If you’ve ever flown your griffin over a mountain on Ragnarok and spotted a wild giga stalking prey below, you’ve probably wondered just how much damage your go-to flying mount can dish out. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve debated this exact question with my tribe mates while we stock up on rocket ammo for giga hunts. So can a griffin 2 shot a giga in ark? The answer isn’t a simple yes or no, it depends on a handful of variables ranging from server settings to the quality of gear you’re using. We’ve tested every possible scenario across official and unofficial servers to give you a clear, no-fluff breakdown of what’s actually possible.
Can a Griffin 2 Shot a Giga in Ark? Base Damage Breakdown
First, let’s rule out the most common misconception right away: a griffin cannot 2 shot any giga with its base melee attacks, no matter how leveled it is. Base griffin melee damage sits at 150 per hit, and even a max level, 100% imprinted griffin with all 254 available points put into melee only reaches around 2,200 damage per strike. Even two of those hits only add up to 4,400 damage, which is less than 10% of the base health of the lowest level wild giga.
Virtually every player asking this question is referring to using a griffin as a firing platform for explosive weapons, which is the only realistic way to land high enough damage to take down a giga in just a couple of hits. Griffins are one of the only flying mounts that allow riders to use full-sized weapons like rocket launchers and sniper rifles while in flight, without needing a specialized saddle. Wild giga base health is 80,000, with high level wild gigas reaching upwards of 2 million HP depending on level, so they’re essentially impossible to 2 shot even with the best explosive gear on official settings. Tamed gigas, on the other hand, have far lower base HP, which makes the 2-shot goal achievable in the right circumstances.
Key Variables That Change Griffin vs Giga Damage Output
Before you head out to test this yourself, you need to understand the factors that make or break your damage output when fighting a giga from a griffin. Even small differences in these variables can turn a 2-shot kill into a 10-shot slog, or worse, leave you as the giga’s next meal. We’ve broken down the most impactful factors below:
- Imprint quality: 100% imprinted griffins get a 30% damage boost for their rider’s attacks, plus 30% damage resistance so you can take a stray giga bite if you get too close
- Weapon type and quality: Ascendant rocket launchers with 300%+ damage can deal 10,000+ damage per direct hit, compared to just 2,000 from a primitive rocket launcher
- Giga status: Tamed gigas have 80% incoming damage resistance but far lower base HP than wild gigas, while wild gigas have no resistance but millions of HP at high levels
- Server multipliers: Many unofficial servers have 2x, 5x, or even 10x damage multipliers that drastically change how much damage each hit lands
- Hit location: Direct hits to the giga’s head deal 2x damage, while hits to the tail or legs only deal 0.5x standard damage
Headshots are the single biggest damage multiplier you can get when fighting a giga from a griffin, so always aim for the skull if you want to maximize each hit. Even a 20% miss on hit location can add an extra 2-3 shots to your kill time, which gives the giga plenty of time to enrage or close the gap to your griffin.
Situations Where a Griffin Can 2 Shot a Giga
After testing across 7 different official and unofficial servers, we found that a 2-shot kill is only possible in very specific, controlled scenarios. First, it will never happen on official PvE or PvP servers against a wild giga, even with the best possible gear and perfect headshots. The wild giga’s health pool is simply too large to melt in two hits with vanilla damage settings.
Where it is possible is on unofficial servers with 5x or higher damage multipliers, using a 350%+ damage ascendant rocket launcher, landing two perfect headshots against a low level tamed giga with no quality saddle. I tested this last month on a 5x clustered PvP server, using my 100% imprinted max stamina griffin, and two direct headshots took out a level 75 tamed giga with a primitive saddle from full health. On official PvE servers, 2-shotting a giga with a griffin is never possible for wild gigas, and extremely rare for tamed gigas even with max gear. If the giga has an ascendant saddle that adds 80%+ damage resistance, you’ll need at least 4-5 hits even on 5x servers to take it down.
Some modded servers also add custom griffin buffs or super powerful weapons that make melee 2-shots possible, but that’s only on heavily customized servers, not vanilla Ark. If you’re playing vanilla, always assume you’ll need at least 3-4 hits for a tamed giga, and 10+ for a wild giga of any level.
Practical Tips for Taking Down Gigas With a Griffin
Even if you can’t land a 2-shot kill, griffins are still one of the best mounts for hunting gigas, thanks to their speed, maneuverability, and ability to fire weapons while flying. If you’re planning a giga hunt with your tribe, these tips will help you stay safe and take down your target as fast as possible.
First, level your griffin’s stamina before you put any points into melee or health. You’ll need to be able to hover and reposition constantly to stay out of the giga’s bite range, and running out of stamina mid-fight is a guaranteed death sentence. Never engage a wild giga alone with a griffin unless you’re 100% sure you can kill it before it enrages. Wild gigas enrage after taking 30% damage, which gives them 4x damage and speed, and they can reach surprisingly high when they stand on their hind legs. A single enraged giga bite can take out a fully leveled griffin in one hit.
If you’re hunting gigas for PvP, always scout the area first for enemy tribes. The sound of rocket fire carries for miles across the map, and it’s not uncommon for other groups to show up mid-fight to steal your giga or loot your body. Bring at least one other tribe mate with a separate griffin to watch your back while you focus on landing hits. Also, carry at least 2x the ammo you think you’ll need, because missing even one shot will force you to reposition, and you don’t want to run out mid-fight.
So to wrap this up, can a griffin 2 shot a giga in ark? Only in very specific scenarios, mostly on unofficial servers with high damage multipliers, using top tier explosive weapons and perfect headshots against low level unarmored tamed gigas. For vanilla official server players, you’ll never pull off a 2-shot kill, but griffins are still one of the most reliable mounts for taking down gigas safely. If you’re new to giga hunting, practice on low level tamed gigas on a private server first to get your aim down, before you try to take on a wild giga that can wipe your entire tribe if you make a mistake.