World of Warcraft expansion Dragonflight announced alongside Lich King Classic
New products revealed during live stream on Tuesday
Blizzard has announced the next World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight.
The upcoming expansion was revealed in a live stream on Tuesday, which was also used to announce World of Warcraft Lich King Classic.
Among other features, Dragonflight will introduce World of Warcraft’s first ever combination race and class: Dracthyr Evokers.
“Players have been eager to revisit World of Warcraft’s high-fantasy roots, and they’re going to find just that in Dragonflight, with a deeper exploration of Warcraft’s iconic dragons and a thrilling adventure into their legendary homeland,” said Blizzard president Mike Ybarra.
“We’re also completely overhauling many of the game’s underlying systems to ensure that WoW continues to offer the type of experience that players expect not just with this expansion but for many years to come.”
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight 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, which has received a new expansion roughly every two years since its 2004 launch, last got one in November 2020 in the form of Shadowlands.
While Blizzard didn’t announce a Dragonflight launch date, Wrath of the Lich King Classic will be released later this year.
The re-release of the game’s 2008 expansion will be available at no additional cost to players with an active World of Warcraft subscription.
“We’re thrilled to revisit one of the most beloved eras in Warcraft history with Wrath of the Lich King Classic,” said Ybarra. “The original release of this expansion brought many improvements to the game, along with a timeless villain and an epic story.
“We’re taking care to preserve the authentic Classic experience for those looking to relive their glory days in Northrend—and deliver a worthy and accessible re-creation for those embarking on this vast adventure for the first time.”
Wrath of the Lich King Classic features
- The Grim Frozen North: Players will begin their journey in one of two zones in Northrend—Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord—and experience some of the most epic vistas and beloved storylines in all of Warcraft before breaching the seat of the Lich King’s power in Icecrown.
- The Rise of Death Knights: Available to both factions and starting at level 55, Death Knights—WoW’s first hero class—harness the powers of darkness to help combat the evil that threatens Azeroth.
- New profession—Inscription: This new profession allows players to scribe mystical glyphs that alter the appearance and modify the properties of spells and abilities, as well as craft powerful trinkets and off-hand items.
- Achievements Unlocked: Achievements are coming to WoW Classic, giving players a whole new set of rewards for their exploits and accomplishments.
- Dungeons & Raids: Relive seminal 5-player dungeons like Azjol-Nerub and the Culling of Stratholme, and lay siege to Naxxramas in a 10-player raid, an update of its original iteration as a 40-player raid in pre-expansion World of Warcraft.
On Monday, Ybarra claimed Blizzard isn’t planning to launch NFTs after it emerged that the Warcraft and Overwatch studio was polling its players on their interest in NFTs and ‘play to earn’ cryptocurrency games.
Xbox owner Microsoft announced in January that it intends to purchase Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal, which would be the game industry’s biggest ever by some distance, should it gain regulatory approval.
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The following week, Blizzard confirmed it was staffing up for work on “a new AAA survival game” for PC and console.
In May, Blizzard will offer a preview of Warcraft’s first game built from the ground up for mobile, which is scheduled for release later this year.
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