Dinosaur
This is a particularly simple guide to new players who are having a hard time on their journey as a dinosaur. Simple tips that will help your prehistoric animal to live up to adulthood and beyond. This guide will be updated as I discover new things and as the game continues to be updated.
Here are some very important Do’s and Don’ts that will help you stay alive, categorized in a very simple format:
1.) USE YOUR SENSES
This does not refer to the Q key which highlights sources of water, food and footprints, but more so your real eyes and ears. The game world is vibrant and colorful, but this is all a distraction from what you should be doing:
a.) Use your eyes. Every bush and cluster of trees can be used as camouflage. Every piece of high ground could be an ambush point and every drop could be used against you to limit your movement or cause a broken leg. The world around you is designed to distract you. Anything that doesn’t belong usually moves, or if its night time, has eyes that visibly glow in night vision. If anything seems out of place, do not approach. If you are the potential ambusher, pick a spot where its easy to maintain situational awareness while staying out of sight. It is best to always keep still in a crouching position until its time to strike with the speed burst ability. Enter wide open spaces and watering holes cautiously. You never know who might be watching. Before anyone mentions anything about size, it is possible to hide a fully grown T-rex inside a clump of trees.
b.) Use your ears. This is the most important aspect of the game because most of the time, you will not see what is coming until it is right in front of you, especially at night. Every dinosaur at each stage of their growth makes a distinct sound both when doing something like eating or drinking, vocalizing and even walking. These sounds are directional, which will give you a rough idea about where its coming from and how far away it is. Memorize what each dinosaur sounds like, and note which one could be potential predators or potential prey. Multiple vocals coming from the same direction sometimes hint at multiple dinos.
2.) LEARN TO COMMUNICATE SMART
Communication is important when playing with lots of people in the same server. These could all be potential friends or foes so figuring out what to do is important, both for pack players and lone wolves:
a.) Limit your chatting. Note that chatting in any chat channel will make your dino vocalize, which can be heard like any other dino call (Do not underestimate how far this vocalization can project. All calls can normally be heard over an estimate of 100 to 200m away). This makes it much harder for hunting packs to ambush human players or coordinate through radio silence. My suggestion is either use a livechat program like Discord, learn to be intuitive with your animal’s behaviors or assign a reliable pack leader that everyone can follow.
b.) Vocalize smart. As mentioned before, dino sounds can be very loud and is pretty much a double edge sword. You want to be heard by your pack mates, but at the same time, you are broadcasting where you are and how big you are to anyone else who is listening. Always make sure you have an escape or defense plan, even if you are a carnivore. Just because you are the biggest and meanest animal out there doesn’t make you invincible.
c.) Approach strangers carefully, even if you are of the same species. It is the nature of the game for people to be suspicious of strangers, considering dinos take hours to reach an adult stage. If you encounter a herd or a pack, how they react to your appearance will hint at their stance towards you. Some groups will be accommodating and send a friendly invite. Others will kill you on sight. Others will lure you in before killing you on sight, usually for and giggles, genuine paranoia or for food. Finding a reliable pack or herd is hard. It is usually best to ask in global for an invitation to find the groups that actually want you with them. Note point (b) when doing this. Make sure your surroundings are safe before you chat.
3.) LEARN TO DINOSAUR PROPERLY
a.) Pick your fights carefully. Just because you are a rex doesn’t mean you can take on a herd of trikes head on. You will take damage, no matter what you do, and how you handle it will ensure you survive. Winning doesn’t mean anything if you’re just gonna bleed out after the other guy is dead.
b.) Safety in numbers. One of the biggest appeals of forming groups is the much higher chance of survival. It is extremely satisfying being in an effective herd or pack as you can amplify your damage output and take on most solo players very easily (or confuse the heck out of them with by scattering in all directions when being chased). However, your group will face some very dramatic and equally desperate decision making when things go south. If someone in your group is severely injured and needs to rest with the H key, this puts the others in danger since the player has to stay in one spot for a long period of time. This is usually a death sentence for at least one of your group members, especially if a predator is closeby. Groups should know how to handle the situation without sacrificing said group member. Trikes normally form a wall of spikes or a defensive ring. Some other herbivores can distract predators by pulling their attention away from the injured herd member. Predator packs are less likely to be in any such danger unless if they are within the charging range of a very angry trike. If the chase fails and everyone is hungry, some pack mates might even decide to cannibalize the injured one.
c.) Know the strengths and weaknesses of as many dinos as you can. Every dino has different stats and capabilities that can counter each other. If you have a favorite dino, learn how to use it. Small dinos are very good at hiding. Larger ones can take more punishment and dish out more damage. Knowing how other dinos work will give you an edge when you eventually have to fight or hunt them.
For more detailed guides on dino combat, refer to some of the other guides, and perhaps practice a bit in a few sandbox servers.
