The Doedicurus (Dee-di-KOOR-uhs[1]), also known as the Doed or Doedic, is a medium-sized, herbivorousmammal known for its ability to gather large amounts of Stone. Additionally, it is also capable of curling up into a ball and rolling around at high speeds. It was first added in ARK: Survival Evolved on the 25th of August, 2015.
This section is intended to be an exact copy of what the survivor Helena Walker, the author of the dossiers, has written. There may be some discrepancies between this text and the in-game creature.
“
Species
Doedicurus custosaxum
Time
Plestiocene – Holocene
Diet
Herbivore
Temperament
Docile
Wild
Doedicurus custosaxum is one of the Island's non-aggressive herbivores, generally found in the mountains and grasslands. Large and well-armored, it has a supply of fat under its plates to keep it warm and fed in the cold.
Doedicurus has adapted well to the dangers of the Island, perhaps even better than the Ankylosaurus.
Doedicurus has two very different reactions to predators. Against smaller foes, it generally uses its spiked tail to inflict as much damage as possible. Against larger predators, however, it pulls its tail underneath itself to form a solid armored ball that is nearly impossible for creatures to pierce, from which it can actually "roll" away to relative safety!
Domesticated
Doedicurus is a highly prized work animal on the island. Its spiked tail is ideal for quickly shattering the large rocks, so Doedicurus is a very efficient quarry worker. In addition, its affinity for rocks has allowed it to carry stone at a reduced weight. In case their quarry gets raided, Doedicurus-riders have a very difficult-to-kill mount!
Doedicurus is a defensive creature that will attack when provoked. After taking a significant amount of damage they will roll into a protected shell, which reduces the damage they receive significantly. They uncurl after regenerating enough health to feel safe, and there is the possibility for a player to find themselves being chased by a vengeful Doedicurus unless they can get out of the creature's territory quick enough or simply make it lose interest.
A Doedicurus will only roll into a protected shell once it has lost 2/3 of its health.[2]
Once tamed, the Doedicurus can curl up into a ball while being ridden and roll forward. When set to wander, the Doedicurus will autonomously gather stone from nearby rocks until it reaches 50% weight.
Appearance
Similar to an armadillo in appearance, the size of the Doedicurus is fairly small, being about 3–4 meters long and 1–2 meters high. But this size should not hinder its capability in battle, due to its thick outer shell and spike covered, club-like tail, the Doedicurus can be a tough target for even the larger animals on the island. Similar to the Ankylosaurus for protection, it is one of the most armored animals on the island, being able to keep itself safe from packs of Sabertooths. A blue coloration exists, but it is rare.
Color Scheme and Regions
Region 0:Shell and Plates
Natural colors:
8
21
22
23
24
25
26
28
29
30
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
56
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
77
80
81
82
96
97
98
99
Region 1:Spikes and Claws
Natural colors:
8
21
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
56
62
63
64
77
100
Region 2:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 3:Unused
This region does not show on the body.
Region 4:Shell Patterning
Natural colors:
8
21
22
23
24
25
26
28
29
30
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
56
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
77
80
81
82
96
97
98
99
Region 5:Underside
Natural colors:
8
21
22
23
24
25
26
28
29
30
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
56
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
77
80
81
82
96
97
98
99
This section displays the Doedicurus's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Doedicurus. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Doedicurus will randomly spawn with to provide an overall range of its natural color scheme. Hover your cursor over a color to display its name and ID.
This information can be used to alter the Doedicurus's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Doedicurus's "shell and plates" magenta.
Type in values of a wild creature to see on which stats it's emphasized. Green values on a high-level creature are very good for breeding. If you have already tamed your creature you can try to recover the breeding stats with an external tool.[3]
Doedicurus
The stat-calculator does not work in the mobile-view, see here for alternatives: Apps
Note that after the creature is tamed it gets bonuses on some stats depending on the taming effectiveness. This makes it hard to retrieve the levels on a tamed creature, so this tool is only for wild ones, but gives a first impression, how well the stats are distributed.
Whenever the Doedicurus loses Health under around ~33% it will roll itself up, making it immune to Humans attacks and reduces the incoming damage of creatures by 90%.
Auto-Harvest Resources
The Doedicurus auto-harvest the rocks that it has in front of it whenever it has no rider and its Weight capacity is below 50%.
Weight Reduction
The Doedicurus reduces the weight of the following resources by the listed amount while they are in its inventory:
Doedicurus prefer any of the Crops (Citronal, Savoroot, Longrass, and Rockarrot) over berries when being tamed. These crops are all equally preferred, so any one will do. If no advanced crops are available, the creature prefers Mejoberries over other berries. Doedicurus take a very long amount of time to tame with Mejo or normal Berries, so try to invest in Regular kibble if possible.
Torpidity-depletion: 2.59 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 00:51:12
Note that the values are for optimal cases, always bring extra supplies!
For a level-dependent count of resources needed, try an external taming calculator.
Due to their high torpor stat, Doedicurus are hard to knock out and can withstand a large number of Tranquilizer Arrows. They take 90% reduced torpor and damage when they are curled up in their protective shell and not moving.
Using a Longneck Rifle and Tranquilizer Darts will knock it down with little risk of the Doedicurus curling up, making for an easy tame.
A viable knockout strategy involves backpedalling away from the Doedicurus while continuing to unleash your tranq method.
Primitive Strategy
If you do not have access to a Longneck Rifle and can only use a bow or crossbow, simply back peddle as you fire arrows at the Doedicurus' head. Once it curls up, stop firing and wait for it to uncurl. The torpor will go down slightly but not enough to make it impossible to knock out. Just wait for the uncurl and repeat.
Frog Strategy
Using a high-level Beelzebufo has some advantages if the creature is alone. One, you can save your valuable arrows and darts for more difficult targets. Two, you can lick it before it hits you and simply jump over its horizontal tail swing like a jump-rope, even landing behind it, just make sure you don't land within range of another attack. Using the basically infinite torpor-inducing attacks of the Beelzebufo, you can afford to keep hitting it after it curls up when your tranqs would be mostly wasted.
When you see a lot of blood on the Doedicurus, you should start only using the primary attack as it does less damage so you won't kill it. Let the poison work by only licking your target once every 10 seconds or so, as the poison effect only stacks twice.
Equus Strategy
Use the alternate attack of the Equus to kick backwards into the Doedicurus, then dart forwards to avoid the tail swipe. The Doedicurus will follow until it starts to feel the torpor, when it will run away. Gallop in front of it and kick it repeatedly. If the Equus runs out of stamina, run a short distance away to recover. If the Doedi curls into a ball, the Equus can continue to kick; be mindful of blood as with the frog above. This works particularly well on Ragnarok where Doedis and Equus spawn in close proximity.
Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Doedicurus.
General
Since Doedicurus have the ability to curl up into an armored ball, hunting it is not very lucrative at lower levels. It provides a good amount of Raw Meat, Hide, and Keratin once killed, so at higher levels it is more rewarding.
Strategy
Using tranq darts before attacking can render low and medium level Doedicurus unconscious rather easily, and once unconscious the kill is easy. Another strategy is to move in, attack, and run away until it uncurls. This can be time-consuming, however, and is not advised. Another strategy is if near a body of water aggro it and kite it into it into the water. Once in the water, if you can get it to curl up in a ball it will drown itself.
Weaponry
Even a Pike proves near useless once the Doedicurus has curled into its protective shell, so most weapons are ineffective. Using a Oil Jar seems to be the most effective way of killing it, as Fire Damage will not be nullified completely.
If not able to access an Oil Jar Tranquilizers such as Tranq Darts will work as well as an unconscious Doedicurus cannot roll into a ball.
They don't roll into a ball because of torpor. Tranq them will only cause them to flee just like other creatures.
Dangers
Almost all Doedicurus curl into a ball directly after an attack, but rarely they have been seen to attack. Their spiked tails pack quite a punch, and an angry Doedicurus is not to be trifled with in close combat.
Weakness
Tranquilizing and then killing a Doedicurus is most definitely the quickest and most effective means of defeating it.
It will also drown if it curls in the water since it will sink below the surface and stay enrolled till it suffocates.
Utility
(click to see rolling animation)
Roles
Travel: The Doedicurus can make an excellent all-terrain mount due to their roll ability and surprisingly fast swim speed. (Level Speed, Stamina, and some Oxygen)
Gatherer: Amazing for gathering materials, the Doedicurus has the ability to destroy rocks and harvest a large amount of stone and sand. The Doedicurus also has a 75% weight reduction on stone, meaning it can carry much more than most creatures. The Doedicurus can also gather obsidian, however it cannot gather metal. (Level Melee Damage and Weight)
River Scraper: Placing a Doedicurus or two on the front of your raft and "plowing" through streambeds with rocks in them will gain you an enormous amount of stone while moving, and ignoring the Doedicurus' burden. (Level Melee Damage)
Similarly, a Doedicurus being carried by an Argy or Quetz will auto-harvest any stones you bring it close to, allowing you to harvest stone anywhere with an easy escape from most predators.
Tank: A decent tank with high health and very good base damage and AOE, the Doedicurus can make a good war mount. Can chase prey with the rolling ability (Level Health, Melee Damage, and Stamina slightly).
Cave Mount: Doedicurus is an excellent mount for traveling through caverns. It's heavy damage will easily repel a lot of dangerous animals. Just be careful against taking on swarms of Araneos, Pulmonoscorpius, Arthropleura, and Onycs as they will drain your health and increase torpor rapidly. Unless you're close to leaving the cave, rest for some time till you regain strength and proceed.
Protective Shell
Doedicurus will curl up when its health drops below 1/3 of its max. They will ignore follow commands while curled up; riding a Doedicurus is the only way to overrule its desire to hide.
When curled up, they take 90% reduced torpor and damage[citation needed] and will not move. Turrets will NOT stop shooting at a Doedicurus if it is curled up.
Rolling
While riding a Doedicurus, Press 'Alt Fire' Rmb to roll instead of run. When you are rolling, you are unable to toggle running. You are still able to turn. Rolling depletes stamina.
The Doedicurus gathers stone autonomously while on wander or if left parked next to a suitable rock. It also has this ability while being carried, allowing for a safer and more mobile method of resource collection. It is recommended that an Argentavis be used for their superior mobility and carrying capacity.
The Doedicurus can also gather Obsidian from the shiny black obsidian rocks. However, there are two types of these rocks that you can't distinguish visually, one will give obsidian the other will not. Mostly you will find the second.
Doedicurus can roll up into a ball and roll around, even with a rider on its back., similar to the Roll Rat.
The ability to change direction previously only existed as a mission-variant of Doedicurus with Genesis: Part 1 release, and was officially added as a feature in 316.19
If using Aberrant Doedicurus to harvest on the Aberration map, be mindful it is not immune to radiation and you will need to feed it Mushroom Brew every 120 seconds to keep it from suffering from radiation exposure when in irradiated areas of the map.
The full name of the Doedicurus custosaxum translates to "Pestle-tailed stone warden", likely a reference to its use in gathering stone and defensive capabilities.
Doedicurus belongs to a group of armadillo-like mammals known as Glyptodonts which were native to South America during the Pleistocene and went extinct about 11,000 years ago.
The Doedicurus can use its melee attack while being carried by a Quetzal.
The Doedicurus can autonomously gather stone, while being carried by an Argentavis. To do so, simply pick up the Doed with your Argy and hover close to harvestable rock nodes. Note that the Doedi CANNOT be on follow for this to happen.
Any Doedicurus that has rolled into a defensive ball will not uncurl if it finds itself under water and will swiftly drown. Players with access to a Quetzal will likely find this the quickest method of killing unwanted low level spawns.
Blue Doedicurus can rarely spawn in the wild. This, together with their ability to roll into a ball and charge their enemies, is possibly a reference to the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog whose signature attack is to roll into a ball to charge at enemies.
Doedicurus can still be knocked out when curled up, although it receives significantly less torpor.
Doedicurus has a secondary bite attack that can only be used when swimming.
Wild/unridden carnivore will ignore Doedicurus carcass, it is likely because they'll ignore it once they curl into the ball, however if the Doedicurus is knocked out while curling, it is considered uncurled and the wild carnivore will attack it and eventually kill it, but won't try to eat it afterward.
During maturation, a young Doedicurus will occasionally curl up since it may not be at full health until it is older. It cannot move in this state until it uncurls from gaining more health, and will not be able to go for a walk during imprinting.
Baby Doedicurus will curl up after taking any sort of damage.
Using a Net Projectile will not force the Doedicurus out of it's curl state despite being visually the opposite
Yes
Region 0:
Region 1:
Region 4:
Region 5:
Stone. Additionally, it is also capable of curling up into a ball and rolling around at high speeds. It was first added in 
ARK: Survival Evolved on the 25th of August, 2015.
Ankylosaurus for protection, it is one of the most armored animals on the island, being able to keep itself safe from packs of 
Sabertooths. A blue coloration exists, but it is rare.
Aberrant Doedicurus is the Aberrant variant of the Doedicurus. It is similar to the regular specie but has a glowy patterned robe. It is tameable and is not 
Radiation immune.
Health
Stamina
Oxygen
Food
Weight
Melee Damage
Movement Speed
Torpidity
Health under around ~33% it will roll itself up, making it immune to 
Humans attacks and reduces the incoming damage of creatures by 90%.
Weight capacity is below 50%.
Stone
Crops (
Citronal, 
Savoroot, 
Longrass, and 
Rockarrot) over berries when being tamed. These crops are all equally preferred, so any one will do. If no advanced crops are available, the creature prefers 
Mejoberries over other berries. Doedicurus take a very long amount of time to tame with Mejo or normal 
Berries, so try to invest in Regular kibble if possible.
Level 1
Regular Kibble
.png){kind=small}
Fresh Barley 
.png){kind=small}
Fresh Wheat .png){kind=small}
Soybean 
Mejoberry
Berries
× 80; 
× 33; 
× 9; 
× 6; 
× 4; 
× 2
Regular Kibble:
1 × 
Cooked Meat Jerky, 1 × 
Medium Egg, 5 × 
Fiber, 2 × 
Water
Longneck Rifle and 
Beelzebufo has some advantages if the creature is alone. One, you can save your valuable arrows and darts for more difficult targets. Two, you can lick it before it hits you and simply jump over its horizontal tail swing like a jump-rope, even landing behind it, just make sure you don't land within range of another attack. Using the basically infinite torpor-inducing attacks of the Beelzebufo, you can afford to keep hitting it after it curls up when your tranqs would be mostly wasted.
Raw Meat, 
Hide, and 
Keratin once killed, so at higher levels it is more rewarding.
Pike proves near useless once the Doedicurus has curled into its protective shell, so most weapons are ineffective. Using a 
Oil Jar seems to be the most effective way of killing it, as Fire Damage will not be nullified completely.
If not able to access an 
Sand.
Obsidian from the shiny black obsidian rocks. However, there are two types of these rocks that you can't distinguish visually, one will give obsidian the other will not. Mostly you will find the second.
Sand
Thatch
Flint
Cactus Sap
Wood
Silicate
Net Projectile will not force the Doedicurus out of it's curl state despite being visually the opposite
Auto Turrets instead of being 100% impervious.
Damage from Tamed creatures instead of being immune.
Sweet Vegetable Cakes.
Stamina and 
Food.
ARK: Survival Ascended Changes
