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 discreet 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

TBA.

Tactics

TBA.