ARK: Survival Evolved Wiki
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Note Partly outdated
Some information on this page is outdated due to the changes of v254.0. You can help correcting it.
Spoiled Meat This page may contain spoilers related to the background-story of ARK: Survival Evolved.
If you want to experience the story ingame, you probably shouldn't continue reading on this page.
Disambig This article is about Dragon, not to be confused with Wyvern Wyvern or Crystal Wyvern Crystal Wyvern










































Steam 242.0
Jun 2, 2016
Xbox One 737.0
Jun 15, 2016
PS 501.0
Dec 6, 2016
Nintendo Switch 599.0
Nov 30, 2018
Epic Games 311.74
Jun 11, 2020
Stadia 678.15
Sep 1, 2021
Spawn Command
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Dragon/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss.Dragon_Character_BP_Bos'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Gamma)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Dragon/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Beta)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Dragon/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Alpha)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/Dinos/Dragon/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Gamma) (Ragnarok)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy_Ragnarok_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Ragnarok/Custom_Assets/Bosses/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy_Ragnarok.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy_Ragnarok'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Beta) (Ragnarok)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium_Ragnarok_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Ragnarok/Custom_Assets/Bosses/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium_Ragnarok.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium_Ragnarok'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Alpha) (Ragnarok)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard_Ragnarok_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Ragnarok/Custom_Assets/Bosses/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard_Ragnarok.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard_Ragnarok'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Gamma) (Valguero)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Valguero/Assets/CoreBlueprints/Boss/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Easy'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Beta) (Valguero)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Valguero/Assets/CoreBlueprints/Boss/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Medium'" 500 0 0 35
Variant Dragon (Alpha) (Valguero)
cheat summon Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard_C
or
cheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Mods/Valguero/Assets/CoreBlueprints/Boss/Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard.Dragon_Character_BP_Boss_Hard'" 500 0 0 35

1 Can be tamed in Survival of the Fittest.
2 Can be ridden in Survival of the Fittest for 15 minutes before it despawns.

Data
XP for kill
12,000 XP
Special Loot Chance
100%
Habitat

The Dragon is one of the bosses in ARK: Survival Evolved.

On The Island the Dragon can only be found in the Dragon Arena. In order to reach this location, players must go to either a Supply Crate or Obelisk and place the required tribute items inside, then click on the Generate Dragon Portal Generate Dragon Portal item. A portal will be opened to teleport nearby players and dinos into the arena. If playing in Single Player mode, the portal can only be generated from the Red Obelisk.

The Dragon can also be found in both the Ragnarok Arena on Ragnarok and the Forsaken Oasis on Valguero, and can be spawned from any obelisk on both maps.

Finally the Dragon can be tamed and ridden for a short time from the Red Mini Obelisk in the Survive the Ark mission on Genesis: Part 2

In Survival of the Fittest, the Dragon will appear on the central platform about halfway through the match and will be available for taming. The Dragon will only be rideable for a short time before it will turn on its master.[1]

Basic info[]

Appearance[]

The Dragon is massive, easily dwarfing both the Broodmother Broodmother and Megapithecus Megapithecus in size, it stands and walks in a bipedal stance. However it will become quadrupedal when sprinting. It is purple in color with orange wings and some orange patterning running along the side of the body with the two most notable being large orange strips running with the first running from the back of its head to the base of its neck and the second running along the sides of the body. Its head has a crown of horns.


Its appearance on Beta is a brownish body with orange shades around the feet and arms and its Alpha appearance is a very deep red coloration with the coloration becoming brighter around the feet and arms

Color scheme and regions[]

Template:Paint regions

Colors[]

The Dragon has different colors depending on its difficulty level:

Difficulty Level Color
Gamma Default Coloring
Beta Yellow
Alpha Red

Tribute requirements[]

The following items are needed to summon the Dragon:

Item Quantity
Gamma Beta Alpha
Player Level 55 75 100
Artifact of the Cunning Artifact of the Cunning 1 1 1
Artifact of the Immune Artifact of the Immune 1 1 1
Artifact of the Skylord Artifact of the Skylord 1 1 1
Artifact of the Strong Artifact of the Strong 1 1 1
Allosaurus Brain Allosaurus Brain - 5 10
Basilosaurus Blubber Basilosaurus Blubber - 5 10
Giganotosaurus Heart Giganotosaurus Heart - 1 2
Tusoteuthis Tentacle Tusoteuthis Tentacle - 5 10
Tyrannosaurus Arm Tyrannosaurus Arm - 5 15
Yutyrannus Lungs Yutyrannus Lungs - 5 10

Tribute spawn commands[]

Use these commands to give yourself all the items needed for tribute:

Gamma
cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_11.PrimalItemArtifact_11'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_08.PrimalItemArtifact_08'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_06.PrimalItemArtifact_06'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_09.PrimalItemArtifact_09'" 1 0 0
Beta
cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Allo.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Allo'" 5 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_11.PrimalItemArtifact_11'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_08.PrimalItemArtifact_08'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_06.PrimalItemArtifact_06'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_09.PrimalItemArtifact_09'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilo.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilo'" 5 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_apexdrop_giga.primalitemresource_apexdrop_giga'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Tuso.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Tuso'" 5 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Rex.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Rex'" 5 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_apexdrop_Yuty.primalitemresource_apexdrop_yuty'" 5 0 0
Alpha
cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_11.PrimalItemArtifact_11'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_08.PrimalItemArtifact_08'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_06.PrimalItemArtifact_06'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Items/Artifacts/PrimalItemArtifact_09.PrimalItemArtifact_09'" 1 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Allo.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Allo'" 10 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilo.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Basilo'" 10 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_apexdrop_giga.primalitemresource_apexdrop_giga'" 2 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Tuso.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Tuso'" 10 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Rex.PrimalItemResource_ApexDrop_Rex'" 15 0 0 | cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Resources/PrimalItemResource_apexdrop_Yuty.primalitemresource_apexdrop_yuty'" 10 0 0

Drops[]

Template:Item list

Inventory
Item Dragon Level
Gamma Beta Alpha
Element Element 80 220 440

Unlocks[]

Achievements

Achievement Master Survivor
Steam
Xbox One
PS
Epic Games
Master Survivor

You defeated ARK's third Ultimate Life Form!

Base stats and growth[]

Template:Creature stats

Template:Creature stats

Template:Creature stats

Note: The Dragon in the Ragnarok Arena has the same stat values, but takes 3x damage (or consider it suffers a 2/3 Health Nerf).

The Firebreath-attack yields up to 2000 damage (probably depending on the amount of flames the target is covered with) and is applied over a time of 10s. The flame-damage is not affected by the Melee Damage-Stat and thus cannot be increased by level-ups.

Taming (Survival of the Fittest)[]

The Dragon can only be tamed in Survival of the Fittest - in which, after 20 – 40 minutes, it'll disappear.

Preferred food[]

Template:Item list Template:Taming note

Collectibles[]

Template:Item list

Combat[]

This section describes how to fight against the Dragon.

General[]

Please keep in mind that the Dragon is considered by many players to be the third toughest boss to defeat (preceded by the Corrupted Master Controller Corrupted Master Controller and King Titan King Titan)

The Dragon is the strongest of the three The Island Guardians and should be saved for last due to how tough it is. On top of that, taking down the Megapithecus Megapithecus and Broodmother Broodmother will help give the players an advantage due to having new, better equipment to take on the Dragon with.

Strategy[]

The Dragon is far stronger than the two previous Guardians on The Island, thanks to the ability to do percent-based fire breath damage. This fire will drain 20% of anything's max health as well as doing some direct impact damage, so brute forcing with your dino armies won't work out quite as well as in the Megapithecus Megapithecus and Broodmother Broodmother fights. Therefore, strategy that utilizes more than brute strength is important in taking it down.

The Dragons Fire Breath damage debuff shows 20% damage of the maximum health of the affected dino, but the percentage actually scales with the difficulty. 20% is only reached on Alpha difficulty.

You'll need to pay attention to the Dragon's fireballs and minion summoning attacks, as well as making sure you bring Mastercraft or Ascendant quality firearms that do good damage. Primitive weapons are a waste of time and will do little damage. As for the previously mentioned attacks, the fireballs do a fair amount of damage (less to herbivores) and have a large explosion radius, as well as having the ability to directly damage riders.

The minions that the Dragon summons are hostile Pteranodon Pteranodon and Dimorphodon Dimorphodon.

The Dragon should be saved for last due to the difficulty and saving it for last gives you more time to get better equipment and ideal tames plus by then you'll have access to some tek equipment.

You'll want to bring very high level weapons, armor, saddles, and dishes like Medical Brews and Calien Soup.

If you have access to Scorched Earth, Ragnarok, or Valguero DLCs, then Wyvern Milk can drastically help as it makes the player/dino invulnerable to the flame breath.

Recommended tames[]

  • While difficult to raise on The Island due to needing ambergris, the Magmasaur is a game-changer as they do not take ANY damage from the Dragon's fire breath, nor do they take damage from the lava. If given metal ingots, they can also launch ranged attacks from a safe distance away. Their sheer size makes it difficult to take a large amount into the arena, but with high-quality saddles they can very quickly kill the Dragon with few losses.
  • An army of Therizinosaurus Therizinosaurus are a player's best chance at beating the Dragon since they have stats to rival the Rex's and because they are herbivores they take less damage from the Dragons attacks (does NOT reduce damage from Fire Breath). Ideally a Yutyrannus could improve the odds of winning so long as the player is careful with them. Note that Dragon's fire breath ignores herbivores' fire resistance and saddle armor, and will deal more damage than the Daeodon can effectively heal unless on passive healing (which makes healing erratic and unreliable, so the best option is to not use one at all, and replace it with a ridden rhino or other dps dealer.) It also helps if you give them veggie cakes which heals them.
  • A Yutyrannus Yutyrannus can still be useful as long as it's mounted (so it's easier to keep safe and can be used to full potential) and kept away from the Dragon instead acting as support buffing the Therizinos or any other damage tames.
  • A very tanky Megaloceros Megaloceros could be useful to help kite the Dragon and get its attention and in the process allowing tribemates to open fire on it without fear of the Dragon killing them.
  • Rex Rex could still work. However, if attempted over the Therizino Strategy they would definitely need the help of a Daeodon and Yutyrannus due to Therizinos having resistance against FireBall and Rexes being unable to heal with vegetable cakes.
  • A Daeodon Daeodon can be useful due to the passive healing ability they have.
  • It is highly recommended to bring a pack of either Allosaurus Allosaurus or Deinonychus Deinonychus as both of them have a bleeding damage and gain an Alpha boost.
    • Bringing packs of both dinosaurs is ideal as the dps of the Allosaurus and the massive bleed damage from the Deinonychus can have huge damage potential that can complement the use of Rexes.
      • The Allosaurus is oriented around DPS.
      • The Deinonychus is oriented around its bleed damage.
  • If you are planning on defeating the dragon with several other people, using high damage ridden Woolly Rhinos with good saddles and vegetable cake can make for an easy victory. It is possible to charge underneath the dragon's feet indefinitely like a sort of treadmill with the help of other rhino riders by colliding with each other and the dragon's feet.If done correctly you can stack damage quickly and can avoid the fire breath attack.
  • If you are in singleplayer and can bring in a high level Deinonychus Deinonychus you can kill even the alpha dragon by attacking its back-left foot. This makes the dragon unable to attack you while the bleeding effect does enough damage to take him out. He might fly away so be ready to deal with the army of Pteranodon he will summon. This might be a bug however.
  • Despite having no saddle and a low health pool, a massive pack of direwolves can shred even an Alpha Dragon if a creature with a high health pool and high drag weight can distract it for long enough.

Dangers[]

  • The firebreath tears through health and no resistance or armor will reduce it, so be careful when facing it.
  • The fireballs it shoots are AoE, dealing a lot of damage to not only the tame but the rider as well, so be very careful.
  • The Dimorphs that spawn in the arena will kill you, even on your mount.
  • Try to avoid the lava streams while fighting it as the Dragon is immune to them, only causing them to be hazards for your own tames.
  • Its breath attacks deal more damage to carnivores so normal tactics such as Rex Rushing - while possible - aren't advised as it's very risky.
  • The arena itself is very hot, so putting points into fortitude and bringing some Calien Soup and Ghillie armor to protect yourself is advised.
  • Due to the Dragons' Fireball attack and Dimorphs damaging riders, the player will definitely need high level Ghillie armor to help withstand the damage.
  • The Dragon can instakill a player with its bite attack, so be sure to remain mounted as much as possible, especially if playing single player.
  • Within the Ragnarok Arena there will also be the Manticore to watch out for along with both its Rock Elemental and Griffin Minions.
  • In the Forsaken Oasis you will have to watch out for both the Megapithecus and Manticore when you face the Dragon.

Weakness[]

While the biggest of all the Island bosses, its backside has the largest hitbox. The Dragon can get stuck on the ruins around the arena, allowing shots to be taken afar (but do not rely on this lasting for the entire fight, as it will eventually fly away).

Sometimes the Dragon will only go to the player, giving your army a chance to safely damage to it.

Wyvern Milk guards against the Dragon's Fire Breath, making it incredibly valuable for a fight like this.

If players spread their creatures around and completely surround and pin the Dragon, it would be distracted and focus its fire attack on one side, helping your unaffected creatures live a little longer during the fight.

Spotlight[]


Lore[]

  • In the story, Gaius Marcellus Nerva and his tribe, the New Legion, managed to kill the Dragon. He refers to it as a Dragon belonging to the Roman goddess Ceres, then corrects himself, stating it was too colossal and wild for even a god's chariot.
  • He notes that the combined strength of the Dragon, Mei Yin's tames, and Mei Yin's Giganotosaurus were enough to weaken the New Legion to a point where lesser tribes began to take over the territory they had conquered.
  • The Pterosaurs and Dimorphodons in the boss battle appear to have taken on a role similar to Vultures scavenging off the corpses of the Dragons enemies as the Dragon is the largest terrestrial carnivore on The Island and both creatures are usually neutral to the player in the wild to the point of even being skittish likely changing their natural behavior due to the Dragon wiping out surrounding creatures.
  • When facing the Dragon, herbivorous creatures have a resistance to its devastating fire breath. In lore, Helena noted of how the herbivorous creatures that Mei Yin had and in general thick hides that can help them to resist explosions and fire. However, in game, only the FireBall's damage is reduced by herbivore fire resistance.


Notes/Trivia[]

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

  • If one uses the summon command to spawn a large amount of Dragons and kills them all instantly with the creative mode rifle, the corpses will stretch and get flung all over the place, making it hard to see. This also happens with the Ankylosaurus.
  • The Dragon is the eleventh largest creature in the game (the largest being King Titan King Titan, second being Rockwell Rockwell, the third being Moeder Moeder followed by the Alpha Deathworm Alpha Deathworm/Iceworm Queen Iceworm Queen as 4th, Ice Titan Ice Titan as 5th, Forest Titan Forest Titan as 6th, Desert Titan Desert Titan as 7th, the Titanosaur Titanosaur being 8th, the Astrocetus Astrocetus at 9th and finally the Alpha Tusoteuthis Alpha Tusoteuthis as 10th largest), its even larger than most of the large creatures such as Brontosaurus Brontosaurus, DodoRex DodoRex or Giganotosaurus Giganotosaurus and it ties with the Alpha Mosasaurus Alpha Mosasaurus for 11th place.
  • The Dragon is the 1st boss to specifically be based on a real mythological creature, the 2nd being the Manticore Manticore and the 3rd being the Crystal Wyvern Queen Crystal Wyvern Queen.
    • Interestingly all 3 can fly.
  • Admin-spawned Dragons despawn 20 minutes after taming.
  • Its purple and orange color scheme may be a reference to the Spyro franchise.
  • In the Creature's dossier it looks bigger than the Titanosaur, though this is inaccurate. This can be explained by the fact that the Dragon boss in early access was about 15% bigger than now. Moreover, the initial Dragon in the first EA trailer was about 1.5 times bigger than the Titanosaur. Since mid-2016, the Dragon in-game is still slightly larger than the Bronto and about 20% smaller than the Titanosaur.
  • If tamed or spawned through the use of Console Commands, the Dragon will be unable to move, use some of its attacks, be ridden or respect player's whistles due to its AI being dependent on the presence of the arena.
  • In SotF, the Dragon is permanently passive, and will not attack anything unless ridden.
  • The Dragon cannot swim, but can walk or even fly in water.
  • You can not use any kind of Tek Gear inside the Arena.
  • The Dragon was brought into Ark Park via the Pterosaur Hill DLC as the Final Boss.
  • The Dragon is the only Guardian in Genesis: Part 1 that got an X variant, and the only Guardian that doesn't appear in Gauntlet.
  • In Ragnarok Arena, the Dragon takes 3x damage, having an effective health one third of normal. This is perhaps to balance the difficulty of bosses in Ragnarok, as fighting 2 bosses both at their original stats on default server settings could be extremely difficult.
  • Possibly a bug: Dragons summoned underwater can be tamed passively by putting meat in their inventory and will fully function as a mount. However they only last a few minutes and cannot harvest nor obey whistles.
  • Dragon's Dermis could transfer in different server and function normally, but not Ragnarok/Valguero variants.
  • There is a code "Volcanic_Dragon_Character_BP_C" which spawns a Dragon, that glows red and orange in darkness.
  • Dragon was made because of a meme, Dragon Deez Nuts. When the creature was first added, after dying, it would give the player a nut. Cashew, if they were playing Primitive+.

Changelog[]

Patch Changes
209.4 You can no longer upload and download Dragons via the obelisk
213.0 Dragon fire now damages flyers
242.0 Added the Dragon Arena
254.5 Improved attack hit detection
258.2 Fixed landscape on The Center Dragon arena
259.0 Colorized boss health to indicate boss difficulty
261.0
  • With exception to the Center boss fight, all boss Health Health and Melee Damage Melee Damage have been rebalanced for singleplayer, 1x(Gamma) to 3x(Alpha)
262.0
  • Dragon boss no longer present on The Center
  • Fixed boss levels so that they are no longer random, but now scale correctly on game mode and server difficulty
  • Player spawn point adjusted inside Dragon arena
278.0 Dragon's fire breath direct impact Melee Damage Damage reduced by 50%
316.18 Element reward from The Island bosses has been increased by 100%

Gallery[]

References[]

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