Thylacoleo Ark Guide

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Emily Medlock

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.

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Use this Thylacoleo ARK guide if you want one of these tree cats for yourself. These redwood perchers are so unique and well-rounded that I like to keep one well past the late game. I always love tigers and lions in video games, so to find something that looks similar but with marsupial abilities are fantastic. Imagine mixing a koala or wombat with a big cat, and you can begin to imagine a Thyla’s purpose.

Although it doesn’t have a pouch, or at least you can’t see or use one, it is considered a marsupial. Though it is a much better climber than both cats and marsupials could ever be.

Quick Thylacoleo Guide for ARK: Survival Evolved

• Thylacoleo are rideable, breedable, and tameable.
• Thylacoleo are one of the best cave mounts.
• Thylacoleo can climb most surfaces.
• Thylacoleo spawn on every basic map, excluding Aberration and Genesis maps.
• You can trap Thylacoleo with a Bear Trap.
• You must knock out a Thyla to tame it.
• Thylas are the only creature that prefers Cooked Meat to Raw Meat.
• Thylacoleo can pin down most medium and small creatures.

What is a Thylacoleo in ARK: Survival Evolved?

• Base Health: 700
• Base Stamina: 400
• Base Oxygen: 200
• Base Weight: 400
• Base Torpor: 700

The Thylacoleo is a strong marsupial in ARK that specializes in climbing. Native to the redwood, the Thylacoleo perches on redwood trees, waiting for targets to fly or walk by so they can pounce on them.

The only climber in the game that’s better at climbing is the Megalania. But I prefer the Thylacoleo because of how it looks and because of its nature in the wild. I couldn’t have dreamt of a cooler redwood marsupial.

What To Know Before You Encounter a Thylacoleo

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

The Thylacoleo’s perch makes the redwood more dangerous than ever because once it pounces, it will stun you, giving it plenty of time to use its high damage output to take you down.

The Thyla can even hold humans and other small creatures down while it attacks. This makes it an awesome mount but a terrifying enemy. I know I about fell out of my chair the first time I was knocked off my Pteranadon by a Thyla.

I may never get my Pteranadon, Ptony, back but it did inspire me to tame my first Thylacoleo. That was an experience I’ll never forget because it took so much trial and error to figure it out. Hopefully, you can capture one you first try.

Where to Find a Thylacoleo on Each ARK Map

The Thylacoleo can usually be found in the redwood forests. But on the occasion that the map doesn’t have a redwood, they will be lurking somewhere else, or there won’t be any Thylas on the map.

Thylacoleo are rare on some maps, but they are usually common or uncommon spawns. They may seem rare because they hide out in trees, so you can’t see them from the ground.

The Island

Thylacoleo can be found in the redwood on the map they debuted on. Find them all around the redwood forests, but they don’t wander up the Red Peak. So if you get there, you’ve gone too far.

The Center

Thylas can be found anywhere in the Redwood Biome on The Center. They aren’t super common here, but they do spawn all over. They do not spawn anywhere else on this map aside from the redwood.

Scorched Earth

Thylas regularly spawn in the Badlands on Scorched Earth. I highly recommend the Northern East Badlands first, but if you don’t see any, then check the Eastern followed by the Southern East Badlands.

Ragnarok

I have found the most luck with Thylacoleo in the northern redwoods just south of the snow mountains. However, I have seen them wander up the mountain a little, but they won’t wander all the way to the top.

Extinction

I’ve seen Thylas spawn a bit sporadically on Extinction, but your best bet is the northwestern Wastelands. Check the entrance to the Sunken Forest. Anywhere else is more or less chance.

Valguero

Thylas are surprisingly rare on Valguero. But since the redwood is so big on this map, you will eventually run onto one. If you reach the tundra to the west, you’ve gone too far. Stay below it to find Thylas.

Crystal Isles

On Crystal Isles, there’s a terrific Thyla spawn in the northern desert near the savannah. But for a larger spawn place, stick to the Great Forest to the northwest. This is where I go to get Thylas on the Isles.

Lost Island

On Lost Island, you can find Thylaocleos around the Tuskgor Mountains. But they spawn widely in the Darkfen Forest. So I recommend the forest as it’s safer and has a larger area to find them.

How to Tame a Thylacoleo

The Thylacoleo can pounce just like the Kapro and Megalosaurus, which is one of its biggest threats. It also causes bleed damage, so if the initial fight doesn’t kill you, the bleed might.

This and the fact that it likes to hang out on trees makes it difficult to tame the Thylacoleo. But if you prepare, you can have a Thylacoleo by the end of the day.

I’d like to note that the fastest way to tame a Thylacoleo is to shoot it with Shocking Tranq Darts and then feed it Extraordinary Kibble. This will knock it out in minutes (even a max level) and will ensure that you save time/money on narcotics.

Get a Strong Flyer

If you bring a Pteranodon or Argentavis, the Thyla can knock you off or pin you both down. So you should wait until you have a Griffin, Wyvern, or Quetzal before taking this route to tame the Thylacoleo.

The Griffin is my choice because you can shoot it from the Griffin and move freely. But if you do get a larger mount, you can pick the Thyla up, making it much easier to trap but harder to shoot.

Build a Pen

Once you get a flyer, spot the Thyla you want to tame and build a pen out of its aggro range. You can use any pen you’re comfortable with, but I suggest a dino gate pen if you’re using a griffin.

If you’re using a larger flyer and are going to pick the Thyla up, this won’t work. In that case, you’ll have to build a ramp pen with high enough walls that it can’t climb up. Make sure there is somewhere for you to stand while you shoot it.

Shoot with Darts

For max level

• Shocking Tranq Darts – 15 to 20
• Tranq Darts – 30 to 35
• Tran Arrows with Crossbow – 45 to 50
• Tran Arrows with Bow – 75 to 85

Even if you don’t build a pen, you can shoot the Thylacoleo to knock it out. But with a pen, you won’t waste any darts (or other ammo) because it can’t run away and you won’t lose track of it.

Make sure when you shoot it that you don’t shoot it again before the torpor of the shot maxes. But also ensure you don’t wait until it begins to fall. Otherwise, you won’t maximize your ammo.

Feed

For max level

• Extraordinary Kibble – 8 (32 Narcotics)
• Raw Mutton – 113 (815 Narcotics)
• Cooked Prime Meat – 81 (562 Narcotics)
• Raw Prime Meat – 141 (1036 Narcotics)

Anything other than these four food options will take far too long and isn’t guaranteed to work. If you are using narco berries, you need three to four times as many. If you’re using Biotoxin, you need half as much.

Do not feed the Thylacoleo Raw Meat. It prefers Cooked Meat. You will need nearly twice as much Raw Meat as Cooked Meat. This is something that I didn’t know for a long time because most carnivores prefer to be tamed with Raw Meat over Cooked.

Using a Thylacoleo

Thylacoleo are terrific mounts. They can climb trees or walls, shimmying down at their human’s command. Of course, if you do shimmy too fast, your Thyla will take damage, so be careful and practice before you go too high.

They do take reduced fall damage, but they’re not immune to it. Don’t stress yourself out over the fall, but do practice, going a little higher each time until you find out how fast and how far will do enough damage to matter.

Fighting Anything

The Thylacoleo has a pounce, claw, and maul, which can all do good damage. But what makes it an even better fighter is the gash, which does bleed damage based on the target’s health.

I have seen a Thyla take on Alphas, Golems, and Rexes easily. But I have heard it can also take out Gigas, Deathworms, and Brutes too. If you get an imprinted Thyla, there’s not much it can’t do.

Travel Long Distances

The Thylacoleo isn’t the fastest mount, but it isn’t slow either. It is a decent swimmer too. But what makes it a good travel mount is that you probably won’t get surprised by enemies far stronger than it.

They are also perfect for areas with a lot of cliffs and such because they can easily climb over them rather than having to find a way around them. So they may not travel the fastest as the crow flies, but on foot, they are amazing.

Cave Adventures

The Thylacoleo is one of the best cave mounts in the game. When in caves, the Thylacoleo can easily advance through tough terrain by climbing. Even if it’s a lava cave, the Thyla can jump around the lava.

There are also times when it would take ten times longer to reach an area that the Thyla can zip through. Not to mention, this lion mount can take on almost anything you might encounter.

PvP Sneak Attacker

The Thyla is so well-rounded and sneaky that it makes a good PvP mount. You can wait in trees so you can pounce on your victims, pinning them down, and eventually killing them.

They’re also perfect if you get caught out and need a fast getaway. You can quickly escape danger by jumping up out of sight. Ideally, you can escape, but they’re also amazing at turning fights around.

The Thylacoleo Nerf

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Thylacoleo got nerfed. So far, they have had their health scaling reduced slightly, but nothing more. A few bugs got taken care of, but after the Gashed was added, it became even more powerful.

So, if you see the Thyla isn’t as strong as you expect, check the patch notes because it may have gotten nerfed. Until then, enjoy the overpowered and underappreciated power of the marsupial lion.

FAQs

Thylacoleo: The Kings of Medium Dinos

Thylacoleo are one of the best medium-sized dinos in the game. I always found them severely underrated. Maybe that’s because no one wants to take the time to tame one, or maybe other dinos take precedence.

Where Thylacoleo shine is in their ability to adapt. They are well-rounded. They do good damage, aren’t squishy, and can outmaneuver almost any other creature. Out of all of the medium-sized dinos, they are in my top five.

Ask anyone about the dangers of the redwood, and they will mention the Thylacoleo. I like not telling new players about them so that they can go through the same traumatic light through the redwood that I did.