World of Warcraft has officially removed the unlock requirements for Steady Flight in all The War Within and Midnight zones. Using the original flying system in these World of Warcraft zones no longer requires any additional prerequisites and can be done immediately upon arriving there.
There are two main types of flying in World of Warcraft: Steady Flight and Skyriding. Steady Flight is the traditional form of flying introduced in The Burning Crusade, featuring a slower, more precise method of transportation. Meanwhile, Skyriding is the expansion-agnostic name of Dragonriding, the high-speed flying system introduced in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, which features directional physics, special abilities, and resource management. All flying mounts can swap between these two systems while on the ground, though Steady Flight previously had an unlock prerequisite in zones from The War Within and Midnight.
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Steady Flight Unlocked In WoW: Midnight and The War Within
However, that prerequisite has officially been removed. In a recent forum post, WoW community manager Kaivax confirmed Steady Flight was now automatically unlocked in these zones; fans no longer need to complete the Midnight Pathfinder or The War Within Pathfinder achievements in order to do so.
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The Pathfinder achievements were not particularly difficult to get, but they did take a bit of work. Earning these achievements requires players to explore every new zone in WoW: Midnight and complete the leveling campaign. This meant fans would have to play through the entire expansion before being able to use Steady Flight, despite having the faster, more efficient Skyriding already available.
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The War Within Pathfinder
- The Isle of Dorn: Complete The Isle of Dorn leveling campaign.
- The Ringing Deeps: Complete The Ringing Deeps leveling campaign.
- Hallowfall: Complete the Hallowfall leveling campaign.
- Azj-Kahet: Complete the Azj-Kahet leveling campaign.
- Khaz Algar Explorer: Fully explore The Isle of Dorn, The Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall, and Azj-Kahet.
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Midnight Pathfinder
- Eversong in Reprise: Complete the Eversong Woods leveling campaign.
- One Does Not Simply Walk Into Harandar: Complete the Harandar leveling campaign.
- For Zul’Aman!: Complete the Zul’Aman leveling campaign.
- Arator’s Journey: Complete the Arator’s Journey leveling campaign chapter.
- Breaching the Voidstorm: Complete the Voidstorm leveling campaign.
- The Midnight Explorer: Fully explore Eversong Woods, Harandar, Zul’Aman, and the Voidstorm.
World of Warcraft’s Fraught Relationship With Flying Explained
Since it was introduced in The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft has always struggled with flying. On one hand, players love being able to view the world from above, travel around efficiently, and use their mounts to the fullest. On the other hand, flying can trivialize the questing experience by letting characters bypass risk, zip through content, and miss out on fine details seen by exploring a new zone on foot.
In The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria, unlocking flying required fans to reach certain levels and spend large amounts of gold. This changed in Warlords of Draenor, which was designed without flying in mind. After players pushed back against this, World of Warcraft added the first Pathfinder achievements to unlock flying. The Pathfinder achievements for Warlords of Draenor, Legion, and Battle for Azeroth were much harder to earn than their modern counterparts, as they required finishing 100 World Quests and hitting Exalted with certain factions, in addition to campaign completion and exploration.
The release of Dragonflight changed flying forever. The Dragonriding system was so well received that Blizzard decided to take it to old World of Warcraft zones. Flying requirements on old zones were lifted, and Dragonriding became Skyriding, which was unlocked for characters as early as level 10 with no gold cost, and for all flying mounts.
However, though Skyriding and Steady Flight were interchangeable in every other place where flying was enabled, World of Warcraft kept Steady Flight locked behind achievements for Dragonflight and subsequent expansions. That said, with streamlined changes to Skyriding in Midnight, it no longer makes sense to lock Steady Flight behind achievements – especially since some gamers struggle with Skyriding due to physical disabilities or motion sickness. This change not only makes sense, but is a win for accessibility.
It remains to be seen how Blizzard will handle flying in World of Warcraft: The Last Titan and beyond. While Kaivax said Blizzard does not “have any plans to restrict flight access meaningfully in the future,” it has its eye on preserving the player experience at the same time. Regardless of what happens, it seems unlikely that Skyriding or Steady Flight will ever need to be unlocked in locations where flying is enabled again.
- Released
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March 2, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
