Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Probably the biggest news this week is that Blizzard's security was breached, and passwords and other information were stolen. On the plus side, much of the information was encrypted. That said, it's probably a good idea for you to change your password and get an authenticator, if you haven't already. In other news, we continue to explore the Mists of Pandaria beta, and almost as exciting, the Curiosity Rover continues to explore Mars. That picture up there? It's a color picture of another planet. How exciting is that, I ask you?

Downtime today is a series of rolling restarts starting at 5 a.m. PDT, with a handful of servers staying down until 1 p.m. PDT. Check the link to see if your server's on the list. Whether your server's down for 15 minutes or eight hours, we're here to keep you busy. Read on for a roundup of the latest news.

Hot news and features

• Planning to level a monk? We have a guide for you.
• The background downloader is active, heralding the arrival of patch 5.0.4.
• Ghostcrawler recently commented about the rate of valor point gain in Mists of Pandaria.
• Ghostcrawler also confirmed and explained the lack of reputation gaining tabards in Mists.
• With Theramore about to fall on hard times, we take a look back at its history.
• Alas, the new Theramore scenario will not be tested on the PTR.
• Blizzard will be hosting a series of community round tables at gamescom 2012.

• Scroll of Resurrection rewards will not apply to monks or new pandaren.
• Vengeance for tanks underwent some massive changes on the Mists beta. Rossi analyzed some of the rationale behind the changes and their effects.
• Ghostcrawler recently commented on class balancing methods on the beta forums.
• Check out Blizzard's official preview of one of the new Mists of Pandaria world bosses.
• CMs on the EU forums recently discussed the purpose and meaning of the raid finder.
• Enter our transmogrification contest for a chance at prizes and a feature article on the site about your outfit.
• This YouTube video series will get you caught up on the lore of Pandaria's races.
• In patch 5.0.4, you'll be able to buy the Fox Kit from Tol Barad reputation vendors.

Class news and guides

• Encrypted Text offers a basic guide to rogue talents and skills in Mists of Pandaria.
• The Light And How To Swing It offers a guide to protection paladin talents and skills in Mists.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors offers a guide to fury warriors in Mists of Pandaria.
• Lichborne looks at death knight glyphs in Mists of Pandaria.
• Arcane Brilliance has a guide to mage glyphs in Mists of Pandaria.
• Shifting Perspectives looks at some restoration druid gear in Mists. We also continue to analyze cats and moonkin druids in Mists.
• Scattered Shots analyzes the latest hunter changes in the Mists beta.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Addon Spotlight has more tips and tricks for the TradeSkillMaster addon.
• WoW Archivist looks back at the history of companion pets.
• With the tabard reputation debate raging, now may be a good time to look back at the history of reputation in WoW.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore speculates on the ultimate goals and methods of the naaru, as well as the true importance of the planet of Azeroth.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks to a guild that transferred realms and found a new home.
• Could a WoW raiding guild member be a better hire than your average MBA? At least one business expert thinks so.
• The new WoW TCG raid deck, Battle of the Aspects, is now available.
• Diablo III's patch 1.0.4 is drawing near, and Blizzard released a run-down of some of the changes we can expect.

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Tags: downtime, last-week-in-wow, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, rolling-restart, rolling-restarts, roundup, roundups, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-downtime, tuesday-maintenance, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Realm Status, News items