Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. I have a confession to make. I pretty much logged onto WoW the minimum possible amount of time last week. Now, don't get me wrong, I had a lot of stuff going on in real life too, but my main reason for playing hooky was because I was obsessed with Ezekiel Hawke, the dashing, roguish champion of Kirkwall you see above. That said, having now defeated Dragon Age 2, I am ready to get back into the game and eager to check all the new patch 4.1 goodies being discovered on the PTR by the day (and, of course, reported by us).

If you're tired of patch 4.1 news, have no fear, we have some pretty sweet non-patch news too. We had a contingent at PAX East 2011 and got a chance to sit down with Cryptozoic, the makers of the WoW TCG. The developers also recently held a forum Q&A, and the first round of questions and answers was released yesterday. Me, I'm most excited that they didn't completely dismiss the idea of an appearance layer on gear like they have in the past.

You should have some time to read up on this and all the rest of the week's news, as we have our usual scheduled maintenance from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific time this morning.

Hot news and features

• Check out the latest Patch 4.1 PTR note updates for March 9.
• Burning Crusade dungeon maps have shown up on the patch 4.1 PTR.
• There's a new map animation for your characters on the patch 4.1 PTR.
• Warlocks, rejoice: You may be getting a soulstone battle resurrection in patch 4.1.
• Our own Mathew McCurley got a chance to check out the new Razer Switchblade concept at the GDC 2011.

Class news and guides

• Totem Talk discusses restoration mastery in patch 4.1. We also have a discussion on elemental mastery and a look at using your elemental totem pets wisely.
• Shifting Perspectives looks at bear and restoration changes for patch 4.1. We also have a manifesto on the illusion of choice in balance talents and a reflection on the hybrid nature of cat druids.
• Scattered Shots covers the hunter AoE changes in patch 4.1.
• Arcane Brilliance looks at the arcane tree in patch 4.1.
• Spiritual Guidance has a Shadow Priest 101 guide. We also have analysis of the patch 4.1 Chakra and Atonement changes.
• The Light and How To Swing It has a Protection Paladin 101 guide. We also get nostalgic for Val'anyr.
• WoW Rookie looks at the differences between mitigation and stamina for tanks.
• Blood Pact looks at Drain Life's viability in a DPS rotation.
• Lichborne takes a look a tier 11 raid and valor point gear for DPS death knights.
• Encrypted Text looks at addon-supported interrupting for rogues.
• Raid Rx takes some lessons from raid healing horror stories.
• The Care and Feeding of Warriors has a guide to DPS warrior survival.

Items, dungeons, professions, PvP, and more

• Ready Check sings the praises of run speed.
• The Overachiever features part 2 of our The Limnologist guide.
• Blood Sport looks at using EDSF and its variants for PvP keybinding.
• Gold Capped discusses monopolies and at making money from prospecting.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore discusses the last worgen badass, Darius Crowley. We also discuss Blackwing Descent and the Prestors.
• Think of pranking the GMs or getting back at someone with a false report? Think again.
• Check out the latest installment of Safe Passage.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks with a raid group that flies without their strats on.
• The Lawbringer gets real about fighting gold selling.

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Filed under: Realm Status, News items