The latest expansion for World of Warcraft, Dragonflight, is a refreshing change from the past’s more tightly scripted and story-driven expansions. Instead, players can explore four expansive and beautiful zones on the Dragon Isles with minimal guidance. The contrast between the volcanic wastelands and lush river valleys in The Waking Shores is a stunning visual treat. Additionally, the side quests in these new zones feature some of the best writing seen in WoW.
One memorable quest involves a deep conversation with a red dragon shapeshifting into a dwarf. While Dragonflight may not be as experimental as the Shadowlands expansion, it is a welcome return to the open-world exploration and player choice characteristic of an MMORPG.
While the initial exploration of the Dragon Isles and its handcrafted quests are enjoyable, the limited variety can become repetitive after a week or two. Players may find themselves completing the same daily quests over and over until the next patch is released. While WoW has generally done a good job in making the journey to max level memorable in past expansions, the game struggles to maintain that level of engagement in the long term. Dragonflight is no exception to this trend.
Taking Flight
Dragonflight introduces a new race/class combo to World of Warcraft, the Dracthyr, a humanoid dragonfolk race that can play as The Evoker class. The Evoker is a versatile class that can be built for either healing or DPS. Their abilities draw upon the primal energies of their brood to deliver powerful attacks inspired by famous dragon battles in Warcraft history. The inclusion of The Evoker adds a new level of depth and customization to the game, as players can choose to play as this unique race and class combination and tailor their build to suit their playstyle.
One of the standout features of The Evoker class is its emphasis on player agency and skill. Many of the abilities on Evoker’s action bar require precise timing and positioning for maximum effectiveness, adding a new layer of strategy to combat. This is a refreshing change from the more automated and dice roll-based combat of other classes, which can feel repetitive and lacking in player agency. Adding these abilities also brings some of the considerations previously exclusive to PvP modes, such as positioning and hand-eye coordination, into the leveling experience, making it more dynamic and engaging.
In addition to the new class, Dragonflight introduces a revolutionary new dragon riding skill that adds excitement and agility to traverse the world. The dragon mount players receive in The Waking Shores comes with its own custom toolbar, allowing them to dart through the air or scale tall heights with the press of a button. However, unlike other flying mounts in WoW, players must actively maintain their dragon’s speed and altitude, requiring a level of dexterity and skill with the mouse. This adds a new layer of player agency and immersion to the game, as players must actively control their mount rather than simply allowing it to hover idly.
Overall, Dragonflight brings fresh air to WoW’s combat and movement systems by emphasizing player skill and agency. The inclusion of The Evoker class and the dragon-riding skill add new layers of depth and excitement to the game, making it feel more dynamic and engaging for players.
Exploring the Dragon Isles
Dragonflight’s campaign follows a familiar structure for those who have played recent WoW expansions. Players work their way through the main story quests in each of the four new zones, from The Waking Shores to the Ohn’ahran Plains and beyond, until they reach max level. At this point, they are granted access to endgame content such as Heroic dungeons and World Quests. While the main story in each zone is largely standalone and does not influence the events of other zones, players must complete the main story in one zone before unlocking the main story in the next. This linear structure can be a little disappointing, especially in an expansion that emphasizes themes of discovery. However, players can break off and do side quests at any point, and these side quests often contain some of the expansion’s best stories and moments.
The four new zones of the Dragon Isles are a joy to explore, with their vast, open spaces and vertical design to accommodate dragonriding. These zones feel alive and lived in, a welcome change from the crowded and oversaturated zones of some past expansions. The Azure Span and Ohn’ahran Plains in particular capture the essence of beloved zones from previous expansions, such as Nagrand and Grizzly Hills. The capital city of Valdrakken, located high above the other zones, is a great hub for players to take off on their dragon mounts and explore the Dragon Isles at high speeds. At max level, the zones also feature unique world events that add character and personality to the world, such as a community soup-making event in the Azure Span or a siege to retake an ancient keep in The Waking Shores. These events add to the sense of immersion and make the Dragon Isles feel like real places rather than just quest hubs.
WoW Reborn
Dragonflight’s focus on core gameplay features rather than one-off systems has paid off with several significant updates, including a talent tree revamp and an overhaul for professions. The game’s user interface has also been modernized, featuring a highly customizable “Edit Mode” that allows players to resize, move, and tweak nearly every aspect of the UI to their liking. This new UI is a welcome improvement, as players no longer need to rely on a long list of fan-made add-ons to customize their experience. While there are still a few areas that could use improvement, the UI and Edit Mode are a major step forward for the game.
In addition to these updates, Dragonflight introduces several features that make leveling up alt characters more enjoyable and efficient. Dragon riding, for example, is accessible from the start on all additional characters once it has been unlocked on the first character, and dragon-riding glyphs found in the world are shared account-wide. While players will still need to grind for Renown on each new character, certain milestones on the main character can speed up the process.
The quality of Dragonflight’s content, including its first raid, Vault of the Incarnates, and future updates, will be crucial to the expansion’s long-term success. To avoid the mistakes of the past two years, Blizzard will need to maintain a steady patch cadence and deliver new content for players to enjoy. While it is too early to determine where Dragonflight will rank among WoW’s other expansions, its strong launch and refreshing systems bode well for the future.
Summary
While Dragonflight may not be the most exciting expansion in World of Warcraft’s history, it represents a fresh start for the long-running MMO. This is a rare opportunity for a videogame that has been around for 20 years.
