World of Warcraft is still in the middle of the Legion Remix loop while featuring new tansmogs in the Hallow's End event, but many changes are underway in the Midnight alpha testing. For example, World of Warcraft's Housing isn't for all characters, as fans discovered in the Midnight expansion alpha. Now that Phase 4 is live, players can take a better and deeper look at all the intended changes and additions for class balance purposes in Wowincluding Apex Talents and even the new Midnight Tier Set bonuses. As much as the patch does right, it also removes abilities from certain classes and removes their usefulness.
Midnight will mark a huge shift for the game, with many classes losing several active skills to make the game smoother and more accessible. On top of that, World of Warcraft fans will have to say goodbye to most of their favorite add-ons, as Blizzard makes changes to the internal user interface and prevents add-ons from reading information from the game. The biggest changes in the midnight alpha include:
- World of Warcraft classes that drop abilities like button presses to make the game accessible to new and returning players, while reducing cognitive load at all levels.
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Addons like WeakAuras and ElvUI lose most of their functionality, rendering them unusable.
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Adding customizable tiles to the game to display relevant battle information to players.
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Make roles like Healer and Tank more meaningful and rewarding, as well as easier to pick up.
Although these changes can be polarizing for society, World of Warcraft's Midnight alpha also gets rid of “kicks” on healers. These are an integral part of the gameplay loop, and removing them can make healing more streamlined, but also incredibly frustrating.
Kick in World of Warcraft is a term that refers to abilities that interrupt spellcasting enemies and prevent them from finishing their cast.
It's officially the end of an era for World of Warcraft's healers at midnight
The reason interrupts are so important in the game is that World of Warcraft's Mythic+ Dungeons and Raids all have enemies that cast powerful spells. These can sometimes wipe out the group or throw a massive monkey wrench into any run, which is why all classes and specs have kicks. However, Midnight's Phase 4 patch notes make it clear that this will no longer be the case for healers.
World of Warcraft healers will never be the same at midnight
The Healer role is often nuanced and has a high skill ceiling, with some specs taking a lot of keystrokes to perform well. This led to healing becoming a difficult loop to maintain or get into for too many players, which is why Blizzard wants to change it. Removing kicks/breaks has pros and cons:
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Benefits of removing interrupts on healers in World of Warcraft:
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Fewer buttons to press and actively checking for cooldowns in the middle of a fight.
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Healing becomes the focus, which is more intuitive and simple.
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Fewer worries when healing in group content.
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Disadvantages of removing kicks on healers in Wow:
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Lower skill cap for veterans and competitive players.
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Potentially terrible experience i World of Warcraft's Delves and other solo player activities.
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Increased reliance on party members, especially DPS players, to engage with the mechanics of a given dungeon or raid, and less agency for healers.
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Less useful in a party setting for healers.
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This can be particularly bad in Delves and solo content, as Brann doesn't reliably use his interrupt ability, meaning players may have to endure more deaths than they would with access to kicks.
Not all World of Warcraft healers have to say goodbye to interruptions at midnight
It's hard to say whether this will be a good change or a bad one in the grand scheme of things, but in a group setting it might not be too much of a stretch if Blizzard balances new Raids and Dungeons around this logic as well. But this also revives an age-old debate about class balance i World of Warcraftbecause Blizzard could have given Discipline and Holy Priest a break instead of removing it from every other class.
On top of that, the logic is already flawed, as one of the most lamented changes in the Midnight Alpha cycle is how much the skill cut has affected Restoration Shaman compared to other healers, but coincidentally, this spec retains its Wind Shear break on a 30 second cooldown. Also, not all Healer specs are available World of Warcraft has access to a battle resurrection, which makes no sense.
Should you reroll your Main in World of Warcraft's Midnight Expansion? It's worth mentioning that there will be another week of alpha testing, with Phase 5 going live on October 30th, and will likely include more class balance changes.
Interestingly, the reception to these changes has been mixed so far, with some players happy to start healing or returning to the role, and others upset by the loss of control and utility. It's hard to argue for or against either side, as each healing spec may have better tools for some specific jobs, but not others. Considering how Mythic+ Dungeons have dethroned World of Warcraft's Raids as the “face” of the game, each class will need more time in different environments to test their usefulness and understand where they shine, but some may not be as viable in solo content.
Still some of the best World of Warcraft additions like WeakAuras and Cell currently make healing very streamlined, even with a lot of buttons, so losing them and other UI additions will inevitably change the feel of playing the game and all the healing specs. Meanwhile, without buffs, lost kicks can make it easier to keep track of cooldowns. Healers will retain their utility for the most part, but those who like a more action-oriented approach may dislike the focus on healing alone and the loss of interrupt, as well as a reduced damage, which would make the DPS role a better fit.
- Released
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2026
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
