Great Divide Kodiak Caves

File:Npc a ferocious cave kodiak.png File:AFeralCaveKodiak.jpg File:ASavageCaveKodiak2.png

What's Great About the Caves

All of the cave mobs are melee (so no worrying about casters), there's plenty of space to kill them outside their cave (so they can be quad-kited), and they're animals (so they can be charmed by Druids ... and one can even be charmed by Shaman: Bloodmaw).

Also, the caves are very close to a teleportation circle and a city (Thurgadin), and because they're close to a popular high-end dungeon (Velketor's Labyrinth) it can be easier to find buffs and resurrection than in more remote spots.

Downsides

While they aren't casters, the Kodiaks do hit pretty hard, and have almost no loot. Also, while there is space to kite around the caves, it's very hilly, which can make kiting challenging. Another concern is that (depending on the cave and how far you go in) the bears often come in pairs, so if you're not quad-kiting you'll need Harmony or another way to separate them.

Also, the Kodiaks are somewhat popular, so others might be camping them (although there are two caves and both have a lot of bears in them, so usually you can find some that aren't being killed).

Locations

File:Map great divide.jpg The two kodiak caves are marked as 7 and 8 on the map. For a safe AFK spot, you can use the empty cave 6, or the cave just inside the tunnel to Velketor's Labyrinth. Just outside Velk's is also pretty safe, and there's a chance you can get buffs from higher level characters heading into Velk's.

There are two kodiak caves to choose from, and both have a variety of kodiaks.

Charming Bloodmaw

File:Npc bloodmaw.png

Bloodmaw is technically only level 20, but he has 50k HP, so he makes a great pet. While he can't hit as hard as the Kodias, because of his high HP if you give him a damage shield he can indirectly deal tons of damage.

Be Careful With Agro

It's been reported that charming Bloodmaw inside the cave and attempting to move him out of his room before clearing spawns will chain-aggro the entire cave system.

Quad-Kiting

Starting the Quad

First, make sure you are buffed, especially with Shieldskin and Invisibility. Then, run past the first four kodiaks in whichever cave you pick. In cave #7 (the one North of Velk's) I recommend running through the X intersection and grabbing a kodiak there to end up with a quad of four. I also recommend practicing the run a couple times first; on the way back it's easy to get mixed up and turn left or right instead of going across the X.

Preparing the Quad

Once you get outside, make sure you only have four kodiaks; if you got extras, root them, and then run the four you want to keep away. Once you have your quad, bunch it up by running in circles (as usual), and if you have the Staff of Temperate Flux use it to debuff all the kodiaks.

Then, you optionally might want to snare the kodiaks. For Wizards, the risk of using Bonds of Force is that it might get resisted by some, and then you'll have to re-snare them then re-bunch all the mobs before you start nuking. However, snaring will let you get off more nukes, more quickly.

Killing the Quad

In-between nukes there is lots of area to run around in, but be careful of two things. First, vertical distance can mess up the casting range, making so you think the mobs are farther away then they actually are (and then surprising you). I recommend waiting until there is a bit of flat ground between you and them before nuking because of this.

Second, there are other mobs around. Near the caves are extra ferocious cave kodiaks and Shardwurms, but only a few so they're easy to avoid. To the east is very clear until you reach the river, and then there are more Shardwurms (although they're slow and still easy to avoid while quadding. Finally to the North are Tizmak's and Dwarves, but if you haven't hurt your faction with them they won't be an issue.

Don't End Quads Near the Kodiak Caves

It's natural to want to do a circle and end up back at the caves to finish the quad, but this is a bad idea because if you have any stragglers, they will make a bee-line for the cave, and will do their best to agro more kodiaks. I've had to abandon nearly-dead mobs a couple times when one made it back to the cave and got reinforcements I didn't have mana to deal with.