ARK Survival Ascended Therizinosaurus TLC (30 Sept 2026) — Every Confirmed Change, New Abilities & What to Do Before It Lands
Short answer: the Therizinosaurus TLC arrives on Wednesday 30 September 2026, bundled with the Unreal Engine 5.8 upgrade, Cerberax and Gargantar. Wildcard have confirmed the headline changes: the Theri can now jump obstacles that stop a Rex, gets reworked combat controls and movement, wild Theris warn you before they attack, no two look the same, and its claws visibly change depending on whether you use it as a power harvester or a delicate forager. Full patch notes and numbers come with the patch. That's 4 days away.
The Theri won this TLC in the Extra Life charity vote, and it's the third ASA creature TLC after the Giga and the Araneo (our Araneo TLC write-up covers how those play out).
What's confirmed
From the TLC dossier Wildcard published:
| Change | What it means in play |
|---|---|
| Can jump over obstacles that stop an Allo or Rex | The Theri's big weakness — getting stuck on rocks and fences — is gone. Expect it to become a proper travel mount as well as a harvester. |
| Better combat controls and response | Attacks land where you aim, with less of the old "swing at the air" lag. |
| Better movement and traversal | Turning and acceleration reworked; it should feel less like steering a wardrobe. |
| Wild Theris warn you before they attack | A tell before the charge — the same design as the Araneo's rework. Read it, back off, live. |
| No two Theris look the same | Procedural variation in build and markings, like the Araneo TLC. |
| Claws change based on what it harvests | Keep one on wood and berry runs and it grows chipped, worn "power harvester" claws; keep one lean for fights and it keeps the longer, sharper "foraging" profile. It's cosmetic, but it's a nice way to tell your lines apart. |
Wildcard's framing when they announced it (Community Crunch 509): sharpen "what already makes it special" and keep its "chaotic charm" while modernising the mechanics.
What has NOT been announced (yet)
Be wary of guides that "know" the following — none of it has been published:
- Stat changes (health, melee, weight), taming-speed changes or a new preferred kibble.
- New attacks beyond the reworked existing ones, or any special ability (roar, buff, AoE).
- Saddle changes or a new saddle tier.
- Whether the claw wear affects harvest yields (Wildcard describe it as visual).
We'll update this page with the actual patch notes on the 30th.
What stays the same (as far as we know)
- Taming: knockout tame. Exceptional Kibble is the preferred food; it has fast torpor drop, so bring narcotics.
- Harvesting modes: power attack (wood, thatch, rare mushrooms, hide, keratin), delicate attack (fibre, silk, rare flowers, seeds, organic polymer) and the bite (berries, seeds, chitin, scrap metal). That flexibility is why it's the best all-rounder in the game.
- Boss role: Sweet Vegetable Cake self-heal makes it the classic budget boss army with a Yuty behind it.
- Breeding: roughly 4.8 days to full maturation at 1x; eggs incubate at 26–32 °C. On BG's 5x breeding that's a fraction of the time.
What to do before the patch
- Don't panic-sell your Theri lines. Every creature TLC so far has been a buff plus a visual refresh; existing tames keep their stats and mutations. Your imprinted boss army will still be a boss army — it'll just jump.
- Breed now if you've been meaning to. Bred babies born after the patch get the new look variation; but a mature line you already have is the safer bet for a boss run in the first week, before any balance hotfixes settle.
- Back up screenshots of your best stats if you care about proving them — TLCs occasionally reset visual customisation like colour regions, and it's easier to argue with a picture.
- Expect a server restart window on the 30th. The TLC ships with the UE 5.8 engine upgrade, which is a big patch — see our Unreal Engine 5.8 update guide for what that means for mods, plugins and download size.
On the BG Gaming cluster
Theris are one of the most-bred creatures across our 12 maps, so we'll be testing the TLC on our Test server the moment it lands and posting what actually changed in Discord. If the update lands mid-evening on the 30th, the cluster updates at the next restart window with notice — we don't half-update maps while people are playing. Join BG Gaming if you want a friendly PvE cluster to try the new Theri on — 50,000 free coins for new players.
FAQ
When is the Therizinosaurus TLC out? 30 September 2026, all platforms, in the same patch as Unreal Engine 5.8, Cerberax and Gargantar.
Will my existing Theris get the new abilities? Yes — TLCs apply to the creature class, so existing tames get the new moveset and controls. The unique-look variation may apply only to new spawns/births; Wildcard haven't said.
Does the claw wear change how much it harvests? Wildcard describe it as a visual reflection of how you've used the creature. No yield change has been announced.
Is the Theri getting a new saddle? Nothing announced.
Is this the last ASA TLC? No — Wildcard have said more creature TLCs are coming; the community votes on which.