Your ideal interpretation of a 'tinker' class

Argent Dawn
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insert (forum fun) tag ig

As part of the addon I’m working on (RPToolkit), I’m currently in the process of adding built-in spells for every class in the game, as well as extending them to open up more interesting builds (e.g., tank rogue, mage healer, that sort of thing…)

So it got me thinking about adding a Tinker class, because it’s probably the most popular non-existent class that people play in RP.

Therefore, if Blizzard were to add the Tinker class to the game, what do you envisage being in it? What specialisations does it have? Which weapons and armour? What does its resource system entail?

lmk your thoughts tinkerbros

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It’d be basically a WoW version of D&D’s Artificer class.

If they’re not fighting in a big steam-powered mech, they’re commanding robots or using a big, very explosive magic gun.

If you find the Unearthed Arcana for Artificer in 5.5E, you can easily reverse engineer and Warcraftify a lot of it.

There’s also the Warcraft 3E supplement’s version of the Tinker -

Lean into that fantasy. They fight smart, not hard.

You can still buy the supplement from Amazon, but it’s not cheap.

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This, in essence.
I’d imagine a tank spec with a gun, or a DPS minionmancer spec for mechanical pets. Hell, throw in Wildstars variant of healing by just giving them massive defibrillator pads.

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Firstly it ought to be called a tinkerer.

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I liked the way the Engineers were done in Wildstar and I’d probably enjoy having an iteration of that and their Medic class mixed together.

Since making it a class would be at the expense of the Engineering profession’s identity (something every class can utilize) I’d go the fully insane path of expanding Tinkers to also encompass Alchemist as a specialization and theme for the class. This would also feed into my other idea that it’d be WoW’s second 4 Spec Class with each specialization also tied to an armor type:

  • Warchemy (Cloth Healer/Support Spec)
  • Demolition (Ranged Leather DPS with Turrets focused on direct damage and explosives)
  • Machinery (Mail Ranged DPS with Turrets focused on summons, mechanical pets they build themselves instead of taming and utilizing drones and smaller bots for abilities)
  • Mechanization (Plate Melee Tank utilizing a heavily armored exosuit with built-in augments and gadgets)

The primary core Tinker mechanic for all specs would be Scrap usage as a resource with which they augment different abilities. Chemical Scrap improves healing, both output and self, as well as Toxic and Lightning abilities that do Nature damage, Steel Scrap improves turrets and damage mitigation, Explosive Scrap improves bombs and utility abilities related to engineering, etc… Said scraps will have a baseline 2 minute cooldown on their usage, with each type having reduced cooldowns and additional charges with specialization choices and talents (eg. Warchemist gets talents that reduce Chemical and Explosive Scrap CDs).

The secondary core Tinker mechanic for all specs is Ingenuity where using certain combinations of buffs and abilities result in doing an improved or altered version of a base spell, such as a Mech Tank casting a self-Augment that buffs explosives will change the Throw Toxic Vial ability (that does Nature damage and slows in AoE) into Throw Explosive Vial that generates more aggro and does more upfront damage as Fire. If the Tinker also spends Explosive Scrap the vial will explode into a fiery tornado that does AoE damage as well as pull targets like a vortex spell.

Warchemists will use Mana and Scrap, while all others use Focus and Scrap as their resource functioning similarly to Hunters with abilities that build or spend it respectively. I’d add a mechanic for each spec that’d also change how Scrap interacts with Focus or Mana, with Demolition and Mechanization favoring rapid spending and more frantic usage of both, while Warchemy and Machinery having a slightly slower playstyle favoring preplanning and lining up cooldowns.

Itemization wise all specs use Intellect and 3 out of 4 use Ranged Weapons (Mecha Tanks use 1H+shields), leading to ranged weapons getting Intellect stat and not just Agility any more. I have absolutely no idea how anyone can then stop Tinkers from grabbing every single piece of equipment apart from Loot Spec limiting them to one armor type per loot table, but at least it’d be restricted to Intellect trinkets as Mecha Tanks will also convert Intellect into a tanking resource through class magic.

Similarly I doubt anyone can and would balance this hellspawn concept, but that’s already a given with most existing classes at this point anyway. I would just like to see a ranged class with a high skill ceiling with rewarding gameplay focused more on utility than raw damage.

Unfortunately Blizzard gave me a nightmare vision from one of their surveys of Tinkers being an amalgamation of mortal and Titan tech engineering and honestly it’s what I expect going forward, particularly with the heavy focus on Titans and their creations in the next expansions.

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It need a Support spec.

I’d also want it to have tank+heal to help buff up their numbers vs. DPS.

I’d also want it to have at least one spec use guns and one that uses one handed melee weapons (whichever one is spanners - maces, I think?)

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Gotta find a way to plop down turrets that isn’t just a shaman totem reskin. Coincidentally there’s a draenei npc who effectively does that.

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give 'em little legs/treads so that they follow behind their target/you very slowly.

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I would like the healing spec to use guns
Grab some inspo from Ana in Overwatch/HotS maybe

Combine it with the alchemy stuff and maybe electricity.
And once you’re done you can’t judge me for turning the healing spec into something usable for Forsaken apothecaries. :]

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Without thinking too much how this would work or be balanced in terms of WoW gameplay (as we’re talking about RP primarily), I’d split the focus on Tinker into 3 “specs”.

First one is a Tinker that drives a vehicle, inspired by Warcraft 3 Goblin Tinker’s ultimate spell. The Tinker would “transform” into the vehicle form similar to what druids do and would use the abilities of the machine. You could use Warframes, Shredders or mechs Gelbin and Gallywix had in BfA as basis in terms of looks, distinct for each race. You can shoot rockets, drive over people. A unique mechanic might be that, once you lose the vehicle in combat (a.k.a. get to 0 HP), you eject and need to rebuild it, becoming extremely vulnerable and without abilities.
Role: Tank (duh)

Second is inspired by base model of Goblin Tinker: You have mechanical arm that acts as a weapon. Shoot lasers, throw grenades, use it as a flamethrower. Kind of the basic fantasy of being an engineer that has empowered themselves with machinery. Pocket Factory could also be an ability of theirs.
Role: Ranged DPS

The third would be a combo of placing turrets and having a mechanical pet that fights for you. Unlike the previous two, this Tinker doesn’t fight by themselves but rather sends the “pet” after their target while placing the turrets (the spells this “pet” does would be part of the character’s spellbar if we’re talking about the game itself, not RP).
Role: Ranged DPS

In terms of races: Gnomes, draenei, void elves, mechagnomes and Lightforged for Alliance.
Goblins, blood elves, Nightborne and Mag’har for Horde.

Gnomes, goblins and draenei are obvious, I’d hope. Mag’har are there because Iron Horde and its machinery. Elves have their constructs, but on top of that, Sunfury had plenty of engineers at Manaforges and could share this knowledge with other belves, which would then translate to void elves (could have been some Sunfury among them) and Nightborne (their closest ally) learning these skills too.

I’m at loss for what their resouce might be. Not sure if they even need one outside of additional stuff such as Holy Power, Soul Shards or Runes.
Perhaps something like Energy Cells, to fuel the bigger spells, while the ordinary ones work based on cooldowns like they do for Retribution paladins.

Armor type: Cloth, to go with the vibe of “it’s not the Tinker themselves that fights”. Also, Intellect is already the stat there, no need to rework old items.

Weapon: Wrench, a new one-hand weapon type. Off-hand item in second hand.

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Nonexistant.

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Mini tonk toys with actual guns on them.

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I think a TF2 style mad scientists doctor healing spec could be fun. We already have stuff like syringe guns, so why not have a gun wielding healer shoot us with healing bullets? Similar to how some healers work in hero shooters, shooting allies to heal and with aoe flasks to buff or debuff in aoe.

With this in mind, I like Sinbane’s interpretation of the Warchemist too. The Machinery style maybe revolving around summoning support bots to combine into a big pay off healing sounds like a good time. Perhaps with the emphasis on powering up the bots, it can be more of a support/utility spec similar to Aug. Some key spells may include combining these smaller bots into a larger one with a timer with an Ingenuity combo for a static aoe, or overcharging them for various buffs.

Then again, I’m not sure how much of a unique play style can be carved for the tinker with all the current class/spec/hero-spec combinations we currently have. Yet, I remain hopeful that one day they will add this class to the game.

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The one showcased in Conquest of Azeroth would be an ideal way.

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Too early for me to write it all down, there are many ideas brewing.

Tinker would be a four spec class - in my opinion - due to what they involve and use.

Tank: Siege/Steam-smith/Mech-Pilot: Tanking while in a mech, utilising steam as a resource. Some options would be to have a charge function selection, either a thruster or a magnetic grip (not both). And the ability to eject from the mech, while it can keep aggro, but have minimal functions (aka. like a hunter pet), and the Tinker would then have the basic abilities, running on the field.

Melee/Mid-ranged DPS: Goblin Engineering: DPS’ing with buzzsaws, flamethrower, mine and missiles. Able to drop raid supporting boosts. They would have the iconic Goblin Tinker pack. Resource would be Rocket Fuel. They would have rocket jumps as mobility.

Ranged DPS: Gnomish Engineering: DPS’ing with Death Rays, mini-turrets, and able to deploy shield generator. They would have the iconic Tinker pack but for Gnomish-Engi design. Resource would be battery power.

Healing: Alchemist: They will be healing with spray cannons, healing vials/grenades, healing pools (spill of healing potion 'ish), they would have an alchemical backpack (ooze tank), and their resource would be alchemical fluid (ooze).

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Many ideas are really good! I do have an alternate idea: make it the “racial skin” for Gnome, Mechagnome and Goblin druids.

My reasoning is that the Druid class has many things that can be incorporated into a Tinker class just by changing the appearance of spells. Their animal forms can be changed into the various mechanical beasts we’ve seen over the years, and their Moonkin form can be like the WC3 Tinker’s robot backpack. Mushrooms can look like bombs, Lunar based spells can look like lasers, Wrath and such can look like bolts of electricity. Entangling roots can easily be made to look like wires, and summons like treats and Guardians of the dream can have mech models introduced in Undermine and from previous years.

My other main reason for suggesting this is that it saves Blizzard another class to balance out, putting resources into another fantasy without adding more work to their class fairness efforts. Also, it being a “class skin” would open the way for other class skins, and it won’t take away from the engineering profession’s core.

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Not read through this might be there already but itd use guns, have a straight dps spec with said guns and grenades etc, and two support specs, one for buffs/rebuffs the other a healer - both using turrets and deployed mechs, goblin gnome tech is the obvious one but other races would have racial flavour to appearances etc.

Im torn on a straight pet spec that just deploys tons of mobile machines that they directly command but I broadly like the idea.

Incorporate the engineer prof into it, elements anyway for just fun silly spells.

Generally just do what wow never does, just go full ham on the idea and let it be as absurd as wows tech allows.

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The tinker “class” is just the engineering profession in my opinion.

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Something that incorporates the Draenei and Blood Elf take on engineering. Maybe as it’s own unique spec.

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Alas, not anymore. Maybe if we go back in time, but Engineering doesn’t have as much to call it a class, especially not this version.