How to tame a Tek Stryder in Ark: Survival Evolved

Ark: Survival Evolved has plenty of creatures that players can tame and use to complete various tasks in the game. The Tek Stryder is one of the newer tames that was released with Genesis Part 2 and is probably the most distinctive-looking creature on the map. Tall and metallic, it looks like it came from a different game, but despite this, it serves a great purpose. In this guide, we’ll detail how to tame a Tek Stryder in Ark: Survival Evolved.

Where to find the Tek Stryder in Ark: Survival Evolved and what it does

The Tek Stryder was introduced as a part of the Genesis Part 2 expansion. It is a Genesis Part 2 exclusive creature, meaning the only place you can find and tame the Tek Stryder is on this map. One of the main reasons to tame Tek Stryder is the variations of its utility. Every Tek Stryder can spawn with two of eight possible different and non-renewable attachments. These are the different rigs:

Head

• Excavation Rig: The best Rig for harvesting most resources in a massive swoop. This Rig can also be attached to a Tek Dedicated Storage box, making mass resource farming much easier. You need to have a charge to activate the harvest.
• Pulse Cannon Rig: The offensive option for the Tek Stryder, the dual spikes on its head fire Tek Laser shots with a base of 7 damage. You need a charge to fire the Pulse Cannon.
• Silence Cannon Rig: Able to cancel out “roar” abilities like those from the Yutyrannus, Mammoth, and even the Stegosaurus’ plating change. It can ground fliers in its blast, and the effect lasts for 30 seconds.
• Radar Rig: Able to fire detection for living creatures and survivors for 30 seconds, allowing tracking for a temporary amount of time. It doesn’t consume charge but has a 35-second cooldown.

Related: How to defeat Rockwell Prime in Ark: Survival Evolved

Body

• Phase Cannon Rig: Fires a Tek blast which does 300 base damage and scales with Melee damage. It can damage enemy structures and consumes 50 charge with a 10-second cooldown.
• Resource Attractor Rig: Also known as a saddle bag, it passively will reduce the carry weight of almost all items by 65%. You can connect to a Mining Drill held by a player, which will send the harvested resources to the Tek Stryder, not to the player’s inventory. It consumes 5 charge per second.
• Shield Generator Rig: Forms a shield around the Tek Stryder, which holds until the durability reaches 0 or the charge runs out. Players and tames can pass through, but not projectiles usually. Fired projectiles from inside the bubble won’t pass through, except for a Velonasaur’s fire.
• Shield Projector Rig: Creates a projected Tek Shield in the direction the Tek Stryder points. This shield can be affected by friendly fire, but not the Velonasaur’s fire. 

The Tek Stryder can also function as a portable bed and a Transmitter allowing players to travel from map to map or upload their resources.

How to tame the Tek Stryder in Ark: Survival Evolved

The Tek Stryder is passively tamed through a method called Hacking. To do so, players will need Mutagel. You will also need to complete a specific number of Genesis Missions, the amount increasing as the level of the Tek Stryder increases too. 

To start Hacking, you need to place the Mutagel in the last slot of your Hotbar and land on its back to begin the Hacking process with your interact key. This will create a ring around the Tek Stryder to indicate the radius you can remain in to keep hacking. The text above the Tek Stryder’s back will tell you where you need to interact.

A small mini-game will pop up at the bottom of your screen. You’ll have to line the green blocks up on the solid line in order to complete the Hacking process. Once you’ve hacked the part of the Tek Stryder, you’ll have to wait for them to wander a bit before you can repeat the hack again.