Will there be borrowed power in WoW Dragonflight?

Borrowed power is a system first introduced to World of Warcraft during Legion that entails a series of spells, passives, and unique items active and relevant only during a single expansion. So, during Legion, we had Artefact Weapons, Artefact Power, and two separate legendary weapons. In Battle for Azeroth, there was Heart of Azeroth, Azerite Armor, and Corrupted gear, and Shadowlands brought legendaries, covenant abilities, and conduits.

The general idea behind all of these borrowed power systems is to give each class more freshness with new spells and passive to make up for what they lack in the talent department. Other than that, Blizzard Entertainment imagined that borrowed power would be an exciting system that would give players more control over the direction in which their class and specialization evolve.

But the practice showed the exact opposite. Players have hated borrowed power from the moment it was introduced to the game with such intensity that they never stopped complaining on the official Blizzard forums and Reddit. Since each new expansion is a chance to start the game all over, you’re probably wondering if there will be any borrowed power in Dragonflight. 

Will there be borrowed power in Dragonflight?

Borrowed power is, as we already mentioned, one of the most hated systems that has ever existed in the history of WoW. In fact, it’s so hated that this of one of the first and main concerns players had when Blizzard revealed Dragonflight back in April. During the reveal, Blizzard said there will be no borrowed power in Dragonflight since the devs are revamping the talent system by reintroducing talent trees.

In an interview with Hazelnuttygames, the game director of World of Warcraft, Ion Hazzikostas, spoke in detail about borrowed power and why Blizzard decided against including it in the game. 

“I think a lot of it is, as mentioned, just a response to both player feedback and our own experiences, both playing the game and as developers,” he said. “We recognized the double-edged sword of creating something awesome, empowering, and complex like Artefact Weapons in Legion was that, for building this thing we can’t sustain carrying forward, we have to take it away from you. And losing something awesome sucks. And having every expansion begin with, we’ve just dug a hole and we have to fill it with a new thing, where, at best, maybe, we can get you at were you before, that’s not success.”