Megaloceros

The Megaloceros (meg-ah-loe-seh-ross) is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Behavior
The Megaloceros is a passive creature. When attacked, it runs away with high speed. Females are 25% faster than males and both can jump over obstacles that are one wall tall. However, once tamed and mounted, only males can attack.

Appearance
Also known as the Irish Elk or the Giant Deer, the Megaloceros simply resembles a standard deer, except as big as a horse. Megaloceros stags are recognizable by their impressive antlers, used for tussling with each other for the antlerless does. It is only found in the ARK's coldest regions where it is the most common herbivore and thus, regular prey for dire wolves and sabertooth cats, and the redwoods, where it sees the same fate as the tundra dwellers.

KO Strategy
They can be picked up by an Argentavis (needs PvP or option "Allow Flyer Carry (PvE)"), making it easy to put it in a small box with windows to shoot arrows through, so they can't escape. They are also susceptible to bolas, so you can bola a lower level one and club it into unconsciousness.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Megaloceros.

General
The Megaloceros will flee from a fight when attacked, rather than fighting. This trait makes them difficult to kill, as it may be hard to shoot them while they are running. If you have one tamed then they have good damage and is stronger than the.

Strategy
Try to chase the Megaloceros against a steep cliff. If you walk up directly behind it, it will try to run up the cliff instead of fleeing to either side leaving it open to your attacks. Try to angle yourself in relation to the cliff so that you drive the Megaloceros up the steepest area which should limit its movement options. This is most easily accomplished near the beach. Megaloceros are also relatively slow swimmers so chasing them into the water is viable. Bolas are also extremely effective.

Weaponry
They don’t exactly have the highest health on the island so using guns is a viable option. You could also attempt to chase it down with a high speed Raptor or simply use a bola and use whatever you want.

Dangers
In the wild the Megaloceros is not a danger on its own. However they are fast and can grab the attention of more aggressive carnivores such as Terror Birds and Dire Wolves.

The bleed attack mentioned in the dossier is not of any risk, since it can be only induced by tamed Megaloceros, as wild ones run when attacked.

Weakness
Both male and female Megaloceros are skittish and will run when provoked.

Once you tame a Megaloceros, if it is a female and has a saddle, it can not attack.

Roles

 * Gatherer: The Male Megaloceros is good for farming thatch while running through the woods, as it gathers very little wood. You should have no weight issues and should be able to easily farm 1000 thatch in a single run. It's also good for farming Rare Mushrooms in the Swamp (Level Weight and Melee Damage).
 * Scout/Transport: The female Megaloceros has a very respectable speed, carry weight, and is extremely agile with its great leaping ability. However, the female does not have an attack, so there is no sense leveling up attack damage (Level Speed, Stamina, and Weight).
 * Cave Mount: Megaloceros are one of the strongest mountable creatures being able to pass a cave entrance. 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. Additionally, Megaloceros take reduced damage from airborne creatures, which is a very unique feature. You can wear armor protecting you from heat or cold and Onycs won't shred it, since they deal no damage to you but to your Megaloceros instead. Note that only male Megaloceros deal damage. Beware of lava though (Level Health, Melee Damage, and Stamina).
 * Travel: The Megaloceros has amazing speed and jump speed and is easy to get so it can get through most terrains. It’s probably the best travel mount other than the Bloodstalker or Rex. (Level Weight, Stamina and Speed)
 * Jumping: The Megaloceros can jump over obstacles that are one wall tall.
 * Escape Vehicle: Because of their fast and high speed Megaloceeos are a great way to quickly escape from danger.

Notes/Trivia

 * Dossier released on 9/4/2015
 * The binomial name means "broad-crowned great horn", but the specific epithet is constructed incorrectly; it should be either laticoronarius or laticoronatus.
 * In real life, Megaloceros is referred to by the common name 'Irish Elk', although they were distributed all across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is also referred to by another common name, the 'Giant Elk'. It is also important to know that the Irish Elk was just one of many species of deer inside the Megaloceros genus.
 * It is important to note that while the female Megaloceros is 25% faster than the male it can not attack as it lacks the antlers of the male to do so with. Keep this in mind if you intend on taming a pair to Mate Boost.
 * In real life, male deer may use their antlers as weapons against other animals. However, both male and female deer more commonly use their front hooves to kick and bludgeon an offenser. In fact, deer of various species have been documented to wound or even kill predators and people, whether for self-preservation or for defending a baby. This attack mechanism is not present in either of the sexes of Megaloceros in game.
 * The female Megaloceros has invisible antlers, something to be aware of when taming.
 * During the Winter Wonderland Event, Megaloceros wander the whole island freely because of the lower temperatures and snowy weather. It can be given a special event costume made in the Smithy that can make it look like a Christmas reindeer.
 * Female Megaloceros was the fastest thing in the game while jumping. She can even outrun an . (Fastest thing no jump)
 * This title however, is overtaken by with the release of Extinction.
 * The brute megaloceros females can attack even though they lack antlers.
 * The bleed mentioned in the dossier wasn't implemented until patch 300.0.