Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. While patch 5.4 continues apace, there's been plenty of news of upcoming features, out-of-game stuff, and more. We've also got the first columns of some of our new class columnists, so if you've been missing mage, rogue, or hunter articles, you'll want to check those. If you're aren't big on those classes, check out some of our new patch 5.4 guides or get the latest news on which raid wings are unlocking.

Downtime today is scheduled from 2:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Pacific time, so you should have some time to catch up. Read on for the latest.

Hot news and features

• The asian first Garrosh Hellscream heroic kill went to Tianqi.
• Check out the latest patch 5.4 hotfixes for September 24.
• In patch 5.4, you can queue for multiple wings of Raid Finder at once.
• Were you aware of it? Wing two of Siege of Orgrimmar is available in the Raid Finder.
• Connected Realms are here. The first set connected on September 25.
• The new engineering pets can be caged and traded thanks to a recent hotfix.
• Help pick out one of the finalists for the 2013 BlizzCon Talent Contest.
• WoW: The Ultimate Visual Guide is now available.
• The latest possible Blizzard trademark is Heroes of the Storm. Anne speculates on what it could mean for Warcraft lore.

• We showcase some of the easier-to-get vanity items from Timeless Isle.
• In Hearthstone news, there's an account wipe coming, and we finally have the first balance changes. In addition, you can expect a new wave of opt-in beta invites soon.
• Want to enjoy your time in WoW? Here's 9 people to avoid.

Class news and guides

• Totem Talk looks at the Siege of Orgrimmar for restoration shamans.
• Scattered Shots offers some tips and tricks for the Siege of Orgrimmar for hunters.
• Arcane Brilliance offers a State of the Mage address for patch 5.4.
• Blood Pact looks at warlock stats and set bonuses in patch 5.4.
• Lichborne offers a guide to death knight raid gear in Gates of Retribution.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors has more warrior gear from Siege of Orgrimmar.
• Encrypted Text welcomes a new writer.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Is The Crowd Chose You bad for arena PvP?
• Olivia offers an explanation of the gear issues of PvP season 14.
• Rossi has some tips to skipping the ice wall when soloing Sunwell.
• Are we getting less tolerant of wipes?
• GuildOx has introduced Flex Raid rankings.
• Wowhead offers a new tool for checking your scaling for challenge modes and proving grounds.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore wonders if the faction war was actually what Pandaria needed.
• WoW Trivial Pursuit is now available for purchase.
• We look at how a fitness company is using MMO gaming in their business.
• Do you have a nongaming partner? You can still live happily ever after.
• Learn how some businesses are looking to MMOs for leadership development.

---

Tags: downtime, last-week-in-wow, last-week-inwow, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, 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