Patch 2.7.0 & Season 24: Ethereal Memory & Follower Rework

The ethereal memory returns

With Season 24 – Ethereal Memory, Blizzard brought a piece of franchise history back into the most modern Diablo entry of its day: the legendary ethereal weapons, whose visuals, names, sound effects and even underlying item types trace directly back to Diablo II. Anyone who fought the act boss Diablo in the early 2000s or farmed Hell difficulty for perfect rolls will instantly recognize these blades, mauls and staves. The season launched on July 23, 2021, just a few days after Patch 2.7.1 went live on July 20.

For proper context, the patch timeline matters: the major follower rework actually arrived one step earlier with Patch 2.7.0 and Season 23. The ethereal weapons themselves are the centerpiece of Patch 2.7.1. This article deliberately bundles both milestones, because together they defined the Season 24 experience and complemented each other mechanically – nostalgia on the weapon, new flexibility on the follower.

Ethereals are no mere cosmetic. Each individual weapon fuses nostalgic Diablo II flavor with genuine endgame power and reaches directly into a build's math.

21 weapons — three per class

Over the course of the season you could collect 21 unique ethereal weapons — exactly three per class across all seven classes (Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor and Wizard). Each weapon is far more than a prettily animated model, because it bundles three layers of effect into a single item:

• It rolls a powerful set of fixed affixes with high damage and stat values
• It carries a random Class Weapon Legendary Power
• It also grants a random Class Passive Power

This exact triple loadout is what made ethereals so valuable. A single ethereal weapon could potentially replace several gear and Kanai's Cube slots at once. A fitting passive on the weapon freed up a slot in your skill setup, letting you activate a more offensive or defensive passive instead. In Season 24 this opened brand-new build freedom that simply did not exist before in this form.

The luck factor in rolling

Because both the weapon power and the passive were rolled randomly, not every ethereal you found was an instant hit for your build. A Demon Hunter bow with the desired legendary power but a useless passive was only half a success. This rolling character fed the classic Diablo loop: keep searching, compare, optimize – entirely in the spirit of its Diablo II inspiration.

How you find ethereals

The ethereal drop system was deliberately self-contained and clearly differed from every other item source in the game:

• They are account bound and drop only from monsters, chests and destructibles
• They cannot be obtained from Kadala or Kanai's Cube
• Their rarity sits between Ancient and Primal items
• They can be augmented, but not traded, enchanted, transmogrified, dyed or reforged

This approach had a clear design intent: Blizzard wanted to prevent players from re-rolling them via the Cube or Kadala and thereby bypassing the collection hunt. Instead the weapons had to appear organically while grinding, which made Greater Rifts, bounties and ordinary trash farming relevant again in equal measure. Since they couldn't be enchanted, a perfectly rolled specimen was a genuine stroke of luck.

The Feat of Strength as a long-term goal

Collecting all 21 ethereals during the season earned the Feat of Strength Ethereal Recollection – permanently unlocking the transmog appearances of every weapon. This was the decisive reward anchor: the weapons themselves remained seasonal and did not transfer to your non-seasonal account once the season ended, but the cosmetic look stayed yours forever. So you could wear your favorite Diablo II blades on any item via transmog, seasons later.

A season where the real collection goal was not power but lasting memory – a clever twist that placed nostalgia above mere power creep.

The Patch 2.7.0 follower rework

Alongside the ethereal nostalgia, the long-awaited follower rework was a headline of this era. Introduced with Patch 2.7.0, it has been permanently available for both seasonal and non-seasonal play ever since. It ranks among the most consequential quality-of-life changes of the late Diablo 3 era. The core changes at a glance:

• Followers now have 14 gear slots: Relic, Helm, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Bracers, Belt, two Rings, Amulet, Pants, Boots, weapon and off-hand
• The new Emanate feature lets you gain the intended effect of certain Legendary Powers and Set Bonuses when they are equipped on your follower
• Support buffs – like the Templar's heal bonus or the Scoundrel's crit buff – now apply permanently, even in solo play
• Followers are far more durable at higher difficulties and no longer die instantly

What Emanate actually means

The Emanate mechanic was the real gamechanger. Certain legendary effects and set bonuses flagged as "emanating" now radiated from your follower onto your hero – exactly as if you were wearing them yourself. Classics like the Circle of Life and Death set or specific aura effects could be offloaded onto the follower. That handed your own character back valuable slots you could repurpose for offensive stats.

Why it mattered

Before 2.7.0, followers were little more than pleasant company in a solo push. Their buffs were situational, they constantly died in high Greater Rifts, and their gear was limited to a few slots. With the rework and the Emanate system, they became a genuine strategic pillar: suddenly you could offload slots for defensive set bonuses or utility legendaries onto the follower, while your hero was built purely for maximum damage.

The meta impact of Season 24

Combined, both patches unfolded an unusually open build landscape. The ethereal weapons from 2.7.1 shifted slot budgets by bundling weapon power and passive into one item. The follower rework from 2.7.0 shifted them a second time, because defensive duties could now be handed to the follower. The result: builds that previously failed due to slot scarcity suddenly became playable, and established top builds could push even deeper into the Greater Rift ranks.

Placing it in patch history

Season 24 marked a turning point in how Blizzard treated its aging but loyal Diablo 3 player base. Instead of merely tuning numbers each season, 2.7.1 delivered a nostalgic collection event with real mechanical depth through the ethereals. The follower rework from 2.7.0, in turn, was a permanent improvement that shaped every following season. Together they proved that Blizzard still tended the game with substance rather than routine even in its late phase – and laid the groundwork for the seasonal theme mechanics that recurred in later patches.