Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! As you're probably aware, the family and friends alpha test of Cataclysm went up early last week. While there's still a Non-Disclosure Agreement on the whole thing, that hasn't stopped a lot of enterprising people from getting their hands on the client and disseminating all manner of information to the WoW community at large. I wouldn't say the leaks are coming out in a torrent quite yet, but there's still some pretty juicy stuff if you know where to find it.

Of course, if you're one of those who's trying to keep pure about the spoilers and leaks, have no fear. In the list below we've placed all the unofficial leaks in a separate Cataclysm leak section so you can skim over them or pass them by. So read on with confidence. There's plenty non-leak stuff to read up on, including the new Patch 3.3.5 PTR notes. It looks like only a handful of servers will experience scheduled downtime this morning, and even then only for 2 hours starting a 5 AM pacific time, but Tuesday's good WoW news reading time anyway.

Cataclysm Leaks

• We now know what Deathwing looks like in game, and he's a doozy.
• The Goblin and Worgen forum icons are live - minus the female Worgen.
• That said, not all is lost. We do have preliminary datamines of the female Worgen model, albeit without a skin of their own.
• New Cataclysm UI strings datamined from the alpha may give insights into what we're doing in the expansion.
• A leaked text document may lay out all the new zone and subzone names in Cataclysm.
• Another leak reveals the first peek at some of the new masteries.
• Raid Rx discusses some of the newly leaked Cataclysm healing skills and talents.
• The Light And How To Swing it discusses some of the new holy paladin talent and skill leaks.

Hot News and Features

• Ghostcrawler explained how learning new skills and skill levels will work in Cataclysm.
• Blizzard's put up some information and screenshots of the Halls of Origination, one of the new dungeons in Cataclysm.
• It's finally happened: Someone has all of the achievements.
• Blizzard wants to know what you want from hunter pets in Cataclysm.

Class News and Guides

• Totem Talk looks at Frostwing Halls for the restoration shaman,
• Lichborne offers a guide to gems, glyphs, and enchants for the blood tank.
• Shifting Perspectives helps new level 80 restoration druids gear up and opines about the future of Wrath's cast time.
• Encrypted Text looks at professions for rogues.
• The Light And How To Swing it opines about what retribution needs in Cataclysm.
• Spiritual Guidance covers optimal emblem usage for the shadow priest,
• Scattered Shots discusses hunter gems.
• The Care and Feeding of Warriors looks at improving arms warriors.
• In Arcane Brilliance, Belt shares his hopes for the frost tree.

Items, Dungeons, Professions, and PvP

• Insider Trader looks back at blacksmithing in Wrath.
• Gold Capped covers auctioneering for the casual trader.
• WoW Rookie offers some basic tips for the beginning quester.
• The Overachiever is rounding out the top 25 most evil achievements in game.
• Ready Check looks at increasing the size of your raid from 10 to 25.
• Will the new Cataclysm raid changes make gearing for your off spec too hard?
• The Art of War(craft) looks at the newly announced 2 tier PvP point system coming with Cataclysm.
• Time is Money discusses what to do when you get hate mail from your fellow sellers and auctioneers.

Odds and Ends

• Know Your Lore traces the elven family tree and tries to make sense of Night Elf politics. Seriously, it's pretty convoluted.
• The new improved Battle.net will integrate with Facebook. Blizzard also released a FAQ and preview of the new Real ID system.

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Filed under: Realm Status, News items