Tuesday Morning Post: Fezzes are cool edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. You'd think it'd be a slow week this time around. Gamescom was last week, and Blizzard doesn't seem to have done much at PAX. Patch 4.3 isn't on the PTR yet. Still, Blizzard managed to get enough news out.
The Darkmoon Faire is getting a huge revamp in patch 4.3, with new quests, new games, the ability to semi-powerlevel your professions -- and most importantly, a monkey with a fez. Forget fighting Deathwing; I gotta get me a monkey with a fez.
The other good news today is that scheduled maintenance is lasting from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT. That may not sound great, but that may mean we'll get patch 4.2.2 on live servers, which itself means we're one step closer to patch 4.3. Of course, if I'm wrong about that whole patch 4.2.2 thing, that just means downtime sucks a little more this week.
Either way, you should have plenty of time to catch up on all the news you missed in the past seven days, so join us after the break for our usual roundup.
Hot news and features
Tom Chilton says that Blizzard is looking for a meaningful difference in the speed at which it releases expansions.
Northrend leveling will be even quicker in patch 4.3. My level 71 warrior is pretty happy to hear this, I won't even lie.
Our new column World of Wardrobe helps you gather tier 1 armor.
WoW Archivist talks about the weather as it covers patch 1.10.
Check out all the panels and events Blizzard ran at Gamescom 2011.
Murkablo will be the BlizzCon 2011 in-game pet.
Matthew Rossi has a provocative question: Is it time to get rid of tanking?
Class news and guides
Totem Talk takes a look back at the early days of restoration. We also talk about transmogrification for enhancement shaman.
Encrypted Text has still more rogue tips for Firelands.
Lichborne analyzes Ghostcrawler's patch 4.3 tanking changes post.
Shifting Perspectives has more advice on gearing a restoration druid in patch 4.2. We also advocate for the death of the moonkin and offer more feral cat raiding tips for Firelands.
Spiritual Guidance has a shadow priest's guide to Majordomo Staghelm. We also take a look at transmogrification for priests.
The Light And How To Swing It offers tips for tanking Majordomo Staghelm. We also have words on holy paladins and healing as a zero-sum game.
Raid Rx discusses the evolution of the healing strategy.
The Care And Feeding of Warriors looks at more transmogrification options.
Arcane Brilliance has more words on transmogrification for mages.
Blood Pact looks at transmogrification options for the warlock.
Professions, items, dungeons, PVP, and more
WoW Rookie offers some tips from veterans.
The OverAchiever discusses the pros and cons of raiding achievements.
AddOn Spotlight helps you customize PlayerPowerBarAlt.
Ready Check offers some advice for dealing with low-DPS raid members.
Gold Capped looks forward to epic gems in patch 4.3.
Odds and ends
Safe Passage continues for a while longer with a prologue to the main story.
WoW's Mobile Armory app has a new version with new features.
About the Bloggers features everyone's favorite UI dude, Mat McCurley.
Know Your Lore talks about the Blood Elf capital of Silvermoon and the unfinished storylines of Cataclysm.
All The World's A Stage has storyline hooks for the Dwarven roleplayer.
Jinx has new WoW designs in its fall lineup.
15 Minutes of Fame interviews a Romanian WoW player in Korea.
The Guild Season 5, Episode 5 is the perfect downtime viewing.
The Lawbringer answers more of your questions including Diablo 3 currency issues and Blizzard's liability in the event of a catastrophic failure of the game.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
