How to unlock dragonriding in WoW Dragonflight

It’ll take a few hours of progress

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight boasts some new features and mechanics, as well as another expansion zone (the Dragon Isles), but it’s also very traditional in terms of progression.

After a few hours you’ll get to the Ruby Lifeshrine: one of the hubs of Dragonflight, and the first step to unlocking Dragonriding, one of those aforementioned new gimmicks. Here’s when that actually happens.

Get to the Dragon Isles, then progress to the Ruby Lifeshrine

In terms of an estimate, it’ll take you roughly two hours to finish the set of introduction quests on the Waking Shores: the first region of the expansion. Once you’re in the northwest portion of Scalecracker Keep, you’re about to enter the Ruby Lifeshrine.

This will happen automatically as part of the main story. You can find our guide for getting to the Dragon Isles here.

Start the questline “Dragonriding”

Once you’re there, speak to Alexstrasza as you enter the Ruby Lifeshrine, then head to the northwest end to link up with Lord Andestrasz.

From there, you’ll be tasked with flying through rings in a very arcadey/Star Fox-esque minigame, to test out your new dragonriding skills. All you need to do is glide, and press the jump button (spacebar) if you need a little height. The test is extremely forgiving, so don’t worry too much about going back if you miss a ring or two. One thing to keep in mind is that flying upward is governed by a vigor meter: you get three charges before touching the ground, where they’ll recharge (you’ll unlock a fourth very shortly after this set of quests, too).

Land on the rock below and talk to the NPC to start diving training. In Dragonflight, diving (aiming down) while dragonriding will allow you to gain momentum, and flapping upward will let you capitalize on that extra speed.

Andestrasz will then ask you to “race” to the next area: which isn’t as imperative as it sounds. It’s basically just a tutorial to bring everything together: follow the lines and prompts to learn more about the ins and outs of dragon momentum.

Once you’ve completed the race, you’ll get the Rostrum Cipher: which unlocks customization options for your drake. Congrats, you’re a dragonrider!