What you need to know about Dracthyr in World of Warcraft
Meet the draconic new race coming to Dragonflight.
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World of Warcraft’sDragonflightexpansion isn’t far away and it will bring about plenty of changes. Along with a major UI overhaul, thetalent treeshave been revamped for every class and specialisation, and you’ll be able to take to the skies in style with dragon riding. This is alongside the usual new zones, dungeons, raids, and of course, the new playable race.
The Dracthyr is the first new race to be added to World of Warcraft since the Legion expansion. These draconic beings also have their own unique class which can perform the role of healer or damage dealer. And just like the other “hero classes” you won’t need to start at level one.
WoW Dracthyr: How to unlock the new race
Dracthyr Evokers arrive during the second phase of theDragonflight pre-patchon November 15. There are no restrictions for creating your first Dracthyr Evoker other than pre-purchasing the Dragonflight expansion. If you want to make more than one Dracthyr however, you’ll have to do so on a different realm and you’ll need a character of level 50 or higher—of any class—already on that realm.
Once you’ve finished making your Dracthyr in the character creator, you’ll be able to choose your faction before finalising your new character.
Dracthyr customisation
Dragonflight leveling:Get to 70 fastDragonflight talents:New trees explainedDracthyr Evokers:The new race and classDragonriding:Take to the skiesDragon Glyphs:Upgrade your dragonridingDragonflight professions:What’s new
Hopefully, you’ve got an hour or two to spare when you first make your Dracthyr because you may be surprised at how many options are available in the character creator. Not only can you make adjustments to both your draconic and human forms, but there are also more options available overall to help you customise your character.
As well as the usual hairstyles, skin tone, and eye colour, you’ll also have the chance to change body size, individual facial decorations, and—the part I’m most excited about—hair highlight colour. Armor is also an option for your Draconic form because it isn’t displayed on Dracthyr as with other races, so you’ll need to tailor your look here instead—and at the barber shop instead of a transmogrifier if you want to change it in-game.
Dracthyr Evoker: Healer or damage dealer
The Dracthyr race comes with its own unique class—the Evoker. You can choose between two specialisations:
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Devastation:The devastation evoker is a ranged damage dealer that relies on the power of both the Red and the Blue Dragonflight to deal damage. It has a variety of spells to help in various situations, though it has a fairly short range compared to other casters.
Preservation:This is the evoker’s healing specialisation. It draws power from the Green and Bronze Dragonflight to heal allies and can manipulate time to increase its effectiveness.
Evokers are a little different from other WoW classes in that you can charge up some of their spells—by holding down the key—for added potency. The range of their attacks falls short of the normal range too, so while very fun to play, evokers may take a second to get used to, especially if you’re used to playing an existing ranged class.
Dracthyr racial abilities
Each race in World of Warcraft has its own racial abilities that offer both active and passive benefits. While racial abilities generally don’t have as much impact as they did in the past, the Dracthyr have some particularly useful ones.
Here are the Dracthyr racial abilities:
Active
Passive
Starting level and zone
Dracthyr evokers start atlevel 58and like the other Hero classes—death knights and demon hunters—they have their own starting zone too. TheForbidden Reachis part of the Dragon Isles, though it’s isolated from the rest of the new zones and you’ll gain access to these once you play through the starting quests and learn the history of the race.
Once you’ve completed the initial quest chain, you should be around level 60 and you can hop straight into the Dragonflight content alongside other classes.
Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she’s quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.
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