ARK Survival Ascended Guide | How to Find and Use Thrall NPC Helpers (Lost Colony)

Here’s a guide on how to get and use Thralls in Lost Colony in ARK: Survival Ascended.

Game Guide by Jubair Baky on Sep 16, 2026

Thralls are NPC helpers in ARK: Survival Ascended – Lost Colony that can fight, gather resources, organize storage, defend your base, and even control assigned creatures. They are obtained through Outpost Missions rather than conventional taming, and each Thrall variant comes with its own weapon and combat role.

How to Get Thralls in Lost Colony

Complete an Outpost Mission in Lost Colony to obtain a Thrall. During Defense-style objectives, you must protect the Outpost through multiple enemy waves while gathering resources and improving your defenses. After defeating the final boss, collect the dropped key and use it at the Outpost's reward point to access the loot and claim the Thrall offered as a reward.

Outpost Missions have Gamma, Beta, and Alpha difficulties. Higher difficulties can reward higher-level Thralls, making the harder missions more worthwhile when you are properly equipped.

Ark Survival Ascended Guide How to Find and Use Thrall NPC Helpers (Lost Colony)

Keep Your Thrall Fed

Thralls do not rely on normal meat for sustenance. Keep Blood Packs in their inventory so they can feed and recover health. Sweet Vegetable Cakes can also provide sustenance, so check their supplies before sending them into combat or leaving them working around your base.

How to Use Thrall Modes

Hold the interaction key on a Thrall and open Set Mode. Four options are available: Follow Mode, Harvest Mode, Logistics Mode, and Turret Mode.

Ark Survival Ascended Guide How to Use Thrall Modes

Follow Mode makes the Thrall travel with you and provide combat support. Turret Mode keeps it stationed in one area, where it attacks hostile targets within the effective range of its weapon. Ranged variants such as Thrall Deadeye are especially useful for this, while melee Thralls require enemies to approach them.

Control a Thrall Directly

Select Control Thrall from its interaction menu to take direct control. The Thrall's signature weapon appears in its first hotbar slot and has unlimited ammunition. Thralls can also use compatible weapons and equipment placed in their inventory, provided the necessary ammunition is available.

Your Survivor remains vulnerable while you control a Thrall. Thralls can gain experience and level up, but they cannot craft items while being directly controlled.

Different variants specialize in different weapons. Thrall Deadeye uses a Fabricated Sniper Rifle, Thrall Warden carries a Sword and Shield, Thrall Scattershot uses a Shotgun, Thrall Piercer uses a Crossbow, Thrall Herald carries a Flamethrower, and Thrall Enforcer uses an Assault Rifle.

Assign a Thrall to a Creature

A Thrall can be assigned to a compatible tamed creature through its interaction options. The Thrall will mount that creature and can use its weapon while riding when the combination allows it. To remove the assignment, mount the creature yourself, then use the Clear Assigned Dino option on the Thrall.

Automate Harvesting and Storage

For Harvest Mode, place examples of the resources you want collected in the Thrall's inventory and set each one as an input. Configure a storage container with matching input items, then switch the Thrall to Harvest Mode. It will gather the selected resources and eventually deposit them into the configured storage.

Ark Survival Ascended Guide Automate Harvesting and Storage

Logistics Mode handles existing resources instead. Enable Automated Withdrawal on source storage and Automated Deposit on destination storage. Once the Thrall enters Logistics Mode, it can move matching resources between properly configured containers automatically.

After claiming and configuring a Thrall, you can use it for combat, creature support, resource gathering, base defense, and automated storage management throughout Lost Colony.