World of Warcraft will overhaul its UI and HUD when Dragonflight arrives later this year. Blizzard has a new preview of just what we can expect, and their reasoning behind these changes. this preview comes as the Dragonflight beta opens today for those who want to help Blizzard test out the expansion content.
Since WoW released in 2004, the UI hasn’t changed all that much. What the team is looking to do is to how a layout that is customizable, less cluttered, and adds accessibility features and other organization options.
Some of the most prominent changes include the mini-map and health bar being more prominent on the screen. They've also polished up the action bar. Additionally, you'll notice that there is more open space. The loot and inventory display have also changed and there is access to the combined backpack functionality, for a more organized inventory and greater access to everything you need with a less cluttered and clunky display.
Having a customizable series of options is key to this overhaul. They've added something called Edit Mode, which lets you move, customize, and change nearly everything on the HUD. They've also made it so that each component of the HUD also has several settings that you can use to further customize your experience. And if you come up with something great, you'll be able to share a copy of your settings with the community or your friends. You can also have a different HUD customization ready to go for when you change specs.
There are also some new accessibility options, like the hold to cast keyboard key option, a way to map a keyboard key to interact with NPCs or objects without mouse presses, and a new action combat targeting system. This last feature adds onto existing targeting and will auto-target enemies that you approach.
This is not all they have planned, and the announcement of these changes also makes clear that they're not getting rid of third-party add-ons, but they are adding many elements that could be done via add-ons right into the game.
Read the full list, including future planned changes, over at World of Warcraft.
