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Grappling Hook
Grappling Hook
Apply on the Crossbow to grapple onto the environment & other creatures. Primary Fire to "Reel-In", Secondary Fire to "Reel-Out", Crouch to Detach, Jump + Reel-In to Vault-Jump!
Type
Ammo for
Crossbow
Weight
1
Stack size
10
Single use
Yes
Added in
Spawn Command
cheat gfi Hook 1 0 0
or
cheat giveitem "Blueprint'/Game/PrimalEarth/CoreBlueprints/Weapons/PrimalItemAmmo_GrapplingHook.PrimalItemAmmo_GrapplingHook'" 1 0 0
Required level
Engram points
40 EP
Crafting XP
0.2 XP
Crafting time
1s
Prerequisites
Required stations
Ingredients
Resources breakdown [Expand]
3 × Stone Arrow Stone Arrow
6 × Thatch Thatch
6 × Fiber Fiber
3 × Flint Flint
2 × Thatch Thatch
35 × Fiber Fiber
Total Base Ingredients
Purchased in
Cost
20 × Reloads (Mobile) Reloads (ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile)

A Grappling Hook is an item used to scale cliffs, grapple other players or small creatures to you and drag them around if desired you may also use the grappling hook to attach yourself to a flying creature.

Use[]

Apply the Grappling Hook as Ammo to the Crossbow to use it. Every shot will consume one hook, they cannot be retrieved. The hook can reach surfaces around 70m away.

    • To reel-in use primary fire (default Lmb, RT, R2)
    • To reel-out use secondary fire (default Rmb, LT, L2)
    • To detach use crouch (default C, Right Stick, Right Stick), this is not advised if you are high above ground.
    • Using primary fire (default Lmb, RT, R2) and then jump (default Space, A, Cross) when you reach the grappling hook will allow you to vault upwards; you can use this to jump onto the top of an object or building, if you hit it with a grappling hook near the top.

Grappling Hook Physics[]

Note, you will not be grappled to something if you logout of the game.

Reeling in the Grappling Hook will pull the player in a straight line towards their anchor point. Whenever the player stops reeling in they will begin to fall if possible though they are still limited by collisions from the side and the current length of the Grappling Hook line. Whenever the maximum length of the rope is reached the player will make an elastic bounce towards the anchor point. This means that players on grappling lines don't so much swing as they bounce forward to dangle under the anchor point. The rope does not collide with terrain or objects, so it may end up pulling the player against a rock face. The Grappling Hook will not pull the player past their anchor point, so in order to get up on ledges they must shoot past the ledge they want to stand on. Look for a rock or tree beyond the target area.

Survivors are still subject to gravity when reeling in a line attached to an anchor point below them. A survivor will fall normally until they are level with their anchor point. Then they will move horizontally without taking fall damage. This means that if you want to use a Grappling Hook to prevent fall damage, you must anchor onto a point that is higher up than where your survivor would hit the ground, but not necessarily above you. In the animation below, the player would have died if they had shot the ground instead of the rock.

View gif

Grappling Hook Safe Descent (small)
Using a grappling hook to fall safely

Holding down the primary fire (default Lmb, RT, R2) will launch a projectile and then have no further effect until the Grappling Hook hits an object, if the Grappling Hook fails to hit before reaching its maximum length then the hook will disappear and you will immediately fire a new Grappling Hook. For this reason, it's a good idea to hold down primary fire when falling and trying to establish a new anchor to save yourself. The first misses, you will immediately fire a second projectile.

Grappling Hooks will attach to:

  • Rocks
  • Trees (Not all branches)
  • Survivors (including unconscious or dead)
  • Structures (Including water pipes)
  • All dinos (Some you can pull, others pull you!)
  • Land under water
  • Rafts

Grappling Hooks will not attach to:

  • Leaves
  • Bushes
  • Fleeing dinos
  • Loot Drops
  • Unconscious Creatures
  • Anything when you are encumbered (Hook will detach if you become encumbered.)

Fleeing Behavior[]

Whether or not a dino can be grappled is not based on what the dino is, it is based on their current behavior state. For example, a Dilophosaurus can be grappled and dragged when it is wandering or when it is attacking you. However, as soon as it turns to flee the line will break. Hitting a dino with a Grappling Hook does not aggro it. This is important for Quetzal taming. A Quetzal can be grappled and drag the player around as long as it is not damaged. However, the moment it is shot it will begin fleeing and break the line. That means that grappled Quetzals can be used for transportation, but not taming. Similarly, wild Pteranodons can be hijacked and ridden, though their low carry weight may slow them down significantly. An Argentavis, on the other hand, has a high carry weight and will attack the player if provoked.

Wild creatures usually flee under these 3 conditions:

  • Fleeing for life. This applies to those passive-flee creatures, and creatures at critical health.
  • They have high torpor, therefore about to faint.
  • They found their target unattainable (e.g. a flying mount keeps attacking a wild land dinosaur without entering its attack range, the land dino might flee)

Dragging with the Grappling Hook[]

Small creatures, including those that can be picked up with a Pteranodon can be dragged around by the player. This includes other players. Since the line works even after switching weapons, the owner holding the attached Grappling Hook can either run or mount onto a dino to drag the light creature/player.

Dragging behavior bounces the attached player around, which can be disorienting, giving the attacker an advantage. If the grappled player manages to hit their opponent, it will forcefully disengage the hook; freeing them.

  • Grappling creatures larger than the player will drag the player around instead.
  • When grappled onto a flying creature, the grappling hook adds an extra 50 lbs. to the creature on top of adding the weight of the player. This means that Pteranodons will have a difficult time carrying more than one player, but it is possible with Argentavis and Quetzal.

Notes[]

  • Does not work in:
    • Jumping Puzzle on The Center
    • Tek Cave on The Island
    • Life Labyrinth on Ragnarok
    • Aberration despite on Surface
      • As the allowance of the use of grappling hook will significantly reduce the difficulty of these dungeons.
  • The maximum distance for a Grappling Hook to connect is 66m or 22 foundations approximately.
  • If you are parachuting, and you use a grapple, you can arc around things, and then detach, to continue your coast, allowing for very long-range travel on a single parachute flight.
  • If grappled to a boat you can effectively "water ski" only dunking into the water if the boat stops/slows.
  • Despite its size you can pull a player-ridden scorpion around, even if you hop onto another creature after hooking the scorpion.
  • It's currently nearly impossible as Pilot to kill a hostile Player which is hooked to your Argentavis or Quetzal.
  • You can grapple onto your door, on a flat wall, and open it to get into a room with no other apparent access point. Opening the door will pull you in.
  • Want to keep your pets buffed? Mount up while grappled onto a Lystrosaurus and it'll keep up.
  • If you have a Pteranodon on follow, for example, you can jump off and grapple to the underside of it, allowing you to snipe, or tranq, from above. This is also an excellent method for escaping the water when gathering an underwater beacon.
  • If a friend is stuck, you can use Grappling Hook to rescue them (provided you have the weight capacity to carry them). Hook them then ride a dino and reel them in.
  • Once the player's character latches on the targeted location, they can swap weapons and still be tied to the grappling hook. Giving the opportunity for an ambush.
  • It is also very useful for quick relocation of small, slower creatures such as Dung Beetles as they get pulled around wherever you go, thus eliminating the need for flying creatures to drop them in a pen or just simply having them following you.

Spotlight[]


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