How and when you can fly in Shadowlands
WoW's level-squish has brought many changes to riding and WoW Shadowlands flying skills.
Want to know when and how to get flying in WoW Shadowlands? World of Warcraft has undergone some of the biggest changes seen since the Cataclysm ten years ago. Along with an overhaul of character creation, customisation and barbershop options, character levels have been squished from level 120 to 50, while the whole levelling experience has been shaken up.
What does this mean for flying in the new expansion? To answer that, here's a brief WoW Shadowlands flying guide detailing what you can expect from all the recent changes in Azeroth.
WoW Shadowlands flying: How to unlock it
To unlock flying, you'll need to reach the new level cap of 60 once Shadowlands launches on November 23. As with previous expansions, players won't be able to fly in any of the new zones initially, needing to meet certain conditions beforehand.
We don't yet know the specific requirements for unlocking the Pathfinder achievement in Shadowlands, but it seems it won't be tied to faction reputations as it was in previous expansions. In HazelNuttyGames' interview with World of Warcraft's Executive Producer, John Hight, we learned that we'll instead need to work on Covenant 'Renown', which increases naturally as we carry out quests and objectives for our chosen Covenant. There are likely to be further requirements, but Blizzard hasn't provided additional details at the time of writing.
But since the new level cap in Shadowlands will be 60, what does that mean for players levelling in Shadowlands? Alongside restructuring the levels at which you learn new riding skills, the Artisan Riding Skill—previously learned at level 70—has been removed completely. Below, you can see the level requirements for each riding skill in Shadowlands.
- Apprentice Riding (60% ground speed) - level 10
- Journeyman Riding (100% ground speed) - level 20
- Expert Riding (150% flight speed) - level 30
- Master Riding (310% flight speed) - level 40
Pathfinders from previous World of Warcraft expansions
Both the Draenor and Broken Isles Pathfinder requirements (from the Warlords of Draenor and Legion expansions respectively) have been removed with the Shadowlands pre-patch. Once you learn Expert riding, you'll automatically be able to fly in these zones without having to earn the Pathfinder achievements first. If you want to fly in Battle for Azeroth zones, however, you'll still need to complete the Pathfinder achievements.
For completionists, all Pathfinder achievements are still obtainable and still reward the mounts. They're just not required to fly in those zones.
- Best WoW addons: What to download for 2020
- WoW beginner's guide: Start your Azeroth journey
- WoW class guide: The best for you
- WoW leveling guide: Get from 1-50 fast
- Best WoW Covenant: Which to choose