World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the ninth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Shadowlands. It was announced in April 2022, and released on November 28, 2022. Gameplay

The Dragon Isles are the main setting of Dragonflight, and are separated into five zones. The four main zones are the Waking Shores, Ohn'ahran Plains, Azure Span, and Thaldraszus, with the neutral city of Valdrakken in Thaldraszus serving as a hub (similarly to Oribos in Shadowlands). The fifth zone, the Forbidden Reach, also serves as the starting area for the Dracthyr race. Dragonflight raised the level cap to 70, the first increase since the level squish in Shadowlands. Dragonflight also features a revamp of the user interface and talent tree systems, with two tree branches. Dragonflight includes a new playable race, the Dracthyr, and a new class, the Evoker. The two are combined: Evokers are exclusive to the Dracthyr, and are also the only class that Dracthyr can play. Wearing mail armor, Evokers have three specializations available to them: the ranged damage-focused Devastation, support-leaning Augmentation and the healing-orientated Preservation. The Dracthyr can choose to align with either the Alliance or the Horde, similar to the Pandaren introduced in Mists of Pandaria. Dracthyr Evokers are also considered a hero class: they start at level 58 and have a unique starting zone. Dragonflight features a revamp to the game's profession system, allowing players to place work orders where they can commission the creation of items. The game introduced a new feature called Dragonriding, allowing players to raise and customize a dragon that they will be able to use in a new momentum-based flight system using aerial skills. Flying is available from the start of the expansion, without the need to reach the maximum level. Plot

Dragonflight campaign

Awakening the Dracthyr
After being hidden for 10,000 years due to the events of the War of the Ancients, the Dragon Isles, the ancestral home to all dragon-kind, reveals itself on Azeroth. In a secluded area known as the Forbidden Reach, a race of dragonkin soldiers known as the dracthyr awaken from a 20,000-year slumber. Confused about their situation, they discover that they were placed in stasis by their creator, Neltharion the Earth-Warder (later known as Deathwing), who feared the potential power they could possess if they weren't under his control. As they find their bearings, the dracthyr encounter proto-dragons who wish to end the reign of the Dragon Aspects. In the ensuing battle, Raszageth the Storm-Eater, one of the four Primal Incarnates, is freed by the Primalists, followers of the Incarnates who wield elemental powers. Raszageth was previously imprisoned by Neltharion when he first gave in to the corruption of the Old God N'Zoth during the War of the Scaleborn, a series of conflicts between the Aspects and Incarnates. Without their master, the dracthyr side with the Horde and Alliance to fight back against their ancient enemy and find their place in the new world. Empowering the Oathstones
The Horde and Alliance launch a joint expedition to the Dragon Isles, where enemies of old awaken just as the continent does itself, threatening the ancient home of the five dragonflights. The former Aspects of the dragonflights also attempt to reawaken their inert power by relighting their own Oathstones, which went dormant upon the destruction of the Dragon Soul that led to Deathwing's downfall. In the Waking Shores region, Alexstrasza the Life-Binder and the Red Dragonflight attempt to keep unhatched dragon eggs from becoming tainted by the Primalists by defending the Ruby Lifeshrine, the ancient home of the red dragons. Raszageth soon launches an assault on the shrine, but she is ultimately repelled with the unexpected assistance from Wrathion, the Black prince, one of the last known black dragons on Azeroth. Wrathion requests Alexstrasza to spare some forces to assist him and his Blacktalon allies in reclaiming the nearby Obsidian Citadel, the ancient home of the black dragons, but she refuses, choosing to continue protecting the Ruby Lifeshrine from further Primalist incursion. Enlisting the aid of any who will beckon to his call, Wrathion lays siege to the Obsidian Citadel, where a race of half-giants known as the djaradin have taken control. Though heavily outmatched, the Black Prince is aided by the unexpected arrival of the black dragon Sabellian, one of Neltharion's sons, who returned to the Dragon Isles with the Obsidian Brood, black dragons who resided on Outland and were no longer corrupted by the Old Gods. The two leaders reluctantly work together to evict the djaradin and restore the Black Dragonflight's Oathstone. They then journey to the Ruby Lifeshrine with a clutch of black dragon eggs, which restores the Red Dragonflight's Oathstone, though tensions between Wrathion and Sabellian arise over who will lead the Black Dragonflight. In the Ohn'ahran Plains region, a coalition of Maruuk centaur clans gather to reforge their ancient pact with the Green Dragonflight and combat the Primalists who have invaded the area. However, the Maruuk are betrayed from within by the warlike Nokhud Clan, who ally with the Primalists and accept their gifts of elemental power which they use to capture the wild god Ohn'ahra. Merithra, daughter of the former Dragon Aspect Ysera the Awakened, soon arrives with her son Gerithus and is caught unaware of the betrayal, costing the lives of one of her kin. Merithra and the Green Dragonflight then work with the Maruuk to safeguard the Ancient Bough, where the green dragons first forged a connection with the Emerald Dream. Together they defeat the invading Primalists and rescue Ohn'ahra, renewing the vows of companionship between them and restoring the Green Dragonflight's Oathstone. In the Azure Span region, Kalecgos plans to revive the leylines of arcane magic that flow throughout the region in order to reactivate the Azure Archives, the ancient home of the blue dragons, but due to the rot and decay of the land caused by the local gnolls and their use of decay magic, this goal appeared unattainable. With the aid of Archmage Khadgar, the local Iskaara tuskarr tribe and under the guidance of a simulacrum of Sindragosa, the former prime consort of the blue dragon Aspect Malygos the Spellweaver, Kalecgos learns that the only way to reactivate the Blue Dragonflight's Oathstone is through reuniting his now disbanded flight. When Raszageth and the Primalists attempt to destroy Vakthros, a convergence point for the ley lines, Kalecgos works with Khadgar and the Kirin Tor to defend it and they are soon joined by his ally Senegos, leader of the Azurewing brood of blue dragons, strengthening the bonds of their flight and restoring their Oathstone. In the city of Valdrakken, the largest settlement on the Dragon Isles located within the Thaldraszus region, Alexstrasza meets with Kalecgos and Nozdormu the Timeless One, leader of the Bronze Dragonflight, and discuss their next move to stop Raszageth and the Primalists. They discover multiple Primalist infiltrators have made their way into the city, showing how far they'd go to accomplish their goals. At the Temporal Conflux, where the Bronze Dragonflight focus its efforts on watching over the timeways, Chronormu (Chromie) successfully captures the infinite dragon Eternus who seeks to corrupt the Bronze Dragonflight's Oathstone. Eternus soon breaks free and as Chromie intercepts her, they are both sent spiralling through portals that take them to various points in time. They are eventually found in the ancient past during the era when the Black Empire ruled over Azeroth and are successfully returned to the present. Nozdormu spares Eternus after she aided Chromie while trapped in the past, and the Oathstone is restored, though the Infinite Dragon warns Nozdormu of his fated transformation into Murozond, the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight. Protecting the Isles
Seeking to unite the tuskarr tribes, the Iskarra tuskarr chieftain hoped to reopen trade with the isolationist Uktulut tribe in the Waking Shores. They discover that the Uktulut chieftain had fallen into a deep depression following the loss of his hunting companion who was killed by the djaradin, but he's able to overcome his grief by rallying the tribe together and purging the djaradin from the area. In Thaldraszus, archaeologists of the Dragonscale Expedition discover a titan-forged door that had been sealed by the titan-keeper Tyr. After breaking the seal, they discover the historical attributes of each of the five former Aspects, as well as the detailed experiments that Tyr conducted on proto-dragons by imbuing them with different elemental abilities. Alexstrasza, Kalecgos and Nozdormu head to Tyrhold, a large titan facility built by Tyr, and attempt to discover the secrets of a parting gift left to them by Tyr prior to his death millennia ago. With the help of the titan-watcher Koranos, they reactivate Tyrhold's forge which creates a body identical to Tyr's. Though the body was lifeless, they divulge that by recovering Tyr's memories they can fully restore him. At the Ancient Bough, a drakonid loyal to the Primalists assaults the portal to the Emerald Dream hoping to destroy the seed of a world tree that had previously been planted there by Tyrande Whisperwind. To counter their assault, Ysera, who had become bound to the Shadowlands, is returned to Azeroth but in exchange, Malfurion Stormrage takes her place in Ardenweald. With Ysera's return, the Primalist forces are evicted from the Dream, and she encourages her daughter Merithra to lead the Green Dragonflight. With the five Oathstones restored, only the Mother Oathstone remains to be activated so that the Aspect's powers can be returned once more. Raszageth soon interrupts Alexstrasza's attempts to empower the Oathstone, and heads to the Vault of the Incarnates to free her imprisoned kin. Kalecgos, Khadgar and their allies follow Raszageth inside the vault and successfully defeat many powerful Primalists within. They finally confront Raszageth who falls in battle, but not before she is able to release the other three Primal Incarnates: Fyrakk the Blazing, Vyranoth the Frozenheart, and Iridikron the Stonescaled, who are unleashed onto the Dragon Isles. Embers of Neltharion campaign

Return to the Forbidden Reach
Eager to avenge the death of their sister, Iridikron, Vyranoth, and Fyrakk venture to the Forbidden Reach to search for a way to reach Aberrus, Neltharion's hidden underground laboratory, and claim the shadowflame magic that powers its molten forges. Meanwhile, Scalecommander Sarkareth, who leads a group of renegade dracthyr known as the Sundered Flame, attempt to reach Aberrus first and claim Neltharion's legacy. The rest of the dracthyr soon return to the Forbidden Reach seeking knowledge about their past. Scalecommander Emberthal and the black dragon Ebyssian, another son of Neltharion, confront Sarkareth who had grown disillusioned with the dragonflight's rule over lesser dragonkin and now seeks to uncover the secrets that Neltharion left behind and claim this power for themselves. Neltharion's Legacy
Having discovered Aberrus' location, Fyrakk drills a borehole into the earth beneath the Dragon Isles, opening a tunnel to the Zaralek Caverns, an open expanse that is home to the mole-like Loamm niffen and their drogbar allies. After entering the cavern, Ebyssian, Wrathion, and Sabellian begin to hear whispers similar to those of the now-defeated Old Gods  that corrupted the mind of Neltharion. They find the source of the whispers in a nearby caldera, where Fyrakk infuses himself with shadowflame. In their attempt to stop him, Sabellion and Ebyssian are injured and Fyrakk assaults the nearby settlement of Loamm to demonstrate his new abilities. Having forged an alliance with the djaradin, Fyrakk and the Primalists soon began assaulting the residents of the Ohn'ahran plains and the Azure Span. Emberthal confronts Sarkareth once again in the Zaralek Caverns, who reveals his plan to subjugate all dracthyr by reforging the Oathbinder, a titan artifact that Neltharion used to control the dracthyr prior to its destruction by Raszageth. Emberthal is forced to destroy the broken Oathbinder, causing Sarkareth and his forces to shift their focus to Aberrus while several dracthyr that had grown disillusioned with Sarkareth's leadership defect from the Sundered Flame. Wrathion and Sabellion follow Sarkareth into Aberrus, while Ebyssian and Emberthal hope to unite the scattered dracthyr and help steer them along the right path. Within Aberrus, Wrathion, Sabellion, and their allies are guided through the facility by an echo of Neltharion and encounter a multitude of Neltharion's failed experiments, including those that led to the creation of the dracthyr. The echo divulges how he expects his offspring to withstand the onslaught of his creations and earn the right to become his heir. Wrathion and Sabellion become disgusted by Neltharion's actions and encounter Sarkareth again within Neltharion's sanctum, who infuses himself with void magic but is soon defeated and with his final breath comes to the realization that pursuing Neltharion's legacy ultimately led to his downfall. Word of Sarkareth's defeat reaches Ebyssian and Emberthal, who quickly join the others in Aberrus. Accepting that their father's legacy can lead to only destruction after witnessing the horrors of Aberrus, Wrathion and Sabellion put their differences aside and embrace their respective roles within the Black Dragonflight, electing Ebyssian to become their leader. They bring this news to Alexstrasza, who gladly welcomes Ebyssian and announces that for the first time since Neltharion's betrayal during the War of the Ancients, the five dragonflights are together once again. Hoping to revive the lifeless body of Tyr, Koranos travels to Tyr's tomb in the Tirisfal Glades and works with Travard, the last remaining member of Tyr's Guard, to recover a titan disc that contains Tyr's memories. They soon witness the memory of Tyr's death during a battle with minions of the Old Gods and discover that Tyr's greatest fear was the eventual corruption of the Dragon Aspects, a prophecy that ultimately came true for Neltharion, Malygos and Ysera while Nozdormu awaits his seemingly inevitable transformation into Murozond. At the Veiled Ossuary, a memorial for deceased dragons, blue dragons led by the elderly Senegos update the gravestones of their fallen brethren and hope to put to rest the spirits of Malygos and Sindragosa. Using the empowered Oathstone, Kalecgos calls for all blue dragons to gather at the Azure Archives and travels across Azeroth to bring the few scattered dragons home. With the combined magic of the reunited blue dragons, the spirits of Malygos and Sindragosa are finally put to rest. Upon their success, Kalecgos returns to being the leader of the now reformed Blue Dragonflight and Senegos, eldest of all blue dragons, contently succumbs to his old age now that his people are united once again. Fractures in Time
Seeking to travel into the past, Iridikron forms an alliance with the Infinite Dragonflight, led by Chrono-Lord Deios, who seeks to bring about the rise of Murozond. Together, they breach the Temporal Conflux, causing mass instability across the timeways resulting in time rifts opening into alternate versions of Azeroth. Soridormi, Nozdormu's prime consort, works to close these rifts by defeating the fractured causalities within, while Chromie deals with several alternate versions of herself, including one aligned with the Infinite Dragonflight, and returns her variants to their correct timelines. The Temporal Conflux is soon overrun by the Infinite Dragonflight, and Chromie travels into the ancient past and arrives shortly after the death of the massive proto-dragon Galakrond at the hands of the future Dragon Aspects, still in their proto-dragon forms. Chromie and the future Aspects join forces and are able to stop Iridikron from acquiring Galakrond's essence but Deios is successful in corrupting the past Nozdormu into Murozond. Choosing to save her friend, Chromie reverses time and stops Deios from corrupting Nozdormu but this allows Iridikron to obtain Galakrond's essence before leaving through a void gate. Returning to the present, Nozdormu thanks Chromie for her efforts and now believes that his transformation into Murozond is no longer inevitable. Nozdormu then perceives a vision of the growing world tree Amirdrassil, located within the Emerald Dream, burning at the hands of the Primalists. While Iridikron's schemes remained a concern, Alexstrasza urges that they must prepare for Fyrakk and Vyranoth's impending assault. Sometime later, Alexstrasza meets with Vyranoth in secret and attempts to dissuade her from continuing to aid Iridikron and Fyrakk. However, Vyranoth remains unmoved due to the Aspects having previously allowed the Titans to force their will onto dragon whelplings still within their eggs instead of allowing them to choose for themselves. Guardians of the Dream campaign

Fury Incarnate
Seeking access to the Emerald Dream, Fyrakk abducts Gerithus and begins to interrogate him but is interrupted by Vyranoth who claims that his methods are too similar to the Titan's forced will over dragonkind. Slowly succumbing to the shadowflames corruption, Fyrakk attacks his sister but quickly comes to his senses and leaves. Planning to launch a full-scale assault on Amirdrassil, Fyrakk bolsters his army of Primalists and djaradin by recruiting the Druids of the Flame and the denizens of the Firelands to help forcefully tear their way into the Emerald Dream causing Dreamsurges to occur across the Dragon Isles. Seeing that her brother only seeks more power for himself, Vyranoth travels to Valdrakken and warns Alexstrasza of Fyrakk's true goal, not to burn down Amirdrassil, but to twist it to his whim. Before she can depart, Alexstrasza requests that Vyranoth join her and stand against Fyrakk. While initially hesitant, Vyranoth ultimately accepts. In the Azure Span, the remaining members of the Sundered Flame continue their wayward goals, even after Sarkareth's defeat. Hoping to finally unite the dracthyr, Emberthal unsuccessfully attempts to communicate with them until Dezran, Sarkareth's former second-in-command, arrives and convinces the dracthyr to mend their differences. Concerned that the Infinite Dragonflight will continue their attempts to bring about the rise of Murozond, Chromie convinces Eternus to meet with Nozdormu. Eternus explains that the death of her sister, and the Bronze Dragonflight's refusal to reverse time and save her, led to Eternus joining the Infinite Dragonflight. Nozdormu takes Eternus back in time and allows her to attempt to save her sister multiple times, only to discover that her death allowed a hidden clutch of bronze dragon eggs to remain safe. Returning to the present, Nozdormu and Eternus come to an understanding and agree to work together. They soon travel to Tyrhold, and Eternus agrees to help locate a titan disc containing Tyr's memories that were previously stolen by Deios from Uldaman, a titan-keeper vault. In order to protect Tyr's body, Travard rebuilds the Tyr's Guard by recruiting paladins dedicated to representing Tyr's core values. Eternus soon locates the titan disc, discovering that Deios had travelled into the past and given it to Elisande, the since-disposed ruler of Suramar City and a powerful mage with mastery of time magic. Setting
The game is set three years after the events of Shadowlands, and largely takes place on the Dragon Isles, the ancestral homeland of the dragons. Over 20,000 years before World of Warcraft, the ancient ancestors of modern dragons, known simply as "proto-dragons", made a deal with a race of godlike beings known as the Titans, who empowered them with magic to transform them into the modern dragons. The dragons are divided into five dragonflights, distinct organizations each led by a powerful Dragon lord known as the Aspects, and include many dragon offshoots. These offshoots are called dragonkin, and include the Dracthyr, who can alternate between draconic and humanoid forms. In the time after the rise of the Dragonflights, the remaining proto-dragons fell under the leadership of the Primalists, traditionalists who rejected the power of the Titans and sought to become the dominant power in Azeroth. The leaders of the Primalists, the Primal Incarnates, were sealed away by the Aspects. The ancient feud between the Aspects and the Primalists serves as the primary focus of the expansion's plot. Reception

Dragonflight received "generally favorable" reviews with a score of 82 on Metacritic. PC Gamer scored the expansion 80/100, claiming that while the expansion wasn't "thrilling", it did feel like a "fresh start for a 20-year old videogame". Screen Rant described Dragonflight as "compelling" and "fantastic", scoring the game 9/10, though they noted that "for all the new...innovations, it's ultimately the same game underneath, for better or worse." Destructoid scored it 85/100, claiming that "As Legion took players out of the dour Warlords of Draenor, WoW has risen from the ashes once more", which has been sentiment shared by many outlets and fans alike compared to Shadowlands. Notes

References

External links

2022 video games
Blizzard games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
MacOS games
Video games about dragons
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Neal Acree
Warcraft games
Windows games
Dragonflight