WoW Forever Onyxia Attunement: Drakefire Amulet, Both Factions

Onyxia's Lair is the only one of World of Warcraft: Forever's three launch raids with an attunement. Before you can step into the lava cave in Dustwallow Marsh you need the Drakefire Amulet, and so does every other member of your 40-player raid. This guide walks through both faction chains exactly as Blizzard lists them, marks the dungeon runs inside each, flags the one step where Blizzard's text and Classic memory disagree, and gives you a plan to have a whole raid attuned before the raids open on 9 December 2026.

What the Drakefire Amulet does

Blizzard's raid overview of 20 October 2026 is short and clear: each raid member must carry the Drakefire Amulet to enter Onyxia's Lair, and it does not need to be equipped. That's good news for your gear: your neck slot stays free for whatever you picked up in Blackmaw Hold or bought with Honor. It is bad news for raid leaders, because one missing amulet keeps one player outside — and Onyxia is a 40-player fight, so a raid of forty needs forty amulets.

Blizzard calls both chains faction-specific and describes elite quests and trips into high-level dungeons, so plan to bring friends rather than solo it. The two chains share an ending: Upper Blackrock Spire, where General Drakkisath holds the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion. Everything before that differs: the Alliance unravels a plot in Blackrock Depths and Stormwind, while the Horde follows Thrall and Rexxar across both continents and tests itself against four dragonkin.

Nothing in Blizzard's post says the attunement is shared across your account, and nothing says it is required for Barrow Deeps or Hyjal Summit. Treat it as a per-character key to one raid.

Alliance chain: 8 stages

The Alliance version stays on the Eastern Kingdoms the whole time, which keeps the travel short. Its weight is in Blackrock Depths: three stages happen inside, including an escort. Blizzard's stages, in order:

1. Dragonkin MenaceBurning Steppes quest

   Helendis Riverhorn in the Burning Steppes hands out "Dragonkin Menace" — the start of the Alliance chain.

2. The True MastersBurning Steppes quest

   Six "The True Masters" quests uncover how the Black Dragonflight is steering the Blackrock orcs.

3. Marshal MaxwellMorgan's Vigil → Blackrock Depths dungeon

   Marshal Maxwell at Morgan's Vigil sends you into Blackrock Depths to free Marshal Windsor.

4. Windsor's informationBlackrock Depths dungeon

   Collect the note inside Blackrock Depths, then win Windsor's information back from Golem Lord Argelmach and General Angerforge.

5. The escapeBlackrock Depths dungeon

   Help Windsor escape — an escort — and report back to Maxwell.

6. The Great MasqueradeStormwind travel

   Ride to Stormwind with Squire Rowe, gather allies and complete "The Great Masquerade".

7. The Dragon's EyeStormwind quest

   Highlord Bolvar Fordragon gives "The Dragon's Eye" and sends you to hunt for a helper.

8. Blood of the Black Dragon ChampionUpper Blackrock Spire dungeon

   Take the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire — and the Drakefire Amulet is yours.

How to run it efficiently. Do stages 1 and 2 in the Burning Steppes while you are questing or farming there anyway. Stages 3 to 5 all sit inside Blackrock Depths, so one well-planned run can cover the note, Golem Lord Argelmach, General Angerforge and Windsor's escape — tell your group before you start that you need those bosses and an escort, because a speed-clear won't stop for them. Stage 6 and 7 are a walk through Stormwind; stage 8 is the Upper Blackrock Spire kill that every Alliance raider needs, so it is the run to organise as a group of people who all have the quest.

Horde chain: 12 stages

The Horde chain is longer: twelve stages and a lot more travel. It starts in Kargath in the Badlands, runs through Lower Blackrock Spire and Orgrimmar, and then sends you to Desolace, the Western Plaguelands and Dustwallow Marsh before the final trip to Upper Blackrock Spire. Blizzard's stages, in order:

1. Blood and ThunderKargath, Badlands quest

   Warlord Goretooth in Kargath (Badlands) opens the Horde chain with "Blood and Thunder".

2. Warlord's CommandLower Blackrock Spire dungeon

   "Warlord's Command" sends you into Lower Blackrock Spire.

3. Eitrigg and ThrallOrgrimmar travel

   Report to Eitrigg and Thrall in Orgrimmar.

4. The head of RendLower Blackrock Spire (per Blizzard) dungeon

   Bring Thrall the head of Warchief Rend Blackhand — Blizzard's text places him in Lower Blackrock Spire (see the note below).

5. RexxarDesolace travel

   Hear Thrall's findings, then find Rexxar in Desolace.

6. Myranda the HagWestern Plaguelands travel

   Deliver Rexxar's testament to Myranda the Hag in the Western Plaguelands.

7. Oculus Illusions— quest

   Collect Black Dragonspawn Eyes for "Oculus Illusions".

8. EmberstrifeDustwallow Marsh travel

   Use the Amulet of Draconic Subversion to find Emberstrife in Dustwallow Marsh.

9. The Test of Skullsfour targets quest

   Four "The Test of Skulls" quests: Scryer, Somnus, Chronalis and Axtroz.

10. Dull Drakefire AmuletDustwallow Marsh → Desolace travel

    Emberstrife gives you the Dull Drakefire Amulet — take it back to Rexxar.

11. Blood of the Black Dragon ChampionUpper Blackrock Spire dungeon

    Take the Blood of the Black Dragon Champion from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire.

12. Drakefire AmuletDesolace travel

    Return to Rexxar for the finished Drakefire Amulet.

Where the time goes. Six of the twelve stages are travel or hand-ins across both continents, so a Horde player who leaves the chain until December will spend raid week on boats and zeppelins. Blizzard names the four Test of Skulls targets — Scryer, Somnus, Chronalis and Axtroz — but not where they are; read the quest text when you get there instead of trusting an old Classic map. The same goes for the Black Dragonspawn Eyes in "Oculus Illusions": Blizzard doesn't say where to farm them.

The Rend Blackhand question (Horde)

One Horde step needs care before you build a group. Blizzard's raid overview places Warchief Rend Blackhand in Lower Blackrock Spire. In the original Classic, Rend was fought in Upper Blackrock Spire. Forever has rebuilt a lot of content, so Blizzard's text may be exactly right — or a slip. We can't verify it until someone does the step on the live realms, so here is how to plan around both:

We'll update this section as soon as the location is confirmed on the live realms. Until then, don't promise your group a Lower Spire run just for Rend.

The dungeon runs inside the chain

Both chains are built around Blackrock Mountain, which holds three dungeons: Blackrock Depths, Lower Blackrock Spire and Upper Blackrock Spire. They are also among the classic level-60 dungeons that return in Forever, so the attunement runs double as pre-raid gear runs.

In Classic, entering Upper Blackrock Spire needed a key of its own, the Seal of Ascension. Blizzard hasn't said whether Forever keeps it, so ask in your group whether someone can open the door before you summon five people to the mountain. Speaking of summons: Forever has no automatic Dungeon Finder and its meeting stones don't summon — a Warlock's Ritual of Summoning is the only shortcut, so group up close to Blackrock Mountain.

A plan to finish before 9 December

From launch on 4 November to the raid opening on 9 December is 35 days; from today it is 31. That is enough for a level-60 character to finish either chain without rushing, as long as the dungeon stages are planned as group nights instead of hoped for. Here is the order we'd use:

1. As soon as you're 60Pick up the opening questsAlliance: Helendis Riverhorn in the Burning Steppes. Horde: Warlord Goretooth in Kargath. Finish every open-world step you can solo or duo first.
2. Week 1 at 60Do the first dungeon stage with your gear runsAlliance: Blackrock Depths for Windsor. Horde: Lower Blackrock Spire for "Warlord's Command". You'll want those dungeons for gear anyway.
3. Week 2Clear the travel stagesAlliance: Stormwind and "The Dragon's Eye". Horde: Orgrimmar, Desolace, the Western Plaguelands, Emberstrife and the four Tests of Skulls — the longest stretch.
4. Week 3Upper Blackrock Spire with your raidBook one or two Drakkisath runs for raiders on the final step. A guild can feed the whole roster through in a few evenings.
5. Week 4 · before 9 DecemberAmulet check and fire resistanceEvery raider confirms the amulet is in their bags — then the guild turns to fire resistance, which Blizzard recommends for Onyxia.

For raid leaders: track forty amulets

Attuning one character is a quest chain. Attuning a 40-player roster is project management. Keep a simple sheet with one column per milestone and update it after every run; the bottleneck is almost always the final Upper Blackrock Spire stage, because it needs a full group of people who have all reached it.

Two habits help: put players on the same stage in the same group, and run Upper Blackrock Spire before the raid's first Onyxia night — not on it. Remember that groups only form within one ruleset and one faction, so a guild can't borrow an attuned player from another ruleset to fill the last slot.

Mistakes that cost a raid night

After the amulet: getting ready for Onyxia

With the amulet in your bags the door is open, but Blizzard's raid overview says Onyxia is a three-phase fight with fire attacks and tells players to build fire resistance first. Our Onyxia's Lair guide covers what is known about the fight and how to plan fire resistance for forty players, and the raid-ready checklist covers gear, consumables and world-buff rules. If your guild is also heading into the smaller raids, the Forever raids overview puts all three side by side.

Help with the chain

If the Horde road trip or a week of Blackrock Spire groups doesn't fit your schedule, the Onyxia attunement service covers the full chain for your faction, including the dungeon stages. If you're starting from a fresh character, the raid-ready bundle does levelling, dungeon runs, the amulet and riding in one order. Be aware that piloted orders mean sharing your login, which Blizzard's terms don't allow; the price box above shows the live price, and you only pay after you approve.