World of Warcraft Shadowlands was the eighth expansion pack for Blizzard's hugely successful MMORPG, and it's fair to say that it split opinions within the fanbase. For the most part, people were unhappy with how a lot of the main characters' stories felt incomplete, or just nonsensical. Now that Patch 9.2 is out, we have seen the rise and fall of the Jailer in the new raid, Sepulcher of the First Ones. His story was set up to be something good, but for many, was something disappointing instead. Will World of Warcraft: Dragonflight live up to the hype?
- Read More - WoW Shadowlands World Bosses Rotation Schedule
There have been rumours for months on end now, and people are just hoping and praying that this will save the current state of World of Warcraft. At the moment, people have been incredibly disappointed with what Shadowlands had in store for them, with a lot of people saying that the last proper good expansion was Legion. Legion was seven years ago, which is a long time to be waiting for good content.
The player base has gone down a significant amount, with a lot of players too bored to play, or feeling like there are too many collectibles. Will Dragonflight do it right, and will Blizzard have listened to the players? The players want one thing the most: Housing. Will we get it? Only time will tell...
WoW Dragonflight Expansion Release Date
At the time of writing the next expansion for World of Warcraft does not have a release date, but theories are pointing to a 2023 release date. At the moment, you can sign up for a Beta if you're interested in helping them pinpoint issues within the new expansion and where they need to work on areas to make the game flourish.
As we've touched on, the recent allegations at Blizzard have created a greater sense of uncertainty among fans about the company's future plans. Lord knows what extra complications will be created by Microsoft's proposed takeover.
Let's also not forget that Activision Blizzard canceled Blizzcon 2022, so there's not any great pressure on the company to show anything until they're good and ready.
Latest News - Watch Next Expansion Reveal Stream
19 April, 2022 - You can watch the official stream here on Youtube to watch all of the action and listen to all of the details revealed.
12 April 2022 - Blizzard has posted the official new expansion reveal stream time details.
You can watch the reveal stream via Blizzard's Twitch or YouTube and it'll begin at 12pm ET/5pm BST on April 19.
14 March 2022 - Blizzard has announced their Spring 2022 roadmap. They are dropping an expansion reveal on April 19.
10.0 Reveals and Expectations
Now that World of Warcraft: Dragonflight has been revealed, it's time to talk about what the expansion will entail, and what expectations the players have.
First, they revealed a new race: the Dracthyr. They also introduced a new class alongside it, the Evoker class. Dracthyr are the only ones who can be Evokers and vice versa. They also have the option to become Horde or Alliance, depending on what the player fancies at the time.
Not only this, but they have their very own starting zone to level through. Dracthyr can be humanoid and draconic, depending on what form you wish to choose. They can be both a DPS class or a Healer class.
Flying is getting a new flavour too. You can now become a dragonrider, which is the newest form of aerial movement. The more you master your skill as a dragonrider, the faster you'll fly and learn new tricks to master the skies of the Dragon Isles. Once you've reached the maximum level in your dragonriding, you'll be able to customise your dragon to the fullest extent.
Dragon Isles
Of course, how could we forget the new levelling zones, the Dragon Isles themselves? It's a brand new continent, and it's the ancestral home of the Dragonflights. There are five zones to quest through. They are known as the following:
- The Waking Shores. This is the red dragonflight zone. Here, Wrathion calls upon the champions of the Horde and the Alliance to reclaim the black dragonflight's citadel from enemy hands.
- Ohn'ahran Plains. Grasslands are home to Maruuk centaur tribes. They have forged a bond with the green dragonflight. Since Ysera's passing, the green dragons face an uncertain future.
- The Azure Span. Magical archives home to the blue dragonflight, stretching from coastal tuskarr villages through a forest tundra. Tribes of gnolls and furbolgs call this home.
- Thaldraszus. The seat of power for the aspects and their flights. This is the beacon of the dragon kingdom. The bronze dragonflight also watches over the timeways, ensuring both past and and future Azeroth remains secure.
- Forbidden Reach. Off the coast of the Dragon Isles, the Forbidden Reach was created as a training ground for the Dracthyr. However, after a terrible battle, it lay dormant and abandoned for an age. Until an ancient enemy began to stir once more...
Dragonflight Raid
As always, there will be new dungeons and new raids. The new dungeons will have players fighting to reclaim Neltharus, the stronghold of the Black Dragonflight. As well as having players return to Uldaman to fight in unexplored chambers, as well as defending the life pools of the red dragonflight and so much more to come!
The raid will have players venturing into the ancient prison of the Primal Incarnates before they can unleash their powers against the Dragon Aspects.
Additional Quality of Life Updates
There is now a new level cap, as there generally always is with new expansions. As there was a stat squish with Shadowlands, bringing us back down to level 60 from level 120, we are now going back up to level 70.
They have also brought in new talent trees, which will drastically change the system and how you are levelling your character and the talents you choose. For starters, the talent tree is significantly bigger and branches off in many different directions. Here is an example picture below.
They are also changing the HUD and UI. Whilst they have made the minimap and health bars larger, they have removed some of the clutter to minimise the amount of space the UI takes up.
Now, you'll be able to move around, remove and add elements to your HUD as you wish. You'll be able to save, copy and edit your HUD and UI so that they can be used specifically for certain specializations, allowing you to switch between your HUD designs as you see fit.
Professions are also getting a long-awaited revamp. They are introducing a new element to professions to make them more playable and in-tune with the player's time and effort in-game.
This is called Crafting Orders. If you don't do the profession yourself, but want an item crafted for you, you can now request it via Crafting Orders. To be able to do this, you can include some or all of the materials or reagents needed for recipes. You can either find a player to do it right then and there or go to an NPC which sends an order out as the Auction House does.
You can open it to the public, to your guild only, or to a specific player. The items can also be soulbound that are crafted for you. Previously, the only way to get soulbound items was to have the profession yourself.
The crafting UI is introducing stats specifically for gathering and crafting. Whilst in the past you'd be able to level up your crafting by producing the products, in Dragonflight you can now earn specialization points in different ways. You may find a book in a bookshelf in the ruins, or a hermit in a cave may be able to share his information with you.
You'll be able to choose as a Blacksmith, to progress on to be an Armoursmith where you'll be able to craft all armour types. This opens so many opportunities for players within a guild to specialise in certain aspects of professions to yield the best results.
Crafters will now also get a new type of gear for their profession which you'll automatically swap into when you're doing something like gathering flowers or mining ore. This gear doesn't take up space in your backpack and will have special stats that will aid you in getting better at your profession.
By specialising and honing your craft, you could earn a reputation for being good at what you do and build up a clientele. You can take it as far as you desire.