Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. As I write this, it is the end of a lazy Monday, where much of the USA is just finishing up some awesome barbeque and maybe a beer or two and generally having a grand old time. As you read this, the same Americans are dragging themselves back to work, grumbling all the way. Cheer up, everyone! Look at this way: Most of you probably only have a four-day work week now, which is actually pretty sweet.

The big news this week was, of course, the news that tier 11 normal modes will be nerfed come patch 4.2, to allow more people to run the old content. If that bothers you, don't worry, you can run tier 11 heroics in their original unnerfed glory. If that still bothers you, Ol' Grumpy would like a word with you. Oh, and I guess there was that other story about gold farming prisoners.

If you're not concerned about any of that old stuff, don't worry, there's plenty more to read and discuss from the past few days. Blizzard's apparently taking it easy this morning too, as we have nothing more than rolling restarts for downtime this morning. So before you ease back into your work week, why not read on?

Hot news and features

• Check out the patch 4.2 PTR note updates for May 26.
• Our Patch 4.2 daily quest guides are here. Included are guides to Assaulting Sethria's Roost, Between the Trees and The Power of Malorne, Call the Flock, Wings Aflame, and Rage Against the Flames.
• The new pet collector achievements on the patch 4.2 PTR have been updated with new pet rewards.
• Ask the Devs Round 8 has answers to your Firelands questions. Round 9 will focus on tanks.
• Uncut green gems won't be such easy vendor money in patch 4.2.
• WoW Archivist takes a look at a lost legendary item.
• Blizzard's got a spiffy new GM support site to help you track your support tickets. I've used it -- it's pretty nice.
• Cryptozoic is now carrying all the Blizzard manga.

Class news and guides

• Check out part 3 of our Cataclysm restoration shaman raiding guide. We also have a guide to leveling your elemental shaman to 20.
• The Care and Feed of Warriors looks at how much mastery and hit rating you need as a fury warrior.
• Raid Rx has a guide to using Spirit Link Totem and Power Word: Barrier in harmony.
• The Light And How To Swing It tanks Bastion of Twilight. We also look at holy power for holy paladins.
• Shifting Perspectives analyzes tier 12 druid set bonuses. We also discuss how raid progression can affect balance druid gearing.
• Blood Pact opines on mastery for warlocks.
• Lichborne looks at racial abilities for death knights.
• Encrypted Text helps your troubleshoot your rogue's DPS.
• Spiritual Guidance has a guide to shadow priest haste. We also have a look at UI improvements to make you a better priest.
• Arcane Brilliance examines the mage hit cap.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Gold Capped turns ore into Heavenly Shards.
• Ready Check discusses who pays for raiding supplies.
• WoW Rookie tells you what you need to know about patch 4.2.
• The Overachiever has a guide to grabbing PvP mounts.
• Addon Spotlight has a loot council addon for you.

Odds and ends

• Here's the latest installment of Safe Passage.
• Know Your Lore discusses the sources of magic and the extradimensional realms of Azeroth.
• All the World's a Stage looks at dwarf and gnome ages and experiences.
• Lawbringer looks at the limits of suing over promises.
• The popular fanfiction blog Travels Through Azeroth and Outland has come to a close. We talked with the author about it.

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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-restart, roundup, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Realm Status, News items