Solo Onyxia

Well i know my blog is meant to be about stealth running, but for me stealth running started because i wanted to do things solo or in small groups with other druids and rogues. Since i came across this video of a druid soloing Onyxia of course i found it interesting.

In my endeavor to blog more frequently, i thought it best if i post more often small bits of information, rather than trying to finish an instance guide or some such.

So i came across this video today, i have not had the chance to watch it yet, but it's no surprise it was done by the World Famous Serennia (Self proclaimed best warrior in the world) on a druid.

It's interesting to see that our characters have progressed to the point where it's possible to solo 40 man instances from level 60 content. As someone who enjoys challenges and attempting to solo content or at least doing it in small groups i found this post fascinating. A fellow stealth runner suggested to 2 man Onyxia a few months back as the gold farming from this is meant to be quite lucrative.

I'm sure when WoTLK comes out many of us old timers will go back to attempt older content, I know many people have already gone back and soloed level 60 content, the surprising thing nowadays is some level 70's have already been able to solo Heroic instances.

Here's the links to the post.

from the WoW forums
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=6762238991&sid=1

I will paste the contents of the post below, as we all know the internet loves to swallow links.

Posted by Serennia, guild V A N Q U I S H on the Cho'gall server


0. [Video] Onyxia solo'd by a resto druid 05/25/2008 02:03:09 PM PDT

Hybrid resto spec, no FR gear, different strat than Ted, oh my: http://warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=76343 My WCM description:
Q u o t e:As the movie title indicates, this is a video showing what most thought to be as impossible: Soloing Onyxia. Before watching it, please keep in mind that the feat is not anywhere as easy as most might think. In fact, our group of 3 was the one to set the record for the lowest amount of people to kill Onyxia before Burning Crusade started. That video can be found here if you're interested in reminiscing:

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=34385

The record was not broken until a paladin and warlock eventually 2-manned her months after BC came out. Knowing this, I recently found myself plagued with boredome bewteen raiding offdays and arena monotony, so I sought out the challenge to break the 2-man record, and thus, I present this video.

I was attempting this for a bit now (long before Ted from EU released his solo attempt) playing as a guildmate's restoration druid, thinking it would be a fairly straight-forward fight; however, it was far from it. I had to form the perfect gear outfit to sustain the healing, the perfect strategy for phase two and three, and of course, the perfect execution to make it all happen. Thus, after finishing Sunwell one night, I decided to give it another shot and it turns out all I needed was one shot.

As anyone that has ever done Onyxia with a low amount of people knows, there is a bug in the encounter that existed even pre-BC that causes one of her warder patrols to aggro during the second phase if she happens to be flying over the south end of her lair at the same time that the patrol is there. To combat this bug, and to allow a guildmate to spectate, I brought in a hunter from our guild that would immediately suicide at the start and remain dead unless this bug happened to occur. In the event that the warder would aggro, I would combat rez him so that he would help kill the warder, and then immediately die again without any further assistance in the fight. Most would agree that this is still considered a solo feat despite having to do this to combat Blizzard's design flaw.

If you watched Ted's solo attempt movie, he states that fire resistance gear and certain talents/strategies are required, which as you can see from this, that it is not. The only real requirement to do this is to make sure you have -5.6% crit reduction, which is around 226 resilience. This should hopefully encourage other people seeking a challenge to attempt a solo Onyxia. Ted also stated in his movie description the following:

"If this never gets patched - and chances are good it never will - then this is as close as you will ever get to see One Man vs Onyxia - pre WotLK"

Well Ted, this one is for you! As usual, I highly recommend downloading the full, high-quality, version rather than streaming it for better immersion. That said, I hope everyone enjoys it and all feedback is welcome.

Please note that I am aware of the "barkskin" typo in the movie and there is also one part where it loops for a few seconds to a previous point during phase one out of a mistake in editing. Time stamps and game clock can be used to establish legitimacy if it were needed for some reason. I also didn't realize I was using the wrong weapon oil until Phase 3 :(

Talents and gear used (unbuffed stats):
35/0/26
233 resilience
557 mp5 not casting, 277 while casting
2172 healing

-Serennia of VANQUISH
http://www.vqguild.net/

Shout outs to the original 3-man crew for setting the pre-bc record and still showing that you're among the best this game has to offer:

Malican of Dissonance on Ner'zhul server
Tsuaxesis of Deus Vox on Laughing Skull server

And to my arena partner that will never let me forget how bad PvE is:

Neilyo of Merciless on Tichondrius server


Spec used: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0xzrdicsxhZZAVczcq

All feedback/criticism welcome here, etc. Enjoy.