What you need to know about Dracthyr in World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft's Dragonflight expansion isn't far away and it will bring about plenty of changes. Along with a major UI overhaul, the talent trees have 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 the Dragonflight pre-patch on 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.

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Dracthyr customisation 

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:

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

• Soar: This active ability launches your Dracthyr into the air and allows you to fly with the same mechanics as dragonriding.
• Glide: Reduces falling speed and allows you to glide. This is essentially the same as the demon hunter ability.
• Tail Swipe: Lash out with your tail, knocking enemies within six yards into the air.
• Wing Buffet: With a powerful flap of your wings, knock away enemies in front of you.
• Visage: Switch between your Dracthyr and Visage forms. Your Visage emanates magic, significantly increasing out-of-combat health regeneration for your party.

Passive

• Awakened: Increases your Mastery by 2.5%.
• Discerning Eye: Increases your Perception by 2%. Perception increases your ability to spot rare reagents while gathering.
• Familiar Skies: Soar's cooldown is reduced by one minute on continents that you have fully explored.

Starting level and zone 

Dracthyr evokers start at level 58 and like the other Hero classes—death knights and demon hunters—they have their own starting zone too. The Forbidden Reach is 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.