Midnight Alpha Begins in a Few Weeks! - Midnight Systems Panel Recap at Gamescom 2025

Posted 2025/08/23 at 4:50 AM by Squishei

Devourer Demon Hunter

Devourer is a mid-ranged DPS spec, though some talents will allow it to dart in and out of melee.

Void Metamorphosis is energy based, sustained by collecting void fragments using Reap to stay in meta as long as possible.

Void Ray is a 25-yard ranged attack, the Devourer version of Eye Beam.

Collapsing Star is the main ability used in Meta, growing stronger each time it is used.

The Fel-Scarred hero talent tree has been renamed Scarred, to encompass void as well as fel.

Void Elf Demon Hunter will be unlocked through a short questline during the Midnight pre-patch. Devourer will also be available in pre-patch, with no unlock requirement.

For those of you who are Horde players in the audience like myself, you'll notice that introduces a little bit of an imbalance. The void elves are ready to jump into a particular new class, and this is lore-appropriate for what we're doing this time -- The Worldsoul Saga is not over yet, there will be new opportunities for other race/class combinations that make sense with the story as we tell it, so keep your eyes peeled."Talents

Blizzard showed off a preview of the new column of Hero Talents, as well as Preservation and Devourer Apex Talents. Apex talents have four ranks meant for the 4 extra specialization talent points gained while leveling in Midnight, though players aren't required to use them and may put those points elsewhere in the spec tree instead.

A picture of the Unholy Talent Tree is also previewed, which features some new talent placement, implying that some type of rework may be coming.

Preservation Evoker Apex Talents

Merithra's Blessing (Rank 1/1): Essence abilities have a chance to infuse your next Reversion with the power of the Green Dragonflight, upgrading it to Merithra's Blessing:Merithra's Blessing: Spring a bloom of life from your target, healing them and up to 5 other allies within 30 yards for 2,906. Blooms may heal your primary target multiple times if no nearby injured allies are present.

Merithra's Blessing (Rank 2/2): Reversion projects allies, reversing 4% of all damage taken and healing them instead.

Merithra's Blessing (Rank 1/1): Dream Breath's instant healing is increased by 200% and Dream Breath has a 100% chance to grant Merithra's Blessing.

Devourer Demon Hunter Apex Talents

Midnight (Rank 1/1): Collapsing Star always critically strikes.

Midnight (Rank 2/2): All Cosmic damage dealt. increased by 6%, Collapsing Star's critical strike damage is increased by 100% of your critical strike chance.

Midnight (Rank 1/1): Entering Void Metamorphosis causes your soul to erupt, generating 10 lesser soul fragments and granting immediate access to Collapsing Star.

Prey

Opt-in Hunting system that allows players to pursue powerful targets across Azeroth.

Story-wise, it's a secret initiative led by Astalor Bloodsworn in Murder Row.

While out in the world, your target may ambush you unexpectedly.

You might be looking for clues, doing world quests, or just AFK. Its meant to be unpredictable and keep players on their toes.

There are three difficulty levels, which include introduces Torments which might fixate or fear players. We all start at normal, which allows other open world players to join in on the fight. Hard and Nightmare are 1v1 though, with no escape.

Rewards include cosmetic mounts, transmogs, etc.

Prey will be tied to the World track in the Great Vault, allowing players to earn up to heroic-tier weekly rewards, as another avenue for solo players to get gear.

Activities, Reputation, and Renown

The Silvermoon Court is the Silvermoon Renown, where you'll "balance your reputation with the four military groups within Silvermoon".

In Zul'Aman, players will harvest resources for the Loa of Abundance in a fast-paced, timed collectathon. Doesn't actually require you to have specific professions, but may reward you for it. Although thematic to Zul'Aman, "abundance caves" are present throughout all four zones.

The Haranti Tribe is the Harandar renown, where there are lore-based "Legends of the Haranir" cave painting exploration portions.

The Voidstorm rep is the Stormaerian Assault, a Void Elf reputation which includes a world event protecting their "Singularity Anchor" from waves of attacks.

Dragonflight Leveling Experience

Exile's Reach will lead players directly into Dragonflight & the Waking Shores, featuring Wrathion, Khadgar, etc.

The Dragonflight experience has been majorly updated to provide a smoother leveling experience as well. Zaralek Caverns and the Emerald Dream will be folded into the leveling campaign, and after each of the major area zone campaigns are completed, players will be sent into the associated story mode raid to see how it resolves.

Returning Players

Returning players who feel a little lost can instead go through the Returning Player Experience, which takes them across a short story, gives them new set of gear, adds tutorials for things like interrupting and skyriding, etc.

There's also a recap that takes players through the entirety of The War Within in a much quicker format. New players will level from 70-80 this way, but anyone who wants a refresher can do it as well.

These will all be available in Patch 11.2.7, before the launch of Midnight.

PvP

The Slayer's Rise 40v40 battleground will setup a conflict between two powerful dominar in the Voidstorm. It starts with a wild 40v40 brawl over advantages in the middle of the map, leading to each side pushing a lane toward the enemy base and trying to defeat their dominar. Along the way, you can branch off to side objectives.

The area will also be accessible in the open world for non-instanced PvP. There are regular quests there as well, but you'll want to keep war mode on to get the most out of it.

Training Grounds - Expanded Comp Stomp

PvP can be hard to get into, so a new on-ramp is being created to give players the opportunity to team up against AI opponents in popular battle grounds.

Damage Meters, Nameplates, and Boss Mods

Default nameplates don't currently give all the information players would want, and the team wants to improve player ability to see and customize buffs, and other information.

Built-in boss mods will call out important lethal tasks, like things that will wipe you. You shouldn't need an addon or guide to tell you about high priority interrupts.

There will also be DBM/Bigwigs-like timelines for critical boss abilities coming up, alerts when targeted by specific abilities, and the like.

Damage Meters are the single most popular add-on in WoW, and will finally be added to the base UI. Players shouldn't need an external tool to figure out how much they're contributing. These meters will be "server-side authoritative" properly tracking players no matter how far they are or what phase they're in.

Transmog

Transmog is the real endgame of WoW, so nearly 15 years after its first introduction it will finally see an overhaul!

Instead of mogging specific items, it will now be done by slot, meaning the appearance will be retained when swapping gear. You'll still pay a gold cost to do it, but should be doing that much less often.

Players will be able to unlock and save many outfits, which can be tied to specific situations like entering your home, a town, a dungeon, raid, changing specialization, etc - automatically changing your appearance as appropriate.

Alpha Start Date

No specific date, but Alpha will start in just a few weeks! Beta will be soon to follow, and Midnight launch is planned for early 2026!

12 3

Comment by Thorfisnsoncan they fix the current bugs and stop trying to rush content out - a good gaming experience goes a long way and at the moment I feel this third season is awful.Comment by pronetoplaycan they fix the current bugs and stop trying to rush content out - a good gaming experience goes a long way and at the moment I feel this third season is awful.Comment by Nulianocan they fix the current bugs and stop trying to rush content out - a good gaming experience goes a long way and at the moment I feel this third season is awful.Comment by shrik97Wish there was something other than M+ and Raids which rewarded mythic track gear. Delves was a good opportunity to do so but looks like they absolutely hate that idea with a passionComment by oldbambamWish there was something other than M+ and Raids which rewarded mythic track gear. Delves was a good opportunity to do so but looks like they absolutely hate that idea with a passionComment by Bravejohnseems to me like a big patch to war within... nothing really changes.. All gameplay and systems are the same... delves, M+, 4 renown reputations, great vault, etc etc etc ... they still dont get it..Comment by IsukieWish there was something other than M+ and Raids which rewarded mythic track gear. Delves was a good opportunity to do so but looks like they absolutely hate that idea with a passionComment by 2550147Will devourer be in game before the new expansion?Comment by Woldryn77Will devourer be in game before the new expansion?Comment by AdmeriusKinda boring, nothing new, nothing special, only "safe" news and change.
Dragonflight 3.0
World of Warcraft: Midnight becomes Fastest-Selling PC Game of All TimeComment by ohnoezitsjoesWell with the army of the light coming back center stage, that means Lothraxion will be back, which obviously means Light Warlocks using light demons, which draws the obvious conclusions of: Tauren can now be light warlocks.

Also doesn't this mean some class is getting a fourth spec? I mean they could give druids a fifth, those greedy sods....Comment by Iceman3317seems to me like a big patch to war within... nothing really changes.. All gameplay and systems are the same... delves, M+, 4 renown reputations, great vault, etc etc etc ... they still dont get it..Comment by Iceman3317Well with the army of the light coming back center stage, that means Lothraxion will be back, which obviously means Light Warlocks using light demons, which draws the obvious conclusions of: Tauren can now be light warlocks.

Also doesn't this mean some class is getting a fourth spec? I mean they could give druids a fifth, those greedy sods....Comment by Iceman3317Kinda boring, nothing new, nothing special, only "safe" news and change.
Dragonflight 3.0
World of Warcraft: Midnight becomes Fastest-Selling PC Game of All TimeComment by Troy2SlickAt least I don't have to worry about watching the VoD later considering I got all of the same information in less than 2 minutes of reading.

Blizzard (Microsoft really) has a done a very poor job of relaying information about Midnight in a structured and cohesive manner. I've gotten better information from random interviews and websites than anything else.

I hope this is the last time they do it this way.Comment by KeyenWhen talking about the race/class combo imbalance, Paul Kubit mentioned this:
For those of you who are Horde players in the audience like myself, you'll notice that introduces a little bit of an imbalance. The void elves are ready to jump into a particular new class, and this is lore-appropriate for what we're doing this time -- The Worldsoul Saga is not over yet, there will be new opportunities for other race/class combinations that make sense with the story as we tell it, so keep your eyes peeled."
This almost sounds like the Horde will be getting a different race/class combination in the future when it makes sense in the story, not necessarily for Demon Hunters!Comment by TheWiseDwarfJust wanted to say thanks to Wowhead for sharing all the infoComment by PKJuveWhen talking about the race/class combo imbalance, Paul Kubit mentioned this:
For those of you who are Horde players in the audience like myself, you'll notice that introduces a little bit of an imbalance. The void elves are ready to jump into a particular new class, and this is lore-appropriate for what we're doing this time -- The Worldsoul Saga is not over yet, there will be new opportunities for other race/class combinations that make sense with the story as we tell it, so keep your eyes peeled."
This almost sounds like the Horde will be getting a different race/class combination in the future when it makes sense in the story, not necessarily for Demon Hunters!Comment by KeyenWhen talking about the race/class combo imbalance, Paul Kubit mentioned this:
For those of you who are Horde players in the audience like myself, you'll notice that introduces a little bit of an imbalance. The void elves are ready to jump into a particular new class, and this is lore-appropriate for what we're doing this time -- The Worldsoul Saga is not over yet, there will be new opportunities for other race/class combinations that make sense with the story as we tell it, so keep your eyes peeled."
This almost sounds like the Horde will be getting a different race/class combination in the future when it makes sense in the story, not necessarily for Demon Hunters!Comment by Natn4tCheers for sharing wowhead, the way they're distributing the info on this expansion kind of sucks. Also thanks to Talie and Evitel for tweeting the important bits.

12 3