Fan Art/Mastodon (Anthropalyptic Creations)

Mammut arkanium, also known as the Mastodon, or simply Masto, is a fan imagined ARK: Survival Evolved creature by Almultimavenger and second written addition to the Anthropalyptic Creations collection.

Bearing identical resemblance to the real life American Mastodon, they take the niche of being medium sized herbivores smaller than Mammoths. They are similar to Mammoths in terms of behavior and habitat but are capable of moving much faster.

Teamclass
Herbivore_High

Dossier
The dossier is written from the perspective of the creator as a character in game.

Wild)
"''Living alongside their larger relatives, the Woolly Mammoths, these large proboscideans utilized relative speed and raw strength to defend themselves from predators. I have noticed that remarkable amount of ferocious predator in the tundras make Mastodons paranoid. They hate being touched and will attack any naïve human who approaches them out of defense. After many of years upon the ARKs they go ignored by the predators who would rather take down the Mammoths by surprise, but nonetheless their smaller cousins will get caught up in fights with their larger numbers. Furthermore, desperate predators will have no problems taking on this bulldozer when there's nobody else around. Mastodons will remain a target by apex predators who desire a larger meal. When in the presence of predators I've seen Mastodons congregate in numbers to take them down together. Never have I seen a lone Mastodon unless they've been separated, which is a tiresome task for predators. They are indeed one of the most adaptive animals I've seen in the landscape which is of no surprise that tribes desire them for travel and charging into battle."''

Domesticated)
"As I have previously noted, Mastodons are for some more popular than the larger Mammoths as tames. Since they have a higher chance of going avoided by carnivores who plague the tundra. While not as robust they put up an impressive fight. I've seen warriors take advantage of their sharpened tusks to cut down trees in addition to enemies on the battlefield, as they trade general strength for speed of travel instead."

Behavior
Mastodons are herbivorous and found roaming tundras and occasionally on grasslands in herds of at least 2-4, and are almost never found alone. They don't stray too far from their herds and are more cautious in the wild than a lot of other animals. For this reason, they become aggressive when touched and furthermore, herds receive a 15% damage and health generation boost for every member. They loose aggression quickly however, and unlike other territorial animals they will actually be sensitive towards any wild aggressive carnivore, and attack any of them if touched. For this reason, wild medium sized carnivores will ignore Mastodons almost always, except if there is no other prey in the vicinity of their target range, the Mastodons will be the next meal. Apex predators will not hesitate to attack Mastodons. When attacked the herd will come together to draw the predators back and even chase them as they retreat till they're gone, and unlike Mammoths they move reasonably fast.

Appearance
Mastodons look very similar to Mammoths as they are close relatives, and part of the clade of trunk mammals. However, unlike Mammoths they do not have nearly as much hair and are only around two thirds the size, larger than Stegosaurus but smaller than Mammoths.

Color Scheme
Mastodons mostly spawn in darker colors like brown and tan, and occasionally in lighter ones like navy blue.

Melee Abilities

 * Tusk Head Butt (Left Click on PC; Right Press on Mobile)- Mastodon will push tusks into target dealing 39 damage.
 * Stomp (Right Click on PC; Swipe Up on Mobile)- Mastodon will stomp dealing heavy knockback to smaller animals and dealing 55.
 * Tusk Chain Spam (C on PC; Swipe Down on Mobile)- Mastodon will make a blue light path as they swipe tusks side to side, dealing 27*3 damage.

Death Animation
Mastodons will take a few steps back and hold their body still, but their head will raise into the air in a bellow of struggle before falling forward and collapsing with their forelimbs under their torso as they're on the ground, either on their side or belly (depends on the terrain)

General
Mastodons are not that much different to combating other medium sized herbivores, at least when they're alone which would be never in the wild. Wild Mastodons require hard hitting to hold ground against or at least a good tanky mount at the least. Any large carnivore like Tyrannosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Spinosaurus, Oxalaia and the like can take them down easily even in herds when levelled enough. Mastodons have a 15% attack boost per member that grants them a max of 60% bonus damage in a herd of 4, and more than one herd present will stack this amount. More Mastodons will inflict more damage and be buffed in stamina and health generation.

Strategy
Mastodons are not that much different than Allosaurus in niche and can be taken down by hard hitters or multiple smaller pack predators working together and taking hits and vulnerable places. It's important not to let your guard down and to attack viciously when your health is draining.

Weaponry
The usual weapons like swords and high tech firearms will dispatch them easy. Otherwise it's a death sentence to take them down alone or in few numbers, and their knockback and systematic blows will make them difficult to defeat and overwhelm you. The bellow of a Yutyrannus or Charonosaurus to increase damage output will also help you match them.

Dangers
Given their herd boost and tendency to stand by their herd-mates make Mastodons a more dangerous herbivore to tackle than the Mammoths. Mastodons who are attacked or touched will gang up on the enemy and stop at nothing till they're dead or long retreating. They're also faster than Mammoths.

Weaknesses
Mastodon's HP is on the lower side so when traveling alone the odds of being killed by large predators is more likely. Tames capable of hitting hard or fast in packs can also make quick work of them if levelled enough.

Taming
Mastodons are standard tames through both knockout and passive methods, and their torpor doesn't drain too quickly. Taming them through knockout is preferred since the risk of touching and startling them is without worry. They prefer crops over berries as per usual and trapping them will benefit from the risk of predation. Mastodons never travel alone, so it's advised to kite them into a trap and far from their herd-mates.

Utility

 * Travel/Defense/Security- Mastodons are quite fast for their size and go ignored by smaller predators.
 * Boss/Alpha assistance- Levelled Mastodons in large herds can serve as handy weapons, though not must haves against bosses with their systematic and quick hard hitting attacks.
 * Warfare and siege- Mastodon saddles are four seated for easy weapon usage and they're fast and durable enough for battle.
 * Alverezsaurus destroyer- Mastodons with their short but hard hitting attacks can make swift work of Alverezsaurus.

Trivia

 * The behavior of wild Mastodons is justified with the way their written in the dossier, with them being targeted by small predators rarely being described as a desperation for hunger, and them going ignored by them regularly as ignoring them to avoid Mastodon's ferocity.
 * The niche of Mastodons can be comparable to a herbivorous version of Allosaurus, in the sense that they always travel in herds for security and have herd boosts. They also dangerously gang up on any enemy who lands so much as a blow on one of their members.
 * The Mastodons portrayed are inspired by the real life American Mastodons with some anatomical changes such as the tusk shape.
 * The Chain Tusk Spam creates a blue colored aura when used.
 * Mastodons are the only current herbivores to be selectively targeted by predators when there's nobody else around.
 * Wild Mastodons will attack predators upon being touched, so they will fight Griffins, Snow Owls, and Megalanias to the death, making taming owls in the Snow Dome harder.
 * Ironically, despite being smaller than Mammoths they go ignored by small to medium sized predators.
 * A modified version of this Mastodon is a planned modded creature for ARK: Horizons by Giga Raptor, with freeze immunity and the ability to shoot ice ferns from their trunk.
 * This Mastodon is inspired by the Mastodon in the now discontinued ARK and Light mod, but was eventually rewritten to be an original creature.