Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. At first it seemed like all the big news this week was going to happen outside of WoW. Hearthstone got some big news, we learned more about BlizzCon rewards, and we even have a release date for the Warcraft movie.. But Blizzard came through in the 11th hour with a patch 5.4 developer roundtable, delivering lots of insight, tidbits, and even hints of future changes and content. Me, I'm pretty excited to hear about the inventory fixes, and vindicated to hear them admit that melee have it harder in most raid encounters.

If that news isn't your favorite, don't worry, there's a lot of news to go over from the past 7 days. You're sure to find something you like. Downtime today starts at 5 a.m. Pacific time and is slated to last 6 hours, so you have time to catch up. Read on for the latest updates.

Hot news and features

• We've summarized the best news bits from the recent patch 5.4 developer roundtable.
• We have a 5-second guide to the bosses of Siege of Orgrimmar Raid Finder wing two.
• Check out the latest hotfixes for patch 5.2 for October 2, October 3, and October 4.
• We have a guide to getting your Noodle Cart, a new method for getting high-stat food in patch 5.4.
• Blizzard's working on new inventory fixes, including removing heirlooms and various toys and vanity items from player bags.
• EU guild Method has taken the world-first 25-man heroic Garrosh kill. We interviewed some of their raiders about the experience.
• The BlizzCon virtual ticket in-game goodies for 2013 have been revealed, including the new Crusader Murloc pet.

• Blizzard has released a screenshot that teases at a new hippogryph mount.
• Hearthstone's big beta patch is live. Everyone's cards and decks have been reset, but all cards gained from now on will transfer to the live game.
• Blizzard's begun internal testing on the iPad version of Hearthstone.
• We take a look at Hearthstone's new crafting interface.
• Blizzard is investigating complaints of input lag in Siege of Orgrimmar.
• Sarah argues against adding any more new classes to the game.

Class news and guides

• Encrypted Text delves into the patch 5.4 changes for the rogue class.
• The Care and Feeding of Warriors looks at tier 16 set bonuses.
• Scattered Shots pillages the Siege of Orgrimmar.
• Lichborne looks at more raid loot for death knights.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Alas, Cloud Serpent Riding will remain single character only.
• We offer a guide to winning pet battles.
• Addon Spotlight examines reforging and gear optimization addons.
• Our newest Adam discusses the problem with bag space.
• We discuss what there is to love and to hate about the Timeless Isle.
• We offer some tips and tricks for using the Twilight Drake hearthstone card.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore examines the view of the faction war as a test of strength and attempts to unravel the mysteries of the Timeless Isle.
• Anne looks back at the original Jade Forest starting quests from beta, and what they might have meant for the direction of game lore.
• Rossi argues that this expansion is not ending on a triumph.
• Rossi examines the weirdness that comes when you realize how long WoW has existed.
• Rossi offers an apologia for the draenei race.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks to an Irish Tauren.

Tags: downtime, last-week-in-wow, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, roundup, roundups, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server- status, server-downtime, server-maintenance, Server-Status, tuesday, tuesday-downtime, tuesday-maintenance, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Realm Status, News items