Project Lore

With rumors swirling about the incoming Patch 3.2.2's release date, last night I took some time away from Brewfest festivities to squeeze in a final encounter with Onyxia, in her classic form. I was hoping this would serve as inspiration of sorts for others to go battle her as well before the patch, but as we heard this morning it looks like the update is now underway. As early as tonight, a freshly angry Onyxia awaits those brave enough to enter her lair. Although I've seen plenty of videos and heard players brag about soloing the once epic brood mother, I wasn't confident that I'd be able to take her on alone in my squishy leather gear. So I rounded up a couple of guildies who also were keen to battle Ony, and together we headed for her lair in southern Dustwallow Marsh. The three of us - rogue, warrior and paladin - sneaked in through the gate and easily tore through a few trash dragonkin. I felt almost guilty as we rounded a corner into her nest and found her sleeping peacefully. But not guilty enough. She awoke with a fiery vengeance, ready to lay a team of 40 adventurers to waste with a single Deep Breath. Instead, she found just us three, 20 levels higher than she, and geared with equipment and spells far beyond those she once knew. Regardless, she put up a good fight. Most of her fire attacks practically bounced off the plate armor of the paladin while I threw DPS from the side. When her whelps came, spamming Fan of Knives worked handily. More ranged DPS would have come in handy when she took to the air, and the three of us ran around puzzled about how to get her down before her fireballs took us out. I was a fraction away from dying several times before we finally pulled her back within melee reach. The warrior was not so lucky; he took the brunt of fireball damage and reached his end. As Onyxia died, we each picked off a ton of loot. The little achievement whore inside me also was thrilled to get Onyxia's Lair, even though I've heard it will no longer be required for the Classic Raider achievement. But there will be new achievements! Plus a new pet whelpling and updated loot! Not nearly as troublesome as she was in her hayday, but still a beast to be reckoned with, Onyxia soon will be back at the forefront of glorious encounters. I don't know about you guys, but I am revved up to have this battle be returned to its nostalgic difficulty. With any luck, Onyxia will be back up and ready to really shine tonight. Who else plans to pay her a visit?

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Ahh, yes. With a new (old) encounter comes new achievements to earn, or fail spectacularly trying to do so. The 5th anniversary version of Onyxia is no exception, and the latest build of 3.2.2 on the test realms brings with it news on just what we can expect in this regard. Deep Breath in all its fearsome glory! The achievements are as follows:

• Onyxia's Lair (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia in 10-player mode.
• More Dots! (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia in less than 5 minutes in 10-player mode.
• Many Whelps! Handle It! (10-man) - Cause 50 Onyxia Whelplings to hatch within 10 seconds of Onyxia's liftoff, and then defeat her in 10-player mode.
• She Deep Breaths More (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia without anyone taking damage from a Deep Breath in 10-player mode.
• Onyxia's Lair (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia in 25-player mode.
• More Dots! (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia in less than 5 minutes in 25-player mode.
• Many Whelps! Handle It! (25-man) - Cause 50 Onyxia Whelplings to hatch within 10 seconds of Onyxia's liftoff, and then defeat her in 25-player mode.
• She Deep Breaths More - (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia without anyone taking damage from a Deep Breath in 25-player mode.

You might recognize a few of those phrases from the famous Onyxia Wipe Animation (WARNING: Not to be viewed at work!):

And really, how could Blizzard not reference the video? Not only is it still funny after all these years, it represents all of the memories players have from when Onyxia's Lair was the pinnacle of Vanilla raid content. The flames, the whelps, the wipes! There truly is a little angry raid leader in all of us. Likewise, "She Deep Breaths More" is a nod at the oft-maligned attack she uses when in flight during Phase 2. Players swore that she did it more often (and more randomly) in later patches. The dev team even poked fun at this reaction at the Dungeons and Raids Panel last weekend. When they showed off the tools used to tune boss encounters, the randomization for Onyxia's Deep Breath skill was set a little higher than usual. Some of you might be wondering what's going to happen to the old Level 60 Onyxia's Lair achievement. Well, it's going to be turned into a Feat of Strength once the patch hits, so if you want that particular notch in your belt, I'd get on that as soon as possible. So, what do you readers think of these achievements? Will they be hard to obtain? I think it'll be hard to say until the patch hits and the rest of us have an opportunity to experience the re-tun first hand!

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