SHADOWMANE

Shadowmanes are tamed non-violently, rather than through the usual methods.

Shadowmanes are inactive during the day, and can be seen resting. To tame the creature, you need a filled Fish Basket with 0.5+ weight fish of any kind (Take more than you think you will need its better to have too much fish than not enough). Larger fish WILL tame faster. With the basket in the last slot of your hotbar, carefully approach the Shadowmane while it is asleep (the creature is aggressive) and feed it. When you approach it, it must be from it's behind or back. If you approach it from the front, it will aggro. Be mindful of other aggressive dinos which will either target the survivor or Shadowmane. It's not yet certain which variable is true, but either the level of the fish or the size of the fish determines how much taming affinity it provides; the larger and/or higher level the fish, the more affinity provided. You will need many filled fish baskets for the tame, so prepare ahead of time.

To reduce the chance of it detecting you, wear a full set of Ghillie Armor and crouch towards it while its resting (Use Bug Repellant if possible before attempting in order to deter aggro from the area's several insects.) Try to approach from its sides or rear when approaching with the fish basket to further reduce being detected. If it wakes up while you are close, immediately try to sprint away as the Shadowmane takes a few moments before grabbing any aggro. Be careful if there are other Shadowmanes, as even one Shadowmane being alerted will wake the entire pack up. It's advised to clear out unwanted creatures, including other Shadowmanes, before initiating the tame; they will aggro onto most herbivores such as Stegosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, as well as small creatures and corpses.

As soon as it feeds, it will immediately walk elsewhere (they become invisible). Keeping track with the Taming tracking system is vital, as you don't want to be too close when they break out of stealth. If a Shadowmane attacks the player, all taming progress is NOT lost and taming effectiveness is NOT reset. Be aware that the taming progress resets to 0% whenever the creature wakes up by any of your actions, including an approach from the front while sleeping or when you attack other nearby sleeping Shadowmanes, as your get your target’s aggro for disturbing it’s sleep. However, they can attack other creatures without losing taming progress, but lone Shadowmanes are likely to die if they attack a pack of Stegos.

The Shadowmane is quite variable in its resting times, though if there is nothing in the area to attract their attention, they seem to rest for at least 20 seconds. It's important to be close enough to capitalize on these resting periods, but far enough away to not get its attention at unwanted times.

Tip: As of right now they seem to keep the resources they gather from dead creatures around them. By bringing them enough victims to feed on they will become encumbered and unable to act, making taming a much easier task. Ovis are an excellent creature to feed it if you have enough disposable sheep, since they harvest for very heavy pelt and can encumber the creature very quickly. Building gates around them to prevent them from walking away invisible is also a good strategy.

You could also build a trap out of stone with doorframes 2 high, and ramps on the bottom for you to get in, because if you walk from the ground to a foundation it seems like that wakes it up. You would want to lure it by gaining aggro and then make it teleport in, and net gun it. Make sure to clear the area while it is netted to make sure it doesn't teleport out. This makes sure that when it goes invisible, it won’t wander off to somewhere dangerous.

Utility

Whether it's for PvE or PvP, despite their smaller size, Shadowmanes bring big benefits to the table, and are a must-have for many a combat endeavor. Their unique cocktail of potent stats, passives, and abilities allow them to fill a wide variety of niches to the benefit of any tribe that takes the time to properly tame and breed these vicious chimeric carnivores. With the added benefit of Mutagen being accessible in their native map, Shadowmanes can quickly take a top-tier position among your collection of tames.

As a damage dealer: Although their base damage of 35 seems rather meager, when their high stat gains, Mate-Boost, and Pack Mate buff from a male's roar is taken into account, coupled with their swift attack speed; Shadowmanes can manage a surprisingly effective DPS rating that can put them on par with a Rex (albeit their attack radius is small by comparison). Secondly their access to the Hydrated buff from a quick dip in water can turn this already effective killing machine into a true meat grinder; capable of quickly slaughtering some of even the hardiest of opponents. Along with their various special attacks and abilities, Shadowmanes can prove a formidable foe to your many enemies, wild or tamed alike (Level primarily Damage, and some Health).

As a support tank: With their relatively smaller size, it might first be hard to imagine the Shadowmane performing as a tank, let alone arguably better than their potential as damage dealers, but appearances can be deceiving. Fully leveled with a health pool that can compete with a Reaper, and sporting natural armor that's roughly 3x more protective than the average saddle, Shadowmanes can take an absolute beating and keep on going. The real kicker that cements their place as a top-tier tank is not so much their stats and armor, but more so their Thornmail Poison. Passively applied to attackers for seven seconds after contact, and able to stack its effects up to 5 times, Thornmail Poison simultaneously damages opponents over time, and greatly reduces the damage they deal with their attacks. Not only can this cripple the attack power of the average overland opponent, but Thornmail Poison also applies to Bosses and Titans, even reducing the damage output of percentage-based special attacks like the Dragon's fire breath. With the inclusion of a mate-boosted male to provide their Roar Boosted buff to nearby allies, Shadowmanes excel in this role (Level primarily Health. For Boss fights, pair a small pride with other Bossing tames such as Rexes, Yutyrannus, Mammoths, and Deinonychus).

For stealth: With their ability to turn perfectly invisible, and a mate-boosted female's ability to apply the Cloaked status effect to other tames, Shadowmanes can very easily be used for dirty tricks and unfair advantages in the world of tribal warfare. Ambushes can be planned and placed, and an entire war party can sneak up unseen. Naturally this also makes the Shadowmane a natural-born scout, and with their jumping prowess and masterful mobility on land or sea, they're equipped to scope out and survey nearly any enemy position, and make a clean getaway when required.

The Shadowmane has amazing mobility perks, possessing formidable maneuverability on land, astonishing jumping prowess, and surprising speed in the water, on par with even the Ichthyosaurus. Its ability to handle nearly any terrain with ease is arguably matched by the ease with which it handles the threats found in them; more than capable of defending itself and its rider against most, and certainly capable of fleeing or outright avoiding what threats it can't altogether. Caution should still be taken while underwater as Electrophorus can shock to hinder its movement and Cnidaria can permanently stun lock the Shadowmane until death. It is advised to use the dash to attack them first if attacking them is a necessity. Otherwise, avoid confrontation. Aside from making one of the best personal transports around, the Shadowmane is capable of carrying two more passengers behind the rider, similar to the Gallimimus; and more often than not has the Weight gain percentages to handle the load with ease.

With its potent mix of combat, stealth, and all-terrain capability, the Shadowmane makes for an outright masterful cave delver to retrieve Artifacts for their respective boss fights, provided it can fit in whatever cave the artifact is in. Its Shadow Cloak ability is perhaps the most useful tool at its disposal for this role, as it can quite literally sneak in, grab the artifact, and slink back out of the cave without even drawing the aggression of a single enemy creature (to ensure 100% invisibility uptime, ride a female and bring a male with her, and use her group-applied Cloaked ability, so when you dismount her you stay invisible and won't reveal your presence). The Shadowmane can take even the most difficult and grueling of caves, like The Caverns of Lost Hope, and turn it into a walk in the park.