everything-we-know-about-world-of-warcraft:-dragonflight

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the MMO’s ninth enlargement and it’ll pluck us from the afterlife and drop us onto the Dragon Isles. You can count on playable dragons, and rideable dragons, and playable dragons driving rideable dragons too. We’ll be headed to their sacred homeland where Alliance and Horde will each face some newly-awakened historical mysteries.

While Dragonflight does not have a launch date but, there’s nonetheless loads of different details about the following enlargement to undergo, from new areas, races, interface updates, and expertise system adjustments. Here’s what we learn about World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, our ideas about when it may launch, and every thing that is been confirmed to this point.

When is the WoW: Dragonflight launch date?

Blizzard did not verify a launch window throughout the Dragonflight announcement stream, however it did point out the enlargement might be getting into an alpha section quickly. Historically, most expansions have launched between August and December, the one exception being Wrath of the Lich King, which arrived in January again in 2007.

The last Shadowlands patch, the 9.2.5 update, was launched on May 31, with Season 4 deliberate to reach later this summer time. Basically, we should not count on the brand new enlargement to land till the top of 2022 on the very earliest, although a launch date for the start of 2023 appears extra probably.

Quick information on WoW: Dragonflight

  • Level cap: 70
  • New playable race: Dracthyr, that are Dragons, clearly
  • New mounts: Also dragons
  • New zones: Four new zones, one new starter zone
  • System overhauls: HUD rework, new expertise system, professions updates
  • Group content material: Eight new dungeons and a brand new raid
  • New race/class combos

Dracthyr

(Image credit score: Blizzard)

WoW’s new playable dragon race can be its personal class

Yup, you possibly can play as a dragon within the subsequent WoW enlargement. The Dracthyr have a draconic kind and a humanoid kind, each of which you’ll be able to customise when creating your Dracthyr character.

Dragons are so particular although, that Blizzard say they did not actually match any of the prevailing classes. Dracthyr are getting their very own distinctive playable class: the Evoker. All Dracthyr are Evokers and all Evokers are Dracthyr—although you possibly can select to be Horde or Alliance.

They have critical bodily assaults like flying overhead with dragon breath, unleashing wind with their wings, and in addition their magical talents which give attention to ranged DPS or on therapeutic.

Here are another Dracthyr particulars:

  • Dracthyr begin at stage 58.
  • Dracthyr put on mail armor.
  • They have their very own beginning zone.
  • Two specialisations; a mid-range DPS and a healer.

Zones and story

(Image credit score: Blizzard)

WoW: Dragonflight’s new zones and story

The new space coming within the Dragonflight enlargement is the Dragon Isles homeland of dragonkind. It’s divided into 4 new zones: Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, Azure Span, and the traditional Thaldraszus.

The Dragon Isles had been at all times a mysterious a part of WoW’s lore, and now you will be flying face-first into all its historical secrets and techniques. During the reveal stream, Blizzard defined that the Dragon Isles had been the middle of the dragon kingdom when the world was new. Long in the past, the sundering of Azaroth into its continents despatched magic right into a dormant state that pressured dragonkind to go away the Isles behind. No factors for guessing that the basic vitality of dragons is not staying dormant for much longer.

In addition to dragons themselves, there are a number of different mortal races that you will run into on the Isles. The half-giant elemental Djaradin are previous enemies of the dragons. The walrus-like Tuskarr are making a return look as nicely. Blizzard additionally point out an previous civilization of Centaurs dwelling within the Isles.

Dragon driving

(Image credit score: Blizzard)

Dragon driving appears manner higher than flying

Dragonflight is actually into dragons, a lot that you just will not simply be capable to play as one. You may have a dragon as a mount known as the Dragon Isle Drake. Blizzard defined that your drake mount is customizable with completely different look unlocks (snouts, horns, tails, and extra) and expertise for making them fly additional and quicker.

Unlike flight because it exists in WoW to this point, dragon driving is a little more concerned. Blizzard say that driving your drake is one thing new, a really completely different manner of getting round. Blizzard’s builders talked about how momentum and gravity are coming into play with dragon driving, with all new animations for diving and barrel rolling across the Isles.

While it is not a alternative for conventional flying, dragon driving will mean you can take to the skies within the new Dragonflight zones. The skill to fly is normally solely earned partway by an enlargement and is gated behind a particular set of achievements. And whereas the identical might be true for Dragonflight, dragon driving means you will not must depend on going in every single place on foot till that occurs. 

Talent tree and UI overhaul

Talents are returning to their roots 

Talent Trees are coming again, and look much like their pre-Mists of Pandaria counterparts. Right now, you get to choose six skills in your specialisation, with a selection of three for every row. Dragonflight will convey again a extra advanced expertise system.

Instead of every class getting a tree for all of their specs in Dragonflight, you will have a essential “class tree” and an extra “specialisation tree”, relying on which function you are at the moment specced into. The neat factor about that is that it offers you hundreds extra selection, and you’ll save profiles for various expertise tree set-ups, so you possibly can simply swap between them for various sorts of content material.

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World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Talent tree arriving in WoW: Dragonflight. (Image credit score: Blizzard Entertainment)
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World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Current Shadowlands expertise system. (Image credit score: Blizzard Entertainment)

The 18-year-old UI is getting revamped 

There’s no getting round the truth that World of Warcraft’s UI appears its age and Dragonflight will introduce the primary main revamp in almost 18 years. The upcoming enlargement will give the UI a cleaner, much less cluttered look and mean you can move particular person components across the display. 

Like skills, you’ll save UI profiles, and you may actually have a particular set-up load routinely for various specialisations. If you play a healer, for instance, you will usually need occasion or raid frames to be in an simply accessible spot in your display, whereas a DPS participant would possibly want these frames to be off to the facet and out of the way in which.

The UI overhaul is not going to take away the necessity for WoW addons, however giving us the choice of not being fairly so reliant on them for fundamental customisation can solely assist our general expertise.

New Race/Class combos

Mages, clergymen, and rogues could be any race

Traditionally, classes are locked behind the race you select, with some being much more strict than others—sure, I’m taking a look at you, druids. And whereas that may nonetheless be the case for a lot of classes going into Dragonflight, you possibly can select any race you want if you wish to play a mage, priest, or rogue.

The eight new race/class combos are:

  • Tauren mage
  • Highmountain Tauren mage
  • Highmountain Tauren priest
  • Orc priest
  • Tauren rogue
  • Highmountain Tauren rogue
  • Draenei rogue
  • Lightforged Draenei rogue 

What about Sylvanas? 

She’ll most likely be too tied up with grinding her (infinite) weekly Maw quest to pay a lot consideration to the following enlargement, sadly.