Frequently Asked Questions

Taming effectiveness (TE) starts at 100% when a creature is knocked out and drops every time it eats (and whenever it takes damage). It converts directly into bonus levels after the tame: bonus = floor(wild level × TE ÷ 2). Kibble preserves ~98–99% TE on a 150, raw meat only ~55%. The taming calculator shows TE and the exact post-tame level for every food.

Every baby gets 3 mutation rolls at 2.5% each (7.31% chance of at least one when both parents' counters are under 20). A mutation adds +2 wild levels to one random stat (Health, Stamina, Oxygen, Food, Weight or Melee) and rerolls a color region. Once a parent's combined counter hits 20, that parent stops producing new mutations - but its stats still inherit normally, which is how you stack lines. Full math on the breeding calculator page.

Exactly enough to replace the torpor lost during the tame: narcotic = deficit ÷ (40 + 8 × drain/s), where the deficit is drain × tame time − the creature's total torpor. Big-food creatures often need zero (they stay KO'd naturally); Giganotosaurus at 150 needs 500+ because its torpor drains over 400/s. The taming calculator computes it exactly.

Every creature prefers one of six kibble tiers matching its egg-size class, and also accepts the tier above at full value - any other tier is worse than raw prime meat. Check the reverse-lookup table on the kibble chart page.

On official settings wild creatures max at 150; a perfect 100%-TE tame adds floor(150 ÷ 2) = 75 bonus levels → 225 right after taming. With mutations the wild level keeps growing (+2 per mutation) up to the server level cap (450 on official ASE for most creatures).

Yes on ground creatures (+20% at 100% imprint in ASE), no on flyers. Stamina, Oxygen and Crafting never get the imprint bonus. And the ×1.3 damage rider bonus only applies while the imprinter is riding.

Every number is computed from the game's own formulas using species constants extracted from the game files (published by the open-source ARK Smart Breeding project) and cross-checked against the ARK Community Wiki. The math is covered by unit tests with hand-worked examples - e.g. the level 150 Rex + 17 Exceptional Kibble → level 224 case. Coverage is a curated 60+ creature subset; anything outside it is clearly flagged instead of estimated.

The formulas and creature constants are from Survival Evolved (v313.5+ rules). ASA uses the same core systems with minor rebalances and adds Augmented Kibble; treat ASA numbers as close approximations until you verify in-game.