Chain Bola
A gigantic bola made of metal chain, capable of ensnaring larger creatures. Usable within a Ballista Turret.
Details
- Category
- Ammunition
- Games
- ASE + ASA
- Expansion
- Base
- Recipe
- 3 ingredients
- Loot crates
- 36 crates
- Item ID
- 305
Engram
How you unlock it
- Required level
- 51
- Engram points
- 30
- How to unlock
- Manual
Maps
Found on 12 maps
Video guides: search YouTube for Chain Bola guides
How to craft Chain Bola
Chain Bola is crafted from 3 ingredients. The engram unlocks at level 51, costs 30 engram points, takes 1 seconds, gives 0.4 XP.
SmithyRaw materials
If you craft every ingredient yourself
130Metal
80Stone
40Chitin/KeratinCrafted along the way: Metal Ingot ×65, Cementing Paste ×10.
How to get Chain Bola
Chain Bola is found in 36 loot crates.
Loot crates
36 crates
- Mission 'Bulbdog Fetch' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Bulbdog Fetch' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Bulbdog Fetch' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Circuit Chase' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Circuit Chase' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Circuit Chase' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Downriver Run' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Downriver Run' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Downriver Run' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Ferox Cull' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Ferox Cull' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Ferox Cull' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
Show all 36 crates
- Mission 'Maewing Poach' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Maewing Poach' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Maewing Poach' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Paracer Roundup' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Paracer Roundup' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Paracer Roundup' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Shadowmane Prowl' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Shadowmane Prowl' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Shadowmane Prowl' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slide and Glide' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slide and Glide' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slide and Glide' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slipstream Sweep' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slipstream Sweep' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Slipstream Sweep' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Starwing Strike' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Starwing Strike' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Starwing Strike' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Team Downriver Run' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Team Downriver Run' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Team Downriver Run' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Velonasaur Stalk' EasyGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Velonasaur Stalk' HardGenesis Part 2 · ASE
- Mission 'Velonasaur Stalk' MediumGenesis Part 2 · ASE
Chain Bola — Detailed Guide
A bola for the Ballista Turret
In ARK: Survival Evolved, the Chain Bola serves as 
Ballista Turret ammunition for trapping creatures. A caught target stays rooted to the spot for about 15 seconds, according to the ARK Wiki. The game describes it this way: "A gigantic bola made of metal chain, capable of ensnaring larger creatures. Usable within a Ballista Turret."
What it can and cannot catch
Unlike the standard 
Bola, it can hold larger targets, but it has no effect on survivors or on most smaller creatures. The ARK Wiki's list of affected creatures includes the 
Rex, 
Spino, 
Mammoth, 
Quetzal, 
Stegosaurus, 
Wyvern, 
Rock Drake and 
Therizinosaur. Some creatures are listed as unaffected, for example the 
Giganotosaurus, 
Brontosaurus, 
Carcharodontosaurus and 
Dreadnoughtus.
Crafting Chain Bolas
The engram unlocks at level 51 for 30 engram points. A 
Smithy or an 
Argentavis Saddle can craft it from:
- 65
Metal Ingot or 
Scrap Metal Ingot - 10
Cementing Paste or 
Achatina Paste - 2
Obsidian
Each craft makes 1 bola in 1 second and gives 0.4 XP.
Weight and loot
A Chain Bola weighs 20 and stacks to 20, so a full stack weighs 400. Our records count 36 crate types that can contain it, for example the Genesis Part 2 mission crates for 'Bulbdog Fetch' and 'Circuit Chase' on Easy, Medium and Hard. The bola is listed on 12 maps, including The Island, Ragnarok, Valguero and Fjordur.