Onyxia is the one raid in WoW Forever that you cannot simply walk into. When Onyxia's Lair opens on December 9, 2026, every one of the 40 raiders needs a Drakefire Amulet in their bags, and the only way to get it is the original faction quest chain from Classic, unchanged and not shared across your characters. Alliance players chase a missing marshal from Blackrock Depths to an ambush in Stormwind Keep in 16 quests. Horde players follow Thrall and Rexxar through 15 quests, four trips into Blackrock Spire and four elite dragons. Below you will find what to prepare before you start, every step of both chains in order with quest givers and coordinates, and the mistakes that cost groups the most time.
WoW Forever keeps the original key to Onyxia's Lair: every raider needs their own Drakefire Amulet. The amulet does not have to be equipped. It only has to sit in your bags when you walk through the portal, so a character who left it in the bank stays outside with the rest of the raid waiting.
The amulet is the final reward of a long faction quest chain. Alliance players work for Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Marshal Windsor in the Burning Steppes, Blackrock Depths and Stormwind. Horde players work for Thrall and Rexxar, which takes them across half of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Both chains end in Upper Blackrock Spire, where General Drakkisath drops the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion.
The developers kept the chain the same as in Classic and said it will not be account-wide at launch, so every alt that wants to see Onyxia repeats it. The two new raids work differently: The Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit have no attunement chain at all. All three raids unlock on December 9, 2026, for level 60 characters, and Onyxia's Lair stays a 40-player raid.
The official advice is short and worth taking seriously: start early, bring a few friends for the elite quests, and plan for several trips into high-level dungeons.
The two chains ask for very different things. The Alliance can pick up the first quest at level 48 and spends most of its time in Blackrock Depths and Stormwind. The Horde needs level 55 for every step and runs Blackrock Spire several times. In WoW Forever, Blackrock Depths is a 5-player dungeon and Blackrock Spire, upper and lower halves together, takes up to 10 players.
The table below sums up what each faction has to plan for before the first quest.
| Requirement | Alliance | Horde |
|---|---|---|
| First quest | Dragonkin Menace, level 48 | Warlord's Command, level 55 |
| Quest giver | Helendis Riverhorn, Burning Steppes | Warlord Goretooth, Kargath in the Badlands |
| Dungeon runs | Blackrock Depths for Marshal Windsor, then Upper Blackrock Spire for General Drakkisath | Lower Blackrock Spire for three bosses, then Upper Blackrock Spire for Rend, dragonkin eyes and Drakkisath |
| Outdoor elites | Black dragonkin in the Burning Steppes | Four elite dragons in four zones |
| City events | The Great Masquerade in Stormwind | None |
| Final turn-in | Haleh, Winterspring | Rexxar, Desolace |
The Drakefire Amulet itself requires level 50, but Onyxia's Lair is a level 60 raid, and the last steps of both chains send you to General Drakkisath at the top of Blackrock Spire. In practice, both factions finish the attunement at level 60.
In the original game, the door to Upper Blackrock Spire opens only for a group with at least one player who carries the Seal of Ascension. WoW Forever still has the key quest Seal of Ascension, but its final step no longer lists the Seal of Ascension as a reward, and the item itself has no WoW Forever entry. That points to a door that may open without a key, but Blizzard has not confirmed it either way. Until it does, have one player in your group start the seal chain early, since Horde players already kill the same three Lower Blackrock Spire bosses for Warlord's Command.
Our WoW Forever Lower Blackrock Spire guide walks through the whole Seal of Ascension chain, from the Unadorned Seal to the forge at Emberstrife.
The Alliance chain has 16 quests. It reads like a detective story: you follow the trail of a missing marshal from the Burning Steppes to a prison cell in Blackrock Depths, bring him back to Stormwind, and watch him expose Lady Katrana Prestor in front of the whole court. Most of the travel happens between the Burning Steppes, Lakeshire and Stormwind, so set your hearthstone with that in mind.
The chain starts at Morgan's Vigil in the eastern Burning Steppes, where Helendis Riverhorn (85.5, 68.9) gives Dragonkin Menace from level 48. You kill 15 Black Broodlings, 10 Black Dragonspawn, 4 Black Wyrmkin and 1 Black Drake. It is an elite quest and it can be shared, so this is the moment to group up with the friends you plan to run Blackrock Depths with.
The next six quests all carry the name The True Masters. They are mostly travel and talking, and three of them cannot be shared, so every player has to walk the route personally.
Marshal Windsor sends you into Blackrock Depths to find out what happened to him. He sits in a cell in the Detention Block. High Interrogator Gerstahn drops the Prison Cell Key about half the time, and Rogues can pick the lock instead. You do not free Windsor yet: he only sends you back with Abandoned Hope, and Maxwell rewards the bad news with a choice of Conservator Helm, Shieldplate Sabatons or Windshear Leggings.
The second half of the Windsor story starts from an item. A Crumpled Up Note drops from dozens of Blackrock Depths mobs at well under 1% each, so it usually turns up while you clear the dungeon for other quests. It starts A Crumpled Up Note, which you hand to Windsor in his cell. Every player needs their own note, because the quest cannot be shared.
Players who farmed the note in Classic found the non-elite Quarry Slaves near the dungeon entrance the easiest source, often after 30 to 50 kills. They can be killed solo, so this part does not need the group.
A Shred of Hope asks for the two parts of Marshal Windsor's Lost Information: one from Golem Lord Argelmach and one from General Angerforge. Both drop for every member of the group who has the quest.
Both bosses sit behind locked gates. Bring someone with the Shadowforge Key or a Rogue who can pick the locks, and plan crowd control, because both fights come with adds.
Back at the cell, Jail Break! is an escort. Windsor walks to his confiscated gear, frees two other prisoners and runs for the exit, and the quest fails if he dies. Turn it in to Maxwell for a choice of Blade of Reckoning or Skilled Fighting Blade.
Windsor walks the whole prison ring, enters side rooms and opens cells along the way, so kill anything that comes out that is not one of his two friends. When he reaches the instance portal and stops, wait a few seconds for the quest to complete before you leave: leaving early means repeating the whole escort.
Maxwell sends you to the Stormwind gates with Stormwind Rendezvous. Talk to Squire Rowe (70.4, 85.5), and Reginald Windsor rides in to meet you.
The Great Masquerade is the famous scene of the chain. You escort Windsor through Stormwind to the Keep, where he unmasks Lady Katrana Prestor as a black dragon. Her guards turn into dragonkin, Windsor dies, and Bolvar takes on the dragonkin himself. If Windsor is not at the gate, talk to Squire Rowe again to call him.
After the fight, Bolvar hands you the Fragment of the Dragon's Eye and The Dragon's Eye. The being who can restore it is Haleh, a blue dragon in Mazthoril, Winterspring. Walk through the elite-filled Mazthoril cave to the blue rune at its far end. It takes you up to the hidden ledge where Haleh waits (54.5, 51.2).
Haleh's last quest, Drakefire Amulet, sends you to the throne room at the top of Blackrock Spire. Kill General Drakkisath and loot the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion, which drops for every player on the quest. Fly back to Haleh, and she gives you the Drakefire Amulet: a neck slot item with +10 Stamina and +15 Fire Resistance that doubles as your key to the raid.
The Horde chain has 15 quests and is the longer of the two by a wide margin. It needs level 55 from the first step, sends you into Blackrock Spire four times, and ends with a tour of four zones to kill four elite dragons. In exchange, the story is one of the best in the game: Thrall, Rexxar and an old drake named Emberstrife help you infiltrate the black dragonflight.
The chain opens with Warlord Goretooth in the tower of Kargath, Badlands (5.8, 47.6). Blizzard's own walkthrough lists the first quest as Blood and Thunder. The WoW Forever data does not show a quest with that name yet. There, Goretooth has no quest marker over his head: you talk through his dialogue, he hands you Warlord Goretooth's Command, and using that letter starts Warlord's Command. The letter requires level 55.
Warlord's Command sends you into the lower half of Blackrock Spire to kill Highlord Omokk, War Master Voone and Overlord Wyrmthalak, and to pick up the Important Blackrock Documents. The documents sit in a small pile that spawns near one of the bosses, so check every boss area as you go. The quest cannot be shared, and its Classic reward choice of five items is gone from the WoW Forever data, so the new reward is still unknown.
Goretooth sends you to Orgrimmar with Eitrigg's Wisdom. Speak with Eitrigg (34.5, 38.5) in Thrall's chamber, then with Thrall (32.0, 37.8).
Thrall's For The Horde! asks for the head of Warchief Rend Blackhand. In the original game, Rend fights at the end of the Gauntlet in Upper Blackrock Spire. The Head of Rend Blackhand drops for every group member on the quest. Turning it in pays 200 reputation with Orgrimmar, Darkspear Trolls, Undercity and Thunder Bluff.
Stay in Thrall's chamber for What the Wind Carries. Its only objective is to listen to Thrall's story, so keep clicking his dialogue until it completes.
The Champion of the Horde sends you after Rexxar, who walks the main road through Desolace between the Stonetalon Mountains and Feralas. He does not stand still, so ride along the road until you meet him.
Rexxar only shows up on the minimap when you are close, and players in Classic often lost half an hour looking for him. Start at one end of his road, at the Stonetalon Mountains border in the north or the Feralas border in the south, and ride the full length of it. You will need to find him three times over the whole chain.
Rexxar gives you The Testament of Rexxar for Myranda the Hag at Sorrow Hill in the Western Plaguelands (50.8, 77.8).
Myranda can make you look like a black dragon, but she needs eyes to do it. Oculus Illusions asks for 20 Black Dragonspawn Eye from the dragonkin of Upper Blackrock Spire. Rookery Hatchers, Rookery Guardians and Rage Talon Dragonspawn and Flamescales drop them most often, at around one kill in four or five, so a full clear of the upper half usually finishes the quest for the whole group.
Myranda gives you the Amulet of Draconic Subversion and the quest Emberstrife. Ride to the Wyrmbog in the south of Dustwallow Marsh, equip the amulet inside Emberstrife's den (56.6, 87.6), use it to take the shape of a black dragon, and talk to him. The disguise only works in the den, and without it Emberstrife and his dragonkin attack you.
The amulet needs a short moment after you equip it before it can be used. Keep it until the chain is over: you equip and use it again every time you return to Emberstrife with a skull.
Emberstrife tests you with four quests: Scryer, Somnus and Chronalis first, then Axtroz once the other three are turned in. Each asks for the skull of a drake champion of another dragonflight, and each dragon is an elite between level 60 and 62, so bring a group. All four quests can be shared and finished in a raid group, and every skull drops for everyone on the quest.
The table below shows where to find each dragon.
| Quest | Dragon | Zone | Coordinates | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Test of Skulls, Scryer | Scryer | Mazthoril, Winterspring | 53.2, 55.6 | 60 Elite |
| The Test of Skulls, Somnus | Somnus | Southeast of the Sunken Temple, Swamp of Sorrows | Patrols around 80.6, 60.4 | 62 Elite |
| The Test of Skulls, Chronalis | Chronalis | Caverns of Time entrance, Tanaris | 64.5, 50.4 | 61 Elite |
| The Test of Skulls, Axtroz | Axtroz | Grim Batol gate, Wetlands | 83.0, 48.6 | 62 Elite |
Three to five players handle every dragon, and a tank and a healer make all four fights easy. Chronalis, at the Caverns of Time entrance, is the simplest and a good place to start. Scryer waits deep in a cave full of elite blue dragonkin, so clear your way in and around him, and watch for his Amplify Damage and frost breath. Somnus patrols among elite green dragonkin: pull him away from them, because his Wing Flap throws players into nearby packs, and keep an eye on his Sleep. Axtroz is the hardest of the four, with a frontal Flame Breath and a bleed, so bring a full group and catch him away from the other red dragonkin on the Grim Batol road.
With all four skulls in hand, Emberstrife gives you Ascension... and the Dull Drakefire Amulet. Take it back to Rexxar on the Desolace road.
Rexxar's last quest, Blood of the Black Dragon Champion, sends you back to Upper Blackrock Spire to kill General Drakkisath. The dragon disguise does not work inside Blackrock Spire, so this is a straight fight. Loot the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion, return to Rexxar, and he turns the dull amulet into the Drakefire Amulet.
Most of the time on this attunement is lost to failed escorts, missed dialogue options and dungeon runs that could have covered two quests at once. These habits save the most of it.
Each dungeon quest only appears after you turn in the one before it, so you cannot collect everything in one visit. The table shows the minimum number of runs for each faction and what to finish in each one.
| Run | Alliance | Horde |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackrock Depths: find Marshal Windsor, kill High Interrogator Gerstahn for the cell key | Lower Blackrock Spire: Omokk, Voone, Wyrmthalak and the documents for Warlord's Command |
| 2 | Blackrock Depths: A Crumpled Up Note, Argelmach, Angerforge and the Jail Break! escort | Upper Blackrock Spire: Warchief Rend Blackhand for For The Horde! |
| 3 | Upper Blackrock Spire: General Drakkisath | Upper Blackrock Spire: 20 Black Dragonspawn Eyes |
| 4 | Not needed | Upper Blackrock Spire: General Drakkisath |
Horde players should also carry the Seal of Ascension quest into their first Lower Blackrock Spire run, because it needs gemstones from the same three bosses as Warlord's Command.
In Classic, each Seal of Ascension gemstone dropped about one time in three and only one player could loot it, so Horde groups often needed more than one Lower Blackrock Spire run for the key. For the final General Drakkisath kill, join a full clear of Upper Blackrock Spire rather than a group that only kills Rend, because those groups usually stop after the Gauntlet.
Jail Break! starts the moment someone accepts it, and it cannot be shared. Have everyone turn in A Shred of Hope first, then accept Jail Break! together. Clear the prison area and the path to Windsor's gear before you start, keep a free slot in your quest log, and stay close to him. If he dies, abandon the quest, reset the dungeon and try again.
During The Great Masquerade, every member of the group should turn in Stormwind Rendezvous before anyone accepts the escort. When Lady Katrana Prestor reveals herself, stay back and let Bolvar and the guards handle the dragonkin. If the event stalls, Windsor gets stuck or he never appears, abandon the quest and talk to Squire Rowe at the gates again.
The march is not phased. Other players in Stormwind see the same event, and several groups waiting at the gates can delay you, so pick a quiet hour. Players in Classic often needed more than one attempt before the quest completed.
Two Horde steps hide in dialogue instead of a quest marker. Warlord Goretooth only hands over his letter after you click through his conversation, and What the Wind Carries completes when you reach the end of Thrall's story. If an NPC seems to have nothing for you, open the dialogue again and check every option.
Equip the Amulet of Draconic Subversion only once you are inside Emberstrife's den, since it does nothing outside it. Make room in your quest log before you talk to him, because he hands out the Test of Skulls quests. Then plan the four dragons as one trip with the same group: all four quests can be shared, the skulls drop for everyone, and Winterspring, the Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris and the Wetlands are far apart.
The Drakefire Amulet does not need to be equipped, so it is easy to forget in the bank while cleaning your bags. Raiders without it cannot enter Onyxia's Lair, so check that it is in your inventory before the raid forms.
Once the amulet is in your bags, the next step is the raid itself. Our WoW Forever Onyxia's Lair guide covers the entrance, the three phases of the fight and the full loot table.
If your guild is not ready for a 40-player raid when the lair opens, take a look at our WoW Forever Onyxia's Lair Boost.
Both attunement chains run through the same dungeons, and these guides cover them boss by boss:
These are the questions players ask most often about getting into Onyxia's Lair in WoW Forever.
No. The Drakefire Amulet only has to be in your bags when you enter. You can keep wearing a better necklace, but do not leave the amulet in the bank.
No, not at launch. Every character who wants to raid Onyxia completes the chain on their own. The Chipped Drakefire Amulet that Squire Rowe and Eitrigg sell in other Classic versions is gone from their WoW Forever vendor lists.
Onyxia's Lair unlocks on December 9, 2026, together with The Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit. It is a level 60 raid for 40 players.
No. Onyxia's Lair is the only raid at launch with an attunement chain. The two new raids have no attunement chain, although the developers hinted that some of their content will ask for extra steps.
The Alliance chain starts at level 48 and requires level 50 from A Crumpled Up Note onward. Every Horde quest requires level 55. The Drakefire Amulet itself requires level 50, but both chains end with General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire, so most players finish at 60.
Not from start to finish. Both chains include elite quests and dungeon bosses in Blackrock Depths and Blackrock Spire, and the Horde has four elite dragons to kill on top of that. The travel and talking steps are solo.
The Horde one. It has one quest fewer, but it needs four trips into Blackrock Spire and four elite dragons in four different zones. The Alliance chain stays mostly between the Burning Steppes, Lakeshire and Stormwind, with two Blackrock Depths runs and one Blackrock Spire run.
