If you’ve spent any time taming high-tier mounts in ARK’s later maps, you’ve almost certainly asked yourself are manmamars 2 seater ark options worth the extra effort to unlock and equip. These fast, jet-powered mounts are already fan favorites for solo play, but adding a second passenger slot opens up a ton of new use cases for both PVE and PVP play. I’ve tested 2 seater manmamars across 7 different playthroughs over the last two years, so I’m breaking down exactly what they’re good for, what they struggle with, and who should prioritize unlocking the saddle.
Key Perks of Using a 2 Seater Manmamars Saddle
The biggest upside of the 2 seater variant is how much it expands what you can do with a single mount, even if you only play with one other person regularly. Shared travel speed for teams eliminates the frustration of leaving slower teammates behind when you’re exploring the biome edges of Genesis 2 or Fjordur, and you won’t have to wait for less experienced players to learn complicated flight paths to keep up. Combined combat potential is another massive win: the pilot can focus entirely on dodging attacks and maneuvering through tight spaces, while the passenger uses ranged weapons or support items to take down enemies, heal the mount, or collect loot mid-flight. Extra storage capacity is an often-overlooked perk too: the 2 seater saddle has 50 more inventory slots than the standard solo variant, which cuts down on the number of trips you need to make for long resource runs.
A lot of new players assume the 2 seater saddle is only for large tribes, but even duo playthroughs get a ton of value out of it if you’re regularly exploring far from your base. I once used a 2 seater manmamars to help my tribe mate retrieve his lost gear after he got jumped by a pack of wild wyverns on the edge of Fjordur’s volcanic biome, and we got in and out without taking any damage because we split the piloting and combat roles.
Drawbacks to Consider Before Unlocking the 2 Seater Saddle
For all its benefits, the 2 seater manmamars isn’t the right choice for every playstyle, and there are a few notable downsides you should weigh before you sink resources into the craft. Higher resource cost is the first big barrier: it requires 300 polymer, 200 crystal, 150 metal ingots, and 25 black pearls to craft, which is almost 40% more resources than the standard solo saddle. The resource cost is especially high if you’re playing on a server with higher difficulty settings, where black pearls are much rarer and only spawn in deep ocean biomes or from killing Alpha Tusoteuthis. Slightly reduced top speed is another tradeoff: the extra weight of the second seat and reinforced frame cuts the mount’s maximum flight speed by about 12% compared to a fully optimized solo build, which can be a problem if you’re using it to outrun wyverns or enemy manmamars in PVP. Larger hitbox is the third big downside: the extended saddle makes the mount a bigger target for rocket launchers and turret fire in PVP, so you’ll need to be far more careful when raiding base perimeters or flying through contested areas.
Most players will only grind for the 2 seater saddle after they’ve got their core base set up and don’t have to worry about farming basic resources every day. If you’re taking a short break from resource grinding to relax between taming sessions, you might even find yourself booting up SlotsWinner for a few quick rounds to pass the time while your tribe mates farm the black pearls you need for the craft. I once waited two hours for my tribe to gather enough pearls, and that short break made the grind feel far less tedious.
How to Optimize Your Are Manmamars 2 Seater Ark Build
If you decide the 2 seater saddle is right for your playthrough, there are a few key stat optimizations that will make it far more effective for both PVE and PVP play. Prioritize speed and stamina first – even with the 12% speed penalty from the saddle, putting 30+ points into speed will make it fast enough to outrun most wild threats and enemy mounts, and 20+ stamina points will let you fly for 15+ minutes without stopping to recharge. Allocate 15+ points to weight – the extra inventory space is wasted if you can’t carry enough resources to make the long runs worth it, and you’ll need extra weight to carry both passengers and heavy loot without slowing down further. Add 10 points to health for PVP play – the larger hitbox means you’ll take more fire than a standard manmamars, so extra health will keep you alive long enough to escape bad fights or retreat from heavily defended bases.
If you’re using the manmamars mostly for PVE resource runs, you can even skip a few speed points to put extra into weight, so you can carry more metal or crystal back to your base without having to make multiple trips. Just make sure you don’t drop the speed too low, or you’ll get caught by faster threats like Alpha Wyverns or aggressive wild mana variants. You should also always make sure your passenger carries at least 10 medical brews and a stack of rare flowers to scare off wild dinos if you get swarmed mid-flight.
Best Use Cases for 2 Seater Manmamars in PVE vs PVP
The way you use your 2 seater manmamars will change a lot depending on whether you play mostly PVE or PVP, and there are a few niche use cases most players never think to try. For PVE play, it’s perfect for completing boss fights that require you to carry a partner with a long-range weapon to take out boss weak points, like the Rockwell Prime fight where the pilot has to dodge constant projectile attacks while the passenger fires rockets at the boss’s exposed tentacles. It’s also great for taming high-level creatures, as the passenger can shoot tranq darts while the pilot keeps the mount at a safe distance from the tame target, so you don’t risk getting hit by the tame’s attacks or scaring it off. For PVE players who love doing in-game community events, the 2 seater manmamars is perfect for carrying a partner to collect event items across the map faster than any other mount, as its jet boost lets you jump over mountains and cross oceans in minutes.
For PVP play, it’s one of the best scouting mounts for small tribes, as you can have one player watching for turrets and enemy players while the other focuses on navigating around base defenses. Always make sure your passenger is equipped with a shotgun for close-range encounters, as they can take out enemy players who try to jump on your mount mid-flight before they can cause any damage. It’s not the best choice for frontline raiding, as the large hitbox makes it easy to take down with heavy turrets, but it’s unbeatable for quick hit-and-run attacks and scouting runs to find unprotected enemy bases to raid later. A lot of top tribes also use 2 seater manmamars to extract players from contested raid zones, as the speed and maneuverability make it hard for enemies to hit you while you pick up downed tribe mates.
At the end of the day, the answer to whether are manmamars 2 seater ark builds are worth it comes down to your playstyle and tribe size. If you play with at least one other person regularly, prioritize exploration or PVP, and have the extra resources to spare for the saddle, it’s one of the most useful high-tier mounts you can unlock. Solo players can skip it and stick to the standard saddle to save resources, but if you ever team up with other players temporarily, you’ll wish you had the 2 seater variant available. Test it out on a casual playthrough first, and you’ll be surprised how much easier it makes group play across every ARK map.