Dragonflight is introducing a new form of reactive flying called Dragon Riding. Though Dragon Riding is only available on the Dragon Isles, the new winged dracthyr race in Dragonflight can use the Soar ability to access a limited form of Dragon Riding on a five-minute cooldown in any zone.
RELATED: World of Warcraft Releases Adorable Dracthyr Emojis for Dragonflight
World of Warcraft made this decision mostly due to balance concerns outside the Dragon Isles. Dragon Riding can allow skilled players to reach speeds 930% faster than ground speed, whereas normal flying can only reach speeds of 410%. This meant dracthyr could speed around old areas twice as fast as other characters. Starting in the next alpha build in early August, the dracthyr’s maximum speed with Soar will be capped at 640% speed, though normal Dragon Riding in Dragonflight will be unaffected.
Dragon Riding is one of the most exciting parts of Dragonflight. World of Warcraft put a great deal of effort into the physics and reactivity of the system, and has already been further-refined during alpha and beta. Players have also had a great deal of fun using Soar to explore old World of Warcraft zones. Many fans are already hoping WoW will keep Dragon Riding in future expansions, and possibly replace the old flying system with it entirely.
From a balance perspective, World of Warcraft’s decision to nerf the dracthyr top flying speed makes sense. It gave the new race an unfair speed advantage in older areas–albeit on a cooldown–which could cause problems, especially for rare spawns and limited-time events. Soar can also still reach speeds faster than normal flying, so it shouldn’t cripple the fun players have with the ability.
However, dracthyr players are still understandably upset about the nerf. Because of the cooldown on the ability, dracthyr are still pretty limited in using Soar, and few think giving them access to that kind of speed would actually be a problem for most players. Many think World of Warcraft should at least reduce the cooldown of Soar by a few minutes to compensate for the reduced speed. In any case, if this nerf does stick through the alpha and make it into launch, many hope the dracthyr will get their speed back if Dragon Riding makes it to other World of Warcraft zones after Dragonflight.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC. The Dragonflight expansion is set to launch later this year.
MORE: World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s New Dracthyr Race Explained
Source: Wowhead
