Chitin is a common crafting component in Ark Survival Evolved. It is a very durable material which is used to craft cementing paste, Chitin Armor, and is used to make metal and many other mid/late game Engrams. The only way to get it is to harvest it from dead dinosaurs which have external skeletons(exoskeletons). The dinos that are best to farm/harvest for Chitin are the Titanomyrma, Meganeura, Pulmonoscorpius, and Trilobite. After killing one of the listed exoskeleton dinosaurs, you should always harvest their body with an Axe to receive the maximum possible Chitin. The best tamed Dino to harvest chitin with is by far the Sabertooth. You will get more per harvest when you level up the Sabertooth’s damage.
Now that the basics have been explained, lets discuss what the best and easiest Dino to find and farm from is.
Best Dino to Farm Chitin from is the Trilobite!
The Trilobite in Ark is a newly added Dino, and was not released yet at the time of the game launch.
Why are trilobites the best to farm chitin?
They are easy to kill -Trilobites do not fight back, they just slowly flee. Once you attack one of them in a group, you need to kill fast so you don’t let any get away from their fate.
They are easy to find – You can find trilobites all along the coast lines and in some rivers. They are also in huge pack under the sea, but that can be more difficult to farm unless you are fairly advanced and have a good sea creature that is ride able. If you go to the Ark wiki page you will see a map on the right with all spawn points.
They drop other useful mats – Ontop of being able to harvest chitin from them, you will also receive Raw Meat, Silica Pearls, and Oil. This cuts down on how often, if ever that you will have to go deep sea diving for the pearls and oil.
Although Trilobites seem to be the best for me, you can still get a Sabertooth and farm inland if your server has a good spawn rate of dinos. Desert areas, usually near mountains can have big groups of scorpions which can add up to a good bit of chitin after being harvested. The choice is yours, do what is the most enjoyable for you and always just playing Ark Survival Evolved.