Phoenix

The Phoenix, also classified as Firebird, is one of the Creatures in ARK: Survival Evolved. This creature can only be found in Scorched Earth.

Behavior
The Phoenix can only be found during Heat Wave events in Scorched Earth. The Phoenix never lands and will continuously fly high up in the sky. It will continue to fly around until the Heat Wave event ends and the Phoenix turns to ash. When the next Heat Wave occurs, the Phoenix will be reborn from said ashes. When turning into ash or turning from ash into a fiery bird, the Phoenix will perform an extravagant display of twirling amongst a created swirling ball of flame.

Appearance
The Phoenix, put simply, is a large flaming bird. The popularized image of the Phoenix itself most likely originally derived from ancient Greek interpretation of an Egyptian myth.

The bird itself has very flamboyant colors along its body, as well as fiery looking flight feathers on its tail and wings. The Phoenix's body, back of the head, wings, and tail are constantly aflame with an orange fire and giving of a haze of heat. It has long tail feathers as well as a prominent head crest of feathers. The feet have hooked talons with spikes on the knuckles and back of the feet. Each wing has a singular claw, similar to that an but having 1 instead of 3 on each wing. The beak is hooked in a raptorial manner.

Due to its fiery nature, the Phoenix can be easily spotted at night. During the day, however, it's more difficult to find. This can be fixed by typing the "Gamma -1" command into the command box. This can only be done if gamma altering gamma is allowed on the server. For example, this can't be done on official PvP servers.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Phoenix.

General
The Phoenix runs from a fight so to battle one you must give chase.

Strategy
Avoid using which may be burnt by the Phoenix, although if the Fire Wyvern comes into play, only use the bite attack instead of the breath, as the fire breath will heal instead of damaging the Phoenix.

Even though a Fire Wyvern is said to be the best method of taming a Phoenix, trapping it with a and using a  is much easier and can be done before a Heat Wave ends.

Weaponry
Any weapons you can wield while mounted and chasing the Phoenix will work. Be aware that fire tames heal the Phoenix instead of damaging it. Try to use the Lightning and Poison wyverns to attack it, as the breath attacks are also long range.

Dangers
The Phoenix itself poses little to no danger to either the player or mounts, though they will become aggressive if hurt or aggravated by something like the consumption of a. However, since the Phoenix can only be found during the Heat Wave event in Scorched Earth, beware of the temperature and nearby predators.

Weakness
The Phoenix has mediocre health and are not dangerous unless tamed. Thus, they can usually be killed with relative ease using arrows or guns. Though it would make sense that water would quench the Phoenix's fire, this is not the case. A Phoenix can touch the water without consequence.

Taming
It’s only found on the Scorched Earth map during a Heat Wave weather event.

The Phoenix can be found in a random location a good distance up in the sky (approximately where Tapejara fly as well). The Phoenix must be struck with flaming weapons in order to tame. This includes the Flamethrower, Flaming Arrows and Fire Wyvern breath. When struck by fire, the taming bar will increase minutely. It takes a long time, and If the process is not completed before the Heat Wave ends the Phoenix will disintegrate into a pile of ashes. The Phoenix will spawn from the same ash pile at the start of the next Heat Wave.

It should be noted that if a Phoenix can be found while outside a Heat Wave, it cannot be tamed by blowing fire on it. Phoenixes will spawn above their ash heaps at the start of the next heatwave. It is possible to catch them in a cage to ease taming if you can find an ash heap or track a living Phoenix to the end of a previous Heat Wave event. The cage should be at least 5 walls high because they spawn above their ashes, not in them. The Phoenix can fly through any opening except a single doorway.

Also, it appears that once a Player hits a Phoenix with fire the taming progress does not regress, damage does not undo the progress, and Phoenixes do not lose any levels as a result of damage taken while taming. It will lose taming effectiveness when waiting too long between "hits" with fire. Additionally it seems that no one else can finish the tame except the tribe that started it.

Once tamed, the Phoenix will eat only. It can not land, and must be mounted/dismounted in the air.

Taming Methods

 * Flame Arrows
 * Hitting a flying Phoenix with a is rather hard, and they are by far the least effective in taming progress. The arrows themselves do impact damage while the flames do not. However damaging the Phoenix during taming won't hurt the effectiveness of the tame.


 * Flamethrower
 * Flying after a Phoenix and drenching it in fire with the is effective; though you will need a lot of gas and 2 or 3 flamethrowers to complete a high level tame.


 * Fire Wyvern
 * Perhaps one of the most efficient, and fastest method of taming a Phoenix is to search for it and follow it with a high stamina . The Fire Wyverns breath has the most effect for taming progress compared to all the other methods, and keeping up with a Phoenix in the air is made easier with a Wyvern. This method can be made even easier by using a built trap, another Fire Wyvern,(preferably of the opposite gender, as the mate boost increases the breath damage and thus makes taming faster), a survivor held in the Wyvern's claws equipped with a flamethrower if flying, using oil jars in addition, or by combining all of the above options for maximum taming prowess.

Ember Crystal Wyvern


 * Though not as effective as a Fire Wyvern due to having less base damage, if imported, the Ember Crystal Wyvern does work for taming a Phoenix. They are also easier to tame than a Fire Wyvern, as long as your character is level 65, a bunch of crystal or primal crystal should work. Just hop on the back of the Wyvern with the crystal in your last slot of your hotbar, and start feeding!(Remember to bring a few parachutes, just in case you fall off.) As well as being faster than a fire wyvern, they do more damage the more the breath is used consistently, therefore increasing taming affinity by a lot more. However, if using this method, keep in mind that the Ember Crystal Wyvern has a much tighter breath attack that the Fire Wyvern, so good aim is of utmost importance. You should upgrade mainly damage and stamina on the Ember Crystal Wyvern for this job.


 * Oil Jars
 * can be used to tame the Phoenix if you know where their Ashes are, and you don't have means for multiple flamethrowers, or access to a Fire Wyvern. Build a foundation directly in front of the the ashes and build a box with doorframes five walls above the ashes. Once the box is built, build a place to stand and once the Heat event starts, throw down oil jars and light them with a torch. Keep throwing down oil jars and the blaze will tame the Phoenix. This is by far the fastest method as a level 150 can be tamed in under 15 minutes this way. Make sure to bring a couple stacks of jars however. Also be careful as the heat from the jars will rapidly increase your temperature.

Note: In patches previous to v269. You were able to tame the Phoenix outside the heatwave by torching or burning oil on its ashes. As of patch 269 the developers confirmed that the Phoenix can no longer be tamed outside of a heatwave, though this isn't always the case.

Controls
The Phoenix has four distinct attacks:
 * Bite
 * , which triggers a simple, fairly weak, bite from its beak and applies DOT (damage over time) burn damage. This attack can harvest corpses.


 * Fireball
 * , which launches a fireball, or 'blaze', and applies DOT burn damage only. This attack has no immediate hit damage when it contacts but acts shortly after. (Note: If RPG style damage text is turned on, it will appear as if no damage is being done as the number will not appear and if a target is killed with this attack, it will not credit the kill to the Phoenix. This is most likely due to the game not treating the fireball as an entity created by the Phoenix itself. No kill feed will appear and no XP will be gained if the victim is killed in this manner.)


 * Talon Attack
 * , which triggers a talon attack that does more immediate damage than the bite and does not apply DOT damage. This attack can also mine rocks and metal nodes as well as harvest trees.


 * Rocket High Speed
 * triggers a flying rocket-like high-speed move that damages and burns anything that it hits or that touches the aura around its body or the fire trail behind it. The attack takes about 3 seconds to actually initiate the fire aura and trail and another 10 seconds to reach maximum speed and has a 3 second cool down between ending the attack and starting it again. During its fiery rocket boost, it has a very large turning radius that limits how quickly it can turn. Moving up or down during this is significantly quicker than moving left or right.
 * Note that of the attacks that apply a DOT burn, leveling up will not increase the damage the fire does, only the melee attack itself. This means that the base damage of the Fireball attack will always be the same regardless.
 * Note that of the attacks that apply a DOT burn, leveling up will not increase the damage the fire does, only the melee attack itself. This means that the base damage of the Fireball attack will always be the same regardless.

Roles

 * Travel Mount
 * Despite what the dossier says, Phoenixes can be ridden, even without a saddle and can somehow be ridden without burning the survivor. Phoenixes have a special attack that allows them to traverse at an extreme speed, and being in the air, little to no obstacles can block your path. Although the Phoenix does have one of the largest turning radius's in the game when boosting, this problem is usually trivial when high enough in altitude. This allows the Phoenix to be an even better travel option than even that of the or  due to its incredible speed, and they are the only ridable flyer that can recover stamina in the air, meaning you can fly for near infinite periods of time. Level  and.


 * Golem Killer
 * Because of the mechanics of how fire deals damage depending on the relative size of a creature, the Phoenix can use its fire to burn for considerable damage. Thanks to the wide range of fiery attacks and its aerial position, a Phoenix can be one of the best ways to kill an Elemental, though caution during this process is advised as the Elemental's attacks are powerful. Level, , and.


 * Living Campfire/Forge
 * The Phoenix will passively cook and  placed in its inventory. This makes it a useful mount for travel or for a nomadic survivor, as one can cook their kills without having to set up a campfire; it is the superior way to harvest  and, as there will be no lag time before the meat starts getting cooked. It can also be used to smelt metal into  and to refine  and  into . The Phoenix provides these functions in the same quantities as the  and  but cycles much more quickly; it does not approach the capacity of the  and , though. Keep in mind that the use of the Phoenix as a travel mount or smelter can be hindered by its relatively low Weight. Still, leveling  would be beneficial.


 * Hunter
 * Thanks to its ability to cook meat inside its inventory, the Phoenix can be an optimal choice for gathering and cooking easily spoiling meats like in a quick time span, in large quantities. The Phoenix also has a large arsenal of decent attacks that allow it to switch up whatever kind of attack it needs depending on a situation, minimizing damage taken from aggressive prey. One of the most optimal attacks for this would be the fireball, which can be shot from a distance and does not aggro the victim while it is burning; bigger creatures are more affected by fire than smaller ones. With excellent speed, a survivor and Phoenix can easily return to base and stash the already cooked meat for later use.


 * Gatherer
 * The Phoenix can gather a surprising amount of resources, from to, with its peck  and claw attacks . In fact, the Phoenix is one of the most versatile harvesters in the entire game, and can meet every harvesting need except for Berries and Fiber. Only the  and  beat it in the amount of things it can harvest. The claw attacks are required for harvesting metal as the peck doesn't damage rocks. It would be advised to have a secondary creature to aid in the gathering process, as the Phoenix's weight can be limiting, especially if it's low level. Level  and.


 * Demolition/Landscaping
 * Because the Phoenix can harvest almost anything including trees and rocks. This can make it very useful for clearing out a space for placing construction or making a path. Using the clawing attack will be most useful for this task, as it can destroy almost any resource and has a good area of effect.


 * Silica Pearl Farm
 * Instead of dropping, the Phoenix poops out clams that can be harvested for . Occasionally, the Phoenix will also excrete , a rare and difficult resource to acquire. The autonomous creation of these pearls can be quite helpful in acquiring sufficient materials to manufacture and craft various items.


 * Combatant
 * Though the Phoenix's moderately weak attack power, mediocre health, and lack of a saddle are not particularly great for use in war, the fiery bird more than makes up for it in its wide range of abilities and its DOT fire that most of its attacks have. Like other fires in the game, burning is least effective against small creatures, like a, and most effective against large creatures, like a . Its bite attack can deliver damage as well as burn a target. Its spit fire attack, or 'blaze', only does fire DOT damage and does not aggro thanks to its unique, maybe unintended, mechanic. Its fire ball attack can also be changed in the creature's options tab in regards to 'blaze targeting'; when it is turned on, it automatically aims to a target, and when it is turned off, it is based solely on the player's aim(It's recommended that you have blaze targeting on, as the normal aiming is very spotty and can be very difficult to be precise). The claw attack has a good AOE and it's the most powerful attack(not including burning damage) in the Phoenix's arsenal in terms of raw DPS. It can also do damage to stone and rocks with its talons as well. Most impressive is the Phoenix's fiery boost attack in which it can preform an incredibly swift attack by shooting itself to high speed, trailing an aura of fire around and behind itself; it can keep this boost almost indefinitely until it runs out of stamina. Overall, the Phoenix makes a solid, mid-tier fighter. Level , , and.


 * Fire Rocketing Attack
 * The Phoenix's fire boosting attack can be used with great potentially, as the attack is so fast that it is difficult to retaliate to or anticipate it, especially when being ridden by a skilled player. If the attack boost is preformed correctly, a multitude of people and creature can be burned in a single swoop, even if they are not terribly close as the flames it emits can reach a decent distance from the body. Large creatures are especially affected, as fire deals the most damage to the largest creatures. The boost can also be used to arrive at a battle very quickly while having the option to escape when things go south. On top of this, the Phoenix can regain while hovering in the air, allowing it to quickly recoup far away in the sky where it will be difficult to follow. Note to be careful when using the tactic, as it does take a bit for the boost to rev up to maximum speed which can leave one vulnerable if they break the momentum by hitting a surface, cliff, or creature. Also keep in mind to avoid, as the lack of a saddle and substantial health can make them easy to kill. Level , , and.


 * Damage


 * Guardian


 * Aerial Attack