Midsummer Fun: The bonfire buffs
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jun 21st 2008 at 11:00AM
When headed out to level, farm, or grind during the Midsummer Fire Festival this year, be sure to head to the zone's bonfire for your side (there's one outside of almost every Horde or Alliance settlement) and throw in a blossom. You'll be glad you did, no matter what your level. You'll get one buff right off the bat: The Fire Festival Fury buff. This 60 minute buff will not only give you a straight 3% to your critical strike chance, but you'll also get a damage shield that will do fire damage equal to your level to all who attack you. That's right, Thorns, eat your heart out.
But what's even better is that it doesn't stop there.
If your side's fire is burning bright, you'll get a zone-wide buff called the Bonfire's Blessing. This blessing gives you a 30% chance to inflict 10 fire damage per your character level on every spell, melee, or ranged attack. That means 100 extra damage at level 10, 200 extra damage at level 20, and so on, up to 700 extra damage at level 70. In short, you'll be tearing off quite a chunk of extra health from your average non-elite enemy with these buffs. All you have to do is make sure that the zone bonfire for your side stays lit, and you'll be a killing machine with both of these amazingly powerful buffs. Just be careful, the buff does count for that zone only, so if you go to a different zone, you'll probably have to go throw a blossom in that zone's fire -- or hope someone else did.
The existence of these buffs is actually providing me with bit of a conundrum. Do I want to work towards a Firedancer or a nice set of clothing on my 70s, or do I want to level my lowbies using these sweet, sweet buffs? Are you having the same problem? Either way, be sure to keep an eye out on WoW Insider today. No matter what you're planning to do for the Fire Festival, we'll have the guides you need to get the most out of the holiday.
The Midsummer Fire Festival is upon us! Check out WoW Insider's complete quest guide to collect those Burning Blossoms. Also, don't forget to eyeball our screenshot gallery of Midsummer events and a break down of Lord Ahune's loot table.Filed under: Tips, How-tos, Events, News items, Leveling, Guides, Making money, Buffs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaron Jun 21st 2008 11:09AM
This buff doesn't seem to last an hour, I was questing on my alt in hellfire today and its very on and off, probably had this buff about 10 times in a period of one hour.
brucimus Jun 21st 2008 12:05PM
Aaron I think the writer is talking about the "use" buff from the Blossoms
Gryphon Hall Jun 22nd 2008 9:40PM
It may be that the other faction has been extinguishing the flames, so you lose the buff.
dotorion Jun 21st 2008 11:16AM
Could also add that dancing around the poles with multiple people gives you a +10% exp buff.
Introit Jun 21st 2008 12:01PM
Wow, those are really OP for lower levels. My level 10 shaman will do 100 damage each time she gets hit? That kills mobs in 1 hit almost.
doyesac Jun 21st 2008 1:38PM
No, the damage you do when you get hit is equal to your level -- so at 10 you do 10 damage in return. BUT the 30% for +100 fire damage really does seem OP at 10...
Rashi Jun 22nd 2008 1:10PM
Can you say 265 crit at level 13?
Amethyst Jun 21st 2008 12:39PM
Dancing round the maypole doesn't have to be with multiple people to give you the 10% xp buff, I just did it by myself in Thrallmar and got the same thing. The longer you dance around it the longer the buff lasts though, up to 1 hour.