World of Warcraft Dragonflight’s new features won’t be forgotten in the future, says Blizzard

Dragonflight is bringing a host of new features to World of Warcraft. The flashiest ones include the Dracthyr race, their accompanying Evoker class, and unique, customizable dragon mounts. Those will be sticking around throughout World of Warcraft as the MMO continues to evolve, but Blizzard wants to make sure that a lot more carries forward.

Production director Patrick Dawson said as much while speaking to IGN. “One of the things we really wanted to engage with, with Dragonflight, is to make as much of it for evergreen World of Warcraft as possible,” he stated. The goal is to make sure these exciting new ideas in the expansion don’t fall by the wayside, as many previous ones have. Warlords of Draenor’s Highmaul Coliseum, pre-Cataclysm rare drops, and several other features were eventually abandoned by Blizzard.

Dawson specifically called out the new Evoker class. Evokers have the ability to empower spells by charging them for a period of time, and Blizzard is looking at ways this feature could be applied to other casters. Furthermore, Dragonflight will start lifting race and class restrictions, starting with rogues, mages, and priests. That’s a bit ironic, considering only Dracthyr can be Evokers — at least when Dragonflight first launches — but it is a step in a good direction.

Beyond the obvious things like a race, a class, and mounts, Dragonflight is also introducing less flashy yet still big changes. Professions and crafting are merging in some ways, providing a single menu where players can access and request crafting ingredients, including previously unavailable ones. A new Talent system lets players fill out two skill trees: one for their class and one for their base role. These are all available outside of Dragonflight and its Dragon Isles setting.

As for when all those changes will roll out, Dragonflight is slated to arrive by December of this year. Preorders are open now for players who want to put their money down, and doing so will get them instant access to some bonuses. Players can also sign up for the Dragonflight alpha.