WoW: Forever's first raids open December 9: Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair

We finally know what's waiting at level 60. In a new raid overview posted on October 20, Blizzard laid out the first three raids of WoW: Forever - where they are, how many players each one takes and what you need to get in. All three open on the same day: Wednesday, December 9, five weeks after the game launches on November 4.

Two are new: Barrow Deeps for 10 players and Hyjal Summit for 20. The third is an old friend, Onyxia's Lair, still built for 40 and still behind its attunement. Here's everything Blizzard has said, and what it means for your first weeks at 60.

WoW Forever's first raids on December 9: Barrow Deeps for 10 players with 8 bosses, Hyjal Summit for 20 players with 13 bosses, and Onyxia's Lair for 40 players — The three raids that open on December 9.

The short version

When: Wednesday, December 9, 2026. All three raids open at once, for level 60 characters.
Barrow Deeps: 10 players, 8 bosses, in the old prison under Mount Hyjal.
Hyjal Summit: 20 players, 13 bosses, at the top of Mount Hyjal near Nordrassil.
Onyxia's Lair: 40 players in Dustwallow Marsh. Every raider needs the Drakefire Amulet.
Resets: all three are planned to reset once a week.

Barrow Deeps (10 players)

Barrow Deeps is the prison beneath Kalimdor that held Illidan Stormrage for 10,000 years. Blizzard places it "within Mount Hyjal, with multiple entrances connected through Mount Hyjal, Winterspring, and Blackmaw Hold", so you won't always have to come in the same way.

Inside, 10-player groups will face eight bosses as they explore the prison's depths.— Blizzard, raid overview, October 20

At 10 players, this is the raid for small guilds and groups of friends - and the one most players will probably see first.

Hyjal Summit (20 players)

Hyjal Summit is the big one: 13 bosses on the summit of Mount Hyjal near the World Tree Nordrassil. According to MMORPG.com's preview of Blizzard's deep dive, it opens with a fight against an ancient guardian, and raid groups can then choose between several paths across the mountain, through ruins above and below ground.

Onyxia's Lair (40 players)

The only raid from the original game in this first tier. "Deep in Dustwallow Marsh, Onyxia's Lair is a level 60 raid for 40 players." Warcraft Tavern reports that Blizzard describes a three-phase fight with Onyxia, Nefarian's sister and advises building up Fire Resistance before you go in.

Onyxia is a raid you have to earn. "Onyxia's Lair requires each member of the raid to carry the Drakefire Amulet to enter." That means every one of your 40 players, not just the raid leader.

The Onyxia attunement: start before December

Blizzard says the attunement "will remain unchanged from Classic". Each faction has its own questline, and both lead through Blackrock Spire:

Alliance: starts in the Burning Steppes with Dragonkin Menace from Helendis Riverhorn, runs through the True Masters quests and the rescue of Marshal Windsor in Blackrock Depths, then Highlord Bolvar Fordragon's "The Dragon's Eye" in Stormwind. It ends in Upper Blackrock Spire, where you need General Drakkisath's blood to finish the Drakefire Amulet.
Horde: starts in the Badlands with Warlord Goretooth, goes through Lower Blackrock Spire and Warchief Rend Blackhand, then Rexxar in Desolace. In Dustwallow Marsh you take Emberstrife's four Test of Skulls quests - Scryer, Somnus, Chronalis and Axtroz - before finishing in Upper Blackrock Spire with Blood of the Black Dragon Champion.

The amulet only has to be in your bags. Blizzard says it "does not need to be equipped to enter Onyxia's Lair", so it won't cost you a neck slot. Blizzard's advice for the chain is simple:

Start early, bring a few friends for the elite quests.— Blizzard, raid overview, October 20

Tip: every quest in both chains has a step-by-step guide in our quest database, and the Drakefire Amulet item page shows the full route to it. The guides use Classic data until they're checked in Forever.

Weekly resets

Blizzard has also settled how often you can clear them: "With all raids currently planned to reset each week, you can settle into a consistent schedule." Unlike the original game, where Onyxia reset every five days, everything is on one weekly timer, so a guild can run all three on fixed nights.

What comes after December

December 9 is only the first tier. Blizzard's roadmap, as reported by Icy Veins in September, lists two more major updates in 2027:

Spring 2027: two new raids (one for 10 players, one for 20), two new dungeons, a larger world and a new legendary questline.
Summer 2027: a revamped iconic raid, another new raid and two more dungeons.

Lead Classic Designer Tim Jones explained the 10 and 20 sizes in an interview with MKAU Gaming:

for every Tier, we want to always provide a 10-man raid. We always want to provide a 20-man raid.— Tim Jones, Lead Classic Designer, September 2026

He called the 40-player Onyxia "an exception that we're starting with."

WoW Forever raid roadmap: launch November 4 2026, three raids December 9 2026, two new raids in spring 2027, a revamped iconic raid and a new raid in summer 2027 — The raid roadmap so far.

What we don't know yet

Blizzard hasn't said what time the raids unlock on December 9, and it hasn't named the bosses of Barrow Deeps or Hyjal Summit or shown their loot. It also hasn't said whether the two new raids need an attunement of their own - the overview only describes one for Onyxia.

Our take: one raid for each group size is the right way to start. A 10-player raid that small guilds can actually fill and a 13-boss raid for bigger ones means nobody waits on the 40-player crowd to see new content, and Onyxia stays as the classic big night out. Five weeks is enough time to reach 60 and gear up in dungeons - but only if you start the Onyxia attunement early, because 40 people all need it.

Get ready

Use the next seven weeks to gear up. Our BiS lists show the best dungeon gear for every spec at level 60, Find Upgrades ranks every upgrade for your own character, and the new Quest Upgrades page finds the quest rewards worth doing on the way to 60. Once Blizzard publishes the raid loot, we'll add it to our sims and BiS lists.