If you’ve ever lost half your inventory mid-tame because a random Carno showed up mid-brawl, you’re probably curious about how 2 tame animals in Ark without fighting. It’s not some hidden exploit, it’s a set of legitimate strategies the devs built into the game for players who want to avoid unnecessary combat, save on ammo and healing supplies, and build their herd faster without constantly respawning. I’ve used these methods for over 300 hours of playtime across official and unofficial servers, and they work for everything from small docile dinos to mid-tier creatures you’d never think you can tame without knocking them out first. We’ll cover exactly what tools you need, which creatures work best, and common mistakes to avoid so you don’t waste hours of effort for nothing.
Core Tools You Need to Pull Off How 2 Tame Animals in Ark Without Fighting
You don’t need high-tier gear or max level stats to pull off non-violent tames, but you do need a small set of specific tools you can craft as early as level 20 on most maps. I usually keep a dedicated taming pouch in my inventory with these items at all times, so I don’t have to run back to base if I run into a rare creature I want to tame. You can swap out items based on the creature you’re targeting, but these basics work for 90% of non-violent tame scenarios.
- Ghillie Suit: Reduces your detection range by 70% for most neutral and passive creatures, so you can get close without spooking them or triggering an attack. It works even better if you crouch while moving toward your target.
- Preferred food or kibble for your target: Passive tames work best when you use the creature’s favorite food, as it cuts taming time by up to 75% and reduces the chance they’ll wander off mid-process.
- Bug Repellent: Non-negotiable for taming insect or swamp-dwelling creatures like Arthropluera or Beelzebufo, as it stops them from being aggressive towards you even if you get within arm’s reach.
- Equus with a lasso saddle: The single most useful taming mount for non-violent play, as you can lasso small to mid-sized creatures without hurting them, and drag them to a safe spot away from predators to finish the tame.
I used to skip the Ghillie Suit when I first started trying non-violent tames, thinking stealth was only for PVP. But I quickly learned that even docile creatures like Moschops will run away if you approach them too fast without any camouflage, and wasting 10 minutes chasing a rare spawn across the map is the last thing you want to do when you’re low on supplies. One quick note: Make sure your Ghillie Suit is fully repaired before you head out, even a 10% durability drop will reduce its stealth effect significantly.
Best Creatures to Tame Without Combat First
Not every creature can be tamed without fighting, but there are dozens of common and useful options you can start with before you move to trickier mid-tier tames. I always recommend new players start with these, as they have low taming requirements and give you immediate value for your base. You don’t need any special gear for most of these, just a small stack of their preferred food and a little patience.
Moschops are perfect first non-violent tames because they can harvest 10x more berries, fiber, and hide than you can by hand, and they don’t require a saddle to ride once tamed. They only run if you make sudden movements, so as long as you crouch and approach slowly, you can tame a level 50 Moschops in less than 5 minutes with just a stack of mejoberries.
Equus tames are another great early goal, as once you have one, you can use its lasso to pull off almost every other non-violent tame on this list without spending resources on traps. Equus are skittish, so you’ll need to approach them slowly while holding carrots, and mount them when they get close enough. You’ll have to stay on their back while they buck for a few seconds, and they’ll be fully tamed once they calm down.
Achatina are a game-changer for early base building, as they generate cementing paste and organic polymer on their own as long as you feed them vegetables, no risky cave runs required. You can find them in most swamp areas, and they move so slow that you don’t even need a Ghillie Suit to approach them, just bug repellent to keep other swamp creatures away while you tame.
Avoid trying to non-violent tame large aggressive creatures like Rex or Spino first, they don’t have passive tame options, and trying to get close to them without fighting will just get you killed. Save those for later when you have better gear and tames to help you knock them out safely.
How to Pull Off Non-Violent Tames for Mid-Tier Creatures Without Risk
Once you have your basic tools and a few low-tier tames, you can move on to mid-tier creatures that give you more utility, like the Doedicurus or the Ovis. These require a little more planning, but you still don’t need to fight them at any point during the tame process. I use the same method for almost all mid-tier non-violent tames, and it has a 95% success rate on both official and unofficial servers.
First, scout out your target and make sure there are no predators within 100 meters, because they will interrupt your tame if they spot either you or the creature you’re trying to tame. I usually walk the perimeter of the area once and kill any stray Dilos, Raptors, or Titanoboas I find before I even get close to the target. That takes 5 minutes tops, and it saves you from losing a high-level spawn to a random predator attack.
Next, ride your Equus and get close enough to lasso the target. Don’t pull too hard on the lasso or you might accidentally hurt it, which will void the non-violent tame progress and may make it aggressive towards you. Drag it to a small 2x2 wooden pen you built nearby, close the gate so it can’t escape, and dismount your Equus.
Put on your Ghillie Suit, crouch, and approach the trapped creature slowly with its preferred food selected in your hotbar. Feed it once, then back away a few steps and wait for the taming bar to fill a bit before feeding it again. Never run or make sudden movements when approaching a trapped creature for passive taming, even if it’s trapped, it might get spooked and attack you, or break out of the pen and run away.
I usually put a few wooden spikes around the outside of the pen while I’m taming, just to keep stray predators from wandering in and attacking the creature mid-tame. It’s a small extra step that has saved me from losing more than a dozen high-level tames over the years. If the creature starts to wander, you don’t need to hit it to get its attention, just hold up its preferred food and it will come back to you on its own 9 times out of 10.
Common Non-Violent Taming Mistakes to Avoid
I’ve made every single one of these mistakes at least once, so I can tell you exactly how much time and resources you’ll save by skipping them. Most new players run into these issues their first few times trying non-violent tames, but they’re all easy to avoid with a little pre-planning.
The first mistake is using the wrong food for your target. A lot of new players use generic berries for every passive tame, but this can double or triple the taming time, and increase the chance the creature will wander away or get attacked before you finish. Always check the preferred food for your target before you head out to tame, even bringing basic kibble instead of berries can cut taming time in half for most mid-tier creatures.
Another common mistake is forgetting to clear the area around the tame spot. I once tried to tame a high-level Equus near a swamp, and a Titanoboa snuck up behind me and killed me mid-tame, and the Equus ran off before I could respawn. Now I always spend 5 minutes clearing all predators within a 200 meter radius before I start any tame, even if I think the area is perfectly safe.
Many new players also try to tame too high level a creature too early. Higher level creatures require more food and longer taming times, so if you’re level 15, don’t try to tame a level 120 Ovis, you’ll run out of food before the tame finishes, and you’ll have wasted all your resources. Stick to creatures 20 levels below your player level for your first 10 non-violent tames, until you get a feel for how long the process takes and what supplies you need.
The last mistake I see all the time is skipping the lasso for skittish creatures. I used to chase Parasaur and Ovis across the map for 20 minutes before I got my first Equus, now I just lasso them and drag them to a safe spot in 2 minutes. It’s worth taming an Equus first for this feature alone, it cuts down taming time for most small and mid-tier creatures by 70%.
At the end of the day, figuring out how 2 tame animals in Ark without fighting is one of the best quality of life upgrades you can make to your gameplay, especially if you’re playing PVE or just don’t enjoy constant combat. You don’t need to spend hours farming ammo or building complicated taming pens, just a few basic tools and a little bit of patience, and you can build a full herd of useful dinos without ever drawing your weapon. I still use these methods for 80% of my tames even after 1000+ hours of play, because they’re faster, lower risk, and let me spend more time exploring the map and building my base instead of fighting random creatures. Give them a try on your next playthrough, you’ll be shocked at how much time and resources you save.