The American Apex, T Rex

A guide to help you better play, hunt as, and understand the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex

Basics

The beauty of The Isle is that you can play as a dinosaur how you want to play, whether its a lone scavenger or a herbivore in a herd of 30, you decide. For the Tyrannosaur, its recommended to play in a pair or a 3 dino pack, being alone is doable, especially if you intend to chase off other predators from their kills, and then scavenge them. but to hunt many of the fauna in The Isle you will need a friend to help. Your fairly slow, so coordination is key, you want to be as well oiled a machine as possible. Of course communication is what you use to achieve that, and so having someone you can talk to is nice. By the way try not to break your leg, crouch when you are going down hills, and go at an angle as an added precaution. Another tip is to mess with key bindings, i remapped my trot and basic roar keys to Q and Spacebar, respectively, its much easier to toggle trotting now and roaring is used often so it makes sense to put it on the big key, also i remapped the toggle hud keys, from Ctrl and H to down arrow, making switching the hud off MUCH easier. i recommend trying out different keys for different stuff to see what works for you.

Competition

Generally you will get respect from all other dinosaurs, as you are the most powerful predator on the island (right now anyway). Its usually a good idea to keep your intentions blurry to others, the element of surprise is key.
there are currently four other carnivorous competitors to look out for.

Growing Up

There is a new challenge for the Tyrant, and this is the challenge of growing from young to old. You will begin as a Juvenile Tyrannosaur now, and grow your way to subadult and then adult, if you are good enough.

Suchomimus

The Suchomimus being the closest in terms of size and strength, He is best given his distance, and usually they will give you yours, roaring is your best form of fighting, being used to show you are the boss, and you will win a fight, rather than actually fighting. They only do 450 damage, but they can attack faster than you, combined with their advantage in speed, they can be deadly if you arent on your toes.

Allosaurus

Next is the Allosaurus, like hyenas to lions, they are worth keeping an eye on, but usually nothing more than a nuisance. If a pack shows up, show yourself, be a big bully, not annoying to the point that they want to attack you, but show that you are the alpha, and wont tolerate any funny business. sometimes having a pet Allo is nice for if the next carnivore shows his horned face.

Quetzacoatlus

Quetzacoatlus was a Azhdarchid Pterosaur, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Mesoamerican feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. fun fact: the image is from my local museum in Houston. The Quetzacoatlus is mainly a scavenger, it feasts on the carrion left by other more brawny hunters. Its speed is its only real ally, and the ability to sail through the sky. If you manage to catch one by surprise you need only bite it once and let it bleed out, before being able to consume its flesh.

Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus is the second smallest carnivore so far, being about medium size, he is the cheetah to your lion, fast, agile, and low damaging, and if seen on your turf you can chase him off or avoid conflict (carebear to some) this is also a viable tactic, Carnotaurs are fast and can easily outrun you, giving chase is generally not advised, as slower, easier prey can be found usually, not to mention they can flank you and get you if you are not careful.

Austroraptor

Finally we have the Austroraptor, these buggers are fast, and can be ankle biters, you dont need worry about them as they are fodder, however should they, or the carnotaur for that matter, start attacking your ankles, feign limp to turn on them, as that is your best bet for defense. If you are latched onto, and if there is another rex nearby, stand still and wait for the rex to bite it off of you.
All of the carnivores should give you a wide berth, especially if you have a friend or two, or more. Simply snarling at any would be aggressors should be enough to make them think twice about attacking you. If this isn't enough, keep facing them, display your jaws and the power they pack, you can easily oust the competition, dont let them play you for a fool. Attentive and experienced predators may see you as prey if you are alone, if this is the case, keep track of all your assailants, i have driven off four carnos (actually killed two) because i kept them all on one side and didnt let them get behind me, its all about maneuvering. You are slower than all other carnivores,but you have alot more power in you, so dont let them get the advantage, or you may say goodbye to your life. One extra point to mention is that you should always be on your guard when these are around, especially if you are resting, make sure to watch you back so you aren't taken lying down.

Herrerasaurus

Herrerasaurus is a Theropod from the Triassic period, one of the first dinosaurs to appear, around 231 million years ago. Its not large by any means, but at 6 feet tall and 20 feet long, it was the biggest brute on the block, at least in dinosaur terms. This animal had to compete with the Rausuchian family, who went extinct by the end of the triassic. Being a basal dinosaur, he shares features with many other dinosaurs and even non-dinosaurian archosaurs. Its pelvis is like that of saurischian dinosaurs, but it has a bony acetabulum (where the femur meets the pelvis) that was only partially open. The ilium, the main hip bone, is supported by only two sacrals, a basal trait. However, the pubis points backwards, a derived trait as seen in dromaeosaurids and birds. Additionally, the end of the pubis has a booted shape, like those in avetheropods; and the vertebral centra has an hourglass shape as found in Allosaurus. He is my favorite Triassic dinosaur. In life he would have fed on smaller dinosaurs, synapsids, and possibly primitive crocodilians, Rhyncosaurs may have been a favored prey item. Although Herrerasaurus shared the body shape of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, it lived during a time when dinosaurs were small and insignificant. It was the time of non-dinosaurian reptiles, not dinosaurs, and a major turning point in the Earth's ecology. The vertebrate fauna of the Ischigualasto Formation and the slightly later Los Colorados Formation consisted mainly of a variety of crurotarsal archosaurs and synapsids. Its main predators were the giant Rausuchians, like Saurosuchus, a massive Paracrocodylomorph with a theropod-like skull (that i personally hope someone eventually adds to the game, whether through mods or devs patch)
Herrerasaurus sits in the food chain at a similar point to the Austroraptor, its a bit slower but can bleed its enemies if it feels threatened, I would avoid trying to catch these agile snappers, as they will most likely get away and come back later for blood, of course they could run right into your jaws

The Thrill of The Hunt

Now the part about your prey, where you learn who to hunt, and who to be wary of, and who to not touch. Having a party of two or more can help tremendously as you have double the potential damage output or maybe even triple, or quadruple! use your numbers if they are there, to inflict massive damage and insure a kill. always attack from the back, save for rare circumstances, this is a good way to make the kill. Try not to attack at the same time, as you will surely hurt eachother, its best to go in one at a time. Lastly, Ambush and surrounding are the best tactics, you generally will not be able to run down prey, save for Ceratopsians and the Puertosaur. The Stegosaurus and Ankylosaur are not worth the effort, alone. I have mentioned this, and I will again, but it deserves special mention: avoid multiple of you attacking your prey at once, you have strong jaws, but you could hurt eachother with them if care and caution isn't used.
We will talk about a couple of hunting tactics first. Ill get the solo tactics out of the way first.
as a solo predator, the element of surprise is your best weapon, and as such, ambush is always the preferred method of attack, use camouflage to your advantage, running down prey is not something T Rex does well, though it can when confronted with some dinosaurs, though those dinosaurs are built to fight, not run.
With a team of tyrants, your options open up drastically, you can intimidate most if not all dinosaurs, and better yet, you can relentlessly slaughter almost anyone, or anything, you see fit.
first tactic for hunting is what i call: The Threat Vice
basically you have two parties, the threat, and the vice. Very simple, the threat will scare and chase the prey into the vice, which will be hiding in ambush and will pop out to inflict an attack on your prey, this is best employed on faster, lighter prey, for example a Maiasaura, as it will be limping after your first attack. then you can finish it off. this tactic is less useful for dinosaurs that stand and fight, like say, Triceratops. and as such there are tactics for them.
Tactic number two is the Pincer Formation.
Pretty self explanatory, close in and take your prey from as many sides as there are Rexes, you can overwhelm and T-rek your quarry in seconds.
Tactic 3 is one i like to think i came up with, and that is: The Late Arrival, also known as the confidence breaker. Essentially similar to the Threat Vice, instead however, You start the attack by yourself, or one of your mates can start, your pick. I will continue as if you are the start.
So, you simply threaten your enemy, and make a show to them, again, like the Threat Vice, but the difference is the carry-out of the strategy, instead of you chasing prey to your buddy in the bushes, your buddy comes out of the bushes to you and your prey, say its a Triceratops, Stepping out of the bushes and joining your pack will break or at least dampen his sureness in himself. Depending on how many of you show up, he may go from the mindset "I can take this T Rex, he should bugger off" to "oh no, thats too much, i cant win, what do i do?" hopefully, with enough of you on his position, he should then think "OH F*** I cant win! gotta go" at which point you follow him and harrass him, attacking from an angle he doesnt expect when his back is turned, eventually he will be tired, cornered, and out of options, at which point i have an explanation later for what to do in depth, but you will kill him.

Pack Hunting, Other Tyrannosaurs

You wont be the only T Rex on the island, and when you encounter another T Rex its best to avoid a fight over territory or food, better to try to work together if the other will cooperate. If the other Rex is a rival, simply try to avoid conflict and go about both your routines. If the other Rex is friendly and will work with you, see what it knows and has seen, if there was something one of you saw that couldnt be taken down alone, work together and go back for that meal. Most of the hunting strategies I lay out are from the point of view of a pack, so keep that in mind. Usually you shouldnt be travelling shoulder to shoulder, or at least i wouldnt, keep the logistics in mind if you can, A couple of rexes can cover alot of ground, and being far apart allows you to see more distant animals then if you were neck and neck, you also, though rarely, may catch a prey item by surprise if he walks between you, and you decide to close the distance, you can do it from two directions, twice as quickly, its very helpful. If you have say three or four Rexes, than its even more effective to fan out, having more eyes on more area.With the addition of juvenile and subadult Tyrannosaurs, a whole new set of opportunities is opened up. You can take Juveniles and Subadults on your hunt to help you take prey down that you normally couldnt, You can have a family of Rexes. depending on who you take as reference, some players are either going to give the families more space now, or try harder to kill them than ever.

Juvenile Tyrannosaurs

Subadult Tyrannosaurs

http://steamcommunity.com/app/376210/screenshots/

On Herbivore Herds, The Watering Hole

This could go in the last segment but i feel it deserves its own spot on this guide, if you find yourself faced with a herd of herbivores, avoid them, but watch for stragglers, and watch close, always be thinking of how long it takes to kill that animal, and how long before it is rescued by its friends. Herbivores know there is strength in numbers, and they dont want you diminishing their numbers. if you have your own numbers, dont get cocky still, but keep the herd in view, remember to always carefully evaluate and try to think of any situation where you could lose, 9/10 times if you envision yourself getting smacked, you wont attack. also if you are hunting a lone prey item, watch for herds it could join, block the path to that potential roadblock, dont let them get to a herd, or you will lose your kill.
Also!!
Stay by the lakes and watering holes, animals need to drink, and so prey will come eventually, its much easier to find prey at a watering hole than in the wide forests of The Isle, that being said, pay attention to how many of what is at that lake. No Diabloceratops is going to go drink where there are 3 Tyrannosaurs, 4 Allosaurs, and a Suchomimus, that is suicidal, and the animal is going to go elsewhere. Be watchful.

Puertosaurus

Now, going by the selection screen, first is the Puertosaurus, once mighty, now figured out as a fairly easy prey. My best and favorite strategy is to run in and attack the front legs, they will surely raise them in an attempt to crush you, DO NOT move in a straight line, as soon as the bite connects, turn and get out. Having a friend helps to cut down on time, and he may attack the back while the Puerto attempts to crush you (Puert cannot attack with his tail if he is trying to leg crush) to inflict double damage AND to avoid damaging you. This sauropod is the only animal that seems to bring carnivorous species together, its only happened once, but I have witnessed Allosaurs, and T Rexes coming together to tackle this titan, the Allos would move in on the front, as they are very fast, and they would rush in when the Puerts feet touched the ground. The Rex' job was to bite the back when it was in the crush animation, the Puerto went down quickly, and we were all fed for a long time.
If you manage to bring down this behemoth, good you have food and you should protect it if you can, or dont, its up to you.

Gallimimus

Boy are they fast, you won't catch them. minus if they make a huge mistake or are limping from a broken leg, dont bother with 'em, they can evade even the swiftest of predators thanks to their great speed and agility. Though you may catch one unlucky, or enept Gallimimus, a skilled player will be able to evade the death from multiple sets of jaws at once, sometimes causing the predators to rip into eachothers hides. Your sprint speed is just barely faster than their trotting speed, you dont want to waste energy on that, they aren't your main target anyway.

Shantungosaurus

These guys can be tough, but you can take them down with some effort.
Try to get behind them, that is your best bet to not be stomped and headbutted, avoid the "stop and stomp" tactic if you can, stop when they do, turn when they do, your not too much slower but you are slower than them, be careful, be diligant, be relentless, and eventually, get fed.

Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurs pose some threat, you can easily kill them, but its advised to go in from the back as they can inflict a good deal of damage against you with their triple swipe; my usual tactic, that works about 95% of the time, is to go in and bite once, take a second to stand back and rest, if you have a mate to work with, have them then finish it. circle them as well, mind games is one half of hunting, both in your head and theirs, you want fear, numbers, and physical strength on your side, and you should have all three, if not, two, on your side.

Diabloceratops

Miniature Triceratops' essentially, these guys can be chased and easily caught, they will sometimes turn and run if they see a Rex even looks at them, other times they will have more attitude than a Triceratops. Itt takes two bites and then you have a nice meal in front of you, just be careful not to get hit alot, a careless Rex is a dead Rex, and being careless will get you killed with some of the next dinosaurs we will discuss. These guys are fairly rare and if you see one, make the most of it.

Dryosaurus

These little cuties are fast, and only provide a single bite, they are also defenseless.
Though they are all those things, if you get one thinking you are friendly, and you aren't, then by all means kill it, something I find myself doing is letting them mingle with me, giving the false impression that i am friendly to all, Dryosaurs cant retaliate if you kill their friend so its simply a game of waiting if a maia sees you together and walks onto your dinner plate. Only cadviat to the Dryosaur, they (of course) are fully aware they have no attack, and so will stand with stronger dinosaur friends, ones well equipped to send you, and even your fellow Rex brethren, packing..

Triceratops

The hollywood arch nemesis to Tyrannosaurus, this guy is a tank, no doubt about it, they can, and will (if you let them) kick your behind. Now, Triceratops are best attacked by a team, as i imagine a Tyrannosaur would do, if it had the oppertunity, and as such, a good tactic to use is to distract it from the front, Snarl and roar, do what you need to to make it charge, do not engage from the front though. I usually dont have my mate attack immediately, we want him (the Trike) to wear itself out, though they have twice the stamina we do. When the Triceratops charges, your pack should go for the behind of the trike. He will most likely turn for a counter, which if your pack member(s) is good, will not be a possibility, since he is out of harms way, the next attack is either the easiest or hardest depending on which way you look at it. On one hand, You can choose when to attack based on who the Triceratops is looking at, on the other hand, the Triceratops knows there are more than one of you now, and will react accordingly, probably trying to get into a position where it can face both of you at the same time. Dont let it, instead stay on polar opposite sides of eachother with your quarry in the center, keep the trike guessing, thats the key, if it cannot predict the attacks angle, it cannot effectively defend itself and you will win the day. once its limping, stay cautious, but go about finishing your prey, maybe dissappear to rest, it will not think you have gone away, especially if you are on open ground, and you are still visible, but in a forest, you can leave it to suffer for a bit, and then try a surprise attack to kill it. Solo it is tough to kill a trike, if you get the first bite from behind, you can afford to attack and take a horn to the chest, at that point it will be limping, and you should go to rest, repeating the tactic from before. if done right, you have a meal to eat and defend. congratulations.

Pachycephalosaurus

A small and distant relative of Triceratops, Rex is not fast enough to catch this prey, and only through being sneaky will you be able to fell one of these small dinos. If you are lucky enough to find a group of them roaming, use your surroundings to hid if at all possible, and be prepared to take some injury when you go on the attack

Stegosaurus

They are not invincible, they are not all powerful, they are on the menu. Simply attack one at a time, if you get hit, have your packmate attack him, then at the end whoever can take the hit should go for the kill. Try to attack from the front, though a good Stegosaur wont let you get to his vulnerable neck, You can do it with diligence and patience. try to avoid that nasty Thagomizer, it will muck up your day.

Maiasaura

A smaller Shantungosaur essentially, these guys are faster than you, but they can be killed with a team, simply drive them into the jaws of your designated killer, and when they are limping, go for the kill. Alone you may not catch them unless they are ambushed by you, in the case you are alone, you essentially have a free dinner or nothing.

Ankylosaurus

These guys are far less of a problem to me than they would (hypothetically) be in the wild.
Treat them as you would a Stegosaurus. and watch for odd looking rocks in the ground, you may walk past one and find yourself with a broken ankle or something because you weren't careful.

Afterword, Tips

Remember, you are slow, you are powerful, and you are very intimidating to almost everyone.
A good hunter is a thinking one, so you use your thinker.
not all hunts are successful, 9 times out of 10 they will fail, but with failure comes learning, and then experience, you will come into your own in time.
Lastly, listen to your enviroment, try to avoid making unnecessary noise, use body language to communicate so you wont scare potential food away.
Noise=Bad.
Use biting and looking in certain directions to direct your party on what to do in a hunt, if you cannot communicate in an easier/quicker/clearer way, such as skype for example.
You do 700 damage in a bite, most animals will take one or two bites before limping, watch for them to limp, thats when you can let down the pressure a bit, dont lose your prey, but settle and regain some stamina, and maybe health too if your fed and hydrated.
Your down bite has a slightly faster reset time than your forward bite, so when the max volume of damage is needed, spam the right-click.
Scavenge! dont risk injury if there is a carcass to eat, be fed with the least energy expended. Even if it belongs to someone else, lest its a hostile pack of rexes, you can probably muscle your way onto the meal and take it. if even for one bite.Thank you for reading this guide, feel free to share any of your own tips in the comments.
I may or may not make more guides, if anyone wants one for a dinosaur, tips or strategy, or whatever, im currently an aspiring songwriter, in the veign of Trevor Strnad, so writing these is fun, and helps me to write better in general. Again, thanks for any feedback, may your palettes be wet with saurian atrocity.I have decided to do the Pachycephalosaurus for the next guide, should be fun :P whenever they come out that is.
*I cant wait for the new model and life cycle, this guides going to be renovated whenever that who mumbo jumbo gets added in. I look forward to it. heres a sneak of whats to come http://cloud-3.steamusercontent.com/ugc/271718696885242301/75B82D12E7E6E341085507662D1C34A850F2563A/

[Son Of Aurelius]

Askin the wrong guy man, havent played the isle much since 2017

[Ze Juggernaut]

how do you become a hypo????!!!

[Son Of Aurelius]

Just putting this here cuz i made this guide when i was really into the Isle back in 2016 and since I've kinda lost interest, Hopefully some of these tips still apply i know the game has changed alot since then

[Arcana]

very good job

[John Helldiver]

GREAT TIPS BRAVO!

[kingtooch]

WOW THIS IS GREAT!!!!!

[Screen Lady]

How much damage does the beautiful feathered rex do?
I prefer it much more than the scaled rex, even if it has less health.

[Son Of Aurelius]

i havent been able to keep up with all of the isle stuff because of life things happening, ill leave this up cuz i think the strats are still viable and i like the pics. thanks for reading!

[NoburstCD]

Also, a rex had the strongest bite force on the planet, if your saying giga had a stronger bite in RL, thats un-intelligent, do research before saying something idiotic, there is a thing called researching before saying something you know nothing about.

[NoburstCD]

Well some1 doesnt know stats about dinos, if you lost to a giga without the giga dying, you lagged or you arent the brightest, gigas run faster and they do more bleed, rex actually kills a giga in 3 bites, giga bleeds out rex in 3-4, depending on how fast the rex gets to rest after killing it, if you didnt kill it, u didnt try to bite it enough, watched 2 rexs kill 10+ gigas bc of how fast a rex finishes off gigas after 1 bite, the rexs died from bleed 1-2 min later but it still shows a rex can beat the living hell out of gigas.