Megalodon

The Megalodon (meg-ah-low-DON) is one of the creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved. It is a large, prehistoric shark. Its name comes from the Ancient Greek "megalos" (giant) "odon" (tooth).

Behavior
Megalodons will stay in the deeper waters unless attacking prey, but even then they rarely enter shallow areas. They are aggressive and can swim faster than most creatures, including the player. They also aggro on a player from a very long distance, therefore it is not uncommon that the player suddenly has to deal with multiple Megalodons at once.

Appearance
Resembling nothing less than a slightly oversized great white shark, Megalodon is the most common of the large and dangerous predators in the oceans of ARK. The ones in ARK appear to be based on the largest great white sharks to exist in real life such as Deep Blue, in contrast to the 'Carcharocles megalodon' for which it was named, which scientists believe could grow up to 52 feet in length.

Drops

 * Harvest


 * Guaranteed Special Loot

In ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile:

(as a reward for completing a Pursuit)

Taming Strategy

 * For taming, the best method is to tranquilize one or a few Megalodons which are enticed into shallow waters by swimming. Since the bow cannot be fired underwater, but can be fired into water for at least a short distance, an effective way to tame Megalodons is to tranquilize them in shallow waters with 10-30 Tranq arrows. One method of doing this is to build an elevated platform from which to fire arrows into the water. Keep in mind, this method will draw numerous Megalodons, which will occasionally swarm and target your tamed Megalodon, so bring plenty of arrows and be prepared to defend your new companion.


 * Chumming, which is killing a smaller fish and holding it in your hand while on the beach, or even just setting it on the beach, will attract any Megalodons in the area to it. They will swarm the beach trying to get to the fish.  Sometimes they will beach themselves and die. (This will not cause Megalodons to spawn if they are not in the area; so try to do it in places where you see them swimming off in the distance.)


 * Find a Megalodon in somewhat shallow waters, and then have another player aggro the Megalodon by stepping in and out of the water in their aggro range. While the other player does this, shoot it with s. Repeat until it is knocked unconscious. The rocks that are just under the water in the sea are a good taming spot for this. Stand on a shallow spot and the sharks will stick their heads out to attack you, allowing you to easily shoot them with a bow.


 * You can also tame one or several ichthyosaurus (which requires only meat) and swim them up into a river too shallow for the megalodon. The megalodons will group at the head of the river, usually partway out of the water.


 * A crossbow is useful in taming the Megalodon as it can be fired underwater, unlike the bow. Make sure that the Megalodon does not catch up to you, or he can deliver a devastating blow.
 * As you can fire a crossbow from the back of an, a bit of fancy riding can let you run circles around the Megalodon while shooting it. This also allows you to 'herd' it to where you want it to be knocked out, as it will start swimming away from you as its torpor nears max.


 * Using the Scorpion is another good tactic to knock out the Megalodon, since the scorpion can swim. Ride it and sting the shark, then back up out of range. Repeat this every ten seconds until the shark falls asleep.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Megalodon.

General
It is not recommended to full on engage a Megalodon in the water, but rather attack it from an advantageous position such as a raft, rock, the shore, or perhaps even a platform above or partially in the water.

Strategy
Make sure you see it coming! Escape if you cannot fight, or instigate the battle if ready. If you plan to engage a Megalodon via the shoreline, make sure you have either a Sword, Pike, or an adequate supply of Spears. Megalodons appear to lose interest in the player when the player is swimming in shallow water around the beaches. Thus, a very easy way to deal with even large groups of Megalodons is to lure them into the water around the beaches and repeatedly stab them until they die, as they will not attack the player. Just make sure that you keep an eye on your Stamina!

Weaponry
Ranged weapons such as the bow or Longneck Rifle can't be fired while swimming. Only the crossbow or harpoon gun can be used underwater, otherwise the player is left to a frantic stabbing battle with a pike or sword so make sure you bring a crossbow or harpoon gun if you plan to go underwater. Use a Longneck rifle or bow if you plan to fire at it from land, which is the safer option. Alternatively, if the player wishes to deal with Megalodons via the beaches, melee weapons such as Spears or a Pike are essential.

Dangers
The Megalodon has incredible range in terms of becoming aggressive (aggro range), so they will appear out of nowhere to chew upon the oblivious player when they enter the water. Do not become distracted when underwater, as such choices lead to death at the hands of an otherwise preventable killer.

Weakness
Megalodon can't go out of the water, so you could shoot it from above ground or from your raft.

Roles

 * Combat Specialist: The Megalodon may be small compared to the ocean giants like the Mosasaurus or Tusoteuthis, but appearances can be deceiving. Despite its size, a tamed megalodon is one of the most useful, and deadly means of damage in all of aquatic gameplay. What gives a tamed shark an edge on its wild counterparts and larger competitors, however, is not its stats, but in fact its access to Gnashed; a bleeding status effect that drains up to 5% of a victim's health over five seconds, which cannot be negated by armor. This ability to deal a fixed, high percentage of damage to a target's health lands the Megalodon a top-tier position in nearly any oceanic combat role imaginable. As an added bonus, the Megalodon is one of the few tames with access to a Tek Saddle; which provides more armor than standard saddles, and gives the rider the ability to fire plasma projectiles when Element is in the shark's inventory to act as fuel (requires the player to know the Tek Engram to use). For this role, level primarily Health, then Damage.
 * Slayer: Because of its access to bleed-based damage, Megalodon are capable of quickly taking down aquatic enemies that would be a real struggle otherwise, and in some situations, even solo-kill these difficult threats. Despite being able to tackle some of these situations with just one shark, they do even better in a group; Megalodon have access to one of the highest pack-buff ratings in the game to boost their stats: a full pack boost maxing out at 8 allied sharks in total. The most effective pack situation does not end at merely Megalodons themselves, however. Just like Slayer tames on land, your sharks will need support from time to time themselves. This support comes in the form of none other than the Basilosaurus. While a pack of Megalodon can absolutely shred dangerous targets, they themselves are extremely vulnerable to one very dangerous and crippling threat: Cnidaria, which can sting and stun-lock your pack to an early grave. The Basilosaurus is the only aquatic tame completely immune to the deadly sting of the jellyfish. In the ideal situation, you should directly control and ride the whale yourself instead of your sharks, so that when Cnidaria do eventually rear their ugly heads, you can precisely command your Basilosaurus to target and kill the jellyfish, before they become a crippling threat.
 * Alpha Slayer: With the above considerations taken into account, a pack of Megalodon can make killing the dangerous oceanic Alpha Creatures an absolute breeze. A single tamed shark can easily deal with an Alpha Megalodon, but the more dangerous Alphas like Mosasaurs and Tusoteuthis should be approached with pack tactics and numbers in mind.
 * Cave Slayer: Oceanic artifact caves can fill the hearts of even the most experienced players with dread. The immense and diverse swarms of over-powered, highly-leveled, aggressive wild creatures (with even multiple alpha predators sometimes thrown into the mix!) found in these caves have doomed many an artifact retrieval run to failure. A pack of Megalodon can turn failure into success; making the most daunting of Ocean Caves that much easier. For this role, the support of a Basilosaurus is required, as Cnidaria are guaranteed to be present and numerous.
 * PvP Slayer: While oceanic PvP is not nearly as common as land-based warfare situations, and certainly not the favorite of many players, for the rare cases when it does occur; the support of a pack of Megalodon can be invaluable for chipping away at the massive health pool of many tamed aquatic enemies such as Mosasaurus and Megachelon.
 * Resource Farmer: Thanks to their combat prowess, sharp turning radius, and relatively good speed for their size; Megalodon make excellent farmers of organic resources that require killing to loot. Their somewhat small size and maneuverability compared to the larger aquatic mounts helps them get into all the nooks and crannies that Trilobites, Eurypterids, and Ammonites often find themselves hiding in. Their access to a bleeding effect also allows them to take out Dunkleosteus head-on without having to worry about the armor on the fish's face negating damage. This makes the shark a perfect means of not only collecting the standard raw meat and hide that can be harvested in the ocean, but also Chitin, Silica Pearls, Black Pearls, and Ammonite Bile. For dedicated silica pearl harvesting, however, an Anglerfish is the superior choice, as it is the only tame that can harvest pearls directly from clam nodes on the ocean floor. Likewise, the Basilosaurus is the best (and only truly safe) option for harvesting Bio Toxin from Cnidaria. The Basilosaurus is also one of the only mounts immune to the grab of a Tusoteuthis, and is thus an excellent killer of the squids, but if you're willing to use Element to do it; equipping a Megalodon with a Tek Saddle lets a single shark to solo a squid at range with plasma blasts without being grabbed: allowing the Megalodon to harvest the abundant Keratin, Raw Prime Fish, and Black Pearls that the Tusoteuthis is worth. For this role, level up primarily Weight and Damage.
 * Aquatic Travel Mount: While not nearly as fast as the Ichthyosaurus, the Megalodon can be used as a good way to travel the seas of most maps. A perk of using a Megalodon over an Ichthy is that a Megalodon can easily fend off attackers, whereas an Ichthyosaurus is very fragile. (Level up Speed and Stamina)



Notes/Trivia

 * Megalodons spawn in all waters of the outer sea. They do not spawn in rivers, but can be brought there while chasing prey (be it a player, tamed or wild creature). One unusual location where Megalodons can be found are waters around the red, mostly because of two wide connections with the sea.
 * Actually, the Carcharodon ultramegalodon in the game is too common to be the apex predator in the ocean, while real life Megalodon is almost unrivaled.
 * The real-world Megalodon had the strongest bite force of any animal in history, while the in game version only does mid-range damage.
 * Strangely, the dossier for this creature states; "Were it not restricted to the waters, Carcharodon ultramegalodon might be the most dangerous creature on the island." This is likely an exaggeration, as it has only half the health of a . It also has less health and damage than and the most capable waterborne predators, the  and the.
 * Megalodons do not fit through the normal.
 * An can easily outrun a Megalodon.
 * Megalodon cannot be tracked by s.
 * Like sharks in the real world Megalodons keep their eggs in an egg case so the babies are safe until they hatch. The eggs hatch inside the case that is in the body.
 * Megalodon in the game can idle in place like other creatures, while in reality sharks that do not move for a short while will suffocate to death.
 * Megalodon do not produce.
 * The Megalodon in ARK is actually slightly smaller than low end estimates for its real world counterpart. Extreme estimates place the Megalodon at larger than a Rex or Mosa for comparison, around 15–20 meters, or 50–65 feet.
 * The species name given in the dossier, Carcharodon Ultramegalodon, actually places it in a different genus the real one, which is most commonly classified as Carcharocles Megalodon, and makes it closer related instead to the great white, Carcharodon Carcharias, potentially explaining the size being smaller than what one would expect for a Megalodon from ARK.
 * Use a hatchet to harvest Raw Prime Fish Meat from a dead Megalodon, not a Pickaxe or a Sickle.
 * The Megalodon is one of the most requested creatures to receive a TLC.
 * Megalodons have an unseen inner ear just like all sharks in the real world this inner ear helps them hear sounds and feel vibrations. All sharks have tiny holes that lead to their inner ear.
 * Like all of the creatures in ARK, the Megalodon has been given a voice. This is scientifically inaccurate, as sharks cannot produce vocal noises.
 * Be aware that a Megalodon's bleed effect is treated as a status effect without source - killing any creature with this effect does not grant XP to the player or his tames, similar to wild creatures drowning nearby.

Lore

 * After visiting Sir Edmund Rockwell, Helena went to The Island's ocean to study marine life with the help of the Painted Shark tribe, she wanted to find a pattern between the mainland and ocean ecosystems to understand the scientific abnormalities on this island.
 * One of the creatures she studied was the megalodon, this creature is extremely different from what she knows about sharks back home.
 * Their aggressiveness stood in stark contrast to most sharks, which are territorial, and their gestation period only lasts for one week. Their intelligence was also confusing.
 * Sharks are neither mammalian nor avian; they're fish that rely on instinct, but what she saw didn't make sense - megalodon can be easily trained by survivors to make them obedient and be ridden.
 * She learned from survivors from the Painted Sharks tribes that tamed megalodons are more obedient than a trained dog.