In the central Kalimdor, there's an ancient swamp called Dustwallow Marsh. In its southern parts, you can find a cave system called Onyxia's Lair – the home of Onyxia and her guards. The entrance to Onyxia's Lair is Onyxia's Gate.
WoW Classic Onyxia's Lair Guide - What is Onyxia's Lair?
Onyxia's Lair is a 40-player raid (the shortest in Classic WoW), only consisting of one boss - Onyxia. It is required to have a Drakefire Amulet to enter the raid. You are going to receive it when you finish a quest line, no matter if you chose the Alliance or Horde faction.
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Alliance Faction
The first quest you will have to complete is called Dragon Menace (Slay fifteen Black Broodlings, ten Black Dragonspawn, four Black Wyrmkin, and one Black Drake. Return to Helendis Riverhorn when the task is complete) and you can take it from Helendis Riverhorn in the Burning Steppers.
As a part of the second quest in the questline (called The True Masters, this guy will give you a letter (Helendis Riverhorn's Letter) and will ask you to deliver it to Magistrate Solomon in Redridge Mountains.
After that, you will have to continue to deliver different messages around the world. They will all take you back to Burning Steppers, where Marshal Maxwell will ask you to travel to the north where you will speak with Ragged John (Humanoid) to learn about Marshal Windsor's fate, then return to Ragged John.
Marshal Windsor and Abandoned Hope – the name of the third quest in the questline. You will have to rescue Marshal Windsor (he kind of looks like Sheamus from WWE so you will recognize him) from a prison cell in Blackrock Depths. He will let you know that he has lost all of his data, and you have to take the bad news back to Highlord Bolvar Fordragon for the quest Abandoned Hope.
After you complete all the steps required, you are going to get an item that begins a quest. It is called A Crumpled Up Note (it requires level 50). To get it, you simply need to enter and clean up the Blackrock Depths dungeon until this item drops. After you obtain it, you will have to return to Marshal Windsor. He will give you the next quest called A Shred Of Hope. You need to go to Blackrock Depths and kill General Angerforge (level 57) and Golem Lord Argelmach (also level 57). They are both Elites.
After you get Marshal Windsor's Lost Information (a quest item) from them, you will return to Marshal Windsor that has already decided he's getting out of the cell, so your next quest will be Jail Break (those of you that listen to AC/DC will literally hear this). Like most of the other quests, you will need a party to complete it, because after Marshal Windsor gathers up his friends and gear, right before exiting the dungeon, you will face a bunch of enemies. After you get rid of them, report to Marshal Maxwell. He will send you to Stormwind to meet Reginald Windsor, who will reveal to you that Onyxia is actually camouflaged as Lady Katrana Prestor (level 62 NPC in Stormwind City).
The Great Masquerade is the next quest. “Follow Reginald Windsor through Stormwind. Protect him from harm!”. He will lead you to the place where Onyxia will show her true self and will summon her elite guards. Don't worry! Other NPCs will help you out. They will tank the elite dragonkin guards.
After it is all done, you will need to talk to Highlord Bolvar Fordragon (the Regent Lord of Stormwind). Bolvar will present you the following quest called The Dragon's Eye in which you must search the world for a being capable of restoring the power to the Fragment of the Dragon's Eye. The only information you possess about being like this is that they exist and nothing more. The one you need to find is a dragonkin hidden under the skin of a humanoid called Haleh (Elite). She is in Winterspring (in northern Kalimdor). She'll give you a task to go on another journey in Blackrock Spire, where you'll get the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion (quest item) form General Drakkisath (level 62 boss), after, of course, you defeat him. He drops Tier 0 chests for all classes and Draconian Deflector shield.
For this quest, you will be rewarded with almost four gold 6600 experience. And the final step is to return to Haleh, complete the quest, and get your Drakefire Amulet, which you will have to carry every time you wish to enter Onyxia's Lair.
Horde Faction
Okay, so the first quest in the line is called Warlord's Command, which you can pick up from Warlord Goretooth in Kargath. Kill Highlord Omokk, War Master Voone, and Overlord Wyrmthalak. Recover Important Blackrock Documents and return to Warlord Goretooth in Kargath when the mission has been accomplished.
The second quest is called Eitrigg's Wisdom, and for this one, you need to go to Ogrimmar to speak with Eitrigg. After you do that, go to Thrall, who's also in Ogrimmar.
For The Horde! is the third quest. You've got to defeat Warchief Rend Blackhand in Blackrock Spire and bring his head (Head of Rend Blackhand – quest item) to Thrall in Ogrimmar.
The next quest is called What The Wind Carries. You simply have to listen to Thrall's story. We all know you could skip this if there was a skip button. It's like pretending to listen to your mom, while all you can think about is playing WoW.
After Thrall tells you his story (like the taxi driver did, when you were heading home drunk last night), you will be able to start a new quest. It is called The Champion of The Horde. Talk to Rokaro in Shadowprey Village, Desolace. To complete this quest, you need to find Rexxar patrolling in Desolace. To reach him faster, just ask in the general chat if anybody has seen him lately (it is like being in the Alliance and looking for the Messanger in Westfall). After you find him, he will give you a quest item called Rexxar's Testament, which you need to deliver to Myranda The Hag (humanoid) in Western Plaguelands.
The next quest on the list is called Oculus Illusions - Travel to Blackrock Spire and collect 20 Black Dragonspawn Eyes. Return to Myranda the Hag when the task is complete. After that, Myranda will give you Amulet of Draconic Subversion (a quest item you can use to disguise yourself as a member of the Black Dragonflight).
Then you will be sent to Emberstrife's Den (a cave) in Dustwallow Marsh to speak with Emberstrife. You'll be given three quests which will require you to kill three dragons: The Test of Skulls, Chronalis; The Test of Skulls, Scryer; The Test of Skulls, Somnus. After you return their skulls to Emberstrife, you'll get one more quest The Test of Skulls, Axtroz – kill Axtroz, located in Grim Batol (Wetlands) and return his skull to the quest giver.
After having all the skulls, Emberstrife will craft the Dull Drakefire Amulet for you. Find Rexxar in Desolace and get the final quest from him – Blood of The Black Dragon Champion. Find nine more players and enter Blackrock Spire to kill General Drakkisath and get the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion. Go back to Rexxar, and you will be awarded with your Drakefire Amulet. Now you are ready to meet Onyxia!
Tips From Our Onyxia's Lair Guide
1. Coordination is essential! Make sure you know what you're doing before you start the fight. You can even go on the internet and watch some gameplay tutorials so that you can be fully prepared.
2. The better the gear – the better the fight (for you, not for Onyxia).
3. There are a lot of Whelps you have to watch out for.
4. Lava jumping out under your feet! Got to watch out for that too.
5. On your way to Onyxia, you will run into several Onyxian Warders (level 60-63 Elites). These mobs have an ability called Fire Nova (it inflicts Fire damage to nearby enemies). When your tank pulls them, wait for the first Fire Nova and then let the DPS join the tank. It is just an excellent way to lower the damage taken.
6. Mages are very useful when Onyxia goes up in the air – that is the place where your DPS will probably not be able to attack her.
So now you are all prepared to enter, but you need to know that Onyxia goes through 3 different phases:
- Phase one – 100% to 65% health. So Onyxia has few abilities that will determine the position of the tank and the raid: Tail Sweep ( it inflicts 600 to 1000 damage on enemies in a cone behind the caster, knocking them back and it has 30 yard range), Wing Buffet (inflicts 563 to 937 damage to enemies in a cone in front of the caster, knocking them back). In this phase, it is crucial to manipulate Onyxia’s position. This job should be done by the tank. No one should attack her until the tank takes her to the right place. After she is positioned, DPS can start attacking. The rest of the Raid group should be on the side, because of both the abilities we mentioned.
- Phase two – it begins when Onyxia goes down to 65% health. This is the phase she walks to the center and then takes a flight. When she's in the air, she uses two abilities: "Fireball" (Inflicts 1700 to 2300 Fire damage to all enemies in a selected area) and "Breath" (Some people call it Deep Breath also). When she does "Deep Breath", the raid members are warned, and everyone needs to go to the sides of wherever she is facing. Keep your eyes open and act fast, or you are getting burned! Whenever she is not using "Breath", she uses "Fireball". It is randomly targeting players. The thing is that if it hits you, it will hit everyone within 8 yards around you, so for this one, you need to spread around a bit. To minimize the damage, use Fire Protection Potions.
- Phase three – it starts when she reaches 40% health, and she starts landing. For this one, you need to repeat the positioning thing like in Phase one, because she lands at the center. In this phase, you find out that she has another ability – Bellowing Road (which will make you turn away and run like a little girl). Make sure you buff your tank with Berserker Rage or another one so that you can avoid Fear. And because Onyxia is not enough trouble, you need to deal with Onyxian Whelps the whole time. For them, you can use a second tank (off-tank).
The whole thing is very intense and you have to be concentrated and careful. But let's get to the rewards for the hard work. Onyxia drops Tier 2 Helms for all classes, Mature Black Dragon Sinew (for Hunters), Onyxia Hide Backpack (it has 18 slots), Head of Onyxia (which begins a quest), Ring of Binding (requires level 60), Staff of Hale Magefire, Serpentine Sash (rogues will probably be happy to have this one), Elven Chain Boots, Ancient Cornerstone Grimoire (this one summons a skeleton that will protect you for 1 minute), Deepfury Bracers and few more cool items.
Once again, use a Fire Protection Potions whenever she does a Deep Breath. Check out where her face is facing and go on the sides instead of staying in front of her, or you're a dead man.
Her "Deep Breath" ability is very dangerous, and it can cause a lot of damage. Onyxia is no joke, guys. Not as dangerous as the Firelord at Molten Core but still pretty scary. She is protecting her nest of eggs, and you should be ready for the dragon momma.