Activision-Blizzard has gone through a rough patch lately: lawsuits, flagging subscriber numbers, and the looming Microsoft buyout has sent the company reeling. But, as Shadowlands comes to an end, it's time to look forward to the future - and the future looks bright.
The next expansion for World of Warcraft is called Dragonflight, and it's centered around (unsurprisingly) the dragonflights of Azeroth and their ancient homeland, the Dragon Isles. Along with brand new content, Dragonflight is also bringing with it a number of revamps and overhauls to the game's evergreen systems.
Though Blizzard didn't reveal any core features on the scale of Torghast or Island Expeditions, the announcement of these key revamps was arguably just as exciting, especially for longtime players who might be missing things like the old talent tree system.
10 Profession System Revamp
Professions have been in a state of flux since Legion introduced new concepts such as profession quests and ranked recipes. The core system took two steps back in Battle for Azeroth, where the system was reverted to its more basic roots.
In Dragonflight, however, professions are getting a complete overhaul:
- Material quality will result in better items (i.e. a player can make the same item with different materials and get different results).
- Specializations will return, allowing players to be better at certain aspects of their profession.
- Professions have gear slots that only appear during crafting; these items have profession-related stats that were mentioned on stream but not shown.
- Players can post work orders via an auction house like interface and have them fulfilled by other players.
Whether it's making the best equipment possible or making a fancy new hat, Dragonflight's profession overhaul certainly looks promising. Fire up the forges!
9 Wrath Of The Lich King Classic
Though not surprising, Dragonflight's reveal stream was also accompanied by the announcement of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. Soon, players will be able to relive the expedition to Northrend and the fall of Icecrown Citadel.
Though the logo was found some time ago, it's still a welcome sight for fans of Warcraft's older expansions.
8 New Playable Race: Dracthyr
One of the more exciting reveals from Dragonflight's premiere stream was the introduction of the Dracthyr, a new playable race of dragonkin.
Like the Worgen, Dracthyr will be able to customize their dual forms - humanoid and dragonkin - and have access to race-specific abilities, such as a slow fall effect that was shown on stream. And that's not all: Dracthyr only have access to one hero class, the Evoker, making them truly unique to the game.
7 New Playable Class: Evoker
Because the Dracthyr were created by Neltharian (before he went mad and became Deathwing), they are able to harness the magic of every dragonflight - Evokers of the aspects. Here's what's known about the new class:
- Hero class, similar to Death Knights and Demon Hunters.
- Two specializations known: Devastation (ranged DPS) and Preservation (healing).
- Wears mail armor.
Another exciting feature that the Evoker has access to is Empowered Spells: when casting their spells, Dracthyr players can hold down the spell key on their keyboards or gamepads to empower the spell. Though unclear how that works, exactly, it's an exciting technological development for spellcasters in general. It may not be farfetched either to imagine melee classes taking advantage of the mechanic - an empowered execute? Yes please.
6 Customizable Dragon Mount
Though Blizzard has made some questionable decisions lately, this particular decision is a guaranteed home run. In Dragonflight, characters will get their very own customizable dragon. Everything from the creature's wings to its coloring to its accessories will be fully customizable, ensuring that no two players will ever have the same mount.
Additionally, cosmetic rewards specific to this dragon mount will be earnable by completing in-game tasks. What these tasks are, exactly, remains unknown, but it's assumed things like meta achievements, boss loot, and reputation rewards will be among them.
5 Talent System Revamp
The successful launch of World of Warcraft Classic has allowed Blizzard to take a second look at the old school talent trees, and Dragonflight is bringing them back in a big, big way.
Each class will have multiple talent trees: one general class tree and their respective specialization talent trees. Like the old point-based talent system, Dragonflight will allow its players to mix and match these trees to create unique hybrid builds. These builds can be saved as configurations, allowing the player to switch back and forth with little trouble.
It's a change that should get longtime and new players alike excited, as it signals a willingness on Blizzard's part not to copy-paste the borrowed power systems of Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands (again).
4 Dragonriding
To navigate the beautiful world of the Dragon Isles, players will take to the skies on their customizable dragon mounts and engage in an entirely new system of movement, the aptly named Dragonriding system.
Velocity, gravity, and fancy animations all play a part in the system, and though there aren't a lot of details on how it works yet, it was hinted that players would be able to unlock new Dragonriding features as they played, suggesting some kind of progression. Diving down the mountains of the Dragon Isles is going to be its own kind of fun - anyone care for a race?
3 Customizable UI Revamp
Continuing the theme of Blizzard vowing to improve core features, Dragonflight is bringing with it a revamped user interface. It'll allow players to manipulate their UI elements similar to add-ons like WeakAura and save their configurations as layouts, allowing them to experiment freely without worrying about messing anything up.
It's a welcome change for a game that's largely stuck in the past, as third-party programs and addons have become increasingly necessary to participate in end game content (this in itself is a barrier for casual players). The better World of Warcraft's core systems are, the less reliant the player base is on third-party bandaids.
2 New Character Customization Options
Dragonflight is adding a whole lot of character customization options to the game, thanks in no small part to the new Dracthyr playable race.
Previewed on stream were new hairstyles (and highlights), tattoos, accessories, and facial expressions. It's safe to say that players are going to be spending a lot of time perfecting their character's look in the barbershop when Dragonflight launches.
1 Ducks
World of Warcraft's shocking lack of ducks has finally been rectified. The inclusion of these cute water critters plugs a crucial hole in the game's ecosystem and brings an end to the No Ducks meme. If Dragonflight doesn't accomplish anything else, it will have at least given players this.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC. Dragonflight is currently in development.