Legend

A. Entrance

1. Onyxian Warders
2. Whelp Eggs
3. Onyxia

Quest Level

55 to obtain

Location

Badlands (Kargath), Lower Blackrock Spire

Starts at

Warlord Goretooth

Ends at

Warlord Goretooth

Goal

Travel to LBRS and kill Highlord Omokk, War Master Voone, and Overlord Wyrmthalak

Experience Gained

8550

Speak with Warlord Goretooth in the town of Kargath. Listen to his story and, after you have spoken with him, he offers a quest to kill several bosses in Lower Blackrock Spire. Take a strong group; Omokk is a pretty hard fight. You must also find the Important Blackrock Documents, which are a random spawn on the ground at any of the three bosses you must kill.

Quest Level

55 to obtain

Location

Badlands (Kargath), Orgimmar

Starts at

Warlord Goretooth

Ends at

Thrall

Goal

Speak with Eitrigg in Orgimmar and then report to Thrall.

Experience Gained

Goretooth is alarmed that Rend is still alive and urges you to inform Eitrigg in Thrall’s Hall. Talk to Thrall after speaking with Eitrigg.

Quest Level

55 to obtain

Location

Orgimmar, Upper Blackrock Spire

Starts at

Thrall

Ends at

Thrall

Goal

Kill Warchief Rend Blackhand in UBRS

Experience Gained

10900

Thrall orders you to travel to Upper Blackrock Spire and kill the Warchief Rend Blackhand. Take another strong group into UBRS and complete the arena event to kill Rend. This quest can be completed in a raid group. When you have his head, return to Thrall.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Orgimmar

Starts at

Thrall

Ends at

Thrall

Goal

Listen to Thrall’s news

Experience Gained

725

Thrall has received news from Eastern Kingdoms, listen to it. Speak to him again afterwards.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Orgimmar, Desolace

Starts at

Thrall

Ends at

Rexxar

Goal

Find Rexxar who wanders Desolace

Experience Gained

5450

A horde champion named Rexxar may know of a way into Onyxia’s lair. Travel to Desolace and find him. He wanders along the north/south path throughout the entire zone.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Desolace, Western Plaguelands (Sorrow Hill)

Starts at

Rexxar

Ends at

Myranda the Hag

Goal

Speak with Myranda the Hag in Western Plaguelands

Experience Gained

5450

Rexxar knows only one person who can help you get into Onyxia’s lair. The illusionist Myranda the Hag, who sits on a log at the Sorrow Hill graveyard in Western Plaguelands, might be able to help deceive the dragons.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Western Plaguelands (Sorrow Hill), Upper Blackrock Spire

Starts at

Myranda the Hag

Ends at

Myranda the Hag

Goal

Collect 20 Black Dragonspawn Eye from Upper Blackrock Spire Dragonkin.

Experience Gained

7250

Myranda can provide the illusion you need, but she requires 20 Black Dragonspawn Eye to do it. The eyes drop from the Dragonkin in Upper Blackrock Spire. Take a group (or a raid, it is a Raid quest) to UBRS and collect the eyes, they are pretty common drops when you have the quest. Return to Myranda when you have the required components.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Western Plaguelands (Sorrow Hill), Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog)

Starts at

Myranda the Hag

Ends at

Emberstrife

Goal

Travel to Desolace and wear the Amulet of Draconic Subversion to trick Emberstrife into talking to you.

Experience Gained

5450

Emberstrife is an old, powerful dragon that has the job of testing new Dragonkin who wish to serve in Onyxia’s elite guard. You must wear the Amulet of Draconic Subversion that Myranda has given you to trick him into thinking you are a Dragonkin, and accept whatever tests he gives. Don the amulet and speak to him.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog), Winterspring (Mazthoril)

Starts at

Emberstrife

Ends at

Emberstrife

Goal

Travel to Winterspring and kill Scryer

Experience Gained

7250

Your first task is to slay the Blue Dragonflight Champion Scryer. He’s found near the caves of Mazthoril, southwest of Everlook in Winterspring. Bring a few friends, kill him, and bring his skull back to Emberstrife.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog), Swamp of Sorrows

Starts at

Emberstrife

Ends at

Emberstrife

Goal

Travel to the Swamp of Sorrows and kill Somnus

Experience Gained

7250

Next up is Somnus, Champion of the Green Dragonflight. He wanders the swamp to the east of the Sunken Temple. Gather some help, kill him, and bring his skull back to Emberstrife.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog), Tanaris

Starts at

Emberstrife

Ends at

Emberstrife

Goal

Travel to Tanaris and kill Chronalis

Experience Gained

7250

Emberstrife wants you to kill Chronalis, who guards the Caverns of Time in a mountain along the eastern edge of Tanaris. Return his skull to Emberstrife once you and your mates have killed him.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog), Wetlands (Grim Batol)

Starts at

Emberstrife

Ends at

Emberstrife

Goal

Travel to Grim Batol and kill Aztroz

Experience Gained

7250

Head over to Grim Batol in the northeastern part of Wetlands and kill the Red Dragonflight Champion Aztroz. Return to Emberstrife when you have his skull.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Dustwallow Marsh (Wyrmbog), Desolace

Starts at

Emberstrife

Ends at

Rexxar

Goal

Return to Rexxar

Experience Gained

5450

Emberstrife has rewarded you with a Dull Drakefire Amulet and instructs you to take it to General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire for its final enchantment, but the illusion Myranda created for you won’t work within Blackrock Spire. Seek out Rexxar and explain your problem, hopefully he knows what to do.

Quest Level

56 to obtain

Location

Desolace, Upper Blackrock Spire

Starts at

Rexxar

Ends at

Rexxar

Goal

Journey to Upper Blackrock Spire and kill General Drakkisath, bring his blood back to Rexxar.

Experience Gained

10900

You’re pleased to hear that only the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire is needed to finalize the amulet. Bring a strong group and slay Drakkisath. Return to Rexxar when you have the blood. He gives you the Drakefire Amulet, key to Onyxia’s lair.

PLAYERS

A group learning how to kill Onyxia should bring a full level 60 raid group – 40 people. Every raider needs to have their Drakefire Amulet in their inventory before zoning in.

The classes you have at your raid should be pretty evenly distributed. There are nine classes and raids can hold 40 people, so most raid encounters are balanced for a raid group consisting of 4-5 people from each class. This is true for Onyxia. It’s important to have good healing and solid ranged damage dealers. Melee damage classes have limited usefulness during Phase 2 of the fight, but are important for Onyxian Whelps and the times when she’s on the ground.

People often ask if the talents your character has are going to make or break a PvE raid encounter. Yes and no. Experienced raid groups/guilds often play out their raid by having people spec certain ways. There is typically a “preferred” spec for each class and, in fact, there may be a need for different specs for the same class.

Most high-end encounters are planned out ahead of time and require certain specs to work properly. This is especially important before you get your higher-end equipment from the dungeons that you’re raiding. You can benefit greatly from those times and that’s when your spec becomes less important. A totally geared up, Tier 2 Warrior may be able to handle some raids without a full Protection spec, but it’s unlikely that they’ll do that.

It all depends on the demands of the group that you’re planning on raiding with and whether or not they can assimilate your current spec into their plans. To be invited to a raid group, simply ask what type of spec they require or would like and get into the raid. Don’t try and force your way in as your own spec unless you’ve been raiding for a while and have tested that spec.

EQUIPMENT

The main tank (MT) is the most important person as far as equipment goes. They should have over 150 fire resist (FR) and over 7500 life (buffed). Dark Iron armor from the Thorium Brotherhood is good at providing hit points and FR. Without decent FR and hit points, your healers won’t be able to keep the MT alive while Onyxia is on the ground attacking.

Everyone else in the raid should be equipped in at least 55+ superior quality items from UBRS, LBRS, Straholme, Scholomance, and Dire Maul. You don’t need epic quality gear to kill Onyxia, but you probably won’t survive in greens. (Unless they are Outlands greens, lawls.)

OTHER ITEMS

Greater Fire Protection Potion are always a good idea if you can get the materials. They absorb a solid amount of fire damage, making Phase 2 and Phase 3 easier.

Lung Juice Cocktail from the repeatable quest in Blasted Lands is easy to obtain and gives 25 stamina, nice for your MT. Flask of the Titans, made by alchemists, is much harder to make but is nice to have for an additional 1200 hit points.

All PvP reward class trinkets (Warrior example: Insignia of the Horde) that remove Fear and the Glimmering Mithril Insignia (from the Blacksmithing quests) are useful for Phase 3 when Onyxia is using this ability.

GROUP SETUP

The raid is going to be split in half – even-numbered groups and odd-numbered groups. Evenly distribute the classes for each side.

The MT should have a Priest, a Warlock (for Blood Pact), and a Shaman or Paladin (for fire resist) in their group.

Mages should have Priests because they will need to AoE Onyxian Whelps at some point.

ONYXIAN WARDERS

Onyxia’s Lair is a small instance and only has four Onyxian Warders blocking the way to her. The warders have a very powerful AoE (Fire Nova) that hits everyone within 20 yards. In addition, they have Cleave, Flame Lash (112 – 120 Fire damage and reduces FR by 68 for 45 sec.), and Pierce Armor (reduces target’s armor by 75% for 20 sec.).

Flame Lash can be dispelled and the other two abilities are melee-oriented. Only the MT should be in range of their AoE attack while everyone else should be attacking from range.

Wait for each warder to walk as close as possible before you pull. They have long patrol routes and you don’t want to fight more than one at a time.

Your raid is formed, everyone is there, the warders are dead; all that remains is a large sleeping dragon to kill. It’s time to wake her up and see if you have what it takes to bring her down.

Get fully buffed up before rushing in. Make sure everyone knows where they are supposed to be. Double check everyone is ready and run in.

PHASE 1

Special Attacks:

Fire Breath: Cone shaped fire breath attack that hits everything in front of her for 3063-3937 damage. It is resistible. To avoid this, always keep her pointed north, away from the groups on the sides. Only the MT should be hit by her breath.

Wing Buffet: A knock back attack (563-937 damage) that hits everyone in front of her, tossing them a fair distance. To avoid this, correctly position yourselves at her sides as far away as possible while still being in melee range. Keep your back away from the eggs.

Tail Whip: Another knock back attack (600-1000 damage) that hits everyone behind her, near the tail. Tail Whip throws players much further than Wing Buffet, likely well into the eggs if their back is to them. Avoid this by never standing behind an angry dragon.

Cleave: Deals melee damage +315 to the primary target and up to ten other targets in front of Onyxia. Avoid this by remaining in your assigned and let the MT adjust who will be hit by this attack.

Positioning:

Onyxia should always be facing north and attacking the MT. The MT needs to be 10-15 yards away from the wall; being against the wall causes you to bounce to either side when she knocks you back with Wing Buffet. You want to bounce off the north wall and Onyxia shouldn’t turn much when she knocks you back.

The rest of the raid splits in half, odd-numbered groups on the left, even-numbered groups on the right. Everyone should be at least 10 yards north of the egg caves, nobody should ever go near them or near Onyxia’s tail during Phase 1, because you’ll be tail whipped into the eggs. Try to keep your back facing east or west (depending on which side you’re on) in case you do get knocked back; you won’t end up in the eggs.

Strategy:

MT should rush in a good 20-30 yards ahead of everyone to make sure they get initial aggro.

There should always be no whelp spawns whatsoever during this Phase unless someone gets knocked into the eggs. If there are whelps, have a couple mages use Frost Nova and AoE’s to wipe them out. Keep Priests/Warriors ready to help if things turn sour. You should be able to handle any amount of whelps that come, but any more than about 15 may significantly damage the raid’s long term survivability. Don’t get anywhere near the whelps and you’ll be fine. Remember that the eggs do not require you to stand on top of them before they spawn like the UBRS Rookery room; their spawn distance is much larger.

Have the MT slowly move into position at the north center of the lair. The MT’s exact position is very important due to the knock back. They need to be 10-15 yards away from the north wall. When positioned correctly, the knock back from Wing Buffet should bounce the MT against the north wall and have them land very close to their original position.

Again, Onyxia should always be facing north.

Once the MT has built 30+ seconds of threat, everyone can attack. Mind your DPS. Hunters: use Feign Death as often as you can. Rogues: Feint when it’s up. Mages: don’t over do the nukes. Priests: use Fade only if you draw aggro. If the MT loses aggro, Onyxia will turn to one f the sides and probably kill everyone with a Fire Breath. Remember, she’s immune to Taunt and Mocking Blow.

When an inexperienced raid group and, especially a MT, Rogues should stick to using their default attacks (no combos/finishing moves) and casters should wait a few seconds between each spell. It’s best to survive the run slowly than continue to pull aggro from the MT and likely wipe the raid. Kill her slowly and steadily by keeping her on the MT and in position.

When she’s reached 70% life, take a good 30-second break on attacking to let the MT rebuild aggro; better safe than sorry. During that break is a good time to drink a fire absorption potion in preparation for Phase 2.

At 65%, Onyxia walks from the north to the south and takes flight. Phase 2 begins.

Remember that aggro management and MT positioning are the keys to this Phase. This Phase is remarkably easy compared to the next two due to its straightforward “MT tank her in the middle, healers keep MT alive, everyone else DPS slowly” strategy. There should be no deaths and no whelps alive when Phase 2 starts. There shouldn’t be any need to drink any potions (except maybe a fire protection) or use anything with a noticeable cooldown during this Phase.

PHASE 2

Special Attacks:

Fireball: Onyxia spits fire at random people. The fire hits for approximately 1700-2300 damage to anyone in the AoE. Avoid this by staying spread out so that the fire doesn’t hit people near you. Use bandages to heal yourself so your healers don’t use all their mana.

Deep Breath: When you see the emote: “Onyxia begins to take a deep breath,” approximately 5 seconds pass before a huge column of fire erupts along the floor from her spot. It’s more than likely that it can instantly kill everyone it hits. This attack completely destroys the run if it’s not dealt with properly. Deep breath simply can’t be avoided so you’ll have to dodge it to your best ability. Every time Onyxia is going to move, there’s a 30% chance that she’ll decide to advance forward, a 35% chance that she’ll move left and a 35% chance that she’ll move right. If she chooses to move forward, she’ll use Deep Breath. There’s a relatively intuitive method to avoid her flame. Imagine that her lair is a giant clock. If she’s facing 6:00 (south), you will be out of range as long as you are three clock positions away (3:00 or 9:00). Otherwise, you’ll be caught in the blast.

Positioning:

You need to be spread out all around the lair. This setup is important for two reasons: avoiding a Deep Breath attack, and minimizing the damage done by Engulfing Flames. Keep moving around until there is nobody within about 5-10 yards of you. Ranged damage dealers will have to change positions, as she flies around, to stay within attack range.

The most common place people get clustered up at is near the eggs because whelps are now spawning during Phase 2. Melee classes attacking whelps need to make sure they aren’t on top of each other.

Stay within range of your healer and generally on your group’s side of the lair. You don’t want to be on the wrong side when she’s about to land.

An alternate strategy used by some guilds is to follow Onyxia throughout the fight while remaining as spread out as possible as opposed to remaining stationary and reacting to her facing. To make this strategy work, everyone in the raid must be acutely aware of her location at all times. Have the raid leader use a macro to identify her position or a voice program to call her out.

Do not go too far south. There is an Onyxian Warder at the mouth of her lair; don’t aggro it.

Strategy:

As soon as Onyxia leaps in the air, the first wave of 15-20 whelps appears and everyone needs to help with them immediately. After the fist wave is dead, melee classes should be focused on keeping the whelps under control. The occasional Mage AoEing is useful as well. If they get out of control, everyone needs to help deal with them and go right back to attacking Onyxia once they are dead. Throughout this Phase, whelps are almost constantly spawning; make sure to keep them from killing healers.

Have everyone move into position and spread out. Melee classes should kill whelps since they aren’t impressive with ranged DPS. Healers should keep whelp killers and Engulfing Flames victims alive. Focus everyone else on ranged damage DPS.

Ranged damage is the most important factor. The goal is to get her back on the ground as quickly as possible. Cast ever DoT, curse, and damage spell you have. Zap wands. Remember, this Phase is long and you need to recast curses and DoTs as they wear off.

Stop casting all DoTs when she reaches 42%. You do not want to build any threat with Onyxia through damage spells once she lands.

At around 45%, have the MT start building rage on whelps to pull Onyxia back onto him when she lands. At this point, ranged DPS should be unloading, the whelps should be under control, and the MT should have rage.

Once Onyxia’s health reaches 40%, she’s going to land any second. Move the MT to the center of the lair where Onyxia is going to land and have them ready to draw aggro. Everyone else should stop attacking the second she hits on the ground. Phase 3 begins.

Seconds before she lands, everyone needs to move away from the egg entrances to avoid being Feared into them. Everyone needs to go back to their Phase 1 positions against the wall.

It is absolutely crucial that everyone stop attacking when she lands. The MT is going to have a hard time getting Onyxia focused on them and anyone attacking during this transition could wipe the entire raid.

PHASE 3

Special Attacks:

Everything from Phase 1.

Bellowing Roar: The ground shakes and Onyxia Fears everyone in the lair. Simultaneously, the lava fissures explode with lava causing even more havoc. The Fear is resistible. To avoid this, MTs have to rely on changing to Berserker stance, activating Berserker Rage, and quickly changing back to Defensive stance. An experienced Warrior will be able to do this very quickly. Shamans should also be placing tremor totems, which occasionally remove Fear on party members. It’s very bad for the MT to be Feared because Onyxia will then turn and face the MT as they run around, possibly blasting a Fire Breath attack while facing a side of players.

Eruption: The floor shoots lava every time Onyxia Fears the raid. You will see the ground shake, the Fear hit, and the lava fissures explode, damaging players within range for about 1500 life. Avoid this by getting rid of the Fear, if you can, and control where your character is standing, stay away from cracks in the floor; the explosions have limited range. If you do get Feared, and you usually will, there isn’t much you can do about it. Bandage yourself as often as you can.

Positioning:

Similar to Phase 1. The only difference is that you’re going to have a new element to keep in mind – Lava Fissures. Find as safe a spot as possible and stand there to avoid damage during the eruption of the lava fissures.

Strategy:

Once Onyxia lands, the MT should be waiting under her with near-full rage to Sunder Armor and do every thing possible to climb the threat ladder. Nobody else should attack until the MT has aggro.

Regaining aggro in Phase 3 is tricky. There seems to be no clear reasoning behind which player she targets as she lands. She may clear her threat list completely, nobody really knows. The MT just needs time to build enough threat and get back to number one on the threat list. Anyone who has aggro needs to move to the MTs location so that Onyxia is not facing a side. You always want her facing north to avoid the Fire Breath attack.

As soon as the MT gains aggro, have them move to the Phase 1 position, now mindful of crack in the floor.

It’s likely that the MT will get Feared and lose aggro before they’re in position. Assuming the MT has enough threat, she will chase them around while they are Feared. If she doesn’t, the second person on her aggro list is probably going to die. If she uses Fire Breath on a bunched up side while the MT doesn’t have aggro, it’s almost certainly a wipe.

Beyond the floor exploding with lava, being Feared into the lava, the MT losing aggro or changing positioning often – and everyone being low on life and mana – this is exactly like Phase 1. Mind your DPS and position. Deal with the whelps if any come. Let the MT tank and keep them alive at all costs. If the MT dies when she‘s at even 5% life, the run is likely over.

Anyone that can do damage should be focused on balancing DPS and threat while surviving. Anyone that can heal should be healing the MT. If your Priests say the MT is under control, backup healers should be keeping people alive who are hit by the exploding lava.

Just keep the MT alive, keep yourself alive, and do as much damage as possible. Kill her before she kills all of you.

Stick to the plan, stay calm, and be at the top of your game. Your MT has a lot of learning to do during this Phase. They need to be ready to deal with Fears, aggro, positioning, knock back, occasional teleports, everything. The MT makes or breaks this Phase.

VICTORY

Congratulations, you’ve defeated a powerful raid boss and a treacherous villain of both the Alliance and Horde. It’s not an easy task to get 40 people working together and the experience you gain from defeating Onyxia is invaluable in future raid encounters.

ONYXIA’S HEAD

Aside from her normal drops, Onyxia always drops a Head of Onyxia.

This item is used to start a quest called Victory for the Horde. The quest asks you to return to Orgimmar and present the head at the city’s throne. The rewards are very impressive.

Onyxia Blood Talisman

Dragonslayer's Signet

Onyxia Tooth Pendant

In addition, when you turn in the quest, Onyxia’s head is displayed in the city and everyone nearby gets a powerful 2-hour buff. This buff, the Rallying Call of the Dragonslayer, has a cooldown and won’t affect those in the city if it’s recently been triggered.

You can only complete the Head of Onyxia quest once per character.

THE DRAGON’S HOARD

Ancient Cornerstone Grimoire

Bloodfang Hood

Deathbringer

Draconic for Dummies

Dragonstalker's Helm

Eskhandar's Collar

Halo of Transcendence

Head of Onyxia

Heated Ancient Blade

Helm of Wrath

Helmet of Ten Storms

Judgement Crown

Legplates of Might

Mature Black Dragon Sinew

Nemesis Skullcap

Netherwind Crown

Nexus Crystal

Onyxia Hide Backpack

Ring of Binding

Sapphiron's Scale Boots

Scale of Onyxia

Shard of the Scale

Stormrage Cover

Vis'kag the Bloodletter