How to Tame a Shadowmane in ARK

 

    The Shadowmane is one of ARK's stealthiest apex tames — introduced with the Genesis: Part 2 expansion and also found on the Fjordur map — and it isn't knocked out like most predators its size. This guide follows ark.wiki.gg's documented method: a passive, non-violent tame built around a Fish Basket, correct positioning, and not waking the animal up. Its signature ability, per the wiki, is turning itself, its rider, and sometimes other nearby creatures invisible; it can also poison attackers with Thornmail Poison. Every figure below comes from the wiki's Shadowmane page; where the source doesn't give a number, this guide says so instead of guessing.

 

The Passive Taming Method

 

    The wiki is explicit on the approach: "Shadowmanes are tamed non-violently, rather than through the usual methods." Per the page's Domestication data, the Shadowmane is Tameable, Rideable, and Breedable, but not Torpor Immune; its Taming Method is listed as Passive, its Preferred Food as Fish, and its Equipment as No Saddle Needed (Rider Weaponry is listed as Yes, so you can still fight from the saddle).

 

    To actually tame one, you need "a filled Fish Basket with 0.5+ weight fish of any kind" — take more than you think you'll need, since "Larger fish WILL tame faster." With the basket in your last hotbar slot, approach the sleeping Shadowmane; the wiki is specific that "it must be from it's behind or back" — approaching from the front wakes it and causes aggro. Even the wiki hedges on the mechanic behind fish affinity: "It's not yet certain which variable is true, but either the level of the fish or the size of the fish determines how much taming affinity it provides." Given that uncertainty, and that "you will need many filled fish baskets for the tame," the practical advice is to over-prepare rather than count on a specific number.

 

    One nuance worth knowing before you start: taming progress resets to 0% if the Shadowmane wakes up because of something you did — an approach from the front, or attacking another sleeping Shadowmane nearby. But if the Shadowmane attacks you mid-tame, the wiki states progress and effectiveness are not reset.

 

Staying Undetected While It Sleeps

 

 

    Shadowmanes "travel either alone, or in groups up to 3," and the highest-level male is always the pack's alpha. Waking one wakes the whole pack, so clear the area first — including other Shadowmanes and the herbivores they'll aggro onto, named specifically as Stegosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, plus small creatures and corpses.

 

    The wiki recommends wearing "a full set of Ghillie Armor" and crouching toward the sleeping Shadowmane, using Bug Repellant beforehand "to deter aggro from the area's several insects." Approach from the sides or rear specifically, to further cut detection risk. If it wakes while you're close, sprint away immediately — the source notes "the Shadowmane takes a few moments before grabbing any aggro," a documented reaction window, not instant detection. Resting duration varies, but "if there is nothing in the area to attract their attention, they seem to rest for at least 20 seconds," so time your approach to that window.

 

    Once it eats, it doesn't stay put: "As soon as it feeds, it will immediately walk elsewhere (they become invisible)." The wiki stresses using the game's Taming tracking system to follow it, "as you don't want to be too close when they break out of stealth."

 

Breeding and Growth Times

 

 

    The wiki's Reproduction data lists a Breeding Interval of 18 hours to 2 days, and these timers: Gestation Time 2h 23m 48.128s, Baby Time 4h 52m 23.86s, Juvenile Time 19h 29m 35.438s, and Adolescent Time 1d 21m 59.298s, with a Total Maturation Time of 2d 43m 58.596s. That total excludes gestation — it's just Baby + Juvenile + Adolescent added together, and the arithmetic checks out exactly: 17,543.86s + 70,175.438s + 87,719.298s = 175,438.596 seconds = 2 days, 43 minutes, 58.596 seconds (175,438.596 − 172,800 = 2,638.596s). So a bred Shadowmane spends roughly 2h 24m in gestation, then just over 2 more days growing from newborn to adult.

 

Base Stats, Armor, and Abilities

 

 

    At Level 1, the wiki's Base Stats table lists: Health 825 (+165/level), Stamina 450 (+45/level), Food 1500 (+150/level), Weight 425 (+8.5/level), Melee Damage 35 (+1.75/level), and Torpidity 700 (+42/level). Oxygen's base is 150 (+15/level), but the page itself marks that stat's taming bonus as an unresolved "?" — undocumented on the wiki itself, so this guide doesn't invent one. The table also lists taming-bonus percentages per stat, but column alignment for those wasn't reliably captured from this source pull, so no bonus percentage is attached to any individual stat here.

 

    Since there's no saddle, armor comes from the creature itself: its rating "is capped at 80.0, and it is not inherited from parents after breeding," and its strength "is dependent on its base level after taming or from birth." Its Thornmail Poison debuff "is applied to any attackers that land a hit on it for 7 seconds stacking up to 5 times," dealing 10 damage a second and cutting attacker damage by 15% per stack, "capping out at around 50% damage reduction at 5 stacks." Its Cloak ability (cost 20 + 5/s) "completely hid[es] itself and its rider from enemy sights." Killing rather than taming one drops Hide, Keratin, and Raw Meat per the wiki's Drops section; a kill is worth 20 XP, Drag Weight is 350, Immobilized By a Net Projectile.

 

The wiki's own field tips: encumbering it can work as well as feeding it — "bringing them enough victims to feed on they will become encumbered and unable to act, making taming a much easier task." Ovis (sheep) are named specifically since they "harvest for very heavy pelt and can encumber the creature very quickly." For a physical trap, the page describes stone doorframes two high with ramps in — walking ground-to-foundation reportedly wakes it — then luring it in on aggro so it teleports inside, net-gunning it, and clearing the area so it can't teleport back out while cloaked.

 

Running your own ARK server

 

    Passive-taming a Shadowmane means slow, careful approaches — filling fish baskets, waiting out rest windows, tracking an invisible animal after feeding — none of which survives a public server wiping the area or another tribe scaring off your target mid-approach. A private ARK server keeps the pack where you left it, your fish baskets stocked in a chest only your tribe can reach, and the two-day maturation clock running without a restart resetting your breeding line.

 

Conclusion

 

    Taming a Shadowmane comes down to what the wiki documents: it's a passive tame, not a knockout — fill Fish Baskets with 0.5+ weight fish, approach only from behind or the sides while it sleeps, and never let it see your front. Clear the area of other Shadowmanes and their herbivore targets first, gear up in Ghillie Armor with Bug Repellant, and expect roughly a 20-second rest window to work with. Breeding takes 2h 23m 48.128s of gestation plus just over 2 more days to adulthood. What the source didn't give a clean number for — the Oxygen taming bonus, the per-stat bonus-percentage breakdown — isn't guessed here.

 

    Ready to tame your own Shadowmane pack without losing a fish-basket approach to a server restart? Spin up your own ARK server and get taming. Use promo code WELCOME for your first month free.