Last weekend, the heat was well and truly on in Game of Thrones: Kingsroad as players swarmed the 'hot time' events. Many were sweating over the grind, repeatedly tackling the 'Smoky Hut' just to scrape together enough copper to balance the books.

Meanwhile, the community has been buzzing with all sorts of chatter. As mid-tier players finally clear the new regions and dive headfirst into the Kraken raid, tactical guides and post-run debriefs have been hogging the spotlight. Let’s take a look at what went down in this rather eventful week.

In Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, 'Forging Steel' is the bread and butter of character progression. You’ll mostly scavenge it by dismantling Hero-grade gear or Legendary accessories. Given that it's burned through in massive quantities for slot upgrades and breaking through research tiers, players have been tirelessly petitioning for more reliable ways to farm the stuff.

A quick word of caution: if you’re dismantling Legendary accessories, you absolutely must 'refine' them first to get any Forging Steel at all. The yield fluctuates depending on how many times you refine the item, but looking at the cost-to-benefit ratio, refining just once before dismantling is the sweet spot. Of course, if you’re swimming in gemstone raw materials, feel free to go for four refinements before the axe falls.

The new 'Stormlands' region is a bit of a hardware hog, mainly because the persistent rain effects demand more than other zones. This is particularly noticeable in the faction hideouts, 'Raven's Rock Fortress' and 'Fortress of Pain.' It’s a cramped, multi-layered mess, leading to some truly frustrating stuttering in certain areas.

The fix? Try toggling the 'Frame Generation' feature. You can find it under [Options] - [Display] - [Frame Generation]. The choice depends on your rig, but if you aren't rocking the latest high-end graphics card, 'AMD FidelityFX™ Frame Generation' is your best bet. Even this minor tweak provides a noticeable bump in frame rates and keeps the lag at bay.

The Kraken raid is a proper time-attack slog where you’ve got just 15 minutes to clear all four phases. If your current power level is lagging, you need to squeeze out every drop of buff before you step in and ensure you aren't wasting a single second of DPS during the fight.

First off, the 'Forgotten Shrine' buff is mandatory, not optional. It gives you a 10% boost to attack power for two hours—perfect for masking any lack of raw firepower. Throw in some 'Universal Mixture' or 'Sharpness Mixture' for good measure, and you’re ready to roll.

Once you’re in, the strategy is all about dodging boss patterns while hacking at those tentacles. The real DPS killer is the purple telegraph in the second phase. You'll see a purple warning before the tentacles strike; if you retreat backwards, you’ll lose both your attack window and your stamina. The trick to shaving off time is to be brave and dodge or roll forward through the attack.

On a final note, the community is currently up in arms over players bailing on raids mid-run. Public matchmaking is becoming a minefield, with frequent unannounced departures leaving others to pick up the slack. There is an increasing chorus of voices calling for stiffer penalties for those who quit early.