Last Week in WoW: El Diablo edition

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! As you probably know, Diablo III's release date is today. With over 1 million Annual Pass subscribers set to receive free digital copies of the game, chances you or a guildmate is going to playing this game. As someone who's been a huge fan of the Diablo series for over a decade, I can vouch for the series. If you need something else to keep your attention while we wait for Mists of Pandaria to go live, you could easily do worse, that's for sure.

If you're interested in checking out Diablo III, I'd suggest you look at the following articles we've published to get you up to speed.

• Here are six blue posts that you must read.
• We offer some tips on fixing common Diablo III installation issues.
• We have a quick guide to the basics of Diablo gameplay.
• Rossi gets you up to speed on the lore of the Diablo franchise.
• My basic introduction to Diablo is a few months old, but it's a good read.
• Alex explains why we're covering Diablo III on a WoW site.

If you're not into Diablo, don't worry. We still have plenty of the WoW coverage you expect. With new beta patches coming all the time, there's a lot of it, too. Downtime today is just a series of rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, so that's at least enough time to read a quick article or two.

Hot news and features

• Cross-realm zones will give you more people to quest with in Mists of Pandaria.
• Lead Systems Designer Ghostcrawler recently discussed the dawn of account-wide achievements in Mists. Zarhym later offered further clarification.
• Male and female pandaren dances are live, and they are awesome.
• Check out the new Black Market Auction House, where NPCs auction offer rare and removed items for massive piles of gold.
• Hooked on the new Avengers movie? We'll help you look like your favorite hero in game.
• Want to give class feedback? Let us suggest a few descriptive words you can use besides "clunky."
• SI:7, the Alliance's elite intelligence unit, is reporting for duty in Mists.
• New strings in the latest beta files suggest you'll get some help in game figuring outwhat changed for your class.
• New item upgrade strings foreshadow the new use for those valor points.
• Check out the new compact and convenient loot roll frames in the beta.
• Take a look at some of the new achievements in Mists for explorers and lore nerds.
• The 2012 Arena Pass Ladder Phase 1 has begun.
• The Anglers of Pandaria offer some awesome rewards for the patient fisher.
• Are you weary of Warsong Gulch? You may be able to blacklist some PvP maps in Mists.

Class news and guides

• Druids, rejoice! You can break roots via shapeshifting again, with the right talents. Druids also get amazing new forms via their Incarnation talent.
• Ghostcrawler recently talked about warrior issues on the Mists beta forums.
• Our Skill Mastery series takes a look at new Mists of Pandaria skills, including Astral Shift, Totemic Projection, and Ascendance.
• Totem Talk gets down and dirty with Ascendance for restoration shaman.
• The Light And How To Swing It gets your retribution paladin ready for Mists. We also examine the paladin run speed modification talents in Mists.
• Encrypted Text looks at some of the stealthy secrets of Mists.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors takes a look at the state of rage in Mists.
• Shifting Perspectives celebrates the new cat looks.
• Blood Pact looks at the state of affliction in the beta.
• Scattered Shots takes a look at some awesome hunter transmogrification outfits.
• Archmage Pants returns to Arcane Brilliance with some thoughts on the new expansion.

Dungeons, items, professions, and PvP

• Should you change professions for Mists of Pandaria? We'll help you decide.
• Engineers are getting a new glider in Mists of Pandaria.
• We take a look at Wowscan, a new gold making tool for World of Warcraft.
• Blood Sport helps you use macros and focus in your PvP gaming.
• Here's a trip down memory lane: A Reddit user recently got to beat Alterac Valley the old-fashioned way.
• The Overachiever answers some common questions about account-wide achievements.
• Addon Spotlight takes another look at the GTFO addon.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore examines the mysteries of other worlds. We also discuss five possible new warchiefs who are not Thrall.
• World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers are holding steady at just over 10 million.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks to a level 25 all-gnome guild.
• The Lawbringer offers seven tips for staying secure.
• Blizzard DOTA has officially been renamed Blizzard All-Stars.