Ashes of Al'ar

Ashes of Al'ar is one of the most recognizable and sought-after mounts in World of Warcraft. It is a fiery phoenix with bright crimson plumage, added back in The Burning Crusade expansion. The mount drops from Kael'thas Sunstrider — the final boss of the Tempest Keep raid in Netherstorm. The drop chance is roughly 1–2%, and over the years this mount has become a symbol of persistence and luck in WoW.

At level 80 in The War Within, the raid can be soloed in 5–7 minutes on any class. Every boss dies within seconds, and the only delay is the path from the entrance to Kael'thas. Farming is limited by the weekly raid lockout reset, so use multiple characters to improve your odds.

• Iconic status — Ashes of Al'ar is among the most famous mounts in WoW history. The fiery phoenix stands out and is instantly recognizable anywhere in the world.
• Flying mount — usable in both flying zones and on the ground, at full movement speed depending on your riding skill.
• Rarity — at a drop chance of about 1%, it takes an average of 80–100 attempts to obtain the mount. Many players farm it for months, which makes the drop a real event.
• Account-wide — once obtained, the mount unlocks for all your characters, regardless of faction and class.
• Fast weekly farm — clearing the raid takes 5–7 minutes at max level, allowing you to easily run it on many characters each week.

Tempest Keep is located in Netherstorm, a zone in Outland. No quest chains or attunements are required to enter.

Route via the Shattrath portal

1. Head to Shattrath — a portal is available from your faction's capital (Stormwind or Orgrimmar).
2. From Shattrath, fly northeast into Netherstorm. Tempest Keep is a large floating complex of buildings in the central part of the zone.
3. Fly up to the central building of the complex — the largest, domed structure. The entrance to The Eye raid is on the bridge leading to the central platform.

Alternative route

If you don't have a portal to Shattrath, you can go through the Dark Portal in Hellfire Peninsula and fly from there across Hellfire Peninsula into Netherstorm.

Tempest Keep contains four bosses. Kael'thas Sunstrider is the last of them, and to reach him you must kill the three preceding bosses. You cannot skip them — while all three are alive, the door to Kael'thas stays closed.

Boss order

1. Al'ar — a fiery phoenix in the first hall. Its ashes are the very mount you're after. Fly up to the platform in the center and start the fight. At level 80 the boss dies instantly
2. Void Reaver — an elemental in the room to the right (when facing Kael'thas's hall). Fly down the corridor and destroy the boss.
3. High Astromancer Solarian — found in the room to the left. Likewise — fly over and strike it down.
4. Kael'thas Sunstrider — the door to his chamber opens after all three bosses are dead. Enter and kill Kael'thas.

Walkthrough tips

• Trash mobs (regular enemies) between bosses can be ignored — just fly past them on your mount. They won't block your way
• Kael'thas has several combat phases, but at max level they switch almost instantly. The whole fight lasts a few seconds
• In the second phase Kael'thas summons four advisors and lays legendary weapons on the floor. At level 80 none of this matters — just attack the boss
• After killing Kael'thas, check his body for Ashes of Al'ar

Weekly cycle

Tempest Keep is a raid with a weekly reset. A single character can loot Kael'thas once per week. The reset happens every Wednesday morning on European servers and every Tuesday on North American servers.

Farming with multiple characters

The most efficient way to speed up obtaining the mount is to run the raid on as many characters as possible each week.

• Each level 80 character can clear the raid in 5–7 minutes.
• With 10 characters you get 10 attempts per week instead of one.
• At a ~1% chance and 10 weekly attempts, you'll need an average of 8–10 weeks.
• With a single character, the same math gives roughly 80–100 weeks (a year and a half to two years).

Probability calculation

The table shows approximate values based on a 1% drop chance. The actual result depends on luck.

Best classes for farming

At level 80 any class handles the raid without issues, but some clear it faster:

• Druid — flight form activates instantly, saving time on moving between bosses.
• Mage — teleport to the capital after the raid and high movement speed.
• Demon Hunter — double jump and glide speed up movement inside the raid.

Ashes of Al'ar appears periodically on the Black Market. This is an auction of rare items where lots refresh daily.

• The opening bid is usually a few tens of thousands of gold.
• The final price can reach the gold cap (10,000,000 gold).
• The Black Market's location changes from expansion to expansion. In The War Within it is in the Dornogal undercity.
• This method suits players with a large gold stockpile who don't want to spend time on the weekly farm.

Besides the mount, the raid has items worth dropping in for:

• Tier 5 transmog sets — every class can assemble a full 5-piece set. The sets have a unique The Burning Crusade-era look.
• Scepter of the Forgotten Star — a two-handed staff with a distinctive design, popular for transmog.
• Sunflare — Kael'thas's one-handed sword with a unique model.