Anyone who’s spent time floating through the bioluminescent bog biome of Genesis 2 knows how terrifying a Bloodstalker ambush can be. One second you’re gathering fungal wood for a new base build, the next you’re snared mid-air, being drained of health before you can even grab your shotgun. But what if you could turn that terrifying predator into your own personal grappling hook mount? That’s exactly what you’ll learn as we walk you through how to tame bloodstalker ark genesis 2, no fancy endgame gear required if you plan right.
Prep Steps Before You Attempt to Tame Bloodstalker in ARK Genesis 2
First, you need to make sure you have all the right supplies and have scouted a safe taming spot to avoid wasting hours of work. Bloodstalkers are passive tames with a twist: you don’t knock them out, you let them catch you, so your prep needs to focus on surviving their snare and feeding them what they want without interruption. Bloodstalkers prefer being fed blood packs over raw meat, and using any other food will tank your taming effectiveness and extend the process by 10x.
You’ll also want to scout a spot in the lower sections of the bog biome, where mid-level Bloodstalkers spawn away from aggressive Gigas and Rexes that wander the upper edges. Build a small 2x2 wooden platform 3 foundations up off the swamp ground to stay away from leeches and Sarcos while you wait for a Bloodstalker to spot you. Never bring other tames with you for this taming run, even small utility pets, as Bloodstalkers will target them first and you’ll either lose your tame or mess up your taming progress entirely.
Here’s a full list of supplies you’ll need for a level 50 to 150 Bloodstalker:
- 200-350 blood packs (crafted in a cooking pot with blood bags, or farmed from swamp leeches)
- 1 full set of flak or riot armor to reduce damage from the initial snare
- A parachute, in case you get dragged off a ledge mid-tame
- 2-3 medical brews to heal through any residual bleed damage
- Optional: A taming effectiveness booster to cut down on required blood packs by 30%
I’ve tried this tame with just hide armor before, and I ended up dead within 10 seconds of being snared, so don’t make that mistake. Flak armor is the minimum you should bring if you’re going for mid-to-high level Bloodstalkers, even if you’re playing on a boosted server.
How to Trigger the Taming Process Without Getting Killed
Once you’re set up on your platform, clear any nearby wild creatures that might interrupt you, then equip your armor and put all your blood packs in your hotbar. Make sure you have your blood packs in your last hotbar slot, that’s the slot the Bloodstalker will pull from automatically when it feeds on you. Don’t hold a weapon while you wait, as that can make the Bloodstalker attack to kill instead of snare you for taming.
When you see a Bloodstalker you want to tame, stand at the edge of your platform so it has a clear line of sight to you. It will shoot a web line out to pull you in, and you’ll see a taming progress bar pop up on the right side of your screen as soon as it latches on. Don’t fight back, don’t shoot it, and don’t use any items besides medical brews while you’re snared. If you attack the Bloodstalker at any point during the process, the taming progress will reset completely, and it will start draining your health to kill you.
If you’re playing on PvE, you don’t have to worry about other players interfering, but on PvP, it’s smart to do this tame during off-peak hours so no one snipes you while you’re immobilized. You’ll take small amounts of damage every time it feeds, so pop a medical brew if your health drops below 30%—you don’t want to die halfway through and waste all those blood packs you farmed.
Post-Tame Care and Best Uses for Your New Bloodstalker
Once the taming bar fills up completely, the Bloodstalker will let you go, and it will be friendly to you and your tribe immediately. Put a saddle on it first (you unlock the Bloodstalker saddle at level 62) and you’re ready to ride right away, no extra training required. Bloodstalkers have infinite grappling range as long as their web hits a solid surface, which makes them perfect for traversing the entire Genesis 2 map in minutes, no need for a flying mount.
They can also drag small to medium creatures behind them, which is great for moving smaller tames back to your base without having to lead them through dangerous swamp or space biomes. For PvP players, they’re one of the best ambush mounts in the game—you can hide in tree canopies or behind rock formations, snare enemy players off their Wyverns or Rexes, and drain their health before they even have time to react. They’re also great for raiding small bases, as you can grapple over walls and get inside without having to break down gates first.
That said, they do have some downsides you should know about. They don’t have a lot of health compared to other mid-game mounts, so they’re not ideal for head-on fights with Rexes or Gigas. They also lose stamina pretty quickly if you’re grappling nonstop, so keep a few stacks of stim berries in their inventory to refill stamina fast when you’re on long runs.
Common Taming Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
Even if you follow all the prep steps, it’s easy to mess up this tame if you don’t know the small, easy-to-miss mechanics. The most common mistake new players make is trying to use raw meat or prime meat instead of blood packs. You can technically use other food, but it takes so long that your taming effectiveness will drop to almost zero, and you’ll end up with a really weak Bloodstalker that dies in one hit from basic enemies.
Don’t try to tame more than one Bloodstalker at a time—if two snare you at once, they’ll both attack you to kill, and you’ll die before you can even pull out a medical brew. If you see multiple Bloodstalkers in the area, pick off the ones you don’t want to tame with a longneck rifle first, so only your target is left to snare you.
Another common mistake is not clearing the area around your taming spot well enough. If a Sarco or Titanoboa wanders up and starts attacking you while you’re snared, you can’t defend yourself, and you’ll either die or the taming progress will reset when the Bloodstalker takes damage from the wild creature. I once made the mistake of bringing my pet Oviraptor along for a tame, and a Bloodstalker targeted it instead of me, so I lost my egg farmer and wasted 40 minutes of prep time. Don’t be like me, leave all other tames at home for this run.
Taming a Bloodstalker might feel intimidating at first, especially if you’ve been on the receiving end of their ambushes before, but it’s one of the most rewarding mid-game tames you can get in Genesis 2. Once you get the hang of the process, you can farm high level Bloodstalkers for your whole tribe in just a few hours. Whether you’re using it for fast map traversal, resource runs, or PvP ambushes, it’s hard to find a more versatile mount in the entire expansion. Now that you know how to tame bloodstalker ark genesis 2, grab your blood packs and head to the bog biome to grab one for yourself this weekend.