These notes are from the Public Test Realm. They are not live yet and may change before release.
Patch 12.1 PTR Development Notes — July 23, 2026
118 changes · 11 classes · 30 sections
1 of 11 class sections open
BloodHero Talents — Deathbringer
- Redesign:
Dance of Midnight — Apex Talent: Dance of Midnight (Rank 2) — Damage taken for each active Dancing Rune Weapon is reduced by 6% (was 4%).
- Buff:
Melee damage increased by 20%.
- Buff:
Heart Strike — Heart Strike damage increased by 25%.
- Buff:
Marrowrend — Marrowrend damage increased by 50%.
- Buff:
Dancing Rune Weapon — Dancing Rune Weapon now increases Parry by 30% (was 25%).
- Buff:
Perseverance of the Ebon Blade — Perseverance of the Ebon Blade now reduces damage taken by 4% when consuming Crimson Scourge. Duration increased to 10 seconds (was 6 seconds).
- Buff:
Bloodshot — Bloodshot now also reduces damage taken while Blood Shield is active by 4%.
- Buff:
Reaper's Mark — Reaper's Mark damage to the primary target increased by 20%.
- Buff:
Exterminate — Exterminate damage to the primary target increased by 20%.
- Buff:
Blood-Soaked Ground — Blood-Soaked Ground now reduces physical damage taken by 8% (was 5%).
- Buff:
Blood Beast — Blood Beast auto-attack damage increased by 1400%.
- Buff:
Pact of the San'layn — Pact of the San'layn now stores 15% of all Shadow damage dealt (was 10%).
- Buff:
Vampiric Strike — Vampiric Strike damage increased by 25%.
UnholyHero Talents — San'layn
- Buff:
Forbidden Knowledge — Apex Talent: Forbidden Knowledge — Graveyard damage increased by 15%.
- Buff:
Epidemic — Epidemic damage increased by 75%. Does not affect Graveyard.
- Buff:
Virulent Plague — Virulent Plague damage increased by 50%.
- Buff:
Putrefy — Putrefy area-of-effect damage increased by 35%.
- Buff:
Blood-Soaked Ground — Blood-Soaked Ground now reduces physical damage taken by 8% (was 5%).
- Buff:
Blood Beast — Blood Beast damage increased by 1400%.
DevourerHero Talents — Annihilator
- Buff:
Collapsing Star — Collapsing Star damage increased by 12%.
- Nerf:
Eradicate — Eradicate damage reduced by 6%.
- Nerf:
Otherworldly Focus — Otherworldly Focus now increases Collapsing Star and Voidfall Meteor damage against a single target by 30% (was 35%).
Havoc
The following changes to Fury generation are a small overall increase, paced more smoothly and relying less heavily on Immolation Aura's talent effects.
- Buff:
All damage increased by 5%.
- Nerf:
Immolation Aura — Immolation Aura damage reduced by 8%.
- Buff:
Essence Break — Essence Break initial damage increased by 35%.
- Buff:
The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus now increases Essence Break's initial damage by 35% (was 25%).
- Nerf:
Burning Hatred — Burning Hatred now causes Immolation Aura to generate an additional 30 Fury (was 40).
- Buff:
Demon Blades — Demon Blades now generates 10–16 Fury per attack (was 8–15).
Vengeance
- Buff:
All damage increased by 5.5%.
BalanceHero Talents — Elune's Chosen
With the increased number of builders that Balance is casting in Season 2, this talent is overperforming its intended value.
- Buff:
Ascendant Eclipses — Apex Talent: Ascendant Eclipses (Rank 4) — Solar Bolt damage increased by 15%.
- Nerf:
Stellar Amplification — Stellar Amplification is now only applied to 1 target.
- Fix:
Orbit Breaker — Fixed an issue causing Full Moons launched by Orbit Breaker to have 100% effectiveness instead of 50%.
- Fix:
Fixed an issue causing some Cooldown Manager elements such as damage-over-time timers and buff trackers to sometimes not show accurate information.
- Nerf:
Star Cascade — Star Cascade has a 30% chance to launch a Starsurge at 50% effectiveness (was 40% at 70% effectiveness).
- Buff:
Dream Burst — Dream Burst damage increased by 30%.
- Buff:
Power of Nature — Power of Nature increases your treant melee damage by 300% (was 200%).
Feral
- Buff:
Rampant Ferocity — Rampant Ferocity damage increased by 25%.
AugmentationHero Talents — Scalecommander
- Buff:
All ability and pet damage increased by 3%.
- Nerf:
Ebon Might — The Midnight Season 1 2-set bonus no longer increases the duration that Eruption extends Ebon Might.
- Buff:
Wingleader — Wingleader now reduces the cooldown of Breath of Eons by 1.5 seconds per target struck (was 1 second).
DevastationHero Talents — Scalecommander
- Buff:
Wingleader — Wingleader now reduces the cooldown of Deep Breath by 1 second per target struck (was 0.5 seconds).
Class-Wide
We tried a change in the PTR for Midnight Season 2 to increase the maximum targets of Hunter's Mark from 1 to 5. This created more problems than it solved, so we're reverting it back to a cap of 1 target and will discuss it more in the future.
- Nerf:
Hunter's Mark — Hunter's Mark can now only be applied to 1 target at a time.
Beast Mastery
- Buff:
Beast Cleave — Beast Cleave now causes your pets to strike nearby enemies for 55% of the damage dealt (was 40%).
Marksmanship
- Redesign:
Windrunner Quiver — Windrunner Quiver has been redesigned — Rapid Fire damage increased by 10%. Rapid Fire has a 30% chance to grant the Lock and Load effect.
- Redesign:
Incendiary Ammunition — Incendiary Ammunition has been redesigned — Explosive Shot has 100% chance to grant the Lock and Load effect.
- Buff:
All damage dealt by your abilities and auto-shot increased by 5%.
- Nerf:
Multi-Shot — Multi-Shot damage reduced by 20%.
- Fix:
Small Game Hunter — Fixed an issue where Small Game Hunter did not properly increase the damage of Explosive Shot.
- Fix:
Explosive Shot — Fixed an issue where the area damage of Explosive Shot was benefitting from Mastery, critical damage bonuses, and the Take Aim talent twice.
- Fix:
Explosive Shot — Fixed an issue where Explosive Shot would potentially not deal area damage if the primary target died from Explosive Shot.
SurvivalHero Talents — Sentinel
- Redesign:
Grenade Juggler — Grenade Juggler has been slightly redesigned — Boomstick increases the cooldown recovery rate of Wildfire Bomb by 60% for 8 seconds.
- Nerf:
Wildfire Shells — Wildfire Shells now causes Boomstick to reduce the cooldown of Wildfire Bomb by 3 seconds (was 5 seconds).
- Fix:
Wildfire Bomb — Fixed an issue where Wildfire Bomb benefitted from the Bombardier talent twice.
- Fix:
Raptor Swipe — Fixed an issue where Raptor Swipe benefitted from the Razor's Edge talent twice.
- Redesign:
Open Fire — Open Fire has been redesigned — Fire damage dealt increased by 5%.
ArcaneHero Talents — Sunfury
- Nerf:
Prismatic Bolt — Apex Talent: Prismatic Bolt — Damage to the primary target reduced by 20%.
- Buff:
Glorious Incandescence — Glorious Incandescence now summons a Meteorite for every 5 stacks of Arcane Salvo consumed (was 6 stacks).
Protection
- Nerf:
Reflection of Radiance — Reflection of Radiance's chance to activate has been significantly reduced.
- Fix:
Sentinel — Fixed an issue where Sentinel's stacks were beginning to decay too soon.
- Fix:
Quickened Invocation — Fixed an issue where Quickened Invocation was incorrectly reducing the cooldown of Holy Armaments.
- Fix:
Glory of the Vanguard — Fixed an issue where abilities that knocked enemies into the air could cause Glory of the Vanguard to deal its damage additional times.
- Fix:
Hammer of Light — Fixed an issue where casting Hammer of Light in between direct casts of Consecration could allow Consecration to exceed its limit.
Retribution
- Buff:
Divine Storm — Divine Storm damage increased by 10%.
Assassination
- Buff:
All damage dealt increased by 6%.
- Buff:
Implacable — Apex Talent: Implacable (Rank 3) — Implacable Strike damage increased by 15%.
- Buff:
Amplifying Poison — The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus — Amplifying Poison increases melee damage by 3% per stack (was 2%).
Outlaw
- Buff:
All damage increased by 3%.
- Buff:
Audacity — Audacity increases Ambush damage by 80% (was 60%).
- Buff:
Summarily Dispatched — Summarily Dispatched increases Dispatch damage by 15%/30% (was 10%/20%).
Subtlety
- Buff:
Goremaw's Bite — Goremaw's Bite initial damage increased by 125%, bleed damage increased by 125%, and mirrored damage from Finishing Moves increased to 20% (was 10%).
RestorationHero Talents — Farseer
We're adjusting several talents and doing some tuning for Restoration Shaman this week to improve upon several underperforming talents or interactions that don't feel very rewarding. We're also improving the Chain Heal ability from the Farseer Ancestors to increase their healing capabilities.
- New:
Swelling Tides — New Talent: Swelling Tides — Healing Stream Totem and Stormstream Totem extend the duration of your active Riptides by 3 seconds when cast.
- Buff:
Unleash Life — Unleash Life healing increased by 100%.
- Nerf:
Unleash Life — Midnight Season 1 2-set bonus — Unleash Life's direct healing is increased by 50% (was 100%).
- Buff:
Riptide — Riptide direct healing increased by 25% and its periodic healing increased by 100%.
- Buff:
Healing Rain — Healing Rain now heals up to 6 targets in its area (was 5).
- Redesign:
Earthen Accord — Earthen Accord now grants an additive +20% to the healing buff from Unleash Life, rather than a multiplicative increase.
- Buff:
Current Control — Current Control now also reduces the mana cost of Chain Heal by 15%.
- Nerf:
The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus — Bonus Healing Rains now last 8 seconds (was 10 seconds).
- Nerf:
Condensation — The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus — Condensation absorb amount reduced by 30%.
- Redesign:
Wavespeaker's Blessing — Wavespeaker's Blessing has been moved up in the talent tree to where Calm Waters was.
- Removed:
Calm Waters — Calm Waters has been removed.
- Buff:
Chain Heal — Chain Heal from Farseer Ancestors now bounces to up to 5 targets (was 3), loses 10% healing per target jump (was 30%), and had its jump distance increased to 20 yards (was 15 yards).
- Buff:
Chain Heal — Chain Heal from Farseer Ancestors healing increased by 50%.
Affliction
Nocturnal Yield doesn't offer much choice when it comes to how a Warlock chooses to spend their Nightfall. Instead, it is usually best spent on Seed of Corruption, regardless of target count. We like the feeling of occasional free Seeds of Corruption though and are merging that functionality into Shard Instability. In place of Nocturnal Yield, we are introducing a new talent called Impetuous Wrath.
- New:
Impetuous Wrath — New Talent: Impetuous Wrath — Shadow Bolt, Drain Soul, and Malefic Grasp damage increased by 10% or 20% if the target is affected by Haunt. Dark Harvest damage increased by 10% or 20% if the target is affected by Haunt.
- Redesign:
Shard Instability — Shard Instability has been redesigned — Damage dealt by Shadow Bolt or Drain Soul has a 20% chance to make your next Unstable Affliction or Seed of Corruption cost no Soul Shards and cast instantly.
- Removed:
Nocturnal Yield — Nocturnal Yield has been removed.
DemonologyHero Talents — Diabolist
- Nerf:
Chaos Salvo — Chaos Salvo damage reduced by 20%.
- Nerf:
Felseeker — Felseeker damage reduced by 20%.
- Nerf:
Wicked Cleave — Wicked Cleave damage reduced by 20%.
- Nerf:
Eye Explosion — Eye Explosion damage reduced by 20%.
- Nerf:
Flames of Xoroth — Flames of Xoroth now increases Fire damage and damage dealt by your demons by 3% (was 4%).
ArmsHero Talents — Slayer
Arms' AOE damage profile is dominated by Cleave, and we'd like to spread the damage across more abilities. We're updating Dreadnaught to be purely AOE damage which will allow us to tune it solely for AOE. This should help Arms' AOE rotation not feel so dominated by Cleave and help give Slayer better options for AOE.
- Redesign:
Dreadnaught — Dreadnaught has been updated — Dreadnaught no longer damages your Overpower target.
- Buff:
Dreadnaught — Dreadnaught damage increased by 100%.
- Nerf:
Cleave — Cleave damage reduced by 10%.
- Fix:
Concussive Slam — Fixed an issue with the Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus causing Concussive Slam to trigger Mortal Wounds.
- Buff:
Opportunist — Opportunist grants 20% damage and 20% critical strike damage to your next Overpower (was 10% for both).
FuryHero Talents — Mountain Thane
- Buff:
Rampaging Ruin — Rampaging Ruin damage increased by 50%.
- Buff:
Thunder Blast — Thunder Blast damage increased by 10%.
- Buff:
Ground Current — Ground Current damage increased by 150%.
ProtectionHero Talents — Mountain Thane
- Buff:
All ability damage increased by 5%.
- Buff:
Revenge — Revenge damage increased by 20%.
- Buff:
Thunder Blast — Thunder Blast damage increased by 10%.
Vaults of Atal'Utek
- Redesign:
The item that starts the quest "Corrosive Gifts: Corrosive Power" will now only drop after players complete "Vaults of Atal'Utek: The Altar of Corrosion."
- Fix:
The quest-starting item is no longer guaranteed from the Delve Journey Rank 2 reward if the prerequisite quest has not been completed.
Season 2 Dungeon Testing (July 21–27)
- Fix:
Altar of Fangs
- Fix:
Murder Row
- Fix:
Den of Nalorakk
- Fix:
Voidscar Arena
- Fix:
The Blinding Vale
- Fix:
Temple of Sethraliss
- Fix:
Kings' Rest
- Fix:
Ruby Life Pools
Delves
- Redesign:
Adjusted Coffer Key Shard amounts from multiple sources.
Player versus Player
- New:
Blade's Edge Arena — Blade's Edge Arena has returned to the map rotation.
- Nerf:
Players will now receive 20% less healing in Battlegrounds.
- New:
To reduce win trading and queue manipulation, a 1-minute debuff now prevents further queueing when a player misses a Solo Shuffle or Battleground Blitz queue. The debuff stacks for consecutive missed queues and is account-wide.
User Interface & Accessibility
- New:
The World Map can now show map coordinates of the player and the cursor. Settings can be found under Gameplay > Interface.
- New:
Shift-clicking a map pin now also copies a slash command (/mappin) to your clipboard. The slash command can be shared outside the game and entered in chat to create the pin and open your map to it.