Although many are looking forward to the next expansion forWorld of Warcraft, developers at Blizzard are keepingThe War Withinfresh with amazing new content updates, including the upcomingGhosts of K’areshstoryline, which takes players to the home of the Ethereals in 11.2. The amount of new things for players to see feels as though this update could be a miniature expansion, and its story will continue, leading the overarching narrative closer to the events that will transpire when the next expansion,Midnight,is released next year.
Following the successfulWoW: Underminedupdate withits awesome featurescomes theGhosts Of K’areshcontent in patch 11.2.ScreenRantrecently got to do two interviews with groups of developers forWorld of Warcraft’sGhosts of K’areshupdate. The first was with the Assistant Lead Quest Designer, Stephanie Yoon and the Associate Art Director, Tina Wang, who discussed narrative, worldbuilding, and visual direction. The second interview featured two Lead Encounter Designers forGhosts of K’aresh, Taylor Sanders and Andrew De Sousa, who chatted about the new raid and dungeon content players can look forward to.
What Is Content Update 11.2, Ghosts Of K’aresh?
Releasing Later In The Summer Of 2025
Patch 11.2,Ghosts of K’aresh, will be launching later this summer, although no official release date has been announced yet. This update willbring players to the previously destroyed world of the Ethereals, K’aresh. Rumors are surfacing in Azeroth that this broken planet is hiding a great threat, as the Shadowguard Ethereals are attempting to resurrect Dimensius. This massive evil caused the destruction of K’aresh long ago.
Players are able to gather a lot of hints and clues about where we’re headed to next in Midnight, and I am so excited to see people’s speculation as they go through this story. - Stephanie Yoon
This story arc is more than just a simple one-off, as its events tie into both the end ofUnderminedand the upcoming expansion,Midnight.
As Stephanie Yoon, Assistant Lead Quest Designer said, “I think that we have such a unique opportunity here, more so than any other content update at this time of an expansion cycle, because we are crafting this large, epic story across three expansions. So, when we were crafting the story inGhost of K’aresh, we were directly referencing ‘what does this mean for the World Soul Saga?’
What does this mean for the next expansion? So, players are able to gather a lot of hints and clues about where we’re headed to next in Midnight, and I am so excited to see people’s speculation as they go through this story.”
Tina Wang later added that, “there’s so much distinctive visual storytelling that emphasizes why you are here and what you’re doing here.” Just from looking at the provided screenshotsit is clear that much ofGhosts of K’areshdepends on the graphical design, whether during a phase diving scene, working on bringing life to an eco-dome, or in the main overworld. Having the purplish hue of the Ethereal energy should create some beautiful loot as well.
Besides a fascinating new storyline and the start of Season 3,this massive content update includes the following:
That is only scratching the surface, with many more updates such as the Waystones feature in dungeons to show where your respawn point is, Ethereal themed armors and mount, and so much more.
The Ethereals Are Back, And Alleria Takes Center Stage Again
Could The Events Of K’aresh Relate To Xal’atath?
As Stephanie Yoon added while we were talking, “in the last major content update,Undermined, Alleria’s story sort of took a backseat as we sort of delved into the problems with Undermined. But, at the tail end of that content, we teased the events that’ll lead us to come to K’aresh inGhosts of K’aresh.” Alleria’s mentor, Locus-walker, comes to inform everyone thata group of Ethereals called the Shadowguard are trying to resurrect Dimensius, The All-Devouring. This Void Lord is the one credited with the original destruction of K’aresh, and if he comes to full power then it would surely spell disaster for all Azeroth.
Though Stephanie and Tina couldn’t divulge too much about Alleria’s role without entering spoiler territory,Stephanie did say that Alleria “takes a pivotal part, like a center stage, I would say. Sort of gathering the forces to fight against Dimensius and taking the fight to him as well.”
Fighting Dimensius is not all that players will be doing on this devastated planet, of course. The zone includes several new quest types and objectives, andcenters around the new player hub, Tazavesh, the Veiled Market.Here, players will be reunited with the Brokers from Shadowlands as they bring their market with them.
As Tina Wang said, “On the art side, it was really interesting because we built Tazavesh, this whole space, as amega dungeon back in Shadowlands. But only those players who did the dungeon were able to experience it and we always felt like, man, this would be such a cool place to have an adventure. So, when we decided to bring that in as part of the Ghosts of K’aresh story, we, on the art side, did some revamping to make it compatible for flying and opened up some doors. So that was cool to actually fully flesh it out and then park it over on a piece of land in K’aresh and put this incredible shield over it.”
Thoseshields are seen all over K’aresh and are needed to protect everyone from the energy and debrisof the destroyed world around them. The Brokers are led by Ve’nari who will help the players as they are exploring this strange world of K’aresh. Ve’nari is heavily focused on the goal of making life possible in K’aresh though, which means players will be asked to help out with ecological succession tasks.
New Content Includes Reshii Wraps And Phase Diving
Turning Characters Into An Energy Form To See A New Perspective
In order to operate in the energy-fueled world of Ethereals, players needed to have a way for their characters become more Ethereal-like when necessary. Stephanie explains that this new artifact cloak, the Reshii Wraps, will “turn them into an energy form. So, you don’t change your body directly into an Ethereal, but your body loses its corporeal shape.”
The artifact cloak is a wearable artifact that will upgrade throughout the patch content.Stephanie continued, “It was really important to us to, first off, make sure that it is a visible part of your armor in transmog, because everyone loves new shiny things to put on their characters. But also make sure that it didn’t interfere with really pivotal gear slots for tier.” The Reshii Wraps can be transmogged to match a player’s current set, but is designed to look really impressive on its own.
Using these powerful Reshii Wraps,players can spend time in phase diving activities,which take place while in the energy Ethereal-like form. When asked how much time players will be in a phase diving mode versus the traditional world, Stephanie responded that it can really be up to player discretion.
“There’s a lot of activities available for players in phase diving. They’re able to farm special things for warrants, one of our new features where you’re helping the constable of Tazavesh. And there’s world quests and capstone quests and treasures and rares, and a whole slew of things. But that content is all up to the player’s willingness to dive into it.” - Stephanie Yoon
This phase diving mode will also be a useful skill for thwarting the security systems of the new raid. Taylor Sanders, a Lead Encounter Designer, explained thatusing the artifact, players can take waygates and move as energy through conduits and even dodge through boss mechanics.
Brand New Ecological Succession Content Lets Players Help Bring Life To K’aresh
Strengthening Eco-Domes And Introducing Plants And Wildlife
The Ethereals are well known for their studies and ecological preservation, and the eco-domes of K’aresh provide them with the opportunities to revitalize the planet by introducing plants and wildlife safely onto the land. From an artistic side, this also gave the dev teama chance to give more vibrancy and color toWoW’sGhosts of K’aresh. Tina stated that “all the nature that you see in the eco-domes is nature that we have not seen before anywhere on Azeroth, because it’s a totally different planet, right? So, not traditional trees, and some cool, new types of creatures you haven’t seen before, as well as different plants and bushes and stuff.”
One of these eco-domes also houses the new dungeon content, Eco-Dome Al’dani. Interestingly, this dungeon will follow the events of the Manaforge: Omega raid, canonically, in story, thoughit will be accessible on the launch ofGhosts of K’areshin Normal, Heroic, and Mythic (base) versions. Andrew De Sousa, a Lead Encounter Designer, explained that while there will be many eco-domes on K’aresh, “this one in particular is very, very special. They’re doing a secret project there that a lot of Ethereals from different factions are interested in.”
Later in our conversation, Andrew also teased that, “there’s an awesome secret at the end, and it’s, you know, this is an important step for the Ethereals.”
WoW’s New Raid, The Manaforge: Omega, Features The Biggest Raid Boss Ever
And The New Dungeon, Eco-Dome Al’dani Canonically Comes After The Raid
Of course, at the heart of the story forWoW’sGhosts of K’areshis the looming threat of Dimensius. In Manaforge: Omega,players will seek out an evil faction of Ethereals known as the Shadowguard, and attempt to stop them from bringing Dimensius backinto being. Taylor Sanders explained that the Manaforge: Omega is “a massive structure that has been built to coalesce energies and the power of the void that’s floating around the shattered world of K’aresh.”
This is the biggest one ever. He’s about the size of Stormwind at one point, so it’s a really epic encounter. - Taylor Sanders
Because this building was designed for Ethereals,players will need to make use of the Reshii Wraps to travel through certain areasthat would not have given an Ethereal a second thought. During the raid this phase diving ability will only be available for a short amount of time, so you can’t just spend the whole raid in that form.
While talking, Taylor mentioned that Dimensius is the biggest raid boss ever. I asked if he meant that this Manaforge: Omega will be the biggest battle ever, or specifically that Dimensius is going to be incredibly large.
Taylor responded, “All of the above. All of the above, yeah. This is the biggest one ever. He’s about the size of Stormwind at one point, so it’s a really epic encounter. The team has been working really hard on it. We’ve been collaborating a bunch with a lot of really talented folks across the team as encounter designers and we’re excited for players to get their hands on it. This is a Void Lord, a character we’ve really never come face to face with and it’s full power. So, we’re trying to make sure that we fulfill that moment and live up to that fantasy, right?”
He added thatthe encounter is going to be a tough one with players diving through space, dodging lasers and even planets being thrown, while dodging fists that are the size of a school bus.
Though we do not have a release date forWorld of Warcraft: The War Within’s upcoming 11.2,Ghosts of K’aresh, players can expect to see it launching later this summer, along with more announcements for the next expansion,Midnight.
