ark wolves
Image via Studio Wildcard

How to Tame a Dire Wolf in Ark Survival Evolved

It's like a regular wolf, but dire.

Here’s a fun fact: Dire Wolves are often viewed as creatures of fiction, but they actually did exist as long as 125,000 years ago, roaming the Americas in the Late Pleistocene era. They’re extinct now, but since there are dinosaurs and stuff in Ark: Survival Evolved, it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility for ancient canines to make a comeback as well. Here’s how to tame a Dire Wolf in Ark: Survival Evolved.

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How to Tame a Dire Wolf in Ark Survival Evolved

Dire Wolves are fierce predators, roaming the snowy biomes of Ark in packs of 3 or 4. As you’d probably expect from massive wild wolves, they’re extremely territorial and bloodthirsty. The moment you entire a Dire Wolf’s line of sight, it’ll alert its entire pack and come after you with its teeth out. Running right up to a Dire Wolf pack is a great way to get yourself killed, so if you’re looking to tame them, you’ll want to be a bit more methodical about it.

Related: Can You Tame Alphas in ARK?

Create a large trap structure to enclose a Dire Wolf pack and keep yourself out of their reach. Let them see you, run into the trap, then seal them inside. Once they’re locked in, use Bolas to methodically stun each wolf in the pack. You can tame the whole pack if you want, but if you only want one wolf, you might want to try to separate it from the others before leading it into your trap.

Caring for Your Dire Wolf

ark wolf notes
Image via Studio Wildcard

Once your Dire Wolf of choice is knocked out, open its inventory and add food to start raising its Taming bar. You’re going to want a lot of food prepared; remember, Dire Wolves are strict carnivores, so you’ll want raw meat, cooked meat, or kibble. Dire Wolves will happily gobble up any of the following foodstuffs:

  • Superior Kibble
  • Raw Mutton
  • Raw Prime Meat
  • Raw Prime Fish Meat
  • Raw Meat
  • Raw Fish Meat
  • Cooked Lamb Chop
  • Cooked Prime Meat
  • Cooked Prime Fish Meat
  • Cooked Meat
  • Cooked Fish Meat

Dire Wolves generally stay firmly asleep after being knocked out, but in the event their Unconscious meter starts getting low, feed them some Narcoberries to keep them asleep. Remember, they need to be asleep for this entire process.

Once the Taming meter is full, you can let the Dire Wolf wake up, and it’ll be your best buddy. You can ride it around, have it protect you in the wild, and it’ll keep you company during the cold nights. Remember to keep it fed with the aforementioned food, and you’ll have no problems.


To continue your quest to tame the wild world of Ark: Survival Evolved, check out our guides on taming a wild Pegomastax and a Basilosaurus. Visit our Facebook page as well for more guides and news.

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Author
Daniel Trock
Since the first time he picked up a controller as a child, Daniel has been a dyed-in-the-wool gaming fanatic, with a Steam library numbering over 600 games. His favorite pastime, aside from playing games, is doing deep dives on game wikis to learn more about their lore and characters.