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
Mopsechiniscus fluitobesus
Time
Post-Holocene
Diet
Omnivore
Temperament
Passive
Wild
It was always hypothesized that a member of the Tardigrada phylum would be the last species on Earth in the event of a global apocalypse, so in some ways, the existence of Mopsechiniscus fluitobesus is completely expected. Its size and method of travel, however? Less so.
Mopsechiniscus is slow and ineffective in a fight, so to survive, it tends to choose flight - literally. First, it inflates itself like a balloon, briefly slowing down and gaining durability. Then it launches itself into the air by expelling gas through a series of sphincters in its underbelly, which it also uses to slow its descent.
Yes, it's as...unusual as it sounds, but Mopsechiniscus makes the most of its inflatable nature. In addition to jumping, it can use its stored up gases to push back aggressors, or even float on water.
Domesticated
While a poor steed in battle, Mopsechiniscus is a fantastic beast of burden. The hairs on its back let a single rider steer it without a saddle, and it carries an incredible amount of cargo for its size. A small caravan of these could see us swimming in resources in no time.
It acts Docile towards players and creatures unless it is attacked, as it may bite (though its attack is incredibly weak), blast gas, or take flight. It will attempt to scare away predators by puffing itself up but if this doesn't work it will try and flee by floating away. Gasbags naturally make sure they are inflated at all times in anticipation of a threat.
Appearance
It looks similar in appearance to a massive plump caterpillar/cow hybrid or tardigrade with a wide, bulbous body that is divided into four segments. It walks on six short, plump legs. Its head is sunken into the body and is small and features a beak, with two oval shaped eyes and two horn-like antennae with a small patch of fur between them. The front-most segment of its body is wrinkled around the head and appears to have a coarse patch of fur. Its back is dappled sparsely with what appear to be small, round armor plates or gas chambers. Its belly is augmented with a porous element membrane, from which it ejects gas previously inhaled from the air. When it puffs itself up, all its segmented regions swell up to a size around two times larger, while the head remains the same size.
Color Scheme and Regions
This section displays the Gasbags's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Gasbags. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Gasbags 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 Gasbags's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Gasbags's "back stripe" magenta.
Region 0: Back Stripe
8
9
10
13
14
20
22
33
34
41
42
43
49
Region 1 is not used for this Creature.
Region 2: Splotches
8
9
10
21
22
23
33
41
42
43
46
48
50
51
Region 3 is not used for this Creature.
Region 4: Back Spots
8
9
10
14
22
24
33
37
39
41
42
43
48
49
51
52
Region 5: Main Body
0
8
9
13
14
22
33
34
37
38
39
40
41
42
This section displays the Gasbags's natural colors and regions. For demonstration, the regions below are colored red over an albino Gasbags. The colored squares shown underneath each region's description are the colors that the Gasbags 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 Gasbags's regions by entering cheat SetTargetDinoColor <ColorRegion> <ColorID> in the cheat console. For instance, cheat SetTargetDinoColor 0 6 would color the Gasbags's "main" 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.[1]
Gasbags
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.
The Gasbags use some acumulated air to evelate itself.
Whenever the Gasbags wants to move with the directional controls while it is floating, it will lose some air.
Passive
Inflation
The Gasbags rider has a Inflation Meter on the left of his hotbar that indicates how much air the Gasbags acumulates with the Inhale action, this air allows the Gasbags to float and move while in the air. Its air capacity scales with its Oxygen stat.
Additionally, the air percent that the Gasbags has acumulated reduces the incoming damage that the Gasbags receive up to 80%. However, every hit that the Gasbags receive reduces the reserve of air that it has.
Passenger Seat
The Gasbags does not need a saddle to ride it, however, if it is equiped with a Gasbags Saddle it can now carry a passenger.
Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Gasbags.
General
Gasbags are typically docile creatures unless attacked, and will flee rather quickly by jetting away. They may also blast gas out of its Tek meshing on its belly to blow away aggressors.
Strategy
Any hunting strategy will do to bring down a Gasbags, given enough time and patience. Their only valid response will be to flee, and because they blast away quite far and quickly, it can be hard to catch up lest the survivor or a tame is fast enough. However, when fully puffed with air, they take 80% less Damage, so it is important to not allow this. They will slowly lose air when being hit, but a simple way is to shoot them in the head while they are puffing up, which causes them to deflate, preventing escape, and usually ensuring a kill.
Weaponry
Since a Gasbags will try to flee from an attacking player, ranged weapons such as the Crossbow and the Longneck Rifle, or swift tamed creatures such as an Enforcer are advised.
Dangers
Gasbags will sometimes bite the player with very low damage. Although, their only danger is, should they puff up and jet you with their gas, you may land next to more dangerous creatures or fall down a ditch. Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Weakness
When frozen they lose all damage reduction. As mentioned before, shooting them in the head while they are puffing up also causes them to deflate and lose their damage reduction.
Torpidity-depletion: 1.04 / s, Time until all torpidity is depleted: 01:12:01
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.
Luring it into an enclosed trap made of mostly ceilings and doorframes. This may either require Rare Flower or Giant Bee Honey.
It is worth nothing that Gasbags are more prone to being knocked out while they are not inflated. There are several ways of deflating Gasbags while its inhaling air.
Should it be successful at deflating the air, the Gasbags will immediately jump up in shock rather than blasting its stored air upwards.
Utility
Roles
Encumbrance Helper: The most unique Gasbags "feature" (whether intended or not) is its titanic inventory weight being completely ignored when carried by a flyer. Note that it can only be carried by the largest flyers : Wyverns, Quetzal and Rhyniognatha. If your flyer is encumbered, releasing a Gasbags from a Cryopod and unloading your inventories into the Gasbags' would allow you to carry on. This is very useful for farming runs or when you wish to move your base to a new location. Level up Weight only.
Pack Mule: The Gasbags will be used to transport materials in the field and back to base. An example would be if you are collecting Metal and you have no tames but your Gasbags, in which case you could load it up and take it around whilst farming Metal as it can carry a obscene amounts of resources, easily surpassing the Quetzal's weight capacity by a large amount as a base number. There are three stats to consider leveling on a Gasbags based on your needs. Some Oxygen is essential to allow the Gasbags to fly for much longer periods of time without potential landings in hostile territory. Movement Speed actually increases the flight speed of the Gasbags which will allow it to fly faster. In unison with leveling oxygen, this can allow the Gasbags to reach crazy lengths of flight. Leveling Weight sounds appealing but should only be done as an added luxury; the weight increase per level is fairly small and often times the amount of weight already present is sufficient. If you're in a hostile environment and are subject to being harassed on the move, consider some Health as well.
Note: The Gasbags will not take fall damage from falling unless it is very low or empty on gas. The Gasbags can always be dismounted before hitting the ground to negate the fall damage. In the event that dismounting is impossible, the most damage that the Gasbags can take from fall damage is about 40% of its max health.
Tank: When bloated with air, the Gasbags takes 80% less Damage making it useful for tanking Bosses, taming, Turrets, and raids. All one has to do is fill up the gas capacity to 100% and try to maintain that full inflation so the reduction in damage is applied. Against ranged weapons and projectiles, do not let the head get shot as this will cause the Gasbags to deflate, making it quite vulnerable. The Gasbags is also one of the best turret soakers in the game. When soaking turrets, make sure to have the creature with its back side faced towards them, as this will prevent Gasbags head from getting shot as well as the survivor mounting it. The Gasbags can also be equipped with the Gasbags Saddle to further increase the damage reduction. On top of all of this, if a situation becomes hairy, one can easily flee quickly in contrast to almost every other tanking creature out there. Depending on the specific job, one can optimize the leveling to their needs. Generally though, pumping Health and Oxygen is needed to increase its tanking capabilities and Stamina is needed for helping the Gasbags tank for longer as it constantly breaths in air. Movement Speed can also be valuable to allow quicker walking and flying.
Troll: Surprisingly, the Gasbags makes for a hilarious troll thanks to its tertiary, gas blast attack. Though this does no Damage, it does incredible knockback to survivors and creatures, sending them a significant distance. If one does get blasted, they will be granted the Gassed effect which makes a player gassed by a Gasbags immune to fall damage until he/she touches the ground. Though this means that you can't kill unfortunate victims with fall damage, one can still use the gas blast attack to harass at large. One can even troll practically by knocking back survivors and tames down ditches where they can't easily get out, into a dangerous area full of dangerous creatures, wild or tamed, or just for the heck of enraging other players.
Travel / Scout: As stated with the role of 'Aberration Bus', the Gasbags is a great mount to use on any map in order to get around, as it can float and blast gas to fly to avoid most threats and travel comfortable over immense distances, so long as it has sufficient oxygen. The Gasbags can also be a viable scout, as it can be tamed and used without a saddle very early in the game and has good mobility in the air. This allows a survivor to quickly get to any area and leave if need be. It is also important to note that the Gasbags can also carry an one extra rider if its saddle is equipped, making . Level Oxygen, Movement Speed, and Stamina and Health if need be.
Pet: Despite being a very large creature, Gasbags could be considered a very good pet to have do to their cute appearance, and the adorable sounds they make.
Aberration Bus: This animal can be transferred to the Aberration map. In combination with a Cryopod, it makes it easy to search for drops and leave the map. In addition, in the presence of a large amount of oxygen, you can fully navigate the map, carrying a huge amount of resources, and even carry an extra passenger with you. Moreover, in some cases Gasbags is even better than a Rock Drake for navigation and getting from one place to another. Gasbags can rise vertically upwards. Managarmr is also able to climb high - but it does not curl in the air, and cannot correct its flight, plus it uses tons of stamina. For improvement - only Oxygen (for comfort flying - 11000-13000 oxygen). Keep in mind that
With all that said, the Gasbags remains infinitely inferior to the native Rock Drake in terms of maneuverability, speed and strength. Besides the Gasbags do suffer from Radiation poisoning and they are unlikely to survive to the extreme difficulty of the Surface.
For information pertaining specifically to the real-world Gasbags, see the relevant Wikipedia article.
The species name for the Gasbags, fluitobesus, roughly translates to "fat floater". The genus name, Mopsechiniscus, is a real world genus name that contains six south hemispheric species, with the species, Mopsechiniscus franciscae, which is also an Antarctic species, being the most studied one.
Real Tardigrades are rather small, crossing the lines between microscopic and macroscopic, and ranging from 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm in length. This makes it rather strange as to how the Gasbags got so large, though clues given range from the wildly different characteristics of the Gasbags like a gas bladder and hair, to the Element that has integrated itself into the creature's belly.
When inflated and in water, the Gasbags will want to rise to the surface and float, similarly to the Reaper though to not such an extreme degree, as it can still swim deeper. However, if the Gasbags is fully deflated, it will sink.
Despite being listed as an omnivore in its dossier, the Gasbags does not consume meat.
A Gasbags equipped with a Gasbags Saddle can hold two players; one can ride on the front of the back while one other player can sit in the saddle seat farther down the back.
The "Gassed" status effect granted by a Gasbags will provide immunity to fall damage.
Perhaps having the most Weight of any creature in the entire game, the Gasbags makes the ultimate carvaner and pack mule.
The Gasbags, like the Phiomia can harvest nothing but trees, albeit very poorly.
The Gasbags cannot sprint, however it can still travel at high speeds due to its flying capabilities.
When leveling up, the Gasbags will do a quick side-spin midair.
Yes
Region 0:
Region 2:
Region 4:
Region 5:
Region 0:
Region 2:
Region 4:
Region 5:
Health
Stamina
Oxygen
Food
Weight
Melee Damage
Movement Speed
Torpidity
Oxygen stat.
Gasbags Saddle it can now carry a passenger.
Damage, so it is important to not allow this. They will slowly lose air when being hit, but a simple way is to shoot them in the head while they are puffing up, which causes them to deflate, preventing escape, and usually ensuring a kill.
Crossbow and the 
Longneck Rifle, or swift tamed creatures such as an 
Enforcer are advised.
Level 1
Superior Kibble
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Fresh Barley 
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Fresh Wheat .png){kind=small}
Soybean 
Mejoberry
Berries
× 45; 
× 19; 
× 5; 
× 3; 
× 3; 
× 2
Superior Kibble:
2 × 
Citronal, 1 × 
Prime Meat Jerky, 1 × 
Large Egg, 5 × 
Fiber, 2 × 
Rare Mushroom, 1 × 
Sap, 1 × 
Water
Rare Flower or 
Giant Bee Honey.
Snow Owl, 
Managarmr or 
Ice Titan (Titans will most definitely kill it however)
Wyverns, 
Quetzal and 
Rhyniognatha. If your flyer is encumbered, releasing a Gasbags from a 
Cryopod and unloading your inventories into the Gasbags' would allow you to carry on. This is very useful for farming runs or when you wish to move your base to a new location. Level up 
Weight only.
Metal and you have no tames but your Gasbags, in which case you could load it up and take it around whilst farming 
Movement Speed actually increases the flight speed of the Gasbags which will allow it to fly faster. In unison with leveling oxygen, this can allow the Gasbags to reach crazy lengths of flight. Leveling 
Health as well.
Bosses, taming, 
Turrets, and raids. All one has to do is fill up the gas capacity to 100% and try to maintain that full inflation so the reduction in damage is applied. Against ranged weapons and projectiles, do not let the head get shot as this will cause the Gasbags to deflate, making it quite vulnerable. The Gasbags is also one of the best turret soakers in the game. When soaking turrets, make sure to have the creature with its back side faced towards them, as this will prevent Gasbags head from getting shot as well as the survivor mounting it. The Gasbags can also be equipped with the 
Stamina is needed for helping the Gasbags tank for longer as it constantly breaths in air. 
Rock Drake for navigation and getting from one place to another. Gasbags can rise vertically upwards. 
Radiation poisoning and they are unlikely to survive to the extreme difficulty of the Surface.
Raw Meat
Gasbags bladder.
Element that has integrated itself into the creature's belly.
Reaper though to not such an extreme degree, as it can still swim deeper. However, if the Gasbags is fully deflated, it will sink.
Phiomia can harvest nothing but trees, albeit very poorly.
ARK: Survival Evolved Changes
Encumbered.
Woolly Rhino.
