World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the ninth expansion to the long-running MMO game series from Blizzard Entertainment. Players will experience a new adventure to the Dragon Isles where they will meet new friends and threats in a brand new story arc, with the level cap being raised from 60 to 70, an overhaul on the UI interface, and veteran players will be happy to see that the classic talent tree has returned to the World of Warcraft.

The Dragon Isles is made up of four new major locations. The Waking Shores is the first location players will visit after being invited by Alexstrasza to assist their new companion, Wrathion, in reclaiming the Black Dragonflight’s Citadel from the enemy’s grasp. The next area will bring players to Ohn’ahran Plains, a lush green land and home to the Green Dragonflight, but after the death of Ysera in the Legion expansion, the Green Dragons are scattered and are at risk of losing all they had.

The Azure Span is the next area to explore, and it’s a beautiful landscape spanning frozen tundras, amazing sunlight hillsides, and deep, dark forests. As you explore this new land, you will encounter old races that call it home, such as the Tuskarr, a tribe that focuses on fishing and trading.

Blue Dragons can also be found, and you’ll be aiding Kalecgos, a Blue Dragon Drachthyr who has been around for a long time, and you’ll be aiding him in reuniting the Blue Dragons. Thaldraszus is the last location to make up the Dragon Isle; the home area for the Aspects of power, who watch over the Timeways to ensure the past and future stay on the correct path.

Veteran players will know that this is the way of the Bronze Dragonflight, and they have been attached to the Cavern of Times since the original release back in 2004. The new playable race, the Dracthyr call the Forbidden Reach home, and it’s a small island off the coast of the Dragon Isles, and it’s covered by mountains to keep the secrets of the Dracthyr. It makes for a perfect starting location for the new race that can run with either the Alliance or Horde factions.

A new feature that can be performed in the Dragon Isles is dragon riding, and you’ll need to complete a short quest before you get a new mount, but what makes it different from other dragon mounts? Well, you can customise the dragon with pick-ups you earn, and these can change the colour of the dragon and add some cosmetics. Dragon flying also has a skill tree that can be used to increase the speed of flight and how quickly it can recharge the Action Orbs used to boost or gain altitude. It is such a great feature and it makes getting around the new location a breeze, but until you upgrade the tech tree, you’ll spend more time gliding than flying.

With the new race comes a new class, the Evoker, which can be played in either DPS or Healer roles. It has some unique skills and features some very fun gameplay. Evokers are even able to take flight and sore into the skies by flapping their powerful dragon wings. This makes for getting around so much faster, but it carries a hefty cooldown timer.

With a new combat system that requires players to hold down an attack to charge up how wide the attack cone is and much damage is dealt, the Evoker adds a breath of fresh air to how the classes work and may work in the future.

Veteran WoW players will be happy to see that professions have also had a rework, now holding some new crafting systems for quality and making the user stand out more. Certain jobs, such as Blacksmiths, can now craft better quality gear with bonuses, and if they stick with it, will find themselves in demand. The same can be said for any jobs that produce items to sell, like potions and cloth gear.

As with any new expansion, players can expect new dungeons to explore for awesome loot and fun boss fights. There is a total of eight new dungeons in Dragonflight, with the first raid being active as of the 12th of December; the Vault of the Incarnates.

Sadly, from what I experienced, it seems the PvP side has fallen from grace. Players have been reporting instances where the character has been randomly thrown into the air, sometimes falling from a height that kills them instantly. I haven’t had this happen to me, but I’ve seen it happen to others, and even without this bug, PVP doesn’t feel as fluid as it used to. Though I’m sure, this will get sorted in a future update/patch.

The UI has been improved by decluttering the screen, and they have downsized everything from the chat window to the action bars, but you can make the chat window bigger in the settings, as the new sizing can be hard to read, especially for an older player like myself. What I did love about the UI changes was being able to move the player and target portraits around and move them to where I actually look during a fight, making it easier to check on my health or the target I am fighting, and you can move everything around to best suit you, but it may make some UI mods outdated.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is an expansion that feels like Blizzard has taken a step back and remembered all the great things that were once in WoW, but they’ve added a new touch to it and made it fresh and welcoming. I tend to always return to WoW when an expansion drops and Dragonflight was by far the most welcoming one with no server issues when I logged on – I was actually able to play it on day one instead of having to wait a day or two to get in. With the ability to fly on the back of a dragon, you can really appreciate the beautiful designs of the Dragon Isles.

Written by: Shane Walsh