The Midsummer Fire Festival celebrates the summer solstice, which takes place this year on the 20th of June at 23:09 GMT. The solstice also marks the beginning of the summer season in the western culture.

The event takes place throughout Azeroth and players will mostly be visiting settlements to honor bonfires of their faction and desecrate bonfires of the opposite faction. Daily quests and Ahune (the event boss) are also on the menu.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to complete the event.

1. Overview↑top

During the Midsummer Festival, you will spend the vast majority of your time traveling through Azeroth to visit bonfires and honor/desecrate them (depending on whether the bonfire belongs to your faction or to the opposite faction).

In addition, you will probably have to do daily quests for a few days in order to gather enough tokens to buy the last rewards you need.

Finally, you get to kill Ahune, the boss of the event. You can farm him for a pet and item level 353 loot.

1.1. Date and Timeline

The Midsummer Fire Festival is a 2-week event that will run, in 2012, from June the 21st to July the 5th.

If you want to buy all the rewards and obtain all the achievements, it will take you two years of doing the event as you cannot obtain enough tokens in a single year (though you can do all the achievements).

If you are not interested in vanity items, then the tokens you will obtain on the first day will be enough to get all the achievements and the pet reward (although you might want to try your luck at killing Ahune once a day for the second pet reward).

1.2. Location and Relevant NPCs

The event starts in any of the capital cities, where you will find the main quest givers: Festival Loremaster and Master Flame Eater for Alliance and Festival Talespinner and Master Fire Eater for Horde. The reward vendors are also located in capital cities: Midsummer Supplier (Alliance) and Midsummer Merchant (Horde).

As said in the introduction, you will also spend the vast majority of your time traveling through the settlements of Azeroth to honor/desecrate bonfires.

1.3. Currency

The currency of the event is Burning Blossoms. It is used to buy the rewards from the vendors.

On the first day, you can earn approximately 900 Burning Blossoms, mostly by honoring/desecrating bonfires, something that you can only do once.

On subsequent days, you can earn approximately 30 Burning Blossoms by doing the 3 daily quests and by killing Ahune.

Note: we used the adverb approximately twice in the last two paragraphs. The reason for this is that when you kill Ahune for the first time on a given day, you receive a varying number of Burning Blossoms (10 on average).

You need 1,460 Burning Blossoms to buy all the rewards and obtain all the achievements.

2. Rewards↑top

The pets are the only rewards that will appeal to almost everyone. The rest of the rewards are clothing items, food, and vanity items, some of are needed to complete achievements.

2.1. Pets

There are two pets you can earn:

• Captured Flame is sold by the event vendors and costs 350 Burning Blossoms.
• Frigid Frostling is taught by using an Ice Chip. This item has a chance to be contained in a Satchel of Chilled Goods, which you obtain when you kill Ahune for the first time on a given day.

2.2. Food

Item	Cost
Fiery Festival Brew	2
Handful of Summer Petals	2
Bag of Smorc Ingredients x5	5
Elderberry Pie x5	5
Fire-Toasted Bun x5	5
Midsummer Sausage x5	5
Toasted Smorc x5	5

2.3. Vanity Items

Brazier of Dancing Flames and Helm of the Fire Festival are the only vanity items of the event. They are both sold by the event vendors at a price of 350 Burning Blossoms.

2.4. Achievement Items

Item	Cost	Achievement
Juggling Torch x5	5	Torch Juggler
Mantle of the Fire Festival	100	Burning Hot Pole Dance
Vestment of Summer	100	Burning Hot Pole Dance
Sandals of Summer	200	Burning Hot Pole Dance

2.5. Achievements and Title

The meta-achievement of the event is The Flame Warden (Alliance) or The Flame Keeper (Horde). It rewards the Flame Warden title (Alliance) or the Flame Keeper title (Horde), counts towards What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been, and requires you to complete all of the achievements related to the event:

• The Fires of Azeroth (Alliance / Horde)
  • Alliance:
    • Flame Warden of Eastern Kingdoms
    • Flame Warden of Kalimdor
    • Flame Warden of Outland
    • Flame Warden of Northrend
    • Flame Warden of Cataclysm
  • Horde:
    • Flame Keeper of Eastern Kingdoms
    • Flame Keeper of Kalimdor
    • Flame Keeper of Outland
    • Flame Keeper of Northrend
    • Flame Keeper of Cataclysm
• Desecration of the Horde (Alliance) or Desecration of the Alliance (Horde)
  • Extinguishing Eastern Kingdoms (Alliance / Horde)
  • Extinguishing Kalimdor (Alliance / Horde)
  • Extinguishing Outland (Alliance / Horde)
  • Extinguishing Northrend (Alliance / Horde)
  • Extinguishing the Catacysm (Alliance / Horde)
• Burning Hot Pole Dance
• Ice the Frost Lord
• King of the Fire Festival
• Torch Juggler

3. Leveling Up and Guild Reputation↑top

The Midsummer Fire Festival is a good occasion to work on your guild reputation and to speed up your alts' leveling.

Every time you honor or desecrate a bonfire, you complete a quest and get the same amount of experience and guild reputation that a quest of your level would normally give you.

In addition, at each bonfire's location, there is also a ribbon pole which you can click. Doing so will give you Ribbon Dance, a buff that increases experience gained from killing monsters by 10%. The duration of the buff depends on how long you interact with the pole. The maximum duration is 60 minutes.

4. Quests↑top

The event features several quests. Two of them are introductory quests and serve to present the event. 3 of them are daily quests and they are enabled after completing pre-requisite quests.

4.1. Introductory Quests

Commoners in every major city will give you the introductory quest of the event: The Master of Summer Lore (Alliance) or The Spinner of Summer Tales (Horde). They are to be turned in to a Festival Loremaster (Alliance) or Festival Talespinner (Horde), which can be found in capital cities of your faction.

From the Festival Loremaster or Festival Talespinner, you can take Incense for the Summer Scorchlings (Alliance) or Incense for the Festival Scorchlings (Horde), for which you will need to deliver Summer Incense to a scorchling (small fire elemental) outside a settlement of your faction. While doing the event, you will encounter these NPCs very often, so there is no need to look for one specifically.

Each of the two introductory quests rewards 1 Burning Blossom.

4.2. Daily Quests

The 3 daily quests are:

• More Torch Catching (Alliance / Horde)
  • rewards 5 Burning Blossoms;
• More Torch Tossing (Alliance Horde)
  • rewards 5 Burning Blossoms;
• Striking Back
  • rewards 10 Burning Blossoms;

4.2.1. Torch Catching and Torch Tossing

More Torch Tossing (Alliance Horde) and More Torch Catching (Alliance / Horde) are given by Master Fire Eater (Alliance) or Master Flame Eater (Horde).

Before the daily quests are offered to you, you must complete the two following pre-requisite quests, Torch Tossing (Alliance / Horde) and Torch Catching (Alliance / Horde), given by the same NPCs.

Tossing torches consists in throwing Practice Torches (the quest item) to braziers at the nearby bonfire. One problem with this quest is that you need to hit the brazier that is currently marked and people with lag will find it extremely hard to hit the marked brazier in time.

Catching torches consists in lighting Unlit Torches at the nearby bonfire before throwing them in the air. Then, you need to follow the torches' shadow so that you are properly positioned to catch them before they hit the ground. Avoid places with a dark ground (where shadows are hard to follow), a lot of aerial pollution (trees, flags, buildings, etc. can affect the position of the camera), or a lot of other players doing the same quest (you will have a hard time figuring out which shadow is that of your own torches).

The pre-requisite quests and the daily quests reward 5 Burning Blossoms each.

Note that Torch Catching (Alliance / Horde) will also reward you with 5 Juggling Torches, which you should save for the Torch Juggler achievement.

4.2.2. Striking Back

The Striking Back daily quest is only enabled after you complete a short quest chain started by an NPC called Earthen Ring Elder (which can be found in any capital city):

• Unusual Activity (rewards 5 Burning Blossoms);
• An Innocent Disguise (rewards 5 Burning Blossoms);
• Inform the Elder.

These 3 quests take place in Ashenvale, so we advise you to do them while you are traveling through this area for honoring bonfires of your faction and desecrating those of the opposite faction.

After completing the quest line, the Earthen Ring Elder will give you a version of the Striking Back daily quest that depends on your character's level. In any case, you will have to travel to a given area, use the Ice Stone located there, and kill the Twilight Hammer NPC that the Ice Stone will summon:

• Level 16 to 28 — Striking Back: Frostwave Lieutenant on Zoram Strand in Ashenvale;
• Level 29 to 38 — Striking Back: Hailstone Lieutenant at Ethel Rethor in Desolace;
• Level 39 to 48 — Striking Back: Chillwind Lieutenant on the water elemental's island in Northern Stranglethorn;
• Level 49 to 55 — Striking Back: Frigid Lieutenant in the cave underneath Firewatch Bridge in Searing Gorge;
• Level 56 to 63 — Striking Back: Glacial Lieutenant at Twilight's Run in Silithus;
• Level 64 to 85 — Striking Back: Glacial Templar near the Dark Portal in Hellfire Peninsula.

Each of the possible daily quests rewards 10 Burning Blossoms.

5. Bonfires and Flames↑top

During the event, you will spend the majority of your time traveling through Azeroth to honor bonfires of your faction, to desecrate flames of the opposite faction, and to steal the flames in the opposite faction's capital cities. By doing so, you will earn all of the bonfires and flames achievements.

The bonfires act as quest givers, so to honor or desecrate them, simply accept the quest given to you and it will be completed right away.

The flames in capital cities are objects that you can interact with. Doing so will give you an item that starts a quest that you must turn in to a Festival Loremaster (Alliance) or Festival Talespinner (Horde) in one of your faction's capital cities.

5.1. Burning Blossom Gains

By honoring/desecrating bonfires, you will obtain the following amounts of Burning Blossoms:

• honoring a bonfire: 5 Burning Blossoms;
• honoring a neutral bonfire: 15 Burning Blossoms;
• desecrating a bonfire: 10 Burning Blossoms;
• stealing a flame in a capital city: 25 Burning Blossoms.

The Alliance has 47 bonfires and the Horde 45. In addition, there are 3 neutral bonfires (in Vashj'ir, Deepholm, and Hyjal). Finally, each of the four capital cities of the opposite faction has a flame that you can steal. This means that Horde players have a slight advantage over Alliance players when it comes to collecting Burning Blossoms.

In total, the bonfires will bring 840 Burning Blossoms to Horde players and 830 to Alliance players.

5.2. Eastern Kingdoms

There are 32 bonfires in Eastern Kingdoms, 17 for the Alliance and 15 for the Horde. They will enable you to complete Extinguishing Eastern Kingdoms (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Eastern Kingdoms (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Eastern Kingdoms (Horde), as well as parts of Extinguishing the Catacysm (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Cataclysm (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Cataclysm (Horde).

In the map below, Horde players should visit the bonfires in the order displayed while Alliance players should follow the reverse order. The order was designed with flying mounts in mind, so you might want to adapt it if you will be using Flight Paths.

1. Horde Flame: Alliance players must steal the Flame of Silvermoon in the Court of the Sun
2. Horde Bonfire: south entrance of the Ruins of Silvermoon, Eversong Woods
3. Horde Bonfire: Tranquilien, Ghostlands
4. Alliance Bonfire: Chillwind Camp, Western Plaguelands
5. Horde Bonfire: The Bulwark, Western Plaguelands
   • not required for the achievements
6. Horde Flame: Alliance players must steal the Flame of the Undercity in the Ruins of Lordaeron
7. Horde Bonfire: west of Brill, Tirisfal Glades
8. Horde Bonfire: east of The Sepulcher, Silverpine Forest
9. Horde Bonfire: Tarren Mill, Hillsbrad Foothills
10. Alliance Bonfire: Aerie Peak, The Hinterlands
11. Horde Bonfire: Revantusk Village, The Hinterlands
12. Horde Bonfire: Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands
13. Alliance Bonfire: Refuge Point, Arathi Highlands
14. Alliance Bonfire: Thundermar, Twilight Highlands
15. Horde Bonfire: Bloodgulch, Twilight Highlands
16. Alliance Bonfire: north-west of Thelsamar, Loch Modan
17. Alliance Bonfire: north-east of Menethil Harbor, Wetlands
18. Alliance Flame: Horde players must steal the Flame of Ironforge in the Hall of Explorers
19. Alliance Bonfire: Kharanos, Dun Morogh
20. Horde Bonfire: north-east of New Kargath, Badlands
21. Alliance Bonfire: west of Dragon's Mouth, Badlands
    • not required for the achievements
22. Horde Bonfire: south-east of Flame Crest, Burning Steppes
23. Alliance Bonfire: Morgan's Vigil, Burning Steppes
24. Alliance Bonfire: across Lakeshire, Redridge Mountains
25. Alliance Bonfire: Bogpaddle, Swamp of Sorrows
    • not required for the achievements
26. Horde Bonfire: Bogpaddle, Swamp of Sorrows
27. Alliance Bonfire: west of Nethergarde Keep, Blasted Lands
28. Horde Bonfire: east of Dreadmaul Hold, Blasted Lands
    • not required for the achievements
29. Alliance Bonfire: south of Darkshire, Duskwood
30. Alliance Bonfire: just north of Goldshire, Elwynn Forest
31. Alliance Flame: Horde players must steal the Flame of Stormwind in front of the Stockade
32. Alliance Bonfire: north of Moonbrook, Westfall
33. Horde Bonfire: Grom'gol Base Camp, Northern Stranglethorn
34. Alliance Bonfire: Fort Livingstone, Northern Stranglethorn
35. Alliance Bonfire: on the beach east of Booty Bay, The Cape of Stranglethorn
36. Horde Bonfire: on the beach east of Booty Bay, The Cape of Stranglethorn

5.3. Kalimdor

There are 31 bonfires in Kalimdor, 15 for the Alliance, 15 for the Horde, and 1 neutral bonfire in Hyjal. They will enable you to complete Extinguishing Kalimdor (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Kalimdor (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Kalimdor (Horde), as well as parts of Extinguishing the Catacysm (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Cataclysm (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Cataclysm (Horde).

In the map below, Alliance players should visit the bonfires in the order displayed while Horde players should follow the reverse order. The order was designed with flying mounts in mind, so you might want to adapt it if you will be using Flight Paths.

1. Alliance Bonfire: south-east of Blood Watch, Bloodmyst Isle
2. Alliance Bonfire: south-west of Azure Watch, Azuremyst Isle
3. Alliance Flame: Horde players must steal the Flame of the Exodar in the Crystal Hall
4. Alliance Bonfire: Lor'danel, Darkshire
5. Alliance Flame: Horde players must steal the Flame of Darnassus at the Warrior's Terrace
6. Alliance Bonfire: Dolanaar, Teldrassil
7. Alliance Bonfire: Everlook, Winterspring
8. Horde Bonfire: Everlook, Winterspring
9. Neutral: Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal
10. Horde Bonfire: Bilgewater Harbor, Azshara
    • not required for the achievements
11. Alliance Bonfire: Forest Song, Ashenvale
12. Horde Bonfire: Silverwind Refuge, Ashenvale
13. Alliance Bonfire: north of Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
    • not required for the achievements
14. Horde Bonfire: east of Sun Rock Retreat, Stonetalon Mountains
15. Alliance Bonfire: south of Nigel's Point, Desolace
16. Horde Bonfire: south of Shadowprey Village, Desolace
17. Alliance Bonfire: Feathermoon Stronghold, Feralas
18. Horde Bonfire: west of Camp Mojache, Feralas
19. Alliance Bonfire: east of Cenarion Hold, Silithus
20. Horde Bonfire: south-west of Cenarion Hold, Silithus
21. Alliance Bonfire: Ramkahen, Uldum
22. Horde Bonfire: Ramkahen, Uldum
23. Horde Bonfire: south-east of Marshal's Stand, Un'Goro Crater
    • not required for the achievements
24. Alliance Bonfire: east of Marshal's Stand, Un'Goro Crater
    • not required for the achievements
25. Alliance Bonfire: Gadgetzan, Tanaris
26. Horde Bonfire: Gadgetzan, Tanaris
27. Alliance Bonfire: north-west of Theramore, Dustwallow Marsh
28. Horde Bonfire: west of Brackenwall Village, Dustwallow Marsh
29. Alliance Bonfire: south-west of Fort Triumph, Southern Barrens
30. Horde Bonfire: Desolation Hold, Southern Barrens
31. Horde Bonfire: east of Bloodhoof Village, Mulgore
32. Horde Flame: Alliance players must steal the Flame of Thunder Bluff in the Spirit Rise
33. Horde Bonfire: The Crossroads, Northern Barrens
34. Horde Bonfire: Razor Hill, Durotar
35. Horde Flame: Alliance players must steal the Flame of Orgrimmar in the Valley of Wisdom

5.4. Outland

There are 14 bonfires in Outland, 7 for the Alliance, and 7 for the Horde. They will enable you to complete Extinguishing Outland (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Outland (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Outland (Horde).

The bonfire order, in the map below, was designed with flying mounts in mind, so you might want to adapt it if you will be using Flight Paths.

1. Alliance Bonfire: north-east of Honor Hold, Hellfire Peninsula
2. Horde Bonfire: Thrallmar, Hellfire Peninsula
3. Horde Bonfire: just south of Area 52, Netherstorm
4. Alliance Bonfire: north-west of Area 52, Netherstorm
5. Horde Bonfire: west of Thunderlord Stronghold, Blade's Edge Mountains
6. Alliance Bonfire: east of Sylvanaar, Blade's Edge Mountains
7. Alliance Bonfire: Telredor, Zangarmarsh
8. Horde Bonfire: east of Zabra'jin, Zangarmarsh
9. Horde Bonfire: west of Garadar, Nagrand
10. Alliance Bonfire: west of Telaar, Nagrand
11. Horde Bonfire: east of Stonebreaker Hold, Terokkar Forest
12. Alliance Bonfire: west of Allerian Stronghold, Terokkar Forest
13. Horde Bonfire: south-east of Shadowmoon Village, Shadowmoon Valley
14. Alliance Bonfire: north-east of Wildhammer Stronghold, Shadowmoon Valley

Note that if you start from Shattrath, you should do 11, 12, 14, and 13 first (and then go the Hellfire Peninsula).

5.5. Northrend

There are 16 bonfires in Northrend, 8 for the Alliance, and 8 for the Horde. They will enable you to complete Extinguishing Northrend (Alliance / Horde), Flame Warden of Northrend (Alliance), and Flame Keeper of Northrend (Horde).

The bonfire order, in the map below, was designed with flying mounts in mind, so you might want to adapt it if you will be using Flight Paths.

1. Alliance Bonfire: north-east of Windrunner's Overlook, Crystalsong Forest
2. Horde Bonfire: south-east of Sunreaver's Command, Crystalsong Forest
3. Alliance Bonfire: K3, Storm Peaks
4. Horde Bonfire: K3, Storm Peaks
5. Alliance Bonfire: north of The Argent Stand, Zul'Drak
6. Horde Bonfire: south-east of The Argent Stand, Zul'Drak
7. Alliance Bonfire: Fort Wildervar, Howling Fjord
8. Horde Bonfire: Camp Winterhoof, Howling Fjord
9. Alliance Bonfire: east of Amberpine Lodge, Grizzly Hills
10. Horde Bonfire: Conquest Hold, Grizzly Hills
11. Alliance Bonfire: Wintergarde Keep, Dragonblight
12. Horde Bonfire: Agmar's Hammer, Dragonblight
13. Alliance Bonfire: Fizzcrank Airstrip, Borean Tundra
14. Horde Bonfire: north of Fizzcrank Airstrip, Borean Tundra
15. Alliance Bonfire: River's Heart, Sholazar Basin
16. Horde Bonfire: River's Heart, Sholazar Basin

5.6. Deepholm and Vashj'ir

If you followed us up to this point, you only need to visit the neutral bonfires in Deepholm and Vashj'ir to complete Flame Warden of Cataclysm (Alliance) and Flame Keeper of Cataclysm (Horde).

The bonfire in Deepholm is at the Temple of Earth.

The bonfire in Vashj'ir is at the Silver Tide Hollow in the Shimmering Expanse.

5.7. A Thief's Reward

After stealing all four flames of the opposite faction, you will be given the A Thief's Reward (Alliance / Horde) quest by the Festival Loremaster (Alliance) or Festival Talespinner (Horde) in any of the capital cities.

This quest is completed immediately, causing you to receive a Crown of the Fire Festival, a nice-looking item that cannot be used for transmogrification, and to earn the King of the Fire Festival achievement.

6. Event Boss: Ahune↑top

Ahune is the boss of the event. Only characters at level 84 and 85 will be able to access it by queuing for the boss in the Looking for Group tool.

As with every seasonal boss, the encounter with Ahune is very simple. It consists in two alternating phases:

• Phase 1: defeat 3 waves of elementals while avoiding icicles on the ground;
• Phase 2: Ahune becomes attackable and your group should use DPS cooldowns to do as much damage on him as possible.

Every time Phase 1 comes around, the number of elementals in each wave increases. This constitutes a soft enrage timer.

• The first time you kill Ahune, you will:
  • earn the Ice the Frost Lord achievement;
  • be able to loot Shards of Ahune, an item that starts the Shards of Ahune quest, which rewards 20 Burning Blossoms and a unique tabard of your choice: Tabard of Summer Skies or Tabard of Summer Flames.
• The first time you kill Ahune on a given day, you will receive a Satchel of Chilled Goods, which:
  • contains a random number of Burning Blossoms (10 in average);
  • has a chance to contain a Frostscythe of Lord Ahune;
  • has a chance to contain an Ice Chip (teaches how to summon a Frigid Frostling).
• Every time you kill Ahune, the following items have a chance to drop:
  • The Frost Lord's War Cloak;
  • The Frost Lord's Battle Shroud;
  • Shroud of Winter's Chill;
  • Cloak of the Frigid Winds;
  • Icebound Cloak;
  • Formula: Enchant Weapon - Deathfrost.

7. Remaining Achievements↑top

If you followed this guide, then the only Midsummer Fire Festival achievements that you still have to complete are Burning Hot Pole Dance and Torch Juggler.

7.1. Burning Hot Pole Dance

For this achievement, you first need to buy a complete Midsummer set Mantle of the Fire Festival (100 Burning Blossoms), Vestment of Summer (100 Burning Blossoms), and Sandals of Summer (200 Burning Blossoms). So you need to spend 400 Burning Blossoms in total.

Once you have acquired the set, equip it and find a ribbon pole. They are located near bonfires in major capital cities and settlements. Simply click the ribbon pole and let your character dance for a whole minute for the achievement to trigger.

7.2. Torch Juggler

For this achievement, buy 10 Juggling Torches from a Midsummer Supplier (Alliance) or a Midsummer Merchant (Horde) in a capital city. 5 Juggling Torches cost 5 Burning Blossoms, so you will need to spend 10 Burning Blossoms. If you you kept the torches given to you when you completed Torch Catching (Alliance / Horde), then you will only need to buy 5 more.

You do not need to buy 40 torches as you recover the torches if you use them properly (hence why it's called juggling).

Once in possession of the torches, go to Dalaran. There are two ways to do the achievement.

1. Bind the torches to a key and keep spamming it as well as your left mouse button (because you need to select where you send the torches and it has to be exactly on your character, so that you can juggle without having to move).
2. Use the Juggler addon to throw the torches by spinning your mouse wheel (it is a lot easier).

8. Conclusion↑top

We hope that this guide will have answered every question you had about the Midsummer Fire Festival. If not, we encourage you to leave a comment or contact us by e-mail, we will be happy to address the issue you encountered.

9. Translations↑top

• Turkish