WoW Midnight Season 1 DPS Sim Rankings After Two Tuning Passes

WoW Midnight Season 1 DPS Sim Rankings After Two Tuning Passes

Patch 12.0.5 "Lingering Shadows" went live on April 21, 2026, and the Season 1 sim board has been reshaped by two distinct tuning passes. The pre-raid class tuning set the broad direction before the first Mythic week, and the May 5 hotfixes refined a handful of specs once raid logs and ladder data started landing. This is a winners-and-losers read of both passes against Patchwerk single-target sims at ilvl 290, plus the Mythic+ and arena ripple effects.

The verdict snapshot below summarises every spec called out across the two passes. Each row tracks both the pre-raid direction and the May 5 adjustment, since several specs moved twice during the patch window.

Key Takeaways

• Biggest pre-raid winners: Balance Druid (+20% PvE), Shadow Priest (+16% PvE with Shadow Word: Death +55%), Retribution Paladin (~+25% melee + Templar buffs), Survival Hunter (+35% auto), Beast Mastery (Cobra Shot +100%), Augmentation Evoker (+13%), Arms Warrior (+15% PvE), Fire Mage (Fireball +15%, Fire Blast +25%).
• Biggest pre-raid losers: Unholy Death Knight (-20% all damage PvE, partially offset by Epidemic +10%, Virulent Plague +15%), Devourer Demon Hunter (-4% all damage PvE), Demonology Warlock (Demonic Soul -55%, Manifested Demonic Soul -50%, Soul Anathema -35%; offset by Wicked Reaping +50%).
• May 5 hotfix winners: Marksmanship Hunter (Steady Shot, Explosive Shot, Rapid Fire all up), Outlaw Rogue (+9% PvE), Subtlety Rogue (+7% PvE), Affliction Warlock (Unstable Affliction, Corruption +20%), Arms and Fury Warrior (Execute +20%, Slayer's Strike +40%).
• May 5 hotfix losers: Unholy Death Knight (further Magus and Rider nerfs), Devourer Demon Hunter (additional -3% PvE), Frost Mage Shatter -6% PvE.
• Healer reshuffle: Restoration Druid -6% on pre-raid then another -3% on May 5; Discipline Priest Penance +20% pre-raid then Atonement transfer +2% on May 5 (small buff, not the nerf early lists predicted); Restoration Shaman the cleanest winner across both passes; Holy Paladin gained Eternal Flame, Word of Glory, and Light of Dawn +15% each on May 5.
• Tank tuning: Vengeance DH Thick Skin armor +26.7%; Guardian Druid Thrash up massively but Wild Guardian and core abilities cut; Protection Paladin base armor +10%; Protection Warrior Execute +20% and Thunder Blast +30%.
• Sub Rogue and Assassination on the watch list: Subtlety picked up further buffs on May 5; Assassination took only small PvP changes and remains a candidate for the next pass.

The combined effect of both passes is a tighter sim spread than launch week, with most non-cellar specs now landing within a narrower band on normalised charts. Spec choice still matters, but gear quality and rotation execution carry more weight than they did before April 21.

Biggest Winners From the Pre-Raid Pass

The pre-raid tuning was aggressive on the buff side. Six DPS specs gained meaningful damage and a handful of others picked up smaller boosts. The Wowhead hotfix recap and Icy-Veins' pre-raid post together cover the exact percentages.

Balance Druid +20% all damage (PvE). The single largest direct DPS buff in the pass. Starsurge picked up an additional +8%, Wrath +10%, and Starfall lost 14% to round out the redistribution. On net, the spec moves out of the cellar it has lived in since Midnight launch and into raid-relevant territory.

Shadow Priest +16% all damage (PvE). Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Shadow Word: Madness, and Idol of N'Zoth all gained +30%, and Shadow Word: Death received a startling +55%. The launch-week "Shadow Priest is dead" takes did not survive contact with these numbers; the spec is now an A-tier ranged DPS.

Retribution Paladin net ~+25% melee. Final Verdict +15%, Light Within +25%, Templar and Empyrean Hammer +25-30%, Crusading Strikes and Highlord's Judgment +25%, plus Dawnlight +25%. Divine Storm took a -12% hit and PvP ability damage was cut by 15%, but the PvE net direction is up by a wide margin. Ret is now front-row in raid ST sims and a top-five M+ pick.

Survival Hunter +35% auto attack, Raptor Strike +10%. One of the largest single-ability buffs of the pre-raid pass. Survival jumps from a niche pick to a real M+ contender on packs where Wildfire Bomb and Raptor Strike's primary-target multipliers carry through to cleave.

Beast Mastery: Barbed Shot +35%, Cobra Shot +100%, Black Arrow initial +50% (PvE). The Cobra Shot doubling is the headline. BM moves from a mid-pack pick back into A-tier raid territory and remains one of the easier two-button rotations in the game.

Augmentation Evoker +13% all ability and pet damage (PvE). Augmentation was already meta-defining for raid composition; the buff cements its slot in every Mythic group that can run a third DPS Evoker.

Arms Warrior +15% all damage (PvE). A clean, flat buff that pulls Arms off the floor without making it overpowered. Sims still place Arms mid-pack on Patchwerk, but the gap to the top of melee is now within tuning range.

Fire Mage Fireball +15%, Frostfire Bolt +15%, Fire Blast +25% (PvE). A focused buff to Fire's core kit. Combined with untouched Hot Streak generation, the spec moves up into A-tier raid and stays relevant for M+.

Biggest Losers and Why They Fell

Unholy Death Knight -20% all damage (PvE), partially walked back through Epidemic +10% and Virulent Plague +15%. The largest single nerf in the pre-raid pass. Even with the offsets, Unholy was the textbook loser of the pre-raid tuning. The May 5 hotfix then cut Magus of the Dead Shadow Bolt, Graveyard, and Rider of the Apocalypse Whitemane's Epidemic and Trolbane's Icy Fury by another 15-25%, pushing Unholy further down the raid ST tier. Mythic+ tells a different story (covered below) because Death and Decay cleave does not depend on the nerfed multipliers.

Devourer Demon Hunter -4% pre-raid, then -3% on May 5, plus Annihilator: Voidfall Meteor -12%. Two surgical cuts targeted at the new spec's burst windows. Devourer is still a strong M+ and arena pick, but raid ST sims now place Havoc and Vengeance ahead of it. The nerfs hit Cosmic-damage scaling rather than the spec's identity, so the rotation feels unchanged.

Demonology Warlock: Demonic Soul -55%, Manifested Demonic Soul -50%, Soul Anathema -35%, offset by Wicked Reaping +50%. The pre-raid pass cut the core demonic-soul pipeline hard but added compensating throughput through Wicked Reaping. Net sims place Demonology lower than launch week, with Affliction picking up share after the May 5 Unstable Affliction and Corruption +20% buffs.

Two notes on what the passes did not change. Havoc Demon Hunter received +6% pre-raid and no May 5 adjustment, keeping it solidly in the upper-A bracket. Marksmanship Hunter was untouched on the pre-raid pass and then received the largest May 5 buff package: Steady Shot and Explosive Shot +100%, Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot +30%, Rapid Fire +20%. Marksmanship was widely tipped as the post-tuning M+ leader once the dust settled.

Buffed specs front-load damage cleanly in burst windows, so the buff window is the right moment for a key push. If the May 5 hotfix bumped your spec into B-or-better, you can skip the keystone grind and capitalise on the meta before the next adjustment lands.

Healer Reshuffle — The Two-Pass Picture

The healer side of Season 1 saw the same two-pass cadence, with the pre-raid pass making large directional changes and May 5 fine-tuning a few specs.

• Restoration Druid: -6% all healing on the pre-raid pass, plus another -3% on May 5 along with Everbloom -20 to -30%. The biggest cumulative healer nerf in the patch and a real ladder drop.
• Discipline Priest: Penance +20% on the pre-raid pass, then Atonement damage transfer +2% on May 5. Disc came out of the two passes net buffed, not nerfed as some early read-throughs claimed.
• Restoration Shaman: Healing Rain +45%, Chain Heal +20% on the pre-raid pass, plus a PvP Healing Wave +10% and Riptide +15% on May 5. The cleanest winner across both passes.
• Preservation Evoker: Rewind +100%, Dream Breath direct +20%, Reversion +25% on the pre-raid pass. No May 5 changes. The Rewind buff is the standout, doubling raid cooldown value.
• Mistweaver Monk: Sheilun's Gift +60%, Ancient Teachings transfer +70%, Way of the Crane +172%, Invigorating Mists +30% on the pre-raid pass. PvP healing was cut on May 5 (-8% all healing in PvP combat, Sheilun -20%). PvE Mistweaver kept its big pre-raid lift; only arena healing dropped.
• Holy Paladin: No pre-raid spec changes. May 5 added Eternal Flame, Word of Glory, and Light of Dawn +15% each. The spec gains direct throughput on its core single-target heals.
• Holy Priest: All healing +6% on May 5 (PvE only). A modest lift that keeps Holy Priest competitive without lapping the field.

Guilds re-rostering around the two passes often want a clean Mythic clear before the next reset to bank gear at the new ilvl. Raid teams that are re-comping can lock in Mythic clears this week while the buff order is still favourable.

How the Sim Numbers Are Built (and Why Some Specs Still Disappoint)

The DPS rankings on every credible site, including Icy-Veins, Wowhead, Noxxic, and Bloodmallet, are built from Raidbots, which runs SimulationCraft against a Patchwerk single-target dummy at a fixed ilvl. Bloodmallet normalises charts to a percentage scale; Icy-Veins typically publishes ilvl 290 sims to match the Season 1 baseline. Two structural points matter when reading any of them.

1. Patchwerk vs. cleave vs. DungeonSlice. The default Patchwerk profile rewards pure ST. Specs that lean on AoE cleave, including Frost DK, Demonology Warlock at peak imps, and Balance Druid Starfall windows, read lower on Patchwerk than they perform in the actual raid where adds spawn. Re-sim with DungeonSlice or HecticAddCleave before deciding to reroll.
2. Sim variance is not certainty. The pre-tuning sim spread was wide. After the two passes, the spread tightened. Most non-cellar specs now land within a narrower band on normalised charts, which is what Bloodmallet's percentage scale shows. Spec choice now matters less than gear quality and play execution.

Class designers also signalled that further tuning is on the calendar. Expect the next pass once early Mythic raid logs accumulate and the Marksmanship Hunter post-buff sample is large enough to act on.

Mythic+ Reads Differently — Burst-AoE Wins Keys

Sim charts mostly apply to raid ST damage. Mythic+ keystones reward burst-AoE rotations, on-demand defensives, and utility, and the two tuning passes read differently through that lens.

Demonology Warlock, Arcane Mage, and Unholy Death Knight still hold the top of the M+ DPS tier per Icy-Veins' M+ tier list, with Unholy keeping its place despite the raid ST nerfs because Death and Decay cleave plus Magus of the Dead and Apocalypse don't depend on the Patchwerk numbers. Feral Druid is the sleeper of the pre-raid pass; the +20% Rake Bleed scaling translates directly to keystone pulls. Retribution Paladin's buffs land cleanly in M+ as well; the spec was already a top-five pick before the tuning and is now firmly in the upper tier.

Tank tuning on May 5 was more substantial than launch-week analysis suggested. Vengeance Demon Hunter picked up Thick Skin armor +26.7%, a meaningful survivability lift. Guardian Druid had its Thrash direct damage raised +200% and bleed damage +100%, with offsetting cuts to Wild Guardian (-33%), Red Moon, Maul, Raze, and Ravage. Protection Paladin gained base armor +10%, and Protection Warrior picked up Execute +20%, Thunder Blast +30%, and Ground Current +50%.

Arena and Solo Shuffle — Where the Tuning Hits Harder

PvP carried its own modifiers in both passes. Subtlety Rogue lost 10% ability damage in PvP on the pre-raid pass and then gained +7% all damage on May 5, recovering most of the gap. Outlaw Rogue gained +12% ability damage PvP on the pre-raid pass and then took -5% all ability damage on May 5, netting roughly flat. Marksmanship Hunter gained +5% all damage and +11% Black Arrow in PvP on May 5, on top of its large PvE buff. Affliction Warlock picked up +15% all damage and +20% Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul in PvP on the pre-raid pass.

Healers also saw PvP-only changes. Discipline Priest Radiance +40% in PvP on the pre-raid pass. Mistweaver was cut -8% all healing and Sheilun -20% in PvP on the same pass. PvP players riding either pass have an opening to climb arena rating before the meta settles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best DPS spec for raid in WoW Midnight Season 1?

Demonology Warlock is the consensus number-one raid single-target DPS after the two passes per Icy-Veins, Wowhead, and Maxroll, even with the Demonic Soul cuts offset by Wicked Reaping. Augmentation Evoker is a guaranteed slot in any Mythic group that can run two. Marksmanship Hunter is the post-May-5 mover and is widely tipped to rise once sample size grows. Retribution Paladin, Shadow Priest, and Fire Mage round out the upper bracket.

What is the biggest nerf in Patch 12.0.5?

Unholy Death Knight at -20% all damage PvE on the pre-raid pass, then further Magus and Rider cuts on May 5. Demonology Warlock's Demonic Soul -55% and Manifested Demonic Soul -50% on the pre-raid pass were the next largest, partially offset by Wicked Reaping +50%. Devourer Demon Hunter took -4% pre-raid then another -3% on May 5.

Did Shadow Priest get nerfed in Midnight?

No. Shadow Priest received +16% all damage (PvE) on the pre-raid pass, along with Mind Blast +30%, Mind Flay +30%, Shadow Word: Madness +30%, Idol of N'Zoth +30%, and Shadow Word: Death +55%. May 5 made no further Shadow Priest changes. It is one of the biggest buff packages in the patch.

Is Unholy DK still good after the nerf?

For raid single-target, Unholy drops from launch-week leader to the bottom third. For Mythic+ keystones, Unholy holds the top of the tier list because Death and Decay cleave, Apocalypse, and Magus of the Dead don't depend on the nerfed single-target multipliers. Keep playing it in keys; reroll in raid only if you parse for guild rank.

Was Restoration Druid nerfed in Season 1?

Yes. Restoration Druid took -6% all healing on the pre-raid pass and then another -3% all healing on May 5, along with Everbloom cut -20 to -30%. The Druid damage kit also received buffs (Wrath, Starfire, Starsurge), so the spec gained DPS output in M+ but lost healing throughput on both passes.

When is the next WoW Midnight tuning pass?

Blizzard has not committed to a public date, but the post-May-5 cadence has been roughly two-week intervals between hotfixes. Expect a follow-up pass once the Marksmanship Hunter sample is large enough to act on and Mythic raid logs accumulate. Wowhead and Icy-Veins both publish hotfix recaps within hours of each pass.

What ilvl do the Season 1 sim charts use?

Icy-Veins' Season 1 sim posts use ilvl 290 as the baseline, which matches the typical Mythic raid full-clear gear level for the week of the post. Bloodmallet runs at a normalised gear setting and reports percentages rather than raw DPS, so the two charts do not produce identical orderings even when the underlying May 5 numbers are the same.