Skyriding Guide

Skyriding (originally introduced as Dragonriding) is a form of aerial movement first added in the Dragonflight expansion. It has since become the default flight mode in World of Warcraft.

Skyflight, also known as Dynamic Flight, lets you defy gravity while using momentum and skills to soar the higher heights and explore the continents.

Skyriding itself is a mini-game of sorts. You press the spacebar to take off and gain height and speed, and must figure out how to get as far as possible before you land again. Skyriding feels like swooping and diving through landscapes.

Skyriding flight speed is capped at 705%, far surpassing the 310% flight speed from Steady Flight. In the Dragon Isles, Skyriding flight speed has a higher cap of 830%.

Almost every single mount that is capable of flight in World of Warcraft also supports Skyriding.

The lone mount that can fly, but does not support Skyriding, is the Otterworldly Ottuk Carrier. If riding this mount while Skyriding is enabled, you will be grounded.

Evokers can skyride using the Soar racial ability.

Druids can skyride in their Flight Form.

If you already unlocked Skyriding on your account, your alts will gain access to it automatically at Level 10. The option to Switch Flight Style will be available at Level 20.

If you are a newcomer or returning to World of Warcraft, you can learn the basics of Skyriding on the Catch-Up Experience, accessible from the Adventure Guide (default keybind: SHIFT + J). In the Tutorials tab, you can choose to enter the Catch-Up experience at any time. One of the quests in the tutorial introduces you to the basic concepts of Skyriding.

The old-school, no-clip flying players have known since Burning Crusade is known as Steady Flight.

Click the button below to be redirected to our Steady Flight guide.

At Level 20, you will unlock Switch Flight Style. This ability allows you to switch between Steady Flight (regular flying) and Dynamic Flight (Skyriding).

You will find this option either in your main spellbook, or by bringing up the Mounts tab by pressing Shift+P in the game and selecting the Switch Flight Style option, as shown in the image.

Skyriding abilities help you navigate your flying mount while in the air. Some of them have multiple charges with a short cooldown (that can be further shortened depending on your flight speed). You will unlock them all at Level 10 when you first unlock Skyriding.

• Skyriding Basics — While falling from a high location, your mount extends its wings to propel you both forward. Pointing yourself downward grants more momentum. Evening out can transfer that momentum forward. Pointing yourself upward slows you down. When at your slowest, you will start to fall slowly toward the ground. You also gain access to the following abilities: Surge Forward and Skyward Ascent.
• • Surge Forward: Flap forward. Surge Forward evades obstacles encountered in time trials and races for 1 second.
  • Skyward Ascent: Flap upward.
  • Surge Forward and Skyward Ascent have 6 charges, shared between both abilities. You regenerate a charge every 6 seconds.
• Lift Off: When mounted on a skyriding mount, double jump to launch upward and start gliding forward.
• Thrill of the Skies: While Skyriding at high speeds, your Skyriding charges regenerate faster.
• Aerial Halt: Flap back, reducing forward movement. After activating Aerial Halt, experience a brief moment of weightlessness as the effects of gravity are reduced for 4 seconds.
• Bronze Timelock — Mark a waypoint on your positional timeline. Use Bronze Rewind to rewind to this location. Can only be used in the Dragon Isles.

Skyriding Abilities can be found in your spellbook and can be rearranged to your liking on your action bars.

In addition to Skyriding abilities, you can further customize your Skyriding by choosing between certain abilities. These abilities are choice nodes in your Skyriding menu:

Ride Along Choice Node

• Ride Along - Inactive: Disable Ride Along on specific mounts.
• Ride Along - Enabled: A member of your group can ride along with you on specific mounts.

FAQWhat mounts work with Ride Along?

The following mounts work to transport other players with Ride Along:
Algarian Stormrider
Reins of Anu'relos, Flame's Guidance
Auspicious Arborwyrm
Cliffside Wylderdrake
Delver's Dirigible
Delver's Gob-Trotter
Delver's Mana-Skimmer
Flourishing Whimsydrake
Grotto Netherwing Drake
Highland Drake
Hooktalon
Polly Roger
Renewed Proto-Drake
Voyaging Wilderling's Harness
Windborne Velocidrake
Winding Slitherdrake

Whirling Surge/Lightning Rush Choice Node

• Whirling Surge: Spiral forward a great distance, increasing speed. Whirling Surge dismounts airborne players. 30 second cooldown.
• Lightning Rush: Activate to engage a sustained boost for 5 seconds. While boosted, maneuverability is limited. Only available at 10 stats of Static Charge, obtained by skyriding close to walls.

Squadron Choice Node (Dracthyr only)

• Squadron - Inactive: You fly solo. You will never start or join a Soar squadron.
• Squadron - Enabled: You can start or join a Soar squadron. When casting Soar, up to two other nearby Dracthyr in your party can automatically join and Soar alongside you. Moving, casting or combat will interrupt partaking in this activity.

Skyriding Glyphs are glowing objects scattered through the Dragon Isles, Khaz Algar and Quel'Thalas that you must fly through in order to collect them. These promote exploration and give achievements when collected.

In our Skyriding Glyphs guides, you will find the exact locations of all the glyphs that you can collect on the Dragon Isles, Khaz Algar and Quel'Thalas.

Dragon Racing is an optional facet of Skyriding that will allow you to test your flying skills on a variety of courses throughout the Dragon Isles and Khaz Algar.

You can learn more about these challenges, including tips and videos for how to achieve the gold time in every course, on our separate guide to Skyriding Racing below.

Ride Along lets a member of your group ride along with you. The player can interact with your mount and becomes a whelp that moves alongside your mount. While whelps can earn Skyriding Glyphs>, they do not count as participants during Skyriding Racing. You can enable or disable the option from within the Skyriding Skill Track at any time at no cost.

Skyriding requires you to fly at high speeds in World of Warcraft, but such a system can cause motion sickess to players under certain conditions. Thankfully, there are several options to help mitigate this issue. You can enable them under Game Options > Accessibility > General and Mounts.

Focal Circle adds a focal circle crosshair to the center of the player's screen that helps focus on a more restricted area to address motion sickness.

Landscape Darkening applies a darkening effect around the outside of the screen as the player accelerates.

You can have both Focal Circle and Landscape Darkening enabled simultaneously.

Skyriding Speed Effects disables the visual effects that occur around the player's mount while moving at high speeds.

All options work with the Ride Along feature when enabled.