Saurian – Everything You Need to Know About Triceratops

Invoering

This guide is somewhat different in premise when compared to my

Dakotaraptorguide but the basic structure will be the same, as while

Triceratopsdoesn’t need to hunt in order to survive it still has to contend with the environment and other animals within it.

Generally speaking it’s easier to find food as a herbivore, but some knowledge of your niche and the plants available for consumption helps you get more out of your time spent feeding.

Triceratopsis a low browser similar to a black rhinoceros, rather than indiscriminately consuming all vegetable matter it selectively feeds from high-quality ground cover. Your animal will automatically focus its gaze on any edible plants, but your first choice should always be

Equisetum. These tall, grass-like plants are the most nourishing food available to a

Triceratopsat all stages of its life and are very common in Hell Creek. On the other hand here is

Zingiberopsis, a leafy shrub that isn’t very good eating but is still better than starving.

Triceratopscan also use it’s sharp beak to eat sapling trees, something other Hell Creek herbivores can’t do.

While Hell Creek is fertile and bountiful, you will come into competition with other herbivores for prime feeding grounds, en terwijl

Triceratopsusually comes out on top in these skirmishes don’t feel like you’re necessarily safe around other herbivores.

Triceratopsherding behavior is relatively simple, hatchlings and adults can herd together, which is almost always in the form of a nesting site. Juveniles and subadults herd together for mutual defense against predators. Adult

TriceratopsZijn

nietfriendly towards juveniles and subadults and will either ignore you or chase you away.

Triceratopshas a variety of calls used for social interaction. The social display is used to invite other

Triceratopsinto your herd or ask to join one, the warning call is mostly used by younger animals to warn their comrades of danger, the threat display is used when they want to look scary, and the courtship display is used by adults that are ready to reproduce.

The Reputation system is simple, don’t do things like make false warning calls or be aggressive to your herdmates and they’ll come to respect you and take future warnings more seriously.

Triceratopsare sexually dimorphic, males are a bright orange color while females are a drab brown. The sex of your

Triceratopsonly matters when you’ve grown to adulthood.

Baby Trike

One of the largest dinosaurs in Hell Creek begins its life as this tiny green thing (age 0-1). While hatchling

Triceratopsmay be cute they are almost completely helpless, they’re slow and weak and are really only a threat to the plants that they eat.

Fortunately you will have several adult

Triceratopsaround to defend you and your siblings from all potential dangers, so as long as you don’t do something too dangerous you should be fine. If you are driven out of the nest by circumstance then you just need to find a safe place to hide until you’re big enough to fend for yourself.

Juvenile Trike

Once you’ve grown into a juvenile (Age 1-3) you and your siblings will be kicked out of the nest and form a new herd. The player is almost never the herd leader at this stage, but since being the leader doesn’t come with any special privileges this isn’t too bad. You can tell the direction the herd is moving in by opening up the call interface and looking to see where the shaded part of the compass is pointing.

While you’re bigger and now have a fancy set of horns, juvenile

Triceratopsare still quite vulnerable as they are fairly slow. This means that when faced with predators or other threats you’ll have to fight.

Triceratopshas a big sharp beak but if you really want to do some damage you’ll have to bring those new horns to bear. Charging is as simple as holding down mouse 1, sprinting towards the target, and releasing mouse one at the moment of impact. This attack is extremely damaging and only gets more effective as the

Triceratopsgets bigger and stronger.

Pachycephalosaurushates juvenile

Triceratopsand they will attack you if you get too close. Thankfully your thick skin will protect you from the worst of their attacks, but it can take a couple charges to convince them to go away. Avoid killing the

Pachycephalosaurusif you can because the corpse can attract predators.

Dakotaraptoris really dangerous, it’s much faster and more agile than you meaning you can’t run from it and it can be difficult to hit it with a charge. If the raptor grapples you get over to your herdmates as quickly as you can, because they’ll bite the raptor and try to pull it off. If you’re alone or your herdmates are too afraid to help you should start sprinting and swerving to make the raptor have a harder time staying on. In a worst case scenario you can force the raptor to get off by fleeing into water, but this doesn’t guarantee that the raptor will stop attacking.

Gators and crocodiles can kill you if you try to cross water, so only cross when it’s safe to do so.

Tyrannosaurusis a dire threat, if one shows up someone in your herd is going to die. You can’t outrun it and you can’t fight it, all you can do is hope that it doesn’t decide to eat you.

The ankylosaurs of Hell Creek,

Ankylosaurusen

Denversaurus, can be unexpected allies as they’re completely peaceful towards

Triceratopsat all stages of it’s life. These armored dinosaurs can be a guardian for a young herd by scaring off predators like raptors. It’s still probably a good idea to keep clear of the tail however.

Struthiomimuswill ignore you at all stages of your life, but if they’re eating too much of your food don’t be afraid of bullying them out of it.

Subadult Trike

By the time a

Triceratopshas become a subadult (Age 3-8) it has pretty much reached it’s adult shape, but it still has a whole lot of growing to do. You’ll find that a subadult

Triceratopsneeds to eat a lot more than a younger one does, which means that your herd will be on the move more often to avoid depleting an area of its resources.

Pachycephalosauruswill now avoid you but they may still press younger members of your herd, in which case be a good big brother or sister and deal with the thick-headed bully.

Dakotaraptoris less of a threat now, especially as you get bigger. Eventually you reach a point where the raptors can’t touch you and it just takes a threat display to send them running. You’ll still be harassed by them and they can still kill you, it’s just much harder for them to do that now.

Gators and crocodiles have a harder time killing you but they can still injure you quite badly, which can make it easier for predators to kill you.

Tyrannosaurusis still a life-ending threat, but when you’re bigger you have a chance at defending yourself. Don’t be a hero unless the entire herd is ready for a fight.

The Ankylosaurs are still friendly, although you’ll start to get much bigger than they are as you grow so you’ll have to be careful not to kick them.

Anatosaurusis not exactly friendly but it’s not openly hostile in the same way

Pachycephalosaurusis because

Anatosauruscan browse from trees in order to avoid directly competing with

Triceratops. All that being said it’s better to keep your distance because while

Anatosaurushas no natural weapons they’re still huge and can batter you with their tails.

Struthiomimuswill now actively make way for you, you’re just too much for them to contend with at this point.

If you’re a male

Triceratopsand in a herd with other young males, it may be wise to leave the herd before you become an adult.

Adult Trike

As an adult (Age 8-16) you are now big enough that the world isn’t quite so dangerous, raptors can’t do squat to you and crocodiles couldn’t kill you if they tried. That being said a whole new kind of danger enters into your life at this stage, and it depends on whether your

Triceratopsis male or female. All subadults that are younger than you will split off from your herd when you become an adult, meaning that your herd can decrease in size pretty drastically.

Female

Triceratopspeacefully grant herd leadership based on seniority, the oldest and most experienced female becomes the matriarch of the herd in a manner similar to elephants. Female

Triceratopsare subordinate to males, but males also have a much higher mortality rate so it balances out.

Male

Triceratopshave a much harder coming of age because they become extremely territorial. Males will fight to the death over females and a subadult herd with a lot of males can become a bloodbath if they all become adults at the same time. This is the reason why you should leave the herd a little early, as no amount of females is worth getting gored and trampled.

Lone male

Triceratopsall want to become a herd leader, and they usually do this by defeating the patriarch of an already existing herd in single combat. The rules are simple, whoever backs down or dies first loses. Fight smart and get in a couple good charges and you’ll take over the herd. As a herd leader it’s your responsibility to keep the herd moving and lead them to food and water, and you can change the direction of the herd by facing in the direction you want them to go, opening up the call interface, and clicking on the compass.

The one threat to an adult

Triceratopsis

Tyrannosaurus, but this time you can fight and win.

Tyrannosaurusattacks by trying to get past your frill and at your neck, and it’s agile enough to do these attacks in a hit-and-run fashion. If you’re alone try to always face the

Tyrannosaurus, as your armored face is much harder to damage. Never turn your back on a

Tyrannosaurus, you can’t outrun it and you’re just exposing your neck. If you’re in a herd just charge the beast, only a desperate or stupid

Tyrannosaurustries to face off with a herd of adult

Triceratops.

All other herbivores will give way to you with the sole exception of

Anatosaurus, but it’s overall easier to just mutually give each other space than look for a fight where one isn’t needed.

Miscellaneous Tips and Conclusion

Avoid sharp inclines, especially as you get bigger,

Triceratopsis neither graceful nor agile so a tumble down a hill can do serious damage.

Stick to the fern prairies whenever possible, that’s where the food is and the predators aren’t.

Only cross water when you have to, because of

Triceratops‘ low frame it will have to start swimming sooner than most other dinosaurs, which leaves it fairly helpless.

You can range pretty far from your herd and they’ll call out to you if they can’t find you, don’t feel like you need to be on top of them at all times.