WoW Midnight Stat Squish Confirmed – What to Know

World of Warcraft’s upcoming Midnight expansion will introduce a stat squish, confirmed to reset escalating item levels and combat numbers. This adjustment aims to streamline progression and improve readability while maintaining core gameplay mechanics.

What the Stat Squish Entails

During the Midnight pre-patch (12.0), item levels will drop dramatically—from roughly 700+ to the low hundreds. Similarly, ability damage numbers will shrink to the hundreds or low thousands, replacing the current inflated figures. This compression ensures smoother UI functionality and prevents backend systems from straining under massive values.

Key Mechanics of the Squish

Legacy content will be rebalanced to remain soloable.
Gear progression will remain linear, only the scale changes.
Player damage values will drop into the 100s–1000s.
Item levels will compress from ~700+ ilvl to around 100s.
Squish happens in the Midnight pre-patch before expansion launch.

Blizzard’s Rationale

Stat squishes, like those in Warlords of Draenor and Shadowlands, are periodic fixes to prevent mathematical bloat. Oversized numbers strain interface elements, backend calculations, and player comprehension. Midnight’s reset aligns with this cycle, ensuring the game remains sustainable for future updates.

Player Takeaways

Expect some balance tuning as Blizzard adjusts for the new numbers.
The squish won’t affect how you play; it only adjusts the math behind the scenes.
Legacy raids and dungeons will still be soloable, just tuned to the new scale.
Don’t worry about losing power: You’ll still feel stronger as you gear up.