World of Warcraft: Dragonflight adds new Evoker class, Dracthyr race

World of WarcraftDragonflightThey will be able to finally transport players to the eagerly awaited Dragon Isles. Here, they’ll meet up with a recently-awakened species called the Dracthyr — dragon people who can transform into humans at will. This new race adds more than just narrative intrigue, and will serve as both a transforming and a cross-faction player race (the Dracthyr are playing second banana to the Alliance’s Worgen and the Pandaren respectively here). But the Dracthyr are even more unique than the Worgen or the Pandas; they’re intrinsically linked to the new Evoker class.

DragonflightDracthyr cannot play with Evokers and Evokers are limited to Dracthyr.

Pre-brief Interview session: I talked to Steve Danuser, lead narrative designer, and Brian Holinka, lead combat designer, about their new class/race combo and the benefits they offer. World of WarcraftDragonflight.

Blizzard’s first ever ranged class was the Evoker. World of Warcraft. All the other post-release classes — Death Knights, Monks, and Demon Hunters — are melee-focused. Mail armor will now be an option for the new class, which is another group that has been underrepresented. WoWThey offer both a specialization in spellcaster (Devastation), as well as a specialization in healing (Preservation).

It’s a race/class combo not entirely dissimilar to the Demon Hunters from the Legion Expanding can be Blood Elves or Night Elves only with the Horde. But while the Evokers and Dracthyr are singular, there are loads of customization options to make your character different than any other — far more than the wings and horns of the Demon Hunters.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Evoker, as a race- and class-specific combination, sacrifices customization. WoW The search for synergy has been an essential part of his life. “The synergy between the story of the race that’s behind it and how the class functions and plays is tighter than anything we’ve done before,” said Danuser.

“[Evokers are] able to use their wings to buffet people away, they’re able to breathe fire out of their mouths, they’re able to knock people back with their tail,” said Holinka. “Those are things we couldn’t necessarily have a Gnome do. So it seems, that in order to fulfill the dream of being a dragon within Warcraft, we need to make this happen. [allowing for only one race to play the class] was a necessary step.”

The duo told me that every aspect of the class and race intertwine together to make the class more unique, and that plays in heavily with a variety of the class’ actual abilities.

“We have an ability called Soar that allows [Evokers] to kind of get up in the air and cast a few abilities while they’re mobile,” said Holinka. “And so that feels very powerful. We have a deep breath ability, where you actually take flight, Onyxia-style, and do a bombing run.”

Blizzard’s Evoker is more than just a mobile spellcaster.

“There’s a mix of high mobility and casting spells, plus these new Empowered spells, is something that’s very specific for Evoker right now,” said Holinka. “That’s an ability that you press down the key, you hold it down, the longer you hold it down, something different happens. So whether you hit one target, two targets, three targets depends on how much you’re willing to commit to that particular spell.”

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Holinka stated that the Preservation healing spec is a specialization. However, it’s important to find a niche so they can still be competitive in raids or dungeons. Evoker seems to have found their niche in group burst heal. But Holinka didn’t mention any specific abilities like he did for Devastation.

With both of the Evoker’s specs, mobility seems to be the name of the game. While it likely won’t be as mobile as the ever-moving Demon Hunter, high mobility on a casting class (typically known for their static natures) is going to be quite potent, especially in the timed Mythic Plus dungeons.

The Evoker’s operation will be largely described in the final version. World of WarcraftThe reason is unknown. Not because Blizzard was coy about the class — Danuser and Holinka were actually quite open about several of the class’ abilities and its identity — but because WoW This class is unlike any other. Evoker, with its spellcasting mobility and transformation capabilities, is a very special class in Azeroth. It is also the best back-of-the-box feature of several expansions.