WoW 12.0 pre-patch leaves game fragile as housing, addon changes hit ahead of Midnight

World of Warcraft’s pre-patch to version 12.0 has put the game in a delicate spot, as Blizzard rolls out major changes — including player housing and a radical restriction of combat addons — ahead of the Midnight expansion on March 2. Housing, a feature players have requested for years, has been in early access since December and is being heavily promoted by Blizzard, but it primarily appeals to more casual players.

At the same time, Blizzard’s new “disarmament” of mods upends how many people, especially raiders and Mythic+ players, interact with the game. Alongside those novelties are a stat squish that refactors the game’s math and a substantial pruning of class abilities intended to streamline rotations.

Many players say the pared-back combat feels incomplete until the new level 90 abilities arrive in Midnight — one Reddit user wrote, “I can get where I need to, but it just feels off the whole time.” Hardcore fans feel alienated by changes that removed addon features they relied on and replaced them with official alternatives that, “certainly in the case of Blizzard’s in-house cooldown manager,” are not yet fit for purpose.

Twilight Ascension, a pre-expansion event in the Twilight Highlands, offers nostalgic combat, housing décor and catch-up gear, but is thin fare for players uninterested in housing.

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