Make them for Alliance only…oh and by the way… still waiting on those Taunkas that joined the Horde during the Veterans of the Wrathgate questline back in original WoTLK.
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Ethereals are one of the few races that I think fit the neutral setup.
I’d pair Taunka (Horde obviously) with the Frostborn Dwarves that joined in the same expansion but for the Alliance.
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Draenor was said to be destroyed from Ner’zhul opening all those portals, but it got shattered into Outland. So while K’aresh was destroyed by Dimensius, there still could be remnants of K’aresh that could be visited.
Alliance Ethereal, Horde Forest Troll for Midnight would be an interesting pairing.
Since The Last Titan is suppose to be the return to Northrend, I find it more likely for Taunka to happen then. Though I wouldn’t object if Midnight gave us a new wave of allied races and Taunka were amongst them.
While we could get the Frostborn as their own race, I feel that the customization race route is the more likely path for them.
Though I am biased since I still find it suspicious that the Weathered Northrend Sigil gave the Taunka and Vrykul their own race tags, while the Iron Dwarves did not receive that tag. If all three had received it I would still speculate but accept it as Blizzard going into more details with the trinket/toy transformations. However only two of the three got the race tags, which I find very suspect. Thus there is apart of me that sees The Last Titan bringing Horde Taunka, Alliance Vrykul.
tbf the Iron Dwarves and Frostborn are different things entirely.
I’m not a fan of Vrykul as a player race (one of the few I really dislike myself) but I can’t say I couldn’t see that happening. lol
I actually wouldn’t be surprised to see both the Taunka and Frostborn being just customizations though. But I hope otherwise.
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I’m neutral to the idea of playable Vrykul, though I do hope that if they do become playable it’s because a group joined the Alliance. The Earthen were one thing, but the Vrykul are human ancestors and I would be very pissed if we essentially get Tall Viking Humans become long term Horde races like Ogres, Forest Trolls, and Taunka become playable.
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I have been thinking more and more about playable Ethereals lately and I need this now! I enjoy the fantasy of all the races and classes and Need that new content experience of added ARs. I kinda feel like they would overshadow (pun intended) Void Elves though. Oh well, I’m ready!
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Crossroads, anew short anthology is coming out November 11th, 2025. It is set in the wake of Xal’atath’s disappearance from Hallowfall and the Locus-Walker is one of the characters who shall appear in it.
Now since its coming in November, we would already know if Ethereals would be a playable race at the launch of Midnight, if we don’t get them before The War Within ends. With that said, if we don’t have them by then, we could see playable Ethereals being hinted at in some manner. Like say Locus-Walker having a vision of the Ethereals standing with the Horde and/or the Alliance.
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I wish we didn’t have to wait so long for the story.
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On that note amongst the characters listed in the anthology is Renzik the Shiv, who just had a video story on YouTube released called The Tipping Point. So I think Crossroads might be like The Voices Within, in which most of the stories were released by Blizzard, with Little Spark being exclusive to the anthology.
It’s just a question of if the Locus-Walker story will be released online or be exclusive to the new anthology book.
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Personally I think having such a cool race like Ethereals — bound to a singular faction is a tad … Controversial. 
However, I think having two different distinct sets of them – would be ideal, for example:
Ooooh that’d be a cool dynamic! 
- Void Ethereals for the Alliance!
- Nether Ethereals for the Horde!
You could potentially explain it that when the Ethereals escaped their home planet from the Void Lord — The voidkin used a high-tech device that harnessed the void, whereas the Netherkin used a high-tech device that harnessed the energies & raw power of the Twisting Nether → Albeit both traversing technologies were unfinished designs which ultimately resulted in their changed, reborn forms …
You could have the void ethereals have good relationship with the Void Elves — and the nether ethereals have a good relationship with the Blood Elves (history with nether magics) and the goblins (Similarities in culture).
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In thinking about more about Locus-Walker having a story in the new anthology book, I couldn’t help but think of certain WoW YouTubers who might just jump on the gun on K’aresh being confirmed for Patch 11.2, tying it all together with previous speculation on playable Ethereals.
However it’s important to remember the following, we don’t know what his story will cover. It could involve K’aresh, but it could also be a matter of him and Alleria, or just giving him backstory as he will be in 11.2, regardless of where it’s set. Furthermore since Faerin Lothar’s story was only available in The Voices Within, there is a possibility of Locus-Walker’s story being only available in Crossroads.
Ultimately time will tell, though I could easily see 11.2 being the Rootlands with playable Haranir, then Locus-Walker’s story being a bridge to Midnight, with K’aresh being the 12.1 zone and coming with playable Ethereals. Unless Blizzard decides to have them at launch, start in K’aresh, and then spearhead the return to it in the patch, like how the Dracthyr spearheaded the return to the Forbidden Reach.
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Happy Valentines Day Everyone.
Lets give the Ethereals some love.
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I played the new patch last night and seeing the new Ethereal model in action was amazing. Made me really want to play one.
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They look really damned cool.
I hope that leads somewhere…
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Whose side are the ethereals on? I played the story on the ptr and I’m not sure. Are they on Xalatath’s side or a third party?
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I didn’t do the PTR and my knowledge of the Ethereals Undermine story is them stealing the Dark Heart. We just that know Alleria is operating under the assumption that they work under Xal’atath. Though I do like the idea of a third party coming and taking the Dark Heart for their own. However that does bring the question of how this third party would seek the Dark Heart.
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If they are a third party, then either they want the dark heart for themselves or they are just trying to keep it out of Xalatath’s hands.
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With the Void for now.
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Dont the Ethereals serve the void lords? Atleast most of them.
Idk i see them becoming playable, but prolly not until midnight ot last titan.
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Why do they serve the void lords? It was a void lord that destroyed their home world and their physical forms. Serving the void lords doesn’t make any sense.