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

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will finally bring players to the long-awaited Dragon Isles. Here, they will meet a newly awakened species called Dracthyr – dragon people who can transform into humans at will. This new race doesn’t just add narrative intrigue, and will act as both a transformative and multi-party player race (Dracthyr is playing the second banana ahead of Confederate Worgen and Pandaren respectively here). But Dracthyr is even more unique than Worgen or Pandas; they are essentially associated with the new Evoker class.

In DragonflightDracthyr can only play as Evokers, and Evokers can only play as Dracthyr.

In a previous short interview, I spoke with narrative designer Steve Danuser and lead combat designer Brian Holinka about the new race/class combination and what they bring to the table. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

The Evoker class is the first ranged class that Blizzard has added World of Warcraft. All other classes after release – Death Knights, Monks and Demon Hunters – are focused on melee. The new class will be able to wear letter armor (another group not represented in Oh) and offers both enchantment expertise (Destruction) and healing expertise (Conservation).

It’s a race/class combination that isn’t completely different from the Demon Hunters from Soldiers expansion, can only be Blood Elves with Horde or Night Elves with Alliance. But while Evokers and Dracthyr are a few, there are tons of customization options to make your character more different than any other – more than the wings and horns of a Demon Hunter.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

As a unique mix of races and races, Evoker sacrifices pure customizability Oh there’s always been for something completely different: synergy. “The synergy between the race story behind it and the way the classes work and play more closely than anything we’ve done before,” said Danuser.

“[Evokers are] Holinka said. “Those are things we don’t necessarily have Gnome to do. And so it feels like, to really represent a dragon in the Warcraft world, [allowing for only one race to play the class] is a necessary step. “

The duo told me that every aspect of class and race intertwine to make the class more unique, and that greatly affects the practical ability of many classes.

“We have an ability called Soar Permissive [Evokers] Holinka said. “And that feels very powerful. We have the ability to take a deep breath, where you actually take the flight, Onyxia style, and do a bomb run. “

More than just a more mobile enchanter than most, Blizzard is trying out a new type of spell with Evoker.

“Having a combination of high mobility and spellcasting, plus these new spells, is something very specific to Evoker,” says Holinka. “It’s a possibility that you press the key down, you hold it, the longer you hold it, something else happens. So whether you hit one target, two targets, three targets depends on how willing you are to perform with that particular spell. ”

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

As for the Conservation healing spec, Holinka says the goal is always to find a niche while still allowing them to compete in raids and dungeons. For Evoker, that niche seems to be group healing. But Holinka doesn’t mention any specific abilities like he did for Devastation.

Given both Evoker’s specs, portability seems to be the name of the game. While it probably won’t be as mobile as the always-moving Demon Hunter, high mobility on a cast (often known for their static nature) should be quite strong, especially in Mythic dungeons Plus is timed.

In the end, much of how the Evoker works will World of Warcraft Unclear. It’s not because Blizzard is sarcastic about the class – Danuser and Holinka are actually quite open about some of the abilities and identities of the class – but because Oh never seen a class like this before. Between magical mobility, transformation, and enhanced spells, Evoker is shaping up to be a very unique class of characters in the world of Azeroth. And that probably makes it the most interesting back-of-box feature of some of the expansions.