The Eastern Kingdoms Cup brings dragonracing back to the Eastern Kingdoms. An event of fun, hurdles, and nostalgia.
Alone in Valdrakken
For new players, the trip across the Eastern Kingdoms starts out a bit rocky. The Eastern Kingdoms Skyriding Cup doesn’t exactly ease you in. In the calendar, the event is described like this:
“The Riders of Azeroth invite skyriders to compete in races throughout the Eastern Kingdoms! Talk to Lord Andestrasz in Valdrakken for more information.”
But when you arrive in Valdrakken, you’ll quickly notice: you actually can’t speak with Lord Andestrasz, at least not with a fresh character. The quest itself starts also in your capital city or in Dornogal, and you’ll need to reach level 30 before you can even pick it up. I couldn’t find any real in-game hints about that, unless you just happen to stumble upon the quests.
Once you get past those hurdles, though, the event is pretty fun, at least if you enjoy dragonriding. Essentially, it’s just dragonriding with rewards, without much extra framing. Only a single quest guides you through all the available races.
Immersion Across the Eastern Kingdoms
My personal highlight: racing without the UI. Tight turns around obstacles, taking in the landscapes and architecture around the dragonraces. I enjoy that the most when no windows, bars, or buttons clutter the screen, things I don’t really need during dragonracing anyway.
I set this up with the DynamicCam Addon. Over the next few days, I’m planning to write up a short guide to the Skyriding Cups, explaining the exact settings.
Rewards: Secondary at Best
The rewards are nice, but not what motivates me to join this event. You can get a few transmogs and customization options for your drakes. They’re all decent, but nothing that would get me into the skies on their own. For me, it’s more about revisiting so many zones, taking another look at buildings and environments, refreshing old memories, and blazing through dragonraces at high speed.
I also don’t force myself through every difficulty level. That said, rewards and achievements you don’t earn this year won’t be available again until 2027, when the Eastern Kingdoms Cup returns. In the meantime, though, three other Cups will send you across different continents, racing through Azeroth on dragonback.
Note: This article was first published in German and has been translated into English with the help of AI. I’ve done my best to capture the original meaning and tone, but a few nuances may differ from the original text.