Onyxia’s Lair: WoW Forever Raid Guide
Onyxia’s Lair is the one original raid in the first WoW Forever raid unlock: a 40-player raid opening on December 9, 2026, alongside the two new raids, the Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit. Here is what is known about it in Forever — and Blizzard hasn’t announced any changes to it.
Written from Blizzard’s What’s Next panel and recap and developer interviews. Boss names from the BlizzCon demo and anything read out of the beta client are labeled as demo or datamined; both can change. Last reviewed: .
Onyxia’s Lair in WoW Forever: what is confirmed
- 40 players, opening Dec 9. It unlocks on the same day as the two new raids, 5 weeks after Forever launches.
- The first 40-player raid. In the September 17 Live Q&A, Blizzard said 40-player raids are coming, starting with Onyxia’s Lair, but that not every tier will have one.
- One boss in the demo. In the BlizzCon demo’s Legacy Challenges window, Blizzard Watch found Onyxia still listed as the only boss for her lair.
- No changes announced. Blizzard hasn’t said whether anything in the raid changes from Classic.
- The only original raid, for now. Blizzard says Forever starts at the beginning of World of Warcraft, so the iconic raids players know haven’t opened yet and will be rediscovered later; in an interview with The Sun it said Molten Core will open someday, but not now.
What Forever’s raid rules mean for Onyxia
Blizzard’s raid rules apply to every raid, not to Onyxia in particular. Raids have a single difficulty (Live Q&A), and the developers told But Why Tho? that difficulty doesn’t scale with your level, so you can out-gear or out-level a raid. The developers told MMORPG.com that items in general keep their stats hidden until they drop for you or on your server. Wowhead’s summary of The Sun interview says you can get your tier pieces across all three raids, without saying which pieces drop where.
The developers said the new raids at launch won’t need an attunement, which leaves Onyxia’s Lair out: Blizzard hasn’t said whether it keeps the attunement it had in Classic.
Datamined, not announced: Wowhead found a Legacy achievement, “Conqueror of the Lair”, for defeating Onyxia; it earns 1 Legacy point. See WoW Forever Legacy.
Onyxia’s Lair FAQ
Is Onyxia’s Lair in WoW Forever?
Yes. It opens as a 40-player raid on December 9, 2026, the same day as the Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit.
Is Onyxia’s Lair changed in WoW Forever?
Blizzard hasn’t said. The BlizzCon demo still listed Onyxia as its only boss.
Does Onyxia’s Lair need an attunement in WoW Forever?
Blizzard hasn’t said. The developers said only that the new raids at launch won’t need one.
Is Molten Core in WoW Forever?
Not yet. Blizzard told The Sun that Molten Core will open someday, but not now.
Not announced yet
- Whether anything in Onyxia’s Lair changes from Classic
- Whether it keeps its Classic attunement
- Which tier pieces drop here
- The official boss list and loot table
- Raid lockouts and the reset schedule
- The time of day the raids open
Sources
How we choose and check sources
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next panel recap (raids, tier sets, legendary, roadmap)
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next panel, full video (raid details)
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive panel recap (raid transmog, rulesets, item effects)
- Wowhead: liveblog of the September 17 Live Q&A (raid sizes, 40-player raids, one difficulty, PvP)
- Wowhead summary of the But Why Tho? interview (no attunement for the first new raids, no level scaling)
- Kotaku: interview with Tim Jones and Mike Nuthals (no flex raiding, 10-player raids, meeting stones)
- Wowhead summary of the MMORPG.com interview (hidden item stats, no Dungeon Journal)
- Wowhead summary of The Sun interview (raid sizes, tier pieces, chase items, Molten Core)
- Blizzard Watch: raid bosses listed in the demo Legacy Challenges
- Wowhead: datamined ways to earn Legacy points (raid challenges)
The other WoW Forever raids: The Barrow Deeps · Hyjal Summit · All WoW Forever raids