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Midnight Apex Talents Guide

Apex Talents are a final layer of specialization customization in Midnight. They sit at the very bottom of your tree and are a branch of 4 talents focused on empowering specific spells and stats. In this article, I’ll provide you with a complete WoW Midnight Apex Talents Guide, cover how and when you get the Apex points, and what each talent does exactly.

World of WarcraftMidnight Guides

18 min

Slitherman

Creator

Midnight Apex Talents Guide TL;DR

  • Apex Talents unlock at level 81 and sit at the bottom of each specialization tree as a powerful final upgrade.

  • Each Apex Talent needs 4 specialization points, with the first and last points usually giving the biggest power spike.

  • From level 81 to 90, you gain 10 extra talent points total: 3 for the class tree, 3 for Hero Talents, and 4 for Apex Talents.

  • Apex Talents are technically optional, but they are much stronger than most normal talent nodes, so fully upgrading them is almost always the best choice.

  • Most Apex Talents either amplify a spec’s signature cooldowns, improve core damage or healing spells, or add extra defensive value for tanks.

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How Apex Talents Work

When I first saw the extended talent tree with an Apex branch at the bottom, marked with a huge Icon, I expected it to be something special. It turned out to be just a powered-up branch of spec-specific passives, streamlining your build towards predetermined abilities and stacking specific stats on your gear. There are several key features I want to point out to help you understand the system: 

  1. Apex Talents follow a specific standalone structure within the specialization tree. 

  2. Each one requires four specialization talent points to fully unlock and upgrade. 

  3. The first and last points are usually the most impactful, and the two in between serve as tying points. 

Apex Talents become available once your character reaches level 81. From level 81 to level 90, players gain ten additional talent points through leveling. These points are distributed across three talent systems:

  • 3 points for the class tree

  • 3 points for Hero Talents

  • 4 points for specialization talents (used for unlocking Apex Talents)

Once unlocked, Apex Talents can be chosen and upgraded just like any other talent node in the specialization tree. You can even choose not to upgrade them, which I do not recommend, since their power level is much higher than your average talent tree node. What I appreciate the most about the system is how flavourful the visual effects are for most of the specs, but they can also become jarring - you’ll lose lots of damage numbers if you don’t want to summon Old Gods pawns as a Shadow Priest, for example.

WoW Apex Talents

Death Knight

Blood

  1. While Dancing Rune Weapon is active, parrying an attack has a chance to make your next Heart Strike cost no Runes and deal 150% increased damage.

  2. For each Dancing Rune Weapon active, your damage is increased by 6%, and your damage taken is reduced by 6%.

  3. When you consume a Rune, you have a chance to call a Dancing Rune Weapon to your aid for 6 seconds.

Dancing Ruen Weapons increases your parry chance by an additional 20%, resulting in you turning into a parry machine, spamming Heart Strike, all while gaining massive damage reduction bonuses. This talent is a huge defensive empowerment for a spec, and it’s cool seeing animated weapons floating around your enemies.

Frost

  1. Frostwyrm's Fury deals 100% increased damage to the first enemy it hits and grants you 15% Haste for 12 seconds.

  2. Frostwyrm's Fury extends the duration of an active Pillar of Frost by 2.0 seconds. Enduring Strength grants an additional 4% Strength.

  3. All Frost damage is increased by 10%. Frostwyrm's Fury deals 100% increased damage and may be cast again after the Frostwyrm leaves to recall it at 50% effectiveness.

That’s a great example of how Apex Talents should be designed IMO. Not only are you getting passive buffs, but you actually have to make changes to your rotation and mind your playstyle and positioning to hit as many enemies at once as possible.

Unholy

  1. Army of the Dead transforms Death Coil and Epidemic into Necrotic Coil and Graveyard for 15 seconds, increasing Physical and Shadow damage dealt.

  2. Putrefy causes your next Scourge Strike to summon a Lesser Ghoul and grants you 3% Mastery for 12 seconds. Multiple applications may overlap.

  3. Each Magus of the Dead increases the damage of Necrotic Coil and Graveyard by 8%. Dread Plague has a 20% chance to summon a Lesser Ghoul that applies Putrefy at 60% effectiveness.

More adds = more fun, right? While these talents do not fancy, they are one of the reasons why Unholy DKs perform well right now.

Demon Hunter

Devourer

  1. Collapsing Star always critically strikes.

  2. All Cosmic damage dealt is increased by 3%. Collapsing Star’s critical strike damage is increased by 50% of your critical strike chance.

  3. Entering Void Metamorphosis causes your soul to erupt, generating 5 Soul Fragments and granting immediate access to Collapsing Star.

A talent making your ability always critically strike is very powerful, since you can completely forgo crit strike gear on your Devourer and instead focus on Mastery or Haste. Subsequent talent point invested just spec you into Collapsing Star-oriented playstyle even more, which results in Devourers having one of the most straightforward and easy to execute kits in the game.

Havoc

  1. The Hunt empowers your next Eye Beam, increasing damage by 100% and affecting enemies in a wider area.

  2. The Hunt has 15 seconds reduced cooldown, deals 15% more damage, and its damage-over-time effect applies to 2 additional enemies.

  3. Blade Dance damage increased by 20%. Fully channeling Eye Beam causes your next Blade Dance to refresh its own cooldown.

Havoc is notorious for being a spec that you can pick up and instantly pop off due to how easy the rotations are, and this Apex Talent branch pushes this narrative even further. You’re essentially funneled into doing Hunt - Eye Beam - Blade Dance cycle on cooldown, and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Vengeance

  1. Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb have a chance per Soul Fragment consumed to grant Untethered Rage, allowing Metamorphosis to be cast without incurring its cooldown and lasting 10 seconds.

  2. Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb can consume an additional Soul Fragment and deal an additional 5% damage for each fragment consumed.

  3. Each cast of Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb that does not grant Untethered Rage instead applies a stack of Seething Anger. Seething Anger grants 1% Agility and increases your chance to gain Untethered Rage for 12 seconds.

Personally, I don’t see many Vengeance DHs in dungeons. Hopefully, having easier access and more of a sustained uptime of Metamorphosis helps them tank damage on a level compared with more popular tanks.

Druid

Balance

  1. Activating an Eclipse makes your next Wrath or Starfire instant. The first 3 Starsurges or Starfalls you cast during each Eclipse deal 20% increased damage.

  2. Your critical strikes during an Eclipse cause their victims to languish for an additional 12% of damage dealt over 6 seconds.

  3. Activating an Eclipse launches Solar or Lunar Bolts at enemies within 40 yards that always critically strike. Solar Bolt deals 500% of Spell Power Nature damage, while Lunar Bolt deals 72.22% of Spell Power Arcane damage to multiple enemies.

Balance Druid’s rotation got better than ever in Midnight due to you now controlling your moon phases, and Apex Talents double down on this change.

Feral

  1. Ferocious Bite has a 15% chance per combo point spent to flicker to an enemy within 30 yards and deliver an Unseen Attack. Unseen Slash deals 58.4% Attack Power Physical damage and additional bleed damage over 6 seconds. Unseen Swipe deals 112.2% Attack Power Physical damage to nearby enemies.

  2. Unseen Attacks increase your damage done by 8% for 5 seconds. Additional applications extend the effect.

  3. Tiger’s Fury causes you to perform an Unseen Attack after your next 2 combo point-generating attacks. Rip and Unseen Attack damage increased by 30%.

While I don’t like the random nature of Unseen Attack, it looks and plays very fun. 

Guardian

  1. After Berserk or Incarnation ends, Wild Guardian causes your next 2 casts of Ironfur, Maul, and Frenzied Regeneration to be echoed at 50% effectiveness.

  2. Mastery increased by 3%. Maul is always empowered and deals 20% additional Nature damage over 12 seconds.

  3. When you cast Wild Guardian, you gain 2 charges of Dream Guide. Wild Guardian echoes are now cast at 150% effectiveness and repeat twice more over 8 seconds.

Flat stat increases are always strong, and echoed defensive casts and some more damage for more threat generation are always nice.

Restoration

  1. Lifebloom stacks every 5 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.

  2. 15% of Lifebloom’s healing splashes to 2 allies within 30 yards.

  3. Lifebloom bursts into a Blooming Frenzy when you consume Soul of the Forest, causing it to bloom 5 times in rapid succession.

This talent turns Resto Druids into AOE healing machines, which is super effective in PvE. There are many splash damage encounters, and you’ll just keep everyone’s health capped at all times with no extra button presses and target switches.

Evoker

Augmentation

  1. Breath of Eons summons a duplicate of you from the future to assist in battle for 20 seconds, casting Eruption, Fire Breath, and Upheaval.

  2. Any time you extend Ebon Might, your duplicate is also extended by 50% of the extension duration.

  3. While the duplicate is active, Ebon Might grants 100% additional stats, and Upheaval and Eruption deal 25% increased damage.

That’s a cool-looking talent, sure, but having large chunks of your performance tied to a 2 min cd is historically not a great way for your spec to be designed around. 

Devastation

  1. While Dragonrage is active, you gain Rising Fury every 6 seconds, increasing your haste by 4% and stacking up to 5 times.

  2. At 5 stacks of Rising Fury, all damage dealt is increased by 15%.

  3. When Dragonrage ends, you gain Risen Fury for 4 seconds for each stack of Rising Fury. Risen Fury grants the accumulated damage and haste bonuses and generates Essence Burst every 4 seconds.

That’s a cool talent, but it faces the same problem as Augmentation does: it only works on a 2-minute CD. However, it lasts 18 seconds, not 10 as Breath of Eons, so uptime is better.

Preservation

  1. Essence abilities have a chance to upgrade your next Reversion into Merithra’s Blessing, healing the target and up to 5 nearby allies for 250% of Spell Power.

  2. Reversion protects allies, reversing 1% of all damage taken and healing them instead.

  3. Dream Breath instant healing increased by 125% and Dream Breath always grants Merithra’s Blessing.

Very simple Apex Talent branch, but an effective one nonetheless - more healing, more AOE healing, and even some damage negation, which is always a very strong effect.

Hunter

Beast Mastery

  1. Bestial Wrath summons an Animal Companion from your Stable to fight alongside you for 15 seconds.

  2. Damage dealt by your pets increased by 5%. Bestial Wrath strikes 2 additional targets.

  3. Barbed Shot and Cobra Shot damage increased by 15%. Barbed Shot, Cobra Shot, and Black Arrow increase the damage of your next Kill Command by 30%.

All of Hunter’s Apex Talents are simple - mostly flat increases, and Beast Master got the most fun one with an extra pet summon. Still, nothing crazy in my opinion, could’ve been better.

Marksmanship

  1. Rapid Fire damage increased by 25%. Each shot reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot by 0.50 seconds.

  2. Aimed Shot critical strike damage increased by 25% of your critical strike chance. Other ranged abilities deal 3% more damage.

  3. Aimed Shot always critically strikes.

Yup, we’re forced into spamming Rapid Fire - Aimed Shot combo. What’s cool about the branch is the additional critical strike-based damage scaling, and that’s mostly it.

Survival

  1. Raptor Strike has a 25% chance to upgrade itself to a Raptor Swipe.

  2. Raptor Strike, Wildfire Bomb, and Raptor Swipe damage increased by 20%. Raptor Swipe deals 50% increased damage to its primary target.

  3. Raptor Strike always upgrades to Raptor Swipe. Raptor Swipes, benefiting from Tip of the Spear, trigger an additional Strike as One at 300% effectiveness.

Way too straightforward of a branch, you’re spamming your single target resource spender, and it turns into an AOE resource spender. But it works, you know, spec is performing well right now, Survival topped off my spec tier list.

Mage

Arcane

  1. Touch of the Magi increases the damage your target receives from you by 15%.

  2. Arcane Charges further increase the damage of Arcane Blast, Arcane Pulse, and Arcane Barrage by 30%. Arcane Missiles damage increased by 20%.

  3. When Touch of the Magi explodes, it leaves a rune that deals 75% of its damage over 6 seconds to nearby enemies.

Another straightforward Apex Talent - just precast Touch of the Magi, cast your standard rotation, and enjoy extra explosion damage in the end.

Fire

  1. Consuming Hot Streak has a 20% chance to grant a stack of Fired Up, increasing your Fire damage by 4% for 12 seconds.

  2. Combustion increases your chance to gain Fired Up and extends Combustion by 1 second.

  3. Gaining Fired Up reduces the cooldown of Fire Blast by 2.5 seconds. All Fire damage increased by 3%.

Combustion duration increase is huge, but the whole thing seems too RNG-heavy to me, you can either pop off with several procs in a row or sit there with none of them at all.

Frost

  1. Shattering an enemy has a 10% chance to summon a Hand of Frost that deals 500% Spell Power Frost damage.

  2. Each stack of Freezing increases the chance to summon a Hand of Frost by 1%. Hand of Frost damage increases spell damage by 1% for 8 seconds.

  3. Ray of Frost summons 4 Hands of Frost, gains an additional charge, and deals 25% increased damage.

Hand of Frost has a cool animation, especially during the Ray of Frost. The problem is the same as with the fire mage’s Apex - the whole thing is too reliant on RNG.

Monk

Brewmaster

  1. Drinking a Brew has a 20% chance to leave you with an Empty Barrel that deals 300% Attack Power Physical damage when thrown with Keg Smash.

  2. Gaining an Empty Barrel resets Keg Smash cooldown and increases physical damage dealt by 10%.

  3. Fortifying Brew or Celestial Brew grants a Refreshing Drink that heals for 3200% Attack Power over 8 seconds.

Empty Barrel animation is the coolest thing ever - you’re launching a beer keg bouncing between your enemies. More damage, more threat generation, what’s not to like - and Refreshing Drink self-sustain is huge.

Mistweaver

  1. Rising Sun Kick and Vivify have a chance to activate Spiritfont, channeling Soothing Mist onto up to 5 allies.

  2. Rising Sun Kick damage and Enveloping Mist healing increased by 10%, increased further during Spiritfont.

  3. Thunder Focus Tea activates Spiritfont and applies Chi Cocoons at 30% effectiveness.

One of the main reasons why Mistweaver tops off PvP tier lists is this Apex talent branch. It’s also incredibly powerful in PvE, helping with AoE healing your DPSes.

Windwalker

  1. Gain Tigereye Brew every 8 seconds in combat, increasing critical strike chance by 2% during Zenith up to 20 stacks.

  2. Critical strike damage increased by 5%.

  3. Each hit of Fists of Fury has a chance equal to your critical strike chance to increase its damage by 15%.

A very basic Apex Talent, forcing Winwalkers into crit-based builds.

Paladin

Holy

  1. Applies Beacon of the Savior to the lowest health ally, transferring 10% of your healing to them.

  2. Beacon transfers an additional 10% healing and increases healing received by 10%.

  3. Every 8 seconds, transfers Beacon to a new target and grants an absorb shield periodically, reducing damage taken by 10% for 15 seconds.

Having your lowest health ally be healed automatically is a huge QoL and healing output upgrade, and periodic group shielding is a nice thing to have.

Protection

  1. Judgment may grant Vanguard, empowering Avenger’s Shield to deal 300% Attack Power Holy damage in a line.

  2. Judgment damage increased by 10% and grants 1 Holy Power when Vanguard is consumed.

  3. Shield of the Righteous deals 50% additional damage and strikes 4 additional enemies.

Pretty basic Apex, but it makes you midng your positioning more, plus more dmg and threat gen never hurts.

Retribution

  1. Righteous Cause or Art of War increases the damage of your next Blade of Justice by 150%.

  2. Avenging Wrath increases Final Verdict, Templar’s Verdict, and Divine Storm damage by 10%.

  3. Blade of Justice releases a wave of Holy energy, dealing double 442.557% Attack Power damage to the main target and 442.557% to others.

More DMG, more AoE, what’s not to like? AoE is something Retri struggled with in the past, and this talent fixes that problem.

Priest

Holy

  1. Prayer of Mending can upgrade Flash Heal into Benediction, healing the target for 30% more.

  2. Cosmic Ripple healing increased by 25%. All healing increased by 6%.

  3. Divine Hymn pulses emit Cosmic Ripples at 75% effectiveness. During Apotheosis, Flash Heal is upgraded to Benediction.

Holy is considered to be an easier, entry-level healing spec, so this tree simply empowers everything you have to help you sustain your groups even in the hardest dungeons and raids.

Shadow

  1. Idol effects summon Shadowy Apparitions.

  2. Shadowy Apparitions have a 15–30% chance to spawn as Void Apparitions, dealing 50% increased damage.

  3. Tentacle Slam always activates one of your Idol effects, summoning associated adds

This is an odd one thematically, dipping into the Old Gods theme and summoning tentacles and Yogg’s servants to attack your enemies. Looks somewhat cool, deals decent damage, whatever, it’s alright.

Discipline

  1. Penance can upgrade Power Word: Shield into Void Shield that shields 3 allies.

  2. Shadow damage and Atonement healing increased by 3%.

  3. Void Shield reflects 25% of damage taken to enemies, triggering Atonement healing.

If you look past the middle point talent, that’s a cool talent, generating shields and even inflicting a thorns-like effect on your enemies.

Rogue

Assassination

  1. Envenom damage increased by 10%. When the Envenom buff ends, gain increased Energy regeneration.

  2. Nature and Bleed ability damage increased by 10%.

  3. Kingsbane rapidly strikes the target 5 times, applying poison effects and generating combo points.

Assassination is all about poisons, and its Apex talent goes deep into this team, dealing high damage over time, nature damage to enemies.

Outlaw

  1. Between the Eyes has a 45% chance to apply two stacks of its damage bonus.

  2. Dispatch with 5 combo points triggers Scoundrel Strike, dealing 160% Attack Power damage.

  3. Dispatch can hide bullets, enabling a free Between the Eyes that generates 6 combo points.

That’s one of the coolest talents in the game, but having to plan out your rotation around not overcapping your combo and spending it effectively can be tricky. If you can pull it off, though, it’s very rewarding and a big upgrade to an Outlaw’s kit.

Subtlety

  1. Shadow Techniques have a chance to create Shadow Clones that repeat attacks for 50% damage.

  2. Shadow damage increased by 5%. Shadow Clones can trigger Shadow Techniques.

  3. Finishing moves convert remaining Shadow Techniques stacks into combo points.

That’s such a weird one for me. Why are we creating Shadow Clones now? Besides that, it adds an engaging stacks management mini-game to your playstyle with big combo spender payoffs.

Shaman

Elemental

  1. Elemental Overload damage increased by 35%.

  2. Spell critical strike chance increased by 5%, and critical strike damage increased by 25%.

  3. Elemental Overloads have a 25% chance to trigger an additional overload.

Looks cool, passively increases your damage, drastically improves crit hit-based builds, what else could you wish for from a talent?

Enhancement

  1. Spending Maelstrom Weapon has a 2% chance to reset Crash Lightning cooldown.

  2. Maelstrom spending abilities deal 8% more damage, and weapon imbues deal 10% more damage.

  3. Crash Lightning deals additional damage over time and increases auto-attack speed by 15%.

Overall, a nice Apex Talent, significantly improving your damaging button, but it’s too RNG-heavy IMO, and RNG is what Enhancement struggled with for many expansions at this point.

Restoration

  1. Riptide can upgrade Healing Stream Totem into Stormstream Totem, healing additional allies.

  2. Healing Stream and Stormstream Totem healing increased by 30%.

  3. Swiftness abilities grant Stormstream Totem without consuming charges.

More healing, more totems placed, simple and effective Talent.

Warlock

Affliction

  1. Haunt summons a demonic soul that deals Shadow damage to the target and nearby enemies.

  2. Haunt's initial damage increased by 50% and increases the damage taken by the target.

  3. Haunt damage can trigger Wrath of Nathreza, summoning a meteor that deals Shadow damage.

Affliction lock summoning a nathrezim is not something you’d expect from the spec, but it looks cold and deals decent damage, which is exactly what you need as a DPS, right?

Demonology

  1. Casting Summon Demonic Tyrant opens a portal for 25 seconds. During this time, the portal continuously summons additional demons that assist you in combat.

  2. Hand of Gul'dan refunds 1 Soul Shard every second cast while the portal is active and summons a demon that fights for 14 seconds.

  3. These summoned demons deal both single-target and cleave damage, making them a significant portion of Demonology’s burst window whenever Demonic Tyrant is used. 

The amount of adds you summon is off the charts with this talent active, and they deal lots of damage even after the nerfs. Having extra souls shards is nandy, too. I wish it weren't tied to the cooldown.

Destruction

  1. Incinerate can evoke an Echo of Sargeras that deals Shadowflame damage.

  2. Triggering the echo grants 4% critical strike and 4% haste for 6 seconds.

  3. Chaos Bolt, Shadowburn, and Rain of Fire can trigger additional echoes at reduced effectiveness.

Looks very cool - more projectiles spawn all the time, dealing lots of damage. Stacking haste and crit is very impactful, but maybe the numbers should be increased a bit.

Warrior

Arms

  1. Overpower can upgrade Slam into Heroic Strike, dealing 600% Attack Power damage and granting armor penetration stacks.

  2. Each stack increases Mortal Strike, Cleave, and Overpower damage by 2.5%.

  3. Heroic Strike reduces the cooldown of Colossus Smash by 2 seconds.

This talent turns Arm’s rotations into something reactive, with a healthy amount of RNG involved, and rotations feel smooth and impactful. The biggest problem right now is numbers tuning; damage is a bit off the mark.

Fury

  1. Rampage damage increased by 10% and grants Berserk, increasing Strength by 3%.

  2. Rampage costs 15 less Rage and deals additional damage during Recklessness.

  3. Recklessness grants 3 stacks of Berserk and lasts 50% longer.

Longer Recklessness, more Rage and Damage, some Strength scaling, this talent improves everything you need to be improved. Same problem as with Arms, final dmg numbers are a bit low, maybe a buff is coming.

Protection

  1. Thunder Clap empowers Shield Slam to unleash a wave, dealing 198% Attack Power damage and reducing enemy damage by 5%.

  2. Thunder Clap and wave damage increased by 10%.

  3. While Shield Block is active, Shield Slam deals 10% more damage and has 20% increased critical strike chance.

More DMG, more threat generation, nothing too fancy, but useful still. Prot is an easier spec; maybe the goal is to ease new players into playing Tank.

Check out our other WoW Midnight articles:

WoW Midnight Gold Farming guide

WoW Midnight Best Professions

WoW Midnight Best Addons

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