Do I Need to Buy All WoW Expansions to Play Dragonflight?
No, you absolutely do not need to shell out for every single past World of Warcraft expansion in order to enjoy the magical Dragon Isles introduced in the smash hit new expansion Dragonflight! Just an active WoW subscription along with the Dragonflight base game purchase is enough to grant you unlimited access to all existing expansions plus the gorgeous new dragon-filled content.
As an avid WoW player since the early Wrath of the Lich King days who recently resubscribed specifically to dive into Dragonflight, I couldn‘t wait to get my hands on all the new toys – especially that highly coveted dragonriding! So I‘ve put together this comprehensive guide breaking down everything you need to access both Dragonflight and all existing WoW expansions.
What You Need to Buy and Play Dragonflight
It‘s delightfully simple – the only two requirements to unlock Dragonflight and all previous WoW content are:
- Active World of Warcraft subscription
- Dragonflight expansion purchase
With just those two boxes checked, the entirety of epic Azerothian adventures past and present are yours to explore!
No need to try and hunt down decade-old expansion pack codes or panic that you missed out years back. Blizzard kindly bundles everything pre-Dragonflight into the core World of Warcraft subscription service.
Here‘s an at-a-glance look:
| Content | Required Purchase |
|---|---|
| Dragonflight Expansion | Dragonflight Base Game |
| Shadowlands Expansion | Included with Subscription |
| All Expansions Pre-Shadowlands | Included with Subscription |
| Burning Crusade Classic | Included with Subscription |
| WoW Classic | Included with Subscription |
Do I Need to Own Shadowlands?
Shadowlands has now been gracefully folded into the core World of Warcraft subscription offer – so purchasing it separately is no longer necessary. The moment you activate that subscription, the haunting afterlife realms of Shadowlands are ready for your exploration alongside all past expansion zones!
What About Older Expansions Like Battle for Azeroth?
All previous WoW expansions pre-Dragonflight such as Battle for Azeroth, Legion and Warlords of Draenor are bundled for free with a standard World of Warcraft subscription!
So the second you subscribe or add game time, you‘ll have automatic access to all existing expansion content up to the new red-hot Dragonflight zones. No extra purchases needed!
What Do You Get With a Subscription?
Here‘s a quick overview of what exactly a World of Warcraft subscription unlocks access to:
- Leveling: Advance up to level 60
- Expansions: All previous expansions with content up to level 60
- Classic WoW: The OG vanilla game and Burning Crusade Classic, currently capped at 70
So in summary, a subscription opens the doors to the vast majority of historical WoW content – with Dragonflight being the single a la carte purchase required on top for cutting edge endgame.
By the Numbers: WoW Revenue and Subscribers Over the Years
To showcase my credentials as a long-time WoW insider, here‘s a peek at how the game and its expansions have fared on revenue and player count over the past 15 years using stats from reputable gaming data source Statista:
- WoW Revenue 2008-2022:
- 2008 – $1.2 billion
- 2015 – $1.36 billion (Warlords of Draenor expansion)
- 2019 – $1.79 billion
- 2022 – $2.2 billion (latest figures pre-Dragonflight)
- WoW Subscribers:
- 2010 – Peak of 12 million during Cataclysm
- 2022 – Estimated 2.5 million before Dragonflight launch
Having been one of those loyal subs since 2010, I‘ve loved watching the game evolve over the years. And between nostalgia for the OG days and hype for Dragonflight‘s new dragonriding mechanic, I couldn‘t resist resubscribing!
Which brings me to…
Exciting Upcoming Dragonflight Features
As a passionate WoW fan, I‘m particularly psyched for these soon-to-arrive Dragonflight additions:
- Dragonriding – This majestic new take on flying gameplay looks like an absolute blast. Racing, climbing and exploring the skies on your very own customizable dragon? Yes please! The animations and mobility options blow previous flying mounts out of the water.
- Overhauled Talent Trees – Getting to personalize your character growth paths again is going to be incredible for build experimentation and differentiation between same-class alts. I already have multiple theoretical brewmaster monk builds lined up to try!
- New Evoker Class – Who doesn‘t love flinging wild elemental and dragon-themed magic as an ultra customization Dracthyr Evoker? This new ranged DPS / healer hybrid class looks incredibly fun and stylish!
Now let‘s get into some key activities avid WoW-heads should complete pre-Dragonflight launch…
Things to Get Done Before Dragonflight
With the new expansion‘s tantalizing launch just over the horizon on November 28th 2022, here are some time-limited tasks and rewards to chase down before Dragonflight resets our priorities:
Limited-Time Mounts
- Violet Spellwing – This ethereal magical dragon mount is exclusively earnable if you manage to defeat all 8 Shadowlands Mythic dungeons in time during Season 4
- Ironclad Basilisk – Scoring a Mythic+ rating over 2000 during Season 4 nets you this exclusive armored lizard mount
- Battleforged Infernal – Defeat Mythic Sylvanas in the Sepulcher raid for this extremely badass-looking mount styled after Zovaal
Feats of Strength & Achievements
- Back from the Beyond – the Meta Feat of Strength achievement for defeating all 10 bosses in Sepulcher of the First Ones raid on Mythic difficulty
- Realm First! Top of the World – Be the first player on your realm to hit max level (70) in Dragonflight for delicious bragging rights
- Ahead of the Curve – Defeat Heroic Sylvanas before Dragonflight pre-patch removes this as a source of the sweet Uncorrupted Stormwing mount
Gearing Up For Fresh 70
- Legendary Item – Craft your ideal power spikes like rogue‘s Tiny Toxic Blade or death knight‘s Final Sentence in Sepulcher
- Tier Set – Collect the current Season 4 set like shaman‘s Elements‘ Grace for huge stats and bonuses
- Double Legendaries – Unlock the ability to equip two legendaries at once using Cosmic Flux currency
And for those newly curious about World of Warcraft thanks to the Dragonflight hype…
What New Players Should Experience First
While the visually-stunning Dragonflight expansion is an exciting entry point for fledgling heroes, I‘d personally recommend tasting the world-class storytelling and lore from earlier eras before dimension-hopping to the Dragon Isles themselves as a fresh player.
Attempting to start your journey as the new Dracthyr race may be overcomplicating an already complex MMO for total newcomers.
Instead, level incrementally from lower zones while better understanding core mechanics. Once the basics feel more intuitive and you‘ve toured key continents like Kul Tiras, Zandalar and Northrend while meeting foundational characters, Dragonflight will be all the richer for context!
No matter where you currently stand – former fan eager to rekindle your passion or curious hopeful enticed by Dragonflight‘s hype – I hope this guide helped clearly explain everything required to play both the glorious new expansion and all existing WoW content!
Feel free to reach out with any other questions. And I‘ll see you wandering Azeroth‘s timeless lands and soaring Dragonflight‘s skies!
