Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus
The Yutyrannus has always been a powerful presence on the ARK, a feathered tyrant that can turn the tide of battle with a single roar. However, as the game has evolved, this once-mighty creature began to feel dated compared to the modern roster. Enter Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus, a comprehensive TLC mod designed to bring this apex predator into perfect parity with the current state of ARK: Survival Ascended. This isn't just a simple stat tweak; it's a ground-up rebuild that transforms the Yutyrannus into a peerless battlefield commander, offering a suite of new tools that make it an indispensable asset for any serious tribe.
A Complete Overhaul of the Roar Mechanic
The heart of this mod lies in its complete reconstruction of the vanilla roar system. In the base game, your roar was a simple, binary action. With Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus for ARK: Survival Ascended, the secondary attack is now a dedicated "roar" button that activates your currently selected roar. You can cycle through your available roars by pressing the C key, and a newly designed, custom-built HUD widget clearly displays which roar is currently equipped. This QoL change alone makes commanding your Yutyrannus feel intuitive and responsive, ensuring you always have the right call ready for the right moment.
New Roars for Every Situation
The overhauled roar system introduces two brand-new, game-changing abilities alongside a significant buff to the classic one. These additions give the Yutyrannus a level of tactical depth previously unseen.
- Courage Roar (Omnidirectional): The classic fear and courage buffs are now applied in a full 360-degree radius around your mount. No longer do you have to worry about positioning to buff your allies; simply roar, and the entire battlefield feels your presence.
- Summon Roar: This is a true game-changer. The Summon roar calls forth a powerful Carnotaurus ally to fight by your side. This summoned beast matches the level of your Yutyrannus and possesses level-scaled armor, making it a formidable tank. It will fight for you for 120 seconds, and you can have up to three of these deadly allies active at once, creating a personal honor guard that can shred through enemy lines.
- Rally Roar: For moments when your team is on the verge of exhaustion, the Rally roar provides powerful, momentary stamina regeneration to all allies within the same range as your Courage roar. This can be the difference between a successful retreat and a total wipe, allowing your tribe to keep pushing when it matters most. Note that this effect does not apply to other Black Labs Yutyrannus.
Passive and Active Combat Abilities
Beyond the roars, Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus introduces new passive and active abilities that solidify its role as a commander on the front lines. These features are designed to reward aggressive, supportive playstyles.
The Command Passive
When riding your Yutyrannus, you gain a new passive ability called Command. For each ally in your immediate vicinity (up to a maximum of five), you become more powerful. This creates a powerful synergy with your tribe, encouraging you to stay in the thick of the fight to maximize your combat potential. Your current "Commander Level" is clearly indicated by a custom HUD element, allowing you to track your power spike in real-time.
Evasive Maneuvers
Mobility is key in ARK, and this mod delivers. By pressing the X key (the airbrakes key), you activate a special mode called Evasive Maneuvers. For five seconds, you gain a significant speed bonus and can phase through other creatures, making it nearly impossible for enemies to pin you down. You can press X again to refresh the timer as much as you want, but be judicious: you are unable to attack in this mode, and it drains a hefty 100 stamina per second. It is a high-risk, high-reward tool for repositioning or escaping a bad situation.
Balance and Spawning
Black Labs mods are designed to feel seamless with the vanilla game. They are not meant to drive anything into overpowered territory, but rather to bring less functional or aging tames up to par. To that end, this mod makes several key quality-of-life and balance adjustments. Basic attack speed has been increased to roughly match that of a Rex, and base stamina and stamina scaling have both been increased to support the new stamina-hungry abilities. The mod replaces the spawns of both the vanilla Yutyrannus and X-Yutyrannus with the new (BLA) Yutyrannus, which can mate with both base and X-variants. Balance changes are always a matter of taste, and Black Labs balances with respect to PVE play.
When you are ready to elevate your gameplay, the foxygame.net launcher provides a one-click install for Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus, ensuring you get the correct version for your ARK: Survival Ascended setup without the hassle of manual file placement. The launcher's add-on catalog keeps the mod updated, so you always have the latest balance fixes.
Installation and Compatibility
If you are wondering how to install this mod, the process is straightforward. You can find it on the official mod database for ARK: Survival Ascended. For those who prefer a more streamlined approach, the foxygame.net launcher simplifies the process by handling version compatibility and auto-updates for Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus, so you can spend less time managing files and more time commanding your dinosaur army. The mod is designed to work with the current versions of ARK: Survival Ascended and is intended to coexist with other mods that don't alter the same base creatures.
To spawn one in for testing, use the command: cheat GMSummon "BLYutyrannus_Character_BP_C" 150. The mod path is /BLYutyrannus/dinos/BLYuty/BLYutyrannus_Character_BP.
In conclusion, Black Labs Adjustments: Yutyrannus is a masterclass in mod design. It takes a beloved but aging creature and gives it a modern, tactical toolkit that is both powerful and balanced. The new roars, the Command passive, and the Evasive Maneuvers ability all work in concert to create a truly engaging and rewarding mount. Whether you are a solo player looking for a powerful companion or a tribe leader seeking a force multiplier, this mod is an essential addition to your ARK: Survival Ascended experience.