ARK Survival Ascended Karkinos: How To Build Trap And Tame | Aberration

Aberration has arrived, bringing new creatures along with native species making their debut in ARK: Survival Ascended. One creature that may seem intimidating at first but is incredibly useful and worth taming is the Karkinos.

If you're curious about why this creature is so valuable and want to know how to tame one, we've got you covered. In this guide, we'll explain how to find and trap a Karkinos to make the process easier, and we'll also provide a breakdown of its abilities and how it can benefit your dino team on Aberration.

Karkinos Abilities In ARK Survival Ascended Aberration

The Karkinos, or Giant Crab, is a powerful tame in Aberration, known for its ability to grab and carry two smaller creatures at once with its claws. However, it also has several unique abilities and features worth noting:

• Jack of All Trades: The Karkinos is one of the best mounts for travel on Aberration. It has a high weight capacity, making it ideal for transporting resources and live cargo, including enemy riders. It can cross water without the risk of drowning, is immune to radiation, and can harvest resources from its kills. Its diet of spoiled meat makes it easy to feed and quick to heal, adding to its value as a versatile creature.
• Combatant: Excelling in combat, the Karkinos control large areas with quick turns and powerful leaps. It can grab survivors and creatures with its claws, holding or tossing them, giving it an edge in both offense and defense.
• Tank: The Karkinos are highly durable, reducing projectile damage and boasting high health. Its natural resilience makes it a great tank, able to absorb considerable damage from bullets.
• Animal Transporter: As the top choice for transporting creatures in Aberration, the Karkinos can carry both tamed and wild animals, even holding two at once, making it invaluable for moving creatures across dangerous terrain.
• Mobile Taming Pen: Perfect for taming, the Karkinos can hold creatures in place while their rider safely tranquilizes them, making the taming process much easier and safer.
• Travel: Though not the fastest creature, the Karkinos are excellent for travel due to their impressive jumping ability, low fall damage, and immunity to radiation and water hazards.

How To Trap And Tame The Karkinos In Aberration

Taming a Karkinos requires a slightly different approach than the typical knockout method, as it is immune or resistant to tranquilizers and similar taming items. Instead, you’ll need to use a Catapult Turret or Cannon, aiming directly at the Karkinos' body to knock it out. However, keeping it still can be challenging, and that’s where our handy trap setup comes in.

To set up the trap, you’ll need the following items:

• Regular foundations
• Triangle foundations
• Triangle corner pieces
• A few double doorways
• A ceiling
• A ladder
• A Catapult or Cannon (we used a Catapult)

Once you have everything, start by laying down your foundations in a Y-shape, as shown in the above image. The shape is crucial, so make sure you place two foundations to form the tail of the Y-shape; using just one won’t be sufficient. After that, build your doorways two blocks high on either side of the structure. At the front, place the triangle corner pieces angled inward, directed toward the center of the structure.

Next, place a ceiling on top of the two high pillars at the back of the structure, and add a ladder to climb up once the Karkinos are trapped. Finally, position your Catapult on the roof, overlooking the inward-facing triangle corner pieces where the Karkinos will be captured (final build above).

Once the trap is set up, the process is simple. Lead the Karkinos toward the top part of the Y-shape, and as it runs up the triangle corner pieces, it will fall into the trap's center. With the angled corners and high pillars blocking it, the Karkinos will have nowhere to go.

From there, you can start hitting the Karkinos with the Catapult. However, make sure to aim for its main body, as hitting the limbs will cause excessive damage rather than applying torpor. Once it’s knocked out, place its preferred food in its inventory to begin the taming process (since it’s an omnivore, you have a range of options). After a short time, the Karkinos will be yours!

And that’s a detailed guide on how to tame the Karkinos in ARK: Survival Ascended Aberration, including our method for setting up the trap to make the process easier. Special thanks to YouTuber Teachers Game Too for their excellent breakdown of this trap design, which we referenced in this guide. Check out their channel and the embedded video for more of their fantastic content.