Summary

Cinematic

Major Changes

New Specialization in Midnight Pre-Patch: Devourer Demon Hunter

Demon Hunters are getting access to a third specialization with the Midnight pre-patch. Devourer is an all-new mid-range DPS specialization that uses a mix of melee and ranged attacks to deal damage by using the powers of the Void. The Devourer specialization will be automatically unlocked to all Demon Hunter players with the release of the Midnight pre-patch.

Vengeance Demon Hunters will exchange the Fel-Scarred hero talent tree for the new hero talent tree, Annihilator, shared with Devourer.

New Demon Hunter Race: Void Elf

Void Elves will be able to become Demon Hunters with the Midnight pre-patch! Players will need to go through a short questline to earn access to Void Elf Demon Hunters:

Requirements: Completing the In Search of Darkness storyline from K'aresh, starting with A Common Cause and ending with Hunger of the Void.
The Void Elf Demon Hunter storyline starts with The Pursuit Continues (picked up in Dornogal or Silvermoon after Midnight launch) and ends with Trial of Wrath.

Midnight Pre-Patch Event: Twilight Ascension

The in-game pre-patch event for Midnight, Twilight Ascension, will launch on January 27th, 2026. Expect new quests and world events as players revisit the Twilight Highlands to thwart Xal'atath's Twilight's Blade:

New World Quests in the Twilight Highlands.
Event-exclusive rares spawning in mini rituals every 10 minutes.
The return of the Twilight Cultist set from Silithus, removed from the game since the Cataclysm world revamp.
2 mounts, 3 battle pets, 3 pieces of housing decor, and Twilight's Blade-themed weapons.
Item Level-121, 1/8 Champion catch-up gear.

User Interface and Addon Updates in Midnight Pre-Patch

Beginning with the Midnight pre-patch, we will see the first effects of Blizzard's shift in its philosophy toward addons: a greater reliance on in-game tools rather than third-party work.

Addons no longer have access to most combat information, which means addons cannot update combat information in real time.
Instead, combat information and addons rely on editing the look of Blizzard UI elements, with new and changed additions:
Cooldown Manager, Raid Frames, and Friendly/Enemy Nameplates have been expanded with extra functionality.
An all-new Damage Meter, Boss Timers interface, including an ability timeline and more.
Because of this, popular addons, such as WeakAuras, will no longer be maintained through Midnight, with addons like Deadly Boss Mods and Platynator working off of Blizzard's UI work for improvements.

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Stat Squish

With the Midnight expansion, we're all seeing World of Warcraft's fourth stat squish. Starting with the Midnight pre-patch, numbers across the game will be scaled down algorithmically, including item stats, damage, and health for both players and mobs. You can see a comparison of the before and after from the live game and Midnight below: