Quote Originally Posted by Cleretic View Post
The Elementals as we know them actually appeared everywhere in 1.0, they weren't a Shroud-exclusive thing. And I can't find on a quick check how high-level they were, but they were a good thirty or forty levels above what players could be.

My read on the Elementals (and this is largely speculation) is that they're essentially an environmental regulator, and they turn up wherever aether is especially wild. The Twelveswood has been that for a really long time, so they've become a permanent part of the ecosystem there, and possibly gained power through collective faith and belief, as happens sometimes. Eureka's famously a mess, so they sprung up over there. Enemies with the same model also cropped up in the Aetherfont dungeon, which is also a hotbed of aether.
The Elementals were very violent during the end of Patch 1.23b. I remember being in La Noscea and hanging out in one area that was littered with aggressive high level Elementals. There were RMT players (they were not bots as they had coordinated play and were typing in coded numbers) and a regular player hung out with me as we watched the Elementals slaughter the RMT players. It was interesting to watch.