WoW has had a pretty big influence on my taste in fantasy. Before I played WoW, I had no particular affinity for dark and gothic fantasy and the use of undead as monsters to fight, but I found myself so enamored with the Scourge and the Plaguelands as a setting (and the playable Undead) that it's now become pretty core to a lot of what I do in fantasy, like how I tend to use a lot of undead monsters in my D&D games (especially when a campaign is starting off).
But in a similar way, I don't know that I was all that into the idea of anachronistically advanced technology in an otherwise classic medieval fantasy world, but boy did WoW instill that in me.
WoW's approach to technology has never been realistic. In the real world, technology has generally gotten more powerful and more efficient over time. While it's debatable how much life has actually gotten better with technological progress (though I think we sometimes forget how miserable life was prior to innovations in agriculture and medicine) it's pretty clear that in a military sense (it is Warcraft after all) that a modern military unit with attack drones, automatic weapons, and guided missiles would fare quite well against a medieval unit of a bunch of peasants with (generously) pikes supported by longbowmen and armored knights.
But in World of Warcraft, we have people like the Draenei, with futuristic crystal technology like something out of a far-future sci-fi story, compared with the Tauren, who have stone-age (and I don't mean this in the pejorative way, but in the sense that much of their stuff is made of stone) tools, but it's all actually balanced out because of, well, the way that game balance works.
There is a conceit here in fantasy that you don't get with sci-fi, which is that the more "primitive" technology might be imbued with powerful magic. In a sense, magic can be a kind of alternative path or, depending on your perspective, just a different avenue of technological development.
The point, though, is that Warcraft as a franchise has never shied away from having modern and futuristic technology.
In Dungeons & Dragons, some were a little put off by the introduction of the Artificer class, fearing that it was injecting a steampunk aesthetic into a game that they preferred stick to the pre-industrial style of fantasy. I think there were some mitigating factors, though. First off, the class was initially introduced for the Eberron setting, which is explicitly meant to feel like 1930s pulp adventure stories, with a city full of skyscrapers, airships, and lightning rail trains, along with a playable species that are basically robots (though I'd argue, especially given the runes they each have on their foreheads, that they are more accurately sentient golems). On top of that, there are subclasses for the Artificer, like the Alchemist, that live very comfortably in a pure medieval world.
But I don't think you would have any trouble with an equivalent class in World of Warcraft, given the wide breadth of technology levels that we already have well-represented in-game. The Engineering profession has, since vanilla, always injected that Steampunk/Gearpunk look and feel into the game.
That profession does kind of inhabit similar spaces to where I'd expect a Tinker class to live, but such overlap is not a dealbreaker - I have a Blood Elf Shadow Priest I created right when Burning Crusade came out, and the introduction of the Void Elves does raise some interesting questions about what that actually means for him as a character (why is he tolerated in Silvermoon while his Ren'dorei cousins aren't? Though to be fair, he does get hostile comments from passers-by in Midnight-era Silvermoon).
I don't think there's quite the precedence we had for Death Knights and Demon Hunters in terms of the Tinker as a new class. Many WoW classes were built on the conceptual bones of Warcraft III heroes, with Arthas serving as the model for both the Paladin and Death Knight (his abilities being much more mirrored than the two classes are in 2026) and Illidan as the Demon Hunter. Chen Stormstout, who appeared in the Founding of Durotar campaign, which focused more on the RPG elements present in the game, gave us the Brewmaster, which would be expanded out into the Monk class (itself a fairly common RPG class archetype, though I think WoW's version is far more mystical/magical than they tend to be).
Lore-wise, there is a role of High Tinker as the elected leader of the Gnomes of Gnomeregan (though boy, how long has Gelbin's incumbency lasted? How long are the terms?) but there's no formal suite of abilities I think we could draw from as the starting point for the class.
The Evoker, however, was pretty much unprecedented in the lore. Warcraft III came out 24 years ago, so I don't think that WoW needs to remain beholden to it (and it certainly hasn't been that way - though I do find it interesting that the new WCIII campaign chapter apparently establishes Forsaken Paladins. If only I could get my old copy to install!) Basically, behind the Deep Breath ability, I don't think anything that the Evoker casts had any direct precedence other than the obvious presence of dragons across WoW's history.
In a similar way, I don't think this would be much of a problem for the Tinker as a class.
So, let's ask a couple questions: First, why now? Second, if we do get them, what kind of class might they be?
As to the "why now," the main thing I have to say is: giant robots. We got a tiny teaser for Last Titan, where a truly staggeringly enormous mech (bigger than Dimensius, possibly?) towers over Dragonblight. There is some speculation that this mech is Ulduar, animating like a transformer, though I don't know how compelling the arguments for that are.
The Last Titan is likely to feature the Titans and their creations quite heavily, and Titan stuff has always been technologically-themed, with the Titanforged creations acting as automatons, the creeping corruption of the Old Gods' Curse of Flesh being the only thing that would lead to fully sentient Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, and such.
Titan technology is thus probably the most advanced technology that we've ever seen in the WoW universe (other than possibly the First Ones, though I don't know to what extent Blizzard is going to lean so much into the presence of the First Ones as they kind of feel like they're just the Titans, but... um... older, and they made the Titans, right? Feels a bit like lore one-upsmanship at the cost of narrative cohesion, even if I thought the aesthetic of Zereth Mortis was freaking incredible).
And so, it would make sense to have a class that really focuses on technology coming into the spotlight.
But what kind of class would it be?
Well, let's start with the basics at the beginning:
I think that in an ideal world, the Tinker would, like the Monk, be a "regular" class, rather than a Hero class that starts at higher levels. Granted, these days, Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and Evokers start at level 10, just a small boost compared to other characters, but the appeal for each was that you could get one started and immediately jump into the current content.
Frankly, I don't know that the leveling game is all that great right now - one of the problems is that you level up faster than your quests give you appropriate gear, and with level scaling, this winds up making you feel less powerful (it's still better than the pre-level-squish days when you'd level up without getting any sort of talent point or new ability and truly be worse off in every way when you hit a new level).
Notably, when introduced, Death Knights started at level 55 when the level cap had just raised to 80, so you were still expected to level up through Outland before heading to Northrend, where established characters could go at midnight right when the expansion came out (I think I actually hopped in to start my DK at the time. This was also when you had to go to the store at midnight to pick up the game with its discs to install it, which did sort of stagger when people were logging in. I think the first expansion I got purely digitally was Warlords of Draenor, which had an infamously rough launch).
Monks were the only class added to the game that started at level 1, and when you were going around Pandaria in the first few weeks of Mists, it was very funny to just not see anyone playing the new class because, well, they hadn't gotten to a high enough level to start yet! The first time I saw a Monk in one of my dungeon groups, like a week and a half in, I was astonished that they had leveled so quickly (this was also when leveling was a slower process).
Should the Tinker be released, I think it would make sense for it to be a "normal" class, but I think the appeal of getting them into the mix from the get-go might compel Blizzard to have them start off at a higher level, at least during The Last Titan. But that would also meant they probably need a unique starting experience.
That's actually probably fine. While "allied races" get a brief intro, it's not a fully starting zone or anything, and so the last time we truly got a fully-fledged starting zone for a new race was... The Pandaren on the Wandering Isle, 14 years ago. Now, I love the Worgen starting zone (can you guess what class I'd think of making a Tinker? In fairness, the last three times they released a new class, I had hoped to make a Worgen character, only to find out that they were not allowed. Worgen Monks are a thing now, but they weren't available during Mists, so my Monk is a Pandaren like I assume 90% of them are,) but it's not exactly "current" content up to all the modern standards.
Still, more like the Monk than WoW's three hero classes, Tinkers feel like they would be something that's just a learned discipline rather than some intrinsic alteration to one's physiology, which means in my mind that you could easily make them available to every playable race, and we probably don't need special cosmetic customizations and unique voice lines the way that Demon Hunters do (though note that Void Elf demon hunters use standard Void Elf voices).
In other words, I think the class can sit upon the existing races without much issue.
But what would the class actually... play like? What roles might it perform in a group?
I think that the safest bet is to just let it do all three: Tank, Damage, and Heal. I think each of these can easily be justified by the use of technology that is specialized for that role.
Then, the next question is armor type. This is, I guess, less of an issue in today's WoW where so much loot is just personal and you get all your relevant stats on any armor, but it can be a matter of aesthetics.
I think that, no matter what, they've got to have one of the heavier kinds of armor. Mail or Plate could both work. They should be wearing some kind of metallic armor. Between the two, I'd lean in more for Plate, but it does create some (admittedly easily-solved) issues based on where I go with this.
Plate armor, I think, works for the Tinker because of how you could imagine a Tinker building out their armor like a hull. There's precedence with Tanks, as all plate-wearing classes can perform the Tank role, and precedence for healers wearing Plate thanks to Paladins.
Now, I'd like Tinkers to all use Intellect as their primary stat, but for Tanks, it would make more sense to go with Strength given that tank trinkets tend to have Strength and Agility on them. That's fine - these stats are nearly indistinguishable in modern WoW, as you get equal numbers of any piece of gear you're likely to actually use.
Here, though, is where my vision for the class makes itemization slightly awkward:
I think their DPS spec should be ranged, and use ranged weapons.
Back when we had a ranged weapon slot, Warriors and Rogues would wield bows, crossbows, and guns, even if they only used them as "stat sticks." But since the removal of said slot (I want to say in Mists? Monks never had a relic for that slot, did they?) these three weapon categories have been used by only a single class, and after Legion redefined Survival as a strictly melee spec, only two specs actually use these three kinds of weapons. The Demon Hunter-exclusive Warglaive weapon, thus, ironically, with the addition of the Devourer spec, is now used by more specs than these three weapon types that were once used by nine different specs.
I think Tinkers should use ranged weapons.
But that does, admittedly, create some itemization issues. If it's a Plate class, Tinkers would be using Intellect or Strength as their primary stat, and ranged weapons only have agility on them.
Now, one solution is profoundly simple: just add stats. They did this with Warglaives in Midnight, adding Intellect on top of Agility so that any Demon Hunter can use any Warglaive and have it function for their spec. Perhaps we could then add Strength or Intellect to ranged weapons as well.
We've put the cart before the horse a little, though, so let me back up:
Currently, every Tank class has a melee dps spec. It makes sense, as if you're a class that can fight in melee, it seems reasonable that you could focus those skills on survival or on damage output.
But I do think that the Tinker ought to be able to use guns (and by extension, bows and crossbows). In part, this is because the Engineering profession has always been the one that is used to make guns. But I also think that a weapon like that is, you know, a bit of advanced technology.
Also, from Vanilla up through Shadowlands, WoW had not added a single ranged dps spec to the game (even removing one by making Survival a melee spec in Legion). Since then, we have gotten three new ones with Devastation, Augmentation, and Devourer. Weirdly, all three of these have been "short range" ranged specs, so you could argue that we still haven't seen a single "full range" ranged spec added to the game in its 22 years.
Now, it would probably be simpler to just make a ranged Tinker DPS spec function as a spellcaster - you already have Intellect on Plate. But I really feel that making the class more generally weapon-based would be a better choice - a weapon, after all, is a type of tool.
The other alternative is to just make the class a Mail one - Agility could work for ranged weapons, and half of the existing tank classes use Agility anyway. Bizarrely, despite Mail actually giving more armor than Leather, we don't actually have any Mail tanks (though there's an evergreen rumor that Shaman tanks are right around the corner, which has been circulating for about 22 years). Itemization works out fine here, as tanks and dps would use agility trinkets while healers would use intellect.
I think this could work, but I do feel like the aesthetic of Plate makes more sense to me.
Next, another thing:
Let Tinkers use Shields.
It's kind of absurd that only three classes in WoW can use Shields, and one of them can't even tank! The fact that 4/6 tanks don't use shields is kind of crazy. I get why Death Knights went without them (though funnily enough, the D&D Death Knight monster stat block does use a shield) and it wouldn't really make sense for Monks or Demon Hunters. I'm not sure it really makes sense for Shamans, except that back in Vanilla when Paladins and Shamans were faction-exclusive, you had to have someone on the Horde who could make use of all the Intellect Shields.
But I think Shields make a lot of sense for Tinkers, and we even have a fair amount of precedence with various mech suits and such using shields.
Mechanically, I think Tinkers could just use Mana, though this resource has basically ceased to have any real meaning for specs that aren't Healers or Arcane Mages (and I think even for them, managing mana has gotten less central). I think instead I'd prefer some form of unique, original resource like Power.
This could act as a secondary resource like Essence does for Evokers or Runes for Death Knights (well, I'd argue that Runes are the primary resource and Runic Power is secondary, but whatever).
I don't really want to get into the weeds on this, though. Broadly speaking, I think tanks would probably have bursts of electricity and fire (maybe some arcane damage to distinguish it a bit from Shamans) and use force fields as damage absorption shields. Ranged dps would distinguish themselves from Hunters by focusing on charging their shots with various energies and possibly throwing bombs and missiles (I realize there's a bit of an overlap here with Survival Hunters). Healers, I figure, would channel healing energy into allies, maybe shielding them and possibly tossing down helpful pylons (though I get that the latter concept is a bit Shaman-like).
Aesthetically, here's what I'd want to avoid:
The Dracthyr problem.
I think part of why the Dracthyr are (I take it) unpopular is that you don't actually get to see your freaking gear on them when they're in their draconic true form. So much of the fun of a WoW character is building the perfect aesthetic for them, and while the Dracthyr customization options are broad and deep, they still pale in comparison with the sheer breadth of transmog options that any other WoW character can get their hands on.
Truly, I try to fill out the full tier sets for each class each season (ideally grabbing Heroic pieces in each slot and upgrading them to 6/6 to get the Mythic looks) but with Evokers I don't think I've ever actually done so because... well, why bother?
This is, admittedly, something of a problem for Druids, and while I love the spooky Wicker Man vibes of my Kul Tiran Druid (the only BFA Allied race who took over as a class main and had me putting my 2006 vintage Night Elf Druid in mothballs) I'm less motivated to grab all those transmog appearances given that when he's in combat, he always looks the same.
I do want Tinkers to have a signature, unusual look, but I don't want that to get in the way of letting their actual chosen gear appearances showing up.
Now, I don't think that's going to be much of a problem: the problem for Evokers is really more a problem of Dracthyr, and if this is available to every race, then I think we'll be fine.
But, that being said, I think we could do some fun things:
I think the tank spec should be in some kind of mech suit. The key is to make the suit unobtrusive enough that you can still show off your cool transmog. In fairness, maybe the solution is simply to have Tinker tier sets give off something of a mech suit vibe. Spells/abilities that manifest as big mechanical arms or antennae or the like might be enough to give off this feel.
Blizzard has gotten more creative with how class abilities manifest themselves, so maybe we can evoke the idea of being in a mech suit without messing too much with the overall silhouette of our character.
So, as a big caveat: there's zero direct evidence that we're getting a Tinker class. It'll be probably a ways into 2027 before we get firm details on the actual expansion features of The Last Titan, and much as we never got Necromancers in Shadowlands, there's every possibility that the announcement will come and go with no new class announcement (though I think if not, there's a decent possibility we'll see new specs added, like the aforementioned Shaman tank).
I would very much like to get a Tinker like what I've described, but this is all just rampant speculation for now.
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