ARK: Survival Ascended Guide | Bisons' Abilities and Uses

Want to know about Bisons' Abilities and their Uses? Here's a guide explaining all that in ARK Survival Ascended.

Game Guide by TauxicPandA on Jun 25, 2025

The Bison is one of the strongest creatures in ARK Survival Ascended's Ragnarok update, making it the meta and allowing you to deal massive damage in PvE and PvP.

ARK Survival Ascended Guide, Bisons Abilities and Uses

Bisons Combat Modes

The Bison has two combat modes, each with distinct functions that support different combat strategies.

You can switch between its heads-down and heads-up modes, each providing unique benefits in combat.

In heads-down mode, your Bison gains a special throw skill that sends small animals flying over your back in ARK Survival Ascended. The mechanism is quite helpful against mid-tier and smaller enemies because it can instantly kill the animals.

The throw attack is unpredictable but deals a lot of damage while repositioning your enemies.

It is very effective in PvP combat, where controlling enemy positioning can determine the outcome of battles.

ARK Survival Ascended Guide, Bisons Abilities and Uses, Bisons Combat Modes

Mastering Heads-Up Attack

Heads-up mode is your Bison's default attack mode, and the secret to performing those legendary one-shot kills in ARK Survival Ascended.

Switch modes and toggle between your Bison's two fighting modes using the C key.

During heads-up, your right-click attack triggers an explosive charge leap that can do much damage if properly executed.

Proper timing is needed to be most effective in the attack in ARK Survival Ascended. You must let the charge meter fill up on the right side of your screen. Then, properly timing your attack is needed to maximize the damage done.

ARK Survival Ascended Guide, Bisons Abilities and Uses, Mastering Heads-Up Attack

Timing Your Attacks

The trick to one-shotting your targets is to strike them during the downward portion of your Bison's jump when you have an exact timing of when to hit.

While jumping, you get damage counts up to 5,000 points, which is approximately three times a normal attack and kills most of the target easily.

Combat Mechanics and Movement

One of the most significant benefits of the Bison's charge attack is that it doesn't detract from your momentum if you land the hits.

Having just delivered a crushing hit, you can keep charging and moving at top speed, making it possible to do hit-and-run tactics that are very lethal in PvE and PvP.

The Bisons' speed is effective in extended battles in ARK Survival Ascended.

Enhancing Bisons' Performance

If you have the Speedy Harvester skill on your character, it applies to your Bison, speeding up both its harvesting and combat damage. This not only makes the Bison a good fighting mount but also a good farming mount.

A level 150 wild-tamed Bison with decent stats can already accomplish such damage, which means that the stronger versions with higher levels and even more decent stats can go up even further in ARK Survival Ascended.

ARK Survival Ascended Guide, Bisons Abilities and Uses, Enhancing Bisons Performance