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Death Knights. Seems like they're all the rage these days, and they haven't even been released yet. It was revealed that Death Knights start at Level 55, the only requirement being that the player has an existing Level 55 character. Daniel has even declared his intention to make a Death Knight his main when the time comes. I wouldn't be surprised to see a proliferation of Death Knights when Wrath of the Lich King is finally released. When that time comes, prepare to get inoculated because the class is the first to finally use diseases as a core class mechanic.

Aside from Undead Priests and their Devouring Plague, there are no player abilities that inflict the disease Dispel Type. So far, two disease-based abilities have been revealed: Blade Strike and Blood Strike. Designed to work off each other, Blade Strike is an attack that applies a disease on the target in addition to base damage while Blood Strike deals damage based on the number of diseases on the target. Death Knights are also able to raise Ghouls to fight for them and are projected to have an ability that applies a disease on their targets. Load up on Airborne, because it's going to get pretty toxic in Northrend.

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Within the last week, articles on a couple different websites has given us a little look at how much of a juggernaut Activision Blizzard really is on the gaming front.

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15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – both the renowned and the relatively anonymous, the remarkable and the player-next-door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com.

Meet 5v5 Arena team M L H of
Argent Dawn, ranked 7th in the Ruin battlegroup when we spoke with them recently and holding strong this week at 12th with a team rating of 2340. M L H's claim to fame: they are currently the highest-ranked 5v5 team that includes a Smite Priest. The core of this chilled-but-skilled team is a Boomkin Druid, and their secret to their success is the savvy deployment of four healing-capable DPS classes. In this lengthy interview, 15 Minutes of Fame sat down with the whole team to get their insights on PvP, strategy, team composition and a brand new video of the team in action.

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This week's round up of WoW-related posts on our sister site Massively covers many different angles of the MMO universe dominated by World of Warcraft. You can click on the links below or subscribe to a special WoW-only Massively feed.

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The Nexus War will be one of the major highlights in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion for Blizzard's World of Warcraft. This major campaign will feature several new instanced dungeons and a chance to go head-to-head against Malygos, the fearsome blue Dragon Aspect.

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Teron Gorefiend is usually the fourth boss players face in Black Temple and is really the first one to prove difficult in any way. While guilds new to the attunement-free Black Temple might have breezed their way through High Warlord Naj'entus, Supremus and the Shade of Akama, we're seeing many run into a standstill when they face Teron. Even those clearing Black Temple for the first time last year had some difficulty on the fight, so this Ready Check aims to look more closely at the fight and help out raiders who might be stuck on it even today.

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Blizzard's Rob Pardo, Senior Vice President of Game Design, has been recruited to keynote the Paris GDC this summer, which will take place on June 23rd and 24th at the at the Coeur Défense Convention Centre in Paris. He'll participate in a Q&A session in which he will discuss his inspirations and challenges, as well as Blizzard's future plans.

The official press release should appear soon on the Paris GDC site.

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I think there are few things more disturbing in the modern world than ill-conceived notions of racial, religious, and sexual divisions. For some reason parts of humanity continue to believe that just because one group or another looks and/or acts differently, they are bad. One of the reasons I enjoy WoW and just games in general is because it allows us to escape the problems this world gives to us, even if only for a few hours a week.

Unfortunately, some people find it necessary to bring their attitudes in game. We've covered some of this before, from border-line inappropriate arena names to sexism in WoW. However while playing an arena game recently fellow writer Amanda Dean came up against a team named "Rosa Parks Stole My Seat," and this name is possibly the most offensive one I've seen. Rosa Parks (for those of you who need a history lesson) refused to go to the back of a bus because of her skin color and continued to sit in the white only section of the bus, despite being told to do otherwise. She represented a key moment in the history of civil rights.

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Not that it was happening, but rather that it added a really strange sound effect to my Bloodrage and Berserker Rage abilities. My wife described it as sounding like the mutant offspring of an orc and a murloc howling in anguish, and she's not far off. After a while I realized I recognized the sound as being the same one that plays when Horde shamans use Bloodlust.

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After an extended period of run time, Patch 2.4.2 is finally available for World of Warcraft. European realms will also get Patch 2.4.2 tomorrow, after an extended maintenance that will cause downtime from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. CEST.

Version 2.4 is likely to be the last major patch to be applied before Wrath of the Lich King becomes available, as evidenced by the barrage of news we're getting on the expansion lately. We'll update you on more on that as news comes in.

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This last week on the WoW Insider Show, which is now available for listening on WoW Radio, we celebrated Mother's Day by inviting on both Amanda Dean, and her mother Linda Emrys, who is herself a WoW player. We also had Robin Torres on, who not only writes for us here at WoW Insider, but also is the mother of a two-and-a-half year old. Turpster and I were both on, but we didn't do much more than ask questions this time around -- the ladies got in some good discussion about what it's like to play WoW as a mother, how this game might actually help you raise children, and what it's like coming to WoW as someone who doesn't have a lot of gaming experience. If you're a casual gamer (or just know someone who is), the show should be really interesting to you.

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Fresh from the Wall Street Journal comes some news from Dell: They're phasing out much of their XPS gaming line, including their Warcraft laptops. You might remember the Dell XPS M1730 from our giveaway contest, hand-ons analysis and reviews back when it first hit the market. According to the article, the phaseout begins next month, so if you've been thinking about getting one of these bad boys, you'd better act fast.

The website still doesn't mention anything about the phase out, but it seems likely it'll be pulled soon. the $2999 price tag still seems a bit steep to me, but it's probably better than than the initial $4500 price tag, and better than the price that would probably be asked for any versions that might appear on various auction sites once Dell officially discontinues it.

We don't know for sure if the Laptop sold well, since Dell doesn't release sales information, but according to the article, the main object of this phase-out is to bolster the flagging Alienware line, which has lost much of it's luster since being purchased by Dell. Whatever the reason, the laptop is going bye-bye, so if you want it, go and get it. But you better hurry, because it may not last.

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Once again, we're breaking down the most popular weekly features of the past seven days. Our writers work hard to get terrific weekly features up for your enjoyment, so if you missed these the first time around, don't make the mistake again.
Guildwatch: Going too far
Guildwatch has drama, downed, and recruiting news from all over the realms all in one place. Did your guild show up this week? Spiritual Guidance: 30 if statements that priests should adhere to
Matticus himself walks you through the ins and outs of being a Priest (and there's some good advice in here for you other classes, too). Scattered Shots: Why certain pet families are so popular
Are bears better than boars? Should snakes shank scorpids? Are Ravagers more radical than Raptors? Daniel Whitcomb lays it all out. Around Azeroth: Grand Theft Azeroth
Around Azeroth asks readers to mix up their WoW with a little GTA. Arcane Brilliance: Level 70 checklist
You're a mage, and you've just hit level 70. What now?
More after the break! Know Your Lore: Azjol-Nerub
Know Your Lore takes on the spider people up in Northrend. They've got lots of legs, but no heart to speak of. Ask WoW Insider: WoW runs slow
Our readers pitch in with their ideas to make WoW run faster. Insider Trader: Fishing, the final stretch
Anglers ahoy! Making it all the way to 375 with fishing pole in hand. The Care and Feeding of Warriors: To gear a fury
How to gear up the angriest class in the game. Officers' Quarters: LF Raidleader PST
Finding a good raidleader can be as hard as leading a good raid.

Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.

You may have noticed that there has been quite a bit of news about Wrath of the Lich King lately. In that news, there are some very wonderful things in store for those of us with limited playtime. There is also a lot of resentment because of that from some of the players. In this column, I'll be discussing what we casuals have to look forward to in the next expansion and I'll be defending what is essentially our right to participate in the WoW lore and endgame.

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Our newest sister site Big Download is just a week old, and yet they're already playing with the big boys -- Steven Wong has posted an interview with Blizzard's Lead Designer Tom "Kalgan" Chilton, as well as Paul Della Bitta and Joong Kim of Blizzard's eSports division about what it's going to take to tune the Arena game just right. As he did before, Kalgan confirmed that the Arena Tournament Realm is acting as a laboratory for changes and updates to classes.

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Gnomechewer is apparently so over Level 70 Elite Tauren Cheiftain (L70ETC). In Through the Roof 'n' Underground, he ponders what it would be like if Lower City had a band, appropriately named the Lower City Gypsies. Using a song by Gogol Bordello with the same name as the video, he portrays a little village of gypsy folk dancing, singing, and weaving tales.

Fans of Gnomechewer's faster-paced work may end up disappointed with this video. It has a slow development and focuses more on relationships among a group of people. Nevertheless, it's a well-done, beautiful story -- with cookies! For a higher quality version, be sure to check out his Warcraftmovies page.

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Yep, as expected after the test realm ended, patch 2.4.2 has hit the live servers, and is now available for download and installation. Daniel did a terrific roundup of what you can see in the new patch this morning. The patch notes aren't available online yet, but the only change I can see between the PTR notes and what's live is that the Druid Natural Perfection change didn't go through -- otherwise, everything else is in there as expected, including the Arena changes and the Growl changes (whatever they are).

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All right, we all know that one day the sun will eventually become expand beyond its capacities, become a supernova and burn the Earth into nothingness. But did it have to occur while Tamamunch of Dragonblight-EU was enjoying a big hunk of cheese? (Actually, Tama was just enjoying a snack in Shadowmoon Valley before being hit by a meteor.)At least, I think that's cheese. It's larger than her head. Considering how many times the average Azerothian adventurer eats today, and that the most popular foods are meat, milk, alcoholic beverages, and magically conjured items that are probably filled with radiation, why do none of our characters ever develop coronary artery disease?

Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

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Bear Cavalry. You've heard the net meme, and some of you probably even managed to bag one of these fine beasts during your last run on Zul'Aman's timed events. Now, if you haven't just picked up an Amani War Bear just yet, then you may want to try to do so before World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion goes online.

According to an update by Slorkuz over at the WoW Europe forums, Blizzard is planning to remove this mount come WotLK. The good news is that the timed event wills till be there, although players will instead be rewarded with equally high-level items. As Slorkuz explained regarding this move:

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We will update this news later today.

Confirmed - Patch 2.4.2 today

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Last week on the podcast (which will be posted later today, and is pretty good, if I say so myself), Turpster informed us that he's gotten up to level 61 on his Shadow Priest that he started a while ago. His goal is to make it all the way to 70 by Wrath of the Lich King, which means he and I are in an informal race at this point -- my Hunter is currently 64 and I'm aiming to hit 70 by the expansion as well.

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Good Morning Azeroth! It's Tuesday, May 13, 2008, and that means maintenance. As we mentioned earlier, it's an extended maintenance, from 3 AM to 11 AM PST (That means you have about a half an hour of play time left), and it's looking rather likely that 2.4.2's going to drop. Exciting news, but that still means that you'll have at least 8 hours in which it is impossible to play World of Warcraft.

Of course, this means the perfect thing to do is browse WoW Insider. Since 2.4.2's probably on it's way, why not browse all our 2.4.2 news?

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Hoping to save some extra cash the next time you top up your World of Warcraft account? Then you might want to take a look at a recent deal being offered by Circuit City. The game retailer is offering a 60-Day WoW pre-paid game card for just U 20.

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