Patch 5.2: The Thunder King is now live! Lei Shen has consolidated his power on the Isle of Thunder, and if he’s not dislodged, his reborn army will threaten all of Pandaria. A massive new zone, a new raid, server-wide events surrounding the siege on the Isle of Thunder, new factions, world bosses . . . and more. Brace yourself for the storm.

With the release of Patch 5.2: The Thunder King, the vast Throne of Thunder raid will become available. As in previous raid tiers, Raid Finder wings and availability difficulties will be staggered.

The first World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria patch of 2013 is currently in development and this is your chance to see some of the things that are in the works. This patch will include a massive new raid dungeon, a multi-faceted new quest hub, Pet Battle improvements, new world bosses, significant class balance changes, brand new pets and mounts, assorted bug fixes, and more.

Join us as we delve into the Thunder King’s stronghold, one of the largest raid dungeons that Azeroth’s adventurers have ever seen. Here we will learn about its fearsome denizens, and gain insight into each battle from Lead Encounter Designer, Ion “Watcher” Hazzikostas.

It’s been a long journey since we first set foot in Pandaria. We’ve met the formidable and resourceful pandaren, made friends (or enemies) with the hozen and jinyu; we’ve faced the threat of the mantid, and unleashed long buried horrors upon the land in the form of the sha. But, amidst all of this, there was an even more insidious threat to take notice of. Layers upon layers of conflict can be found on the continent, including the situation involving the mogu and their once and perhaps (more frighteningly) future emperor, Lei Shen.

If you haven’t been keeping up on the latest World of Warcraft news, you might not be aware that World of Warcraft Patch 5.2: Throne of Thunder is on the horizon. Well, 5.2 is well on its way and it’s bringing PvE features like a brand new questing hub and a huge new raid, but it’s also introducing new features that will have a significant impact on the PvP aspects of World of Warcraft, including a number of class and gearing changes.

With the release of Mists of Pandaria, we introduced a new Legendary quest line, available to all classes and factions. Let’s catch up with the quest line so far and take a peek at what’s to come in patch 5.2: Rise of the Thunder King.

With 5.2 fast approaching I’ve been wanting to get my thoughts together on how I should be playing in the last couple weeks before the patch. Are there any reps I should catch up on; do I need to worry about spending currencies or upgrading items; and just in general what do I need to start doing now to maximize my play time before and after the patch releases?

Patch 5.2 introduces a new raid tier and PvP season, and so the higher tier currencies will be down-converted during maintenance. This time around there won’t be a soft cap, old Valor items aren’t changing to cost Justice, and we’re adding a new rank of PvP gear.