Quel’Serrar is one of the most iconic weapons in Classic World of Warcraft, and is BiS for Warrior and Paladin tanks in Molten Core/Onyxia tier content. You’ll find it being worn deep into Blackwing Lair, where it’s still BiS unless you have Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker or Rank 14 in PVP for Grand Marshal/Warlord weapons; and it looks pretty cool, too. The reason it’s so good is because of its unique chance-on-hit ability which grants 13 defense and 300 armor to the wielder for 10 seconds. It also sports all-around weapon speed for tanks at 2.00 and increases Stamina by 12. If you’re a Warrior or Paladin tank, you’re going to want this weapon.
Quel’Serrar in Season of Discovery
In Vanilla and Classic Wow, Quel’Serrar was restricted to Warrior and Paladin, as it functions primarily as a tank weapon. Now, the sword has added Rogue to its list of restricted classes, given their SoD-exclusive tanking spec. The item is itself changed to conform it to the new SoD-scaled stats and difficulty, with weapon damage changed to 77-144 from 84 – 126, an increase to 55.25 DPS from 52.50 DPS, and the Stamina bonus was increased by 2. Furthermore, the chance on hit ability increases the wielder’s defense by an additional 12 points (13 defense to 25 defense) for 10 seconds.
Nostro’s Compendium of Dragon Slaying
First thing’s first: Find a copy of Nostro’s Compendium of Dragon Slaying. To do this, there are three options. One, you could buy it off the auction house, where without a doubt it will be expensive; two, you can loot one off a number of the Dire Maul bosses; or, three, you could loot one at random from one of the randomly placed, red Dusty Tomes that you can find throughout the Dire Maul instances.
Upon acquiring the book, using it will give you a quest to find Lorekeeper Lydros, who you can find in the Athenaeum (colloquially called “The Library”), a hidden section with friendly NPCs within the Dire Maul instance. First, you’ll need to get the Crescent Key, which is received from Pusillin after completing his quest at the beginning of Dire Maul East. Once you’ve done so, you can open the doors to the Athenaeum in Dire Maul West or North.
In the Athenaeum, find Lorekeeper Lydros, who you’ll need to talk with to receive A Dull and Flat Elven Blade. Talk to him further to continue onto The Forging of Quel’Serrar.
The Forging of Quel’Serrar
After you’ve listened to Lorekeeper Lydros’s extensive historical retellings, you’ll be given the Unfired Ancient Blade and the second portion of the quest, The Forging of Quel’Serrar. Now, assemble your comrades in arms and prepare to raid Onyxia, and make sure to bring your Unfired Ancient Blade with you.
To successfully douse your blade in flame, you’ll need to place the blade in front of Onyxia’s regular flame breath attack, which is part of her rotation on the ground when she’s reached her third phase at 30% health. Make sure you coordinate with your raid team ahead of time for this step to avoid any confusion. It’s best to place the blade down right next to your tank while Onyxia is transitioning back to the ground.
Once the flames heat the blade, another lootable sword will spawn that will yield the Heated Ancient Blade. Move fast, because you’ll only have 20 minutes to do this; make sure that your raid is in a good spot to kill Onyxia before placing the blade.
Once the dragon goes down, you’ll need to target her corpse and use the Heated Ancient Blade in your inventory to receive the Treated Ancient Blade. Think of it as quenching the molten metal in her blood. Gross. You’ll want to move fast for this step as well, as once the loot is removed from her corpse, a player can skin the body and cause it to despawn.
Return to Lorekeeper Lydros, and Quel’Serrar will be yours.
NOTE: It is important to note that the Unfired Ancient Blade can be placed anywhere, and is irretrievable once placed. This means you’ll have to hoof it all the way back to Lorekeeper Lydros for another copy if your finger slips. This also applies if you wipe with the blade already placed.
