Tuesday Morning Post: Midsummer Night's Dream edition
Yes, it's that time again, the time for the Midsummer Fire Festival. Unfortunately, a series of mishaps, bugs, and a lack of meaningful upgrades from last year's celebration have soured the festival for a lot of people, but there is at least some comfort, as we'll have a few Midsummer's fixes rolled out tonight. The only problem is that it will reset all progress on most half-finished achievements, so if you're in the middle of working on the Midsummer's stuff already, you may find that all your hard work was no more yielding but a dream, so to speak.
Apart from the festival, this week has bought us an information overload on patch 3.2 to say the least. Not that that's a bad thing, per se, but it can be pretty daunting to dig through all this crazy information and get at the meat of the patch. Luckily, we've been breaking it down for you all week. While you wait out the rolling restarts or your work day, you can read all about the patch in nice article-sized chunks here on WoW.com. In addition to the roundup of the past week's news below, you can also always check out our guide to Patch 3.2, which is constantly updated. Keep it bookmarked! Otherwise, read on below.
Hot Patch 3.2 Highlights
We have the patch 3.2 notes for you, hot off the presses.
The Argent Tournament will be getting more goodies and more quests. Yes, that includes more heirloom Items.
The Crusader's Coliseum is coming. It will include 4 separate raid dungeons, a 5 man dungeon, and some other interesting features and cool bosses.
Pet lovers rejoice: We'll be getting new mini-raptors and a Northrend Children's Week in patch 3.2.
PvP Twinks and Classic Raiders be aware: Experience gain deactivation is coming in patch 3.2, as are twink-only battlegrounds.
Emblems of Heroism and Valor are going away in patch 3.2 as Blizzard seems to be headed back toward the old patch 2.4 badge gear tradition.
The default UI is getting some tweaks and upgrades, including an end to totem stomping macros and a double-wide quest pane.
If you're still trying to get through Ulduar, here's a bit of comfort: You'll get one month's notice before they remove the proto-drakes off the achievements.
Class News and Guides
Paladins are getting some pretty hefty changes to all three of their trees in patch 3.2.
Ghostcrawler talked a bit about the patch 3.2 Hunter changes before the patch notes came out. Then the patch notes came out. Eddie took a look at what the patch notes mean for Hunters.
Shamans are getting a whole new Totem delivery system and the ability to drop 4 totems at once in patch 3.2. Totem Talk had a lot to say about this and the other patch 3.2 Shaman changes, of course.
Arcane Brilliance tackles patch 3.2 from a Mage point of view.
Lichborne looks at the patch 3.2 Death Knight changes in depth.
Spiritual Guidance discussed Priest changes in Patch 3.2.
We also have a look at the Patch 3.2 Druid changes.
In more far reaching class news, Mages got their class Q&A.
MP5 is also getting a buff, but at the cost of a Replenishment nerf.
Matthew Rossi discusses Warrior leveling in Wrath this week.
Shifting Perspectives continues to march through Ulduar for Druids.
Items, Professions, PvP, and More
The Art of Warcraft analyzes what we know so far about the Island of Conquest. You might also like to check out the first screenshots of the new battleground.
In other battleground news, Horde will be happy to hear that Strand of the Ancients is finally getting that coin toss at the beginning.
Wintergrasp's woes may have finally gotten the best of Blizzard. It's now a queued fight with a limited number of participants.
Ghostcrawler took up the task of analyzing the state of PvP earlier this week, and Zach later took on what the patch 3.2 changes mean for PvP. Blizzard dev Cory Stockton also offered some clarification on the new PvP changes.
Professions are getting some nice self-buff boosts in patch 3.2. In addition, there's a good handful of other awesome changes as well.
Insider Trader, of course, had some in-depth analysis of the above patch 3.2 changes.
Odds and Ends
Have an iPhone? Have an the authenticator app? Replacing your iPhone? You might want to read this.
Matthew Rossi is investigating the case of the missing Ulduar models.
Bind on Account is still pretty limited in its scope, but Blizzard is open to changing that in the future.
WoW Rookie offers 20 tips for PvP realm leveling.
Raid RX helps you figure out what those healing meters really mean.
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!