Breaking Dracthyr Evoker, New Race and Class Combination Coming In World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight

World of Warcraft is returning to its lofty fantasy roots with the newly announced Dragonflight expansion, and after two tumultuous years in the Shadowlands, Blizzard seems to want to reset expectations for what World of Warcraft is now. great is everything. After the reveal of the expansion, which took place in the enigmatic Dragon Isles and seemed ripe for adventure, I was able to sit down with senior game designer Jackie Wiley and art director Tina Wang to discuss talks about all things Dragonflight, including the new class/racial combo Dracthyr Evokers.

Dragon Isles had been in the lexicon of longtime WoW players as the home of the powerful dragon aspects and their dragon lights prior to the Burning Legion’s invasion of Azeroth 10,000 years ago. Finally, after nearly two decades, we get to visit legendary lands where we will encounter new allies. On Dracthyr’s Living Dragon Island, a new playable iconic race created by Neltharion, the former Aspect of the black dragon better known to players as Deathwing. He presents Dracthyr as the ideal soldier, combining the powers of all five dragon lights with the fearsome and enduring nature of the mortal races of Azeroth.

The dragons in World of Warcraft have a humanoid appearance to make it easier to converse with the inhabitants of Azeroth, often secret dragons living among them. Dracthyr, like traditional WoW dragons, will have a humanoid and fully customizable appearance. Your dragon appearance can be designed to look like from any of the five dragon lights and matching scales or horns can also be added to the mortal model. Like the nerve-stimulating Worgens in Cataclysm, you can run around the world in either form, but during battle, Dracthyr’s iconic image will show up at all times. Players who choose this new class/race combination will be given a choice of faction, Horde or Alliance, to associate with and will start in their own starting area in the Dragon Isles.

In a new way to introduce this race, Blizzard is working to maximize the dragon image by allowing Dracthyr to have only one class called Evoker. As an Evoker, a Dracthyr has the synergy of all five dragon lights, using abilities that only those born as dragons can use, thus being the only race that can. become this class. Those abilities span across two class specializations, the long-range Devastation DPS spec and a healing-focused spec called Conservation.

Devastation Evokers draw more than the destructive power of red and blue dragon lights, with fire, mystery, and frost spells to deal damage from a distance. This specification also borrows from the black dragon lamp. Wang described a powerful attack we’ve seen in the reveal videos where the Evoker flies in a straight line, blowing fire to the ground similar to how bosses like Onyxia or Deathwing would level the land below. they.

Preservation Evokers, on the other hand, draw from the magic of the green and bronze dragons, casting healing spells through nature magic and time manipulation. Healing can be performed with AOE spells that will expand beneath your allies’ feet, or spread out in a fog cone in front of the Evoker, healing all party members within its range. . “Get the impression of nature with its green magic,” says Wang, while still giving the druids their own space, says Wang, explaining the group’s conscious effort to give the human class This new object has its own identity without stumbling over the imagination of other existing roles. The famous bronze dragons are the custodians of the world’s timeline, and in true bronze flying fashion, the Evokers will use the time in their favor to keep their party safe from harm. Wang offers a possible scenario with these bronze charms, saying, “perhaps you’ll be able to have a spell that can rewind time in seconds.” The ability to use all the best qualities of a dragon lamp gives Dracthyr a lot of potential for fun and flavorful tools at their disposal, even before the addition of a new unique mechanic. available to them in Empower.

Unlike any other class before it, Evoker can utilize a new mechanic called Empower. With it, they can change the properties of selected spells by pressing and holding the spell’s key until the desired effect occurs. Sometimes it’s a longer charge to create a more powerful and damaging explosion, an expanded area of ​​​​effect, or the ability to hit more targets the longer the skill is Empowered. I’ve enjoyed using similar mechanics in games like Lost Ark, and I’m glad to hear something like Empower is making its way into Warcraft and creating a unique play model for Evoker.

Wiley says accessibility is a big focus of the group. The WoW team ensures players have the choice to use Empower by holding down a key, or toggling it on/off when the effect ends with a single button press, whichever is more appropriate for that person.

“We had, we really had a lot of testing of Dracthyr, both internally and with players who also needed accessibility options,” said Wiley. “Using all the things we’ve learned over the years and the expertise we have on the team, we’re trying to make it so that everyone can play WoW.”

I’d love to get my hands on Dracthyr Evokers and level up once Dragonflight finally releases. The fantasy of becoming a dragon clan and having a class built around the skills and abilities inherent to the species is unique to World of Warcraft and utterly stunning. I’ll have to wait a while before creating my first Dracthyr, though. Right now, there’s no timeframe for when the expansion will be released, but I’m sure the alpha will be out soon and some players will get their hands on Dragonflight in the coming months. As for the full launch, Wiley simply said, “This is one of those things that will be done when it’s ready.”