Power Up Guides

Category: Guides

  • Shade of Akama: How to Start the Encounter in Black Temple

    The Shade of Akama is one of the early bosses in the Black Temple raid in World of Warcraft. While the fight itself is straightforward, players often get stuck because the Shade of Akama encounter is not starting.

    If you’re farming transmog, chasing achievements, or just exploring, running into this problem can be frustrating. This guide will walk you through how to start the Shade of Akama fight and give you quick fixes if the event doesn’t trigger.

    Where to Find the Shade of Akama

    The Shade of Akama is located in the Halls of the High Council inside the Black Temple raid in Shadowmoon Valley. After defeating Supremus, move deeper into the temple, clearing trash mobs along the way, until you find Akama standing in the middle of the council chamber. This is where the encounter begins.

    Shade of Akama: How to Start

    The encounter doesn’t begin automatically when you enter the room. To start it:

    1. Find Akama in the middle of the room.
    2. Speak to Akama and select his dialogue option.
    3. After you talk to him, Akama will walk toward the Shade, and waves of enemies will spawn.
    4. Once the scripted waves are done, the Shade of Akama becomes attackable.

    If you don’t interact with Akama, nothing happens — which is the main reason people think the encounter is broken.

    Common Issue: Shade of Akama Not Starting

    Many players run into problems where the Shade event just doesn’t kick off. Here are the usual culprits:

    • You didn’t talk to Akama. The fight is triggered only by his dialogue.
    • Akama bugged or missing. Clearing too fast or skipping trash sometimes prevents him from appearing properly.
    • Script stuck. The event may start but then stall with no enemies spawning.
    • Old raid lockout. If you’ve already partially done the event in this lockout, it won’t reset until the weekly reset.

    Quick Troubleshooting Checklist

    If you’re searching for shade of akama not starting, here’s a step-by-step fix you can try:

    • ✔ Make sure you clicked Akama’s dialogue.
    • ✔ Clear all nearby trash mobs before trying again.
    • ✔ Leave the chamber, re-enter, and check if Akama has reset.
    • ✔ If that fails, exit and reset the instance.
    • ✔ If Akama still doesn’t appear, wait for the weekly raid reset and try again.

    Most of the time, simply talking to Akama or resetting the instance solves the issue.

    How to Reset if Problems Persist

    If the encounter is still stuck after trying the basics, there are a couple of tricks that often help. You can intentionally wipe the fight by pulling extra mobs or letting yourself die, then running back in to see if the script restarts.

    Another option is to fully leave the instance, right-click your character portrait, and select Reset All Instances. This forces the raid to reset and respawn everything, usually fixing Akama’s dialogue event. If you’re still locked into a bugged state after that, you’ll need to wait until the next weekly raid reset for a fresh run.

    Loot from Shade of Akama

    While not one of the raid’s hardest bosses, Shade of Akama still drops notable loot. Players farming transmog can find several pieces of Tier 6 armor tokens here, which are part of some of the most iconic class sets in the game.

    He also has weapons like Blade of Savagery and Soul-Cleansing Gloves, along with other epics. Even though he is not the main source of highly prized loot in Black Temple, you’ll need to defeat him to continue deeper toward Illidan and the other major bosses.

  • How to Access Your DLC Costumes in Persona 5 Royal

    Persona 5 Royal is filled with stylish outfits, but the DLC costume packs let you take things to another level. Whether you want to throw back to Persona 3’s school uniforms, suit up in the Phantom Thief attire from Persona 4, or just mix things up with some quirky extras, the DLC costumes give your team a fresh look.

    The only problem many players run into is figuring out how to actually use them once they’re downloaded. This guide will walk you through the steps so you can start showing off your new gear right away.

    Quick Answer: How to Change Costumes in Persona 5 Royal

    To change costumes in Persona 5 Royal, open the Menu, go to Equip, select a character, then scroll down to the Costume slot. From there, you can cycle through all available outfits, including DLC costumes, as long as the packs are installed. Costumes are cosmetic only, but some sets also change the battle music.

    Downloading the DLC Costumes

    Before you can equip anything, you need to make sure the costume packs are properly downloaded. On PlayStation, head to the PlayStation Store and check your library. If you purchased or redeemed a bundle edition that includes DLC, all of the costume packs should show up in your add-ons list. From there, install them to your system. If you’re playing on PC, you’ll need to confirm they’re downloaded in your Steam library under “Manage DLC.”

    Once the packs are installed, the game will automatically recognize them. You won’t have to do anything in-game to unlock them aside from progressing the story to the right point.

    When Costumes Become Available

    You won’t have access to DLC costumes right away at the start of Persona 5 Royal. The game first introduces the Velvet Room’s costume mechanic when you gain free exploration in the Metaverse with a full party. After Morgana allows you to change equipment freely, you’ll see a “Costume” option on the equipment screen for each character. This is where the DLC outfits will appear.

    As long as you have the costume packs installed, all the outfits tied to that DLC will be selectable at this point.

    Equipping DLC Costumes

    You will need to actually pick up your Costumes before you can equip them. This can be done in your room any night before going to bed. To do it, simply interact with the big shelf just next to the stairs leading down to the LeBlanc Café, and you will pick up all of your costumes.

    To actually change into your new outfits, follow these steps:

    1. Open the Menu while exploring.
    2. Select Equip.
    3. Choose the character whose outfit you want to change.
    4. Scroll down to the Costume slot.
    5. Press right or left to cycle through available outfits, including DLC ones.

    Each DLC pack comes with full sets of outfits so the entire Phantom Thief team can coordinate. For example, the Persona 4 pack lets everyone wear Yasogami High uniforms, while the Persona Q pack gives them chibi-inspired costumes. You can mix and match if you’d rather each character wear something different.

    Do Costumes Affect Stats?

    One important thing to know is that costumes are purely cosmetic. They don’t change your stats, defense, or resistances. The only thing they influence is how your team looks in the Metaverse. That said, many of the DLC packs also come with special battle music themes, so wearing certain costumes will change the background music in combat. This can be a fun way to mix up the experience during long dungeon crawls.

    Complete List of DLC Costume Packs

    Here’s a breakdown of every DLC costume set available in Persona 5 Royal and what they include:

    Persona 3 Costume & BGM Set

    • Outfits based on Gekkoukan High uniforms and SEES gear
    • Special battle theme: “Mass Destruction”

    Persona 4 Costume & BGM Set

    • Yasogami High uniforms for the team
    • Special battle theme: “Reach Out to the Truth”

    Persona Q2 Costume & BGM Set

    • Chibi-style costumes inspired by Persona Q2
    • Unique battle track from the spin-off

    Persona 2 Costume & BGM Set

    • Outfits modeled after the Persona 2 cast
    • Battle theme: “Time Castle”

    Catherine Costume & BGM Set

    • Themed outfits from Atlus’ puzzle adventure Catherine
    • Battle theme: “Stray Sheep”

    Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Costume & BGM Set

    • Classic Taisho-era uniforms from the Raidou Kuzunoha games
    • Original soundtrack piece for battle

    Shin Megami Tensei If… Costume & BGM Set

    • Retro uniforms from the 1994 RPG
    • Battle theme from the original game

    Persona Dancing Costume Sets

    • Outfits based on Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 4: Dancing All Night
    • Battle music from the rhythm spin-offs

    Persona 5 Royal Exclusive Bonus Outfits

    • Various extra outfits such as swimsuits, Christmas attire, and maid/butler costumes are also included depending on the version of the game. These don’t usually come with battle tracks but add fun seasonal variety.

    Tips for Using DLC Costumes

    It’s easy to forget costumes exist once you get deep into the story, but changing them up can make revisiting Palaces more exciting. Here are a few tips:

    • Switch outfits between Palaces to keep things fresh. For example, use the Persona 3 costumes for one Palace, then swap to the dancing outfits for the next.
    • Pay attention to the battle themes that come with the packs. Some of them are nostalgic tracks from earlier Persona games.
    • Experiment with mismatched outfits if you like a bit of chaos in your style. There’s no rule that says the Phantom Thieves all need to match.

    Common Issues

    If your DLC costumes aren’t showing up, double-check that the packs are installed on your system. On PlayStation, go into your Persona 5 Royal add-ons and confirm they’re downloaded. On Steam, check the “Manage DLC” tab in your library and make sure they’re ticked. Restarting the game after installing usually solves the problem. If they still don’t appear, re-downloading the DLC can often fix the issue.