Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
Tips & Strategies

They are primarily used for gathering wood. Wood also ways less on him, just like the beaver on The Island map. The same goes for stone, although he cannot harvest it. Another use is its ranged torpidity attack. Not very good for knocking out dinosaurs, but in PvP it can easily knockout enemy players, since the shot is widespread. Its pretty much a torpor shotgun.
More Thorny Dragon Utility Tips
I have 12 on platforms 4 pillars high scattered around my base. I have an issuse with dino spawns in the base. So they act as a long range needle launcher. Weigh down with sand because its weight isnt affected by the dragons buff. Set all to long range aggressive and u have a protected base. Add a few plant X for added assurance. I no longer have spawn problems. Found a ready to tame terror bird today too pretty neat.
Great taming helper for delicate tames or those with particularly fast torpor drop. The needles don't do much, but the time of each needle stacks, giving a very slow, long lasting torpor gain. This prevents things like gigas from dropping torpor between shots, and for delicate tames, you can frontload the torpor and then let it tick up while they regain (a small amount of) hp. Also handy for repairing your crossbow / longneck if you're working with prim tools thanks to the smithy saddle.