Blizzard's official look at patch 5.3
Blizzard has been blogging up a storm about patch 5.3, and there have recently been 2 more articles added to their arsenal. The first is a run-down of the new scenarios available, posted by Community Manager Nethaera, which runs players down the four new three-player scenarios coming in patch 5.3. Neth gives us a quick summary of the stories behind the scenarios, while doing a great job of not being too spoiler-heavy. She runs down the background of Blood in the Snow, Dark Heart of Pandaria, Secrets of Ragefire and Battle on the High Seas. You can also check out WoW Insider's own articles on Blood in the Snow and Dark Heart of Pandaria, but beware the light spoilers that lurk within!
Nethaera also briefly discusses the new difficulty level that will be added with patch 5.3, heroic scenarios. She clarifies that they are intended for pre-made groups of three players, and will award a hefty 120 valor, as well as bonus valor for completing the objectives.
What's more, Blizzard has recently published a guide to getting geared for 5.3, aimed at players with alts, and players who are returning to the game. They've got some great tips in there, even going so far as to acknowledge some neat tricks that'll have you running the Raid Finder in no time.
The CM team talks about the paramount importance of getting over to the Isle of Thunder with the utmost speed, to get your hands on the Elder Charms of Good Fortune that lurk over there in so many places, and using those in the earlier raid finder tiers to take the best advantage of the increased drop rates for new gear. They also discuss my personal favorite gearing method to fill in the Raid Finder gear gaps -- earning honor and justice and putting that into ilvl 476 PvP gear. Both running heroic 5-mans, and doing the PvP dailies, as well as battlegrounds, awards a ton of honor, and ilvl 458 justice point gear just doesn't compare. What's more, with patch 5.3, there will (unless something changes, which it may well with all the PvP gear changes going on) be even better gear available for honor!
So if you're worried and holding off because of the rumors of grinds and dailies, don't! Get back to Pandaria right now, with some informed decisions you'll be beating up Jin'rokh the Breaker in no time at all.
