Overcome the final boss of this desert wasteland with our guide on how to locate and defeat the Manticore boss in ARK Survival Ascended Scorched Earth.
As with all of the maps in ARK Survival Ascended, Scorched Earth features giant Monoliths that allow you to take on powerful and dangerous bosses for rare loot and rewards. Scorched Earth is special, however, in that it only features one boss to take down, known as the Manticore, and this boss is by no means a pushover.
Thankfully, you won't have to go at it alone, as we have you covered in this comprehensive guide. Below we will show you exactly how to prepare yourself to locate and defeat the Manticore boss in ARK Survival Ascended Scorched Earth and ascend from this harsh desert ARK.
Table of Contents
- How To Unlock The Manticore Boss Fight In Scorched Earth
- How To Beat the Manticore Boss In Scorched Earth
- Manticore Boss Fight Tips and Strategy
How To Unlock The Manticore Boss Fight In Scorched Earth
Before we delve into the boss guide for the Manticore, it's important to know how to access and unlock the boss first. Simply put, to fight the Manticore, you'll need to use one of the three Obelisks on the map, and each of them will grant you access to the same boss, so it doesn't matter which Obelisk you choose.
Once you've chosen the Obelisk, you'll need specific items to summon it, with the most notable being the Artifacts, of which there are three on Scorched Earth. For a more comprehensive look, here's a breakdown of all the items needed to challenge the Manticore at its respective levels in Scorched Earth:
Manticore (Gamma)
- Player Level: 55
- Fire Talon: 2
- Lightning Talon: 2
- Poison Talon: 2
- Artifact of the Gatekeeper: 1
- Artifact of the Crag: 1
- Artifact of the Destroyer: 1
Manticore (Beta)
- Player Level: 70
- Fire Talon: 10
- Lightning Talon: 10
- Poison Talon: 10
- Artifact of the Gatekeeper: 1
- Artifact of the Crag: 1
- Artifact of the Destroyer: 1
Manticore (Alpha)
- Player Level: 95
- Fire Talon: 20
- Lightning Talon: 20
- Poison Talon: 20
- Artifact of the Gatekeeper: 1
- Artifact of the Crag: 1
- Artifact of the Destroyer: 1
The Artifacts will need to be found throughout the game in various locations, but the Talons need to be harvested from the different kinds of Wyverns in the game, namely the Fire, Poison, and Lightning Wyverns, so be sure you know how to build a wyvern trap to make your life a lot easier. Once you have all the required items for the specified Manticore level, you're ready to jump into the fight itself, so let's discuss that next.
How To Beat the Manticore Boss In Scorched Earth
The Manticore is a hybrid that consists of the body and head of a lion, with three rows of sharp teeth, bat-like wings, and ears, and a scorpion's tail that has toxic and lethal venom. Overall, the fight will consist of The Manticore flying around the arena shooting purple bolts in different directions at once while using its tail to inflict torpor. Deathworms will also be spawning continuously throughout the fight, and Near the end of the battle, even more Deathworms and even Rock Elementals start spawning which can easily trap and kill your tames.
We'll discuss the strategy in just a bit, but while we're on the topic of tames, let's discuss the ones that will suit this fight best. Starting, you'll need a Tame to ride during the fight itself, and we recommend the Fasolasuchus, the T-Rex, or the Yutyrannus for their tanky constitutions, as well as special abilities such as the Yuty's Courage Roar, the Faso's poisonous bite and movement speed when diving, as well as Rex's high damage and tankiness (useful for dealing with the Rock Elementals).
Then we come to the rushers of the fight, and while we would normally go with Rex's, Scorched Earth offers Wyverns as a reliable and worthy replacement, and for this fight, you're going to choose either Fire or Lightning Wyverns. Because of their ability to fly, they can more easily avoid the Deathworms and Rock Elementals that spawn.
However, compared to the Rex, Wyverns have much less base Torpor being roughly half as much and when mounted are prone to being grounded due to the Manticore's stamina drain (Also, be sure to only choose one Wyvern Type, so go either all Lightning or all Fire Wyverns, not a mix as one is weak to the other, meaning they can get caught in each other's crossfire as well as both take damage from the boss).
Additionally, you can bring in some medical brews to replenish your health or your tames in case you take any hits, and of course, a ranged weapon of your choosing to get some shots in on the Manticore, but generally speaking, this is all you really need. Now that you're all set, let's dive into the details of the fight and general tips.
Manticore Boss Fight Tips and Strategy
Once the fight begins, you can set your Wyverns to attack the Manticore and rush it, which not only distracts the Manticore from your character but also deals tons of damage right out of the gate. Be sure to stay back at this point as the lightning or fire wyverns you're using can hit you with some friendly fire as well, so be wary of this, but thankfully, they can't hurt each other as long as they're the same type as we highlighted before.
The next concern will be the Deathworms, which can be annoying to deal with, but if you bring in a sufficient tame such as a Fasolasuchus, Rex, or a Yuty, you can easily pick them off in a one-on-one fight while your Wyverns take care of the boss. Keep this strategy up until the Rock Elementals spawn in the boss's final moments, and here you'll want to implement a specific strategy which is staying on the spawn platform.
By staying here, the Rock Elementals can't reach you, or will just have more trouble getting to you, which allows you to either use your Tame to pick them off or to jump off and use your firearm of choosing to pick them off. Now they will still try to attack you and can hit you if you're standing too close to the edge, so just be aware of their attacks and try to kill them as quickly as you can, which is a difficult task to do since they have so much health.
Sometimes their pathing will allow them to get up onto the platform and here you'll need to rely on the defenses of your tame to survive their attacks and kill them before they can take you on. If you need to move for fear of being overwhelmed by more than one of them, then do so and reposition yourself to draw them away from the platform, then make your way back there to start the loop over again.
Keep this up and all you need to do is survive the fight as the Wyverns you brought with you should be able to do the job fairly easily, and as long as you can survive the Deathworms and Rock Elementals, you'll be all set to take down the Manticore. Once defeated it will drop specific items based on the tier you're fighting it on, so here's a quick breakdown of the rewards for defeating it:
Manticore (All Three Tiers)
- Element
- Manticore Boots Skin
- Manticore Chestpiece Skin
- Manticore Flag
- Manticore Gauntlets Skin
- Manticore Leggings Skin
- Manticore Shield Skin
- Manticore Trophy
Manticore (Gamma)
- Tek Gauntlets
- Tek Generator
- Tek Leggings
- Tek Replicator
- Tek Trough
Manticore (Beta)
- Tapejara Tek Saddle
- Tek Dedicated Storage
- Tek Gauntlets
- Tek Generator
- Tek Leggings
- Tek Replicator
- Tek Rifle
- Tek Shield
- Tek Trough
Manticore (Alpha)
- Cloning Chamber
- Rex Tek Saddle
- Tapejara Tek Saddle
- Tek Dedicated Storage
- Tek Forcefield
- Tek Gauntlets
- Tek Generator
- Tek Grenade
- Tek Leggings
- Tek Replicator
- Tek Rifle
- Tek Shield
And there you have it, a comprehensive breakdown of how to defeat the Manticore boss in ARK Survival Ascended Scorched Earth. This boss is not the easiest to take down, but by following our tips and tricks in this guide you'll be fully capable of defeating it and ascending from the Scorched Earth ARK.
