[zone=2159] Onyxia Onyxia is the current broodmother of the Black Dragonflight on Azeroth, residing in Onyxia's Lair. Lore Onyxia is the daughter of the mighty black dragon Aspect, Deathwing. Long ago, Onyxia drove the Stonemaul ogres from the caves in Dragonmurk, not with any specific ill will, but merely for a place to raise her numerous children, who would then leave to infest the Wyrmbog. She and her children became known for terrorizing any travelers who strayed too close to her home. Since Deathwing's departure, his eldest children have risen to lead their brethren and recoup their failing numbers. Deathwing's eldest son, the malicious and cunning , has claimed the burning fortress of [zone=1583] as his aerie. There, aided by his loyal dragonspawn, he subverted the remaining Blackrock Orcs and ensnared the black dragons not already under his control. One of Nefarian's mightiest supporters is his younger sister, Onyxia. A clever, highly intelligent dragon, she delights in corrupting the mortal races by meddling in their political affairs. To this end, she takes on various humanoid forms and uses her charm and power to influence delicate matters between the different races. Onyxia has even assumed an alias once used by her father: the title of the royal House Prestor. Though Onyxia is relatively small for a black dragon of her age, she shares the same powers and abilities as the rest of her terrible flight. Her searing breath weapon can melt both stone and iron. Her physical attacks, whether bites, scrapes or tail lashes, are lightning quick and nearly unstoppable. When cornered, Onyxia is fond of taking flight and blasting her troublesome prey from above. Though Onyxia has been sighted traveling to and from Blackrock Mountain, her main lair is located in a fiery cave below the Dragonmurk, a dismal swamp located within [zone=15]. There she is guarded by her kin, the remaining members of the insidious Black Dragonflight. There also her brood of new eggs is hidden, awaiting maturation. Should anyone ever threaten Onyxia within her lair - within distance of her precious eggs - her wrath would be terrible beyond comprehension. Onyxia aided her brother, Nefarian, with the orchestrations of their human personas, in order to work toward replenishing the Black Dragonflight. Overview - Updated for 3.2.2! Albeit updated and polished, the new Onyxia does not differ from her original version by a lot. The fight is once again split into three phases - ground, air, and ground again. During the first ground phase, Onyxia will perform a number of abilities typical for any dragon - frontal Flame Breath and Cleave, Tail Sweep behind her, and Wing Buffet. The last one is different than the traditional wing buffets you might be used to seeing - it affects only players in front of her, hitting them for a fairly high amount of unmitigatable physical damage, and knocking them back. Simply tank Onyxia next to a wall, to avoid accidental Tail Sweeps and Cleaves in the DPS. Phase 1 will continue until Onyxia's health reaches 65%. At that point she will lift off, ignore all threat, and enter Phase 2. Note that while she is flying, melee cannot hit Onyxia, even if they stand underneath her. There are two kinds of adds you need to deal with in this phase - Whelps and Lair Guards. The Whelps will spawn in packs of 40 (20 on each side). The first wave will come shortly after the beginning of Phase 2, and every ~90 seconds another wave will hatch. Keep them grouped and AoE them quickly, as they are hard to tank for longer periods of time. The Lair Guards spawn more frequently (a pair every ~30 seconds), but are significantly easier to kill, as long as you assign a few ranged DPS to them. They need to die quickly, as their abilities can be dangerous even for geared tanks. As far as Onyxia's abilities go, the second phase is the toughest to go through. The occasional Fireballs that splash to nearby targets are not too bad, but the Deep Breath (preceded by raid warning) is enough to decimate a raid. As soon as you see the raid warning, note where Onyxia is facing and run to her side as quickly as possible. If it's absolutely impossible for you to get to her sides, try to strafe to the sides at least. Phase 3 will begin when Onyxia's health reaches 40%. She will land, regain her abilities from Phase 1, and learn a couple extra. As soon as she lands, and occasionally afterward, Onyxia will send the entire raid running in fear for 3 seconds. She no longer drops aggro between phases, so your tank from Phase 1 should still have her. Tremor Totem and Fear immunities are especially helpful here, since Onyxia's powerful attacks, combined with a tank running in fear, and the lava eruptions all over the room can add up to quite a bit of damage. Abilities Phase 1: Land (100% - 65%) (Spell #18435) - Inflicts 18,850 to 21,150 (25-Player: 28,275 to 31,725) Fire damage to enemies in a frontal cone. (Spell #68868) - Inflicts normal damage to an enemy and its nearest allies, affecting up to 10 targets. (Spell #18500) - Inflicts 21,678 to 24,322 (25-Player: 28,275 to 31,725) Physical damage to enemies in 20 yards frontal cone, knocking them back. Ignores armor. (Spell #68867) - Inflicts 8,325 to 9,675 (25-Player: 12,025 to 13,975) Physical damage to enemies behind the caster, knocking them away. Phase 2: Air (65% - 40%) (Spell #18392) - Inflicts 4,713 to 5,287 (25-Player: 7,069 to 7,931) to enemies in a 10 yards area. (Spell #17086) - Inflicts 6,375 to 8,625 Fire damage every 0.25 seconds for 6 seconds to enemies in a frontal cone. Damage is based on proximity to the center of the cone. (Spell #17646) - Onyxia will spawn 40 s in the beginning of Phase 2. Packs of 40 will continue spawning every ~90 seconds from then on. The whelps only have melee attack. (Spell #68968) - Onyxia will summon 2 s every ~30 seconds while in Phase 2. They use (Spell #15284), (Spell #68958) (Fire AoE), and (Spell #68960) (additional Fire damage to targets in melee range), all of which are devastating to melee. Phase 3: Land (Spell #18435) - Inflicts 18,850 to 21,150 (25-Player: 28,275 to 31,725) Fire damage to enemies in a frontal cone. (Spell #68868) - Inflicts normal damage plus an enemy and its nearest allies, affecting up to 10 targets. (Spell #18500) - Inflicts 21,678 to 24,322 (25-Player: 28,275 to 31,725) Physical damage to enemies in 20 yards frontal cone, knocking them back. Ignores armor. (Spell #68867) - Inflicts 8,325 to 9,675 (25-Player: 12,025 to 13,975) Physical damage to enemies behind the caster, knocking them away. (Spell #18431) - Raid-wide 3-second fear. Used in the beginning of Phase 3, and occasionally during it. (Spell #17731) - Inflicts 5,184 to 5,816 (25-Player: 7,069 to 7,931) Fire damage to players hit by it. Whelps - Significantly fewer Onyxian Whelps will spawn in Phase 3.