ARK: Survival Evolved – Using a Phoenix

by Falagar / ARK: Survival Evolved, Articles / 05 Sep 2017

A phoenix has four powers:

The left-click bite attack, which has a chance to set its target on fire. When whistled to attack, phoenixes will fly in circles around their target biting, similar to pteranodons.

The right-click ‘blaze’ attacks, which shoots a fireball at a surface. The fireball stays for a bit as a patch of fire, setting anything that enters alight, before going out.

Phoenixes have an option for ‘blaze targeting’. If targeting is on, blaze attacks will try to hit creatures it would otherwise have missed slightly. If it is off, all targeting is manual.

Fireballs will disappear if shot from too great a distance.

The C key claw attack, which harvests resources. Phoenixes are slightly more efficient than a metal axe when it comes to gathering wood, stone, and sand, but they can’t gather metal/crystal/etc at all. This is not a recommended use for a phoenix, thanks to its impossibly low carry weight.

The space key flame charge. Hold down space to maintain a flame charge. This lets you go faster, and to a lesser extent, lets you dive boost like a griffin. If you go down, then turn upwards while flame charging, you’ll glide for a bit at a faster than average speed. Be warned that flame charge drains food exceptionally quickly.

One of the things a phoenix is useful for is as a silica pearl generator.

Phoenixes eat sulfur and only sulfur, which restores 10 hunger apiece. About every ten pieces, a phoenix will defecate a cluster of (default 15) silica pearls, but this can probably yield more by making use of the ‘defecate’ key.

One method to get pearls is gliding around with flame charge, but keeping the sulfur in your own inventory. This will drain food exceedingly quickly. Then, go to base and feed your phoenix. It’ll make pearls right there, for easy collection.

Sidenote: Phoenixes are completely immune to stimberries

A phoenix can be used to cook things. Any meat (or prime meat) in its inventory cooks itself, any metal ore smelts itself, and any hide and oil turns itself into gasoline.

Phoenixes glow, but do not provide heat. The glowing, while detrimental on a PVP server if you’re just flying around, can be helpful on a normal one. Not only are phoenixes a free source of light, nothing says ‘Here I am’ like a flying, glowing bird of fire.

A tame phoenix will literally always be a flying mount. That is, a phoenix never stops flying, and as it doesn’t need a saddle, it never stops being an available mount.

The phoenix has the extraordinary ability to regain stamina midair, thanks to its inability to leave the air. If you start to feel tired, stop moving. Your stamina will be back shortly, and you never had to land. In addition, the phoenix’s status as the second-fastest scorched earth flyer means it would be one of the best flying mounts in ark – if it didn’t have ark’s most pathetic carry weight.

Base 60 weight, seriously? This is just a theory, but I think originally the phoenix was a pet and then they changed it to be rideable, but this was after they did the stats, dossier, and saddle. That’s why everything about the phoenix but its size says ‘Don’t ride it’.

The phoenix is also a good dino when it comes to killing land dinosaurs. It never has to land on the ground, so it can stay in-air the infinitely and rain down blaze attacks from above. With enough time/patience, you can safely kill any land dino. Just bring a lot of sulfur.

Stats of a Phoenix

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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