RAIDGUIDE ON DOC

Pwnyxia

"Like chocolate milk, only crunchy." -- Tin

Overview and Background

Onyxia's Lair is arguably the raid best tied into the storyline and themes of overland Azeroth. The Black Dragonflight and their minions have insinuated themselves into the territory of the Horde and the Alliance and the labrynthine schemes of Deathwing's odious children threaten the very heart of both nations. Regardless of their personal interest in the doings of the Dragonkin, any adventurer in Azeroth is likely to run afoul of their plots on more than one occasion. In the Eastern Kingdoms, Onyxia undermines the Kingdom of Stormwind by providing direction and clandestine support to villians like the Defias -- an organization which terrorizes the Elwynn Forest and Westfall and played a key role in the abduction of the kingdom's monarch. From without, Nefarian directs his orc catspaws -- through intermediaries such as Overlord Wyrmthalak, General Drakkisath, and "Warchief" Rend Blackhand -- to besiege Lakeshire and prosecute a merciless war against the Dark Iron Dwarves of the Blackrock Depths. In Kalimdor, Onyxia's minions have overthrown the Ogre allies of the horde in the Duskwallow Swamp and the Broodmother herself has made her lair perilously close to the very city of Orgrimmar.

Any adventurer hoping to seek out and confront the Broodmother must first work to unravel the plots of the Black Dragonflight. Only after dogging the minions of the two Dragons tirelessly will an adventurer be able to enter the Onyxia's Lair in the Duskwallow Swamp and slaughter one of the foul architects of the misery the has stalked the lands of Azeroth.

The Onyxia Key questlines: (TBA -- links the horde and alliance quests involved)

Strategy

Onyxia's Lair has relatively few monsters to fight. There is only a handful of dragonkin guarding the entrance to the lair and the Broodmother herself. Onyxia's Warders are trivial for any raid that possesses the mettle to face their mistress in open combat. A single warrior, equipped with a reasonable amount of fire resistance gear, can pin them away from the raid while healers and ranged attackers wear them down. Onyxia's Warders can all be engaged one at a time.

Onyxia herself is more ornery. Although she can be killed reliably by an experienced raid team, inattention or laziness can rapidly transform a solid Onyxia fight into a rout. She's a dragon. She has plenty of firepower. The encounter with Onxyia can be divided into three discrete phases. In phase one Onyxia is on the ground. In phase two she in the air. In phase three she is on the ground again. She transits between phases at roughly 68% and 45% of her total hitpoints (she takes to the air and lands again as she grows more injured). All threat from previous stages of the battle is wiped during each transition.

When fighting on the ground, Onyxia concentrates most of her attacks on a single target; slashing with her claws, biting with her teeth and buffeting with her wings. Onyxia can (and will frequently) cleave with her claws, striking all melee range targets before her. She will also breathe a cone of searing fire, burning all before her at any distance. Onyxia's wing buffets knock back and reduce the threat of her target, making the dragon more likely to turn her attentions to another foe. As nasty as the front end of the dragon is, her backside is not much more inviting; anyone attacking Onyxia from behind will inevitably be smacked with her tail, launching them far away. Being tail slapped is an excellent way to end up in the whelp pits. The whelp pits are two alcoves on either flank of Onyxia's chamber that are filled with eggs. Stepping near these alcoves at any time will generate black dragon whelps.

Her wing buffet, coupled with the Broodmother's complete immunity to snap agro abilities (taunt, growl, etc.), makes keeping her on one target difficult. If allowed to run amok and chose targets at will, Onyxia will certainly destroy any force arrayed against her, adding more souls to the list of the Broodmother's victims.

While fighting in the air, Onyxia throws clusters of fireballs that strike a small area, inflicting significant fire damage to any targets standing nearby. If not attacked vigorously enough, Onyxia will suck in a deep breath and bathe the battlefield with fire of staggering intensity. The Broodmother's "Deep Breath" is the primary danger of phase two and failing to prevent it is a common cause of failed assaults on her. I don't know what her record is against our raids, but her deep breath is theoretically capable of incinerating most of the raid in one shot -- as being caught inside this attack is a lethal experience. How much damage is needed to prevent the dragon from unleashing the full power of her fire is not explicitly clear, as she is known to be more waspish on some days than others.

When Onyxia first takes to the air, several dragon whelps will spawn from each of the whelp pits to attack the raid.

When returning to the ground for phase three, Onyxia will fight much as she did in phase one, with one critical difference: Every so often, Onyxia will unleash a terrifying roar, which will likely cause all of her foes to panic for a short time, losing all ability to act. Whenever she unleashes this roar, lava will jet from the cracks in the floor of her lair, searing for significant damage anyone running near them. Without fail, Onyxia will unleash her first roar immediately after landing from phase two. It is during this moment, the phase two - phase three transition, that most unsuccessful Onyxia raids meet their end. With the raid fleeing in terror and Onyxia free to attack whomever she pleases, the Broodmother will certainly add another ghastly victory to her record if order is not restored quickly and efficiently.

Any force hoping to kill Onyxia will counter this myriad of threats with tight discipline. During phases one and three, all of Onyxia's single target attacks will be focused on one person, the main tank, and the dragon will be deliberately faced away from the rest of the raid to prevent her from using her powerful area attack abilities to their full effect. All other members of the raid, healers and damage dealers alike, will cooperate to ensure that Onyxia always turns her attention onto one predictable (and very well defended) target, as this is the key to defeating her. If her attention can be held on the main tank, in the proper location facing in the proper direction, the damage Onyxia inflicts becomes manageable and she can be defeated through attrition.

Operational Art

The encounter with Onyxia is an exercise in threat control. As defeating her depends on keeping her in a specific location, facing a specific direction, attacking a specific person, having her suddenly decide to change targets at any time is a "very bad thing" (tm). If the dragon decides to turn to attack say... a rogue.. at around the same time she decides to breathe a cone of fire, a large portion of the raid can end up in extremis (latin for toast).

Every class has its own threat management tools and tactics; adherence to DPS calls (DPS Control) is the only method that is really common to all classes.

A typical battle begins with the main tank running in to attack Onyxia. The rest of the raid follows about 30 yards behind him. You must make sure to get well inside Onyxia's chamber when the battle is joined because a new Onyxia Warder will spawn in the entrance tunnel. Pulling this warder into the fight will most likely wipe the raid, so don't loiter in the entrance and don't return there during any point of the battle.

The main tank will meet the dragon in the middle of the chamber and do a few quick tank-things to it to piss it off whilst running through it. This will cause the dragon to pivot, facing towards the opposite wall. The main tank will then start to slowly back up, pulling the dragon into position that the raid wants to hold it for the bulk of the fight, in the north end of the chamber, facing the north wall, with the main tank in front of it.

While the main tank is doing all these wonderful things, only a small group of designated priests will be healing him. No one else will be attacking, healing, bandaging or doing anything that has even a remote chance of drawing the dragon's attention off the main tank. As the dragon is moved into its position, the remainder of the raid will also move into their own positions. Most of the raid will be to the left and the right of the dragon, situated near the wall somewhere between the direction the dragon's head is facing and the opening of the nearest whelp pit. During our raids, odd numbered groups (1, 3, 5, 7) always settle in on Onyxia's left and even numbered groups (2, 4, 6, 8) on her right. The only exception to this is the hunters. All the hunters will position themselves behind the dragon, well out of reach of her tail, and wait.

After the main tank has had enough time to generate a sizable amount of threat with Onyxia, the raid leadership will signal the damage team to start attacking. In general, melee attackers assault Onyxia from her flanks, aiming somewhere between her shoulders and haunches in order to avoid being cleaved, ignited or launched by her tail. Everyone else attacks from a distance from wherever they are standing. Typically, this situation will persist until Onyxia "tires of the bothersome mortals" and takes to the air, beginning phase two of the battle. The raid leaders may instruct the raid to cease fire at any time to give the main tank time to generate more threat after a wing buffet, so be vigilant for DPS calls if you are a damage dealer.

When phase two begins, two groups previously designated as whelp groups will position themselves near (but not too near) the whelp pits. Shortly after Onyxia becomes airborne, whelps will hatch and join the fight; the whelp groups will quickly turn them into dragon whelp pizza. As phase two continues more whelps will spawn and join their siblings at the pizzeria. Everyone else in the raid spreads out (staying away from the whelp pits and the entrance) and starts to attack Onyxia with whatever ranged attacks they have. Priests and warlocks will pile damage-over-time spells (DoTs) on Onyxia at the beginning of phase two, but will not reapply any new DoTs as the dragon's declining hitpoints bring the battle closer to phase three. Everyone, regardless of their specialty (melee, healer or hybrid), will fire bows, guns, and offensive spells at the dragon; casters who need to save mana for phase three will use wands. Onyxia chooses targets randomly in phase two, so threat management here is not an issue, save for the restriction of applying no new DoTs when Onyxia is getting ready to land. As phase two is drawing near an end, people must start to migrate back to the positions they took during phase one, whilst still maintaining a steady stream of damage on the dragon.

When Onyxia lands, she roars; phase three begins. Certain members of the raid, likely people in group one (the MT group), will be tasked with reducing the effects of fear on the main tank. As soon as the main tank recovers from the fear, he will run at the dragon and attempt to lead her back to the position used in phase one. The rest of the raid concentrates on helping the main tank do this in a number of ways:

1. A small group of healers, usually priests, keeps the main tank healed while being ready to fade
2. No one else does anything that generates threat -- no attacking, no healing, no healing potions, no bandages
3. Anyone who gets agro, who isn't the main tank, immediately runs to where Onyxia is supposed to be facing (where the tank is trying to get her) and stays there until dead.

Although it seems callous, any member of the raid must be ready to "take one for the team" during phase three -- particularly during the opening moments of the phase. Drawing agro unnecessarily and not taking steps to get Onyxia under control will only cause the chaos of the phase three transition to last longer, dramatically increasing the odds that the raid will be annihilated. For the sake of victory, it is far preferable that any one person dies rather than leaving the dragon staring head first into a formation of priests or hunters. Once the main tank has got the dragon back into position and has been fighting with her for ~10 seconds, the raid can start taking small defensive measures; mostly bandages, potions and spot healing to keep the raid alive.

Once the situation stabilizes and the main tank has generated a sizable amount of threat with Onyxia, the raid leader will call for damage to come back on. The raid will attack as they did in phase one and continue until Onyxia finally collapses under the force of the onslaught.

Dealing with the constant fear effects is the only difference between phase one and phase three, after the transition period is over. Melee classes have little they can do to mitigate damage from the terrifying roar/lava geyser attack, but casters and healers can position themselves to reduce the risk of being seared by lava while running in terror. In Onyxia's lair, any character standing parallel to a wall (shoulder squarely against the wall while staring down its length) will most likely run back and forth next to it when feared, greatly reducing the odds of running into a lava geyser. All classes, regardless of their position on the field, must stay well away from the whelp pits during phase three. Also, if you end up high on a wall due to fear, you must immediately get down; standing on inaccessible geometry in the game creates a small risk that Onyxia will become bugged (Evade lock). If Onyxia gets bugged, she will return to full hit points very quickly. A raid in a stable phase three is probably on its way to winning the battle. Having Onyxia recover fully due to a miserable bug is a blow to the morale of any raid.

If all goes well, Onyxia will eventually crumple under the assault, and the Heroes of the Horde/Alliance will be victorious.

Tactics

What specifically do the individual classes do during the battle with Onyxia?

Shaman

The shaman's role in a battle with The Broodmother varies somewhat depending upon what group you are assigned to, but in general you are here to (in order of priority) drop supportive totems, heal, and contribute some damage (all phases). Who you are responsible for depends on who you are grouped with. There are four distinct positions for a shaman in the Onyxia encounter:

1. Main tank group
2. Hunter group
3. DPS group
4. Whelp group

Main Tank Group: What I like to call the "Rumble Seat". The Main Tank's job is to get hit for a living. Not surprisingly, being near him while he's entertaining an angry dragon can be rather exciting. This is a dangerous role, but one of particular importance. It is a position that you need to understand, as there is a chance that you may be moved into the main tank's group to fill in for any shamans who perish, regardless of where you were initially assigned in the raid.

There will usually be three shamans in the main tank's group. When the battle starts, the shamans will follow the main tank into the chamber and deploy on either side of him (a small exception to the odd-left, even-right rule discussed in a previous section of this guide). Between the three shamans, every melee buff and defensive totem known to man will be planted and maintained. Fire Resistance is the most important totem in to drop during phase one, but both Strength of Earth and Windfury are useful to the main tank.

Typically, shamans in the MT group will also watch the main tank's health and be ready to help the priests keep him alive. If there is mana to spare, I will often spot heal the damage classes as well, although this typically isn't necessary until phase three.

Finding a safe position as an MT group shaman can be tricky, but for the most part, you should be safe standing near the melee damage classes during phase one. You will be close enough to the MT to totemize him, but far enough to not be eating cleaves and flame breaths. During phase three, you will want to be standing next to the wall, 20 or so yards away from the MT, facing away from the dragon.

If things are going smoothly, you should enter phase two with most of your mana. Throw lightning bolts and frost shocks at Onyxia while keeping a fire resistance totem down. Be prepared to top up the main tank's health if he eats a fire ball or two. Try to keep more than half your mana available for phase three and be ready to move back into position the moment Onyxia starts to land. Better still, be waiting back in position shortly before she thinks about landing.

You should drop a tremor totem shortly before phase three begins, and you should maintain both a tremor totem and a fire resistance totem for the entire remaining duration of the battle. Healing spells are reserved for the main tank. If you have mana to spare, pop a heal on a rogue, priest, druid or warrior. When refreshing totems between fears, move closer to the main tank only long enough to drop totems and then move away. When Onyxia roars you don't want to be in a position to get feared in front of her; a good way to join the honored dead.

Hunter Group: I like to call this position the "Artillery Loader" or "Ammo Boy". Being grouped with the hunters is pretty safe. Any non-stoned hunter is not going to pull agro off Onyxia and during our raids the hunters are not placed in a position to suffer if someone else draws agro. It is actually for this very reason that the hunters are so important in an Onyxia encounter -- they can attack with impunity. After the first "damage on" call, the hunters will probably not stop attacking until the beginning of phase three. Your main job in keep a Grace of Air and Mana Spring totem down for the hunters. After the first attack order is given, I usually start throwing the occasional lightning bolt just so my natural mana regeneration is not going to waste.

During phase two, you will want to switch to using the grace of air and fire resistance totems (the hunters may request mana spring instead of FR during phase two); during phase three you will want to start dropping the tremor totem as well. During all phases of the battle, you will need to be ready to heal the hunters, especially during phase three. They should never have to stop to bandage.

In my experience, Onyxia always seems to hit the hunters when she is able to squeeze out a deep breath during phase 2. So if she manages to let one rip, try to get out of the way but expect to meet the same end as a rasher of bacon. For bonus style points, reincarnate, drink a major mana potion and try to resurrect as many of the hunters as you can before getting pulled back into combat. My personal record is three.

DPS/Whelp Group: Being positioned in a DPS or Whelp group is very similar to being in the main tank's group, except it’s a bit safer. Your priority is to provide support and defense totems for your group. For caster heavy groups, the ideal totems are tranquil air/mana spring in phase one, fire resistance in phase 2, and fire resistance/tremor/tranquil air in phase 3. Melee groups will probably want fire resistance, strength of earth, and tranquil air/windfury/grace of air, depending on their preferences; regardless of what they ask for, you should switch to grace of air for phase two. As always, begin dropping tremor totem during phase three.

When assigned to a DPS group, you should be spot healing anyone within range who really needs it, while keeping an eye on the main tank. If you are in a whelp group, you must reserve your healing for the people in your group during phase two -- the mages in particular. When the whelps are out, it is almost useful to drop a stoneskin totem for your mages. Shamans are not often assigned to whelp groups in our raids though, with priests and their power word: shield being generally regarded as the better support for a mage.

If you are in either of these groups, be ready to shift to supporting the main tank with totems and healing. The raid leaders are very likely to pull a shaman from DPS support if one of the MT shamans goes down. For bonus style points, move into position and take up MT duties the moment you see them change your group. It freaks the raid leaders out when they tell you to do something and you've already been doing it for 6 seconds.