"This amulet will allow you to enter the place you seek. Onyxia's Lair lies in Dustwallow Marsh. With the amulet in your possession, her wards will no longer keep you out."
Haleh handed the Drakefire Amulet to Gabryell and told him where Onyxia's Lair was, making sure players could find it based on her words.
Drakefire Amulet
Rare
Binds when picked up
Unique
Neck
+10 Stamina
+15 Fire Resistance
Requires Level 50
The blood of Drakkisath flows within...
This necklace was not just the entry key for Onyxia's Lair. It also helped Fire Resistance tanks stack resistance.
The Blue Dragonflight hated Onyxia badly enough to help players kill her, and in the process, they accidentally caused trouble for Ragnaros too.
"Leader," David asked, "with this necklace, we can enter Onyxia's Lair now?"
"That's right," Gabryell said. "The necklace is the key. Keep it in your bag, and you can enter Onyxia's Lair."
David's eyes lit up.
"Then why don't we go right now? If we kill the Black Dragon Princess, we'll become famous and make a fortune."
"Susie," Gabryell said, "find David a nice burial spot. If he wants to die that badly, we should at least bury him properly."
They had fifteen people, and only two of them were level 60 Mages. Everyone else was still level 59.
Without gear from the major level-60 dungeons, forget killing Onyxia. They probably would not even get past the elite dragonkin patrols near the entrance.
David wilted immediately.
"Then what are we doing now?"
"Level," Gabryell said. "Hit 60 as soon as possible. After that, farm the major level-60 dungeons and BRD."
"What counts as the major level-60 dungeons?"
"Blackrock Spire, Scholomance, and Stratholme," Gabryell said. "Scholomance is in Western Plaguelands. Stratholme is in Eastern Plaguelands."
He gave everyone the approximate locations.
"Over the next few days, run dungeons whenever you have time and gear up. Without a solid gear foundation, you are not joining raid progression."
For the race to server-first Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair, there was no way Fearless would bring players in green questing gear just to fill spots.
Better to run short than bring dead weight.
The core raid would only take players who were ready. At minimum, people needed gear around BRD level or better.
"When you run those dungeons, pick up every quest you can," Gabryell continued. "As for where to get those quests, figure it out yourselves."
Some dungeon quest rewards were excellent and absolutely worth doing.
"Luna, Snowy, SevenDays — you three healers go to Eastern Plaguelands and find Tirion Fordring. Finish his whole questline. Tomorrow, our three groups can run Stratholme together."
Gabryell had not forgotten Of Love and Family.
For healers, Fordring's Seal was too good to ignore. It was strong enough to replace Songstone of Ironforge and become one of their best pre-raid rings.
"Everyone is free for the rest of today," Gabryell said. "Tomorrow, anyone who reaches level 60 comes with me to Scholomance and Stratholme first."
After a full day of questing and dungeons, everyone was probably tired.
Gabryell planned to wait until they reached level 60 before going properly into Stratholme and Scholomance.
Those runs were not just about farming gear either. They also had quests to complete, which meant they had to go in five-player groups. If everyone was level 60, the difficulty would drop a lot.
"I'm going to level."
"Same."
"Count me in."
"How fast do you think you can level without a powerful Mage like me? Take me with you."
There was no need to guess who said the last line.
It was definitely OldSeven.
Several people grouped up to level. Based on their current experience bars, another three or four hours should be enough for them to hit 60.
"Carlos, you guys go quest in Eastern Plaguelands."
At the critical moment, Coldhands still had not come online. That meant Gabryell could not borrow his account and use double Mages to carry Carlos and the others through Stratholme for fast experience.
"What about you?" Carlos asked.
"I'm going to the forum," Gabryell said. "I'll post the Molten Core and Onyxia attunement guides."
Come on, then.
Let's make some chaos.
Everyone into Molten Core.
Everyone into Onyxia's Lair.
Gabryell opened a portal back to Stormwind, alt-tabbed out of the game, and went to the Azeroth National Geographic forum to reveal the secrets of Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair to the public.
To make sure everyone saw it, he used his admin privileges and pinned the post.
"Starting tomorrow, Blackrock Mountain is going to be packed."
Tomorrow, there would definitely be a huge number of groups going to rescue Marshal Windsor.
The only real question was whether there would be enough elite dragons in Burning Steppes for everyone to kill.
After posting, Gabryell switched back into the game and whispered Dreamshade.
"I made the post. Go check the forum."
Dreamshade replied almost immediately.
"You finished the attunement?"
"Finished."
"So you're preparing to start the forty-player raids?"
He was clearly worried that Fearless would start progressing Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair first, leaving Madhouse behind.
Gabryell laughed.
"You can go first. I'll wait for your good news."
Molten Core had taken 157 days to be cleared the first time. Onyxia had taken 69.
Those were not bosses Gabryell was worried about Madhouse stealing.
With Madhouse's current strength, they would probably take even longer.
Dreamshade was surprised by his answer.
"Fearless isn't going?"
"No rush," Gabryell said. "You guys go first. We'll wait for your guide."
Nobody with a brain would believe that.
Gabryell was obviously making things up.
"Fine," Dreamshade said. "We'll lead the way for you."
Even though he knew Gabryell was lying, Dreamshade still could not resist the temptation to go first.
He wanted Madhouse to surpass Fearless too badly.
He wanted to become the number one guild on Tichondrius.
Based on the levels of the current top players, Madhouse would probably be able to gather forty people in about two days and start progressing Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair.
"Good luck," Gabryell said. "I'll wait for your full-clear guide."
He was honestly looking forward to Madhouse wiping over and over in both raids.
When that happened, Dreamshade's expression would be beautiful.
After notifying Dreamshade, Gabryell contacted SmokeDemon too.
SmokeDemon reacted almost exactly the same way. Once his guild members finished the attunement quests, he planned to start progressing both raids immediately.
Go on, then.
All of you.
Only after you personally experience the difficulty will you truly understand what it means when Fearless clears them.
Getting prepared now would save them time later. There was no need to rush for server first.
Without a strong enough forty-player roster, good enough composition, and solid enough gear, charging into Molten Core was just wasting time.
"Everyone in the guild, listen up."
Gabryell posted an announcement on the guild forum.
"The guild event will begin next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Players whose gear reaches the standard of the major level-60 dungeons will receive priority and be considered for the guild's first progression roster."
The guild immediately exploded with questions.
"What event?"
"What are the major level-60 dungeons?"
"What does gear standard mean?"
Gabryell posted the link to his pinned thread on the Azeroth National Geographic forum.
"The event is progression for the forty-player raids Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair. I will form a fifty-to-sixty-player progression roster for these two raids."
"The major level-60 dungeons are Blackrock Spire, Scholomance, and Stratholme. BRD also counts."
"To join the first progression roster, the minimum requirement is level 60, and more than half of your gear must come from those dungeons. Anyone who does not meet the requirement will not be selected for the first roster for now."
"If you are not selected, don't panic. The guild will open more raid groups in the future. Once those groups are ready, you will still have chances to participate."
"Of course, I hope everyone pushes hard and fights for a spot in the first roster."
Gabryell paused for a moment before sending the final part.
"The first raid team will be the guild's sharpest blade. It will be built to compete for first kills and represent Fearless in front of the whole server. Getting into that roster will be an honor."
He wanted everyone to fight for a place in the first raid group.
Only a first-kill team had a real chance to become part of server history.
Later teams could clear the same content, but they would never carry the same weight.
Gabryell tentatively set Fearless's Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair progression for next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
World of Warcraft raid lockouts reset on Tuesday, so starting then made sense for long-term progression.
Today was Monday.
Tomorrow was Tuesday.
That meant they had exactly one week until the raid.
Gabryell believed one week was enough for everyone to finish the attunements and farm at least half a set of gear from the major level-60 dungeons.