World of Warcraft is still in the middle of its Legion Remix loop while also featuring new tansmogs in the Hallow's End event, but a lot of changes are going on in the Midnight alpha testing. For example, World of Warcraft's Housing is not for all characters, as discovered by fans in the alpha for the Midnight expansion. Now that Phase 4 is live, players can take a better, deeper look at all the intended changes and additions for class balance purposes in WoW, including Apex Talents and even the new Midnight Tier Set bonuses. As much as the patch does right, it also further removes abilities from some classes, stripping down their utility.
Midnight is going to mark a massive shift for the game, with many classes losing several active skills in order to make gameplay smoother and more accessible. On top of that, World of Warcraft fans will have to say goodbye to most of their favorite addons, as Blizzard is making changes to the internal UI and preventing addons from reading information from the game. The biggest changes in Midnight's alpha include:
- World of Warcraft classes losing abilities as button presses to make the game easily approachable for new and returning players, while also reducing cognitive load at all levels.
- Addons like WeakAuras and ElvUI losing most of their functionality, making them unusable.
- Adding customizable in-game platers to show relevant combat information to players.
- Making roles like Healer and Tank more meaningful and rewarding, as well as easier to pick up.
While these changes can be polarizing for the community, World of Warcraft's Midnight alpha is also getting 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 referring to abilities that interrupt spellcasting enemies, preventing them from finishing their cast.
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It's Officially The End of an Era for World of Warcraft's Healers in Midnight
The reason why interrupts are so vital in the game is that World of Warcraft's Mythic+ Dungeons and Raids all feature enemies that cast powerful spells. These can sometimes wipe out the group or throw a massive monkey wrench in any run, and that's why most 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 in Midnight
The Healer role is often nuanced and has a high skill ceiling, with some specs having a lot of button presses to perform well. This led to healing becoming a hard loop to sustain or get into for many players, which is why Blizzard wants to change it. Removing kicks/interrupts has pros and cons:
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Pros of removing interrupts on healers in World of Warcraft:
- Fewer buttons to press and actively watch for cooldowns in the middle of a fight.
- Healing becomes the focus, which is more intuitive and straightforward.
- Fewer concerns when healing in group content.
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Cons of removing kicks on healers in WoW:
- Lower skill ceiling for veterans and competitive players.
- Potentially terrible experience in World of Warcraft's Delves and other solo-player activities.
- Increased reliance on party members, especially DPS players, to engage with the mechanics of a given Dungeon or Raid, and less agency for healers.
- Less utility in a party setting for healers.
This can be particularly bad in Delves and solo content, as Brann doesn't reliably use its interrupt skill, 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 Interrupts in 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 may not be too big of a deal if Blizzard also balances new Raids and Dungeons around this logic. However, this also reignites an age-old debate about class balance in World of Warcraft, as Blizzard could have given Discipline and Holy Priest an interrupt 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 ability pruning has affected Restoration Shaman over other healers, but coincidentally, this spec retains its Wind Shear interrupt on a 30-second cooldown. Furthermore, not all Healer specs in World of Warcraft have access to a combat resurrection, which makes little sense.
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It's worth mentioning that there will be another week of alpha testing, with Phase 5 going live on October 30, and presumably including more class balance changes.
Interestingly, the reception to these changes so far has been mixed, with some players being excited to start healing or returning to the role, and others being upset at the loss of control and utility. It's hard to argue in favor of 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 utility and understand where they shine, but some may not be so viable in solo content.
Still, some of the best World of Warcraft addons like WeakAuras and Cell currently make healing very streamlined, even with a lot of buttons, so losing them and other UI addons will inevitably change the feel of playing the game and all healing specs. At the same time, without addons, losing kicks may make keeping track of cooldowns easier. Healers will retain their utility for the most part, but those who do like a more action-oriented approach may dislike the focus on healing alone and the loss of interrupts, as well as a reduced damage output, which would make the DPS role a better fit.
- Released
- 2026
- Base Game
- World of Warcraft
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary
