- Author: Passion
- Date: September 26, 2022
- Updated: September 26, 2022
- Expansion: WotLK Classic
Welcome to our strategy guide for the Obsidian Sanctum 10-man raid in World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Classic! Located below the Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight, the Obsidian Sanctum is available in Phase 1 of WotLK Classic and the first raid to contain an optional hard mode with additional challenges and rewards.
The hard mode here is activated by leaving Shadron, Tenebron, and Vesperon alive. How many you leave alive changes the rewards but also adds additional levels of difficulty to the fight, with each drake joining the fight at various points in the fight and bringing their own mechanics and abilities to the mix.
These hard modes are often referred to as “1D”, “2D”, and “3D”, representing the number of drakes alive. Killing Sartharion with no drake lieutenants alive, AKA normal mode, drops item level 200 gear.
Each drake left alive adds unique loot to the boss. With 1 drake left alive Sartharion will drop an additional 200 item that he cannot drop on normal mode. With 2 drakes alive, Sartharion will drop an additional item level 213 item and the additional 200 item from 1 drake. With 3 drakes left alive, Sartharion will drop both the additional item level 213 item and 200 item, but he will also award the title “of the Nightfall” and drop the mount Reins of the Black Drake.
This guide aims to help you understand how best to prepare yourself and your raid group for the Obsidian Sanctum, by giving you an overview of each encounter, providing an in-depth explanation of each boss, and discussing positioning as well as how you can set yourself up for success. We will also cover the attunement process and how you can reach the entrance.
You can find a full list of gear that can drop from this raid in the Obsidian Sanctum (10-man) Loot section.
Attunement Process
As with most Wrath of the Lich King raids, this raid has no attunement required and is available immediately upon reaching level 80.
Finding the Entrance to the Obsidian Sanctum
The easiest way to find the Obsidian Sanctum is by taking the flight path directly to the Wyrmrest Temple, located in the middle of Dragonblight. From here you can simply fly down to the basement of the temple and into the portal to the Obsidian Sanctum.
Raid Preparation
The Obsidian Sanctum only has one boss, Sartharion, but the 3 drake lieutenant fights work somewhat like mini-bosses, having their own mechanics and being more complex than an ordinary trash fight.
Trash Mobs
Trash | Abilities |
Boss Encounters
Sartharion
- Everyone
- Dodge the Flame Tsunamis coming from the North and South
- Don’t stand behind or in front of Sartharion if you aren’t the main-tank
- Tanks
- Tank the boss on the edge between Flame Tsunamis to minimize movement
- Off-tanks need to pick up Lava Blazes
- Never let the Lava Blazes get hit by Flame Tsunami
- Position the boss so that DPS can comfortably stand beside it
- Healers
- The main-tank will be taking the most damage
- This damage ramps up over the fight, peaking at the end when all drakes are dead
- DPS
- Prioritize killing Lava Blazes
Tenebron
- Everyone
- Don’t stand in Shadow Fissure
- Ignore the Twilight Portal
- Tanks
- Face Tenebron away from the raid
- Pick up Twilight Whelps quickly and stack them with Tenebron
- DPS
- Kill Twilight Whelps when they come through the portal
Shadron
- Everyone
- Don’t stand in Shadow Fissure
- Ignore the Twilight Portal
- Tanks
- Face Shadron away from the raid
- Healers
- The main-tank will take significant extra damage when Shadron is in the fight
- DPS
- Kill Shadron as fast as possible, use cooldowns if needed
Vesperon
- Everyone
- Don’t stand in Shadow Fissure
- Tanks
- Face Vesperon away from the raid
- Healers
- Send 1 or 2 Healers into Vesperons Twilight Portal to help kill the Acolyte of Vesper
- DPS
- Go into Vesperons Twilight Portal and kill the Acolyte of Vesper as fast as possible
Check out our in-depth breakdown in the Sartharion Strategy Guide!
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About the Author
Excellent guide. The only thing missing is a screenshot showing where sarth should be positioned.
As guild and raid leader I can say that the concise and organized data on these guides are exactly what I look for. Not too much, not too little. Straight to the point and easy to read.
Thank you for your hard work.