Triceratops

The Triceratops (try-SAIR-uh-tops), or simply Trike, is one of the dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved. They are a large, evolved cerotopsid herbivore and one of the last of their kind, and when they weren't peacefully browsing, used their deadly horns and shield frill against predators.

Behavior
The Trike is not aggressive until attacked. When attacked, it charges at the enemy and bucks it with its head. Their bucking attack knocks the enemy back, which can make Trikes much more dangerous near cliffs or steep hills. The amount of knockback is significantly influenced by the enemy's weight. However, This attack can be easily dodged, but if it decides to ram and charge forwards, it is better to quickly dodge sideways as its speed when charging is much faster than simply running forwards. The Triceratops is also a herding animal, coming to the aid of others when attacked.

Appearance
The Trike is a relatively small (though still huge compared to a human) stout quadrupedal herbivore, which sports a large bony head equipped with an equally bony frill, which is adorned with multiple horns or spikes. Three larger horns also appear on the animal's head, one over each eye, and one on the nose.

Tek Triceratops (Variant)
The Tek Triceratops is a creature that was permanently added to the game with the Genesis: Part 1 DLC. It is a unique alternate of the original Triceratops, and is purely made of Tek. Unlike the original, they spawn at a 5% rate at a 20% higher level than usual in the Genesis simulation. Since patch v315.2 they are part of the core game so they can be uploaded and transferred.

Drops
Triceratops, Aberrant Triceratops=

Corrupted Triceratops=

Base Stats and Growth
Triceratops=

Aberrant Triceratops=

Corrupted Triceratops=

KO Strategy
Triceratops are rather slow, you can kite one easily. Keep firing with several seconds in between each arrow to allow the  level to increase over time while backing away very quickly. You can also look for a stuck Trike, which will be incredibly easy to knock out, as it can't attack you. Another strategy is to look for 2 or 3 small trees on a beach and then aggro the trike from a distance or from a safe place like ontop of a rock, directing him between the trees, it will likely get stuck. If none of these are available, simply have the triceratops chase you until its stamina runs out and it stops to rest; then circle behind it and knock it out with a club or slingshot.

A much easier method however, is to create a simple trap using a foundation, wall, and ceiling of any kind in a "Z" shape. The Triceratops will attempt to turn around when it hits the ceiling, allowing players to snipe its body and move through the ceiling after it.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Triceratops.

General
While it is not difficult to dodge the attack of a Trike, they deal significant damage, and the knock-back can deal additional fall damage if the player is knocked off of a hill. Oftentimes, beginning players attack out of familiarization with such an iconic dinosaur. This can lead to an early and embarrassing death.

Strategy
When attacked, a Trike will try to ram you with its horned head. Because it has the turning radius of an airplane, side stepping is your best friend here, especially if you are attacking with a spear. Quickly circle around the Trike, avoiding it’s head, while exposing its body. If you can circle fast enough it’s possible to avoid getting hit at all. (Doesn't work consistently enough to be listed. Highly impossible for a beginner.) The Trike has a chance of stunning you (whilst you are stunned you will move slower). Try to get on a high rock to stop it from hitting you.

Weaponry
It is entirely possible to bring down a Trike using only a melee weapon if the player is careful to avoid the head and stays near the Trike's side or behind. However, it is recommended to use a ranged weapon such as a bow. It is a good strategy to enrage the Trike from afar, using a ranged weapon. Finish it with powerful melee attacks. A powerful mount can also be used.

Dangers
Their headbash will knock you back, so try to avoid getting in front of them. Other Trikes nearby will also attack a player if a member of their species is hit nearby. If a player steals a wild Trike egg, the Trikes nearby will attack. Their attacks have a large AOE(Area Of Effect) and can send big groups of players or attacking dinosaurs flying back. This includes animals as big as, and possibly bigger than the parasaur, so always expect to be knocked back.

Running in a straight line either to escape or keeping a distance is a bad idea as well as it can charge and ram directly in front.

Weakness
Trikes have a large, slow turning radius, so outfoxing the Trike can be a viable strategy. They also have relatively low health and a tendency to get stuck in trees. Because a Trike will try to face its attacker it is easy to position some low level dinos behind it and make them attack it. When it tries to turn towards them, punch the trike and it will change targets again and again without ever actually attacking.

Utility
When near the presence of a threatening large carnivore, Triceratops receives a rivalry buff, affecting nearby tamed/wild Trikes and boosting their damage and health. Rivalry buff doesn't work on local host.

The following wild/enemy dinosaur triggers the buff

Roles

 * Transport: While slow, if one disregards it's charge attack, it has a very good base carrying capacity. Good for local transport, but may get stuck on trees or rocks when traveling through woods. Note that if you are riding the triceratops, you can simply attack the trees, knocking them down; also, a ridden trike's attack does no friendly fire damage, so you can also clear trees out of the way of other non-mounted pack dinos that are following you (Level up Speed, Stamina, and Weight).
 * Travelling: Thanks to the 2nd TLC patch, the Trike can cover great distances in a short amount of time thanks to its charge attack, allowing it to serve a role where the Trike couldn't before. Holding the ability until it fully fills the charge meter will give the most speed and time, and ultimately the most distance. Travelling like this is most well used in open areas where one can anticipate potential dangers before getting hit and having the charge meter reset, and where there is little chance of getting snagged up in rough terrain or rocks. Leveling will also make its charge faster. Usually very little  is needed for this mode of transportation as the Trike regains stamina while building up the next charge.
 * Gatherer: Excellent for gathering berries, second only to a, , or  (Level up Melee Damage).
 * Battle mount: A decent battle mount for starters, as it can do some damage and knocks smaller opponents back (Increase Damage and Health), as well as having a swift charge attack that can stun and/or knock back enemies greatly and can blast through thatch structures in a way similar to the . Its head shield can also take reduced damage from bullets and arrows. Do not underestimate its knockback, because if you can master it you will be able to kill way stronger dinos and suffer little to no damage, but it requires perfect timing between your attack and if needed, to walk forwards or backwards(best to practice with raptors). You can kill powerful creatures like an in this way. (Quick note: While you can kill Alpha Raptors like that, if the trike runs out of stamina, it can knock itself out which is a death sentance to the trike and possibly survivor.) Also note that your charge meter for charging will be reset if the Trike is damaged so escape can be limited in case things get hairy. Overall, the Trike's accessibility as an early-game tame, projectile damage reducing head shield, decent health and damage, large carnivore buff, and charge attack makes it a good early-game tame.
 * Guardian: While most people think first and foremost of the swift, deadly carnivores in terms of protecting their property, the Triceratops is much easier to tame earlier in the game than even midsized carnivores. A pair or trio of Trikes can act as the core of a guard force that will keep your home and herds safe from common predators such as, and . Unlike most dinos, Trikes tend not to die when pursuing Sarcos and other semi-aquatic creatures into the water—their AoE lets them fend off multiple  (Level up Health and Melee Damage).
 * Protector: When being chased by wild predators, players may stand next to one and lure the predator to the Trike. Trike may kill the predator and left the corpse for harvest.
 * PvP Turret Soaker: The head of the Trike reduces damage by a significant amount. This can allow you to charge against a group of opposing and absorb their bullets with extreme efficiency. Since Trikes are relatively easy to tame, have more speed compared to the, and are much smaller than larger turret soakers such as  and , they are effective substitutes for a growing tribe that is willing to raid. This turret soaking capability is almost exactly the same as the.
 * Thatch Gatherer: Though it's normal attacks will gather decent amounts, one can use the Ram attack to break down trees and gather very large amounts of in a short amount of time for a dino its size.

In Primitive Plus

 * Fresh Prime Ribs: Once killed, the trike will drop, which have similar taming efficiency as prime meat and can also be cooked and consumed.

Notes/Trivia

 * Can collect berries, thatch, and smaller amounts of wood; collecting berries in this manner will yield extremely high amounts of berries compared to collecting them by hand. This makes it incredibly useful for feeding and taming other herbivores.
 * Its full name means "Spiky three-horned Face".
 * When dismounting, you will stand on the back of the trike. If you crouch, you can hide behind its large face plate for cover from attacks. It is also possible to shoot from the top of the trike while it fights. (Don't move or you may fall off.)
 * The Trike has a charge attack, although it differs from the 's in that it requires charging by holding the Right Mouse Button, rather than just sprinting. This was introduced in the TLC Pass #2 in 21 March.
 * It has a which is based on the real life relative of the Triceratops, in which they share the same taxonomic family of Ceratopsidae. However the Styracosaurus was even more closely related to another Ceratopsian,.
 * This relates to the fact that in the dossier, Helena mentions that the creature has the 3 horns like a Triceratops but the horns around the edge of the frill like a Styracosaurus, hence its scientific name,Triceratops styrax.
 * The Player can use weapons while mounted on the back of the Trike.
 * When TLC 2 was first released, Aberrant Variant do not have a color region nor its mutated light region. This was fixed within two weeks after its release.
 * They do not appear to carry a "Rivalry" buff appearance either, even when in the presence of a large carnivore.
 * Oddly enough, while, , , and  appear larger than Trikes and are also carnivores, they do not appear as a threat to them, hence the absence of the buff. And for some reason, if the  is in its presence, it will gain the buff.
 * Before Patch 296.101, Triceratops could sprint in ridiculous speed, this could be achieve by pressing and  while its charging attack is activated.
 * Rivalry buff doesn't work on local host.
 * The famous song by A-ha: Take On Me is often parodied in playthroughs when a player finds a Triceratops, the lyrics go some what like this, 'Trike On Me, trike on me '. This permits nearby tribe members an essential form of possession on a server for taming a triceratops.
 * Real Triceratops are generally agreed to have been a social species who lived in herds, though it could also be possible that some members would choose to live alone, like is seen in some herding species today. Ark's Triceratops also exhibit this behavior.
 * Many People think Trikes are undersized, but this is actually because most other dinosaurs are shown as larger species. Although it looks small compared to a player in first person, they actually did get the size right, same thing goes for the.
 * If Trike died while in charge mode, it can still damage other creatures once as a corpse.
 * An aggressive version of the Triceratops exists, which is the.
 * Triceratops is a very viable option if you choose to travel or scout with one tame. They can carry a good amount, repel just about every predator on land thanks to their good knockback and decent power, though large predators can be an issue, and can even scale mountain and hill sides with little trouble.
 * Tek Triceratops are not one of the creature released for Extinction Chronicles but rather for Genesis.
 * On ARK Survival Evolved Mobile, there is an unusual bug in which unconscious Triceratops will slide on the ground surface for a prolonged time before stopping which can be detrimental to taming.

Lore

 * With the ARK Animated Series reveal of the Triceratops Nerva army saddle variant.
 * It can be inferred that the triceratops is one of the New Legion's main mounts since they compliment Nerva's strategies that are related to Roman battle formations with their frills as living shields.
 * Their herd behavior is akin to the overall behavior of a single Roman unit or legion.