This guide is designed for experienced runners looking to optimize their Shadrun Horntail clears with a strong, smokescreen-based strategy. It covers all 3 stages, precise SS and TL usage, and SED coordination for maximum efficiency. Party Composition: Shadower × 3–4 Paladin × 1 Bishop × 1 Buccanner × 1 Stage 1 – Pre-Heads Smokescreen: 3x total Time Leap: 1x SED Role: Enters first into the portal after clearing the stage. Make sure the team clears mobs quickly and efficiently to avoid delay in progression. Stage 2 – Mid-Heads Smokescreen: 1x Save 2 SS for Body phase SED Role: Again, enters first into the portal after clear. Bishop should maintain Holy Shield and Dispel support in case of damage from head skills. Stage 3 – Main Body 1. Tail Phase Smokescreen: Use 2x Cast immediately after Horntail is summoned. Maintain a 1:25 min gap between both casts to maximize uptime. Once tail is cleared → move to Legs. 2. Right Head smokescreens x 1. Burn down until 82.5% HP, then move to 4-Part (Right Side). Pally may help hold aggro if needed. 3. 4-Part (Right Side) Smokescreen: 3x Time Leap: 1x Wait for first visual warning alert After alert appears: wait 50 seconds, then Call SED (they enter immediately) After SED: Kill Right Hand → then Right Head 4. 4-Part (Left Side) Move to left after finishing the right side. Wait for second alert at around 34% HP Then call SED After SED: Kill Left Hand Then proceed to Left + Mid Head Final Phase – Heads Continue using SS + TL combos as long as they are available. Focus fire, rotate cooldowns, and communicate clearly with your team. GG, enjoy the drops! Leader Tips: Always announce your SS usage in chat to avoid overlap. Watch for SED alert timing closely – communication is everything. Assign clear SED and Bishop responsibilities pre-run. Good luck runners! Feel free to DM Biestable in-game or on Discord if you want to join an organized Shadrun team.
Good guide! Few tips to improve success rate for runs: 1. First SED after warning for the right arm happens around 3.7% total HP after the only warning (more accurate than 50 secs, time depends on ur party's strength) 2. First SED after warning for the left arm happens around 0.9% total HP after 2nd warning (again, the HP will vary depeding on ur party comp and how hard ur team hit head B) 3. Mass SED has 60 sec cooldown, you should make sure the smoke doesnt fall off around the same time mass SED happening so its always good to know and follow. Spoiler: Calculations for tha nerds HT main body total hp: 2.32m arms trigger last warning at 40% then sed at 30%, 10% of arm hp is exactly 23m, just shy of 1% of HT's hp. for the right side since we are hitting 4 parts at the same time the sed will occur after 4x more hp (took some safety margins on my suggestions above from experience, to let people/mules without HW to hang on the rope in smoke). sourced the info from Zanck's detailed bossing guide, works well from my experience
