Gnomeregan

Gnomeregan was the capital of the gnomes, a mechanical city built into the mountains of Dun Morogh. Today it is a radioactive ruin ruled by a traitor, and a five-player dungeon for characters around level 29 to 38. It is one of the largest dungeons of its level, packed with robots, irradiated troggs and leper gnomes, and its quests draw both factions into the city's machinery.

Background

For generations Gnomeregan was the pride of the gnomes, a city of workshops, gears and steam not far from Ironforge. During the Third War, troggs boiled up from below the earth and invaded. These were the same creatures woken by the dwarves' digging at Uldaman, and they had tunneled toward the noise of the gnomish city.

High Tinker Mekkatorque, the gnomes' leader, could not drive them out. On the advice of his adviser, Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg, he released a massive dose of radiation into the city to kill the invaders. The plan went wrong. The radiation killed a large share of the gnomish population along with the troggs, and the survivors fled to Ironforge.

Thermaplugg had expected this. He stayed behind, took the ruined city for himself and now rules it with an army of mechanical guardians, irradiated troggs and gnomes driven mad by radiation, known as leper gnomes. The Dark Iron dwarves have also sent an envoy to deal with him. Mekkatorque, from his refuge in Ironforge, has vowed to retake the city.

Bosses

Viscous Fallout is an ooze in the irradiated tunnels. Its staff, [Hydrocane], is a well-known early caster weapon. Electrocutioner 6000 always drops the [Workshop Key], which opens shortcut doors deeper in the city. Crowd Pummeler 9-60 is a large fighting robot in an arena-like room; its drop, [Manual Crowd Pummeler], is a two-handed mace that boosts attack speed when used.

Grubbis, a trogg chief, appears with his basilisk Chomper during an optional event at the entrance tunnels. Players defend Blastmaster Emi Shortfuse while she sets explosives to seal off the troggs' tunnels, and waves of troggs attack before Grubbis arrives.

Quests

Alliance quests come from Ironforge and Kharanos; Horde quests come from Orgrimmar and the goblins of Booty Bay.

Alliance

• The Grand Betrayal: High Tinker High Tinker Mekkatorque asks for Thermaplugg's death. Rewards include [Civinad Robes], [Triprunner Dungarees] and [Dual Reinforced Leggings].
• Save Techbot's Brain!: Tinkmaster Overspark in Ironforge wants the memory core of Techbot, a damaged robot outside the entrance.
• Gnogaine and The Only Cure is More Green Glow: Ozzie Togglevolt in Kharanos wants radioactive fallout gathered from irradiated troggs, then a stronger, unstable sample from inside.
• Essential Artificials: Klockmort Spannerspan wants 12 Essential Artificials from the robots.
• Data Rescue: Master Mechanic Castpipe wants a [Prismatic Punch Card], made by running a card through a series of terminals.
• Gyrodrillmatic Excavationators: Shoni the Shilent in Stormwind wants 24 Robo-mechanical Guts.

Horde

• Rig Wars: Nogg in Orgrimmar wants the Rig Blueprints and Thermaplugg's safe combination. It offers the same rewards as The Grand Betrayal.
• Chief Engineer Scooty and Gnomer-gooooone!: Scooty in Booty Bay calibrates a [Goblin Transponder], which teleports its owner from Booty Bay to Gnomeregan's back door.
• A Fine Mess: escort the gnome Kernobee out of the dungeon.

Both factions

• Grime-Encrusted Ring: the Grime-Encrusted Ring, a random drop, can be cleaned in the Sparklematic 5200 machine inside. It then leads to Return of the Ring (Alliance) or Return of the Ring (Horde) for a [Brilliant Gold Ring].

Strategy notes

Gnomeregan is long. A full clear often takes two hours or more, and the city's open halls and catwalks make it easy to pull too many enemies.

• Leper gnomes and troggs come in large numbers. Area-of-effect damage works well.
• Dark Iron agents in the deeper halls lay land mines. Watch where the group walks.
• Electrocutioner 6000 deals heavy nature damage with chain lightning. Spread out.
• Crowd Pummeler 9-60 knocks players back with Crowd Pummel.
• Mekgineer Thermaplugg fights in a room ringed with gnome-face machines. During the fight, the faces open and release walking bombs that explode on contact. Players can stop the bombs by pressing the button under each face. Assign someone to watch the walls.

History

Gnomeregan was part of World of Warcraft at launch in November 2004. The gnomes' fall had been part of the setting since Warcraft III, but the original game was the first time players could enter the city.

Later history

Cataclysm (patch 4.0.3a) moved the gnome starting area into Gnomeregan's outer ruins, and a pre-expansion event, Operation: Gnomeregan, had Mekkatorque lead the gnomes back to retake the surface. The dungeon itself stayed largely unchanged. In 2024 Gnomeregan became the second raid of Season of Discovery, rebuilt as a 10-player raid for level 40. The 1.12 version returned with World of Warcraft Classic in 2019.

Sources

• Gnomeregan (instance), Warcraft Wiki
• Gnomeregan, Warcraft Wiki
• Mekgineer Thermaplugg, Warcraft Wiki
• WoWDB quest and loot data for patch 1.12