Midnight DPS Rankings: Raiding Tier List (Midnight (12.0.1))

Demonology Warlock got a major rework for the Midnight expansion, with a lot of quality-of-life updates. Especially within the utility department, thanks to Grimoire: Imp Lord and Grimoire: Fel Ravager getting an extra Interrupt or Dispel option, Demonology is looking very strong. Their core rotation has also changed slightly, with Implosion now having a cooldown, forcing you to plan your cooldowns more carefully. Lastly, the Warlock utility toolkit is expanding with the introduction of a mass curse option - Blight of Weakness or Blight of Tongues.

Destruction Warlock received minor changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with the highlight of it being their newly introduced Apex Talents. Their core rotation will remain quite similar to the TWW version, with a few quality-of-life features like the Roaring Blaze rework which allows for much easier maintenance of Immolate and Wither once Cataclysm is down. Their AoE performance looks incredible, but unfortunately they seem to struggle whenever the fight is purely single-target.

Frost Mage received a complete rework for the Midnight expansion, and the new Frost has nothing to do with how the spec used to play before. The main goal behind the changes is managing Freezing Stacks, which, upon "popping them", you do damage. Comet Storm is now passive, castable after Ray of Frost, which is now your major cooldown following Icy Veins removal. Frozen Orb got a complete rework, Glacial Spike is now baked inside Frostbolt (it upgrades to GS once you generate 5x Icicles) and much more. Sidenote, yes, as every other Mage spec, Frost is no exception to defensive toolkit nerfs.

Devourer Demon Hunter is the newest (semi) Ranged DPS added in the Midnight expansion. The spec has several core abilities like Void Ray as a spender, Reap, Consume, Soul Immolation & Voidblade as a generator. The playstyle is focused on building Fury, spending it and collecting enough souls to activate their major cooldown - Void Metamorphosis, during which all damage is massively increased. Their major cooldowns also introduces a mini game - once you collect "30" souls, you will be able to cast Collapsing Star, which is the culmination of your Void Metamorphosis. They of course have similar utility as Havoc as well, but being ranged gives them a bit of an edge in Mythic+.

Devastation Evoker received its fair share of changes leading up to the Midnight expansion. Both of their Hero Talents received major reworks, with Flameshaper winning the rework race due to the Engulf being replaced by Consume Flame. Their damage profile will continue to be bursty and extremely strong in an AoE environment. Apart from some newly added cool talents ( Azure Sweep being my personal favorite), Devastation Evoker lost some defensive options and will be slightly more squishy in Midnight.

Marksmanship Hunter received a ton of changes for the Midnight expansion, with some of the most important being that they are now the only Hunter spec that will feature Kill Shot, and the spec having a much slower rotational pace. While the core rotation remains identical, a Aimed Shot / Rapid Fire loop where you consume Precise Shots and Trick Shots, it is worth pointing out that Aimed Shot had both its cast-time and damage increased. Although the spec will continue to have its signature burst-oriented damage profile, it currently struggles with sustained damage and single-target. Hopefully in future tunings some of these weaknesses will be addressed.

Fury Warrior received a fair of changes going into Midnight. The core rotation of Fury will remain quite similar to what players were used to in TWW, but this time around they are getting one of the biggest utility-package buffs any class has seen so far: An extra interrupt thanks to Javelineer, an uncapped AoE stop - Intimidating Shout (previously target-capped), extra movement speed for allies once you pop Piercing Howl, and much more. Unfortunately, some of their issues persist in Midnight, and that is the target cap talks, although an attempt has been made recently by increasing Odyn's Fury to a 8-target cap instead.

Havoc Demon Hunter received its fair share of changes, most notably trimming some spells ( Sigil of Flame / Sigil of Spite, which shortens your opener), adding great quality-of-life updates such as Glaive Tempest being a passive, all while keeping its core rotation similar. On top of this, Havoc will now benefit from having 2x charges of Blur which benefits from the built-in reworked Netherwalk and Demon Muzzle. You can expect this spec to be just as much fun, while having great damage profile and even better defensive options!

Shadow Priest once again received a complete rework for their playstyle and the majority of their talents. Some of the highlights are: Devouring Plague is now called Shadow Word: Madness (same features, different name), Shadow Crash is now Tentacle Slam (more quality-of-life DoT application) and so much more. Their damage profile is quite similar to TWW; you can still expect great priority-target damage while doing AoE (thanks to Psychic Link) and good on-demand burst during Voidform & Power Infusion combo.

Unholy Death Knight has received a major rework coming into Midnight expansion. This is one of the few specs that did a complete 180. Some of the highlights being: No Festering Wound, you now have Lesser Ghouls, Death and Decay is no longer a must, you have smart disease spreading, and a brand new minor cooldown - Putrefy. Honestly, a lot has changed rotationally for Unholy DK. One thing is for sure: this is the biggest rework they have received in the past decade, not just rotationally but also visually.

Retribution Paladin received its fair share of changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with some of the highlights being several quality-of-life improvements in the form of talents that help the flow of their core rotation better. A redistribution of some of the power previously tied to Hero Talents has shifted into its single-target ( Final Verdict) and AoE ( Divine Storm) spenders instead, and some of their offensive cooldowns were reworked ( Divine Hammer is now only for Templar, Execution Sentence is combined with Final Reckoning). Overall the spec feels slightly more engaging in Midnight, and although an attempt was made to focus and work on their damage profile; their priority-target issues still exist.

Augmentation Evoker received quite a few changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with the most significant being the introduction of "arguably" the best Apex talents among all DPS specs. Overall, you can expect your core rotation to remain fairly similar, with several defensive options being removed from you, such as: Twin Guardian absorb shield and Renewing Blaze not being a separate defensive option. Their ability to provide more damage to their allies is at a record high, compared to the previous expansion.

Survival Hunter received a major rework with the Midnight expansion, with some of the highlights being: Duel-wield options, Physical ( Boomstick) and Fire ( Flamefang Pitch) damage, major pruning of their core rotation (Example: Butchery removed, Coordinated Assault and Spearhead now being one talent - Takedown). Their core rotation has become significantly easier, all while keeping their great sustained-damage profile. Lastly, every Hunter specialization will become slightly more durable in Midnight, together with better utility options, like the new Hunter's Mark group buff and Roar of Sacrifice as a new external defensive option.

Feral Druid has received a major rework going into the Midnight expansion, with much of it focused on streamlining its rotation by removing some features that were difficult to play around, by lowering the snapshotting windows and the removal of the Bloodtalons, Brutal Slash and Adaptive Swarm talents. Although the playstyle is much easier in Midnight, some features from your core rotation still exist such as focusing on applying bleeds via Rake and Primal Wrath while using the free combo-points for extra Ferocious Bites. They have added several cool new talents such as Frantic Frenzy and Chomp, while keeping their utility toolkit unchanged. Overall, you can still expect Feral to have that nice bursty-playstyle with significantly less energy issues than before!

Windwalker Monk received a major rework leading up to the Midnight expansion, with some of the most significant changes being: One combined major cooldown - Zenith (a minor cooldown added if you play Conduit instead of Shado-Pan), Strike of the Windlord is now a choice node with Whirling Dragon Punch, and extensive nerfs on behalf of your defensive choices. Your core rotation has been changed, and it will vary quite a bit based on your Hero Talent choices. Unfortunately your damage profile will still suffer from being target-capped, which means that in large pulls you will fall behind. Although it is quite fun to play this new Windwalker Monk, the numbers are just not there (yet).

Enhancement Shaman received a complete rework with the Midnight expansion, with some of the highlights focusing on pruning a fair amount of their rotational abilities. Their button-bloat is a thing of the past now, as it no longer feels like you actually need to have a PhD to fully optimize its rotation. The main focus of the rotation is put upon Crash Lightning, which your Apex talents boosts further. Their damage profile remains a good mix of doing priority-target damage during AoE, as well as having funnel damage on demand.

Balance Druid received its fair share of changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with the most prominent change being its Eclipse rework to an active button which was previously a passive. You can expect the core rotation to stay similar to what it was in TWW, but you will have to be much more conservative with your Eclipse expenditure, as it will require some cooldown management. Their utility toolkit remains mostly the same, and so will their defensive options (unfortunately). Yes, they are still exceptional at mass AoE, even after their most recent Mastery change, which lowers the ramp-up playstyle and helps in the lower-level keys where mobs die too quickly.

Affliction Warlock has seen a complete rework following the release of the expansion, with its core rotation moved back to Seed of Corruption as an AoE Spender and Unstable Affliction as a single-target spender, applying Agony for shard generation ( Vile Taint is gone, Shared Agony is being introduced) and weaving Haunt for priority-target damage and Apex talents triggering. The overall playstyle feels way smoother, resembling what Affliction used to look like it back in the Legion expansion.

Arms Warrior received a lot of changes for the new expansion, with a primary focus being their Apex Talents, which makes juggling Heroic Strike procs to your Slam a core part of your rotation - It's tons of fun. Just like its sibling specs, Arms Warrior will benefit greatly from better party-wide utility. Their damage profile will further expand in the execution-orientated playstyle thanks to its brand new talent - Mass Execution. Arms Warrior's tuning is still far off from the top and is likely going to get future positive changes.

Subtlety Rogue received one of the biggest pruning across all DPS specs in Midnight, to the point where it might actually be a 2-button spec to play the majority of the time ( Shuriken Storm / Black Powder in AoE). Not only that, but several other changes were made to further help ease the rotation flow, such as the removal of Rupture, Flagellation, a baked-in Symbols of Death inside Shadow Dance, and much more. Despite all of that, their damage profile is looking great for Mythic+: Short offensive cooldowns and good on-demand burst.

Frost Death Knight received minor changes for the Midnight expansion, with the most notable one being their Apex talents. The core rotation of the spec will remain similar to the version of TWW, with the only difference being the addition of Frostwyrm's Fury It is now a must-pick since it interacts with your Apex talents. Frost DK will continue to excel at high burst damage, having high durability, and retain its unique utility toolkit.

Fire Mage received a major rework for the Midnight expansion with some of the highlights being: Sun King's Blessing, Hyperthermia Shifting Power and Phoenix Flames removed, Mastery: Ignite changes, and the damage instead shifted towards beefier Flamestrike and Pyroblast. Now that Combustion is a flat 1-minute cooldown (thanks to Kindling flat CDR), the majority of your damage is baked into that 1-minute, which likely makes Fire the most CD-reliant spec in the game. Outside of CDs, their damage is ... quite lackluster. Although it's still early, this makes me believe that on the high level of keys, having Combustion on every pull will be amazing, but also required. At last, yes, as every single Mage spec, Fire defensives are also nerfed (totally deserved).

Outlaw Rogue received a substantial rework going into Midnight, significantly lowering the barrier to entry to play the spec. While the core rotation remains quite similar, (use Sinister Strike and spending your combo-points on Between the Eyes, Dispatch, and Killing Spree), not having to play around Stealth and Crackshot windows is already a huge quality-of-life improvement. You won't have 100% uptime on Adrenaline Rush, which can be a game changer, and the complete rework on Roll the Bones made it much less RNG now.

Arcane Mage received quite a few changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with some of the most notable being a complete Evocation rework (no longer used as an offensive CD), better minor cooldowns (2x Touch of the Magi) and a brand new talent to replace the "melee mage", (due to Arcane Explosion) - Arcane Pulse. At last, playing around Arcane Salvo will definitely be the new "mini-game" which can be a ton of fun.

Elemental Shaman has received a major rework coming into the Midnight expansion, with some of the biggest changes being the removal of Icefury, Echoes of Great Sundering, Deeply Rooted Elements, and a Ascendance nerf. Your rotation is now severely pruned with only Chain Lighting/Lighting Bolt (generator) and Earthquake / Elemental Blast as a spender, while using Tempests (if you go Stormbringer) or some passive damage if you decide to opt in for Farseer. The priority-target damage has been hit severely, as well as the survivability , due to a removal of Stoneskin Totem.

Beast Mastery Hunter received quite a lot of changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with the most notably being the great addition of their Apex talents and significantly easier Beast Cleave management due to the addition of Wild Thrash. The spec will remain particularly welcoming for newcomers, while simultaneously offering min-max possibilities with the newly reworked Hero talents. Last but not least, BM will become slightly more durable in Midnight and offer better utility too, thanks to the new Hunter's Mark group buff and Roar of Sacrifice as an external defensive option.

Assassination Rogue received some of the best quality-of-life changes leading up to the Midnight expansion. Their DoT management will be significantly easier due to their newly reworked Crimson Tempest, which is now a combo-point generator that spreads their bleeds, leaving Envenom as the only spender in Midnight. Less button bloat, no longer needing to Shiv for damage, and a major focus on not needing Stealth to execute your Bleed management, are also some of the features they can look forward to in Midnight. Assassination will retain its great damage profile - high burst and amazing funnel/priority-target damage, while providing faster front-loaded damage. Besides tuning, the only concerning issue is still their Energy regen. Yes, the Apex Talents help, but don't entirely solve it; there are still pockets of time where energy starvation occurs, especially on single-target.