Rock Drake ARK Guide - Drago-Chameleon

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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.

Quick Rock Drake Guide for ARK: Survival Evolved

Rock Drakes are rideable and breedable when tamed, but to get one, you need to snatch one of its eggs.
Rock Drakes are one of the best Aberration mounts.
Rock Drakes can camouflage themselves and their rider, making them nearly impossible for AI to see, but players may notice a slight shimmer.
You need a saddle to ride the Rock Drake, but you can also make a Tek Saddle that comes equipped with a canon.
Rock Drakes only spawn on Aberration, but you can get a mod called Cross Aberration to get them elsewhere.
You can Chain Bola Rock Drakes.
Rock Drakes make good climbers, swimmers, and gliders.
Rock Drakes were originally non-breedable, but as of 2021, they are.
Rock Drakes are good dinos for all-around play because they are well-rounded and versatile (not to mention fun to play.)

What is a Rock Drake in ARK: Survival Evolved?

Base Health: 1950
Base Stamina: 450
Base Oxygen: 150
Base Weight: 400
Base Melee Damage: 100%
Base Torpor: 725

A Rock Drake is a creature introduced in Aberration. In Helen’s journal, it says that the Rock Drake has adapted to its environment by growing claws and color-changing scales, both of which help it survive in the aberrant caves.

The Rock Drake is the only creature that goes toe-to-toe with the Reaper in the wild, which says a lot about its strength. This guy is so fun that it may be my non-flying favorite way to travel.

What to Know Before You Encounter a Rock Drake

Tameable: No
Rideable: Yes
Breedable: Yes
Temperament: Territorial

If you are in the position to face a Rock Drake, chances are you are ready for it. After all, you won’t see these draconic creatures outside of aberration caves, so you must be prepared for some deadly encounters.

There’s a good chance they will see you before you see them because they are usually invisible. However, you can see the faint form. If a Rock Drake sees you, they will attack. Because they can climb walls and glide, getting away from them is difficult.

Where to Find a Rock Drake on Each ARK Map

Rock Drakes can only spawn naturally on Aberration. On this map, they can spawn anywhere in the aberration caves. But they are most common near the Overlook, Hope’s End, and the Spine.

The only other map that spawns Rock Drakes is Extinction which occasionally has Corrupted Rock Drakes spawn in the northern Wastelands. These dinos cannot be tamed and do not have nests.

How to Get Rock Drakes on Any Map

Player-made maps often have Aberration caves that “naturally” spawn Rock Drakes. But you can still get Rock Drakes on any map via mods. Though there are a few options, I suggest Cross Aberration.

Last I checked, this mod wasn’t updated, but it was still compatible, even on the newer ARK maps. You can keep an eye out for other mods, but this should work fine and even does the dirty work for you, so you don’t have to choose where they spawn.

The Rock Drakes will spawn near mountains if there isn’t an aberrant cave. But if you want to choose a spawn point, you can use the game’s SpawnDino commands.

How to Fight a Rock Drake

Rock Drakes are a pain to face because there’s so much other stuff to worry about in these caves. Your best bet is to hide on a tamed Rock Drake, but this isn’t possible the first time around.

Instead, you’ll have to keep an eye out for the shimmer of their cloak. If they spot you, they can kill you just from landing hard near you. I suggest keeping a distance and attacking it from afar or just grabbing an egg and running.

However, you can use a Chain Bola or ride something strong like a Karkinos to fight it quickly. If you attack one Rock Drake, the others will chase you, so try to lure one away at a time if you decide to fight them.

How to Tame a Rock Drake (Hint: You Can’t)

You cannot tame Rock Drakes, so you must grab their eggs if you want one of your own. Unless you are extremely overpowered, you should grab an egg and run rather than try to fight any drakes off.

Grabbing a Rock Drake Egg

Using a Rock Drake

The Rock Drake is a great utility creature and all-around mount. If you’re on Aberration, then you will likely keep it as your main mount as long as you have a high-level one. But even on other maps, it’s a pretty insane dino.

Raising It

Hatching a Rock Drake egg is difficult because they need it to be very cold. You need around 20 air conditioners or Dimetrodon to hatch the egg. The hyperthermal insulation should be around 2500.

Baby Rock Drakes will not eat meat. Instead, you must get Nameless Venom to feed them. Otherwise, they will die of starvation. So make sure you don’t hatch the egg until you have farmed plenty of venom from Nameless. Add it to the preserving bin or fridge, or else the venom will spoil quickly.

Gliding

Though not technically a flyer, the Rock Drake is an excellent glider. It feels similar to riding a Maewing. You must land for stamina while gliding, but it can still glide a great distance with ease.

You can’t get a good glide launching off the ground, so try to glide from a mountaintop or cliff if you want to go very far. Be very careful if fly over kill zones (Extinction) because without full control, you will lose everything.

Swimming

Though the Rock Drake is fastest when gliding, it is faster in the water than it is on land. You can outswim a Spino with this thing. But best of all, the Rock Drake can vault out of the water and into a glide.

The Rock Drake can swim both underwater and on the water. Because it has decent oxygen and stamina, this makes it a great mount for ocean exploring, but I wouldn’t take it into ocean caves.

Climbing

The Rock Drake climb is super fun to use. This ability makes it easy to traverse caves without getting into many fights. I love climbers, which is why before I get a Rock Drake, I take Thylas and Deinonychus in caves too.

Out of all climbers, I think the Megalania is the best, but I prefer Thylas and Deinonychus for smaller mounts. The only thing they have over the Rock Drake is that they are smaller.

Aberration Whiz

The Rock Drake is my favorite Aberration mount. They are superior to anything you might find in the zone and can transition terrains easily. They make the ideal mount for getting more Rock Drake eggs.

Of course, this is a pointless tip if you’re still working on the first egg. But if you’re searching for that perfect high-level egg, you might skip that and get the easiest one to get and then use that drake to get the perfect egg.

General Explorer

Rock Drakes may not be the best mount to travel flat areas like the desert. But they are amazing mounts for any other terrain. They are hearty and good attackers, but best of all, they can glide from mountain to river to plateau.

I like diving from the plateau into the water, launching off, and doing it again. If you’ve ridden the Maewing then you know how this works, as the two feel very similar.

Sneaky Plays

Because the Rock Drake can camouflage itself and its rider, it makes the perfect mount for sneaking around dangerous enemies. If you want to sneak through an area to reach a destination without fighting, the Rock Drake is ideal.

This is perfect for PvE and PvP. Though other players can see you if they are paying attention, you will likely have enough time to take them down or accomplish your task before they notice you.

Battle Mount

Even without a Tek Saddle, the Rock Drake is a great fighter. You can fight with the pounce and bite or get a buddy to shoot from it. If you get the Tek Saddle (which has a cannon), there’s hardly a better option to take out on dangerous adventures.

While I don’t recommend the Rock Drake to take on a Rex of a higher level, it is a good mount for most general combat. If things go south, you can almost always get away.

Duo Play

No matter what you and your buddy are doing, the Rock Drake can help. It’s an amazing getaway mount, combat mount, or tame helper. But it’s way better whenever you have someone to ride with you.

You can have someone else man the canon while you drive or hop off to grab the egg, making getting away so much easier. This is no doubt one of my favorite duo play mounts in ARK.

FAQs

Question: Was the Rock Drake Real?

Answer: No. No creature lived that is similar to the Rock Drake. They are more similar to dragons that can glide rather than fly, but even in fiction, there aren’t many creatures like the Rock Drake.

Question: What Does a Rock Drake Eat?

Answer: Adult Rock Drakes will eat meat of any kind, and they don’t eat an unreal amount, so keeping them alive should be easy. But babies must be raised on Nameless Venom.

Question: Are Rock Drakes on Fjordur?

Answer: Yes. The player-made map has Rock Drakes in the radioactive area near the center of the map. But you can only get modded Rock Drakes on any official map besides Aberration.

Rock Drakes Will Always Be Boss

Rock Drakes are such amazing creatures. I enjoy riding them across most terrain, and they are by far my favorite aberrant cave mount. There are times when I even prefer gliding to flying because of the freedom it offers.

But even just the aesthetic of the Rock Drake draws me in. Who doesn’t love dragons that can turn invisible? One day, there may be a similar dino that outpowers the Rock Drake, but I believe those who fell in love with this dino will never lose that.

Rock Drake ARK Guide – Drago-Chameleon