Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The release date for Mists of Pandaria may be less than two months away, but Blizzard doesn't appear to be slowing down on beta, and neither are we. Check out our roundup below for a bunch of new features and our guides to making the most of them. There's going to be a lot of do when Mists drops, and we help you get a leg up.

Scheduled maintenance today starts at 5 a.m. PDT and lasts around six hours, so you should have time to get some reading done. You should also have time to watch the video above, and you should, because we're on Mars and that is awesome.

Hot new and features

• Check out our 5-second guide to the bosses of the Mists of Pandaria leveling dungeons.
• Jade Forest is once again open on the beta, and with it come new quests and storylines for both Alliance and Horde.
• Valor of the Ancients is a new buff that will increase valor point gain for your alts.
• In Mists of Pandaria, you'll be able to raise your own cloud serpent mount.
• We check out the Crypt of Forgotten Kings scenario over on the Mists beta.
• What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been no longer rewards Master Riding.
• Raids in Mists of Pandaria will be released in a staggered schedule, with none available right at launch.
• Some beloved faction-specific gear models make a return in the new Jade Forest.
• Alex starts you out right with a story of beginning pet battles.

• Check out our preview of Silvershard Mine, one of the new Mists battlegrounds.
• Check out more previews of the Tillers faction from some of our favorite WoW fansites.
• Could people be enticed to raid for prettier gear alone?
• Should spells work differently in PvE and PvP? Rossi and Gray both offer their views.
• We offer a transmogrification guide to looking like a Guardian of Hyjal.
• Did Mists of Pandaria need an intermediate raid?

Class news and guides

• Check out our Warrior 101 guide for Mists of Pandaria.
• Arcane Brilliance gives you a guide to talent specs for mages in Mists.
• Shifting Perspectives analyzes feral cat and moonkin talents in Mists.
• Lichborne helps you get your death knight talented and ready for Patch 5.0.4.
• We have a guide to preparing for your new monk.
• Blood Pact looks at Mists of Pandaria glyphs for warlocks.
• Hunters get new rare pet taming challenges in MoP. Scattered Shots takes a closer look at how they'll work and how you can track them down.
• Totem Talk analyzes tier 3 Mists talents for restoration shaman.
• The Light And How To Swing It has a reputation gear guide for retribution paladins in Mists and an analysis of the Mists of Pandaria tanking paladin.
• Encrypted Text looks at day to day differences in the MoP rogue's playstyle.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Addon Spotlight has a guide to auctioneering with TradeSkillMaster.
• The Overachiever tackles pet battling and early achievements in Mists.
• WoW Archivist takes a look back at patch 2.0.3 and the first pre-expansion event.
• Gold Capped discusses the possibility of using battle pets to transfer wealth.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore explains why the coming faction war needs to happen and laments Fandral Staghelm's wasted potential.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks to a dwarf-only world PvP guild.
• WoW is down to 9.1 million subscribers.
• The Warcraft movie has a new writer, Charles Leavitt.

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