How to find and tame a Unicorn in Ark: Survival Ascended

Few creatures in Ark: Survival Ascended are as magical as the Unicorn, though finding a taming one is not an easy task.

The mystical creature has various spawn points across the map but, due to how they are written into the game, are extremely rare.

On top of this, Unicorns require a non-violent taming approach, yet will run away scared from players, so there’s plenty of prep work. Let’s dig in.

Where to find a Unicorn in Ark: Survival Ascended

Unicorns in Ark: Survival Ascended are a rare variant of the Equus, which can be found in various areas of The Island Map, as shown above.

While Equus’ can be found regularly on The Island, only one wild Unicorn can exist at a time, which makes finding one much harder.

Thankfully, they can easily be identified by their white color, a slightly bigger size, and a prominent horn that features on their head.

How to tame a Unicorn in Ark: Survival Ascended

Unicorns will be startled when they see a player, so you need to approach wearing Ghillie Armor to stop it from running away. A Unicorn is a passive tame, so it cannot be tamed using the knockout method.

The best approach for taming a Unicorn is to pick it up with an Argentavis and drop it into a large pen or a safe area to ensure it does not run away into danger, while it also makes it easier to track if it does get startled.

Place the taming food in the last slot on your hotbar. The best food to use is Simple Kimble, followed by Rockarrot. Mejoberries and other berries can be used but are not recommended, as they take considerably longer.

Walk up to the back of the Unicorn and hit the feed button when prompted (E on PC, Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation). Press the button again to mount the Unicorn, which will trigger the next stage of the taming process.

The Unicorn will now run around, with you on its back, which is why taming in a pen is the best method. Eventually, the Unicorn will stop and begin to buck. When this happens, hit the interact button again to feed.

It can be a bit finicky and, as the feed button is the same as dismount, you can encounter issues that lead you to jump off. It’s worth noting that I did this on PC using an Xbox controller, and feeding the Equus while on its back only worked when I pressed E on the keyboard.