MeinMMO demon Cortyn has given K’aresh a chance in World of Warcraft. But the area is simply unfinished, as many contents are missing.
When Patch 11.2 Spirits of K’aresh was released, I was quite happy at first. Because the Shadow Priest has been revamped and feels really good. After many months of dissatisfaction, my favorite class is fun again.
Accordingly, I also approached the new content positively, especially K’aresh and the campaign there. It was nice, but after the last quest, I quickly realized: Wait a minute, something is off here. Because yes, the skybox with the destroyed world is pretty. But it cannot hide what is going wrong on K’aresh.
Less content – or not enough time?
The area simply seems unfinished to me. Because when you compare K’aresh with other areas from the recent past, it inevitably becomes clear that Blizzard did not consider or include a whole lot of content this time.
- Pet Battles: There are no Pet Battles throughout K’aresh. This can be justified by the fact that the world is uninhabited. It’s just annoying that there are still small animals visible that live in the wasteland. Small animals that you can usually catch.
- Races: There are no Dragonriding races on K’aresh. After all, it would fit well with floating islands in the swirling Nether. It is the first “real” area since the launch of Dragonflight where you can fly right from the start, but there are no races available.
- Meta achievement: A new area means new achievements and also always a big meta achievement, which is rewarded with a mount, a title, or a toy. K’aresh does have a meta achievement, but apparently it was not enough for a reward. As a result, the motivation for it is also at zero.
- Rare enemies without loot: Rare mobs often have no loot at all, except for 3 resonance crystals. A clear regression to Lorenhall, where you at least got a blue item that you could send to twinks or disenchant. Most rares feel like a pure waste of time.
Moreover, even the treasures are boring. Most treasures are – with a few exceptions – just some small crystals that you can use for a temporary buff. There’s simply no feeling of having found something really interesting.
Sure, you can now say: All these were conscious decisions not to bring this content. But why? Why does WoW forgo so much that has almost always been part of a new area? Why are suddenly contents missing that are usually pure standard?
K’aresh: the Maw with powdered sugar on top
Moreover, K’aresh simply seems boring to me. Yes, it is a destroyed planet – but why does everything have to look like the Maw and Korthia, as if sand has been sprinkled on top like powdered sugar? The small bio-domes don’t help much either, because so far you hardly have anything to do in them.
Don’t get me wrong: The story was amazing. The quests with Alleria, the spacewalker, and Xal’atath were really great. It was always fun. The side quests were also super interesting. They introduced me to the people of the Astrals and beautifully elaborated on their culture – I’m really into that.
But as soon as the last quest was completed and the “world quest and rare mob routine” set in, I was done immediately. The whole Maw aesthetic and the absolutely disappointing phase diving make me believe for the first time in a long time: No, you will not farm this reputation faction to the maximum anytime soon.
I can only hope that the raid will be fun this evening – but dungeon and raid content usually is. The rework of the Shadow Priest actually makes me want to play more World of Warcraft again. But certainly not on K’aresh. A week was already enough for me to prefer to go back to Lorenhall or simply wait for Legion Remix…
For an area that is supposed to conclude the first part of the World Souls saga, K’aresh was simply a visual disappointment in my eyes. It is an area where I do not want to spend time if I don’t have to. And that’s very, very rarely the case in World of Warcraft – for example, with the worst features WoW has ever had.
