Dracthyr

Last updated
Dracthyr
Warcraft race
First appearance
Created by Blizzard Entertainment
GenreFantasy
In-universe information
Created byNeltharion
Base of operationsDragon Isles
Type Dragon

The dracthyr are a fictional race of anthropomorphic dragons in the Warcraft franchise. They were introduced as a playable race in the 2022 World of Warcraft expansion, Dragonflight , with the only class available being the Evoker, a type of shaman that draws power from nature to cast magic. Unlike the game's other races, they are capable of flight and aerial combat. Hybrids of human and dragon, they can switch back and forth between a humanoid "visage" form and a full dragon form, or remain permanently as a dragon. They were praised by critics for the drastic gameplay changes they added to the game, and were seen as significantly modernizing an otherwise dated title. However, they were criticized for a lack of customization while in dragon form, with most armors looking similar without turning back into a human.

Contents

Background

The dracthyr were created by Neltharion, an ancient dragon and the former Aspect of the black dragonflight, who later became a villain known as Deathwing. Neltharion combined humans and the power of all five dragonflights in order to form the ideal soldier. [1] They were placed into stasis for almost 20 millennia after Neltharion lost control of the dracthyr following a battle against the Primalists, a faction who oppose the dragons. The return of the Primalists causes the dracthyr to reawaken, and they are compelled to join either the Alliance or Horde factions in the present day.

While the dracthyr are able to take on human appearances to better blend in with the other races of Azeroth, they also possess draconic forms that can resemble any of the five dragonflights. Dracthyr Evokers are able to specialize in two schools of magic, Devastation and Preservation, focused on damage-dealing and healing, respectively. Devastation uses the destructive abilities of the red and blue dragonflights, while Preservation draws from the green and bronze dragonflights with nature magic and time manipulation. Dracthyr can "empower" spells by charging them in order to intensify or change their effect. [1]

Development

While the Evoker class is the only one currently available to dracthyr characters, Blizzard expressed an interest in adding more classes to the race over time. Associate game director Morgan Day stated that while the dracthyr were just waking up and discovering their abilities, in the future they might learn skills from the other denizens of Azeroth, enabling different combat styles. [2]

Reception

The new abilities manifested by the dracthyr were generally praised and seen as modernizing the game. John Carson of Game Informer lauded the empowerment mechanic as adding elements of more modern MMOs like Lost Ark , further stating that "the fantasy of becoming a dragon race and having a class built around the skills and abilities inherent to the species is unique within World of Warcraft and is flavorfully magnificent". [1] Ryan Gilliam of Polygon called the class "impressively modern", describing the dracthyr as "surprisingly mobile" and "flashy". He summed up the experience of playing the class as "exciting" and "uniquely Warcraft". [3] Len Hafer of PC Gamer said that the dracthyr made World of Warcraft feel like a different game, calling their aerial maneuvers "completely bonkers" and saying that they made "Azeroth feel new again". He described the race as "almost the culmination of what the ideal Warcraft experience is meant to be: It's fun, it's flashy, it's excessive, and it's kinda silly". While noting that the lore behind the race was "muddled", he nevertheless stated that their new mechanical elements made up for it, and that their ability design made him feel like he was "playing a much snappier action game than WoW truly is under the hood". [4]

One criticized aspect of the dracthyr was their lack of customization compared to other characters. Fraser Brown of PC Gamer recommended that players use the "Chosen Identity" skill to maintain human form outside battle, saying that it made existing armor sets work better and reminded players that they were a shapeshifter. [5] Their human form having unique gameplay benefits was also controversial, with Lauren Bergin of PCGamesN stating that she was "a little deflated" that it offered an extra healing buff, as she preferred the dragon form. She noted that many fans continued to play permanently as a dragon regardless, calling it "part of the class fantasy to be a dragon". [6]

Oli Welsh of Polygon, while still believing the race was fun to play as, nevertheless called the dracthyr an "afterthought", saying that they were "clearly invented to fill a hole", in contrast to other races, and noting that "their introductory story bends over backwards to explain why they have never been mentioned before". Also calling their appearance "conventional" and "somewhat anodyne", he described it as "cosplay-ready" and "with a hint of the furry about it", expressing his wish that it had been more "genre-bending" and "distinctive" like the draenei or worgen. Similarly, he described the class's skills as lacking the same uniqueness as other races in the game, saying that "you could easily imagine it popping up in any other fantasy game". [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos</i> 2002 video game

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, the third game set in the Warcraft fictional universe, and the first to be rendered in three dimensions. An expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, was released in July 2003. Warcraft III is set several years after the events of Warcraft II, and tells the story of the Burning Legion's attempt to conquer the fictional world of Azeroth with the help of an army of the Undead, led by fallen paladin Arthas Menethil. It chronicles the combined efforts of the Human Alliance, Orcish Horde, and Night Elves to stop them before they can corrupt the World Tree.

<i>World of Warcraft</i> 2004 video game

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the Warcraft fantasy universe, World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events of the previous game in the series, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, World of Warcraft has had nine major expansion packs: The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020), and Dragonflight (2022). Three further expansions, The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan, were announced in 2023.

Warcraft is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone. The first three of these core games are in the real-time strategy genre, where opposing players command virtual armies in battle against each other or a computer-controlled enemy. The fourth and best-selling title of the franchise is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), where players control their character and interact with each other in a virtual world.

<i>Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal</i> 1996 video game

Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal is an expansion pack for the real-time strategy video game Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. It was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Cyberlore Studios, and published by Blizzard in North America and Europe in 1996. It requires the full version of the original game to run and adds new story campaigns and multiplayer maps. The expansion was later released alongside Tides of Darkness for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1997 as Warcraft II: The Dark Saga, and was included in the Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition for Windows PC and Macintosh in 1999.

<i>World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade</i> 2007 video game expansion set

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is the first expansion set for the MMORPG World of Warcraft. It was released on January 16, 2007 at local midnight in Europe and North America, selling nearly 2.4 million copies on release day alone and making it, at the time, the fastest-selling PC game released at that point. Approximately 3.53 million copies were sold in the first month of release, including 1.9 million in North America, nearly 1.6 million in Europe, and over 100,000 copies in Australia.

<i>World of Warcraft Trading Card Game</i> Collectible card game

The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game is an out-of-print collectible card game based on Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The game was announced by Upper Deck Entertainment on August 18, 2005 and released on October 25, 2006. Players can play against each other one-on-one, or can join others in order to defeat dungeon/raid "bosses" based on those in the MMORPG. In March 2010, Upper Deck lost the license from Blizzard Entertainment. The license was acquired by Cryptozoic Entertainment later in the month, with the company announcing that planned card sets would be released.

<i>World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King</i> 2008 expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is the second expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following The Burning Crusade. It launched on November 13, 2008 and sold 2.8 million copies within the first day, making it the fastest selling computer game of all time released at that point. The game added a substantial amount of new content into the game world, including the new continent of Northrend, home of The Lich King Arthas and his undead minions. In order to advance through Northrend, players were required to reach at least level 68, with the level cap for the expansion being 80. The first hero class was introduced, the Death Knight, that starts at level 55.

World of Warcraft, or WoW, is set in a fictional universe, its primary setting being the planet of Azeroth. The first expansion, The Burning Crusade, introduced a second planet, Outland. Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expanded upon Azeroth and respectively added Northrend, the frigid northern continent of Azeroth, and drastically changed various other continents by destroying some and unveiling new ones. The next expansion, Mists of Pandaria, added Pandaria, the southern continent previously hidden behind a perennial mist cover. Warlords of Draenor introduced the planet of Draenor, a version of Outland in a different timeline before its partial destruction. The Legion expansion took adventurers to the Broken Isles, an island chain near the Maelstrom in the middle of the Great Sea, and the damaged planet Argus, the headquarters of the Burning Legion. The seventh expansion, Battle for Azeroth, added two new island continents to the center of Azeroth: Kul Tiras and Zandalar. The latest expansion, Shadowlands, introduced the eponymous Shadowlands, a realm composed of five major zones: Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, Revendreth, and the Maw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illidan Stormrage</span> Fictional character

Illidan Stormrage is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment.

<i>World of Warcraft: Cataclysm</i> 2010 expansion set for World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the third expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Wrath of the Lich King. It was officially announced at BlizzCon on August 21, 2009, although dataminers and researchers discovered details before it was announced by Blizzard. The expansion was released on December 7, 2010.

<i>World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria</i> 2012 expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the fourth expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Cataclysm. It was announced on October 21, 2011, by Chris Metzen at BlizzCon 2011, and was released on September 25, 2012.

<i>Hearthstone</i> Digital collectible card game by Blizzard Entertainment

Hearthstone is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone builds upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the same elements, characters, and relics. It was first released for Microsoft Windows and macOS in March 2014, with ports for iOS and Android released later that year. The game features cross-platform play, allowing players on any supported device to compete with one another, restricted only by geographical region account limits.

<i>World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor</i> 2014 expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is the fifth expansion set to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Mists of Pandaria. It was announced on November 8, 2013 at BlizzCon 2013. The expansion was released on November 13, 2014.

<i>World of Warcraft: Legion</i> 2016 expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Legion is the sixth expansion set in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Warlords of Draenor. It was announced on August 6, 2015 at Gamescom 2015. The expansion was released on August 30, 2016.

<i>World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth</i> 2018 expansion set for the game World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is the seventh expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Legion. It was announced at BlizzCon on November 3, 2017. In contrast to previous expansions, which went live at midnight in each time zone, Battle for Azeroth had a simultaneous release for all regions, corresponding to midnight Central European Summer Time on August 14, 2018.

<i>World of Warcraft Classic</i> 2019 massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft Classic is a 2019 MMORPG video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Running alongside the main version of the game, Classic recreates World of Warcraft in the state it was in before the release of its first expansion, The Burning Crusade. It was announced at BlizzCon 2017 and was released globally August 26, 2019. The Burning Crusade Classic and Wrath of the Lich King Classic versions of the game were later released to allow players to progress to those expansions.

<i>World of Warcraft: Shadowlands</i> 2020 expansion set for the MMORPG

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the eighth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Battle for Azeroth. It was announced and made available for preorder at BlizzCon on November 1, 2019. Originally scheduled for release on October 27, 2020, its release was delayed until November 23, the sixteenth anniversary of the original game's release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anduin Wrynn</span> Warcraft character

Anduin Llane Wrynn is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. First appearing in the original launch of World of Warcraft in 2004, Anduin is the son of Tiffin and Varian Wrynn, and the king of the human kingdom of Stormwind. Following Varian's disappearance, young Anduin is crowned king of Stormwind. He succeeds his father following his death in World of Warcraft: Legion, as well as his position as leader of the Alliance. Anduin also appears as a playable character in the crossover multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm. The character is voiced by Josh Keaton.

Thrall (<i>Warcraft</i>) Fictional character in the Warcraft universe

Thrall, born as Go'el, is a fictional character who appears in the Warcraft series of video games by Blizzard Entertainment. Within the series, Thrall is an orc shaman who served for a time as a Warchief of the Horde, one of the major factions of the Warcraft universe, as well as the leader of a shaman faction dedicated to preserving the balance between elemental forces in the world of Azeroth known as the Earthen Ring. Originally introduced in promotional material released by Blizzard Entertainment as the protagonist of the canceled video game Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, which was co-developed by Blizzard and Animation Magic from 1996 until 1998, Thrall's first proper appearance is in the 2001 novelization of the canceled video game's narrative authored by American novelist Christie Golden. The novel's story is set during his youth, where he is depicted as a slave who was raised by an abusive human military officer, but eventually rebelled and escaped captivity.

<i>World of Warcraft: Dragonflight</i> 2022 video game

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the ninth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following Shadowlands. It was announced in April 2022, and released on November 28, 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Carson, John (2022-04-21). "Breaking Down The Dracthyr Evoker, The New Race And Class Combination Coming In World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight". Game Informer . Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  2. ↑ Koch, Cameron (2022-07-14). "WoW: Dragonflight's New Dracthyr Race Could Support More Classes In The Future, Blizzard Says". GameSpot . Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  3. ↑ Gilliam, Ryan (2022-07-14). "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight's new Evoker class feels impressively modern". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  4. ↑ Hafer, Len (2022-11-28). "Dracthyr make World of Warcraft feel like a different game". PC Gamer . Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  5. ↑ Brown, Fraser (2022-11-28). "Chosen Identity is low-key the best Dracthyr ability in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight". PC Gamer . Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  6. ↑ Bergin, Lauren (2022-11-21). "WoW Dragonflight Dracthyr is easier if you don't play as a dragon". PCGamesN . Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  7. ↑ Welsh, Oli (2022-11-28). "World of Warcraft's new hero class is fun, but it's just not Warcraft enough". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.