Gnomeregan: WoW Forever Dungeon

Gnomeregan is the gnome capital, lost when the troggs rose from below and the gnomes flooded the city with radiation to drive them out. Mekgineer Thermaplugg, the advisor who made that call, has taken the ruins for himself. Leper gnomes, troggs and Thermaplugg's machines hold every level.

It is one of the longest dungeons in Classic, and it is built in layers that are easy to get lost in: the tunnels at the top, the clean zone, the dormitory, the launch bay, the engineering labs, the Hall of Gears. Trash comes in big packs, many of them mechanical, and several of the dangerous mobs are immune to the usual crowd control.

In WoW Forever the Dungeon Finder row starts at level 25, the same bracket as the beta's level 30 cap. The October 1 notes list Gnomeregan as open. The quest set is big enough that a full clear with every quest is a strong XP run, and Forever pays dungeon quests better than mobs.

Clear order

1. Speak to Emi Shortfuse near the start and defend her while she blows a cave open. Grubbis comes at the end of the event.
2. Work down through the irradiated tunnels to Viscous Fallout, an ooze in the lower tunnels. He is optional.
3. Continue to the dormitory and then Electrocutioner 6000. He drops the Workshop Key.
4. Fight through the launch bay and the engineering rooms. Crowd Pummeler 9-60 waits in an arena-like room.
5. Finish in the Hall of Gears with Mekgineer Thermaplugg.

Group and preparation

• Plan for mechanical mobs: Polymorph, Sap, Fear and Shackle do not work on them. Hunter traps and stuns still do.
• Leper gnomes are humanoids, so Polymorph and Sap work on them. Use crowd control there.
• Bring cure disease and poison if you can. Irradiated mobs leave a radiation debuff that ticks for a long time.
• Expect a long run. Bring food and water for the whole thing; there is no vendor inside.
• Forever's new pairs help here: a Human Hunter brings traps and stuns that work on the robots, and a Dwarf Shaman brings Cure Disease for the irradiated mobs. A Horde group can now bring an Undead Paladin to purify radiation and poison.
• Decide before you enter whether you are doing the whole city or only Thermaplugg. Groups that argue halfway through the launch bay lose more time than any boss costs them.

• The beta client gives the Gnomeregan Dungeon Finder row a minimum level of 25; the Classic Era client (1.15.9.70003) leaves that row without a level. ^{[BETA-OBSERVED]}
• No instance-specific change found in the beta client data as of build 1.60.1.70170: same encounter ids, names and order as Classic Era. Blizzard's notes so far do not name a change to this dungeon's bosses. ^{[BETA-OBSERVED]}

Forever rules that apply to every dungeon

• Dungeon mob XP was cut and dungeon quest XP raised; the October 1 notes then cut the extra dungeon quest XP by 50%. Do the quests. ^{[REPORTED][OFFICIAL]}
• Dungeon boss unique drops are now blue, and BoP green and blue appearances go to every eligible looter. ^[OFFICIAL]
• Blizzard says ordinary mobs take about 10 to 15 seconds to kill and crowd control still matters in dungeons. ^[OFFICIAL]

Classic Era quests for this dungeon

Classic Era quests for this dungeon that are not in our beta cache yet. Forever has over 1,000 new quests and has changed dungeon quest XP, so treat this as the Classic baseline until each one shows up in the beta cache. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

Gnomeregan has more quests than most dungeons of its level, and most of them finish inside or in Tinker Town. Horde players have fewer, but Rig Wars is one of the better Horde rewards of the bracket.

Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

Encounter 1 of 5 in the beta client. Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

A trogg leader with his pet basilisk Chomper. He arrives at the end of the Emi Shortfuse event.

Abilities

Tactics

Emi Shortfuse sets charges at two cave mouths. While she works, waves of troggs come out of both. Split the group so each side is held, and protect Emi; she has little health. After the last wave, Grubbis and Chomper arrive. Tank them together and kill Chomper first.

• Tank: Stand between Emi and the caves; taunt troggs that go for her.
• Healer: Keep a heal on Emi, not only on the group.
• DPS: Area damage on the waves; single target on Chomper.

Encounter 2 of 5 in the beta client. Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

A radioactive ooze in the lower tunnels. Optional.

Abilities

Tactics

A tank and spank. Most groups skip him unless they want his drop or are already passing his tunnel.

Encounter 3 of 5 in the beta client. Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

A large robot in a room off the dormitory. Drops the Workshop Key.

Abilities

Tactics

Clear the room, then fight him in the middle with the group spread. He is mechanical, so stuns are your only control. Loot the Workshop Key: it opens doors that cut a long walk later in the run.

• Tank: Hold him in the middle so the group can spread around him.
• Healer: Chain Bolt hits several people; keep the whole group above half health.
• DPS: Stand apart from each other, at least a few steps, so the bolt cannot chain.

Encounter 4 of 5 in the beta client. Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

A big robot built for fighting crowds. Knocks back everyone near him.

Abilities

Tactics

Tank him in the middle of his room. Everything he does hits players near him, so melee damage dealers stand at the edge of his reach and casters do most of the work.

• Tank: Hold him still so the group can stay out of his radius.
• Healer: Out of melee range at all times.
• DPS: Melee: accept a few knockbacks; walk straight back in.

Encounter 5 of 5 in the beta client. Classic Era mechanics; Forever beta unconfirmed. ^{[CLASSIC ERA]}

The traitor gnome in his walking machine, in the Hall of Gears. Bombs pour out of the walls.

Abilities

Tactics

The room has six gnome faces in the walls. During the fight, faces light up and release walking bombs. Each face has a button below it. Assign one or two fast players to watch the faces and hit the buttons the moment they open; that stops the bombs at the source. Everyone else kills Thermaplugg.

If bombs get loose, kill them before they reach the healer. A group that ignores the faces will be buried in bombs within a minute. A group that presses buttons barely sees one.

• Tank: Back to a wall; Knock Away drops threat, so taunt or use your biggest threat move after it.
• Healer: Stand near a wall with no face above you.
• DPS: One rogue or hunter on button duty; the rest on the boss.

• Gnomeregan Dungeon Finder level: 0 in Era, 25 in Forever.

Rows in the Forever client's achievement table tied to this map:

• Mekgineer Thermaplugg kills (Gnomeregan)

Written and checked by TheWoWDB on October 5, 2026. Abilities and tactics describe how these fights work in Classic Era; the WoW Forever beta can change any of them, and Blizzard has said boss loot and stats were reworked. Nothing here is a drop rate or a timing we measured. Loot rows come from the Adventure Guide match further down the page; the beta client cannot say how often anything drops.