Dragon riding is so awesome that it should permanently replace flying mounts in World of Warcraft. At least that’s what MeinMMO demon Cortyn thinks and he is absolutely thrilled about the new feature in WoW.
Dragonflight has been released for about two days now and I’ve been “totally hooked”, playing at level 70 and enjoying all the content of Dragonflight that one can experience while leveling.
However, although so little time has passed, I am already completely sure of one thing: I never want to sit on a regular flying mount again.
I have spent so much time in the last 36 hours jumping off cliffs, racing through courses, and enjoying the landscapes of Dragonflight that I now have a permanent grin burned into my face.
The feel of dragon riding is just so much better than anything WoW has had up to this point.
It’s hard to describe in words and even a video can scarcely capture it. Dragon riding has to be felt, experienced personally to truly understand its appeal.
You haven’t unlocked dragon riding yet? It’s very quick to do, as we show here.
Of course, it’s also only so great because the Dragon Isles were designed with exactly this idea in mind. Everything is a bit more spacious, the locations are larger, and you can cover longer distances in one go. But that fits because it doesn’t feel artificial, it harmonizes perfectly together.
Although I play this partially during the beta, it feels different in the live version. Maybe because it’s now “permanent” and because it’s really “my character” that can do this.
Almost 600 mounts in my collection – I would give them all up
I would definitely consider my Draenei a collector of mounts – after all, she has a proud 593 to choose from. I have been busy with her, farming some of the rarest mounts ever, which I am also a little bit proud of.
Nonetheless, I would gladly leave all these mounts behind and trade them for dragon riding without batting an eye.
I briefly went to “the old world” to clear an old quest from my quest log and had to sit on a regular flying mount. No more: It’s infinitely boring compared to dragon riding. After spending just a few minutes with the dragon, the flying mount feels “wrong,” boring, and uninspired.
I understand anyone who says “Meh” after the first few minutes of dragon riding and doesn’t warm up to it immediately. At first, you have little stamina, don’t quite understand the mechanics, and struggle with the dragon. Because you only advance as long as it goes downhill.
But that changes. Give the feature a little time. Participate in the various races, keep an eye out for glyphs, and start upgrading your dragon’s talents. No later than when you have about half of all talents, dragon riding is absolutely awesome.
I’ve caught myself multiple times just plunging from Valdrakken to see how far I can go and how long I can stay in the air. Now I can confidently say “infinitely” and I’m even significantly faster than with the epic mount.
I am completely thrilled by dragon riding. Whether this will ultimately be a good thing remains to be seen. Because Blizzard is – at least for me personally – now practically obligated to take dragon riding into the future of World of Warcraft.
Because I never want to sit on a flying mount again, no matter how long and persistently I have farmed for it in recent years.
Fast forward to release:
I am now only level 62. Which is mainly because I want to complete all dragon races in gold time and collect all glyphs. I just can’t stop. Dragon riding just feels so … good? I call my dragon and it doesn’t just spawn out of nowhere, but comes running onto my screen from behind. Flying feels so smooth, the controls are easy to understand. Crazy. My skepticism has completely disappeared into thin air, and I am now a fan of the feature.
And finally, one last tip: The glyphs that improve the abilities of your dragon riding … don’t look them up in the guide or have them displayed by addon. You can collect them only once on your account; after that, the unlock immediately applies to all other characters as well. Collecting these glyphs is really fun, as you are not only notified by the dragon, but also receive a buff that shows exactly how far away you are from the glyph.
The feeling of having found them all yourself is significantly better than just having “checked off a guide” – plus you’ll see a lot of the Dragon Isles and surely come across some rare mobs or treasures, and in the process become real experts in dragon riding.
How do you like dragon riding so far?
