Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The patch 4.2 news continues fast and furious, but I'm going to take this opening paragraph to focus a little further. We received the answers to our professions questions for Ask the Devs #7 today, and there were a few doozies in there. Chaos Orbs will be going unbound, for one, perfect news for my two leveling tailors who want themselves tons of Dreamcloth.

What really caught my eye, however, was all the archaeology love. As a pretty obsessed archaeologist, I am tickled at the idea of getting awesome dailies, being able to say "it belongs in a museum" instead of vendoring my finds, and being able to focus on those stupid dwarven sites so I can finally get that silly staff for my caster alts.

As usual, there's even more awesome news to review from the past week, and not all of it is patch 4.2-related, I swear. Maintenance this morning is limited to rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, but that still gives you at least a few minutes to get caught up. The usual list is after the break.

Hot news and guides

• Check out the latest patch 4.1 hotfixes for May 11.
• WoW Archivist covers patch 1.1.
• Blizzard's offered a preview of the new character, guild, and arena team APIs.
• Officers' Quarters helps you decide who gets first crack at the new legendary staff.

Patch 4.2 news (Warning! Spoilers abound!)

• Check out the patch 4.2 patch note updates for May 10 and May 13.
• The Encounter Journal is live on the patch 4.2 PTR, and we have an in-depth look at it.
• Check out the official preview of the shaman and warlock tier 12 armor sets.
• Blizzard's made a few changes to the tier 12 set bonuses.
• Firelands is a pretty awesome place, and we have pictures to prove it.
• Firelands raid testing is open, and we have a sneak peek of the Beth'tilac encounter.
• Check out the new haircuts currently available on the patch 4.2 PTR.
• The PTR has a new login screen. There's no word on whether or not it's temporary.
• There are new achievements and achievement rewards you can get in patch 4.2, including Nuts, the 150 pet achievement reward.
• The Avengers of Hyjal is the new patch 4.2 raid reputation, and they have rings.
• The new legendary staff, Dragonwrath, is now in the patch 4.2 PTR files. We also have a look at what may be Dragonwrath's proc.
• Druid tier 12 armor has shown up in the game files.
• We have sound files for Thrall's patch 4.2 quest line.
• We have sound for the patch 4.2 Firelands boss emotes.

Class news and guides

• Totem Talk continues looking at Cataclysm raiding for restoration shaman. We also have a rundown of the patch 4.2 elemental shaman changes and a guide to enhancement AoE damage.
• The Light And How To Swing It continues to tank Blackwing Descent. We also have a preview of holy paladin changes and concerns in patch 4.2.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors takes a look at patch 4.2 for warriors.
• Lichborne takes a look at the tier 12 death knight armor bonuses.
• Spiritual Guidance looks at tier 12 shadow priest set bonuses, as well as a discussion of further patch 4.2 PTR priest changes.
• Blood Pact takes a look at the patch 4.2 warlock.
• Scattered Shots offers a look at the tier 12 hunter set bonuses.
• Arcane Brilliance takes a look at the tier 12 mage set bonuses.
• Raid Rx has a few things to say about healing in patch 4.2.
• Shifting Perspectives has a grab bag of observations on low-level tank representation, mana, and crowd control. We also have some discussion of the tier 12 balance druid set bonuses.
• Encrypted Text enumerates the roguish virtues.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Addon Spotlight helps you improve your PUGs with RobBossMods.
• Gold Capped offers some general advice for profiting from a new patch.
• WoW Rookie offers a class primer for new players.
• Michael Gray leaves Ready Check with a few lessons learned.
• The OverAchiever has a guide to mounts you can get from achievements.
• Blood Sport has more advice for starting a new character for PvP.

Odds and ends

• We have part two of our interview with Kristian Narn, who plays Hodor on HBO's Game of Thrones.
• World of Warcrafts interviews Blizzard fan fiction contest runner-up Corwin D. Riddle.
• Know Your Lore discusses the history of Zul'Gurub. We also have further insight into the Scythe of Elune.
• WoW Fashionista has a new look for you to try.
• The Lawbringer goes to the mailbag.
• All The World's a Stage helps you age your orc.
  

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  The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
  

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Tags: downtime, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, rolling-restarts, roundup, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Realm Status, News items