Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Vakir]

It makes sense for Dalaran, if it was used in Northrend, would be bumped to Legion textures. However it does raise a good point that Dalaran is actively involved again which AFAIK was not mentioned in any leaks before, even the ones that mention Khadgar.

Feels like just something that was missed.

Dalaran being a hub in Northrend for just the pre-patch makes sense. It's in close proximity to Wyrmrest. It's close to Galakrond's remains.

Dalaran's return made sense in Legion because the Broken Isles are a mostly fucked civilization that wouldn't have had a clear base of operations for us to start from outside Suramar which is hostile and bubbled. It feels like the Dragon Isles really would make sense to have a hub of their own.

[Santandame]

Dalaran Sewers was perfect as the Rogue Order Hall. It was one of the most immersive Order Hall's and it fit the Rogue theme to a tee.

I don't understand how in any situation anyone can think Ravenholdt is better, apart from personal taste? It's just a standard manor house in the hills. There's nothing thematic to it apart from it has the Rogue classes tied to it from Cataclysm and Classic.

[Dragonflighters]

Feels like just something that was missed.

Dalaran being a hub in Northrend for just the pre-patch makes sense. It's in close proximity to Wyrmrest. It's close to Galakrond's remains.

Dalaran's return made sense in Legion because the Broken Isles are a mostly fucked civilization that wouldn't have had a clear base of operations for us to start from outside Suramar which is hostile and bubbled. It feels like the Dragon Isles really would make sense to have a hub of their own.

The Dragon Isles have zero lore though, so we don't know if there are even cities there or even civilization. Why would Dragons have houses or a city for starters?

[m4Zzo928]

Since nobody posted it, Marla clarified its something about Northrend Dalaran:
https://twitter.com/Marlamin/status/1510643137487773706

Something time related.

[Vakir]

The Dragon Isles have zero lore though, so we don't know if there are even cities there or even civilization. Why would Dragons have houses or a city for starters?

That's also true. It's worth noting though that Blizzard loves to invent wholesale excuses for that stuff. The Broken Isles is an exception because the whole idea was that we were returning to a place that was already besieged and crumpled.

Dalaran 3 just sounds unlikely. The fact that it's Northrend Dalaran being messed with just reinforces it to me.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Dalaran Sewers was perfect as the Rogue Order Hall. It was one of the most immersive Order Hall's and it fit the Rogue theme to a tee.

I don't understand how in any situation anyone can think Ravenholdt is better, apart from personal taste? It's just a standard manor house in the hills. There's nothing thematic to it apart from it has the Rogue classes tied to it from Cataclysm and Classic.

Ravenholdt is a guild of elite assassins and thieves, so it was fitting to a tee as well. Not hating on Dalaran's sewers, I guess it all comes down to personal taste.

[Nymrohd]

Dalaran Sewers was perfect as the Rogue Order Hall. It was one of the most immersive Order Hall's and it fit the Rogue theme to a tee.

I don't understand how in any situation anyone can think Ravenholdt is better, apart from personal taste? It's just a standard manor house in the hills. There's nothing thematic to it apart from it has the Rogue classes tied to it from Cataclysm and Classic.

Also completely away from the action. Honestly a group of kingmakers should be hiding at the biggest neutral capital they can find so Dalaran makes sense. Though if they do eventually do a bigger revamp, doing at least a small thief's guild area in every major capital (ESO does it in every town!) would be great flavor.

- - - Updated - - -

Ravenholdt is a guild of elite assassins and thieves, so it was fitting to a tee as well. Not hating on Dalaran's sewers, I guess it all comes down to personal taste.

It was also completely destroyed in the Wrathion quests though. And how would rogues project power from a manor in the middle of nowhere? They are not exactly the portal experts.

[Diatribe]

They need to make Ogres a playable race and able to be Tinkers. Now, imagine that combo joining your group.

[Ringthane]

Also completely away from the action. Honestly a group of kingmakers should be hiding at the biggest neutral capital they can find so Dalaran makes sense. Though if they do eventually do a bigger revamp, doing at least a small thief's guild area in every major capital (ESO does it in every town!) would be great flavor.

What about all the other class halls? They were all far away from the action.

Ravenholt makes sense because it's nothing but rogues. What else is it there for than to be a rogue base?

[Dragonflighters]

The Balor and Ettin combination is interesting as AFAIK we never have gotten much lore on Ettins and if they were doing "Cata 2" they would be struggling to find things to expand upon that have been on Azeroth all this time.

Ettin fit the bill very well. And we were reminded of them in BFA.

[Santandame]

Ravenholdt is a guild of elite assassins and thieves, so it was fitting to a tee as well. Not hating on Dalaran's sewers, I guess it all comes down to personal taste.

Right? But weigh it up against the overall theme and aesthetic of the Order Hall in Dalaran Sewers. Combined with the Kingmaker faction, and as @Nymrohd has stated, completely away from the action when logically and realistically they would want to be in the thick of the action but hiding in plain sight - Dalaran Sewers over Ravenholdt Manor just makes much more sense.

But as already said, it comes down to personal preference.

[Fahrad Wagner]

The Balor and Ettin combination is interesting as AFAIK we never have gotten much lore on Ettins and if they were doing "Cata 2" they would be struggling to find things to expand upon that have been on Azeroth all this time.

Ettin fit the bill very well. And we were reminded of them in BFA.

Exactly.
For anyone who missed my previous post about Ettins:

Reposting this from the Speculation Thread, regarding Balor being mentioned in this leak:

Something that I find particularly interesting about the Dragonflight leak:

"Balor. Halfling race dealing with primordial fel enemies (think proto-demons, like what the Shadowlands creatures are to undead)."

Whereas Balor is another classic zone we have yet to explore, the mention of a halfling race is particularly interesting... especially since they are fighting proto-demons.

In the Irish mythology, Balor is the king of the Fomorians, a group of creatures describe as hideous (sometimes demonic) giants, warriors of chaos and destruction.

Now, we have yet to have an Ireland-inspired zone in the game (Kul'Tiras doesn't dive too much into the Celtic aspect of the Irish culture), and Blizzard has a history of copy-pasting real life mythology into the game, twisting it only a little.

So, the island of Balor being home to halflings (tall humans? small ettins? something else?) fighting giant proto-demons (mirroring Zereth Mortis proto death creatures?) is something I could see.

I will also point out that in the Irish mythology, Ethniu, also referred to as Ethlinn, is the daugther of Balor.

Now, that could be the missing link to the origins of Ettins (and also connect with their links to the Twilight Hammer and Twilight dragons).

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ettin

And to finally complete my Ettin saga, Wowpedia states the following:

• According to Brann Bronzebeard, there is enough fossil evidence to theorize that the ettins evolved from ogres, but he suspects there might be a "missing link". Any fossil evidence was likely lost when Draenor was torn apart.[6]
• Drugon the Frostblood's dungeon journal entry goes against this, as it states that Drugon has been living in Highmountain for several ages before the Dark Portal even opened.[citation needed] [7] It is unknown if this is a simple error or a retcon of the ettins' origins.
• Chronicle Volume 2 does not mention ettins when going into detail about the lineage of the ogres. However, it also does not mention goren despite their proven association with the Breakers.

Which means Brann's theory about Ettins coming from ogres has been proven wrong, and this "partial" retcon might have been set up... in preparation for Balor, and the missing evolutionnary link of Ettins.

I think this is it guys, this is THE leak

I really think the mention of Balor and halflings seals the deal, but it's a personal opinion.

[Santandame]

What about all the other class halls? They were all far away from the action.

Ravenholt makes sense because it's nothing but rogues. What else is it there for than to be a rogue base?

The Druid, Hunter, Mage, Demon Hunter, Death Knight, Rogue and to a lesser extent Warrior Order Halls were all in the thick of it or relatively close to the Broken Isles.

Only the Paladin, Priest, Warlock, Monk and Shaman Hall were out of the way.

- - - Updated - - -

Exactly.
For anyone who missed my previous post about Ettins:


I really think the mention of Balor and halflings seals the deal, but it's a personal opinion.

Halfling's as a classic fantasy race are notably missing from WoW, so I can definitely see this part of the alleged leak being in favour of the leak being legit.

It's the microclasses that steer me towards the leak being a bust.

Tinker, Dragonknight and Bard to a lesser extent absolutely deserve and should have more than one spec.

[Fahrad Wagner]

The Druid, Hunter, Mage, Demon Hunter, Death Knight, Rogue and to a lesser extent Warrior Order Halls were all in the thick of it or relatively close to the Broken Isles.

Only the Paladin, Priest, Warlock, Monk and Shaman Hall were out of the way.

That's still 5 OH out of 11. Warrior being kind of in-between I guess? Anyway, personal tastes again I'm not saying I'm right about Ravenholdt over the Sewers, it's just my personal opinion!

[Nymrohd]

What about all the other class halls? They were all far away from the action.

Ravenholt makes sense because it's nothing but rogues. What else is it there for than to be a rogue base?

Mages, Hunters, DKs and Druids were right in the middle of the action. Warlocks, DHs, Priests and Warriors were not even in the same plane but at the same time all could port straight to the action. Monks needed to be in a place where they could evacuate many injured people from the assault on the Peak of Serenity so they had to be a bit away from the action. Paladins and Shaman I have no excuse for, they were just in the most iconic spot for either class (and while I enjoy the Paladin hall for how it looks, it still makes absolutely no sense)

[Dragonflighters]

Also want to point out: every SINGLE leak has guessed that Dragonflights are going to be the next covenants, with us picking one and earning rewards. It's even a popular theory on social media etc.

EXCEPT THIS ONE. And it also guessed the name correctly.

This checks out with how the Dragonflights currently don't have very different aesthetics and Alex doesn't look that much different from her old design on the poster. So if the dragonflights aren't going to look that much different with rebooted designs, maybe we aren't getting Dragonflight covenants after all.

[Skytotem]

I found the way the leak broke down certain things interesting. Maybe we need to look at it holistically and put 2+2 together. I think it's possible this isn't 4 NEW classes, but instead SHARED 4th specs for certain classes. The classes where it maybe doesn't make much sense just happen to be the ones getting the cosmetic class skins.... coincidence?

Dragon Knight - 4th spec for Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight (unlocked by a Bolvar quest or something)
Tinker - 4th spec for Hunter. Doesn't make sense for Shaman so they get the Dragon cosmetic thing instead.
Minstrel - 4th spec for Monks and Rogues. Doesn't make sense for DH or Druid so they get the Warden skin and Nightmare skin.
Chronomancer - 4th spec for Priest or Mage. Seems weird for Warlock so they get the Necromancer cosmetic.

Hunters do get the bonus Dark Ranger skin, so it might be race locked:

Alliance
Ranger - Night Elf, Void Elf
Tinker - Dwarf, Draenei, Gnome, Dark Iron, Mechagnome, LFD
?? - Human, Worgen, Kul'Tiran

Horde
Ranger - Blood Elf, Forsaken
Tinker - Goblin, Orc, Mag'har, Vulpera, Nightborne
?? - Darkspear, Zandalari, Highmountain or Tauren

I dunno, would they really put a 4th dps spec on hunter instead of letting them tank in Mechsuits?

Minstrel also seems a bit... flat. No drums?

[Wangming]

Could really just be about the blood elf underwear being too provocative.

God forbid we fap to them. That would anger all the real life Blood Elves.
But if it's Sylvanas, that's okay.

[huth]

Also want to point out: every SINGLE leak has guessed that Dragonflights are going to be the next covenants, with us picking one and earning rewards. It's even a popular theory on social media etc.

EXCEPT THIS ONE. And it also guessed the name correctly.

This checks out with how the Dragonflights currently don't have very different aesthetics and Alex doesn't look that much different from her old design on the poster. So if the dragonflights aren't going to look that much different with rebooted designs, maybe we aren't getting Dragonflight covenants after all.

That's not necessarily a point in favour. Guessing the name correctly isn't much of an achievement, either. Dragonflight is an established term.

[Santandame]

Chronomancer logically would fit more as a fourth spec for Mages.

Tinker is very easily a three spec class.

Dragonknight could very easily have four.

Bard/Minstrel could comfortably have at least two. Three with some creativity.

I just don't buy the microclass aspect. Rest of the leak is plausible and seems legit, though.