World of Warcraft is returning to Azeroth in its upcoming major expansion, Dragonflight. In Dragonflight, players are invited to visit the Dragon Isles, tame their very own rideable (and very customisable) drake and even play as a dragon themselves with the all-new race/class hybrid, the Dracthyr Evoker. Though the next chapter of World of Warcraft doesn’t have an official launch window just yet, Blizzard have already assured players that it will enter the alpha testing phase soon. You can watch the cinematic announcement trailer below:
Where are the Dragon Isles?
The Dragon Isles are the ancestral homeland of the Dragonflights, the ancient keepers of Azeroth. The Dragon Isles are a lush and magical place, consisting of five distinct zones; the Waking Shores, the Ohn’aran Plains, the Azure Span, Thaldraszus and Forbidden Reach.
Who are the Dracthyr?
A dragon-themed expansion wouldn’t be complete without a playable dragon race; enter the Dracthyr.
As a hero class, Dracthyr characters start at level 58 but are bound to a single exclusive class, the evoker. Evokers can play as either ranged damage dealers or healers via the following specialisations:
- Devastation — A ranged DPS specialization that mainly focuses on the magic of the red and blue dragonflights to harm foes from a distance with a variety of concentrated spells and powerful breath attacks. If you ever wanted to unleash your inner Onyxia, this specialization may be for you!
- Preservation — A healer specialization that largely utilizes the magic of the green and bronze dragonflights to heal allies with breaths and even rewind time on wounds themselves.
They also have a set of unique skills such as the ability to glide (like demon hunters) and Empowered Abilities which increase in power depending on how long the player keeps their keybind pressed.
Players will be able to customise both the dragon and human versions of their Dracthyr character with an extensive
For a chance to enter testing when it becomes available, visit the official website and opt-in for beta.
Can I ride the dragons?
Hell yeah! Dragon riding will play a huge role in getting around the Dragon Isles and will be introduced to Dragonflight as a new, upgradable skill. Dragon riding allows you to defy gravity on your very own, fully customisable drake who can soar through the skies or dive bomb to the ground at your command.
What else is coming?
Aside from all of the dragon-themed goodies mentioned above, the new expansion will also launch a whole bunch of overhauls that, according to the development team, have been a long time coming.
- Firstly, we’ll be looking at a new talent system that is more reminiscent of the original talent tree system of old. We got to take a look at the talent tree for Druids, which you can check out for yourself below.
The new system also allows you to save different layouts so that you can hot-swap them for different types of content, for example, one build for competitive PvP and another for raiding.
- The professions system is also getting a major update, most notably with the addition of crafting orders. Crafting orders allow players to request specific items from crafters by providing them with the materials and a paycheck. You will even be able to commission other players to make Soulbound items for you.
- The UI is also getting a facelift (pun intended) with Dragonflight introducing the ability to customise and rearrange the elements of the interface to better suit your needs and preference. With this comes a bunch of updates to improve functionality, and accessibility and revitalise UI artwork in the process.
We don’t have an official launch window for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight just yet but since Shadowlands is swiftly wrapping up, we should hope to see the new expansion in late 2022 or early 2033. For now, you can opt in to beta testing when it becomes available by visiting the official website right here.