If you are playing Ark: Lost Colony, you likely know that the Neophyte is a nightmare to deal with. They are fast, hit hard, possess a massive health pool, and- worst of all-take 95% reduced damage from your tames. However, they also drop some of the best “cursed loot” in the game.

Based on a strategy shared by the YouTube channel DirtySurvivor, here is the most efficient, low-cost method to farm these monsters safely and quickly.

1. How to Trigger the Hunt

You don’t find Neophytes; you make them find you. To do this, you must anger the Lost King:

  • Raise your Hostile Meter: Locate the “Lost Align” faction members and kill them. Each kill increases your hostility meter (bottom right of the screen) by one point
  • The Magic Number: Once your meter hits 50, the Lost King will express his “extreme disappointment” and send Neophytes to hunt you
  • Timing: They only spawn at night, typically between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM
  • Pro Tip: If you hit 50 hostility and nothing happens, try leaving the city and returning to trigger the spawn

2. Building the Trap

Fighting a Neophyte in the wild is dangerous because they can pick you up, pull you off your mount, and fly you into the air. To farm them safely, you need a trap.

Required Materials: You must use Metal structures, as Neophytes can easily break rock

  • 2 x Metal Foundations
  • 6 x Metal Walls (use Window Walls for shooting)
  • 2 x Flat Metal Ceilings
  • 1 x Double Door frame (Front)
  • 1 x Single Door frame (Back)
  • Bear Traps (Crucial)

Construction:

  1. Place the two foundations down.
  2. Install the double doors on one end (entrance) and a single door on the other (exit).
  3. Surround the rest with windowed walls and place ceilings on top.
  4. Place a Bear Trap in the absolute center of the structure

How it works: You run into the trap through the double doors; the Neophyte chases you and steps on the bear trap. You exit through the back single door and close it, locking the beast inside

3. The Killing Strategy (Two Methods)

Once the Neophyte is trapped, you have two options to kill it.

Method A: The Firepower Method (Standard)

Since tames do reduced damage, use your highest-damage personal weapons. An Ascended Shotgun or the Lost Colony Crossbow (using metal arrows) works well

  • Shoot through the windows or the small door.
  • Warning: Do not stand too close to the structure, or the Neophyte can grab you through the wall
  • Optional: You can set up turrets shooting metal bolts to assist, though this consumes resources

Method B: The Thylacoleo Method (Highly Recommended)

This method is so efficient the creator suggests it might eventually be patched

  • The Secret: While tames deal reduced raw damage, the bleed effect from a Thylacoleo (“Tyler”) still works perfectly
  • Setup: Position 2 to 3 Thylacoleos outside the trap on “Passive.”
  • Execution: Once the Neophyte is trapped, order your Thylacoleos to attack the target. They will bite through the walls/windows.
  • Result: The bleed drains the Neophyte’s health rapidly. Because the Neophyte is focused on you, it rarely attacks the tames. This method saves all your ammo and weapon durability

4. Location & Resetting

  • Best Location: Build your trap on the bridge north of the city, near the crater. This allows you to kill a Neophyte, run slightly north to reset the trigger, and immediately spawn the next one
  • Lowering Hostility: When you are done farming, go to the aberrant crash sites (pink areas on the map) and kill Revenants. Each kill reduces your hostile meter by one point

By using the Thylacoleo bleed strategy combined with a metal trap, you can farm high-tier cursed loot all night without firing a single shot. Good luck, survivors!

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Source: Analysis based on “The Best Way to farm Neophytes for cursed loot Ark Lost Colony” by DirtySurvivor.