How to get around Valdrakken, the new capital city of Dragonflight

We returned to Azeroth in Dragonflight, but the Kirin Tor haven’t moved Dalaran over to the Dragon Isles to assist us — instead we’ll be journeying to the capital city of Valdrakken once we get to the final leveling zone of Thaldraszus. With the emphasis on the new crafting system as well as the tendency for congregation of both players and activities in a central location, it’s expected our characters will be spending a lot of time in Valdrakken over the course of the expansion.

Getting to Valdrakken is less clear, but the current questing takes you over the Misty Canyon from Azure Span and directs you to the city. There will also be portals located in the Wizard’s Sanctum in Stormwind (across from the portal to Oribos) and the Pathfinder’s Den in Orgrimmar, between the portals to Oribos and Silvermoon. Once you’ve unlocked the flightmaster in Valdrakken you’ll be able to travel there from any other flightmaster on the Dragon Isles.

The main features of Valdrakken

Valdrakken’s prominent landmark is the Palace near the center of the city. Arrayed around it are small wards for each of the five dragonflights (the black dragonflight buildings are color-coded gold instead of black), with buildings not considered part of a ward color-coded in purple. The wards themselves are largely for flavor, as almost all of the services are in the neutral areas of the map.

The Palace is where you’ll find the portals to the faction capitals, with the Alliance portal to your right when you enter and the Horde portal to your left. To the left of the grand staircase in front of you is Unatos, the Keeper of Renown quartermaster, and the portal to the Seat of the Aspects on top of the Palace is located at the top of the first flight of the grand staircase. The Seat of the Aspects is where you’ll find the leaders of the Dragonflights as well as some questgivers and Watcher Koranos, and is also a great place to launch your dragon mount.

Where you’ll bank, auction, rest, and train in Valdrakken

The plaza in front of the Palace is where you’ll find the majority of your basic services:

1. The Bank is located immediately to the right of the Palace entrance.

2. The Auction House is across the plaza from the bank, and has a convenient mailbox in front of it. Unlike previous expansions, you will not need to be an Engineer in order to use the Auction House.

3. The Roasted Ram is the most convenient Inn in Valdrakken as well as the entry point to the Dragon’s Hoard, a secret spot in the city. A Cooking Trainer is found in the Roasted Ram as well.

4. Directly opposite the Palace steps is where you find the Flightmaster for Valdrakken as well as another good Dragonriding launch point.

5. Over in the Green Dragon ward is where the Ethereals have placed their Void Storage and Transmogrification NPCs.

6. This cave entrance leads to the Training Dummies in Valdrakken.

Additional services are located on the western portion of the map (see below image):

7. The Whelp Day Care is where you’ll find the Pet Trainer of Valdrakken. There’s currently nothing else going on here, but the napping whelps are very cute.

8. Take the stairs north of this platform to access your Dragonriding needs. You’ll find a Dragonriding Trainer as well as the Rostrum of Transformation which lets you customize the appearance of your dragon mounts.

Crafting stations and trade trainers abound

The aforementioned emphasis on crafting and professions has resulted in centralized crafting services (although a couple staircases are placed to separate them into tiers):

9. The lowest tier is where you’ll find the Skinning Trainer as well as the Leatherworking Trainer and Crafting Station.

A. Across from Leatherworking is where you’ll find the Enchanting Trainer and Station.

B. Just south of Enchanting is the Tailoring Trainer and Station.

C. The middle tier is where you’ll find the Herbalism Trainer and the Alchemy and Inscription Trainers and Stations.

D. The Jewelcrafting Trainer and Station is also located on this tier across from the Work Orders Station.

E. The top tier is where you’ll find the Engineering Trainer and Station, next to the entrance to the Training Dummies cave. All the top tier crafting buildings are color-coded for the Black Dragonflight, but that doesn’t appear to mean anything in practice.

F. The Blacksmithing Trainer and Station are found here across from the Training Dummies. There are Anvils here currently but no Forges.

G. Directly across from Engineering is where you’ll find the Mining Trainer. There is also a Forge and Anvil at this location, as well as inside the building between the Mining and Blacksmithing Trainers.

H. Inside the Roasted Ram Inn is where you’ll find the Cooking Trainer.

I. On a small island near the Inscription Trainer is where you’ll find a friendly Tuskarr waiting to teach you Fishing.

J. The Work Orders platform across from the Jewelcrafting Station is still under development, but here is where you’ll pick up and fulfill Work Orders.

Two more services are available just off the edge of the map:

K. The Stable Master is located to the west after you cross the bridge south of the Flight Master and near the Fishing Trainer.

L. If you follow the path north of the Dragonriding Trainer you’ll find an exclusive Inn only for Dracthyr called Weyrnrest. Non-Dracthyr are allowed to visit, but its main purpose is for Dracthyr characters to get caught up with other Dracthyr NPCs from the Forbidden Reach.

M. Finally, the most important location of Valdrakken is found across from the profession stations on the lower tier: the Barbershop. All services in the Barbershop are now free, so don’t hesitate to experiment on trying to find the perfect look for your character! There are a ridiculous number of color combinations available for the Dracthyr, so if you’re stumped check out the video we made here.

Originally posted August 19, 2022. Updated November 30, 2022.