Onyxia's Lair

Onyxia's Lair raid guide for Conquest of Azeroth — June beta Onyxia Unleashed mechanics, all 21 class testing, phases, loot, and group composition.

Onyxia Unleashed at Launch

Onyxia's Lair returns in Conquest of Azeroth as part of the launch raid roster alongside Molten Core and Blackwing Lair. The June 2026 open beta featured Onyxia Unleashed — a full test with all 21 custom classes, updated phase mechanics, and loot tables tuned for CoA kits and Ability Essences.

Onyxia is available from Normal through Ascended difficulty. Ascended adds tighter DPS checks and new mechanics beyond Mythic — see the Ascended Raids guide for the full difficulty ladder.

Phase Mechanics

Phase 1 (Ground): Onyxia engages in melee range with tail swipe, cleave, and fire breath. Spread to avoid breath chains; tanks face away from raid. Interrupts matter on key casts — assign per class kit (Necromancer fears, Templar stuns, etc.).

Phase 2 (Air): Onyxia lifts off — spread for fireball barrages and avoid deep breath lanes. Ranged DPS and casters handle this phase; melee maintain cleave on whelps if adds spawn.

Phase 3 (Ground + Adds): Onyxia lands with elevated damage. Burn phase with bloodlust equivalents; healers ramp throughput. Support specs (Guardian Inspiration, Ranger Farstrider) provide critical buff uptime.

Assign two tanks for whelp/add control if enabled on your difficulty
Bring at least one dedicated healer per 5 players — Sun Cleric Blessings or Starcaller Moon Priest
Include one Support spec for sustained group amplification
Stock fire resistance consumables for progression attempts

Loot and Class Gear

Onyxia drops weapons, trinkets, tier pieces, and immersive gear tuned for CoA class stat priorities. The June beta emphasized class-specific gear support — mail tanks, intellect guns, and hybrid stat items appear on Onyxia's table alongside classic favorites.

Combine Onyxia lockouts with world boss Onyxia (Unleashed) open-world versions for supplemental immersive drops before your guild clears Ascended.

Composition for 21 Classes

Standard 40-player composition: 4–6 tanks (Guardian Vanguard, Sun Cleric Seraphim, Felsworn Tyrant), 8–10 healers, 2–4 Support specs, remainder DPS with AoE for whelps and single-target for boss. CoA's class diversity means interrupt rotations require planning — no two groups share identical CC lists after the June CC redesign.

Pre-raid: full enchants, flask/elixir buffs, essence loadouts optimized for fire damage and spread mechanics. Voice comms for deep breath callouts and phase transitions.