MSKYO: Knock-Out Taming Redefines ARK: Survival Ascended
Taming in ARK: Survival Ascended has always been a test of patience. Whether you are sneaking up on a Troodon with sacrificial meat or waiting for a Rock Drake egg to hatch, the process can feel punishing. The MSKYO mod, short for "Momma Said Knock You Out," flips that dynamic on its head by letting you club, tranq, and feed your way to some of the game's most elusive creatures.
What MSKYO Changes in ARK: Survival Ascended
MSKYO is a straightforward yet powerful overhaul. Creatures that traditionally require complex or passive taming methods can now be tamed through standard knock-out techniques. Instead of sacrificing tamed creatures to a Troodon or blinding a Yi Ling with Plant Z Fruit, you can simply knock them out and feed them kibble. The same applies to egg-stealing creatures like Wyverns, Rock Drakes, Magmasaurs, and Deinonychus. Yes, even the Rhyniognatha can be knocked out and tamed.
If you have been searching for a way to download MSKYO without disrupting your existing save, the mod is designed to slot cleanly into most servers. It is important to note that when installing this mod, you should perform a dino wipe on your server to ensure all spawns register the new taming rules correctly.
Supported Versions and Mod Compatibility
MSKYO for ARK: Survival Ascended supports the current live branch of the game, including the latest major patches that introduced The Center and Aberration content. Because the mod uses a lightweight hook into taming logic rather than replacing core creature blueprints, it remains compatible with most quality-of-life and stacking mods. If you run a cluster with other taming overhauls, load MSKYO after any mod that edits the same creature classes to avoid conflicts.
Taming Effectiveness and Configuration
Choosing the knock-out method applies a slight taming effectiveness penalty of -15 percent by default. Server owners can adjust this in the gameusersettings.ini file under the [MSKYO] section. To eliminate the penalty entirely, set the value to 0. For a 50 percent drop in effectiveness, set it to 0.5. The maximum value of 1.0 represents a full 100 percent reduction. Creatures like Wyverns, Rock Drakes, and Magmasaurs that have no alternative taming method do not incur this penalty at all.
You can also customize which creatures are affected. If you prefer Rhyniognatha, Fire Wyverns, or Troodons to remain untameable via knock-out, add their Entity IDs to the exclusion list, separated by commas without spaces. A typical entry looks like Wyvern_Character_BP_Fire_C,Rhynio_Character_BP_C,Troodon_Character_BP_C. All creatures affected by MSKYO take Exceptional Kibble as their preferred food, with the exception of Wyverns, which take Extraordinary Kibble. If you skip kibble, most will tame with raw meat, mejoberries, spoiled meat, or medium poop for dung beetles.
How to Install MSKYO
- Open the in-game mod browser or your preferred launcher.
- Search for MSKYO and subscribe to the add-on.
- Add the mod ID to your server's GameUserSettings.ini under ActiveMods.
- Perform a dino wipe so existing creatures adopt the new taming rules.
- Adjust the PassiveToKnockPenalty and DisableCreaturesList settings as needed.
For players who want a frictionless setup, the foxygame.net launcher bundles MSKYO into a curated add-on catalog, letting you enable it with a single click and keep it updated automatically across game patches. Knowing how to install a mod is half the battle, and a good launcher removes the guesswork entirely.
Creatures That Do Not Work With MSKYO
MSKYO will not work on Boss Creatures or Alphas. There is also a small list of creatures that do not cooperate for animation or mechanical reasons. These include Armadoggo, Arthropluera, Basilisk, Onyc, Queen Bee, Role Rat, Reaper Kings and Queens, and Aureliax. Several of these bury themselves the moment they start to knock out, which prevents players from accessing their inventory to feed them. The mod author continues to investigate these edge cases.
Final Thoughts on MSKYO
MSKYO removes one of the most tedious barriers in ARK: Survival Ascended without stripping away the challenge entirely. The optional taming effectiveness penalty and the exclusion list give server owners fine-grained control, while the knock-out method opens up creatures that were previously locked behind passive taming or egg theft. If you are tired of sacrificing tames to a Troodon or hunting Rock Drake eggs in the radiation zone, MSKYO is a mod worth adding to your next playthrough.