ARK: Survival Evolved Wiki
Advertisement










































Passive - Aggressive
Steam 242.0
Jun 2, 2016
Xbox One 737.0
Jun 15, 2016
PS 501.0
Dec 6, 2016
Logo Mobile 1.0
May 24, 2018
Nintendo Switch 599.0
Nov 30, 2018
Epic Games 311.74
Jun 11, 2020
Stadia 678.15
Sep 1, 2021
Spawn Command
cheat summon Leech_Character_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Leech/Leech_Character.Leech_Character'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Diseased Leech
cheat summon Leech_character_Diseased_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Leech/Leech_Character_Diseased.Leech_Character_Diseased'" 500 0 0 35
Habitat

The Leech is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved.

Basic Info

Dossier

This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.

NoteHelena
Wild

It is difficult to be angry with Haementeria laetus, despite its rather terrible nature. The creature has practically no intelligence, and just attaches to any nearby living flesh in an attempt to drain that creature's blood.

Known Information

Removing Haementeria requires precision bladework, or access to an open flame. Both of these can be nearly as dangerous to the host as to the leech itself. Once Haementeria attaches to a host, it drains blood at a rapid pace, and the host experiences hunger, losses of health, and lowered stamina. Some Haementeria are also carriers for a dangerous disease I've dubbed 'Swamp Fever', which persists permanently beyond the leech's own lifespan. Few creatures on the island are transmitters for this disease, and it can ultimately be cured with a rare medicine.

Domesticated

While Haementeria is not intelligent enough to be tamed, and does not provide a resource any tribe would need in large quantities, it is always useful to keep a few around for antidotes. When processed properly, Haementaria venom can be made into powerful antivenin!

Behavior

Diseased Leech

The Diseased Leech Diseased Leech is a variant of the Leech Leech distinguished by its red and orange color scheme as well as its name in the HUD. It transmits Swamp Fever, which can be cured with Lesser Antidote Lesser Antidote. The carcass of the Diseased Leech can also be harvested for significantly more Leech Blood Leech Blood than its normal variant.

Appearance

One of the most revolting creatures that inhabits the island is Haementeria laetus, a leech that grows as long as a man's arm. A blood parasite, the soft-bodied creature actively seeks out hosts in the swamps it calls home, propelling itself with fluttering fins and latching on with a mouth full of sharp rasping teeth.

In the wild, leeches are the primary vector for a debilitating disease commonly known as swamp fever.


X mark

The Leech always spawns with the same color scheme and has no color regions.

This means it is currently impossible to make alterations to the Leech's colors.

Drops

* The Diseased Leech drops significantly more Leech Blood than its normal variant.

Base Stats and Growth

Attribute Base Value Level Increase Taming Bonus
Wild Tamed Additive Multiplicative
Health Health 40 +8 +0%
Stamina Stamina 100 +10 +0%
Oxygen Oxygen N/A N/A N/A
Food Food 450 +45 +0%
Weight Weight 150 +3 +0%
Melee Damage Melee Damage 7 +0.35 +0%
Movement Speed Movement Speed 100% N/A +0%
Torpidity Torpidity 0 +0 N/A
Movement
[u/s]
Base Speed Sprinting Speed Stamina
Wild Tamed1 Tamed2 Wild Tamed1 Tamed2
Walking 50 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Swimming 70 ? ? 175 ? ? ?
  • 1These are the base speeds of the creature at 100% Movement Speed.
  • 2These are the speeds of the creature tamed and non-imprinted.
  • For a comparison of the speeds of all creatures, see Base Creature Speeds.
Attack Values
Melee Stamina Cost Attack Range Description
Base Minimum Activation The Leech bites the target until it can latch onto its host. While leeched, both the host's Health Health and Stamina Stamina will slowly drop. If it is a Diseased Leech, Swamp Fever Swamp Fever may be transmitted to a Human host.
0 150 0 200
Attack Type Damage Projectile Values Torpor Values Status Effect: Stamina Status Effect: Torpidity
Life Impulse Radius Base Mult Duration Damage Mult Amount Duration Damage Mult Amount
Melee 7

The Diseased Leech has the same values except of Health, which is 120.

Combat

This section describes how to fight against the Leech.

General

  • To get rid of a leech that is already hanging on your body you need fire, e.g. a Campfire Campfire or a Cooking Pot Cooking Pot. Jump into the burning fire for a short time, the leech will then disappear.
  • To remove a leech from a creature, press and hold the Use key (E by default) and select remove leech from the menu that appears.
  • There is a diseased variant of this creature (Diseased Leech). You can cure the disease by consuming Lesser Antidote Lesser Antidote.

Strategy

  • Bug Repellant Bug Repellant will make you invisible to all leeches even if you touch them. If you attack them, however, they will still be aggressive.
  • Travel well-mounted; you need something tall enough to keep you out of the water and large enough that you stay standing on its back when dismounted. This way you can remove leeches from your mount without having to expose yourself to them.
  • If your mount needs an escort in the swamps, use a flock of flyers; ground-bound escorts are likely to be leeched without you noticing, and if you do notice, you will have to step entirely off your mount to remove them, potentially exposing yourself to other leeches.
  • Keep your eyes peeled; use your mount's attacks to 'plow the road' in front of you as you navigate the swamps in the hopes of killing leeches before they latch on.
  • If you see a leech from far enough away, attack it with ranged weapons to kill it before it has a chance to latch on; once they do, it will not be possible to harvest them even if you remove them.
  • At present, all mounts are immune to Swamp Fever; only humans and Dodos can catch it.

Weaponry

  • The leech does not require any serious weapons to kill, although killing it before it reaches melee range is valuable; try to finish it with ranged weapons or, failing that, hold it at a distance with spear or pike.

Dangers

  • Make sure to bring a friend with you, or stay out of its attack range with a tall mount. If the leeches latch onto you, another player is the fastest way to remove it; if it's attached to your mount, you can remove it yourself.
  • When they attach onto you, you wont regenerate stamina, and you will lose health slowly. Make sure to use that remaining stamina to get to a safe place fast.
  • Leeches are often found in areas that contain other dangerous enemies. Beware they don't weaken you at a fatal moment.

Weakness

  • As it is harmless unless entering melee range, ranged weapons are ideal.

Spotlight

Notes/Trivia

For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Leech, see the relevant Wikipedia article.

  • Dino Dossier was revealed on 02/08/16 on Steam.[1]
  • The Leech's genus, Haementeria, refers to a modern genus of leeches which includes the Amazon Giant Leech, which can grow up to 17 inches.
  • In The Center, Leeches are more commonly found in deep water that the player can submerge him or herself in.
  • When going into certain waters while raining a swarm of Leeches will come after you. Which will allow you to obtain large amounts of Meat, Chitin, Leechblood and Silica Pearls.
  • A maximum of 6 leeches can latch onto you and your dinos. The rest will bite you and your dinos to death.

Gallery

References

Advertisement