World of Warcraft's next expansion is less than two months away and the Dragonflight pre-patch will introduce some of the new features ahead of time. It's a tradition that's spanned across WoW's expansion history—you might not be able to enter the new zones during the pre-patch, but there's usually plenty to keep you busy with new systems, in-game events, or even whole new classes.
The pre-patch won't allow us to head to the Dragon Isles quite yet, but it is a great time to familiarise yourself with the new class talent trees, or even create your own Dracthyr character. As we'll be stuck in the Shadowlands for a little while longer, here's what you need to know about the WoW: Dragonflight pre-patch, including the release date.
WoW: Dragonflight pre-patch release date
The Dragonflight pre-patch is arriving on October 25. With the full Dragonflight expansion set for release on November 28, that gives you less than two months to try out the new class talent trees and decide on which class you're planning to main in the upcoming expansion.
There are two phases to the pre-patch. The first arrives on October 25 and introduces the UI update and new class talent trees while the second phase is set for November 15 and sees the arrival of Dracthyr Evokers and the pre-patch events.
Phase 1
Class talent trees
Dragonflight leveling: Get to 70 fast
Dragonflight talents: New trees explained
Dracthyr Evokers: The new race and class
Dragonriding: Take to the skies
Dragon Glyphs: Upgrade your dragonriding
Dragonflight professions: What's new
Extensive talent trees are returning in Dragonflight and look more like their pre-Mists of Pandaria counterparts, giving classes and specs much more flexibility when it comes to builds.
Currently, each class specialisation has seven rows of talents and you can pick one from each of these. The new talent trees are much more complex, so you'll have plenty of options to choose from—you can also save builds you create so you can easily load them up for different activities.
These are being rolled out along with the pre-patch to help give us an idea of how classes will play before the release of Dragonflight, which is useful if you're still on the fence about what you're going to play in the next WoW expansion.
UI/HUD revamp
Before any new World of Warcraft expansion, the pre-patch is a good time to start sorting out your chosen character in preparation for the rush to the new level cap. Part of this process might be clearing out bag and bank space, but it's also a good time to take stock of your UI.
Generally, you might look at the addons you use and decide if anything has become obsolete or if there are other addons you want to try. But as the Dragonflight pre-patch introduces the revamped UI, this might be the time to start looking at addons you won't need anymore.
Phase 2
The new Dracthyr Evoker
The new Dracthyr race will be available as soon as Phase Two starts on November 15—provided you've already bought the Dragonflight expansion. Basically, it will work the same way it did when demon hunters were introduced in the Legion pre-patch back in 2016.
Dracthyr Evokers start at level 58 and have their own starting zone on the Dragon Isles. Don't get too excited though as you won't be able to explore further until Dragonflight is released in November. If you want to create a second Dracthyr character, you'll need to do so on another realm where you have an existing level 50 character.
In-game events
The Dragonflight pre-patch event will see four locations throughout Azeroth come under attack from Primalist forces and there will be different elements to contend with—fire, water, earth, and air. You can find the locations of these invasions displayed on the world map if they are active. The locations you should pay close attention to are:
- Tirisfal Glades, Eastern Kingdoms
- Badlands, Eastern Kingdoms
- Northern Barrens, Kalimdor
- Un'Goro, Kalimdor
The goal of each invasion event is to bring the progress bar down to zero by killing enemies in the area. Once the bar has been depleted, a boss will spawn. Primeval Essences will drop from both trash mobs and the boss and you can turn these in for 252 item-level catch-up gear and other items.
Each type of elemental boss also has a chance to drop a "Dimmed Primeval" item which you can combine to make an heirloom trinket once you've collected all four.
You will also be able to queue for the revamped Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr dungeon on normal difficulty during this time.
