SomeWorld of Warcraftfans have been pointing out the surprising shortage of friendly Ethereals in the Patch 11.2 zone of K’aresh, despite it taking place on their homeworld. Though theWorld of Warcraft11.2 update, Ghosts of K’aresh, has been called the “Ethereal Patch,” most of the allied NPCs are actually Brokers, rather than Ethereals.
Recently,World of Warcraftrevealed Patch 11.2, Ghosts of K’aresh. This update finally takes players to the homeworld of the Ethereals, the mummy-like energy beings first introduced inThe Burning Crusade, as they uncover the truth of the planet’s fate and confront their ancient nemesis, Dimensius, the All-Devouring.
However, this zone has a lot fewer Ethereals than one might have expected. While exploring K’aresh on the Public Test Realm,WoWfans like Ian “The Red Shirt Guy” Bates and Saphras noticed that most of K’aresh was dominated by the Brokers. The K’aresh Trust, theWorld of WarcraftPatch 11.2 Renown factionbased out of Tazavesh, consists almost entirely of Brokers, and most settlements are occupied by theseShadowlands-era NPCs as well. Even the Eco-Domes, including the new Eco-Dome Al’dani dungeon, are operated by Brokers, despite being associated with Ethereals inThe Burning Crusade.
WoW Patch 11.2 Has Fewer Ethereals Than Expected
Of course, there are still plenty of Ethereals in the patch. Besides Locus-Walker,Alleria’s long-time mentor inWorld of Warcraft, there are a handful of Ethereals that can be found alongside their more-numerous Broker brethren. Likewise, the Wastelanders are a new faction of Ethereals who never left K’aresh, many of whom players can speak with. However, the vast majority of Ethereals in Patch 11.2 are aligned with the Shadowguard, the villainous faction led by Nexus-King Salhadaar who seek to bring Dimensius back to life.
In a way, this discrepancy does make sense. After all, it was revealed inWoWPatch 11.1.7’s Ethereal Lorewalking storylinethat Brokers are also natives of K’aresh. Likewise, existing groups of Ethereals fromThe Burning Crusadelike the Protectorate and the Consortium left K’aresh to seek other paths, while the Ethereum ostensibly turned into the Shadowguard. Even so, many fans still think it is odd that these groups are seemingly not showing up in the patch centered around their culture and homeworld.
Either way,Patch 11.2 arrives inWorld of Warcrafton August 5, with the Manaforge Omega raid opening a week later on August 12. Players will have to explore K’aresh and see how they feel about the Ethereal-to-Broker distribution rate for themselves.
