World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight welcomes players into a new era of high-fantasy adventure.
The dragons of Azeroth have played a central role in the world’s affairs, guiding the mortal races and influencing events with their considerable power—occasionally for their own ends. As their sacred broodlands reawaken, the dragons will call on the heroes of the Alliance and Horde to help reckon with the threats and mysteries that are beginning to surface. Reemerging after eons of dormancy and ready to join the fight are the powerful dracthyr Evokers, World of Warcraft’s first ever combination race and class.
Depending on the class specialization they choose, dracthyr Evokers can assail enemies from range as a damage dealer using breath, fang, and claw, or aid and bolster their allies as a healer by means of the more mystical gifts of dragonkind. Players who create dracthyr Evokers will be able to design both the draconic avatars that they embody in battle, and the humanoid Visage forms they use to interact with the denizens of Azeroth. Dracthyr Evokers begin the game at level 58, with a unique starting questline, and they can choose to align with either the Alliance or Horde.
In addition to their cunning and power, Azeroth's dragons are known for their aerial agility—fittingly, all players will be able to learn the art of Dragonriding, unlocking a new dynamic form of flight along with a drake companion that can be customized in appearance and trained to soar through the sky more effectively as players progress through the expansion. Dragonflight will also bring the most extensive updates to World of Warcraft’s talent and profession systems since the game first launched, providing players with new levels of freedom and depth in how they define their characters.
Players will discover the Dragon Isles and explore four new zones—each themed around and revealing more about the ancient dragon aspects—all lovingly crafted by the World of Warcraft development team for veteran and new players alike. As the Dragon Isles awaken, so too do long-forgotten secrets, and players will traverse land and sky as they explore what the Dragon Isles has to offer.
It is here that they will discover the dracthyr, who have emerged from their long slumber to join the fight and will become available to play during the Dragonflight pre-expansion patch for players who prepurchase the expansion. Able to switch between a humanoid visage and a fearsome draconic form, the dracthyr are highly mobile, and their unique Evoker class can specialize in ranged damage-dealing or in aiding their allies as a healer by harnessing the mystical gifts of dragonkind.
Soar through the skies as you master the all-new skill-based art of Dragonriding, which allows players to take to the air on the back of their own Dragon Isles Drake. There are also millions of combinations of appearances available for Drakes, allowing players to make their companion their own as they learn to fly further, longer, and faster throughout their journey.
The adventurers of Azeroth will have plenty to look forward to in 2023 as the development team have revealed their plans for the year in a new update that details the road ahead for Dragonflight.
It's been an inspiring month for the World of Warcraft team, as we've watched the world soar over the Dragon Isles, defend their Renowned allies from the Primalist threat, stay awhile and listen to tales of regret, craft inspired items, delve into dungeons, and make vast, vast quantities of soup.
But this tale is just beginning. A WoW expansion is not a single moment in time but a journey —we know that the merit of an expansion hinges on the sustained quality of its entire arc. Years after its release, Legion is remembered fondly as much for the 11-week content update cadence that served as the framework for its first year as it is for artifact weapons or Khadgar's brilliant dad jokes.
In planning out the road ahead following the release of Dragonflight, we've been mindful of the duty we owe our players to nurture this living world and, frankly, the need to do better than we have at times in the recent past. Our goal for Dragonflight is that there should always be something right around the corner, with a new update hitting our test realms shortly after the last one is live and in your hands.
In total, we are planning to deliver six content patches, fairly evenly spaced, over the course of 2023. This will include two major updates, the traditional pillars of our expansions—with new zones, raids, and seasonal rewards—but in between those, we want to keep expanding and evolving our world with new world events, updates to systems, and evergreen holidays, new dungeon experiences, new narrative chapters and cinematics that can serve as epilogues or as prologues to the next major step in the adventure, and, most importantly of all, more opportunities for us to respond to feedback and change or add elements based on what we're hearing is most needed by our players.
We recently announced the upcoming 10.0.5 content update, which should go live early next year, bringing with it the Trading Post system which allows players of all playstyles to earn a wide range of fun cosmetic rewards of their choice, as well as (finally!) allowing Poor-quality and Common-quality items to be acquired as transmog appearances— for those who prefer a somewhat humbler look—and a bit of new world content in the Primalist Tomorrow area.
Shortly after that is in your hands, we'll release the 10.0.7 content update onto our Public Test Realm. 10.0.7 will contain a new quest campaign and repeatable world content set in the Forbidden Reach, as the dracthyr return to their place of confinement (along with some unexpected guests) to learn more about their origins and their destiny. This content will set up the next major chapter of Dragonflight, and by its conclusion, it should be obvious what our next destination must be. Alongside this new content, we also plan to add questlines for Human and Orc cosmetic Heritage Armor, update some of our recurring holidays, and more.
There will also be a 10.1.5 and 10.1.7 content update coming in the second half of the year, bridging the period between our second and third major updates. We don't want there to be any specific formula for the size or shape of these updates, but the goal is simply more Warcraft: more story, more content, more rewards, more events, more tech improvements, with less downtime between them. I don't want to spoil everything, and I'm confident that there are at least a couple of surprises coming along the way that no one is expecting. And some of the details simply aren't decided yet, because your feedback will help shape exactly what we prioritize in these updates.
We're honored and humbled by the reception to Dragonflight so far, but this is only the start. From me and the entire development team, please accept our wishes for a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year, and we can't wait for you to see everything we have in store for Azeroth in 2023.
Holly Longdale
Executive Producer
Players can also express themselves through the new talent system, which allows for creative skill selection at every level so you can play your class however you choose, and through the updated profession system, where players can choose to hone their craft. Alongside the updated Heads-Up Display (HUD) User Interface (UI) system, players may customize both the look and feel of their World of Warcraft experience through the game itself in more ways than ever before.
At launch, Dragonflight will release with eight dungeons, four of which can be taken on with friends as players build toward the new level cap of 70, while the remaining four can be tackled in the end-game. The first raid of the expansion, Vault of the Incarnates, will be unlocked—at all difficulty levels—on December 13.
Key Features
- Discover the Dragon Isles: In their journey to the new level cap of 70, players will explore the primordial wonder and ancient secrets of the Dragon Isles across four new zones—the Waking Shores, roiling with elemental power; the vast expanse of the Ohn’ahran Plains; the frosty peaks of the Azure Span; and the majestic spires and temples of Thaldraszus.
- New Playable Race/Class Combo: Players will menace their foes (or empower their allies) as a dracthyr Evoker, WoW’s first ever race/class combo. They’ll design both humanoid and draconic forms, pick between the Alliance and Horde, and venture forth as a healer or ranged damage-dealer that harnesses the collective might of all dragonkind.
- Soar Through the Skies: Dragonflight introduces Dragonriding, an all-new skill-based method of aerial movement that allows players to take to the skies on the back of their personal Dragon Isles Drake. Players will customize their drake as they progress through the expansion, collecting more appearance options and enabling them to fly farther and faster.
- Talent System Revamp: The new talent system empowers players to make creative and flavorful talent choices without compromising their effectiveness—and most importantly, it gives them meaningful options at every level.
- Improved Professions: Crafters rejoice! In Dragonflight, players who aspire to become renowned for their crafts will find a host of new features and tools to fuel their ambitions, including player-driven work orders, new profession equipment, and an all-new specialization system.
- Updated UI: Dragonflight will refresh the World of Warcraft user interface, with improvements to the look and feel of the minimap and other elements, and new options for players to customize different aspects of the UI to their tastes.
World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available for digital pre-purchase as a Base edition ($49.99 SRP), Heroic edition ($69.99 SRP), and Epic edition ($89.99). Each digital edition includes one or more items for you to enlist in joining forces with the dragonflights as they reclaim their lost realm:
- Base Edition: Includes Drakks, a pre-purchase bonus pet to accompany you on your quests.
- Heroic Edition: Includes Drakks pre-purchase bonus pet, the new Murkastrasza pet, a Dragonflight-level character boost (level 60), and a new Tangled Dreamweaver flying mount to soar on.
- Epic Edition: Includes all Base and Heroic items, 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.
Dragonflight also comes as a boxed Collector’s Set, which sports a trove of gear in addition to an Epic edition digital key and Drakks pet. With the Collector’s Set, players can explore Dragonflight’s visual development with the Art of Dragonflight hardcover book, upgrade their set-up with the powerful visage of an Alexstrasza mousepad, and add iconic representations of Azeroth’s five primary dragon flights in a five-pin collector’s set. The Collector’s Set is available today on the Official Blizzard Gear Store and will ship later this year.
World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight is available for PC.
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