Gahz'ranka

Gahz'ranka is one of the optional boss encounters found in Zul'Gurub. He is unique in that he must be fished up in order to appear and be engaged.

Abilities
Ghaz'ranka is a single-phase encounter.



Summoning Gahz'ranka
Gahz'ranka is hidden in the waters off the shore at Pagle's Pointe. Summoning him requires a Mudskunk Lure and five Zulian Mudskunk.

Zulian Mudskunk are fished from "Muddy Churning Water" pools surrounding the Altar of the Blood God inside Zul'Gurub. These pools require a minimum of 330 fishing skill to be fished from. Casts with no failure chance require 425 fishing skill.

In order to obtain access to the Mudskunk Lure, a player must complete an initial quest granted by Nat's Measuring Tape, looted in the abandoned camp at Pagle's Pointe. The tape must then be returned to Nat Pagle at Nat's Landing in Dustwallow Marsh. After completing the quest a player may purchase these lures at any time from Nat.

Alternatively, both items may be purchased from the auction house. This allows raid groups to forego fishing entirely, as neither item requires fishing skill to use.

Once both items are obtained, a player can use the lure near the water at Pagle's Point to summon Gahz'ranka will be summoned. The lure is instantly loaded and cast at the same time.

Note that Gahz'ranka may only be summoned once per instance. Should the raid wipe, he will despawn and cannot be re-summoned until the instance resets.

Strategy A
Clear all fish in the moat in the area you plan on fighting. It's best to fight in the water just below the camp, so there is enough room and people don't take fall damage when they're thrown. Tank him at the center of the moat because geyser does throw you out a bit and this will help you avoid hitting land and taking fall damage. All people must be within range of the Massive Geyser as it aggro reduces and he will kill your ranged DPS. No problem, just have the tank re-establish aggro each time. Hunters must melee as their minimum range is outside the geyser range, so he will end up killing them one by one. DPS until dead.

Strategy B
We do Gahz'ranka on land. There are a couple of small huts just above Gahz'ranka's spawn point. Clear them out and have all caster stay on the ladder to the entrance of a hut. There is what looks like a huge elephant horn that hangs above the entrance which will stop you from being tossed meters into the air and take fall damage, but only if you stand right under it. Don't go inside the hut (LoS issues). Have Gahz'ranka tanked with a second Tank (just like Drakkisath) - when MT 1 gets tossed into the air, aggro will change. At this point MT 2 picks up Gahz and starts to tank (when MT 1 lands, he waits for MT 2 being shot into the air).

This fight is not as easy as it sounds. As mentioned before, you should bring at least a full raid - even 2 missing people can be the key between victory and defeat. The aggro WILL change, so be prepared for cross healing. Also, it is a mana intensive fight, all casters should have mana potions, just in case.

Strategy C
Another take on the land strategy is to fight Gahz'ranka on Nat Pagle's Point; the small spot of land that lies across from Hakkar's temple where you summon the boss. The are no crocs on this section of land and the hill slopes from the upper path, allowing for access from above. Your raid may want to play it safe and clear out any pathing snakes or trolls in nearby huts.

The Main Tank should be positioned so that they are wedged into a corner of the Point, which is created by the hillside and a tree that borders one section of Nat Pagle's Point. Melee DPS and Off Tanks should position themselves either behind the boss or on the right side of the Main Tank, placing their backs to the hillside and keeping the Main Tank to their left. If melee stands too close to the water, they may aggro passing fish onto land. Also, when being thrown up into the air, the melee classes may be able to position themselves so that they land on the upper path, and minimize the fall damage.

Ranged DPS and healers should position themselves on the slope which leads down to the Point from the upper path. It's tempting to line the upper path and stand above the action below, however, if Gahz'ranka aggros on any of the ranged casters and cannot find a quick path to them, the monster may bug into Evade mode. Staying on the slope allows for a clear path to the raid targets for the boss, and reduces the chance of the boss evading, and therefore, healing back up to full health.

As long as the Tanks can maintain the positioning of the boss, keeping the aerial tosses limited to the melee classes, this becomes an easy fight.

Achievement
Prior to patch 4.0.3, fishing up Gahz'ranka completed the fishing achievement, which was previously required for the achievement and the title Salty.

Trivia

 * Gahz'ranka was the first of two boss encounters that is "fished up" to summon (The Lurker Below was the second).