hit, but a simple way is to shoot them in the head while they are puffing up, which causes them to deflate, preventing escape, and usually ensuring a kill.

Weaponry
Since a Gasbags will try to flee from an attacking player, ranged weapons such as the and the, or swift tamed creatures such as an  are advised.

Dangers
Gasbags will sometimes bite the player with very low damage. Although, their only danger is, should they puff up and jet you with their gas, you may land next to more dangerous creatures or fall down a ditch. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Weakness
When frozen they lose all damage reduction. As mentioned before, shooting them in the head while they are puffing up also causes them to deflate and lose their damage reduction.

KO Strategy
There are several ways of knocking out Gasbags.
 * Luring it into an enclosed trap made of mostly ceilings and doorframes. This may either require or.

It is worth noting that Gasbags are more prone to being knocked out while they are not inflated. There are several ways of deflating Gasbags while its inhaling air.
 * Freezing it with either, or  (Titans will most definitely kill it however)
 * Shooting a projectile at its face.

Should it be successful at deflating the air, the Gasbags will immediately jump up in shock rather than blasting its stored air upwards.

Roles

 * Aberration Bus: This animal can be transferred to the Aberration map. In combination with a, it makes it easy to search for drops and leave the map. In addition, in the presence of a large amount of oxygen, you can fully navigate the map, carrying a huge amount of resources, and even carry an extra passenger with you. Moreover, in some cases Gasbags is even better than a for navigation and getting from one place to another. Gasbags can rise vertically upwards.  is also able to climb high - but it does not curl in the air, and cannot correct its flight, plus it uses tons of stamina. For improvement - only  (for comfort flying - 11000-13000 oxygen). Keep in mind that Gasbags do suffer from  poisoning and will die in the Red Zone if stayed there too long.
 * Pack Mule: The Gasbags will be used to transport materials in the field and back to base. An example would be if you are collecting and you have no tames but your Gasbags, in which case you could load it up and take it around whilst farming  as it can carry a obscene amounts of resources, easily surpassing the  weight capacity by a large amount as a base number. There are three stats to consider leveling on a Gasbags based on your needs. Some  is essential to allow the Gasbags to fly for much longer periods of time without potential landings in hostile territory.  actually increases the flight speed of the Gasbags which will allow it to fly faster. In unison with leveling oxygen, this can allow the Gasbags to reach crazy lengths of flight. Leveling  sounds appealing but should only be done as an added luxury; the weight increase per level is fairly small and often times the amount of weight already present is sufficient. If you're in a hostile environment and are subject to being harassed on the move, consider some  as well.

Note: The Gasbags will not take fall damage from falling unless it is very low or empty on gas. The Gasbags can always be dismounted before hitting the ground to negate the fall damage. In the event that dismounting is impossible, the most damage that the Gasbags can take from fall damage is about 40% of its max health.
 * Tank: When bloated with air, the Gasbags takes 80% less making it useful for tanking, taming, , and raids. All one has to do is fill up the gas capacity to 100% and try to maintain that full inflation so the reduction in damage is applied. Against ranged weapons and projectiles, do not let the head get shot as this will cause the Gasbags to deflate, making it quite vulnerable. The Gasbags is also one of the best turret soakers in the game. When soaking turrets, make sure to have the creature with its back side faced towards them, as this will prevent the Gasbag's head from getting shot as well as the survivor mounting it. The Gasbags can also be equipped with the  to further increase the damage reduction. On top of all of this, if a situation becomes hairy, one can easily flee quickly in contrast to almost every other tanking creature out there. Depending on the specific job, one can optimize the leveling to their needs. Generally though, pumping  and  is needed to increase its tanking capabilities and  is needed for helping the Gasbags tank for longer as it constantly breaths in air.  can also be valuable to allow quicker walking and flying.
 * Troll: Surprisingly, the Gasbags makes for a hilarious troll thanks to its tertiary, gas blast attack. Though this does no, it does incredible knockback to survivors and creatures, sending them a significant distance. If one does get blasted, they will be granted the Gassed effect which makes a player gassed by a Gasbags immune to fall damage until he/she touches the ground. Though this means that you can't kill unfortunate victims with fall damage, one can still use the gas blast attack to harass at large. One can even troll practically by knocking back survivors and tames down ditches where they can't easily get out, into a dangerous area full of dangerous creatures, wild or tamed, or just for the heck of enraging other players.
 * Travel / Scout: As stated with the role of 'Aberration Bus', the Gasbags is a great mount to use on any map in order to get around, as it can float and blast gas to fly to avoid most threats and travel comfortable over immense distances, so long as it has sufficient oxygen. The Gasbags can also be a viable scout, as it can be tamed and used without a saddle very early in the game and has good mobility in the air. This allows a survivor to quickly get to any area and leave if need be. It is also important to note that the Gasbags can also carry an one extra rider if its saddle is equipped, making . Level, , and and  if need be.
 * Pet: Despite being a very large creature, Gasbags could be considered a very good pet to have do to their cute appearance, and the adorable sounds they make.

Notes/Trivia

 * The species name for the Gasbags, fluitobesus, roughly translates to "fat floater". The genus name, Mopsechiniscus, is a real world genus name that contains six south hemispheric species, with the species, Mopsechiniscus franciscae, which is also an Antarctic species, being the most studied one.
 * Killing a Gasbags will grant one.
 * Real Tardigrades are rather small, crossing the lines between microscopic and macroscopic, and ranging from 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm in length. This makes it rather strange as to how the Gasbags got so large, though clues given range from the wildly different characteristics of the Gasbags like a gas bladder and hair, to the that has integrated itself into the creature's belly.
 * When inflated and in water, the Gasbags will want to rise to the surface and float, similarly to the though to not such an extreme degree, as it can still swim deeper. However, if the Gasbags is fully deflated, it will sink.
 * Despite being listed as an omnivore in its dossier, the Gasbags does not consume meat.
 * A Gasbags equipped with a can hold two players; one can ride on the front of the back while one other player can sit in the saddle seat farther down the back.
 * The "Gassed" status effect granted by a Gasbags will provide immunity to fall damage.
 * Perhaps having the most of any creature in the entire game, the Gasbags makes the ultimate carvaner and pack mule.
 * The Gasbags, like the can harvest nothing but trees, albeit very poorly.
 * The Gasbags cannot sprint, however it can still travel at high speeds due to its flying capabilities.
 * When leveling up, the Gasbags will do a quick side-spin midair.