WoW Forever Gnome Evidence
Blizzard has published the Gnome classes and racials for WoW Forever. Other Gnome details are still open.
Gnomeregan was an irradiated dungeon in Vanilla, so Gnomes started out in Dun Morogh as the Dwarves' houseguests.
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Gnome classes: Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior. Priest is new | Create the Hero, September 22 | Confirmed |
| Gnome is Alliance; original WoW classes were Warrior, Rogue, Mage, and Warlock | Blizzard Gnome page | Confirmed |
| Blizzard's race and class tables list six new combinations, Gnome Priest among them; the Deep Dive recap adds that more are planned. The tables' Undead Paladin is Battle.net's Forsaken Paladin | Create the Hero, Deep Dive recap | Confirmed |
| No Gnome-specific lore, voices, naming or customization details, or start-zone changes are listed | Battle.net product page, panel recap | Not announced |
| A deleted first roadmap image listed two unnamed class/race combinations for Spring 2027; Blizzard's current graphic does not | Roadmap graphic | Unverified report |
Gnome Racials
Eureka! changed again in the October 15 beta notes: an 8-second buff with no charges, the same damage and ability-cost effect as the preceding build, and support for Power Word: Shield. The note does not restate numeric magnitudes.Sources: Blizzard, September 22 racial list for unchanged baseline effects; October 15 beta development notes, post 6, for the stated changes; retained capture Oct 18, 2026. Official wording; realm behavior not tested.
Eureka! changed two days after Blizzard's article. The September 22 text reads "Reduced cost and 10% increased damage or healing on next 3 spells or abilities."Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Sep 25, 2026.
The September 24 beta notes say "Changed Eureka on every class to a 10% discount on Mana, Rage, or Energy abilities."Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated September 24, checked Sep 25, 2026.
That September 24 note did not settle the older next-three-use question; the October 15 note below later removes charges.
Eureka! changed again on October 1. The October 1 beta notes say "Eureka! no longer benefits periodic effects at all. Channeled spells do not count as periodics."
A new known issue adds "Eureka does not affect every Damaging Spell or Healing Spell for some classes. This is fixed in a later build."
That October 1 post prints no full tooltip. The later October 15 note gives the 8-second, no-charge form and adds Power Word: Shield, without restating numeric magnitudes.Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes, October 1, checked Oct 1, 2026.
Warcraft Tavern's floor-demo report and its racial-ability report listed the same five classes and four racials before Blizzard published them. A Reddit list repeated Gnome Priest early. The Priest guide and class list use Blizzard's table.
September 24 Beta Build Changes
Gnome Priests have two racial spells in the September 24 beta build, but neither spell's full effect is published. Contingency Plan can now land critical hits, and Confounding Flash gets a cast visual that is "more Holy oriented than Arcane."
Confirmed for the beta build.Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated September 24, checked Sep 25, 2026. Neither spell is in Blizzard's September 22 racial list. The September 24 beta notes summary lists the other Priest changes.
Gnome leveling has no Blizzard route yet. The RestedXP Forever leveling guide sells routes it says are not yet complete, and Zygor Guides for WoW Forever plans its guides for launch.Source: Zygor's Forever announcement, checked Sep 28, 2026. The Zygor vs RestedXP comparison sets the two side by side for a Gnome leveling plan.
The Four Gnome Racials, Word for Word
Gnomes get two active abilities, Escape Artist and Eureka!, and two passives, as listed in Blizzard's September 22 Create the Hero article. The quotes below are its exact wording. It gives no cooldown, range, or scaling number beyond what each line states. The racials hub lines up every race's traits side by side.
Escape Artist
Escape Artist is a situational answer to being rooted or slowed, not a damage cooldown. The first active reads "Brief Immunity to Roots and Snares."Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Sep 25, 2026.
Blizzard publishes no duration for the immunity.
Expansive Mind and Engineering Specialization
Expansive Mind names all three resource types rather than one, which means it reads the same for a spellcaster's mana bar, a Warrior's rage or a Rogue's energy. It is the first passive: "Maximum Mana, Rage, or Energy increased by 5%."Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Sep 25, 2026.
Engineering Specialization closes the list: "More reliable engineering devices."Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Sep 25, 2026.
Blizzard gives no failure rate or device list, and doesn't say whether Engineering ships as a launch profession at all. The racial's own wording is one of the stronger signals that Engineering exists behind the scenes. The Engineering profession guide tracks every signal for it in full.
An Early Community Read That Matched Blizzard's List
A Warrior-focused video from creator Cajato listed the same kit before Blizzard's article, from a demo talent calculator shown on screen: Escape Artist, Eureka! with its next-three-abilities bonus, a 5% Expansive Mind bonus to mana, rage, and energy, and Engineering Specialization.Source: WoW Forever Warrior: Every Talent, Classic Changes & Racials, Cajato, checked Sep 28, 2026.
The video is a community source, not an official one, but it works as a cross-check. What the creator saw on a demo build matched what Blizzard later confirmed. Eureka! is the one detail the beta then changed again.
Engineering Specialization and the Profession Question
Engineering Specialization's payoff is reported, not confirmed: Blizzard's Deep Dive panel never names Engineering among its listed professions. Yet the Gnome racial reads "More reliable engineering devices," which only makes sense if engineering devices exist somewhere in Forever. Wowhead's Camping overview lists three Engineering camp objects: a Reagent Bot at skill 20 for buying reagents, a Repair Bot at 140 for reagents and repairs, and an Anarchist's Workbench at 300 that unlocks further recipes.Source: WoW Forever Camping overview, Wowhead, checked Sep 28, 2026.
Our read of the beta client (build 1.60.1.70009) also finds Engineering recipe rows in its profession tables. That finding is reported, not confirmed. None of that confirms players can train Engineering at launch, only that the beta build contains Engineering content. Until Blizzard names Engineering in its own profession list, treat Engineering Specialization's payoff as reported, not confirmed.
Which Classes Actually Use These Racials
None of the four Gnome racials names a class, so each reaches any Gnome class; Engineering Specialization also depends on the profession reaching launch. Blizzard hasn't ranked Gnome for any class, so this isn't a recommendation, only a read of what the tooltips cover.
The September 24 Eureka! note names Mana, Rage and Energy across every class; the October 15 note later changes it to an 8-second buff with no charges. Expansive Mind separately raises maximum Mana, Rage or Energy by 5% in Blizzard's September 22 text. These are class-resource effects; the October 15 update does not restate their full numeric tooltip.Sources: Blizzard, September 22 racial list for unchanged baseline effects; October 15 beta development notes, post 6, for the stated changes; retained capture Oct 18, 2026. Official wording; realm behavior not tested.
Engineering Specialization is the outlier. It pays off for any Gnome who trains Engineering, whatever the class, assuming the profession reaches launch. A Gnome Warrior and a Gnome Mage get the same benefit if both level it.
Gnome Priest: Five Classes Where Classic Had Four
Priest gives Gnomes the healer option they lacked in Classic Era, filling a role the race never had rather than adding a second caster seat beside Mage and Warlock. Original WoW gave Gnomes four classes: Warrior, Rogue, Mage, and Warlock, according to Blizzard's Gnome race page. Priest is the only class Forever adds to that list, and the September 22 Alliance race and class table confirms it.
Gnome Priest's own racial spells, named in the beta build changes above, are the least documented part of the kit. Blizzard's notes confirm the spells exist and are being tuned, but Blizzard has published no effect, cost, or cooldown for Contingency Plan or .
What Wowhead's Beta Database Shows
Wowhead's Forever database fills part of that gap, listing Confounding Flash at level 10 and Contingency Plan at level 20. These are reported beta numbers and can change. Both spells are Gnome-only Priest spells, and each has Alliance quests of the same name at the level it unlocks.
| Spell | Level | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confounding Flash | 10 | Confuses up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 3 seconds. Damage breaks it. | 2 minute cooldown |
| Contingency Plan | 20 | A 30 second Holy ward on an ally. Below 35% health, it shields and heals them. | 10 minute cooldown |
Contingency Plan has five ranks, at levels 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60. Rank 1 absorbs 155 damage and heals 125 health over 15 seconds.Source: Contingency Plan on Wowhead, checked Sep 28, 2026. Confounding Flash lists a single rank.Source: Confounding Flash on Wowhead, checked Sep 28, 2026.
Where Gnomes Start: The Classic Baseline
Dun Morogh, shared with Dwarves, is the Classic Gnome baseline: Blizzard has published no Gnome-specific starting zone, quest chain, or leveling change for Forever. In Classic Era, Gnomes level beside Dwarves in Dun Morogh rather than in a zone of their own, sharing quest hubs and travel paths with that race through the low levels.
Nothing in Blizzard's Forever articles or the September 24 beta notes says Forever changes that shared start. The race and class matrix sets Gnome's five-class roster beside the other seven original races and Skyborne.
What Remains Unknown
Treat these Gnome details as open; Blizzard's text doesn't settle them.
Eureka!'s complete current numeric tooltip; the October 15 note gives duration and charges but does not restate numeric magnitudes.Sources: Blizzard, September 22 racial list for unchanged baseline effects; October 15 beta development notes, post 6, for the stated changes; retained capture Oct 18, 2026. Official wording; realm behavior not tested.
- Escape Artist's duration and every racial cooldown.
- Whether the two Spring 2027 combinations are still planned.
- Whether either spring combination includes Gnome.
- Whether Forever changes Gnome names, customization, or voices.
- Whether Forever changes Gnome lore or the starting zone.
For Eureka!, use the October 15 update above; it resolves the old next-three-use question with an 8-second buff and no charges, while leaving numeric magnitudes unstated. Escape Artist's immunity duration and cooldown are not specified by that update. The two Spring 2027 combinations come from the deleted first roadmap image. The Battle.net product page and panel recap publish no Forever names list, naming rules, or location update in the retained evidence; that gap does not prove no change exists.Sources: Blizzard, September 22 racial list for unchanged baseline effects; October 15 beta development notes, post 6, for the stated changes; retained capture Oct 18, 2026. Official wording; realm behavior not tested.
Gnome FAQ
What classes can Gnomes play in WoW Forever?
Five: Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock and Warrior. Priest is new; Gnome Priest is one of six new pairings in Blizzard's September 22 race and class tables.Source: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Oct 5, 2026.
What are the Gnome racials in WoW Forever?
Escape Artist, Eureka!, Expansive Mind and Engineering Specialization. Escape Artist gives brief immunity to roots and snares, and Expansive Mind raises maximum Mana, Rage or Energy by 5%.Source: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever, checked Oct 5, 2026.
What does the Gnome racial Eureka! do now?
The October 15 notes say Eureka! is an 8-second buff with no charges, has the same effect on damage and ability costs as the preceding build, and now also benefits Power Word: Shield. They also state: "Eureka! cannot correctly be used while in stealth or invisibility." The notes do not restate numeric magnitudes or prove live realm behavior.Sources: Blizzard, September 22 racial list for unchanged baseline effects; October 15 beta development notes, post 6, for the stated changes; retained capture Oct 18, 2026. Official wording; realm behavior not tested.