Midsummer Fire Festival (21 June - 4 July)
Replacing the old Engineers’ Explosive Extravaganza, the Midsummer Flame Festival (official event page may be found here) is a celebration of fire ending with a grand fireworks show on 4 July. There are festival camps scattered around Azeroth, each with a bonfire and a Ribbon Pole, tended by Flamekeepers and firebreathers.
Note: The level-appropriate “Striking Back” daily is now available (as of the afternoon of 6/23/08). You will need to return to Zoram Strand and summon the Earthen Ring Guide wolf to get the now working “Inform the Elder” quest. If you’ve already destroyed your Totemic Beacon, you will need to petition a GM in the Quest Topic area and ask to have the item restored so you can complete the quest. There is no other way to have a Totemic Beacon reissued at this time.
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| In Coilfang Reservoir, the Twilight Cultists have joined with the naga to summon an ancient power. Ahune the Frost Lord haunts the Slave Pens, seeking to bring cold and darkness to this midsummer time. Ahune has different loot tables for normal and heroic battles. |  |
There are several quest chains that unlock daily Blossom-earning quests (the dailies are worth 20 Blossoms a day). In addition, there are bonfires scattered about the various towns (much like the Elders in Lunar Festival season) with fires you can honor (or not) for additional Blossoms. For those who really seek adventure, you can steal the opposing faction’s flames from the bonfires in their capital cities! To the best of our knowledge, there are no reputation gaining opportunities this season.
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References:
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Midsummer Items
In general, as with most seasonal items, these are all Bind on Pickup. Midsummer Merchants or Suppliers will happily sell you items for a few Blossoms. They can be found near the bonfires in any Azerothian capital (not in Shattrath).
Burning Blossoms - As previously mentioned, these grant the Fire Festival Fury (+42 crit/spell crit rating) buff when cast into a bonfire. They stack in 250s but have only a 14 day item life, so you’ll have to make choices about how to use them this year.
Handful of Summer Petals (2 ) - creates a shower of flower petals that follow the target. 10 day item life.
Mantle of the Fire Festival (100 ) - (Cloth Shoulder) AC: 2 - Bronze shoulders with flaming basins
Vestment of Summer (100 ) - (Cloth Chest) AC: 3, adds a fiery effect to hands when used
Sandals of Summer (200 ) - (Cloth Feet) AC: 2, adds a fiery ring around your feet when used
Brazier of Dancing Flames (350 ) - places a fiery brazier with a dancing flaming female figure; if you click on the brazier and /dance, turns you into a fire dancer as well for 3 min
Captured Flame (350 ) - Summons or dismisses a Spirit of Summer (red wisp non-combat pet).
Elderberry Pie (5 /5) - Increases Defense by 13 for 1 hour. 14 day item life.
Fire-toasted Bun (5 /5) - Improves your hit rating by 20 for 1 hour. 14 day item life.
Midsummer Sausage (5 ) - Increases damage done from spells by up to 23 for 1 hour. 14 day item life.
Toasted Smorc (5 /5) - Increases healing done by magical spells by up to 44 for 1 hour. 14 day item life.
Bag of Smorc Ingredients (5 ) - Creates 5 toasted smorcs at any cooking fire. 14 day item life.
Fiery Festival Brew (2 /5) - When consumed, these cause you to breathe fire (same effect as the Festival Firebreathers) for 10 seconds. 14 day item life.
Crown of the Fire Festival - (Quest reward) (Cloth Head) AC: 2 - Looks like a flaming circlet hovering above your head like a halo
Tabard of Summer Skies - (Quest reward)
Tabard of Summer Flames - (Quest reward)
 Brazier of Dancing Flames |
 /dance with the Brazier… |
Lord Ahune
Lord Ahune drops a variety of interesting items, including:
Formula: Enchant Weapon - Deathfrost (350 Enchanter) (CoH: +150 Frost damage and reduce target’s melee, ranged, and casting speed by 15% for 8 sec)
Amulet of Bitter Hatred (Neck Agi: 20, Sta: 18, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +18 hit rating, +42 attack power)
Amulet of Glacial Tranquility (Neck Sta: 22, Int: 21, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +48 spell healing, +16 spell damage, +4 mana per 5 sec)
Choker of the Arctic Flow (Neck Sta: 24, Int: 22, MinLvl: 70, Equip:+28 spell damage and healing)
Hailstone Pendant (Neck, Sta: 33, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +22 defense rating, +19 hit rating)
Cloak of the Frigid Winds (Cloth Back AC: 93, Sta: 18, Int: 16, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +22 spell crit rating, +21 spell damage/healing)- The Frost Lord’s War Cloak (Cloth Back AC: 93, Agi: 23, Sta: 22, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +48 attack power)
- Icebound Cloak (Cloth Back AC: 267, Sta: 30, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +25 defense rating)
- Shroud of Winter’s Chill (Cloth Back AC: 93, Sta: 16, Int: 17, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +46 spell healing, +16 spell damage, +8 mana per 5 sec)
Frostscythe of Lord Ahune (2H Staff DPS: 67.1, Sta: 40, Int: 35, MinLvl: 70, Equip: +33 spell crit rating, +176 spell damage/healing, +13 mana per 5 sec)
Scorched Stone (Scorchling vanity pet)
 Tabard of Summer Skies (Quest reward) |
 Scorchling pet (Ahune drop) |
 Spirit of Summer pet (from Vendor) |
 Brazier of Dancing Flames (from Vendor) |
 Tabard of Summer Flames (Quest reward) |
Quests
Note that seasonal quests generally scale the xp and money rewards with character level (more xp and gold for higher-level characters); the values provided are approximations for the maximum value given for a L70 character.
| Quest | Given By | Description | Reward |
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| The Master of Summer Lore (Alliance) The Spinner of Summer Tales (Horde) |
Commoner (usually found near inns in all capital cities) | Speak to a Festival Lorekeeper/Talespinner at the bonfire in any of your faction’s capital cities | 1250 xp, 1 Burning Blossom |
| Incense for the Festival/Summer Scorchlings | Festival Lorekeeper/Talespinner | Take incense to a Scorchling outside one of your faction’s settlements | 1250 xp, 1 Burning Blossom |
| Festival Scorchling says: Thank you again, NAME, for this delectable incense. Festival Scorchling devours the incense. It’s ravenous! Festival Scorchling says: So good! So packed with energy! Festival Scorchling says: It has everything a growing scorchling needs! Festival Scorchling says: I can feel the power SURGING within me! Festival Scorchling bellows with laughter! Festival Scorchling says: Now! Finally! Our plans can take effect! Festival Scorchling says: KNEEL, LITTLE MORTAL! KNEEL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE HERALD OF RAGNAROS! Festival Scorchling says: YOU WILL ALL PERISH IN FLAMES! Festival Scorchling blinks… Festival Scorchling says: Ah. I was merely jesting… |
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| Torch Juggling | |||
| Playing with Fire | Fire Eater (found at any settlement bonfire) | Speak with a Master Fire/Flame Eater in any capital city | 1250 xp |
| Torch Tossing | Master Fire/Flame Eater | Hit 8 braziers with your practice torches | 1250 xp, 5 Burning Blossoms, Chains to “Torch Catching” |
| Make sure to put the torch onto your action bar. Activate it to bring up the targeting circle. Wait for the arrow to appear, target the brazier, and click. It’s important to bring up the targeting circle and wait for the arrow to switch - if you try to target a brazier that’s already active, you’ll just end up chasing the arrow around the circle without getting credit because the dwell time on any brazier is quite short. | |||
| Torch Catching | Master Fire/Flame Eater | Catch 4 torches in a row | 1250 xp, 5 Juggling Torch, 5 Burning Blossoms, unlocks daily quests |
| This is hard to master. Several people have reported success by zooming all the way out and point the camera down at your character. Follow the shadow on the ground and place your character where the torch will hit (you can see it’s falling since the shadow grows larger). You will automatically rethrow the torch, so be prepared to watch for the shadow again. If you miss and are close to where the torch drops, you’ll be hit with the Flame of Failure, which will take 5% of your HP every second for 5 seconds. Have food, bandages, or a heal spell ready. Also, it’s easier to do this at off-hours or a remote site (Exodar, Silvermoon) to avoid having confusion from too many torches in the air. And it’s easier to do this indoors, rather than an outdoor, brightly lit location, since the shadows tend to fade out a little. | |||
| More Torch Catching (daily) | Master Fire/Flame Eater | Catch 10 torches in a row | 4.4g, 12650 xp, (11.99g at L70), 5 Burning Blossoms |
| More Torch Tossing (daily) | Master Fire/Flame Eater | Hit 20 braziers with your practice torches | 4.4g, 12650 xp (11.99g at L70), 5 Burning Blossoms |
| Twilight Activity | |||
| Unusual Activity Obtainable at L20 |
Earthen Ring Elder | Retrieve Twilight Correspondence from the Twilight Cultist mobs at the Zoram Strand, Ashenvale (just south of Blackfathom Deeps) | 7500 xp, 5 Burning Blossoms, Chains to “An Innocent Disguise” |
| Loyal servants of the elemental lords, OUR TIME IS NOW. Too long we have languished in the shadows, biding our time, serving our masters, seeking the end we know must come. Now, as the flames of Ragnaros’ Appeasement burn brightly through the night, we have in our grasp the tools to incite war and chaos on a cataclysmic scale! The Firelord is imprisoned in our world. He is not at his full power, but his might is formidable. Given an equally formidable opponent in this realm, the resulting clash would begin the great elemental war that will bring about the end we have sought. In Neptulon’s service is a great frost lord by the name of Ahune. Even now he is marshalling his power to wage war against Ragnaros. All he requires is a gateway into our world: a gateway we will provide. We have the allies. We have the location. We have the strength and the will. Final negotiations with our new faithful allies and guests will be conducted in a safe, out of the way location northwest of our primary location in Ashenvale. Before this “festival” of the ignorant masses comes to a close, Ahune shall face Ragnaros in the shadow of Blackrock. The world will quake with the forces unleashed. All our toils have worked toward this moment. Our masters will rise against one another in one glorious battle that will tear Azeroth asunder. We live in the end times, my brothers. Hold to your tasks. Strive on. We will soon be triumphant! |
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| An Innocent Disguise | Earthen Ring Guide | Use the Orb of the Crawler to spy upon the new Twilight camp to the west of the Blackfathom Deeps entrance on the Zoram Strand in Ashenvale (9.2, 12.3). | 7500 xp, 5 Burning Blossoms, Chains to “Inform the Elder” |
| Inform the Elder | Earthen Ring Guide | Travel to a capital city and return the Totemic Beacon to the Earthen Ring Elder | 7500 xp, Unlocks the “Striking Back” daily, Chains to “Ahune, the Frost Lord” for L65+ characters |
| Striking Back (daily) | Earthen Ring Elder | There are actually different level-appropriate variants of this quest, requiring you to slay the mob summoned from an appropriate Ice Stone:
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up to 7500 xp, 10 Burning Blossoms |
 The Ice Stones are summoning crystal pillars (like the ones in Silithus). A non-elite ice elemental is summoned by touching the stone. Some of the stones are also guarded by lower level Cultist mobs. There’s an Earthen Ring Elder at the bonfires in any capital city, including Shattrath. |
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| Ahune the Frost Lord | |||
| Ahune, the Frost Lord | Earthen Ring Elder | Travel to the Slave Pens in Coilfang Reservoir and speak with Numa Cloudsister | |
| [70] Ahune is Here! | Numa Cloudsister, Slave Pens, Coilfang Reservoir | Find Luma Skymother (just past the first room of the instance) | 44s, 1250 xp, Chains to “Summon Ahune” |
| [70] Summon Ahune (daily) | Luma Skymother, Slave Pens, Coilfang Reservoir | Take the Magma Totem to the Ice Stone, summon and defeat Ahune | 4.4g, 12650 xp |
| Ahune also drops a variety of loot. The loot table varies between heroic and non-heroic instances. This quest can be repeated daily; only one person in your group needs the quest in order to summon (so the same group of 5 characters can kill him 5 times a day). | |||
| [70] Ice Shards | Shards of Ahune | Bring the Ice Shards to Luma Skymother | Tabard of Summer Skies/Flames, 20x Burning Blossom |
Finding the Flames
Outside Alliance and Horde settlements throughout the land, festival bonfires are burning. At each bonfire is a Flame Warden or Flame Keeper (look for the red canopy near the settlement). For flames of your own faction, you can speak with the Warden/Keeper to “Honor the Flame” and gain 5 Blossoms (7500 xp, 1.4g). For flames of the opposing faction, you right-click on the bonfire itself to stamp out the fire and gain 10 Blossoms (12500 xp, 2.7g). The settlement bonfires are all outside the town proper and so can be approached fairly easily (at least on a PvE server). However, note that stamping out an opposing bonfire flags you for PvP. Note, though, that you are not flagged until you complete the quest (and remember that using a flight point will clear your PvP flag unless you’ve explicitly enabled it via the /pvp command). There are 32 Alliance bonfires and 30 Horde bonfires (found to date). You can only interact with each bonfire once per year.
| Alliance Flames | Horde Flames |
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| Capital Cities | |
| Outside the Explorer’s League, Ironforge (65.1, 25.5) | Valley of Wisdom, Orgrimmar (47.3, 38.0) |
| Canal District outside the Stockades, Stormwind (39.1, 61.7) | Lordaeron courtyard above the Undercity (67.6, 9.2) |
| Ruth’eran Village, Teldrassil (56.5, 92.1) | southwest edge of Spirit Rise, Thunder Bluff (21.4, 26.6) |
| Near the Crystal Hall, Exodar (41.3, 25.3) | Court of the Sun, Silvermoon City (70.1, 42.4) |
| Flamewarden Bonfires | |
| Eastern Kingdoms | |
| east of Goldshire, Elwynn Forest (43.5, 62.6) | south of Falconwing Square, Eversong Woods (46.3, 50.4) |
| south of Sentinel Hill, Westfall (56.0, 53.3) | north of Tranquillien, Ghostlands (47.1, 25.8) |
| southwest of Lakeshire, Redridge (25.4, 59.0) | northwest of Brill, Tirisfal Glades (56.9, 51.6) |
| west of Darkshire, Duskwood (73.7, 54.6) | east of The Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest (49.7, 38.8) |
| northwest of Nethergarde Keep, Blasted Lands (59.3, 17.2) | northeast of Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows (46.7, 46.7) |
| on the beach northeast of Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale (33.9, 73.5) | on the beach northeast of Booty Bay, Stranglethorn Vale (33.0, 75.3) |
| north of Kharanos, Dun Morogh (46.8, 47.0) | north of Kargath, The Badlands (4.8, 49.7) |
| north of Morgan’s Vigil, Burning Steppes (80.3, 62.7) | south of Flame Crest, Burning Steppes (62.2, 29.2) |
| north of Thelsamar, Loch Modan (32.5, 41.1) | |
| east of Menethil Harbor, Wetlands (13.4, 47.2) | |
| east of Refuge Pointe, Arathi Highlands (50.0, 44.7) | southwest of Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands (73.8, 41.8) |
| north of Southshore, Hillsbrad Foothills (50.4, 47.7) | southwest of Tarren Mill, Hillsbrad Foothills (58.2, 25.3) |
| north of Aerie Peak, The Hinterlands (14.3, 50.1) | south of Revantusk Village, The Hinterlands (76.7, 74.3) |
| south of Chillwind Point, Western Plaguelands (43.5, 82.3) | |
| Kalimdor | |
| west of Azure Watch, Azuremyst Isle (44.4, 52.4) | east of Bloodhoof Village, Mulgore (52.2, 60.1) |
| south of Blood Watch, Bloodmyst Isle (55.9, 68.1) | north of Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains (50.6, 60.1) |
| west of Dolanaar, Teldrassil (55.0, 60.3) | south of Razor Hill, Durotar (51.9, 47.1) |
| south of Auberdine, Darkshore (36.9, 46.2) | north of The Crossroads, The Barrens (52.2, 27.8) |
| east of Astranaar, Ashenvale (37.7, 54.7) | west of Splintertree Post, Ashenvale (69.9, 69.1) |
| north of Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh (61.8, 40.5) | west of Brackenwall Village, Dustwallow Marsh (33.1, 30.9) |
| southwest of Freewind Post, Thousand Needles (42.3, 52.8) | |
| north of Feathermoon Stronghold, Sardor Isle, Feralas (28.3, 43.9) | southwest of Camp Mojache, Feralas (72.5, 47.7) |
| south of Nijel’s Point, Desolace (66.1, 17.1) | south of Shadowprey Village, Desolace (26.3, 77.1) |
| east of Gadgetzan, Tanaris (52.8, 29.4) | west of Gadgetzan, Tanaris (49.8, 27.0) |
| behind the Alliance flight point, northeast of Everlook, Winterspring (62.5, 35.4) | behind the Horde flight point, northwest of Everlook, Winterspring (59.9, 35.5) |
| east of Cenarion Hold, Silithus (57.5, 35.4) | southwest of Cenarion Hold, Silithus (46.3, 44.7) |
| Outland | |
| north of Honor Hold, Hellfire Peninsula (62.2, 58.3) | southeast of Thrallmar, Hellfire Peninsula (57.2, 41.7) |
| south of Allerian Stronghold, Terokkar Forest (54.1, 55.4) (Bone Wastes side) | north of Stonebreaker Hold, Terokkar Forest (52.1, 43.3) |
| west of Telaar, Nagrand (49.6, 69.5) | west of Garadar, Nagrand (51.0, 33.8) |
| south of Telredor, Zangarmarsh (68.7, 51.9) | southeast of Zabra’jin, Zangarmarsh (35.7, 51.9) |
| east of Sylvanaar, Blade’s Edge Mountains (41.6, 66.0) | southwest of Thunderlord Stronghold, Blade’s Edge Mountains (49.9, 59.0) |
| northwest of Area 52, Netherstorm (31.2, 62.6) | south of Area 52, Netherstorm (32.3, 68.4) |
| just outside Wildhammer Stronghold, Shadowmoon Valley (39.7, 54.5) | north of Shadowmoon Village, Shadowmoon Valley (33.5, 30.5) |
Stealing the Flames
…there is power inherent in all festival fires burning throughout the holiday. We’re taking care of ours, but I’m certain there are sacred flames burning deep within our enemy’s cities… - Festival Lorekeeper/Talespinner
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In order to gain the Crown of the Fire Festival , you must venture into the capital cities of the opposing faction and risk guards and PvP to retrieve the flames from the bonfires. When you trigger (via right-click) the bonfire, you will gain a Flame of (City) item which you must return to a Lorekeeper/Talespinner in one of your own faction’s capitals. For each turn in, you earn 25 Blossoms and a choice of consumable items. Turning in all four opposing flames unlocks “A Thief’s Reward” and earns you the crown, a nice bit of experience (for sub-70’s), and some cash. Please note that while you can get the Flame items at any level, you must be L50 to complete the quests and earn the crown. |
| Quest | Given By | Description | Reward |
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| Stealing Undercity’s Flame Stealing Darnassus’s Flame Stealing Orgrimmar’s Flame Stealing Ironforge’s Flame Stealing Thunder Bluff’s Flame Stealing Stormwind’s Flame Stealing Silvermoon’s Flame Stealing Exodar’s Flame Obtainable at L50 |
Flame of [City] (item) | Return the Flame of [City] to the Festival Loremaster/Talespinner | 9500 xp 25xBurning Blossom Choice of: |
| A Thief’s Reward | Festival Loremaster/Talespinner | 9500 xp Crown of the Fire Festival |
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| Note that when you complete this quest, all in the area receive the Fire Festival Fortitude buff (+30 Sta for 1 hour). | |||
