Mutagen

Stronger tames from a Genesis: Part 2 resource

Mutagen is a resource from the Genesis: Part 2 DLC, recorded for both ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK: Survival Ascended. Its description warns: "Rare substance with aggravating and mutagentic properties. Use with caution to boost creature stats and gain access to Rockwell's Inner Sanctum." The ARK Wiki lists three uses: adding levels to tames you already own, taming the Voidwyrm, and starting the Terminus mission.

Crafting it or harvesting bulbs

• Crafting: a Chemistry Bench turns 800 Mutagel into 6 Mutagen.
• Mutagen Bulbs: these sit in the Rockwell's Innards biome. Harvesting one yields a Plant Species R Seed along with 1 Mutagen and sets off a wave of Summoner; usually about 3 bulbs are present at a time.

Our loot records add mission crates: 36 crate types can contain Mutagen, among them the Easy, Medium and Hard versions of the 'Bulbdog Fetch' and 'Circuit Chase' missions on Genesis Part 2.

Bulb respawns

Bulb spawn attempts happen hourly in single player and on non-dedicated servers, and once per 8 hours on dedicated servers. The timer runs from each spawn attempt, not from the moment bulbs are picked. The wiki suggests following it on the in-game clock: with default settings one in-game day lasts one real hour, so 8 real hours equal 8 in-game days. Completing the Terminus mission, the boss fight, gives a temporary world effect that cuts bulb respawn time by 20%. The running timer is not refreshed when the effect starts, and the shorter time only applies from the next spawn attempt.

Applying it to a creature

Before Mutagen can be applied, the creature must carry a set amount of it, and the item's tooltip in the creature's inventory shows that amount. It depends on the species alone, not on level or on whether the creature was tamed or bred. With enough in place, hover over the Mutagen in that inventory and press E. A creature can receive Mutagen only once.

• Tamed (wild ancestors only, or clones of such tames): 5 levels each go into Health, Stamina, Weight and Melee Damage, 20 in total, as pre-tame levels that offspring can inherit.
• Bred: 1 level each in those four stats, 4 in total, as post-tame levels that are not passed on.

Weight and recipes

A unit weighs 0.1 and stacks to 100, a full stack weighing 10. In both games our records list one recipe that uses it: Mutagel, at 4 Mutagen per craft.