WoW: Patch Notes 12.1 – This is how your class changes

The next patch of World of Warcraft is coming. We will reveal how your class will change in patch 12.1 Curse of Ula’tek.

The first season of World of Warcraft Midnight has ended. With the start of patch 12.1 Curse of Ula’tek, the second season will continue almost seamlessly. A major update brings not only new content, like a new area, a new dungeon, and a new raid, but also many small adjustments to the classes.

We will briefly summarize what changes will occur for each class tomorrow on 12.08.2026. If you want all the details, you can find the English patch notes for all class changes on the second page of the article.

The class changes at a glance

Here we summarize the most important innovations of the classes.

Death Knights can look forward to improvements to the San’layn talents, as the Blood Beast will become a whopping 1400% stronger with its automatic attacks. Frost receives numerous adjustments. While the ability damage decreases by 10% overall, certain abilities will be significantly improved. This is intended to ensure that Frost Death Knights can also be efficient outside of strong cooldowns. The same applies to Unholy Death Knights, whose large cooldowns will be weakened in favor of a more efficient rotation.

Demon Hunters can now wield daggers as well, gaining access to more weapons, especially for Devourers, who can now acquire more intelligence items. Devourers will generally become slightly stronger but lose power during their Void Metamorphosis. Havoc DHs will enjoy a more balanced Fury regeneration that is no longer so dependent on the Firebrand aura. Vengeance DHs will have to deal with a newly sorted talent tree but will also deal more damage and have increased self-healing.

Druids will receive widespread adjustments that you should examine in detail. Almost all spells from all specializations will be adjusted in strength, and several talents have been completely reworked. Overall, the gameplay style for all specializations should feel a bit smoother and the choice of the next “correct” ability should be a bit easier.

Summoners will be slightly nerfed in terms of their dungeon effectiveness – at least for Amplifiers. Enemies will no longer be thrown multiple times in rapid succession (and thus interrupted). Destruction Summoners can look forward to more damage, and their Apex talent will also be reworked. Preservation Summoners should be able to use their Trauma Breath more flexibly going forward – the instant healing will be reduced, but the healing over time will be massively improved.

Hunters will gain considerable power outside their major cooldowns. They will even receive a boost of 720% (a bit more or less, depending on specialization) on their automatic attacks. Marksmanship Hunters will lose a few talents that have felt frustrating, while Survival Hunters will gain new talents that especially significantly increase their critical hit chance for many attacks.

Mages can now look forward to completely new Apex talents for their Arcane variant and also a new form of defense – similar to Monks, they can now spread a portion of the damage taken over several seconds. Fire Mages will simply receive more damage – a whopping 19% on everything, with further boosts to Fireball. Frost Mages will also receive an increase of 7%.

Monks as Brewmasters can unleash more of their staggered damage, while Mistweavers will receive some changes that will make mastery more rewarding for their specialization. Mistweavers will see several adjustments aimed at ensuring that Monks deal significant damage even outside of their major cooldowns – although they will deal slightly less during their major cooldowns than before.

Paladins will receive revisions to allow for better talent choices in their Holy specialization while also dealing a bit more damage. Protection Paladins will build threat slightly more easily and will be more efficient outside their major cooldowns. The same will happen for Retribution Paladins, who will receive numerous improvements in both damage and healing.

Discipline Priests will find it easier to activate the Void Shield and will deal more damage with Divine Pain, additionally, the Heroic talents will undergo a balance check. Holy Priests will receive fewer adjustments but will benefit from lower mana costs. Shadow Priests will gain new AoE options but will lose a good portion of their insanity generation, which will now take longer to accumulate.

Rogues can select a new Thistle Tea variant that is selected only on button press. Assassination Rogues will receive minor talent adjustments to make their gameplay feel smoother, and more talents will be meaningful. Outlaw Rogues will see a significant boost to their Bloodlust, allowing them to deal a lot of damage. Subtlety Rogues will now have better energy regeneration, so they will no longer rely on cooldowns to perform effectively.

Shamans will receive similar treatment to their Elemental specialization as many other classes: Effectiveness during major cooldowns will decrease slightly, but outside of them, they will become stronger. Similar expectations apply to Enhancement Shamans. Restoration Shamans will receive a whole series of talent adjustments to provide more choices and establish different play styles.

Warlocks will receive a host of bug fixes, as over a dozen abilities do not interact with Soul Drain. Affliction Warlocks will lose two talents that were hardly ever used or restricted gameplay too much. Demonology will receive buffs to core abilities, but the Diabolist hero abilities will be nerfed.

Warriors can look forward to a comprehensive overhaul of Rend, which will function differently across each specialization. Arms Warriors will now need to use more than just Cleave for AoE damage, while Fury Warriors will be able to use Whirlwind against solo targets as it is now enhanced by talents. Protection Warriors will be able to use Vengeance more often, as automatic attacks may also allow for its activation.

If you are interested in the details, the English patch notes for the class changes are on page 2. Which class will you play in patch 12.1? Do the changes affect which character will be your main? Or will you remain loyal to your previous main character – like the most popular class in all WoW?