Progress Journal: Gnomish Engineering

(Gnomish) Engineering*:

*Not including tech already mentioned in a preceding profile.
The Gnomes are famous for their inventive nature and engineering feats, whether its the Deeprun Tram that connects Ironforge to Stormwind or even personal combat weapons such as Shrink or Death Rays. The other races look upon the Gnomes with a sort of awe and not a little bit of intimidation, as their weapons, why deadly, do occasionally go awry....It is for this reason that lorewise most Engineers that actually utilize gnomish engineering are in fact Gnomes. That said Gnomish devices are generally considered safer than that of the Goblins in that in they won’t kill the target(not counting some certain death dealing inventions) but rather “a Gnomish invention will usually just leave the unfortunate target wishing they’d been blown up”.

It should be noted that, both based in lore and Blizzard developer comments, most Gnome tech can be considered “uncommon and unreliable”. Thus most of what is seen below are examples of “gadgeteering” where a few eccentric engineers create unique and usually unstable technology which they then spread among their protégées and whatever unit they are attached to. It usually does not spread far past the initial inventor however this is not always the case. The examples of the Shredder, the Steam Tank, the parachute and the biplane were all once experimental devices, all now used widely among the Alliance, meaning the Alliance has a willingness to mass produce that it finds most useful (of course, they need the facilities to mass produce them too! So no mass produced plasma rifles….yet). Of the examples seen on this page the Siege-o-Matic robot has become quite common thanks to its utilitarian purposes as a quasi-aerial unit.

Engineers are going to be extremely common among Gnomes of all walks of life.This can be explained by their cultural obsession with inventing new tech and innate curiosity in viewing the world. Their government is literally run by inventors, both before and after the fall of Gnomergan. Among the other races Dwarves and more reluctantly humans might be the next likely to be found with these devices, as the former are skilled inventors themselves (though their tech is more reliable) while both are no stranger to using Gnomish tech to their advantage. The traditionalist Night Elves, formerly isolationist and now nature-oriented Worgen, and Stoic Draenei are all much less likely to use these devices however. In the case of the latter the Draenei prefer their own, refined, technology.

--Ultrasafe Transporters: Essentially Gnomish teleporters from one place to another that has a 80 percent roughly reliability. Risks and side-effects of the malfunction include outright failure, getting teleported a mile above the target, spontaneous species change and even having your soul split into a good and an evil persona. The Gnomes except and come prepared for these failsafes though, and the latter two side effects are not lethal.
--Ultrasafe Personnel Launcher: This is a two part device built to launch friendly operatives deep into enemy territory. The second part utilizes the VLD Parachute (thats Very Late Deployment parachute) to allow the user to safely drop down behind enemy lines. Or usually as occasionally the parachute does fail, or the launcher might overshoot its boundary....

Ultra safe Personnel Launcher

-Plasma Rifles: Yes, the Gnomes do indeed have single shot plasma weapons that was used in the Pandaria campaign against their Goblin opponents.

--Shrink Rays/Viewpoint Equalizers: The Gnomes have gotten tired of others making fun of them for being small, and have invented a device to fix that issue. With these devices a gnome can shrink a foe down to his own level or even below. This has the effect of invoking terror and confusion among enemy ranks as well as inducing some hilarious side effects as the weapons of the enemy doesn't shrink, meaning that many times they fall under the weight of their own weapons! The shrinking capability of the weapon is directly proportional to the target’s size. For example while a Human will be shrunk to something even smaller than a Gnome, a Sea Giant – which can be 30 feet- will still be a couple feet taller than an Elf. Of course like all gnomish weapons it has the drawback of occasionally making the enemy much bigger than normal, not doing anything at all, or even shrinking the user!Depending on the power of the device, these effects may also apply to the party of the enemy or gnome.

--Tremor Tracker: A scanner used to track movements from underneath, including movement. In fact it was used to successfully predict subterranean Iron Horde invasions.

--Gnomish Universal Remote: This device, which even the Gnomes aren't entirely sure how it works, allows the Gnome in question to temporarily take control of a robot or mechanized unit. Such actions makes it so the Gnome is viewed as a friend and someone to protect, and the robot will turn on its erstwhile allies. However occasionally this device does fail , either stunning the robot (best case scenario) or making the robot really pissed off, targeting said Gnome above all else.
-Explosive Sheep: A mechanical sheep is created and filled with explosives. Upon catching site of a enemy it will attempt to charge and suicide bomb it.
--Compact Harvester : Gnomes are sometimes seen with these tiny robots near them. They help attack and defend the Gnome with their viscous claws.

- The ultrasonic screwdriver can be used to rewire hostile robots into friendly ones
--Gnomish Cloaking Device: This brilliant device, typically taking the form of a cloak, can, when activated, rev up molecules in the air around the wearer begin to vibrate at a rate that causes the user to appear to become invisible for a select few seconds.

--Discombobulator Ray : Transforms the Target into a Leper Gnome with all the effects one might expect from that. Presumably effects physical capabilities handily. No apparent malfunctions.

--Parachute: Actually a human invention, the Parachute cloak unfolds and slows the user's descent- though only for a few seconds. Thus it should be timed right to be used.

--EMP Generator: Attached to the belt this generates short ranged EMP blasts.

--Gnomish Net'OMatic : This ensnarement gun is meant to catch the enemy with a large net and root him in place. Useful against melee or fleeing foes. Occasionally it roots the user of the weapon and/or the enemy at once.

--Harm Prevention Belts: The belt contains a variety of reactive chemicals and mechanical devices that detect incoming physical and energy attacks, and instantly respond to shunt them aside. Protects against a limited amount of damage once activated, extending longevity of the user. However sometimes it malfunctions (1/16th the time) causing either it not work it all, make the user even more vulnerable to damage than before, or even temporarily remove the user from reality! In that case the user cannot be attacked or attack until he returns to this reality after a limited time period.

--The Gnomish Mind Control Cap has a chance of mentally dominating the target, forcing it to fight for the user. However sometimes it either fails with no effect, or allows the target to mind control the user.

--Gnomish Battle Chicken: A giant mechanical chicken the fights for the Gnome! Pecks and sometimes shocks people. Others serve as long ranged scouting robots, and may come with rocket boosters or cloaking mechanisms.

--Gnomish Flame Turret: A portable flame turret of surprisingly good reliability, however it does not last long before collapsing (a couple of minutes)

--Elemental Deflectors: Surprisingly reliable, these purpose built deflectors absorb damage from a given element, such as fire. Some of these even reflect a portion of the attack back on the enemy. Others shock everything around them.

--World Enlarger: This technology is a shrink gun used for personal use, shrinking gnomes and others even smaller then they actually are. In this way they can be excellent infiltrators, sneaking into bases then resizing to make all sorts of havoc.

--Gnomecorder: Frequently used, these allow operatives to communicate directly with home base while in the field. Like a radio, but also capable of sending some sort of picture message if need be judging by a certain Redbridge mountains quest. Other versions apparently have live video feed that multiple people in different locations can view at once. An example would be feed from Deadmines playing all the way in SI:7 headquarters in Stormwind, to Grandmater Mathias Shaw.

--Decoy Adventurers: A Wind-up Robot, these are strapped with explosives and lights and alarms. Once enemies get close to the annoying things they can be set to explode!

Decoy Adventurers
--Gnomish Poultyizer: This device is like a shrink ray, except it turns the target into a chicken! Obviously this would be extremely demoralizing to the target and his buddies, or perhaps just the target if his buddies are the type to view a chicken as dinner! However enemies that specialize in shapeshifting, like a druid, can shapeshift out easily. Also sometimes it will backfire, turning the user into a chicken!

-Diving Suits: Gnomish diving suits are made for long term campaigns underneath the sea, and come with quasi rocker boosts attached for quick maneuverability.
--BuzzBoxes: Machines set up that can analyze and determine where corruption originated from. Though it might take a little bit to properly extrapolate data. Makes it harder to sneak into the Alliance and corrupt things unnoticed.
--Gnomish Death Ray: Perhaps the most powerful and scary weapon here, the Gnomish Death Ray made even the normally happy-go-lucky Gnomish Tinkers blanch. This weapon works by taking the life force of its own user and converting it into a ludicriously dangerous and powerful weapon that can one-shot many, even powerful, foes. No malfunctions though it does harm the user a ton.....it’s also become very popular among the Black Market, meaning it can possibly be counted as a "rare" weapon for Rogues and Warlocks, the sketchy sort of folk who would consider using it.

-Land Mines: Comes in either the explosive variety, or the variety that turns one into poultry. The latter variety was used to blunt a major Orc assault in Pandaria. The Dark Iron also make use of landmines that can melt the treads of a Iron Horde tank.

-Shake N Quake Bot: When the War in Northrend was brewing, the gnomes were constantly assailed by pesky burrowing Nerubians who used small tunnels to quickly assault Alliance positions. Eventually one enterprising engineer made the Shake N quake bot, who can cause small earthquakes to collapse these tunnels .

-Siege’O’matic: A new device that looks like a giant flying hand, this was used to surprisingly useful effect in Pandaria to kidnap people or animals, provide a signal for bombers, and even sabotage positions with carried bombs. In Draenor it was used to steal enemy supplies and artifacts (though flares needed to be deployed by ground forces to attract their attention) and serve as emergency evacuation for key personnel. Another variant in Warlords of Draenor, he observicopter, can be used as a battlefield long ranged seeing and listening device.

- Anemone Chemical Application Device: A Strange gnome device used in the underwater zone of Vash’j that causes local fish to protect the user.

-Artificial Intelligence: Gnomes make great use of robot savants and rudimentary AI for their robots and vehicles, however they also have true Artificial Intelligence, or machines so self-aware that they are able to readily adapt and make new decisions based on available knowledge on the fly, even if it runs contrary to its owner’s desires. For example in Uldum a A.I. machine detected that its nearby Gnome masters were corrupted by a Tomb Curse, deemed their goals and attitudes too dangerous to world integrity, and then instructed an Adventurer in how to beat them.

--Tinkering/Armor Enhancement: Gnomes are also extraordinarily good at upgrading individual pieces of armor with their more eccentric (and sometimes safe) tool. For example Rocket or Nitro Boots can dramatically improve the speed of someone who needs it, like a warrior. The Pyro Rocket Launcher is attached to the Gauntlet of the Arm and can fire a long ranged rocket. Hyperspeed Accelerators allows whoever utilizes those gloves to attack superfast. Armor Webbing increases the overall armor value, while Mind Amplification Dishes (imputed into the Helmet) allows the user to engage in mental and physical battles at once, with the possibility of mind controlling the enemy. The Frag Belt contains a minaturized assembly that constantly builds small thermal grenades which can then be thrown. Watergliding Jets on the belt allows the user to temporarily walk on water or swim much faster. Fireworks launchers are guantlets used to fire fireworks into a enemy crowd.

The Carboard Assassin belt attachment deploys a decoy that would confuse less intelligent foes. The Plasma Field attachment gives the user a Halo-Esque plasma shield utilizing plasma generators while the Invisibility Field utilizes tiny mirrors to render its user temporarily invisible. The Spinal Health Injector greatly improves the weight of healing via potions while synapse springs in gloves see the given user's most powerful attribute (like strength) skyrocket for a little bit. The Mana Gulper ( excellent for engineer-mages) does the same thing as the health generator but with magical energy. Then the long range Tazik shocker can be implemented to shock an enemy at range.

--Weapons: Various weapons, like enhanced guns or crossbows, even automatic ones, can be built by the Gnomes and handed out to their allies. Some of them are really good.
--Repair Bots: Short-lived bots that aid in the repair of broken or deteriorated equipment.
--Targeting Dummies: Self-explanatory, probably won't work well on sentient foes except at extreme range.
--Various Goggles that allow from everything between enhanced zoom, full x-rays,infared, ghosts (“ghostcognifier”) detect enemy stealth better ect.
--In addition Gnomes can make all sorts of dynamite, blasting powder, explosive charges, bombs and other explosives that are much more reliable. Grenades and weapons made of superior materials (like Admantine) do more damage. These can also have elemental effects too.

Gnome Gearworks:

Recently the application of unique weapons has become increasingly standardized in the Alliance and Horde forces. Note there is some overlap here between Goblin and Gnomish tech, which is to be expected as both do, at times, “borrow’ the other’s tech. This has cumulated in certain weapons or tools of being used in combat on Draenor with explicit military applications. These include:

Sticky Grenade Launcher: Loaded with multiple grenades, his functions like a real grenade launcher with the grenades being able to adhere to a target and explode after a brief time delay. Also the sticky substance can be used as a anesthetic

Skyterror Delivery System: A device that launches the subject high in the air before deploying a glider that lets them glide to a place of their choosing.

Pneumatic Power Gauntlet : Fires a coiled spike and chain at someone, impaling them and pulling them towards the wielder.

N.U.K.U.L.A.R. Target Painter: Rare but powerful weapon, it marks a target and then sends the coordinates back to the gearworks. After a timed delay, a warhead comes in, splits off, and basically kills everything in the immediate area (30 yards in game).

XD-57 Bullseye Guided Rocket kit : Whoever is crazy enough to use this hops onto a giant rocket, straps themselves in, then flies extremely fast for a brief period before the rocket collapses, where then the user (hopefully) jumps off on his or her glider.