WoW DPS Tier List: Midnight Season 2 (Patch 12.1)

Updated September 29, 2026 for Midnight Season 2 (Patch 12.1). The tiers combine the current Mythic+ rankings and change with each class tuning pass.

Patch 12.1, The Curse of Ula'tek, brought a new zone, raid and dungeon along with the start of Midnight Season 2. This WoW DPS tier list covers every damage specialization for Mythic+ in Season 2, explaining what each one brings in damage, utility and survivability. Damage is the most important factor in the rankings, with survivability now weighed heavily as well, and utility considered after both.

Mythic+ DPS Tier List for Midnight Season 2

S Tier

The specs here are the ones groups build around: exceptional damage profiles paired with the utility or survivability that keeps them in every composition.

Arcane Mage

Arcane received a rework of its Apex Talents, a full redesign of Arcane Pulse and a large durability pass, making it much stronger in both single-target and AoE while no longer folding the moment a boss targets it. Resonance gives it terrific funnel, and Arcane Barrage scaling with each additional target means priority damage rises as pulls get bigger. Layering Touch of the Magi with Arcane Surge produces enormous priority damage, and Bloodlust plus Arcane Intellect make it a composition-defining pick.

Arms Warrior

The spec's Season 2 changes center on a reworked Ravager and reworked talents like Bloodletting and Broad Strokes, with a new tier set that leans toward AoE. Its damage floor is what carries it: near-permanent uptime on Sweeping Strikes turns every single-target button into a cleave button, and its two- and three-target damage leads the field up to roughly five targets. This season, Battle Shout is one of two raid buffs that cause polarization, elevating Arms from a very good spec to one that defines a composition.

Assassination Rogue

Managing the Apex Talent is far smoother now, and the spec's natural flow improved as a result. It keeps its high burst with excellent funnel and priority-target damage, though damage was moved out of Deathmark and Kingsbane to reduce burst, offset by buffs to core abilities for better sustained output. Bait and Switch is among the strongest defensive hero talents, and Crimson Tempest spreading Garrote adds value.

Elemental Shaman

Season 2 shifted damage away from Ascendance and toward baseline spells, producing better sustained damage and smoother rotational flow, while nerfs to the dominant Stormbringer build opened the door for Farseer. Its utility remains among the best in the game. Skyfury is a premium raid buff that fits every version of a potential meta composition, positioning the spec well as a second or third DPS option.

Demonology Warlock

The spec went into Season 2 with no changes beyond its new tier set, so the rotation and consistent damage profile around Summon Demonic Tyrant are unchanged. Its output is outstanding, especially in AoE, with stacked AoE damage that is among the strongest available and very good single-target on top. Its utility — Healthstone, Shadowfury, Demonic Gateway and Soulstone — is mostly passive and low-impact, which is the main thing holding it back.

Windwalker Monk

Number adjustments lowered burst during Zenith in favor of sustained damage and added firepower to Spinning Crane Kick so it can be used more often outside free procs. After several rounds of buffs its damage exploded, and it is one of the highest-burst melee specs with some of the highest AoE potential in the game. Its single-target is low, which matters because roughly 40% of combat in keys is bosses, and it is among the squishiest specs, so surviving high keys is the real test.

Outlaw Rogue

Changes mostly aimed at build diversity by buffing underperforming talents and adding quality-of-life improvements, with Killing Spree no longer existing purely as a vehicle for Trickster and Hidden Opportunity builds becoming viable again. The new tier set flattens out previous Energy problems. It relies on strong sustained damage, and the 8-target cap on Blade Flurry still limits it, though it looks positioned better than it was in Season 1.

A Tier

These specs bring strong damage profiles with a solid mix of utility and survivability, just slightly less valuable in one or more areas than the specs above them.

Unholy Death Knight

The core rotation stays close to last season, with the only change being that Soul Reaper no longer automatically triggers Putrefy. Damage was shifted from burst toward a sustained profile, though it retains incredible burst and priority-target damage, and the tier set adds more execute damage. Its AoE remains very good, but single-target is now among the worst in the game, which is exactly where it falls short.

Subtlety Rogue

Season 2 reduced its burst while improving sustained damage, and the rotation plays noticeably slower, with talents like Goremaw's Bite and a reworked Lingering Shadow likely becoming mandatory. A hotfix corrected bugs so that Veiltouched, Dark Brew, and Deeper Daggers now enhance the clones from Ancient Arts and Deathstalker's Mark, providing about a 7% increase and making its single-target damage very strong. It lacks strong cleave while focusing a boss unless it sacrifices AoE.

Devourer Demon Hunter

Mastery was severely nerfed along with damage during Void Metamorphosis, which every build was built around, and the old Annihilator build with Collapsing Star was also hit. That pushed players toward new options such as a melee-oriented build that ignores Collapsing Star entirely. It remains a solid caster contender, and its durability is a high point thanks to leeching inside Void Metamorphosis.

Feral Druid

Changes were minor and focused on buffing key talents like Rip and Tear while slightly nerfing the Apex Talents. It keeps great sustain, AoE damage, good priority-target damage and strong burst, and Energy problems are mostly resolved when playing Soul of the Forest with Tireless Energy. It fits best in physical compositions with tools like Mystic Touch and Battle Shout, but does not do top-tier damage even then.

Retribution Paladin

Sustain damage increased while some burst was lost, and Art of War now stacks to two charges and no longer triggers from additional Skyfury attacks, reducing the spec's dependence on having a Shaman in the group. The new 4-piece tier set is built around pressing Final Verdict in AoE, which drew criticism from the community. It plays much like Season 1 overall.

Frost Death Knight

A lot of power moved out of cooldowns and into a sustained damage profile, though the core rotation stays similar to Season 1 because the changes mostly shift numbers around. It is no longer hyper-bursty but still excels at high burst and now has solid sustained damage too, and it remains incredibly tanky. Its single-target and priority damage while AoEing are always fairly solid, and it is an easy second or third DPS pick.

Balance Druid

The prominent change is a redistribution of damage with fewer spenders and more generators, while the core rotation stays similar to Season 1. It remains incredible at mass AoE while offering competitive single-target, and Mark of the Wild is one of the best party buffs for any composition. It does great single-target but has lackluster priority damage, and this could be the first season where Mark of the Wild is left out of a meta composition.

Beast Mastery Hunter

Key changes include reductions to Kill Cleave and Piercing Fangs, redesigns of Razor Sharp and Blood Frenzy, and simpler Beast Cleave management with its duration increased to 10 seconds versus an 8-second Wild Thrash cooldown. The 4-piece tier set shifts focus toward Cobra Shot, which contributes a decent chunk of output especially on single-target. It stays welcoming for newcomers while offering min-max depth, though it does mediocre damage at everything.

Havoc Demon Hunter

The rotation stays similar to before whether playing Fel-Scarred or Aldrachi Reaver builds, and both sustained and burst damage look far above average. It fits any group composition, bringing Chaos Brand with casters or benefiting from Battle Shout in hybrid groups. It was outshone by Devourer in Season 1 and is expected to stay there, though leech means it has no survivability issues.

Marksmanship Hunter

Season 2 reintroduced a reworked Explosive Shot, redesigned a batch of talents and shifted the damage profile toward sustain, though it stays quite bursty. The core loop of Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire with Precise Shots, Trick Shots and Explosive Shot on cooldown is unchanged, but the long Aimed Shot cast keeps it among the slowest and most frustrating playstyles. Its on-demand burst shines in niche situations, while sustained damage drags it down.

Survival Hunter

Damage shifted from cooldowns to Boomstick and Wildfire Bomb instead of Raptor Strike and Raptor Swipe, and the rotation prioritizes casting as many Wildfire Bombs as possible because it contributes a large portion of dungeon damage. Its overall performance is average across the board, which is reflected in where it sits. It does solid AoE and single-target, but only solid, and it trails Marksmanship without trailing enough to drop a tier.

Enhancement Shaman

It plays much as it did in Season 1, especially with the strong Stormbringer build, though Season 2 puts slightly more emphasis on Crash Lightning and Voltaic Blaze. Damage stays competitive with great output during Ascendance windows and decent sustained damage that depends somewhat on Doom Winds procs. Skyfury remains one of the best buffs in the game, and a melee-heavy composition suits it as a third DPS.

B Tier

These specs perform well but have a distinct drawback in damage, survivability, or utility, and it will be uncommon to see more than one of them in a composition.

Devastation Evoker

Only minor changes arrived outside the new tier set, notably the Rising Fury redesign and nerfs to the Scalecommander tree, leaving the spec largely unchanged from Season 1. Its on-demand burst is decent in both single-target and AoE, but it falls behind hard once major cooldowns are gone. Its utility is strong, with Oppressing Roar, multiple forms of AoE crowd control, and Overawe and Cauterizing Flame answering the season's high-impact enrages and bleeds.

Fire Mage

Burst and Combustion-based damage were reduced in favor of sustained output by nerfing the Apex Talents while buffing baseline spells like Pyroblast and Flamestrike. Rotationally it plays much like Season 1, especially the Pyroclasm style that the new tier set reinforces. Its problems are a lack of priority or funnel damage since Flamestrike carries so much of its AoE, and extremely poor sustained damage.

Shadow Priest

Season 2 redesigns Ancient Madness and Improved Voidform, adds the new Shadeburst talent, and pushes gameplay toward using Void Volley during cooldowns. The playstyle is among the most fun of any spec, particularly with the Archon and Misery combination. It keeps great priority-target damage while doing AoE through Psychic Link and good on-demand burst during the Voidform and Power Infusion combo.

Affliction Warlock

Barely any changes arrived beyond the new tier set and a Nightfall rework, and the gameplay feels much smoother than at launch because Seed of Corruption applies Unstable Affliction at 20% strength to the main target. That improves priority-target damage and adds a funnel option. It has great burst and sustained AoE, with single-target the lingering concern despite recent buffs.

Destruction Warlock

Changes include a recent damage buff and a redesign of Conflagration of Chaos. It provides some of the top AoE damage with powerful burst windows each time Summon Infernal is ready. It lacks the single-target to compete with most other specs, and a buff there would help it climb.

Fury Warrior

The core rotation remains similar to Season 1, but the new tier set makes Raging Blow a much higher priority, resulting in a faster-paced playstyle with short offensive cooldowns and solid priority-target and single-target damage. Its weakness is mass AoE, where it cannot compete with the top performers. It is boxed out by Arms, with very few logs of players running it and those logs unimpressive.

Frost Mage

The main change is reduced burst from nerfed Apex Talents, offset by a flat 4% aura buff to sustain damage. Not much else changed, and while other specs rise faster, Frost Mage only gets small and often inconsequential adjustments. It is good at two-target raid fights specifically.

C Tier

Augmentation Evoker

The Scalecommander nerf hit its strongest build, and the spec is a less powerful version of its Season 1 self with less Duplicate uptime. Upheaval from Duplicate no longer knocks enemies into the air, meaning fewer disrupts per pack, and damage throughput is at an all-time low. Its utility is now in line with other DPS, though Upheaval, Tail Swipe and Wing Buffet give it strong mob control.

The Biggest Changes in Patch 12.1

Patch 12.1 and Season 2 are live, bringing the Coiled Isle zone, the eight-boss Venomous Abyss raid, the Altar of Fangs dungeon and a new Mythic+ rotation that includes the new dungeon, Midnight dungeons left out of Season 1 and three legacy dungeons. Mythic+ Season 2 began one week after the patch launched, and Altar of Fangs opened at Heroic difficulty before Mythic arrived with the season. Every spec also received a new tier set, with class set bonuses released ahead of the season.