Happy Tuesday morning everyone. The big news of the week is, of course, the advent of the patch 5.4 PTR, and with that comes the avalanche of sweet, sweet PTR news. There's so much of it we can't even fit it into one category in our roundup. Thus, with no further ado, I'm just going to give it all to you. Realm maintenance this morning is scheduled to last from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific time, so you should have time to read at least some of it.

Patch 5.4 PTR news and features

• Check out the official patch 5.4 PTR patch notes.
• Virtual Realms could end the scourge of low population realms forever.
• Proving Grounds, which were initially announced as a feature of Mists, finally make their debut on the patch 5.4 PTR.
• Datamining points to a possible pet battle tournament and new battle pets in patch 5.4.
• Item enhancements will scale to any level of gear in patch 5.4, including heirlooms.
• You'll be able to catch up on legendary quest drops in Throne of Thunder come patch 5.4.
• There's some major world changes coming to patch 5.4. Check out this video for a sneak peek.
• Check out some of the datamined mount, pet, and armor models from the patch 5.4 PTR.

• Those with the realm-fastest clear times on challenge dungeons will get to wear dungeon-specific titles in recognition of their achievement in patch 5.4.
• Read up on some of the new raid bosses coming in Siege of Orgrimmar. We also video and description of the new raid zone.
• The Darkmoon Faire will have a new wolf world boss and battle pet.
• Blizzard CM Taepsilum offered some clarification on Flexible Raiding rewards and lockouts.
• The WoW Insider Round Table discusses Flexible Raiding.

Other news and features

• Check out the latest patch 5.3 hotfixes for June 14.
• The Blossoming Ancient is now available in the Blizzard pet store.
• Dawn of the Aspects Part V is upon us, and we have a full review of all five parts, as well as an excerpt to whet your appetite.
• There's new lore entries for various characters on the official WoW site.

Class news and guides

• Warlocks got some pretty big changes in on the patch 5.4 PTR. We talked about the Kil'jaeden's Cunning nerf first, then elaborated on the talent problems it reveals in this week's Blood Pact.
• The Care and Feeding of Warriors dives into the patch 5.4 PTR for warriors.
• Should you be playing a paladin? We'll help you decide.
• Lichborne examines death knights for ability bloat.
• Encrypted Text discusses the GCD for combat rogues.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• The Golden Lotus reputation grind is changing pretty drastically in patch 5.4. We'll show you how to keep earning it.
• Patch 5.4 lets you build your own noodle cart.
• Engineers will be getting some new recipes in patch 5.4, including a recipe for a new fridge, some battle pets, and possibly a mount that is not the Sky Claw.
• Holinka commented on the role of PvE gear in PvP in patch 5.4.
• We offer a beginner's guide to WoW professions.
• Here's 5 gameplay tips you may not have known about.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore tries to get to the bottom of the real problem with Med'an and offers a recap of the lore leading up to Patch 5.4.
• 15 Minutes of Fame showcases an all-paladin guild.
• Blizzard recently announced a series of updates to Hearthstone.

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Filed under: Realm Status, News items