WoW Hotfixes September 22: Season 2's Biggest Tuning Pass

What changed

Blizzard applied the September 22 hotfixes with weekly maintenance, and they are the largest single batch of Midnight Season 2 so far: 122 entries across classes, dungeons and raids, housing, items and a dedicated Player versus Player section. It is also the first broad class tuning pass since September 1, after three weeks in which no damage or healing value moved for any specialisation.

The PvP section alone carries 36 entries across twelve classes. Restoration Druid loses 20% of its Swiftmend healing in PvP combat and sees the Call of Ohn'ahra cooldown penalty on Nature's Swiftness double to 60 seconds; Survival Hunter has its burst window cut; Fire Mage sees Pyroclasm reduced again; and Discipline Priest loses its 40% PvP Atonement bonus outright. On the other side, Elemental Shaman, Affliction Warlock, Arms Warrior and San'layn Unholy Death Knight all gain.

The eight trinket adjustments Blizzard announced on September 15 went live with this maintenance as well, with the same values that were published a week ahead.

Class tuning

These entries apply in all content unless a line says otherwise. A large share of the biggest numbers carry an explicit PvP exclusion, so read each bullet to the end before judging what it does for rated play.

Death Knight

Blood

Developer note: "San'layn is dealing quite a bit more damage in AoE than our intended target for tanks. We will be reducing their overall damage to reduce the disparity. However, we will be increasing Death Strike's damage and reducing its cleave effectiveness to buff Blood's single target which is a little on the lower end of tanks. In addition, we are making some Deathbringer specific targeted buffs to counter the overall aura nerf and be a small net positive buff to both their AoE and single target damage."

• All ability and minion damage reduced by 6%.
• Death Strike damage increased by 15%.
• Deadly Reach now causes Death Strike now to deal 60% of its damage to 2 nearby enemies (was 75%).

Deathbringer

• Exterminate damage increased by 25%.
• Reaper's Mark damage increased by 20%.
• Wave of Souls damage increased by 20%.
• Bind in Darkness now increases Blood Boil damage by 50% (was 30%).
• Deathly Blows now increases Death Strike damage by 20% (was 12%).
• Swift and Painful now increases Strength by 15% (was 10%).

Frost

Developer note: "Frost Death has been lacking in single target and two target cleave scenarios."

• Frostreaper damage increased by 100%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Obliterate damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Unholy

Developer note: "We're looking to increase Unholy Death Knight's damage output in raid. In parallel, we're aiming to bring Blightfall build back to where it was prior to the bug fixes that made it no longer viable."

• Scourging now causes your plagues to erupt at 65%/100% (was 50%/70%). Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Blightfall deals 200% of the plague damage remaining (was 100%). Does not apply to PvP combat.

San'layn

• Infliction of Sorrow causes Vampiric Strike to erupt plagues with 75% increased effectiveness (was 30%).
• Thrill of Blood increases Dread Plague damage by 20% (was 10%).
• Frenzied Bloodthirst now increases Death Coil and Death Strike damage by 5% per stack.

Demon Hunter

Devourer

Developer note: "These changes are intended to primarily benefit the raid and single target performance of Annihilator hero talent builds and improve Annihilator's viability in more content."

• Collapsing Star damage to primary target increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Consume/Devour damage increased by 8%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Havoc

Aldrachi Reaver

Developer note: "Aldrachi Reaver has fallen well behind the alternative hero talent options for both specs it is available to. We are improving some of its core effects for both specs, and for Havoc specifically the soul fragment generation from Broken Spirit is increasing to give a small boost to Fury generation and hasten the cycle of Reaver's Glaive and its bonuses."

• Art of the Glaive now increases the damage of enhanced strikes by 15% (was 10%) and 30% (was 20%).
• Reaver's Glaive damage increased by 25%.
• Reaver's Mark now increases your damage to the target by 7% (was 6%).
• Broken Spirit chance to shatter a Soul Fragment increased to 20% (was 15%).

Vengeance

Aldrachi Reaver

Developer note: "Aldrachi Reaver has fallen well behind the alternative hero talent options for both specs it is available to. We are improving some of its core effects for both specs."

• Art of the Glaive now increases the damage of enhanced strikes by 15% (was 10%) and 30% (was 20%).
• Reaver's Glaive damage increased by 25%.
• Reaver's Mark now increases your damage to the target by 8% (was 7%).

Druid

Hero Talents

Wildstalker

• Bursting Growth damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Feral

Wildstalker

• Patient Custodian increases bleed damage by 10% (was 8%). Does not apply to PvP combat.

Restoration

• All healing increased by 4%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Fixed an issue where Photosynthesis could trigger from other players' heal over time effects.

Evoker

Augmentation

Developer note: "We're making some targeted adjustments to parts of Augmentation's kit that have lower representation in their breakdown than they should be relative to their intended strength or time spent performing them."

• Eruption damage increased by 15%.
• Fire Breath damage increased by 60%.
• Upheaval damage increased by 40%.
• Blistering Scales damage increased by 100%.

Devastation

Developer note: "Devastation's overall damage in M+ is slightly lower than we'd like, so we're broadly targeting AoE abilities for buffs. We're increasing Unbound Flame's damage to maintain its appeal as the focus of the Apex talents. And finally, we're increasing Shattering Star's damage so that players talenting for their tier set can feel confident they are making a competitive character building decision. We anticipate this package giving a larger buff to Flameshaper than to Scalecommander, as we're seeing Scalecommander outperform it in most content."

• Pyre damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Unbound Flame damage increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Fire Breath damage increased by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Azure Strike damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Azure Sweep damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Shattering Star damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Hunter

Marksmanship

Developer note: "We're looking to increase the area damage capabilities of Marksmanship Hunters with these changes."

• Trick Shots now causes Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire ricochets to hit for 75% of damage (was 60%).
• Volley damage increased by 10%.

Survival

Developer note: "We're increasing the damage that Wildfire Bomb deals to all targets, but reducing the bonus damage to the primary target. This should be a neutral change against a single target, but an increase to area damage when fighting more than one enemy."

• Wildfire Bomb damage increased by 20%.
• Wildfire Bomb now only hits the primary target for 50% additional damage (was 80% additional).

Mage

Developer note: "For both Fire and Frost, these changes are intended to primarily improve performance in M+, with a smaller impact in raids."

Fire

• Meteor's damage over time increased by 100%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Frostfire

• Dualcasting Adept now increases Flamestrike damage by 15% (was 10%).

Sunfury

• Burden of Power now increases Flamestrike damage by 6% (was 3%).

Frost

• Frozen Orb damage increased by 15%.
• Comet Storm damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Frostbite's Shatter damage to nearby enemies increased by 10%.
• Glacial Assault icy comet damage increased by 50%.

Monk

Mistweaver

• All healing increased by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Vivify healing increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Sheilun's Gift healing increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Windwalker

• Melee auto-attack damage increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Dual Threat damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Rising Sun Kick damage increased by 8%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Paladin

Protection

• All ability damage increased by 6%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Retribution

Templar

Developer note: "Templar has been underperforming compared to Herald of the Sun this season. We're increasing its throughput to make it a more viable option against Herald of the Sun, for those who enjoy Templar's playstyle."

• Hammer of Light damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Empyrean Hammer damage increased by 12%.

Priest

Discipline

Developer note: "Discipline isn't able to dish out proper healing in dungeon environments due to how strong Atonement is in raids. We're reintroducing an Atonement healing bonus outside of raid environments and significantly increasing Atonement healing outside raid to help Discipline shine in dungeons."

• Atonement healing is increased by 40% when not in a raid or battleground instance.
• Penance mana cost reduced by 20%.

Shadow

Developer note: "We feel Shadow is lacking in single target damage, so these changes are intended to improve Shadow's damage against singular targets while remaining neutral in multi-target situations."

• Mind Blast damage increased by 15%.
• Void Blast damage increased by 15%.
• Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 15%.
• Shadow Word: Madness damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Mind Flay damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Mind Flay: Insanity damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Psychic Link now causes direct damage spells to inflict 20% of their damage to all other targets afflicted by Vampiric Touch (was 25%). Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Shadeburst damage reduced by 5%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Rogue

Subtlety

Trickster

Developer note: "Trickster has performed well below Deathstalker for Subtlety this tier and is receiving damage boost to its core effects to make Trickster a more reasonable choice in a wider range of content."

• Unseen Blade damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Coup de Grace damage increased by 30%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Warrior

Developer note: "Warriors are in a good state overall, but we feel that Mountain Thane is a bit behind their partner hero specs on both Fury and Prot, so we're giving a small boost there to help Mountain Thane enjoyers."

Fury

Mountain Thane

• Lightning Strike damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Ground Current damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Protection

Mountain Thane

• Lightning Strike damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
• Ground Current damage increased by 50%. Does not apply to PvP combat.

Dungeons and raids

Two crowd-control bugs were closed, both on abilities that were firing while their caster was controlled.

Altar of Fangs

• Fixed an issue that allowed Blade of the Altar's Laced Edge to cast while crowd controlled.

Temple of Sethraliss

• Fixed an issue that allowed Shrouded Fang's Slither Strike to cast while crowd controlled.

Housing

• The Rustbolt Jetpack has received a firmware update. It will now engage Ocular Non-Obstruction Mode upon detection of unstable decor environments.

Trinket tuning

These eight adjustments were announced a week ahead of the maintenance and applied with it, at the values Blizzard published. Full context in the Midnight Season 2 trinket tuning breakdown.

• Preternatural Antivenom - Healing increased by 75%.
• Seed of Radiant Hope - Cooldown reduced to 1 minute (was 1.5 minutes). Healing increased by 40%.
• Mycolic Medicine - Effect frequency increased by 33%. Healing increased by 58%.
• Unstable Felheart Crystal - Cooldown reduced to 1.5 minutes (was 2 minutes). Healing increased by 58%.
• Ruby Whelp Shell - Frequency of all effects increased by 100%. All damage reduced by 42%. Single target healing effect increased by 37%. Multi-target healing increased by 5%. Stat effects reduced by 50%.
• Gaze of the Alnseer - Primary stat reduced by 10%.
• Vaelgor's Final Stare - Mastery reduced by 10%.
• Algeth'ar Puzzle Box - Mastery reduced by 25%.

Player versus Player

Everything here is scoped to PvP combat and changes nothing outside rated play. Twelve classes appear, with healers and damage dealers moving in the same pass.

Death Knight in PvP

Unholy

San'layn

Developer note: "We would like to push for the San'layn hero talent tree to be a more viable option for Unholy Death Knights in PvP."

• Inevitable now causes plagues to deal up to 60% increased damage based on the target's missing health (was 30%) in PvP combat.
• Vampiric Strike damage increased by 100% in PvP combat.

Druid in PvP

Feral

Druid of the Claw

• Ravage damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
• Dreadful Wound damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
• Exacerbating Wounds increases damage taken from your bleed effects by 10% in PvP combat (was 8%).

Restoration

Developer note: "Restoration Druid's burst healing and instant crowd-control capabilities have limited counterplay for other players, so we're targeting these aspects to decrease their overall performance."

• Call of Ohn'ahra increases the cooldown of Nature's Swiftness by 60 seconds (was 30 seconds).
• Swiftmend healing reduced by 20% in PvP combat.

Evoker in PvP

Augmentation

• Ebon Might grants 12% primary stat in PvP combat (was 10%).

Preservation

Flameshaper

• Consume Flame healing reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

Hunter in PvP

Beast Mastery

Dark Ranger

Developer note: "Dark Ranger has been underperforming for Beast Mastery, so we're adjusting their Black Arrow damage to increase their performance."

• Black Arrow damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.

Survival

Developer note: "Survival Hunter's burst window has been particularly powerful this season, so we are targeting reductions in that area to allow other players more time to react."

• Takedown Hunter damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.
• Takedown Pet damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.

Sentinel

• Moonlight Chakram damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.

Mage in PvP

Fire

Developer note: "We feel Fire Mage burst damage continues to be too high even outside of Combustion, so we're further reducing the damage bonus from Pyroclasm to lessen its potential to lead to quick kills."

• Pyroclasm now increases the damage of Pyroblast or Flamestrike by 160% in PvP combat (was 180%).

Monk in PvP

Windwalker

Developer note: "We're decreasing the performance gap between Windwalker's hero talent trees as Shado-pan has been overperforming and Conduit of the Celestials has been underperforming."

Conduit of the Celestials

• Celestial Conduit damage increased by 50% in PvP combat.

Shado-Pan

• Flurry Strikes damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.

Paladin in PvP

Retribution

Templar

Developer note: "We're bringing Templar's performance up also in PvP, but we believe the gap to Herald of the Sun is less drastic compared to PvE."

• Hammer of Light damage increased by 20%.

Priest in PvP

Developer note: "We're increasing the effectiveness of Mindgames once more in this pass to solidify its usability. We'd like for it to be able to compete with other powerful PvP talent options in Priest's kit."

• Mindgames direct damage and reversal increased by 50%.

Holy

Archon

Developer note: "We feel Oracle Holy is in a good place, but Archon has difficulties keeping up, so we're targeting buffs to its throughout and offensive potential."

• Halo damage and healing increased by 30% in PvP combat.
• Focused Outburst now reduces the cast time of Prayer of Healing by 40% in PvP combat (was 15%).
• Realized Potential now increases Flash Heal healing by 20% in PvP combat (was 10%).

Discipline

• Atonement healing is no longer increased by 40% in PvP combat.

Shadow

Developer note: "We're increasing the damage of Shadow Word: Death significantly in addition to the Mind Blast changes above to allow for more opportunities to finish enemies off."

• Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.

Rogue in PvP

Assassination

• All damage reduced by 4% in PvP combat.
• Deathmark now shows as a large aura on raid frames.

Outlaw

• All damage increased by 5% in PvP combat.

Shaman in PvP

Elemental

Developer note: "We feel Elemental should shine more in their damage against their primary target and less in their cleave, so we're making some improvement to core spell damage and reducing the effect of the Voltaic Blaze and Purging Flames combo."

• Lightning Bolt damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
• Lava Burst damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
• Voltaic Blaze instant damage reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
• Purging Flames now causes Lava Bursts to fire at 25% effectiveness in PvP combat (was 40%).

Enhancement

• All damage increased by 3% in PvP combat.

Warlock in PvP

Affliction

• Agony damage increased by 40% in PvP combat.
• Unstable Affliction damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.

Warrior in PvP

Arms

Colossus

Developer note: "We're increasing the effectiveness of Colossus for Arms in PvP to increase hero talent viability with a focus on improving the effectiveness of your post-Demolish window."

• Practiced Strikes increases the damage of Slam and Mortal Strike by 40% in PvP combat (was 25%).
• Arterial Bleed now increases Rend and Deep Wounds damage by 5% per stack in PvP combat (was 3%).
• Cut to the Bone now increases Rend and Deep Wounds damage by 30% in PvP combat (was 15%).

What this means on the ladder

The healer picture moved most. Restoration Druid is the only healer taking a straight throughput cut, and it comes with a second cost: the cooldown penalty Call of Ohn'ahra attaches to Nature's Swiftness doubles from 30 seconds to a full minute, so the instant crowd-control option that talent buys is now a once-a-match decision in a short game rather than a twice-a-match one. Preservation Evoker loses 30% of its Consume Flame healing under Flameshaper. On the other side, Holy Priest running Archon gains on three fronts at once - Halo, a Prayer of Healing cast time cut that nearly triples, and stronger Flash Heal - which is the largest single-tree healing gain in the pass.

Discipline Priest is the entry to read twice, because it appears in both halves of the batch and they pull in opposite directions. The class list adds a 40% Atonement bonus when not in a raid or battleground instance; the PvP list removes a 40% Atonement bonus in PvP combat. Blizzard states the intent for the first as helping Discipline in dungeons.

Among damage dealers the sharpest correction lands on Survival Hunter. Takedown loses 10% and its pet 15%, and Moonlight Chakram under Sentinel loses a further 15%, with Blizzard naming the burst window and the time other players get to react. Fire Mage takes its second stated reduction to Pyroclasm, now 160% instead of 180%. Assassination Rogue loses 4% of all damage while Outlaw Rogue gains 5%, which is the clearest straight swap in the pass. Elemental Shaman is a redistribution rather than a nerf or a buff: Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst go up while Voltaic Blaze and the Purging Flames follow-up come down, so single-target pressure rises and cleave falls.

The through-line across the whole PvP block is hero talent trees rather than specialisations. San'layn for Unholy, Dark Ranger for Beast Mastery, Conduit of the Celestials against Shado-Pan for Windwalker, Templar for Retribution, Archon for Holy and Colossus for Arms all move, and in six separate notes Blizzard describes the goal as closing the gap to the alternative tree rather than raising the specialisation. If a tree was discarded earlier in the season on throughput grounds, this is the pass that is worth re-testing it against.

One entry is not tuning at all: Deathmark now shows as a large aura on raid frames, which makes the window visible to the enemy team without changing a number.

Where the changed specialisations currently sit in 3v3, before this pass has had time to show up in ratings:

The healer changes land hardest in Solo Shuffle, where a single healer carries six rounds and a burst-healing cut has nowhere to hide:

Read rating movement this week carefully. Blizzard significantly increased PvP rating inflation across every rated mode on September 17, and that change is still working through the ladder, so a climb or a slide over the next few days is not a clean measurement of this tuning pass. The September 17 inflation change is the other half of that picture.

Buffs that stop at the arena gate

A large share of the class list carries the line "Does not apply to PvP combat", and several of the biggest numbers in the batch are among them. Frost Death Knight gains 100% on Frostreaper and Retribution Paladin gains a 50% Hammer of Light increase, neither of which reaches rated play. The whole Devastation Evoker package is PvE-only, as are Windwalker Monk's 25% auto-attack increase, Protection Paladin's 6% ability damage, both Mountain Thane entries on Fury Warrior and Protection Warrior, and the Subtlety Rogue Trickster buffs.

The reverse is worth as much. Where a class-list entry carries no such line, nothing in the notes scopes it away from rated play, and several of those are substantial: the entire Blood Death Knight and Deathbringer package, Augmentation Evoker's Eruption, Fire Breath and Upheaval, Marksmanship Hunter's Trick Shots and Volley, Survival Hunter's Wildfire Bomb changes, Frost Mage's Frozen Orb, and the Shadow Priest buffs to Mind Blast, Void Blast and Shadow Word: Death. How a raw ability number translates into rated damage is a separate question, answered by PvP scaling and Gladiator's Distinction.

What to do now

Re-check your hero talent tree before your next session if you play Unholy Death Knight, Beast Mastery Hunter, Windwalker Monk, Retribution Paladin, Holy Priest or Arms Warrior: six separate notes describe this pass as closing a gap between trees, and a tree that was behind last week may not be now. Restoration Druid and Preservation Evoker healers should plan around a smaller burst window rather than a changed rotation.

The trinket pass applied with the same maintenance, so a raid or dungeon trinket that was worth carrying into rated play last week may have moved. The previous batch is covered in the September 21 hotfixes, and healers feeling the Swiftmend and Atonement changes first will feel them in Solo Shuffle before anywhere else. Blizzard's full list is on the rolling hotfixes page.