World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s talent trees getting a major rework

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight will finally whisk players away to the Dragon Isles, where they’ll be able to roll new Dracthyr characters and play the new Evoker class. But outside of the fancy new content, Blizzard will also be focusing on revamping older systems with Dragonflight. More specially, the much maligned talent tree will see its first major overhaul in nearly a decade.

In a pre-brief session, Polygon interviewed lead narrative designer Steve Danuser and lead combat designer Brian Holinka about what the revamped talent tree brings to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

Back in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard replaced the original tree-based talent system for a small group of very powerful skills players could choose from. The game was easier to read, especially for novice players. However, it has lost some of its depth and Blizzard wants it back.

In Dragonflight, Blizzard will completely overhaul the talent system, and return it to a version of the tree form. Players can unlock skill points when they level up to add one or both of the two skill trees to their character. One is the class skill tree, while the second is the specialization skill tree. The specialization tree can change depending on the spec players who are active.

While players won’t be able to put points into multiple specializations like in the Wrath of the Lich King, the new system does allow for customization and hybridization. Are you interested in playing into your class fantasy? Or push their unique specialization further? With the new loadout system, players will have a limited number of points, but can quickly switch to other talent loadouts within raid bosses or activities.

With the new trees, players will be able to expand and customize their classes to fit their needs. But Blizzard stressed that while players will be able to stretch their classes in new ways, they’re still the classes they know (outside of the new Evoker class, of course).

” The intention is for players to still be comfortable with the classes they already know.” Holinka said. “We don’t want to be overly disruptive and someone logs in on patch day, and they just are like ‘everything on my action bars changed, I don’t even know how to play this class I’ve been playing for 10 years anymore.'”

Holinka made it clear that the team wants to preserve what players know, and players looking for something familiar will be able to craft their character in a “very comfortable and familiar way.” However, the opposite is also true, and players will be able to build out an almost greatest hits list for their favorite class.

“A lot talent, you know. We’ve tried to say “hey, what’s the best thing that we have created for these specs and classes throughout the years,” said Holinka. “‘Azerite traits, Artifacts, Covenant abilities. What are some of the coolest things we have, and let’s put it in a talent tree so that players can make some choices and get those cool things back.”

Holinka explained that players will be choosing the most popular traits and abilities for each class. However, they shouldn’t expect to have every ability or trait they had before. However, anything that players consider “iconic” is a safe bet.

Finally, we asked if the talent trees will be easier to expand in the future, which Holinka confirmed is part of the thinking.

After nearly a decade of very rigid selection process — Holinka said you currently make “about seven choices about your character” — and no major Azerite, Artifact, or Covenant-adjacent system in Dragonflight, the talent rework is looking to be the most significant change in the expansion. The new talent system is the key feature that will determine the future of World of Warcraft . As thrilling as new classes can be.