How To Tame A Compy In ARK: Survival Evolved And Ascended

To successfully tame a Compy (Compsognathus) in ARK, you must knock it out using low-damage torpor tools and feed it exclusively Raw Prime Meat, Raw Mutton, or Exceptional Kibble. Because of their exceptionally rapid torpor decay rates and fragile health pools, players must secure sedatives like Narcoberries or Narcotics before initiating the knockout. Once tamed, this small, shoulder-mounted carnivore provides a significant pack-boost damage multiplier when grouped with other Compys.

Tactical Gear, Diet requirements, and Pre-Tame Planning

Taming a Compy is one of the most deceptive early-to-mid-game challenges in ARK. While these creatures are tiny and possess low individual health pools, their unique mechanics make them highly difficult to tame without proper planning. A lone Compy is passive and will run away when approached. However, when two or more Compys gather, they receive a "Pack Boost" (indicated by a glowing orange aura and a "+" icon over their heads), making them highly aggressive. They will attack players, mounts, and structures without hesitation.

Furthermore, Compys have a highly specialized diet. Unlike almost every other carnivore in the game, wild Compys will not eat standard Raw Meat or Cooked Meat to tame. If you place standard raw meat in their inventory, they will starve, and your taming effectiveness will drop to zero. You must feed them high-tier proteins or specialized kibble.

Before attempting to tame a Compy, assemble the following equipment, consumables, and structural components:

• Torpor-Inducing Weapons: A Wooden Club, a low-damage Bow with Tranq Arrows, or a Longneck Rifle with standard Tranq Darts. High-damage weapons like Crossbows or high-quality Compound Bows will likely kill the Compy instantly due to its fragile health pool.
• Sedatives: A minimum of 50 Narcoberries or 15 Narcotics per Compy. Narcoberries are preferred for Compys because they increase torpor slowly over time, preventing the rapid torpor drain from initiating.
• Taming Foods: Raw Prime Meat, Raw Mutton, Cooked Lamb Chops, or Exceptional Kibble (in ARK: Survival Ascended) / Regular Kibble (in ARK: Survival Evolved).
• Preservation Equipment: A Preserving Bin filled with Sparkpowder, or a tame with high inventory spoil-reduction (such as an Argentavis or a Raptor) to keep your Raw Prime Meat from spoiling during the hunt.
• Trapping Structures: Two wooden or stone double doorframes and two wooden thatch ceilings, or a single Wooden Cage.
• Health-Monitoring Tool: A Magnifying Glass to check the Compy’s torpor and health pools safely without causing additional damage.

Step-by-Step Compy Knockout and Taming Protocol

Successfully taming a Compy requires precision, speed, and strict inventory management. Follow this step-by-step procedure to isolate, trap, knock out, and tame your Compsognathus.

Step 1: Isolate the Target Compy

Locate a pack of Compys, typically found in beaches, redwoods, or jungle biomes. Because Compys gain massive damage and resistance buffs when grouped, you must thin the pack before attempting to tame your chosen target.

1. Identify the highest-level Compy in the pack using your Spyglass.
2. Kill all other lower-level Compys in the immediate area. Use a pike or a mount with precise hitboxes, like a Raptor, to avoid hitting your target.
3. Once the target Compy is isolated, its pack boost will disappear, and it will attempt to flee. Chase it toward a flat, clear area free of aggressive wild predators like Raptors, Dilophosaurs, or Ichthyornis.

Step 2: Trap the Target

Attempting to hit a fleeing Compy with tranq projectiles is incredibly difficult due to their small size and erratic movement patterns. Creating a simple trap saves time and ammunition.

1. Place a Wooden Cage on the ground in the path of the fleeing Compy.
2. Bait the Compy toward the cage by walking close to it (if it is still aggressive) or by trapping it against a cliff face or large rock.
3. Alternatively, place four wooden thatch double doorframes in a tiny square and drop the Compy into the center using a flying mount like a Pteranodon or Argentavis.
4. If you do not have a flyer, you can simply run over the Compy with a Wooden Cage in your hands, placing it directly on top of the creature to pin it instantly.

Step 3: Administer Torpor Safely

Because a Level 150 Compy has less than 150 base health, high-damage weapons will kill it before knocking it out.

1. Equip a Wooden Club or a Longneck Rifle with standard Tranquilizer Darts. Do not use Shocking Tranquilizer Darts unless you are taming a high-level Compy, as the initial damage may still be too high for low-level specimens.
2. If using a Bow or Crossbow, pull the string back only halfway to minimize physical damage while still applying the tranquilizing effect.
3. Wait exactly 4 to 5 seconds between shots. This allows the torpor-over-time effect of the tranquilizer to apply fully without stacking excessive physical damage on the Compy.
4. Monitor the Compy's health using a Magnifying Glass if possible. If its health drops below 20%, stop shooting and wait for its health to regenerate slightly before administering the final blow.

Step 4: Secure the Sleep and Monitor Torpor Decay

Once the Compy is knocked out, you must act instantly. A Level 150 Compy has roughly 92 Torpor, which decays at a rate of approximately 2.2 torpor per second. It will wake up in less than 45 seconds if left unattended.

1. Immediately open the Compy's inventory.
2. Transfer 20 Narcoberries or 5 Narcotics into its inventory.
3. Force-feed the Narcoberries or Narcotics by highlighting the item and clicking the "Use Item" button.
4. Pro-Tip: Always prioritize Narcoberries over Narcotics for Compys. Narcoberries add 8 torpor over 3 seconds, whereas Narcotics add 40 torpor over 8 seconds. Because Narcoberries apply torpor slower, they keep the Compy's torpor bar actively rising for a longer duration, during which time the natural torpor decay rate is completely paused.

Step 5: Harvest and Feed the Taming Foods

Do not harvest your Raw Prime Meat or Raw Mutton until the Compy is securely knocked out and sedated. Because Raw Prime Meat spoils in just 9 minutes in a player's inventory, harvesting it beforehand often results in spoiled meat before the taming process can finish.

1. Leave the Compy safely trapped and sedated with Narcoberries.
2. Locate a nearby source of Prime Meat (such as a Paraceratherium, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, or Rex) or Mutton (Ovis).
3. Harvest the meat using a metal pick or a high-melee carnivore mount to maximize the yield of Raw Prime Meat.
4. Return to the Compy, transfer the Raw Prime Meat, Raw Mutton, or Kibble into its inventory, and ensure it continues to consume the food.
5. Keep a close eye on the taming progress bar. If the taming effectiveness drops, it means the Compy took damage after being knocked out or went hungry for too long. Protect the area from wandering pests.

Compy Taming Food Values and Torpor Decay Metrics

The following data outlines the efficiency, taming speed, and food values of various accepted taming foods for a Level 150 Compy at standard (1x) taming rates.

Compy Taming Failures and Field Remedies

Taming a Compy is highly susceptible to small errors. Below are the most common failure states encountered during the taming process and how to resolve them.

• Scenario 1: The Compy Dies Instantly During the Knockout Phase
  
  
  • Root Cause: The weapon used dealt more physical damage than the Compy's maximum health pool could support, or shots were fired too quickly without letting the torpor-over-time effect register.
  • Actionable Fix: Switch to a Wooden Club or a standard Longneck Rifle with Tranquilizer Darts. Never use a Crossbow or a Compound Bow on a Compy under Level 100. If you must use a bow, pull the draw weight back minimally and wait exactly five seconds between shots to let the torpor apply without stacking raw physical damage.
• Scenario 2: The Compy Wakes Up mid-Tame and Fleeing
  
  
  • Root Cause: The extremely high natural torpor decay of the Compy was underestimated, and the player failed to administer Narcotics or Narcoberries before leaving to harvest food.
  • Actionable Fix: Always force-feed 15 to 20 Narcoberries immediately upon knockout before walking away. This locks the torpor bar in an upward trend for roughly one minute, giving you a safe window to harvest Prime Meat from nearby wild targets.
• Scenario 3: The Compy Refuses to Eat the Food in Its Inventory
  
  
  • Root Cause: You placed standard Raw Meat, Cooked Meat, or Raw Fish Meat in the Compy's inventory. Wild Compys do not recognize these items as taming foods.
  • Actionable Fix: Remove the standard meat and replace it with Raw Prime Meat, Raw Mutton, Cooked Lamb Chops, or the appropriate Kibble. If the Compy's food bar has dropped significantly, it will eat the correct food immediately once placed in its inventory, though taming effectiveness may be slightly reduced due to starvation periods.
• Scenario 4: The Taming Progress Resets or drops heavily
  
  
  • Root Cause: A wild predator, insect (like a Meganeura), or the player accidentally hit the Compy after it was knocked out.
  • Actionable Fix: Clear all wild creatures within a 20-meter radius before initiating the knockout. Build a small wooden thatch box around the sleeping Compy to isolate it from wandering aggressive fauna.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Compys eat regular Raw Meat while taming?

No. Wild Compys will completely ignore standard Raw Meat and Raw Fish Meat during the taming process. They will only eat Raw Prime Meat, Raw Mutton, Cooked Lamb Chops, Cooked Prime Meat, Prime Meat Jerky, or Kibble. Once successfully tamed, however, they can be fed standard Raw Meat to survive.

How many Narcotics do I need for a level 150 Compy?

A level 150 Compy will require approximately 15 to 25 Narcotics, or 40 to 60 Narcoberries, depending on the quality of food you feed it. Because their torpor decays at over 2 torpor points per second, you must continuously monitor their inventory and force-feed sedatives throughout the entire taming process.

What is the Compy pack boost and how does it work?

The Compy pack boost is a passive stat multiplier that activates when two or more Compys are in close proximity. This boost increases their overall damage output and damage resistance. The pack boost stacks up to a maximum of +8, making a swarm of nine or more Compys surprisingly lethal to small-to-medium targets.

Can you ride a Compy in ARK?

No, Compys are too small to be ridden. Instead, they function as shoulder pets. You can double-tap the interact key to place a tamed Compy on your shoulder, where it will provide a minor weight reduction for items in its inventory and act as an early-warning alarm against nearby threats.

Dominate the Island with Your Tamed Swarm

Now that you have mastered the precise mechanics of taming a Compy, it is time to build your own high-level swarm. Browse our advanced breeding guides and coordinate your taming expeditions to assemble an unstoppable pack of shoulder-mounted predators today.