Guild Wars 2

People have been complaining that they hit too hard with their spit attack. It might just be because I’m a guardian and have easy access to projectile reflect attacks, but I have no trouble with them at all. (I’m not a bunker build, I’m in junk gear with 11k hp and 2.2k armor.)

They usually open the fight with their ranged spit attack thing (which is what eats your health), so as soon as you see them charge that up (takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds) hit any sort of shield or reflect ability. You’ll take very little/no damage, and if you can reflect projectiles you’ll damage them instead.

After that attack is gone they won’t use it again for another 15-20 seconds, by which time they’ll probably be dead. They deal very manageable damage once that’s out of the way.

I personally thought that a lot more people would be doing that than there apparently are. When I hear stories about engineers and warriors eating pavement four seconds into karka fights it makes me worried. If anyone else has any tips (regardless of how common sense they might be) then please post them here so that others have an easier time.

Kerithlan.1659:

People have been complaining that they hit too hard with their spit attack. It might just be because I’m a guardian and have easy access to projectile reflect attacks, but I have no trouble with them at all. (I’m not a bunker build, I’m in junk gear with 11k hp and 2.2k armor.)

They usually open the fight with their ranged spit attack thing (which is what eats your health), so as soon as you see them charge that up (takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds) hit any sort of shield or reflect ability. You’ll take very little/no damage, and if you can reflect projectiles you’ll damage them instead.

After that attack is gone they won’t use it again for another 15-20 seconds, by which time they’ll probably be dead. They deal very manageable damage once that’s out of the way.

I personally thought that a lot more people would be doing that than there apparently are. When I hear stories about engineers and warriors eating pavement four seconds into karka fights it makes me worried. If anyone else has any tips (regardless of how common sense they might be) then please post them here so that others have an easier time.

Yeah outside of Mesmer and Guardian, I don’t think anyone else has access to an instant reflection ability like that, let alone one at all. Other classes shouldn’t get shredded just because one or two, or even potentially three, can protect against it while the rest have to eat the damage (Which is a ton, it takes like 8k away from me).

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Elely has one in the FOCUS. (I use a scepter/Focus, on a Earth condition based build.

TerryLong.9561:

Elely has one in the FOCUS. (I use a scepter/Focus, on a Earth condition based build.

Ah I forgot about eles, but meanwhile they’re forced to use Focus when they have no ability to switch weapons in a fight, which kind of cripples you if you don’t like/use Focus.

But yes, it’s there. 3/8 classes aren’t completely screwed on the first Young Kakra they see.

By extension of that, what if you aggro another one right after? Or they respawn? Or any of a hundred things happen during the cooldown? Eat 8-9,000 damage, which in some classes is half or more of their HP? How is that remotely balanced?

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Yes, you can dodge…but there’s also a ton of other things that need dodging. And once again, what about extra mobs? What if you just spent your stamina dodging other attacks, or the tons of other things that Kakra can do that do way too much damage?

Polantaris.9513:

Kerithlan.1659:

People have been complaining that they hit too hard with their spit attack. It might just be because I’m a guardian and have easy access to projectile reflect attacks, but I have no trouble with them at all. (I’m not a bunker build, I’m in junk gear with 11k hp and 2.2k armor.)

They usually open the fight with their ranged spit attack thing (which is what eats your health), so as soon as you see them charge that up (takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds) hit any sort of shield or reflect ability. You’ll take very little/no damage, and if you can reflect projectiles you’ll damage them instead.

After that attack is gone they won’t use it again for another 15-20 seconds, by which time they’ll probably be dead. They deal very manageable damage once that’s out of the way.

I personally thought that a lot more people would be doing that than there apparently are. When I hear stories about engineers and warriors eating pavement four seconds into karka fights it makes me worried. If anyone else has any tips (regardless of how common sense they might be) then please post them here so that others have an easier time.

Yeah outside of Mesmer and Guardian, I don’t think anyone else has access to an instant reflection ability like that, let alone one at all. Other classes shouldn’t get shredded just because one or two, or even potentially three, can protect against it while the rest have to eat the damage (Which is a ton, it takes like 8k away from me).

Just a couple for each profession (there’s more, such as stuns, blinds, and other interrupts)
Warrior
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shield_Stance
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endure_Pain

Guardian
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Zealot%27s_Defense
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Wall_of_Reflection

Engineer
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Shield_
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gear_Shield

Ranger
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Whirling_Defense
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Serpent%27s_Strike

Thief
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blinding_Powder
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dagger_Storm

Elementalist
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Aura
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Wave

Mesmer
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Warden
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Feedback

The only one that actually has no option for this strategy is Necromancer. Everyone else can at least — with minimal effort — block, reflect, stun, interrupt, etc the young karkas. Some do it more easily than others (such as elementalist and guardian), but almost all of them have at least some option.

You don’t have to eat the damage if you change your setup according to the encounter you’re facing. That’s how the Guild Wars games work. You can’t just use the same 8 skills for everything. (Edit: wrong game, same 10 skills)

Polantaris.9513:

TerryLong.9561:

Elely has one in the FOCUS. (I use a scepter/Focus, on a Earth condition based build.

Ah I forgot about eles, but meanwhile they’re forced to use Focus when they have no ability to switch weapons in a fight, which kind of cripples you if you don’t like/use Focus.

But yes, it’s there. 3/8 classes aren’t completely screwed on the first Young Kakra they see.

By extension of that, what if you aggro another one right after? Or they respawn? Or any of a hundred things happen during the cooldown? Eat 8-9,000 damage, which in some classes is half or more of their HP? How is that remotely balanced?

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Yes, you can dodge…but there’s also a ton of other things that need dodging. And once again, what about extra mobs? What if you just spent your stamina dodging other attacks, or the tons of other things that Kakra can do that do way too much damage?

If you’re fighting them back-to-back that’s when you pop your elite skill, or run away and reset. It’s hard to do with the pumped up respawn rates in some areas, but try to plan your fights in advance and know the safe areas ahead of time. Again, this is just a part of the Guild Wars games — anyone that played GW1 will be familiar with this type of play.

If you’re getting way overwhelmed, adopt the buddy system. You don’t necessarily need a zerg or a full party. I’ve completed most of the zone with one friend of mine, watching each others’ backs. He plays a warrior; when I wasn’t playing with him, I was playing with a necromancer, and we also did just fine. If you really cannot handle it, bring a friend. Two people can take on most of the zone together if they play well and avoid the adults.

I dont see why people are having so much difficulty fighting these karka, or maybe they’re just too used to the regular Orr mob mentality – “oh i’ll just stand in front of the mob and autoattack”.

1. Use your terrain wisely:
As often as I can, I exploit the terrain. There are rocks around, so I aggro A (not a few, that would be foolish) karka. When it winds up to shoot those water jets, I get behind the rocks and its attack gets obstructed by the rocks. Problem solved, ANY class can do this.

2. Attack/Back-up/Dodge wisely:
Use a ranged weapon if you want to last longer/take less hits. Aggro the karka, make it spit kitten at you – but as it’s winding up, back off/dodge backwards so you’re out of range. I think that spit range is around 900.

3. Kite like there’s no tomorrow.

People shouldnt think that one weapon setup can fit all situations. There will be times you change weapons, change utilities, change tactics, just like how you have different setups for PvE and PvP/WvW usually. This IS the time.

IF you have access to a ranged attack, always use that to open you attack on the young karka. They will generally use their ranged attack right after you engage them…. BUT it also has a very limited range. If you move outside of the 900 range, even if the attack is coming straight at you it will not land. After getting used to that feature of their attacks, its kinda easy to take em out.

The only one that actually has no option for this strategy is Necromancer.

Pop DS and hit #3.

Kerithlan.1659:

Polantaris.9513:

TerryLong.9561:

Elely has one in the FOCUS. (I use a scepter/Focus, on a Earth condition based build.

Ah I forgot about eles, but meanwhile they’re forced to use Focus when they have no ability to switch weapons in a fight, which kind of cripples you if you don’t like/use Focus.

But yes, it’s there. 3/8 classes aren’t completely screwed on the first Young Kakra they see.

By extension of that, what if you aggro another one right after? Or they respawn? Or any of a hundred things happen during the cooldown? Eat 8-9,000 damage, which in some classes is half or more of their HP? How is that remotely balanced?

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Yes, you can dodge…but there’s also a ton of other things that need dodging. And once again, what about extra mobs? What if you just spent your stamina dodging other attacks, or the tons of other things that Kakra can do that do way too much damage?

If you’re fighting them back-to-back that’s when you pop your elite skill, or run away and reset. It’s hard to do with the pumped up respawn rates in some areas, but try to plan your fights in advance and know the safe areas ahead of time. Again, this is just a part of the Guild Wars games — anyone that played GW1 will be familiar with this type of play.

If you’re getting way overwhelmed, adopt the buddy system. You don’t necessarily need a zerg or a full party. I’ve completed most of the zone with one friend of mine, watching each others’ backs. He plays a warrior; when I wasn’t playing with him, I was playing with a necromancer, and we also did just fine. If you really cannot handle it, bring a friend. Two people can take on most of the zone together if they play well and avoid the adults.

I was never saying I was having an issue. At all. I’m fine, I’ve been playing and enjoying the new area since the start. I was pointing out some issues in the mechanics.

I hate that EVERYONE instantly assumes that a complaint means that you suck and have issues with whatever you’re complaining about. You can’t just simply have a genuine complaint and think that the way something is set up is dumb.

To top it off, every time it’s about mechanics, people go “It was this way in GW1, anyone who played GW1 should be familiar with this.” Uhm, no. There was no respawning in GW1. You always had safe ground you could retreat to. In this new area the respawn is so bad that that’s going to make your life 10x worse. This area has no such thing as safe zones. If you clear out a mob, by the time you need to retreat from the next one, that first has respawned. To make things worse, the Veteran Kakras have such a gigantic view range that they see you at least twice the distance from regular monsters, but there’s monsters at the normal frequency as well. That’s another thing that didn’t happen in GW1. Don’t try to pull the “GW1 did this” bullkitten on me, it doesn’t work. The game is not an exact clone of GW1 in mechanics, stop trying to act like it is.

Polantaris.9513:

I was never saying I was having an issue. At all. I’m fine, I’ve been playing and enjoying the new area since the start. I was pointing out some issues in the mechanics.

I hate that EVERYONE instantly assumes that a complaint means that you suck and have issues with whatever you’re complaining about. You can’t just simply have a genuine complaint and think that the way something is set up is dumb.

To top it off, every time it’s about mechanics, people go “It was this way in GW1, anyone who played GW1 should be familiar with this.” Uhm, no. There was no respawning in GW1. You always had safe ground you could retreat to. In this new area the respawn is so bad that that’s going to make your life 10x worse. This area has no such thing as safe zones. If you clear out a mob, by the time you need to retreat from the next one, that first has respawned. To make things worse, the Veteran Kakras have such a gigantic view range that they see you at least twice the distance from regular monsters, but there’s monsters at the normal frequency as well. That’s another thing that didn’t happen in GW1. Don’t try to pull the “GW1 did this” bullkitten on me, it doesn’t work. The game is not an exact clone of GW1 in mechanics, stop trying to act like it is.

Calm yourself buddy, no need to flame. I never accused you of anything or implied that you were bad or that I was awesome.

Each post you’ve made in this topic, you’ve stated that there’s a problem because you believe they deal an absurd amount of damage that the majority of professions are unable to handle. All we’ve done is post counters to that and show that with proper mitigation and planning, the damage is not only manageable but sometimes works in your favor.

In Guild Wars 1 sure there were no respawns, but when you had a map with tightly packed mobs you still had to be careful about how you were pulling, you still had to choose your fights in advance, you still had to take terrain into account, and you still had to know for certain where your “outs” were if something went wrong.

The same exact skills apply to this game and to this situation. Hyper respawns can be problematic, but it’s not as though every single square inch of the map is covered in Karka waiting to explode out of the mists and into your torso. There is a whole lot of open space if you know where to find it, and subsequently there is a whole lot of predominantly safe areas for you to retreat to if there is trouble. I’m not talking about towns either (although they do count).

Attacking me for pointing out that inflexibility and a refusal to play to the encounter are what’s causing problems isn’t constructive. Neither is attacking me for correctly pointing out that ArenaNet has not deviated from their established tropes and modus operandi between games. I’m not pretending as though playing GW1 somehow makes you awesome at life — I’m stating the fact that ArenaNet enjoys having players put forethought into their battles.

If you want to take absolutely the wrong message away from my posts it’s cool with me. If you weren’t having trouble with the zone, you wouldn’t have posted about how broken/op the karka are, when (as myself and others have explained) they really aren’t. They’re a different style of enemy that you have the capability to adapt to within your arsenal.

Polantaris.9513:

TerryLong.9561:

Elely has one in the FOCUS. (I use a scepter/Focus, on a Earth condition based build.

Ah I forgot about eles, but meanwhile they’re forced to use Focus when they have no ability to switch weapons in a fight, which kind of cripples you if you don’t like/use Focus.

But yes, it’s there. 3/8 classes aren’t completely screwed on the first Young Kakra they see.

By extension of that, what if you aggro another one right after? Or they respawn? Or any of a hundred things happen during the cooldown? Eat 8-9,000 damage, which in some classes is half or more of their HP? How is that remotely balanced?

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Yes, you can dodge…but there’s also a ton of other things that need dodging. And once again, what about extra mobs? What if you just spent your stamina dodging other attacks, or the tons of other things that Kakra can do that do way too much damage?

Yea I logged on to check the skill names if anyone once to reference them. There are actually 2 useful one’s for dealing with fast hard hitting projectile damage.

Magnetic Wave – Damage foes, cure three of your conditions, and reflect projectiles with a magnetic surge.
Obsidian Flesh – Envelop yourself in stony armor, making yourself invulnerable. (4 seconds)

Both of those are in Earth. (which I am in 95% of the time. I love stacking Stone Shards, bleed x3 skill)

Elementalists have several ways to protect themselves.
Focus has skill 4 on Air and skill 4 on Earth. Or skill 5 on Earth if you’re really desperate to survive. With staff they can use skill 3 on Earth. Using daggers you can use one of the CC skills to interrupt the karka, or use Arcane Shield. Otherwise just dodge around.

I’m a longbow ranger, simply interrupt them by using “4” whatever it’s called again. No problem.

They only seem to use that range attack once per fight and that’s when they initially aggro. While I do agree it does an absurd amount of damage its not that difficult to see it coming and dodge it. After that they are so harmless its kinda disappointing. Well this is 1v1 anyway, getting 2+ karka is brutal and almost instant death if you don’t have proper utilities/profession to get your through it.

It is refreshing though that aggroing multiple of them is actually a challenge now though compared to being able to mow down 5+ risen while sipping some tea and knitting sweaters for the children at the orphanage.

I just dual-dodge the spiting (It’s quite predictable) and nuke them after the spitting ;p I’m a guardian, but everyone can do that taking about 1k-2k damage only which is good enough

Necro has plenty of options. I haven’t died a single time from a karka, I try not to solo champs but vets and under aren’t that hard.
Dodge when you can, staff fear #5, DS #3 or just absorb it with your hp or lf.
I cycle through the staff and hit #1 at least twice before switching to my dagger and eating his health quickly. I use a well damage build.
Regular karka will take me almost halfway on my health but staff #1 is regen and if I have to I pull out my well of blood but I usually don’t have to touch that.

Just be aware of your surroundings, they’re packed in here like zombies in Orr. Their aggro radius isn’t very big so you’ll mostly be safe if you have to move around.

Necro with staff & damage wells can also handle up to 3 at once with proper DS usage.
Oh, and necro staff also has a longer range than any other long range weapon – it says 1200 but it’s more around 1400-1500.

Using daze and stun is also effective in stopping their attacks. Havent had a chance to try blind but I have a feeling it might only stop the first hit.

Off the top of my head (there may be more):

Stealth stuff might not work depending on how targeting works.

Guardian
mace 3 – block
shield 5 – projectile block
focus 5 – block
hammer 4 – cc
sword 3 – projectile block
wall of reflection – reflection
sanctuary – projectile block
shelter – block

Warrior
mace 2 – block
sword 5 – block
shield 5 – block
endure pain – invuln
tons of cc (bull’s charge, stomp, kick, rifle 5, hammer burst, hammer 4, hammer 5, mace burst, mace 3, mace 5, shield 4)
bonus – 10 pts defence traitline for projectile reflection when blocking

Engineer
shield 4 – reflection
shield 5 – block
rifle x (overcharged shot) – cc
toolkit 5 – block
toolkit x – cc (pull)
flamethrower 3 – cc
personal battering ram – cc
elixir s – invlun
bonus – just outrange them (grenades)

Ranger
greatsword x (counterattack) – block
shortbow 5 – cc
longbow x – cc
axe 5 – reflection
protect me – ‘invuln’
bonus – just outrange them

Thief
pistol 4 – cc
sword/pistol 3 – cc + evade
dagger/dagger 3 – evade
dagger 5 – stealth
hide in shadows – stealth
blinding powder – stealth + blind pulses
shadow refuge – stealth
pistol 5 + dagger 2 – blind + stealth
smoke screen – projectile block
scorpion wire – cc
dagger storm – reflection

Elementalist
staff
air 3 – cc
earth 3 – reflection
dagger
air 5 – cc
earth 4 – cc
focus
water 5 – cc
air 4 – projectile block
air 5 – cc
earth 4 – reflection
earth 5 – invuln
mist form – invuln
tornado – cc

Mesmer
sword 2 – evade
scepter 2 – block
focus 5 – block/reflect
greatsword 5 – cc
pistol 5 – cc
torch 4 – stealth
decoy – stealth
feedback – reflection
moa – ‘cc’
mass invis – stealth
bonus – 20 pts inspiration traitline – focus skills block/reflect projectiles
possible bonus – mirror images breaking targeting

Necromancer
staff 5 – fear
death shroud – fear
plague form – blind spam
well of darkness – blind pulses
possible bonus – staff 1 outrange

Conclusion:
7/8 professions have a wide variety of tools to deal with the situation.
1/8 professions (necro) can possibly claim to have a lack of tools in dealing with young karka spit attack.

Issue is not the profession, but players either not knowing their profession or unwilling to be flexible to deal with threats presented to them.

The problem is their spit attack clearly ignores Invulnerability skills like Endure Pain which effectively defeats their very purpose.

Kerithlan.1659:

Polantaris.9513:

Kerithlan.1659:

People have been complaining that they hit too hard with their spit attack. It might just be because I’m a guardian and have easy access to projectile reflect attacks, but I have no trouble with them at all. (I’m not a bunker build, I’m in junk gear with 11k hp and 2.2k armor.)

They usually open the fight with their ranged spit attack thing (which is what eats your health), so as soon as you see them charge that up (takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds) hit any sort of shield or reflect ability. You’ll take very little/no damage, and if you can reflect projectiles you’ll damage them instead.

After that attack is gone they won’t use it again for another 15-20 seconds, by which time they’ll probably be dead. They deal very manageable damage once that’s out of the way.

I personally thought that a lot more people would be doing that than there apparently are. When I hear stories about engineers and warriors eating pavement four seconds into karka fights it makes me worried. If anyone else has any tips (regardless of how common sense they might be) then please post them here so that others have an easier time.

Yeah outside of Mesmer and Guardian, I don’t think anyone else has access to an instant reflection ability like that, let alone one at all. Other classes shouldn’t get shredded just because one or two, or even potentially three, can protect against it while the rest have to eat the damage (Which is a ton, it takes like 8k away from me).

Just a couple for each profession (there’s more, such as stuns, blinds, and other interrupts)
Warrior
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shield_Stance
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endure_Pain

Guardian
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Zealot%27s_Defense
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Wall_of_Reflection

Engineer
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Shield_
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gear_Shield

Ranger
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Whirling_Defense
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Serpent%27s_Strike

Thief
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blinding_Powder
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dagger_Storm

Elementalist
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Aura
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Magnetic_Wave

Mesmer
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Warden
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Feedback

The only one that actually has no option for this strategy is Necromancer. Everyone else can at least — with minimal effort — block, reflect, stun, interrupt, etc the young karkas. Some do it more easily than others (such as elementalist and guardian), but almost all of them have at least some option.

You don’t have to eat the damage if you change your setup according to the encounter you’re facing. That’s how the Guild Wars games work. You can’t just use the same 8 skills for everything. (Edit: wrong game, same 10 skills)

Just a note: Blinding powder is terrible, because the channel will still track you through invisibility, and daggerstorm is once every 90 seconds.

Maybe you’re thinking of smokescreen?

If 1 vs 1, they are quite easy if you attack from range. At about 800 distance, you can strafe left/right to evade their shots.

That’s the easiest way to do it. No dodge needed, no skills needed, just step sideways out of the way. Then finish it off before its cooldown ends.

I’m quite happy to see PvE critters that you actually have to pay attention to. They’re still not particularly hard – veteran karka are a better challenge for a solo player – but they’ll overwhelm you in numbers if you’re not careful.

I don’t think they use their ranged attack if you’re fighting in melee range, either. They will before you close the gap, but afterwards I don’t think I’ve seen it. I have had a melee pet mop up a few that were directed at me while I was fighting at range.

They will still shoot even if you’re in melee range, and you will more than likely eat all the shots.

As an Engie, Magnetic Shield worked wonders against the Mouth of Zhaitan. Same idea for beating ranged one-trick ponies like these Karka.

Kaellok.8143:

Also, learn to dodge. I’m not trying to come across as an ?sshole, I’m just saying that it’s a helpful tactic in this particular fight.

Yeah, I have to agree with this. They aren’t really that hard if you just dodge the spit…

Kerithlan.1659:

People have been complaining that they hit too hard with their spit attack. It might just be because I’m a guardian and have easy access to projectile reflect attacks, but I have no trouble with them at all. (I’m not a bunker build, I’m in junk gear with 11k hp and 2.2k armor.)

They usually open the fight with their ranged spit attack thing (which is what eats your health), so as soon as you see them charge that up (takes about 0.5 to 1 seconds) hit any sort of shield or reflect ability. You’ll take very little/no damage, and if you can reflect projectiles you’ll damage them instead.

After that attack is gone they won’t use it again for another 15-20 seconds, by which time they’ll probably be dead. They deal very manageable damage once that’s out of the way.

I personally thought that a lot more people would be doing that than there apparently are. When I hear stories about engineers and warriors eating pavement four seconds into karka fights it makes me worried. If anyone else has any tips (regardless of how common sense they might be) then please post them here so that others have an easier time.

As long as you’re fighting only one of ’em.

I play a thief and between regular dodging and attacks which include an evade element (Leaping Death Blossom, for example) I’m usually good but often it’s still close. And so far I don’t think I’ve managed to take on a veteran young karka alone without getting killed. Which sucks because until now veteran mobs have been solo-able for me.

samanosuke.4508:

They will still shoot even if you’re in melee range, and you will more than likely eat all the shots.

I like taking them out with my Greatsword, especially if I fumbled and attracted 2 of them at the same time. I just dodged the spit or used whirlwind to get quickly get away from the attacks and whirlwind even allows me to deal some damage. Switching to rifle and knocking them back also work plus a lot of other tricks depending on the weapon combination that you are using.

I find that walking left or right at normal speed is effective in neutralizing 90% of karka damage.

And yet again the game proves itself a third person action masking as a RPG…

yep, just avoid being hit by their ranged attacks. if you are not constantly moving / strafing in combat you actually have a different problem.

on the other hand, why would I even bother to go there?
ok, my level 54 ranger got a new pet. FIREWORKS!

I use the reflect from Earth on staff for these things. It does help a lot, but they still hit quite hard and the reflect is only pretty much once a fight. If you get more then one of the little buggers you might as well run away though. >.< Dodging and staying on the move does help as well, so don’t waste your endurance, so you can get a dodge in on another ranged attack if it happens.

If you fight them underwater, they don’t seem to use their spit attack at all. Where they are a serious threat to my thief on land, when I get me into the depths they become quite easy prey.