Skarr/Karkin Spawn Timer and Taming Strategy

[Nanluin]

I tamed Skarr and Karkin a really save way donno if its neccessary but it was a save tame

i have a BM and a MM specc have Chromaggus for ancient hysteria out, saw Skarr / Karkin and surprise surprise no other hunter there. went up, got the buff from this one special thermal wind then:

-Ancient Hysteria + Dismiss Pet Macro
-Switch specc to MM
-Arcane Shot pull
-Silence Shot the cast
-Lifeblood (herbalism)
-Deterrence + Haste Pot + Tame Beast Macro

it was a 3.5 secs tame

In practice, you did the secondary, uber-Haste method for taming him that I mentioned. Your Arcane Shot + Silencing Shot locked out only his lesser fireball, and left his greater fireball (Fieroclastic Barrage) intact, as the greater fireball must be *triggered* by someone casting Tame Beast on the mob. However, because you got the tame done in only 3.5 seconds, he never finished his Barrage cast (~6 sec).

-- Nanluin

[Acherontia]

One point about stacking Dodge/Parry--I thought you can't actually do either of these things while channeling any spell, including Tame Beast?

I was talking more in terms of gear, food, and potions, not in anything done while actually casting. I didn't use this 'technique' myself on purpose, but by just plain old happenstance, Skarr missed me with his Fieroclast Barrage on my tame attempt of him, and I got him.
-- Nanluin

I should specify, I was referring to this:

Second, you can add on enough Dodge/Parry such that the Gem Beast has a high probability of missing you with their Fieroclast Barrage, thus avoiding the tame interrupt and ouchy 70k damage.

You can't Dodge or Parry while you are channeling Tame Beast, so there's no point in getting Dodge or Parry for these tames. I should have been more specific, sorry : / If he *misses* it's due to Deterrance, or his hit rating is bad *


* Or you're a Night Elf, if that racial is still there!

[AdamSavage]

Seen a few hunters try to get Karkin a few minutes ago, a horde hunter finally figured out how to tame him and was able to complete the tame. They all died a few times trying.

[Noxia]

Seeing a lot of Karkin spawns over here on Zul'jin. Had roughly 5-6 and a half hours in between spawns and I've been watching the other spiders come up all day. Thanks for the post though-It is indeed the most informative I've seen. You should see the piles of bones around Skarr/Karkin's spawn points u_u

[Lirithiel]

Good post covering both Skarr and Karkin.

I managed to tame both in the last few days after extensive camping where I basically did nothing else except mill about at the spawn points and checking for the rare spiders with Eagle Eye. I did not see any other spawn locations except for where I found the two pets.

If you camp the southern spot (furthest permanent floating rock from the Furnace where the steps begin) you can easily tame from the ledge with no need to go rock jumping. Also you can easily keep an eye on the eastern spawn point (closer to Fireplume Peak with sharp protruding ledge) with beast tracking active and your map zoomed out to maximum. Eagle Eye helps greatly too. I did not use NPC Scan or Silver Dragon - there is no need.

Their spawn timer seems to be roughly 6 hours (longest I saw was just over 7 hours and shortest was around 3 hours) but on average one of them spawns every 6 hours or so. I saw Karkin and Skarr spawn mostly on the southern point (always the same rock and where I tamed Karkin) but I found and tamed Skarr on the eastern point.

Both were tamed as MM using the strat provided. All I used to boost my haste was Potion of Speed: Tame Beast -> mob casts Fieroclast Barrage -> interrupt with Silencing Shot -> Deterrence, drink Potion of Speed, Tame Beast = Success.

I tried to tame Skarr as BM a few days before but without the Convalescence of Winds buff (I did not know where to find it initially) I could not manage to tame him before Fieroclast Barrage pwned me. I reforged all possible stats to haste and ate haste food and used haste potion (haste was 1813). I'm confident I would have managed to tame him with the Convalescence of Winds buff.

[Nanluin]

Second, you can add on enough Dodge/Parry such that the Gem Beast has a high probability of missing you with their Fieroclast Barrage, thus avoiding the tame interrupt and ouchy 70k damage.

You can't Dodge or Parry while you are channeling Tame Beast, so there's no point in getting Dodge or Parry for these tames. I should have been more specific, sorry : / If he *misses* it's due to Deterrance, or his hit rating is bad *

Ah! Point well taken -- thank you! (<head slap>) I really, really just got lucky then, and nix that secondary strategy. I'll delete it from the write-up.

-- Nanluin

[AdamSavage]

From what I've seen, using silencing shot and then Deterrence seems to be the trick.

[AdamSavage]

I'm giving up on Skarr, I tried to tame Karkin and I couldn't do it.. I use silencing shot and deterrence PLUS using my core-hound and it STILL wasn't enough.. I don't get it.

[Fafnir]

If you follow up your silencing shot with a deterrence, you run the risk of the 3s lockout running out if you're not madly smashing your keyboard. Any hesitation and he'll just be able to cast Fieroclast again. 2-3 fireballs won't kill you.

The MM rotation is Arcane Shot (to tag, if you want) -> Tame Beast -> Silence Fieroclast -> Tame Beast. No haste required.

Only reason to deterrence for Skarr/Karkin (most of these tames, really...) is to protect yourself from other hunters.

[Nanluin]

I'm giving up on Skarr, I tried to tame Karkin and I couldn't do it.. I use silencing shot and deterrence PLUS using my core-hound and it STILL wasn't enough.. I don't get it.

The most critical thing to remember about this Gem Beast challenge is that Skarr/Karkin's anti-tame, 'greater' fireball (Fieroclastic Barrage) is *triggered* by a Tame Beast spell being cast on the mob. Therefore, you MUST trigger it first, BEFORE silencing it (with Silencing Shot).

Opening up with either an Arcane Shot + Silencing Shot combo, or just a Silencing Shot by itself, won't work: you'll lock out the lesser fireball only, not Fieroclastic Barrage.

Thus the shot/spell order is:

(1) Cast Tame Beast (this is to trigger his response),
(2) Cast Silencing Shot to lock out Fieroclastic Barrage in mid-cast,
(3) Cast Tame Beast again, this time for real.

No deterrence is needed, and although I recommend some sort of Haste buff, you could probably do the tame without it, given that doing the above will give you about 12 second in which to complete your second Tame Beast spell. In the middle of that spell, you'll get hit by one 'lesser' fireball that will do 15-20k damage, but just ride through that one -- it won't interrupt your Tame Beast.

-- Nanluin

[Felidire]

I camped there for a few days and had quite a bit of fun trying to guess his spawn times. There's a few holes in my data, but i'll post it anyway.

--
#1 12:30PM - Jul 3 (Skarr) North, --

#2 06:10PM - Jul 3 (Karkin) South, 5h 40m respawn
PREDICTION: #3 spawn between 11:45PM - 12:15AM

#3 11:10PM - Jul 3 (Karkin) North, 5h respawn
PREDICTION: #4 spawn between 4:30AM - 5:00AM

#4 4:50AM - Jul 4 (Karkin) North, 5h, 40m respawn
PREDICTION: #5 spawn between 9:50AM - 10:30AM
PREDICTION: #6 spawn between 2:50PM - 4:10PM

=======================
*WENT TO SLEEP*
=======================

#5 10:30AM - Jul 4 (Karkin) South, 5h 40m respawn.

=======================
*WOKE UP*
=======================

#6 4:00PM - Jul 4 (Skarr) North, 5h 30m respaw.
PREDICTION: #7 spawn between 9:00PM - 9:40PM

#7 12:00PM - Jul 4 (Karkin) North, 8h respawn
PREDICTION: #8 spawn between 5:30AM - 6:45AM

=======================
*WENT TO SLEEP*
=======================

#8 5:40AM - Jul 5 (Karkin) South, 5h 40m respawn
PREDICTION: #9 spawn between 10:40AM - 11:20AM

=======================
*WOKE UP*
=======================

#9 1:45PM - Jul 5 (Karkin), South, 8h 5m respaw
PREDICTION: #10 spawn between 7:00PM - 8:20PM

#10 6:37PM - Jul 5 (Karkin), North 4h, 52m respawn
PREDICTION: #11 spawn between 7:00AM - 8:00AM

=======================
*WOW MAINTENANCE*
Servers online @ 2AM
=======================

#11 7:00AM - Jul 6 (Skarr), South, 5h respawn (after maintenance)
PREDICTION: #12 spawn between 12:00PM - 1:00PM

#12 12:40PM - Jul 6 (Karkin), North, 5h 40m respawn
PREDICTION: #13 spawn between 5:40PM - 6:20PM

#13 7:49PM - Jul 6 (Skarr), South, 7h 9m respawn
PREDICTION: #14 spawn between 1:30AM - 3:00AM

=======================
*Server Restart: 8:21PM*
=======================

#14 2:46AM - Jul 7 (Skarr), North, 6h 25m -to - 6h 57m respawn
PREDICTION: #15 spawn between 8:30AM - 9:30AM

=======================
*WENT TO SLEEP*
=======================

#15 N/A - Jul 7 (??), ?? EST. 6-8 hour respawn

=======================
*WOKE UP*
=======================

#16 4:22PM - Jul 7 (Karkin), North, --
PREDICTION: #17 spawn between 10:15AM - 11:15AM

#17 10:23PM - Jul 7 (Skarr), North, 6h 1m respawn

What I concluded was:
* Overall respawn timer seems to be roughly 4 - 9 hours,
* 5 - 8 hours is the average, and -
* A timer of 5h 40m occured very frequently for some odd reason..

A lot of this probably correlates with the info that you've provided.
--

I'm giving up on Skarr, I tried to tame Karkin and I couldn't do it.. I use silencing shot and deterrence PLUS using my core-hound and it STILL wasn't enough.. I don't get it.

His cast seems to be random. I've seen him cast 6 fireballs in a row and get tamed without having to be silenced, and i've seen him go for two barrages in a row. Easiest way is using the 100% haste buff but it's not really much of an option if he's heavily camped. I used tame beast, hit silencing shot when he started casting the barrage, used deterrence and then tame beast a second time; tamed him with 80% HP remaining. Sounds like you were just unlucky with his casts?

[Lirithiel]

Remember that Fieroclast Barrage, as Nanluin pointed out, is triggered by Tame Beast every time. So even if another hunter tries to tame while you are busy, Skarr/Karkin will cast Fieroclast Barrage again and it will kill you because it is AoE.

[Nanluin]

Remember that Fieroclast Barrage, as Nanluin pointed out, is triggered by Tame Beast every time. So even if another hunter tries to tame while you are busy, Skarr/Karkin will cast Fieroclast Barrage again and it will kill you because it is AoE.

Thank you for the reminder about the AoE effect of Fieroclastic Barrage. I've added that fact to the original write-up. I should have remembered to put that in, as I died to it as a *spectator* a few times before I learned to keep my distance while watching others attempt the tame.

Can you confirm that Skarr/Karkin's "lesser fireball", the one that they cast when their Fieroclastic Barrage has been locked-out (silenced), and which does only about 20k damage and does not interrupt Tame Beast, is a single target spell? Or is it a multi-target AoE as well? And has anyone caught the name of this second spell? I did not.

Many thanks,

-- Nanluin

[Lirithiel]

Can you confirm that Skarr/Karkin's "lesser fireball", the one that they cast when their Fieroclastic Barrage has been locked-out (silenced), and which does only about 20k damage and does not interrupt Tame Beast, is a single target spell? Or is it a multi-target AoE as well? And has anyone caught the name of this second spell? I did not.

It is just called Fireball (3 second cast) and by what I have seen it is a single-target spell.

[Royi]

Hey people, I just tamed Skarr yesterday, and after failing about 3 times (able to FD without him killing me) I was able to nab it with a Corehound in BM spec. He was on the northern spawn point, so I was able to tame him while still on the big island (not having to jump on the rocks)

What worked for me was (as I'm sure mentioned already):

I popped Ancient Hysteria with the Corehound, then hit "tame beast". Right when I saw him start casting the Fireball of Doom, I cancelled tame / hit Deterrance, then recast tame beast (this made sure that I would be deterrancing (if thats a word) when his Fireball of Doom would be cast at me).

It worked pretty easily. Just basically wait for the Fireball of Doom to be cast, hit deterrence, then hit tame beast and pray (having the Ancient Hysteria going is definately a plus).

^^
For the hunters who have never played MM

[Lirithiel]

Right when I saw him start casting the Fireball of Doom, I cancelled tame / hit Deterrance, then recast tame beast (this made sure that I would be deterrancing (if thats a word) when his Fireball of Doom would be cast at me).

It worked pretty easily. Just basically wait for the Fireball of Doom to be cast, hit deterrence, then hit tame beast and pray (having the Ancient Hysteria going is definately a plus).

Strange, I was under the impression that Deterrence did not prevent the mass damage from Fieroclast Barrage. I did try myself, of course, as BM but I was unsuccessful so I respecced to MM (hissssss boooooo).

But gz on taming him the hard way

[Royi]

Right when I saw him start casting the Fireball of Doom, I cancelled tame / hit Deterrance, then recast tame beast (this made sure that I would be deterrancing (if thats a word) when his Fireball of Doom would be cast at me).

It worked pretty easily. Just basically wait for the Fireball of Doom to be cast, hit deterrence, then hit tame beast and pray (having the Ancient Hysteria going is definately a plus).

Strange, I was under the impression that Deterrence did not prevent the mass damage from Fieroclast Barrage. I did try myself, of course, as BM but I was unsuccessful so I respecced to MM (hissssss boooooo).

But gz on taming him the hard way

Thanks, I think if you hit Detterance then hit tame beast and just wait, Detterance will end before he casts Fieroclast Barrage (thus you still get hit). You have to time the Detterance to go off within that 5 second window of when the Fireball of Doom gets cast on you.

I could be wrong, but thats what I think happens. Heck I ended up taming him ok

[Lirithiel]

You make a good point. I think I will try this strat myself as BM. I'm still a bit miffed that I had to respec to MM to tame Skarr. Competition is still heavy at Fireplume Peak and after spending the last week endlessly camping for the rares in Molten Front I think I will give it some time before I return there.

Having said that I also want to try my hand at solo taming Deth'tilac. I had help from a guildie on my successful tame but almost botched it when I forgot the abandon my trash pet (Solix LOL) beforehand.

[Nanluin]

What worked for me was (as I'm sure mentioned already):

I popped Ancient Hysteria with the Corehound, then hit "tame beast". Right when I saw him start casting the Fireball of Doom, I cancelled tame / hit Deterrance, then recast tame beast (this made sure that I would be deterrancing (if thats a word) when his Fireball of Doom would be cast at me).

It worked pretty easily. Just basically wait for the Fireball of Doom to be cast, hit deterrence, then hit tame beast and pray (having the Ancient Hysteria going is definately a plus).

I like this method, and will add it to the write-up. Essentially, you gave yourself a bigger taming window, something like 7-10 seconds in duration. That is, Skarr/Karkin has to cast two Fieroclastic Barrages in order to hit you (12 sec total cast time), and if you hit Deterrence about half-way through his first FB cast, that gives you 9 seconds for the tame. Thus, with some form of haste buff on, you can pull off the tame as a Beast Master. Nicely done!

-- Nanluin

[Royi]

What worked for me was (as I'm sure mentioned already):

I popped Ancient Hysteria with the Corehound, then hit "tame beast". Right when I saw him start casting the Fireball of Doom, I cancelled tame / hit Deterrance, then recast tame beast (this made sure that I would be deterrancing (if thats a word) when his Fireball of Doom would be cast at me).

It worked pretty easily. Just basically wait for the Fireball of Doom to be cast, hit deterrence, then hit tame beast and pray (having the Ancient Hysteria going is definately a plus).

I like this method, and will add it to the write-up. Essentially, you gave yourself a bigger taming window, something like 7-10 seconds in duration. That is, Skarr/Karkin has to cast two Fieroclastic Barrages in order to hit you (12 sec total cast time), and if you hit Deterrence about half-way through his first FB cast, that gives you 9 seconds for the tame. Thus, with some form of haste buff on, you can pull off the tame as a Beast Master. Nicely done!

-- Nanluin

Heh thanks Nanluin I figured this out after the first time my deterrance ran out before he even casted Fieroclastic Barrage. I think I read a strategy somewhat like this somewhere before hand. Since Deterrance only lasts 5 seconds, if you can hit it about 4 seconds before Skarr casts Fieroclastic Barrage, then hit tame beast, you can shave off more seconds of time needed to avoid another Fieroclastic Barrage. Since Ancient Hysteria from a Corehound lasts 20 seconds (or is it 40?) you'll have that haste benefit from it.