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World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the ninth retail WoW expansion, released on November 28, 2022. Its campaign sends players to the Dragon Isles and introduced the Dracthyr, Evoker class, Dragonriding, rebuilt talent trees, and a major profession overhaul.
In 2026, Dragonflight is legacy story and levelling content rather than WoW's current endgame. It remains fully playable, while Midnight is the current expansion and the destination for the latest seasonal raids, dungeons, and maximum-level progression.
Dragonflight does not require a separate expansion purchase. A World of Warcraft subscription or game time unlocks legacy retail content beyond the free trial, and Blizzard's current new-player path directs eligible characters into the Dragonflight campaign after Exile's Reach. The free trial lets an account play to level 20; access beyond that point requires game time or a subscription.
Players who want the current 2026 endgame must also own the latest expansion. Dragonflight is best approached for its campaign, zones, collections, transmog, mounts, achievements, and the systems that later became part of modern WoW.
The launch campaign crosses four major zones: the Waking Shores, Ohn'ahran Plains, Azure Span, and Thaldraszus. Their stories follow the return of the dragonflights, the Primalists, and the Incarnates while introducing the capital city of Valdrakken.
Post-launch chapters expanded the journey into the Forbidden Reach, Zaralek Cavern, and the Emerald Dream. Those updates complete Dragonflight's main story and lead through all three of its raid tiers.
Dragonriding uses momentum, dives, climbs, and rechargeable Vigor to make flight an active traversal system. Blizzard later expanded the mechanic to many existing flying mounts and regions, renamed it Skyriding, and added a toggle between Skyriding and the more relaxed Steady Flight style where available.
The original Dragon Isles races, glyph routes, and mount customisation remain part of Dragonflight, but the underlying flight system is no longer confined to this expansion.
Evoker is a mail-armour class built around empowered spells that change when held and released. Its three specialisations are Devastation for ranged damage, Preservation for healing, and Augmentation for support-focused damage that strengthens allies.
Dracthyr are no longer restricted to Evoker. In modern retail WoW they can also become Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Mages, Warriors, and Warlocks. Evoker itself remains exclusive to Dracthyr.
Dragonflight restored class and specialisation talent trees, giving characters separate points for core utility and role-focused abilities. Its profession redesign added crafting quality, specialisations, profession equipment, and player work orders, establishing systems still used in later retail expansions.
The expansion launched with eight dungeons. All eight original Dragonflight dungeons support Follower Dungeons on Normal difficulty, allowing one to four players to queue with NPC companions filling empty roles. Its three raids are Vault of the Incarnates, Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, and Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope. These encounters remain available for story, appearances, and collections, but they do not award current-season endgame gear.
For the complete live game, see World of Warcraft. Compare Dragonflight with The War Within, or review the current expansion in our WoW Midnight guide.
Yes. Its campaign, Dragon Isles zones, dungeons, raids, quests, and collectibles remain in retail World of Warcraft. It is legacy content rather than the current seasonal endgame.
No separate Dragonflight purchase is required. The free trial reaches level 20, and a WoW subscription or game time unlocks eligible legacy retail content beyond that. The latest expansion is still required for current-expansion content.
Dragonriding evolved into Skyriding, which works with many flying mounts across much more of the game. Players can switch to Steady Flight where that option is available.
Yes. Dracthyr can also be Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Mages, Warriors, and Warlocks. Evoker remains a Dracthyr-only class.
You can enter its eight original Normal dungeons through Follower Dungeons, with NPC companions filling open party roles. Higher difficulties and raids are designed for player groups.