Quetzal for combat?

[Digital Aura]

Are quetzals a viable beast for combat? I mean, excluding the platform saddle, is it a good choice to sink melee and HP points into? I've never fought anything with a quetz but I was wondering about whether this was even plausible.

[Jwsp]

Most Combat quetzs have a huuuge amount of point in HP. And then turrets/plant turrets for the damage.

[Ravensnevermore]

Quite a good choice for a combat mount. It has like the T-Rex a large AOE attack, so you could kill thinks like gigantosaurus/ alpha - Trex quite good. And with Platform Saddle you could recharge Stamina midair. So whats not to love about that? ^^

[Digital Aura]

But I mean without the saddle. Turrets and plant species X don't actually count as kills for the Quetzal. I'm not even sure if dying to them would trigger a death message about the quetzal. I mean, as a war bird under his own power... are they anything special in regards to combat? Are they under the same disadvantage vs. ranged attacks as other birds?

[Denliner]

Quetzals are pretty good for combat. They have a knockback AoE. They can also pick up dinos and attack them, similar to an Argentavis.

Put points into HP and Damage.

However, I think you should invest in a platform saddle and grow a lot of Plant Species X Turrets so that it becomes a flying bomber, hovering above the skies while its recharging stamina, while the turrets kill everything in sight.

[irondune]

a good lv.120 perfect tame quetzie shreds thru most animals in seconds..

[Fogno]

They're faster than an Argie with more health and AOE, and appear to do more damage as well. Mine has 1k melee and is my go-to mount for killing things now. Even without the platform saddle, you can still dismount in mid-air to recharge stamina because you'll be standing on the bird's back (I wouldn't walk around too much tho :P).

Make sure to pump enough stamina because they tire out after a tough battle, but the mid-air recharge makes this a non issue.

Personally, I keep a platform on mine just so I can put a bed respawn point on him (my game has a habit of crashing at the worst times). They also have a tendency to fly REALLY FAR AWAY if attacked while landed and not on passive, so it can be hard to find them again.

[Digital Aura]

nice. tracker / transponder might be in order too then. ;-)