Blizzard Entertainment has launched World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the ninth expansion to its long-running massively multiplayer online role-playing game that calls players back to Azeroth to discover the new Dragon Isles continent atop a customizable drake with Dragonriding, wield the elemental energies of the dragon aspects as the new dracthyr Evoker race/class combination, and explore substantial updates to fundamental systems, including a new talent system, customizable user-interface options, and enhanced in-game professions:
- The new Dragon Isles continent is comprised of five vibrant zones, which are some of the largest by area in the history of WoW: the Forbidden Reach, the new starting zone for the dracthyr race; the primordial Waking Shores, an untamed land brimming with elemental energies; the windswept Ohn’ahran Plains, home to proud centaur clans; the expansive Azure Span, where tuskarr fish amidst arcane ruins; and gleaming Thaldrazsus, the seat of power for the dragon aspects and home of the dragon capital city Valdrakken.
- Dragonflight introduces the first ever race/class combo for World of Warcraft, the dracthyr Evoker. Featuring an abundance of character customization options and starting out at level 58, dracthyr Evokers are the first ranged damage class to be added to World of Warcraft since the game’s launch 18 years ago. Players can channel the magics of the dragon flights, maneuvering across battlefields as they heal their allies or damage their foes while utilizing all-new Empowered spellcasting.
- Take flight early on in Dragonflight with Dragonriding, an all-new and exhilarating means of aerial exploration, where adventurers can dive down from height on ridable Dragon Isles Drakes to gain speed before pulling up on the reigns to glide and swoop on built momentum. Besides competing in timed trials and multiplayers races, players can collect a bevy of account-wide appearance customizations and skill upgrades for four earnable drakes throughout the Dragon Isles on their journey to the new level cap of 70.
“Dragonflight goes to the heart of what players have always loved about World of Warcraft—exploration, customization, and the feeling of wonder as the world and its stories unfold,” said Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “The updates to core systems, such as the new talent trees, build on the legacy of WoW for players of all types, allowing old friends and new to enjoy everything Azeroth has to offer for years to come.”
Blizzard on the core systems for Dragonflight, which will be updated in a phased approach throughout the expansion:
- An All-New Talent Tree System offers unprecedented control over gameplay, more impactful choices at every level, and new ability combinations. Starter talent builds are available to help new or returning adventurers, and talent builds can be saved, swapped, and shared with friends.
- The Redesigned Heads-Up Display (HUD) and User Interface looks great on modern displays and surfaces important gameplay info more effectively. The HUD UI is now easily customizable for all types of players with the addition of edit mode and allows for easily sharing loadouts.
- Enhanced Professions, now a pillar of gear acquisition, allow for living the fantasy of a master crafter or gatherer and building a clientele through new player-driven work orders, unlockable specializations, and the addition of a quality system for crafting and gathering.
Dragonflight is available digitally in three editions, starting at $49.99:
- Base edition ($49.99 SRP)
- Heroic edition ($69.99 SRP) that includes the new Murkastrasza pet, a Dragonflight-level character boost (level 60), and a new Tangled Dreamweaver flying mount
- Epic edition ($89.99) that includes all Heroic edition items plus the Timewalker’s Hearthstone effect, the Diadem of the Spell-keeper head-slot transmog, the Wings of Awakening back-slot transmog in five color variants, and 30 days of game time
A special 12-month subscription offer is currently available ($155.88 SRP, equivalent to $12.99 a month) which comes with the Nether-Gorged Greatwyrm flying mount and the Tabard of the Flame in WoW Classic from the current 6-month subscription offer plus the Telix the Stormhorn flying mount, the Gargantuan Grrloc ground mount, the Festering Emerald Drake mount in WoW Classic, and all to-be-announced items included with our upcoming 2023 6-month subscription offer—to be revealed in January.
Blizzard shared eight 4K wallpapers for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight in its announcement today, which also includes what appears to be the expansion’s entire soundtrack.
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →Didn't they introduce dragon riding back in Mists of Pandaria? It's a rhetorical question. I know they did.
This is the first expansion I did not purchase. I think the game has run its course.
WoW is still a thing?
I’m a big MMO fan. I’ve tried to play WoW on three separate occasions.
At launch, it was a buggy mess. I made it to max level, but with a lack of stuff to do I went back to EQ.
Right before WotLK released I came back since they seemed to have fixed most everything and got on track. Raided for a bit at the tail end of BC and the first part of WotLK. Probably the best time I had in WoW, but it only lasted about a year. Community just made it a pain - everyone was all about gear score and DPS meters and whatever the meta was at the time.
Tried coming back several years later - between Warlords and Legion. Community wasn’t any better so I didn’t stick around.
The game isn’t half bad, but the community I just don’t really want anything to do with, and the developers seem to bend over backwards to cater to the worst parts of it.
Now I play a dead MMO with no prayer of a future just because I like the community.
Yea the community for WOW just went complete trash panda. I got out before the pandemic and I'm glad I did. At least on the RP servers it became a competition to tear others down. If you were not a part of it you were a target.
Yeah... I went from EQ to WoW myself, although I was with EQ from 1999 (started @ release, I didn't participate in the beta) to 2004 when I jumped ship to WoW. Got into the WoW beta and have been there for many many years. I was always with a close-nit group of friends from EQ so the community didn't bother me so much, as I always did things with my friends. As the friends moved on over the years, I was reliant more and more on the community and that's where I said enough was enough. It's a very toxic environment, and was one I wasn't willing to participate in anymore.
Been tempted to pick up FF14 but I don't know if I want to get into another MMO again..
Man if you love being able to have your own house and decorate it and do decoration tricks and do mods and all of that... there is a DEEP community. I felt like it detracted from RP though... or at least it pulled you too far out of the role of being the Warrior of Light.
This is true - there are some very dedicated communities to building up houses / properties. Similarly with crafting and costumes. There's certainly an active ERP community if you are into that too ~. Along with the normal questing and dungeon parties and raiding.
FFXIV is very story driven - there is a main quest line, and you have to proceed along it, for better or worse, or you will just get stuck -- and that includes a handful of dungeons and raids that you won't be able to solo (although they have a very good group finder that prevents them from being a permanent road block). It isn't like most MMOs where you can just do your thing, and if you don't like the quests you can power around them with other activities. If you like most Final Fantasy titles, or really like the story - it's very well done and plays a lot of fan service to older FF titles -- then you will love it, and many call it the best of the FF titles out there. If you are more of a sandbox/open world PVP person, then it will likely drive you nuts.
There's a bit of the WoW "elitism" to it, but lack of public gear score and dps-meter-shaming being a bannable offense, it isn't anywhere near to the same level as WoW. You'll see a lot of the random groups still want to speed run everything, but there are just as many people that will go out of their way to help you too - which was never a part of my WoW experience.