There’s no denying that “Shadowlands” didn’t work out. The expansion, which looked promising before release and very promising after, quickly slipped into endless dull races through Torghast and survival in the gloomy Maw. The discovery of Cortia did not radically change the picture; by this time, most of the players decided to sit on the sidelines until the next add-on. Zereth Mortis looked like every single designer left the studio during development, so we had to use what they had sketched on napkins. And the most pleasant thing was that Sylvanas was sent into exile for a thousand years: she managed to tire even her devoted fans. The Dragonflight add-on volunteered to save the situation, which turned out to be not bad.

Thanks to the latest addition, World of Warcraft has returned to popularity. Gamers began to play the game en masse, ordering wow character boost to participate in epic battles at a professional level. In addition, boosting services such as completing dungeons and raids, purchasing in-game gold, and coaching have become in demand. And now we will analyze how the last part of the legendary game turned out.

Homecoming

Near the Ruby Sanctum, it’s easy to miss a mediocre side quest – or skim through it without reading it in the heat of the moment. It’s boring: we just sit next to an old dragon in the form of a dwarf and admire the moon over the mountain peaks and dilapidated majestic buildings. It was no coincidence that the developers spent time and effort on dialogue that seemed unimportant at first glance.

The Dragonflight expansion was a homecoming for the World of Warcraft team. After many years of replicating the same solutions and techniques, the time has come for them to prove that the game has room to move, and its creators can hear exactly what the players want. For example, talent trees have once again become complex and branchy. And the fact that eighteen years later the interface was allowed to be at least somehow customized without using user modifications can be assessed as working on mistakes and catching up on what was missed from the very beginning.

Art of drawing

Blizzard broke the schedule established many years ago for introducing new classes: in every second expansion. Shadowlands did without this global innovation. And rightly so: in Dragonflight, the awakener class, combined with the new race of dracthyrs, came at the right time. The starting location of the new class reveals to us more what is happening. We find ourselves on the Forbidden Island, where Deathwing’s former accomplices lived in captivity for thousands of years. So the dragon-like creatures are the first to learn about the new threat, meet with the liberated Rashaget, and arrive on the continents to call for help.

At the same time, representatives of the Alliance can admire the funny scene “Wrathion, the best friend of the King of Stormwind.” Freshly created dracthyrs, by the way, receive level 58, so immediately after training they can return to the Dragon Islands, which is logical according to the plot: they flew for help and back. Dracthyrs are close relatives of demon hunters in terms of movement patterns. They are just as capable of soaring after jumping from a height. But the new race also has the opportunity to shoot upward sharply – this is not flight yet, but very close to it. And in battle, Neltharion’s former accomplices use not only spells but also their tails and claws. Blizzard regards Awakeners as a challenging class, and for good reason. Drakthyrs use the essence of all dragon families, and their skills are also characterized by color.

Life without leaders

There will be many touching quests and cute scenes along our way, and this is not at all accidental – maybe that’s the secret of the enormous number of online players in this game. Here is an old orc from the Dragonmaw clan sitting by a pond and admiring the playing of baby dragons: few dragons remember the sad fate of their fellow tribesmen, and even fewer can recognize their former enemies. Here is a menacing yeti pretending to be dead to please a boy who dreams of a career as a monster hunter. Here are the children of the tuskarrs nursing the baby gnolls, their sworn enemies. The developers show us over and over again that we can live in peace.

An ancient ship sails from Stormwind to the Dragon Isles, and a traditional airship flies from Orgrimmar. They disembark passengers in neighboring bays, and this is where the differences between the Horde and the Alliance end. Blizzard seems to have squeezed everything it could out of the confrontation between the two main factions and is now heading toward their rapprochement. Joint raids have long been allowed, and mixed guilds are next. The atmosphere of a joint party of different student fraternities is fueled by the absence of the annoying leaders of both sides: Sylvanas, fortunately, is locked in the Maw for a long time, and Anduin is again in search of himself. So we all come to the disposal of new Aspects.

The first steps in the Dragonflight expansion look extremely peaceful and even inspiring. The developers have shown that they can hear the players and, at least in some aspects, meet them halfway.