Dragonflight: Release Date, Pre-Patch, and New Zones

After the Dragonflight release date, the pre-patch was highly appreciated by users to get familiar with the upcoming WoW Dragonflight full release.

The pre-patch was released into phases and every phase introduced some of the features.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the release date, patch, and what is included in the final full expansion.

Pre-Patch Phase 1:

The first pre-patch of the expansion was introduced on October 25, 2022. This pre-patch did not give players full access to dragon riding or Isles but it helped them understand what was coming.

The first in the phase one pre-patch was Class talent trees. Yes, you heard it right. Blizzard was all set to pull some nostalgic strings by returning talent trees in Dragonflight.

In new talent trees, you will have much more flexibility to choose the talent. Every player will be able to get two talent trees, one class talent, and another specialization talent. Players will be able to see ahead which talents will suit their needs while playing the Dragonflight.

Another feature that will give users ultimate control over the game is the interface. The interface was also introduced in the pre-patch and the uses of the revamped UI were elaborated.

The user interface will help players resize the UI, place UI elements anywhere on the screen, and save various layouts. Moreover, players will also see a snap feature to help with UI placement. Lastly, The players will be able to set layouts particular to a character and also import and export them when required.

If you liked Solo Shuffle PVP previously, know that this Dragonflight is expensive, and your Solo Shuffle PVP will be more like an arena as you will be able to win rewards.

You will also see some accessibility options as released in pre-patch phase 1.

In the full game, you will have an interaction key and you will be able to interact with Non-Player Characters through a button. A more exciting inclusion people appreciated in the pre-patch one was Action Combat.

Action combat is the feature that will enable you to target the enemies automatically when your character looks towards them. Lastly, you will also appreciate the press-and-hold spell-casting feature introduced in pre-patch phase

Pre-Patch Phase 2:

The Pre-patch phase two also introduced some major themes of the game ahead of the final Dragonflight release date. The phase also mostly gave an overview of the new class, some zones, bug fixes, and in-game events.

The Dracthyr Evoker was the first thing that captured the player’s eyes in the 15 November pre-patch.

Dracythyr Evoker is a race/class mashup. The class starts at level 58 and also possesses a starting zone known as Forbidden Reach on Dragon Isles.

Some characteristics of Dracythyr were also put forward in the second patch to give the end gamer an idea of what they can do with this dual characteristic class.

The Evokers will be able to switch between two forms, a humanoid and a draconic. They will also have unparalleled speed and mobility. It was also revealed in the pre-patch that the evokers will possess two specializations, one as DPS and the other as healers with the magical abilities of their dragon background.

The other thing that was revealed in phase 2 of the Dragonflight pre-patch release comprises In-game events. The theme of the event was the attack on Azeroth by Primalist forces. The stage for the upcoming full expansion of Dragonflight was set by Primalists storming the four areas of the Azerothian territory.

These locations included Trisifal Glades and Badlands in Eastern Kingdoms and Northern Barrens and Un’Goro in Kalmidor. These in-game events also came with quests pre-launch of the full version. 

Another surfaced feature of the game in phase two was the availability of Uldaman, Legacy of Tyr dungeon. This dungeon has a rich history and connects major doubts about the final version of Dragonflight.

The Complete Dragonflight Expansion

The final release date of Dragonflight was November 28, which along with what we saw in the pre-patch brought other major features of the expansion including.

• Max level 70
• Dragon riding updates
• Professions
• New Dragonflight raid and dungeons
• Dragon isles zones and leveling

Now Let us explore the ultimate new zones of the destination of all dragonkind.

New Zones

The new zones that were introduced in the Dragonflight expansion are diverse and beautiful. Players can get to Dragon Isle by joining the expedition of the Explorer’s League and Reliquary from the Orgrimmar or by boat from the Stormwind City.

Forbidden Reach

The reawaked Dragon Isles are divided into five major zones and various important locations such as dungeons. Let’s explore each zone and dungeon one by one.

The Forbidean Reach

This area was introduced in the second pre-patch phase. This is basically the starting zone of Dracthyr. It was the training ground for the black Dragonflight before the great slumber. For thousands of years, the only inhabitants of the zone were Dracthyr in stasis beneath the surface.

Now that this zone has made a reappearance, it will act as the evoker’s staring experience quest. However, you should remember that this is not a leveling zone.

The Waking Shores

This is the first zone players will explore filled with reemerging elemental magic after centuries. The rocky land is ruled by Alexstrasza and is home to the races of red dragon, black dragon, Djaradin, and Gorloc.

The players will find alliances in Explorers League and Reliquary to unfold the mystical land. Note that all the emeny races are also waking alongside the dragon kind after thousands of years. Other important locations of this zone are the dungeons. In Waking Shore, players will find 2 dungeons, Ruby Life Pools, and Nltharus.

The Ruby Life Pools are important for the nurturing of red dragons and will ultimately help the Dragonkind but there are others who want to resist the dragon powers and ingrain their own in the pool of life.

Naltharus is another dungeon in Waking Shore that belongs to the black dragon but is wrongfully occupied by Djaradin along with the Obsidian Citadel. 

Ohn’ahran Plains

Originally a home of green dragons became a zone of cohabitation after Centaur made their way in the Plains. At first, the Dragonkind resisted the invasion but then both races decided to populate the area together. Now the Dragonkind live in groves while the Centaurs have made their home in the Plains.

Ohn’ahran will be the second destination of players in Dragonflight. Nokhud offensive is the open dungeon players will cross during their exploration of the Ohn’ahran Plains.

This dungeon is under a constant thunderstorm and players can ride a dragon to fly across the dungeon and whirlwinds provide a kind of thrust to fly.

You will also encounter five flight masters in the dungeon namely Salukan, Huraq, Carseng, Baqir, and Washengtu.

Azure Span

Blue Dragonflight once lived In this chilled zone. It is a wide area from the Tuskarr villages to the looming ice spires. Other than the Tuskar race, this place is also home to Gnoll and Furblog.

Players will encounter two dungeons in this region, the Brackenhide Hollow and the Azure Vault.

The hollow is known to be filled with a sixth element known as decay. As the name suggests decay induces decomposition and acts as an antagonist to the fifth element called Spirit. The gnoll and the Decay are two dangers in this dungeon. The end boss of the dungeon is Decatriach Wratheye.

The other dungeon in this zone of Dragonflight is Azure Vault which was primarily built to secure unique magical objects. The end boss of the dungeon is Umbrekskul.

Once a very safe place for Sindragosa’s magical artifact is now prone to breach.

Thaldraszus

This is a legitimate city with a more intact structure. Here you will see advancement in infrastructure as most of the buildings are standing in their outstanding construction.

This area is home to bronze Dragonflight but all the other dragon flights also have seats here.

This is where Tyr built the Tyrhold which became the reason for the reawaking of the Dragon Isles.

You will also find a library of vast information and knowledge regarding the Timeways. There are four dungeons in this region, the Halls of Infusion, Algeth’ar Academy, Dawn of the Infinite, and Vault of the Incarnates.

Halls of infusion are present between the Tyrhold that was lit to awaken the elemental magic of Dragon Isles, you must have seen it in the cinematic trailer of the Dragonflight. Now that the Primalist has invaded the halls Watcher Irideus is all ready to protect the halls.

The Second dungeon on the list is Algeth’ar Acadamy which was the place of learning for Dragonkind before the Slumber. Now Doragosa, the head teacher in the academy is again aiming to reestablish the previous majesty of the academy by seeking help from anyone who will volunteer.

The Dawn of Infinite is a mega-dungeon that has eight bosses. Here players will also be able to unlock quests.

The Vault of Incarnates is also present in Thaldraszus and the end boss here is Raszageth the Strom-Eater who is typing to free his siblings. The players raid here to get hold of the Raszageth.

Valdrakken is the major location in Dragonflight where you will find a public library belonging to blue dragons and gardens owned by red and green dragons. All these elements add to the storyline and the beauty of Thaldraszus’s capital city.

Final Analysis

These are all the features players were introduced after the Dragonflight release date. The pre-patch gave players pretty much every important aspect of the game before its final version came in. If you are planning on playing the game, it is advised to go through the 2 phased pre-patch notes still available on the World of Warcraft website. It will give you a heads-up of all the dos and don’ts of the game.