Black Temple Attunement Guide — TBC Classic Anniversary

Black Temple is the penultimate 25-man raid of The Burning Crusade, and getting through the door takes an eight-stage quest chain spanning three raids and a heroic dungeon.

The good news: more than half of it can be completed before Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, and Hyjal Summit are even released. Players who front-load that work walk into the raid tier already attuned while everyone else is still farming tablet fragments.

This guide covers every step, where a group is required, and the one mistake that costs people an entire raid lockout.

Requirements Before You Start

You need all of the following:

• Level 70

• Declared for either The Aldor or The Scryers — the chain differs slightly by faction but the steps are identical

• Access to The Arcatraz

• Attunement for Hyjal Summit, Serpentshrine Cavern, and Tempest Keep

By the time Black Temple releases, the attunements for Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep are typically removed. Hyjal Summit attunement remains. Regardless of attunement status, you need physical access to all three raids to complete this chain.

Getting Into The Arcatraz

You can be summoned in or enter using someone else's key, but getting your own key is strongly recommended — you'll be going back.

Rogues can skip the key entirely by lockpicking the door at skill level 350.

Either difficulty works. The Arcatraz portion of this chain can be completed on Normal or Heroic, so there's no reason to run Heroic unless you want the badges.

The Account-Wide Rule — And Its Catch

In TBC Classic Anniversary, raid attunements are account-wide. Complete Black Temple attunement once and every character on your account has it.

The catch: only completed attunements share across your account. Partial progress does not.

This has one very practical consequence: do not split this chain across multiple characters. Finishing four quests on your Warlock and four on your Paladin gives you nothing on either. Pick one character, run the entire chain to completion, and the whole account benefits.

Choose the character with the best raid access and the most reliable group availability. That's your attunement runner.

Stage 1 — Shadowmoon Valley Opening Quests

Where to start, by faction:

• Scryers: Arcanist Thelis at the Sanctum of the Stars, /way 56.2 59.6

• Aldor: Anchorite Ceyla at the Altar of Sha'tar, /way 62.6 28.4

Four quests in this stage, all soloable.

Tablets of Baa'ri — collect 12 Baa'ri Tablet Fragments from the Ruins of Baa'ri. The mob drop rate is very low, so don't grind mobs for these. Look for tablets lying on the ground instead — they have a distinctive green glow. This single tip saves most players an hour.

Oronu the Elder — kill him on a balcony to the north inside the Ruins of Baa'ri at /way 57.2 32.6. He drops Orders From Akama.

The Ashtongue Corruptors — four named NPCs scattered across Shadowmoon Valley:

The Warden's Cage — interrogate Sanoru at /way 57.2 49.6. He's underground. Enter the walls of Warden's Cage and find a metal plate with stairs leading down, at the feet of a Dreadwarden.

You can fly straight down the hole without aggroing the Dreadwarden — and it isn't elite anyway, so there's no real risk either way.

Stage 2 — Zandras and Akama

Kill Zandras, who patrols the upper walls of the prison with imps at around /way 48 59. He's just above the hole you exited from.

Return to Sanoru. Turning in here awards 250 Ashtongue Deathsworn reputation and opens the faction — this is your entry point to that reputation grind, which is worth knowing if you're planning to farm it later.

He gives you the Akama quest. To reach Akama, follow the flooded passage behind Sanoru, turn right, and swim down a short underground passage. He's deep inside — swimming is required.

Stage 3 — The Arcatraz

Pick up Seer Udalo from Akama.

Zone into The Arcatraz and find Udalo in the room just before the final boss. He's lying dead on a ramp — you interact with the body, no fight required.

Return to Akama in Shadowmoon Valley.

This is the only dungeon step in the chain. Normal difficulty is sufficient.

Stage 4 — The Ata'mal Terrace (Bring Five Players)

This is the first step that genuinely requires a group. Five players is the recommendation and it's a real one — the Fel Orcs are elite.

The sequence:

1. Head to the top of the Ata'mal Terrace in Shadowmoon Valley

2. Kill the three elite Fel Orcs channeling the heart

3. Shadowlord Deathwail flies down once they're dead — kill him

4. Loot the Heart of Fury

5. Return to Akama for the Medallion of Karabor

6. Take it to A'dal in Shattrath City

Your Reward Choice

Turning in to A'dal lets you choose one of six items:

• Akama's Sash

• Ashtongue Blade

• Bloodwarder's Rifle

• Verdant Gloves

• Spellbreaker's Buckler

• Staff of the Ashtongue Deathsworn

Pick by whichever slot is weakest on your character right now. There's no second chance and no way to obtain the others later through this quest.

Stage 4 is where Phase 1 progress ends. Everything above can be completed before the raid tier opens. Everything below requires raid access.

Stage 5 — Serpentshrine Cavern

Enter Serpentshrine Cavern with a raid group and defeat Fathom-Lord Karathress, the fourth boss.

Behind him you'll find Seer Olum in a cage. Speak with him to receive The Secret Compromised, which sends you back to Akama at the Warden's Cage.

You don't need a full SSC clear — just the first four bosses.

Stage 6 — Tempest Keep and the Disguise Trap

Pick up Ruse of the Ashtongue from Akama, then defeat Al'ar, the first boss in Tempest Keep: The Eye.

You must be wearing the Ashtongue Cowl disguise when the boss dies. Akama gives it to you with the quest.

The Mistake That Wastes a Lockout

This catches people every single tier, so read it twice:

If you get battle-rezzed during the fight, you must re-equip the disguise before the boss dies. The rez removes it. Kill the boss without it on and you get no credit — and you're waiting a full week for the next lockout.

If you die and stay dead, you're fine. The disguise remains equipped on your corpse and you receive credit normally.

The counterintuitive part: staying dead is safer than being battle-rezzed. If you go down late in the fight and someone offers a rez, either decline it or make re-equipping the cowl your very first action.

Return to Akama once Al'ar is down.

Stage 7 — Hyjal Summit

Pick up  An Artifact From the Past from Akama.

Defeat Rage Winterchill, the first boss of the Battle of Mount Hyjal, to obtain the Time-Phased Phylactery.

First boss only — no deeper clear required.

Return to Akama.

Stage 8 — The Finish

Four wrap-up steps, no combat:

1. Speak to Akama and pick up The Hostage Soul

2. Talk to A'dal in Shattrath City to receive Entry Into the Black Temple

3. Travel to the Black Temple entrance in Shadowmoon Valley and speak to Xi'ri at /way 65.2 44.0

4. Pick up  A Distraction for Akama — a scripted roleplay event

During the RP event: stay near Akama and don't pull anything extra. The event runs through a cutscene on its own. Once it finishes, speak to Xi'ri again to turn in.

You receive the Medallion of Karabor, which grants entry to Black Temple. It functions the same way the Drakefire Amulet does for Onyxia's Lair — keep it.

Planning Your Attunement Efficiently

The three raid-gated bosses are all early in their respective raids:

You never need a full clear of anything. Two of the three are opening bosses. If your guild is progressing through this content anyway, your attunement completes naturally as a byproduct.

If your guild isn't running these raids, all three targets are early enough that pug groups form for them regularly. You don't need a Sunwell-ready roster — you need three specific kills.

The Efficient Order

1. Before the raid tier opens: complete Stages 1 through 4 entirely. Only Stage 4 needs a group of five, and that group is easy to find because everyone needs it.

2. When raids open: knock out Karathress, Al'ar, and Rage Winterchill in whatever order your raid schedule allows. The chain is linear but the bosses are independent — you just need each one in sequence.

3. Stage 8 the moment you have the phylactery. It's pure travel and RP, roughly fifteen minutes.

Realistic timeline: Stages 1 through 4 take an evening with a group. Stages 5 through 7 are gated by lockouts — expect one to three weeks depending on your raid access.

Common Mistakes

Grinding mobs for Baa'ri Tablet Fragments. The drop rate is very low. Pick them up off the ground — look for the green glow.

Splitting the chain across characters. Attunements are account-wide only when completed. Partial progress isn't shared. One character, start to finish.

Losing the Ashtongue Cowl to a battle rez on Al'ar. Re-equip immediately or decline the rez. This is a full week's delay.

Running Heroic Arcatraz for the attunement. Normal works. Save the effort unless you want badges.

Attempting Ata'mal Terrace short-handed. The Fel Orcs are elite and Shadowlord Deathwail follows immediately. Bring five.

Pulling extra mobs during the final RP event. Stay near Akama and let the script run.