Griffin Ark Guide - Best Flyer in the Game

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Emily is a gaming aficionado who has written for The Gamer, Gamerant, GamerBolt, and Valnet, but she has found a home here at Ready Game Survive. She adores writing about Ark: Survival Evolved among other great survival titles, and outside of traditional survival, she loves Legend of Zelda, League of Legends and Fable.

What is a Griffin in ARK?

Base Health: 950
Base Stamina: 225
Base Oxygen: 150
Base Weight: 280
Base Melee Damage: 27
Base Movement Speed: 100%
Base Torpidity: 1500

A Griffin in mythology is a creature with the lower body of a lion and the upper body of an eagle. The animal symbolizes strength, courage, and leadership. It’s always been one of my favorite mythical creatures and one I coerce the Dungeon Master to add to every campaign in D&D. In Ark: Survival Evolved, the Griffin looks just like you may imagine and is every bit as brilliant.

This creature has good stats, makes a wonderful traveler, and has one of the best attacks in the game. I suggest getting enough health that you feel comfortable with, then maxing melee and stamina. The melee will ensure that you pack a punch, while stamina will keep you flying and “punching” for longer. Leave the other stats alone unless under unusual circumstances.

What to Know Before You Encounter a Griffin

Tameable: Yes
Rideable: Yes
Breedable: Yes
Temperament: Aggressive

The first time you see a Griffin, it may or may not freak you out. Thankfully, in most cases, Griffins don’t spawn very close together. They spawn alone – or occasionally – in pairs. They do, however, attack as soon as they see you.

Not only do Griffins attacks do damage, but they knock you back too. Since they live on plateaus and canyons often, this could mean imminent death to a survivor without a parachute.

If you are planning on fighting the Griffin, a suitable method is to get far enough away from it that you can shoot it and then get a few shots in. Run away, preferably with a fast mount, and then shoot it again.

Keep a safe distance away, using this technique until it drops. The other method involves taking a strong dino, like a Rex, and going at it the old-fashioned way.

Wyvern vs Griffin vs Argentavis

Dino	Health	Stamina	Weight	Melee Damage	Torpidity
Griffin	950	225	280	27/12	1500
Argentavis	365	400	400	25/12	600
Wyvern	1295	315	400	80	725

I always want a way to compare dinos – that I intend to tame – side-by-side. When you have a chart like this, it’s easy to compare the stats of dinos that you may want to compare anyway. The Griffin is the most well-rounded for general flying and combat.

What you don’t see in the stats, though, is that the Griffin is the fastest flyer. When flying normally, yes, it is fast. However, it becomes way faster whenever you travel using the dive. This allows you to swoop down and back up over and over again.

Where to Find Griffins on Each ARK Map

Griffins are considered rare on all three maps where it is found naturally. So don’t be surprised if you scout an area and don’t see a single one. They tend to fly solo and can be unpredictable.

Ragnarok

On Ragnarok, you will find the Griffins surrounding the areas around the northwest snow mountain but not on the mountain. Instead, check Titan’s Rise, Hidana, and The Slopes. This is where the Griffins should spawn on Ragnarok.

Crystal Isles

Although others may have found Griffin spawns that I am unaware of, the only place I’ve ever seen a Griffin on Crystal Isles is Crook’s Canyon. I don’t believe they spawn anywhere else.

Lost Island

I’ve spent hours farming and taming Griffins on Lost Island. So I know they only spawn near Mount Bin Da and near the Kortez Pennisula. They will spawn on these peaks and in the land around them but nowhere else.

How to Tame a Griffin

Preferred Kibble: Extraordinary
Preferred Food: Raw Mutton

Griffins aren’t easy to tame. They have high torpor, making it difficult to knock them out. I wouldn’t mess with taming a Griffin unless it was a decent level. Wait for a high-level one and then target it to tame. Since Griffins are not breedable, you are stuck with the Griffins that you tame. The stats that the Griffin has is the best base stats that you’ll get. No mutations.

Trap the Griffin

Some dinos are slow are steady enough that you don’t need to trap them to tame them. You can simply follow them when they flee and knock them out. But the Griffin should be trapped, so it doesn’t get away. To trap the Griffin, build a trap with four to six dinosaur gateways and close the trap with a gate on either side of the pen. Ensure that you have just enough space to walk through the openings, but no more.

Close one gate and leave the other open. The opened end will be the entrance. I recommend bringing a flyer – like a Pteranodon due to their size and speed – but you can also run it. Either way, you should aggro the Griffin, and then once it is latched onto you, lure it into the pen and close the open door.

Knock It Out

The Griffin can attack you through the closed doors and the walls. So, keep a relatively safe distance and use range to avoid its attacks. When you are at a safe distance, shoot it with tranq arrows or tranq darts.

For a max level Griffin, you should need somewhere between 75 and 100 darts – or arrows if you use a crossbow. So keep 100 on you at all times. Keep shooting the Griffin until it passes out then run to feed it.

Feed It

Griffins will eat Extraordinary Kibble or any meat. However, it would be futile to try to feed it cooked meat or fish. Instead, use Raw Mutton. If you only have Raw Prime Meat, it can work, but you will need more of it. You shouldn’t need more than 40 of either, however, but keep extra – especially mutton – as it spoils quickly.

You will need to feed the Griffin a lot of narcotics as the creature’s torpor drains quickly. Always keep more than you think you’ll need when you go out on a taming venture. In this case, that means at least 100.

Utilizing a Tamed Griffin in ARK

The Griffin has so many uses that I would say it has more ways it should be used than ways that it shouldn’t be used. It isn’t the best dino to use to carry a heavy load, but it can do just about everything else.

Traveler

The Griffin is the best flying traveler as it can traverse the map quickly with its dive attack. You won’t find a faster flyer than the Griffin. It doesn’t even need a saddle, so you can mount it the second you tame it. Keep an eye on the Griffin’s stamina as it does have lower stamina than other dinos like it.

If you have control over the server, I recommend Kraken’s Better Dinos because it adds Valyrian Reins, which increases stamina and makes it easier to control. This quality of life mod is one of my favorites, and I am quick to recommend it. The devs also keep it up to date and debugged, which is a huge plus.

Combat

Claw Attack – 27 Damage, 0 Stamina
Grab Attack – 12 Damage, 60 Stamina
Dive Attack – 188 Damage, 25 Stamina

As you can see, the Griffin’s base attacks aren’t that strong, but its dive attack is tremendous. The Griffin is a great fighter whether in PvE or PvP. On PvP servers, you can grab other players and drop them from high heights with ease. Alternatively, you can dive attack other players.

In PvE, you can dive attack anything, flyers or land creatures. The largest creatures can be taken out easily by continually dive attacking them. Just keep an eye on your stamina and have a place to land nearby to recharge. Finally, you can use weapons while riding the Griffin, so you can attack from afar, high above land creatures.

Transporting Friends

The Griffin can seat two people, so you can take your friend anywhere on the map. If you are flying with your whole tribe, you will need half as many mounts to transport your entire base or go on an adventure together.

Egg Collector

This is my favorite use for a Griffin. As Wyverns are my other favorite flyer, using a Griffin to get a Wyvern Egg is exceptional. To make the most of your journey to get the egg, keep an eye out for nearby Wyverns and choose an egg that is a high level and that isn’t near any adult Wyverns.

If you are feeling brave, you can lure any nearby Wyverns away from a high-level egg one by one and dive attack it until it is dead. Once the area is clear, you can either use a whip to collect the egg or hop off and grab the egg and hop back on as quickly as possible. As soon as you touch that egg, every Wyvern in the region will be on your tail. Thankfully, the Griffin can easily outfly them with its dive attack.

Taming

The Griffin makes a great taming assistant. Since you can wield a weapon while on the Griffin, you can mount it and shoot the dino that can’t reach you. This is cheap but it works so well. It’s even great to use against flyers. For an even easier time against flyers, have someone else fly the Griffin while you attack. Game, set, match.

FAQs

Question: Are Griffins on All Maps in ARK?

Answer: No. Griffins only spawn naturally on Ragnarok, Crystal Isles, and Lost Island. There are mods to add dinos from other maps to any map, but you must be careful as some mods like this are discontinued.

Whenever the modded Griffins are spawned in, check the areas on the map that have visible plateaus. This is normally where the Griffins will spawn. However, they can spawn anywhere with any semblance of a mountain.

Question: Can You Bola a Griffin?

Answer: Griffins can not be taken down with a bola. However, the taming method that involves dino gates is easy because the Griffin is so aggressive that it’s a piece of cake to lead it into the trap.

Question: Does It Take a Long Time to Tame a Griffin?

Answer: It can, yes. I have seen players take six hours to tame a Griffin. But if you do it right, it shouldn’t take longer than an hour to tame a max-level Griffin. Prepare before you go and you can have it tamed in the appropriate amount of time.

Question: Is the Griffin the Best Flyer?

Answer: The best flyer in ARK is subjective. While it is my favorite flyer, the Wyvern is a close second, and I can see why someone would prefer one over the other. I can also see why someone would prefer something hefty like the Argie or unique like the Quetzal.

When You Can’t Get a Griffin

When the map I am playing on doesn’t have Griffins, and the owner of the server doesn’t add them, I usually get an Argentavis. Although they aren’t as fast as a Griffin, they get the job done. Other solid options are the Quetzal, Wyvern, and the Pteranadon.

I always get a Griffin if at all possible, but I still enjoy the game just as much if one isn’t available. The Griffin is an addition to ARK; the game is one of the best survival games, with or without it.

Griffin Ark Guide – Best Flyer in the Game