Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The big news this week is, of course, the release date. We now know that we get the expansion on Sept. 25. That means we have less than two months to go until the release of Mists of Pandaria. That doesn't mean beta testing has slowed down any, though. We're still getting near-weekly patches and lots of raid testing. We've even seen the introduction of the Tillers, the FarmVille-style faction. If you haven't already, check out Dawn's write-up for an in-depth rundown of how to start your your own farm.

Downtime this week is from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT, so you'll have plenty of time to get caught up on all the latest news. Read on for our usual roundup of all the good stuff from the past seven days.

Hot news and features

• Blizzard previews two new scenarios, as well as the Mogu'Shan Vaults raid.
• Check out some of the newest pets and mounts from the Mists beta.
• Pet battles will make you vulnerable if you are PvP-flagged.
• Defeating challenge modes will grant you teleportation spells.
• Brewfest has been pushed back a week to allow people some time to level before facing Coren Direbrew.
• Gold normalization will be coming to bosses old and new in Mists.
• You won't need the Mists of Pandaria expansion for pet battles.
• Pet battle beta testing continues, with a bunch of changes to the system ready for testing soon.

• If you're waffling over which version of Mists to buy, you may wish to know that the Digital Deluxe Edition will include both the pet and the mount. Be careful, though. Preordering the game from Blizzard may break some addons.
• WoW Archivist takes a look back the original challenge mode: 45-minute Stratholme.
• European CM Takralus recently commented on the need for testing.
• Kotaku reveals the inside story of the making of Warcraft.
• Transmogrify yourself into everyone's favorite bronze dragon.
• Star Wars author Michael Stackpole will be writing a future WoW novel.

Class news and guides

• The new druid skill Symbiosis has been updated, and we have tables of how it shakes out.
• Lichborne looks at more beta changes for death knights.
• Encrypted Text feels out the tempo of rogue rotations.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors looks back at fury in Cataclysm.
• Shifting Perspectives examines the latest changes to the balance druid damage rotation.
• Blood Pact offers a cautionary tale of datamining.

Professions, dungeons, items, PvP, and more

• Enchanting rods have been reduced to one in Mists of Pandaria.
• Are raiding guilds exploiting low-population realms to get server firsts?
• Addon Spotlight has a guide to the TradeSkillMaster addon.

Odds and ends

• Blog Azeroth recently discussed introducing friends to WoW.
• Know Your Lore discusses the fate of the draenei. We also talk about getting into the lore of Mists.
• 15 Minutes of Fame interviews a lady with a lot of dresses.

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