World of Warcraft‘s newest Dragonflight expansion is now available so both newcomers and returing fans are probably curious if the latest content is worth playing.
From the pre-release info and media alone, Dragonflight is intriguing, so we prepped 5 reasons why you should start playing:
5 – The Pre-Patch Event
This one actually doesn’t apply to Dragonflight’s release, it applies to right now!
Every time a new World of Warcraft expansion is about to come out Blizzard has a pre-patch event at the end of the previous expansion, and Dragonflight is no different.
Dragonflight’s Primal Storms pre-patch event has players going all around Azeroth to fight crazed elementals, rewarding players with toys, pets, strong equipment and achievements, plus they are always loads of fun and give players a taste of what’s to come with the expansion.
4 – The MMO launch experience is unique
Expansion launches are always the most fun time to start playing an MMO, the world is ripe with new content, new guilds are being formed and the possibilities for finding new friends are endless.
The experience of joining up with online friends to go explore content and maps that were never seen before is always gratifying.
WoW’s developers make sure to hide as many things as possible on every new expansion’s map, always rewarding player curiosity with either a shiny trinket, new battle pet or epic mount.
Recently Blizzard has been sending players on very cryptic treasure hunts, which require the cooperation of the entire game’s community to solve. The last one of these mysteries sent players on a year-long hunt to find Jenafur, the grey tabby cat.
Only time will tell what secrets await players in Dragonflight, but considering how these treasure hunts have only been getting harder it might be a while until players crack the next one.
3 – The World-First race
With every new World of Warcraft expansion comes new achievements, and nothing is a bigger flex than the Realm-First achievements, which reward players skilled enough to challenge some of the hardest content the game has to offer.
Wowhead already datamined the achievement for Realm-First completion of Dragonflight Mythic dungeons, so the time to start preparing is right now.
Realm-First achievements are now more accessible than ever, rewarding players who are able to do difficult content in a given time frame rather than actually being first. It is challenging but for the more hardcore players it isn’t enough, as players with their eyes on bigger fish should already start preparing for the World-First race, that’s where the real glory is.
Being the first person in the world to do something is no small feat, just don’t forget the screenshot for proof.
2 – Crafting and Gathering
Every World of Warcraft expansion has a plethora of resources to collect, from Wrath of the Lich King’s Saronite, the hardened ore that was actually old god blood, to Legion’s Felsteel, the vile crystals that corrupt anyone who dares touch it.
World of Warcraft’s crafters and gatherers have been slowly gaining relevance since the Legion expansion when it comes to the gearing process. In fact, during Shadowlands, lots of players had to turn to crafters in order to make their legendary items, since items made by players served as the base for the expansion’s legendary items, which were of extreme importance to both the story and gameplay of Shadowlands.
Crafters also play a vital part on WoW’s endgame, players will always find the need for a few potions to increase their damage, food for the well-fed combat buffs and maybe a barely-functioning defibrillator made by some shady goblin.
1 – Playing the Market
You know what moves the world around? It’s money, always has been, and it could not be more true for MMO’s, especially World of Warcraft. Blizzard has been making an effort to make it so even the largest amounts of gold aren’t left accumulating dust, with each new expansion more ridiculously expensive mounts and pets are added for players to throw money at.
The last gold sink mount was added to the game during the Battle for Azeroth expansion, the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur, which cost a whole 5 million gold pieces.
The mount gives players access to the Auction House from anywhere in the world, however, a mount like this is more than a commodity, it’s a status symbol, and players who want the Dragonflight equivalent of this mount will have to learn how to play the market to increase their funds.
Gold isn’t only usable for shiny mounts and customization though, as it has started playing a much bigger part in the gearing process, since crafted equipment is a huge stepping stone for players who want to start doing harder content. Gear repairs also increase in cost based on how much gold you have on your bag, making careless players go broke very fast.
Players who start studying the market early can get a better understanding of which resources are needed, and whoever comes first gets to dictate the price for materials, especially the hardest ones to acquire.
Fill up your pockets by selling the shiny new resources to whoever is willing to pay, in no time you will have a small fortune sitting in your bank account.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight launched worldwide on November 28th, 2022 on Windows PC, and Mac (via Battle.net). Niche Gamer will continue to cover the expansion’s release.
