Fathom-Lord Karathress Guide: Strategy, Abilities, Loot

Fathom-Lord Karathress is the fourth boss inside the Serpentshrine Cavern raid instance. The Fathom-Lord fight features four bosses all with unique abilities that will have to be handled by the raid. Fathom-Lord grows stronger with the death of each of his Fathom Guards gaining one of their signature abilities as you defeat them during the encounter.

Healing assignments are extremely important on this boss as there will be three to four tanks taking damage at a time in the beginning of this encounter.

Have healing/damage mitigation cooldowns ready for The Beast Within; the time that this ability is active on either Karathress or Sharkiss is the highest damage taken per second for this encounter.

Spitfire Totem is always the most important target in this encounter. If you see it active switch to it and kill it immediately.

A Warlock or Rogue should be assigned to the group handling Fathom-Guard Caribdis. Cast-speed-slowing effects such as Curse of Tongues or Mind-numbing Poison can make interrupting considerably easier.

The tank holding Fathom-Guard Sharkkis needs to be ready to pick up the minions he will be summoning throughout the boss. Protection Paladins and Feral Druids often have an easier time generating threat on both the boss and these spawns.

Each boss in the Fathom-Lord Karathress encounter has unique abilities; below is a list breaking down each of these boss' abilities.

• Multi-Toss — Targets three random players and deals Physical damage.
• Leeching Throw — Drains the health and Mana of a target over 12 seconds.
• Summon Fathom Lurker — A small Elemental will spawn which will cast Knock Away causing a small knockback and wiping its threat on that target. On death it will cast Spore Explosion which deals AoE damage in a small area around the Elemental. This mob is immune to crowd control effects.
• Summon Fathom Sporebat — The Sporebat will also cast Knock Away as its only ability. This mob is immune to crowd control effects.
• The Beast Within — Increases the damage done by Sharkiss by 30% and his pets by 50%.

• Spitfire Totem — Will deal massive damage to 5 targets; this totem should be the highest priority at all times.
• Poison Cleansing Totem — This totem will dispel a poison effect every few seconds.
• Earthbind Totem — This totem will apply a slow effect on all players near it.
• Frost Shock — Damages the highest-threat target and slows.

• Water Bolt Volley — This is an instant cast dealing Frost damage to all players in range.
• Summon Cyclone — A tornado will spawn roaming through the room. Anyone it comes in contact with will be affected by the Gusting Winds debuff making their cast speed twice as long for its duration.
• Tidal Surge — Targets a random player and freezes them along with anyone within 10 yards of the target. Spreading is crucial to minimize its effect.
• Healing Wave — Every 15 seconds Caribdis will attempt to cast Healing Wave which will do a massive amount of healing. Assigning interrupters for this ability specifically is extremely important.

• Blessing of the Tides — If Fathom-Lord is reduced below 75% health he will gain a huge attack speed and cast speed buff for each Fathom-Guard that is still alive. Killing the Fathom-Guards before trying to kill Karathress is the only way to avoid this.
• Sear Nova — Deals damage to anyone in melee range of Karathress.
• Cataclysmic Bolt — Targets a random player, dealing 50% of their max health and stunning them.
• Power of Caribdis — Upon Fathom-Guard Caribdis' death Fathom-Lord will gain the ability Tidal Surge
• Power of Sharkkis — Upon Fathom-Guard Sharkkis' death Fathom-Lord will gain the ability The Beast Within.
• Power of Tidalvess — upon Fathom-Guard Tidalvess' death Fathom-Lord will gain the ability Spitfire Totem.

Fathom-Lord is a boss that will likely require three tanks. It is crucial for the raid to determine who is going to tank what boss and who will be healing those tanks. It is also important to assign a Rogue or Warlock to the Caribdis group to apply a cast speed slow so kicking is easier.

• Fathom-Guard Tidalvess
• Fathom-Guard Sharkkis
• Fathom-Guard Caribdis
• Fathom-Lord Karathress

On the pull the pre-assigned group should separate Caribdis from the rest of the raid to minimize the impact of his casts should they get off. Having a preset interrupt rotation for this group is important to stop all of Caribdis' casts. This group also needs to make an effort to be spread around Caribdis to minimize the effects of Tidal Surge.

The entire raid should be focusing on killing Tidalvess first but you can stack the three remaining bosses and cleave them down. However, do not reduce Fathom-Lord Karathress' health below 75% or he will gain the Blessing of the Tides buff and likely wipe the raid. Once Tidalvess and Sharkiss are dead you can switch over and kill Caribdis. Spreading after the three Fathom-Guards is very important to reduce the effects of Tidal Surge.

Item	Item Type	Slot
Leggings of the Vanquished Defender	Tier Token	Legs
Leggings of the Vanquished Hero	Tier Token	Legs
Leggings of the Vanquished Champion	Tier Token	Legs
World Breaker	Weapon	Two-Handed Mace
Sextant of Unstable Currents	Accessory	Trinket
Fathom-Brooch of the Tidewalker	Accessory	Trinket
Frayed Tether of the Drowned	Accessory	Necklace
Bloodsea Brigand's Vest	Leather	Chest
Soul-Strider Boots	Cloth	Boots