Raptor

The Utahraptor (You-tah-RAP-tor) or simply Raptor is one of the dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Behavior
Raptors may not be the most physically intimidating of animals, but their relatively small size, intelligence, range and mobility make them by far the most successful and effective predator of humans and other "small" wildlife in the entire game. They attack almost anything, even creatures many times their size on sight, and have felled more survivors than any of their competitors. They often attack with a "run-and-bite" strategy and can pounce at smaller targets than itself or of equal size holding the target down making them unable to move, making it difficult to defend against an onslaught. A dangerous predator to encounter in the dark, Raptors are nearly impossible to fend off when attacking in packs and aided by darkness. The Raptors often attack from different directions, using this method to take down prey while avoiding damage. Due to their high speed and ability to vocalize for pack buff (if in a pack of 3 or more), they are hard to flee from during a player's early levels, and it is advised to make for deep water (or just deep enough water that you can be just out of reach) if attempting to flee an attack or run behind a door and immediately shut it.

Appearance
The Raptor is a relatively small dinosaur with feathers on the head, back, tail, and on the backs of the arms. They come in a variety of colors, although green and reddish brown seem to be the most common, while the rarest color variation is black.

Tek Raptor (Variant)
The Tek Raptor is a creature that was permanently added to the game in the Extinction Chronicles III event. It is a unique alternate of the original Raptor, and is purely made of Tek. Unlike the original, they spawn at a 5% rate at a 20% higher level than usual.

Drops
Raptor, Aberrant Raptor=

Tek Raptor=

Corrupted Raptor=

Base Stats and Growth
Raptor=

Aberrant Raptor=

Corrupted Raptor=

KO Strategy
Start with a thrown Bola to keep it from pursuing you. Once it's immobile, use Tranquilizer Arrows (headshots result in quicker knockouts). Do this carefully; it should not take very many. Once it is unconscious, use Narcotic. Narcotics and Prime Meat will tame it more efficiently. Narcoberries and Raw Meat also work. Keep a sharp lookout for other Raptors as they often come in groups, and for other predators, as they are frequently found in high-traffic areas; unless you have a large herd of supporting dinos or a number of tribemates to help out, you may have to take the time to find an isolated Raptor, which can take a long time, or kill off the extra creatures.When a raptor is alone, wait for it to kill another dino and tranq it while it is feeding on the corpse.

Alpha Boost
When in pack of 3 or more, the Raptor of the highest level in the group gets the Alpha boost for 45 seconds upon making use of vocalization. The Alpha has a glowing red cloud around it to indicate its status whereas the rest have an orange cloud next to themselves. Tamed Raptors also have a bonus for each member of the pack : so a pack of three Raptors or more will receive a +1 Bonus, which will go up to +X in a Group of X+1 or more Raptors (max amount of X is 4).

Combat
They run fast and attack faster, so be prepared for a quick reaction, usually a player with good speed and stamina can outrun them, but be aware, they can be persistent. Always check the Raptor's surroundings and be prepared, they have a good visual range. Raptors can also pounce upon survivors and their smaller tames. Is not often recommended to fight a pack of wild raptor with a low level tamed one, as your raptor will be outnumbered and pounced upon whilst you are hopelessly strangled by other members of the pack

General
Raptors can often be found in packs of two or more, depending on the zone you will find them close to the shores, or deep in the jungle.

Strategy
The best strategy is to keep distance or heavily engage with them, depending on your stats, armor and weaponry. At first you may want to avoid them. One trick is to run to a herd of s, s etc. and get the Raptors to hit and aggro them by accident, making a diversion or a means to gather lots of meat and hide. If a Raptor is a low level, a can easily kill it, but beware, if they are in a pack of two or more, this strategy will not work! A way to kill high level ones, or two or more Raptors is to have a good climber, like a, or a flyer. Then climb onto a big rock, as they are good jumpers, from there, shoot it with a, , etc. It should die fairly quickly.

Also, make sure the Raptor is not glowing red. If it is, that's an Alpha Raptor!

Weaponry
One well placed headshot with a Crossbow can take out a Raptor with a level between 1-20. Since they are fast, try to make them run in a straight line and be ready for shooting. A full set of hide armor or other armor stronger than cloth armor and any weapon will also do.

Dangers
Raptors can be dangerous if they reach you from behind, eventually you will learn to recognize their steps on the ground and start running before this happens. If you or your dino are relatively smaller than them, they can pounce and render you immobile for some time. Extra caution must be taken when facing a, as it will always use the pounce when in combat. Try to take them out when they are engaged with some big animal if you want to easily kill them, just don't hit the bigger animal!

Weakness
Raptors have a very low Torpor tolerance, you can try to knock them out with a few punches if you have a high melee damage stat. Wild Raptors also make for awkward swimmers, and even a relatively ill-equipped survivor with a basic spear can lure them into the shoreline as a tide-turning last resort.

If they have immobilized a target, they can't attack any other dino until they hop off the said target, making them vulnerable should there not be any other Raptors nearby.

Utility
They can be useful and lightweight for traveling, as far as their Stamina lasts, you may want to increase their Stamina if you want them for transport, or their health and attack damage if you want them to assist you on combat. They gather about the same or slightly more material per carcass compared to a Stone Pick, but finish gathering faster.

They can also pounce onto smaller targets to temporarily immobilize them (and to kill them). If a survivor is on a certain mounted dino, Raptors can also knock them off their mount and immobilize them.

The following creatures can be immobilized by its pounce ability:

Note: Can only pounce in its small form.

The following mounts that a Raptor can knock a player off of:

The following additional creatures on ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile can be immobilized by its pounce ability:

Roles

 * Damage: A quick attacker with decent damage that can easily circle slower enemies, the Raptor makes for a good attack animal early on. It lacks the health and raw damage of the and  however. (Health and Melee Damage).
 * Hunter: Similar to Damage, the Raptor is useful for collecting and  once you have a saddle. Though metal weapons tend to deal more damage, the raptor's raw speed allows you to run from an unsuitable fight. (Health and Melee Damage).
 * Hunting/Battle Pack: In a pack of 3 or more, the pack leader can temporarily vocalize for pack buff towards all others for 45 seconds(Level Damage and Health to all Raptors, with Stamina, Carry Weight, Melee Damage and Health added to the one ridden).
 * Travel: Raptors are very fast, and make for good mounts for quick travel around the island. They cannot carry much, however, so they make for poor pack animals. They do carry a perk over flying mounts in that they can cover a lot of ground without much rest for stamina regeneration, and can hide in the forests and tall foliage if one wants to travel unnoticed. (Level Speed, Stamina, and Carry Weight).
 * Light Cavalry Mount: With the advent of the ability to use melee weapons like Pikes and firearms like the Assault Rifle from the back of medium to small sized mounts, the Raptor can be very useful as a flanking cavalry mount by sprinting in and having the rider fire at close range or by allowing a sniper to rapidly circle around the enemy, fire, and then reposition or escape. Another particularly effective method is to use a Fabricated Sniper Rifle while at a distance, but you do need to be careful not to shoot your own Raptor in the head, and dive in and out of thick forest cover. This combines the effectiveness of long range with the speed and agility the raptor can provide, while not exposing the shooter like a flying mount would. If chased, just dart into the thicker forest and laugh as the enemy tries and likely fails to find you as you outrun all of their land mounts but can use the trees for cover against airborne threats. (Level Health, Stamina, and Speed, with Carry Weight as needed).
 * Cave Mount: s can be seen as an upgrade of the Raptor in terms of strength (in previous versions, now - Raptor is stronger), but it turns out that Sabertooths have difficulty with attacking airborne creatures because of their extremely low hit box and the fact that their jumps lack vertical reach. They can hardly handle a swarm of s. Raptors have no problems hitting Onycs however, and are therefore the better choice. But you must keep an eye on your own health since airborne creatures deal damage to the rider, unless you ride a . Having a mount in caves has several advantages: Your food and water count drop slower, the mount can carry useful stuff, and they deal and take damage (Level Health, Damage, and Stamina).
 * Early Prime Meat Hunter: As one of the first prime meat gatherer available for a player Raptor can hunt alone or in a very effective team with . In the second case you just need to command the to Hunt and Retrieve small creatures like s and  and the Raptor will do the butchering.
 * PvP: In PvP, Raptors are far better than any other fast small creatures, because they can pounce on a target and completely immobilize a player.
 * Jumping: The jump is small and short but can help go downhill so long as you're moving. The pounce can be used after immediately jumping for a slightly higher jump to get on top of a rock a human can almost get to. You can use it while falling but to no effect.
 * Escape Vehicle: Raptors are very dangerous creatures that can take down many threats, but thanks to their high speed they can outrun something that is too difficult for them, allowing players to use them for a quick getaway.

Notes/Trivia

 * s are not able to pounce or vocalize, likely because this would be too powerful.
 * Like many other dromaeosaurs, it is believed that Utahraptor did not use its sickle claw as a slashing weapon, but rather for pinning its prey to the ground (this is due to the very thick profile of the claw). Dromaeosaurs such as Utahraptor, Velociraptor, and  likely used their sickle claw to hold onto struggling prey while primarily using their teeth to deal injuries, while flapping their feathered wings to keep themselves balanced (similar to a bird of prey).
 * On the PS4, the Tek Raptor may still jump even if it is encumbered.
 * The species of Utahraptor ostrommaysorum was first studied and named after the release of the movie Jurassic Park, in which a similar dinosaur was erroneously called Velociraptor. (Although it should be noted that part of the movie's plot was that dinosaurs made for the park were based on pop culture representations rather than science, a theme actually repeated in this game as well). The actual Velociraptor mongoliensis was about the size of a large turkey, and have only been found in Mongolia. The dinosaur from Jurassic Park was being excavated in the Badlands of Montana, while Utahraptor ostrommaysorum was discovered in the Dalton Wells Quarry of east-central Utah.
 * Despite the Raptors in ARK being identified as a species within the genus Utahraptor, the skull seen in its dossier is of Velociraptor rather a member of the subfamily Dromaeosaurinae, which Utahraptor belongs to. The Raptor's in-game model, however, resembles Achillobator giganticus or dakotaraptor steini.
 * Raptors often kill themselves by attacking stronger herbivores even with temporary pack boost. Some herbivores can even take out whole packs.
 * The name of the Utahraptor means originally approximately "Utah plunderer".
 * Raptors can be seen as the mascots of ARK. They appear in much of the promotional artwork and in one of the in-game holiday events.
 * The Raptors in-game are depicted with only a few feathers, while their real-world counterparts would have had a full coat over their body, similar to the appearance of the Therizinosaur
 * The Name "Utahraptor prime" translates into "best Utah plunderer".
 * Raptors received a major update during TLC Phase 2 that gave them a pack boost effect (similar to ), and the ability to pounce on and immobilize smaller creatures and survivors for the kill, similar to the.
 * Raptors utilize one of the older voice pack for pack boost vocalization.
 * In ARK, the hands and clawed fingers on the Raptor's arms point downwards, whereas in real life, the hands of Raptors pointed inwards towards the chest, and had the best mobility moving side to side rather than up and down. If real Raptors hands were rotated like the ones in ARK, their wrists would be broken.
 * Raptors has been one of the main cause of deaths for all survivors, with the total leading of 62,257 kills, followed by with 30,715 and  by 24,686.
 * This applies to all maps but Extinction, with its main death cause at #5.
 * Sound effects for the Raptor were taken and modified from Jurassic Park.
 * Raptors are immune to a 's dive bomb attack.
 * There is a small window of opportunity for players to dodge a Raptor's pounce attack by performing a jump, though it is difficult to accomplish.
 * In the TLC Pass Three trailer, the raptor made noises.
 * Since the release of Genesis: Part 1 Wild Raptors were rendered unable to pounce with the exception of its Aberrant Variant.
 * The Corrupted Raptor bears a striking resemblance to a classic Jurassic Park raptor, with naked scaly skin and brown scales. Although of course, being corrupted, it's tail and backside are wrecked.

Lore

 * In Mei Yin's explorer notes, Mei Yin had a black raptor named "Wuzhui".