World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is Already Nerfing Flying Speed for Dracthyr

gamerant.com:

World of Warcraft is well into its alpha testing period for Dragonflight, meaning players have had the opportunity to take to the skies as the new draconic dracthyr race. Unfortunately, World of Warcraft has made the difficult decision to nerf the maximum speed of the dracthyr’s Dragon Riding Soar ability to ensure balance outside the Dragon Isles.

Dragonflight is introducing a new form of reactive flying called Dragon Riding. Though Dragon Riding is only available on the Dragon Isles, the new winged dracthyr race in Dragonflightcan use the Soar ability to access a limited form of Dragon Riding on a five-minute cooldown in any zone.

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World of Warcraft made this decision mostly due to balance concerns outside the Dragon Isles. Dragon Riding can allow skilled players to reach speeds 930% faster than ground speed, whereas normal flying can only reach speeds of 410%. This meant dracthyr could speed around old areas twice as fast as other characters. Starting in the next alpha build in early August, the dracthyr’s maximum speed with Soar will be capped at 640% speed, though normal Dragon Riding in Dragonflightwill be unaffected.

Dragon Riding is one of the most exciting parts of Dragonflight. World of Warcraft put a great deal of effort into the physics and reactivity of the system, and has already been further-refined during alpha and beta. Players have also had a great deal of fun using Soar to explore old World of Warcraft zones. Many fans are already hoping WoW will keep Dragon Riding in future expansions, and possibly replace the old flying system with it entirely.

From a balance perspective, World of Warcraft’s decision to nerf the dracthyr top flying speed