World of Warcraft's new DRIVE support explained

World of Warcraft is officially 20 years old, marked by Warcrafthis recent 30th anniversary live, which delved into the history of the game, its current state, and what players can expect moving forward. In the Live, Blizzard laid out their plans for World of Warcraft: The War WithinIts next big patch titled “Undermined” which finally takes players to the goblin capital city of Undermine where they will form alliances with the goblin cartel as the story continues. However, players won't just be roaming the streets of Undermined as Undermined will see the release of a brand new ground mount that is much faster than any ground mount before it – DRIVE

Game Rant recently had the opportunity to sit in on a group interview with lead mission designer Mark Kelada WarcraftDirect's 30th anniversary on the ins and outs of the new DRIVE mount World of Warcraft and what players can expect from the customization and driving process. During the interview, Kelada detailed everything there is to know about DRIVE's customization potential, speed, and some of what players can expect to see in the future.

A breakdown of the DRIVE mount from World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft's new DRIVE support has the potential to be the fastest yet

Apart from its unprecedented customization, perhaps the new DRIVE stand's greatest praise is that it is much faster than a standard one. World of Warcraft ground mounting. However, apparently DRIVE can be customized to be even faster. This raises the question of whether the new mount will be manoeuvrable enough for players to maintain control without constantly slamming it into walls. After all, flying over cities is one thing, but trying to get through one with what will now be World of WarcraftHis fastest ground mount will likely be a different story altogether. When asked about this aspect of DRIVE, Kelada replied:

Manageable enough not to crash into walls? Well, I guess that will come down to the skill of the driver and the car. The reason I say this is that the speed of the hot rod is anywhere from 3 to 5 times faster than the base default ground mount with nothing custom. And then at full speed I think it goes 10% faster than Dragonriding for a short period of time. It's crazy fast. So it's very hard to do, but if you can, congratulations, you've hit Mach 10 and you're starting the sound barrier at that point in terms of speed.

Of course, as Kelada said, achieving this kind of speed is only possible through the customization options of DRIVE, which is a system World of Warcraft never seen in his mounts. Dragonriding is currently about 660% faster than ground speed, so it's hard to imagine DRIVE beating that, especially as a ground mount. However, Kelada mentioned that it will be difficult for players to get DRIVE to full speed, but as game director Ion Hazzikostas said in Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, Undermine was built for speed.

Players will be able to customize and even race the new DRIVE mount

While Hazzikostas let viewers know some basic details about the DRIVE mount during the 30th Anniversary Direct, there are more details that Kelada was able to reveal during the interview, including an idea currently in which has not yet been implemented. Speaking further about DRIVE's abundant customization options, Kelada added:

In terms of customization, you can either go more towards grip or more towards drift; you can go for efficiency in terms of your momentum, or you can go for more top speed; you can change the characteristics of the engine if you want in terms of the desired top speed vs. acceleration; and then also colors are another big one. Finally, we are currently discussing a cartel based companion who can ride with you in the hot rod and contribute in some way.

Obviously, it's impossible to know right now how all these different options will feel, which is ultimately what will determine player preference. As such, players will likely be encouraged to experiment with different versions to find the one that best suits their personal style. Additionally, Kelada and Hazzikostas may not yet have revealed every customization option that will be available for the DRIVE mount with the release of the Undermined patch, so there could be even more possibilities eventually.

Finally, as WoW: The War Within features timed Skyriding races that players can participate in via Time Keepers scattered throughout each area, it was previously left unmentioned if Undermined would have the same for the patch's new DRIVE mount. On that note, Kelada clarified:

We have a version of Skyriding racing, but with the car currently in Undermine. And then if players want to put on their favorite music, decide on milestones, and then set up a timed trial, please do. Undermine is very built for it in terms of road width, and then we have the back and forth courses that you can do by talking to the Time Keepers there.

The developers were also asked about the potential for DRIVE to eventually inherit the ability to fly, to which Hazzikostas remarked about making some “Back to the future jokes” about it, but that's not something Blizzard is currently considering. However, DRIVE is a big leap forward for World of Warcraft mounts, and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here, especially if the hot rod can be used anywhere. For now, players will have to stick to the streets of the goblin capital city of Undermine once the patch arrives in 2025, but that may be more than enough to see the new mount reach its full potential.