wow Flying in WoW Shadowlands

[Stan 5,240]

Obviously, it's too early to discuss full details, but flying is going to work the same way as in previous expansion is WoW Shadowlands.

This post is based entirely on speculation from what we learned at BlizzCon's World of Warcraft Q&A and from the interviews.

Shadowlands Pathfinder, Part One

The initial Patch 9.0 is going to ship with the Shadowlands Pathfinder, Part One achievement, similar to Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part One and Legion's Broken Isles Pathfinder, Part One.

Based on previous expansions, Shadowlands Pathfinder, Part One should have these requirements:

• Explore the new Shadowlands zones;
• Reach Revered with all the new 9.0 factions;
• Complete zone questlines;
• Complete 100 different World Quests in Shadowlands;
• In Battle for Azeroth, players had to complete the War Campaign Ready for War/Ready for War, so in Shadowlands, it's possible that you will need to complete a specific Covenant questline.

Completing the achievement should increase your Mount Speed by 20% in Shadowlands.

Shadowlands Pathfinder, Part Two

The second part of the achievement should be added in Patch 9.2. Again, this is based on speculation, extrapolating from Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part Two added in Patch 8.2 and Broken Isles Pathfinder, Part Two added in Legion's Patch 7.2.

The second major content patch of an expansion usually comes with new zones and reputations. Thus, the requirements could be:

• Earning Shadowlands Pathfinder, Part One;
• Exploring the new 9.2 zones;
• Reaching Revered with the new 9.2 factions.

Completing all requirements would unlock flying in Shadowlands and maybe there will be a mount too, as we have Wonderwing 2.0 in Battle for Azeroth.

Moving Between the Zones

If you look closely at the map of Shadowlands, it's clear that the zones are not connected to each other.

We don't know at this time how moving between the zones will be handled, but we have some theories: 

• Oribos (the Sanctuary) could host portals to all the individual zones;
• Shadowlands could come with a Vindicaar-style teleport system as we saw on Argus;
• Maybe there won't be any restrictions and we will be able to fly freely between the zones as in Outland.

Level Squish & Old Pathfinder Removal?

With a complete overhaul of the leveling system which comes with a squish, we started speculating about the potential removal of obsolete Pathfinder achievements from previous expansions, namely Draenor, Broken Isles in WoW Shadowlands.

You will be able to pick any expansion for leveling before heading to Shadowlands, but it doesn't really make sense to pick let's say Draenor or Legion zones for the sake of speed when you haven't earned the Pathfinder in these zones before.

Do you like the current Pathfinder model or would you like to see changes to flying? Let us know in the comments.

[Pasta 8]

While I think that Pathfinder is a good thing I don't like the way it's implemented. We should not have to wait a year for flying, by the time x.1 has come around I've already gotten everything possible for Pathfinder 1. I've reached max level, explored everything, done all the quests at least once, well on my way to revered with everyone.

I think Pathfinder 2 should come in patch x.1 instead of x.2.

[Bobbis 208]

Has something changed with IV? You don't usually post such click baity articles based on pure speculation, but this is the 2nd to do with flying and shadowlands (first was the removal of old pathfinder, which is highly unlikely). 

In all honesty this seems like it was a waste of someones time to write, as could be summed up in tl:dr, expect the same as the last 2 expacts, and given it's pure speculation based on said last 2 expacs, also a waste of time to read.

You're better than this guys...

[Valhalen 1,484]

52 minutes ago, Stan said:

Reach Revered with all the new 9.0 factions;

Complete 100 different World Quests in Shadowlands;

I completely understand having to complete the main storyline and explore the zones in order to unlock flying, and that is totally fair to be honest. Makes you appreciate the zones the developers took so long to craft, and makes you more engaged with the storyline.

But Blizzard insists in gating us with really obnoxious requirements and that really grinds my gears. I mean, is there a single soul in this universe that likes doing reputation farming? Why do they still keep these outdated and very annoying requirements? Honestly, one of the reasons that made me stay away from previous expansions so much was this tiring process of unlock flying.

[Xtrm 2]

The tl;dr of this article, no one knows anything, we're just posting articles because.

[Lithari 194]

Take out the Reputation and the world quest requirements then you will have a good flying achievement thing....the achievement to unlock flying was so that people would be exploring everything on foot instead of the air, so logically the only requirements for this achievements should be exploring the zones and doing the zone storylines, anything else is just a pointless grindfest.

[Mozaiq 1]

1 hour ago, Valhalen said:

I completely understand having to complete the main storyline and explore the zones in order to unlock flying, and that is totally fair to be honest. Makes you appreciate the zones the developers took so long to craft, and makes you more engaged with the storyline.

But Blizzard insists in gating us with really obnoxious requirements and that really grinds my gears. I mean, is there a single soul in this universe that likes doing reputation farming? Why do they still keep these outdated and very annoying requirements? Honestly, one of the reasons that made me stay away from previous expansions so much was this tiring process of unlock flying.

I agree. I honestly dont mind the other requirements. Even a step further, they work as an unlock... You wanna fly? Explore the zones completely first, and finish the story lines.

But I HATE absolutely HATE that it's gated behind grinding a bunch of reputations. I should only have to grind out ones that I'm interested in. Removing it would be a God send. 

[Bobbis 208]

3 minutes ago, Mozaiq said:

I agree. I honestly dont mind the other requirements. Even a step further, they work as an unlock... You wanna fly? Explore the zones completely first, and finish the story lines.

But I HATE absolutely HATE that it's gated behind grinding a bunch of reputations. I should only have to grind out ones that I'm interested in. Removing it would be a God send. 

Removing the rep grind and 2 part bs would be great but it won't happen. Pathfinder is a compromise between us and the devs, they wanted to remove flying in legion, we kicked up a fuss, pathfinder was the compromise between having it, and running around on foot at all times.

I don't agree with it, but rather have it then lose flying totally.

[Arcling 898]

2 hours ago, Valhalen said:

I completely understand having to complete the main storyline and explore the zones in order to unlock flying, and that is totally fair to be honest. Makes you appreciate the zones the developers took so long to craft, and makes you more engaged with the storyline.

But Blizzard insists in gating us with really obnoxious requirements and that really grinds my gears. I mean, is there a single soul in this universe that likes doing reputation farming? Why do they still keep these outdated and very annoying requirements? Honestly, one of the reasons that made me stay away from previous expansions so much was this tiring process of unlock flying.

I am of an opinion they should do something interesting with flying mounts, design a zone around flying, like they did with Storm Peaks in WotLK. This game is already too grindy, it feels like a step back, as not every expansion was like this. Timegating creates more problems for casual players, as for example they can't catch up by simply playing more on the weekend. Especially when they combine infinite grind with timegating and random chance to get something, like paragon chests introduced in Legion. Would like to finally see it gone, back in the day you would hit exalted, bought a mount from vendor and you were done. Similar with flying, was fine when it was simply something you bought with gold at max level.

And yeah, this article sounds pretty clickbaity. We know it's basically going to be the same, that's all.

[stomp442 2]

I always have had it in the first week it was available.  It sucks but other than the "new" rep you have to grind it's an ezclap.  Everyone has gold now so that's just dumb unless they made it cost a mil or something.

[multiboxing 71]

I HATE IT!

I HATE IT!

I HATE IT!

[Amateurpeeweeeeh 37]

8 hours ago, Valhalen said:

I completely understand having to complete the main storyline and explore the zones in order to unlock flying, and that is totally fair to be honest. Makes you appreciate the zones the developers took so long to craft, and makes you more engaged with the storyline.

But Blizzard insists in gating us with really obnoxious requirements and that really grinds my gears. I mean, is there a single soul in this universe that likes doing reputation farming? Why do they still keep these outdated and very annoying requirements? Honestly, one of the reasons that made me stay away from previous expansions so much was this tiring process of unlock flying.

Only cucks like reputation farming as far as I know.

[KomodoDragoon 3]

I agree with some of the other people here. Get rid of Pathfinder, or at the very least, make it so we only need to complete the Explorer and Loremaster portions. Those can easily be done while leveling. World Quests and rep grinds take too long for some people, including myself. Oh, and don't add a Part 2 to the whole mess.

Edited December 1, 2019 by KomodoDragoon

[SiscotheKid 12]

How would people react if flying was changed to behave more like ground transportation? Flying is typically faster, so make it slower. flying could keep the "no obstacles", I feel like that's a non-issue. Some means to fairly face PvE targets while in the air, and PvP if that beast could be balanced...

would people still want flying? Obviously yes, at least one person would want to fly, but why would they want flying at that point? What I listed are normally the complaints I hear about ground travel, so would the listed change the opinion of others if applied to flying?

Edited December 1, 2019 by SiscotheKid

[Bobbis 208]

6 hours ago, SiscotheKid said:

How would people react if flying was changed to behave more like ground transportation? Flying is typically faster, so make it slower. flying could keep the "no obstacles", I feel like that's a non-issue. Some means to fairly face PvE targets while in the air, and PvP if that beast could be balanced...

would people still want flying? Obviously yes, at least one person would want to fly, but why would they want flying at that point? What I listed are normally the complaints I hear about ground travel, so would the listed change the opinion of others if applied to flying?

So your point is to remove the speed from flying but keep the running over obstacles? Ofc people would still want it, that's half the reason for wanting flying, not having to deal with trivial suicidal beasts / not wanting a corpse run. The speed is the cherry on top of the cake, not the cake itself. I feel like you have that mixed up.

I'd say it's 50% for not dealing with mobs, 30-40% not dealing with the terrain (higher in places like Narj, Storm peaks) 10% for the speed. If flying was at 200% same as ground mounts, people would still fly everywhere. 

Edited December 1, 2019 by Bobbis
Added the %

[SiscotheKid 12]

3 hours ago, Bobbis said:

So your point is to remove the speed from flying but keep the running over obstacles? Ofc people would still want it, that's half the reason for wanting flying, not having to deal with trivial suicidal beasts / not wanting a corpse run. The speed is the cherry on top of the cake, not the cake itself. I feel like you have that mixed up.

I'd say it's 50% for not dealing with mobs, 30-40% not dealing with the terrain (higher in places like Narj, Storm peaks) 10% for the speed. If flying was at 200% same as ground mounts, people would still fly everywhere. 

I probably should have revised my words to also include percentages, all of what I listed is an observation of how others would react if flying is removed. None of it is my actual opinion since Blizz is capable of entirely removing flying in Shadowlands, or keeping it; this was only meant to be a thought-provoking question, "what do people actually think is the core for flying".

as for my opinion, I feel like how much flying effects you is dependent on your race, class , and/or skill level / creativeness. I'll always curse the "goblin shortness" racial, since we get caught in terrain more often... but can also duck under terrain that other races can't.

And another question I had was "what if ground mounts were buffed to be better than flying mounts", but that would probably need to include what makes flying mounts better. Flying is always beneficial right now, so what would make ground mounts beneficial to use?

Edited December 1, 2019 by SiscotheKid

[Bobbis 208]

3 hours ago, SiscotheKid said:

I probably should have revised my words to also include percentages, all of what I listed is an observation of how others would react if flying is removed. None of it is my actual opinion since Blizz is capable of entirely removing flying in Shadowlands, or keeping it; this was only meant to be a thought-provoking question, "what do people actually think is the core for flying".

as for my opinion, I feel like how much flying effects you is dependent on your race, class , and/or skill level / creativeness. I'll always curse the "goblin shortness" racial, since we get caught in terrain more often... but can also duck under terrain that other races can't.

And another question I had was "what if ground mounts were buffed to be better than flying mounts", but that would probably need to include what makes flying mounts better. Flying is always beneficial right now, so what would make ground mounts beneficial to use?

I kinda feel you, had a gnome main for a while, inc TBC and Black Morass, *filtered* that place. There is a small benefit too sometimes mind as you said. Nothing clips like a Tauren too.

I don't think ground mounts need a buff, they have the mount equipment which makes them more useful, mainly water walking to those who aren't shaman/dk. Their whole benefit was to get around faster, which they do perfectly well. But the main benefit to flying is the 3rd axis of movement. Going up. Away from all the pesky / deadly stuff, away from the annoying terrain that you get caught in / duck under. And when places are designed with it in mind like Storm Peaks, the cata zones (especially Deepholme), Nazjatar, Mechagon to an extent, they're a fun bonus. 

Naz pre flying, was horribly, hated the place, just getting around was a chore on top of the dailies. I can't imagine Deepholme or Icecrown without it, especially with quests designed with flying in mind to get to the gunships. 

[Migol 433]

Gotta agree with most of the previous comments, it's fine to withhold flying until you've explored the zones on foot and done all the major storyline quests and whatnot for each one.    Flying would rob you of that experience even.  

But that's where it should end.     Having to slowly grind out reputation to revered is annoying, but I could live with that.

Making us wait until 2 or 3 raid tiers/major patches are done and the expansion is about 2/3rds over?     And inventing new reps with limited quests so the grind is effectively timegated?    It's just a disgusting way to go about it, and I wish I could punch that guy in the jaw that thought of it.

[knight85 7]

The only real question i have regarding flying in 9.0 is how getting flying is going to change in the pre shadowlands expacs in regards to learning flying.

Are we still going to be leveling for weeks to get airborne on new characters or will we be flying from the get go

[Valhalen 1,484]

On 11/30/2019 at 2:44 PM, Arcling said:

Timegating creates more problems for casual players, as for example they can't catch up by simply playing more on the weekend.

That is Legion and BfA in a nutshell. One of the reasons I don't play alts in BfA is because of the huge amount of timegating and grinding required to catch up. However, IF progress with the [Heart of Azeroth] was bind on account, the story would be very different.

But Blizzard would never do that. They need to keep players busy with *filtered* so they don't get bored and cancel subscriptions; however, making players busy with too much *filtered* and grinding is also boring and causes them to cancel subscriptions.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Valhalen

[tindren 0]

On 11/30/2019 at 11:07 AM, Mozaiq said:

I agree. I honestly dont mind the other requirements. Even a step further, they work as an unlock... You wanna fly? Explore the zones completely first, and finish the story lines.

But I HATE absolutely HATE that it's gated behind grinding a bunch of reputations. I should only have to grind out ones that I'm interested in. Removing it would be a God send. 

I totally agree. I have 7 lvl 120's and i absolutely refuse  to rep grind. here it is almost what a year and a half now since release and i have not yet achieved flying. not because i dont want flying just dont have the time to devote to grinding 8 factions that you cant get tabards until you reach max reputation. older expac, once you were friendly with a faction you could get tabbard and every quest and kill would grant rep to that faction as well as quest reward. BRING BACK OLD WAY OF FLYING! Or at least an option to purchase from wow store.