There's a lot of cool stuff coming our way in patch 5.3, including a new battleground, new scenarios, new quests, and a host of PvP changes. But while these splashy changes have been getting all the attention, monks haven't been left out of the action. Be aware that patch 5.3 is still on the PTR which means we may still see changes before anything his the live servers, but working from Blizzard's official patch notes, we can get a pretty good idea of what's coming. Let's take a look!

Help for healers
First up, there's a change to all healing spells that pick their own targets -- which includes things like Renewing Mist and Chi Wave. These abilities will now pick their targets a bit more intelligently. Says Blizzard, "Targets with lower % health will be preferred, and players are weighted more heavily than pets." It's hard to say how much this will impact gameplay in practice, but it's a definitely a buff.

Mistweavers are also getting a buff to Revival, whose healing cap is now 15 raid members (instead of 6) when used in a 25-player raid.

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Filed under: Monk, Mists of Pandaria

If you're itching for a good World of Warcraft story and patch 5.3 is too long to wait for new story content, Blizzard is happy to oblige with the just-released World of Warcraft: Dark Riders graphic novel. Unfortunately, Blizzard's own description of the comic -- talking about an "enigmatic destiny" and "hidden dangers" -- is too vague and generic to grab our interest. But fortunately we've heard about Dark Riders before and expect good things from writer Mike Costa and artist Neil Googe. So what can you expect to find in this tome of lore? More about the mysterious Dark Riders of Deadwind Pass, who have only been alluded to in the game, the secretive wolf cult, and the Scythe of Elune. But if you're not a lore hound, you'll just have to be tempted by the promise of a good World of Warcraft story in graphic novel form.

World of Warcraft: Dark Riders is available today. You can take a sneak peak at the art or buy it directly form Amazon or Barnes & Noble for $16.01 -- though if you prefer digital, it's $12.99 for Kindle and $13.74 for Nook.

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Filed under: News items, Lore

Weapons play a huge role in World of Warcraft, even if you don't play a physical damage class that actively hits people with them. Beyond damage capacity, weapons buff your character's stats and heavily effect your character's looks. While it may seem like there's not much to weapons beyond wielding them -- and for the new player, sometimes wielding them is all you need to know. For experienced players looking for in-depth theory-crafting or number-crunching, this article isn't the place. But, for players just getting started, we'll take a close look at the weapons available, what their stats mean, and try to help you figure out what you should be wielding.

Weapon types
Weapons are broken into three basic types: one-handed weapons which can be wielded with a single hand, two-handed weapons which require two hands, and ranged weapons which also require two hands. You'll also find weapons labeled main hand or off hand, meaning that they can only be wielded in your main hand or off hand -- which comes into play with classes that can wield a different weapon in each hand (dual wielding).

You will also occasionally run into items labeled off hand without a weapon type. These items are typically equippable by any class in their off-hand slot. These can be anything from cosmetic items -- like flowers -- to items that buff stats for classes that can't dual wield but can use one-handed weapons. And, while they aren't quite weapons, shields are considered off-hand items as well.

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Filed under: WoW Rookie

If you've been playing World of Warcraft since launch, that's 8 years of your life you've spent in this crazy shared virtual world Blizzard has created. That's a long time to keep up with any hobby, much less a video game, and plenty of time to run into the dreaded burnout. Not that burnout is a bad thing: sometimes we all need a change of pace or a break to keep even our favorite things fun.

So how do you deal with WoW when it just stops being fun? Do you take a break with another game? Catch up with your favorite TV shows on Netflix? Venture out into the non-virtual world for non-virtual time with friends? Read a book? Knit a scarf? And, once you've had time to refresh and recharge, do you find your way back to Azeroth? Or wait for the next patch or expansion?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

We've said before that there's a WoW class for every type of player and if you find yourself a bit drawn to the darker side of WoW, perhaps warlock is the one for you. Warlocks have a unique playstyle in the game: they're a bit like mages, in that they're cloth-wearing casters, and a bit like hunters, in that they rely on pets. And yet they don't play very much like either class, relying on DoT (damage over time) spells and channeled spells to do damage and restore their own health and mana.

So is it time to go over to the dark side and level a warlock? Let's look at what the class has to offer.

Just what is a warlock?
As mages are master of the arcane, warlocks are masters of the dark arts, focusing on shadow and fire spells. They summon demonic minions, place curses on their enemies, and drain health from their opponents, and can even send the most fearsome of warriors running in terror. Their abilities are powered not only by their mana pool, but will sometimes cost health, which warlocks can drain from their foes as they die. They do their damage at range, using curses, banes, DoTs, drains, AoEs, and direct damage spells. Warlocks also offer a good amount of utility to a group with conjured Healthstones (which restore health on use) and Soulstones (which can bring a dead player to life) as well as their curses (which cause a variety of negative effects on a monster).

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Filed under: Warlock, WoW Rookie

If you're still on the lookout for BlizzCon tickets -- and have deep pockets -- tonight's your last chance to get them from Blizzard. Tonight at 7 pm Pacific (10 pm Eastern), Benefit Dinner tickets go on sale for $500 each. Though they're costly, these tickets not only get you entry to BlizzCon, you also get to attend dinner with the Blizzard staff on Thursday before BlizzCon kicks off, giving you, as Blizzard puts it, "an opportunity to meet and chat with game developers, artists, executives and other folks from Blizzard Entertainment." You'll also get a signed piece of Blizzard artwork in addition to the usual BlizzCon swag. And it's for a good cause: all proceeds from the event go to the Children's Hospital of Orange County.

If you're looking for a chance to nab a ticket of your own, be online and ready before 7 pm Pacific (10 pm Eastern) and check out our ticket purchasing tips to get an edge on the competition. There are only 200 tickets available and, even at $500 each, they're certain to sell out quickly. But even if you don't get a ticket, remember that virtual tickets will be available later and you can still enjoy BlizzCon even without a ticket.

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Filed under: Blizzard, BlizzCon

Over on Reddit, there's a thread where users are reminiscing about their first experiences in World of Warcraft which has me feeling nostalgic for the good old days when I'd just started playing and everything seemed so much simpler. Azeroth was a huge new world, entirely unexplored. I didn't know about gear or raiding or even what awaited me around the next corner. Every word of quest text was new and fresh (though, admittedly, some were pretty tedious to finish).

And, best of all, I discovered gnomes. The first character I stuck with was a gnome warlock who was both tiny and deadly (and pink-haired to boot). I still haven't decided just what was so appealing about gnomes. Was it because they were tiny and adorable? Because of their bright pink hair color options? Perhaps because they jump just as high as any other race, which means each jump for them is basically leaping their entire height? It's probably a combination (newbie me was very fond of jumping everywhere). And even today, my Alliance characters tend to gravitate back to the gnome race. Perhaps they imprinted on me somehow in those first gameplay sessions, I'll never know for sure.

But enough about gnomes: tell us about your start in WoW. Was it a true newbie experience? Did you fall in love with a certain race or class? Even if you just made stupid mistakes, trust us: we've all been there! (As my gnome story proves.) So tell us everything: what was your first WoW login like?

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

Good news! Antivirus maker Kapersky Lab teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to offer bundle that includes WoW, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Kaspersky Internet Security 2013. Basically, the package is a World of Warcraft Battle Chest plus antivirus package. We think this would be a great package for friends who haven't yet gotten into the game because computer security is awfully important to keeping your WoW account in your hands. Kapersky in particular is designed with gamers in mind with a "game mode" that postpones processor-gobbling scans to free up power for gameplay. The only thing that would make this package better would be if it also included an authenticator, so you really wouldn't have to worry about account security.

The only downside to this package? Currently it's only available in South Africa, where it sells for 399 Rand (or about $44). Perhaps if it's successful there, Blizzard will offer similar packages elsewhere, but for now, new players will need to purchase their game of choice and their antivirus software separately. And don't forget your authenticator!

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Filed under: Blizzard, Account Security

Sure, we know lots of people who play WoW -- like all of our co-workers -- but we don't expect Hollywood A-listers to be by our side in dungeons and raids. While we'd already heard that now Superman star Henry Cavill played WoW, he recently spoke to British GQ about his love of the game and Bethesda's equally addictive Skyrim. In fact, he enjoys the game so much that he missed director Zack Snyder's call offering him the part. "I saw it was him [calling]," Cavill told GQ, "but the thing is, you can't save World of Warcraft, you can't pause it. It's live." We have that problem all the time, but at least we aren't the only ones. (Though Cavill is clearly up on his WoW etiquette, as it's definitely rude to pick up the phone while you're in a group.)

If you want more of the interview, IGN covers Cavill talking games or you can find the British version of GQ available digitally on iPad, Android, or Kindle. (Sorry, Man of Steel, but Iron Man 3's Robert Downey Jr. is currently on the cover of GQ stateside.)

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Filed under: News items, Interviews

It's safe to say that we've been around the block in World of Warcraft. We've been witness to epic events, scenic vistas, and many, many untimely deaths. Mostly our own. But of those many deaths, some were more memorable than others. Some we've stored away in the recesses of our memory to be revisited and laughed over at a later date. So just what are our favorite WoW deaths? We consulted the WoW Insider team as well as some of our extended network of friends and compiled the best answers into this list.

You might want to look before you leap
WoW can be so beautiful that sometimes we forget it's a game. A game that can kill you. And so sometimes we find ourselves exploring, wandering, or accidentally autorunning to our doom. Oops. Many -- most, in fact -- of our so-called "favorite" deaths seem to involve untimely falls.

• Sarah Pine: My favorite way of having died was when I first made it to Hellfire Peninsula at 60, running around on my mount exploring (flying was at 70 at that time!), I leaped over a little hill only to find that there was no more land on the other side, because that was the edge of the continent. You fall for a while off of Hellfire before you actually die, I found out.
• Anne Stickney: Once I decided to see if Outland had invisible walls around the edges. Um, for the record, it does NOT.
• Brian Wood: I still have fond memories of a multitude of deaths from failing the shortcut jump to get to the Molten Core entrance in vanilla. Had lots and lots of opportunity to practice during ghost runs.
• Michael Sacco: I liked going to the top of the Temple of Storms and leaping off.
• @DoctorOddfellow: Well, #1 has to be tree-diving from Teldrassil, right?
• @hestiahdruid: Shadow Step, Heroic Leap, or the Druid version behind a boss to fall to your doom.
• @screwlewse: Falling into the lava where Magmaw stands.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion