Patch 3.0.2, aka "The Echoes of Doom", is the patch that changes many aspects of World of Warcraft in preparation for the launch of the second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. We won't be seeing Death Knights or Northrend (or at least, we're pretty sure we won't, unless they're planning on a big surprise). In addition to four European servers closing due to Russian player migration.

Full patch notes are available, but they aren't the notes we expected. Ghostcrawler said today that not all new talents and abilities are going in the game today because they were balanced to L80 and no one can get to that level until the Wrath launch. The game will be hotfixed to squash any bugs. If you are having problems downloading the patch using Blizzard's torrent downloader, you can get the patch files directly ( or here for EU patch files) from our sister site Big Download.

Latest news and guides:

• Quick builds for Elemental Shamans
• Patch 3.0.2 primer for Protection Paladins
• Patch 3.0.2 primer for Balance Druids
• Patch 3.0.2 guide to the new Profession abilities

Read on for what you can expect, but remember that these were based on the full patch notes from the PTR and are currently being revised based on the notes that actually went live:

• New class spells, talents, and abilities: Hit our Skill Mastery posts to see coverage on new skills being introduced in patch 3.0.2. In addition, our class columnists have assessed skill and talent changes and how they're likely to affect gameplay: 
  • Druid - Feral, Resto and Moonkin
  • Hunter and Hunter pets
  • Mage - Part I and Part II
  • Paladin - Holy and Protection
  • Priest - Holy & Disc: Part I and Part II & Shadow
  • Rogue
  • Shaman - Part I and Part II
  • Warlock - Affliction, Demonology and Destruction
  • Warrior - Part I and Part II

• Raid leaders can also quit pulling their hair out over group composition, as most raid buffs will now be raid-wide...but it comes at a price.

• Inscription introduced as a new primary profession: Eliah Hecht nabbed some early information a week after the beta hit, and Daniel Whitcomb switched to Inscription there and wrote a guide to getting started and initial impressions. Elizabeth Harper from Ask A Beta Tester also took a lot of questions on Inscription here with a follow-up post here when it became possible to level it to 400 in the beta. As Eyonix notes in the original thread, you'll only be able to level Inscription to 375 in BC; once Wrath goes live and you have it installed, you'll be able to level Inscription to Grand Master.

• Achievements: The long-awaited Achievements arrive with this patch. They range from simple to attain to rare, one per server titles. You can't run out and get all of them since many require Wrath, but there are many that don't. Start with 5 Achievements you can get immediately, World PvP Achievements or even 10 of our favorite Achievements.

• Stormwind Harbor: if you're Alliance, head over to northwestern Stormwind to see the brand-new harbor built to transport explorers to the Borean Tundra (if you're Horde, you can still go to Stormwind, I guess, as long as you don't expect a warm welcome). We have a full gallery if you'd like to see it but don't have any characters in the beta or on the PTR.

• Calendar added to the default UI: looks like Blizzard is treading on turf you once had to download Group Calendar to get, but now you'll be able to see when ingame events like holidays and the Darkmoon Faire are scheduled to occur. Eliah Hect has a video preview of the calendar in action.

• Barbershops: if you've been ruing your hairstyle or color choices since the day you created your main, or if you just think it's time for a change, barbershops will now be available in major cities. We've also got links to new hairstyle photos so you can plan ahead.

• New arenas: Patch 3.0.2 will also see the introduction of the Dalaran and Orgrimmar arenas first announced at the Worldwide Invitational. Zach Yonzon has thoughts on their design and the type of gameplay they're likely to encourage. Not a ton of information since then on how (or whether) these evolved from when they were first discussed at the WWI panel, so if you see them on the PTR, please let us know how they turned out.

• One thing we won't be seeing anymore: Amani War Bears. Unless Blizzard changes this at the last moment, they're not going to wait for Wrath before taking the timed four-chest Zul'Aman reward out of the game. 

• AddOns: We've posted a guide to updating your AddOns for 3.0.2 as well as how to use the Curse updater and complete UI packages that are 3.0.2 compliant.

• Confused about the caster item stats getting hit the simple stick? We have you covered with our Spellpower 101 guide.

• Blizzard also introduced an in-game threat meter. We wrote up an overview that explains how the new Aggro Warning tool works and what it does for you.

As an additional note, four European servers are scheduled to close permanently with the launch of patch 3.0, due to the success of the Russian version of World of Warcraft attracting Russian players from EU servers. The realms affected are Shadowmoon, Warsong, Stonemaul, and Molten Core, and players on those realms are offered free transfers even after the realms themselves have been officially closed.

Recent news:

• Guide to Exotic Pets
• Aspect of the Viper and Exotic Pets to be changed
• How to tame a Moth pet
• Ret Pallies will get nerfed
• A brief introduction to Glyphs

Click here for the latest news on the "Echoes of Doom" patch.