Gnomish Cloaking Device: engineering invisibility in Vanilla

◆What it is and what it does

The device is a common quality trinket that binds when equipped and requires Engineering (200). It is instant: your character gets the Cloaking effect — invisibility for 10 seconds. After that the device goes on a 1 hour cooldown.

Gnomish Cloaking DeviceBinds when equippedTrinketRequires Engineering (200)Use: Gives invisibility for 10 sec. It can only be used every 60 minutes. (1 Hour Cooldown)

Despite the name, Gnomish Engineering is not needed — neither to craft nor to use it. Any engineer can make and wear the device: a gnomish engineer, a goblin engineer or an engineer without a specialization.

According to Wowpedia, while invisible you can only see other invisible players and those who can detect invisibility. Keep that in mind when sneaking up on an enemy — you will have to navigate from memory.

How to craft the Gnomish Cloaking Device

1. Raise Engineering to 200 — the route is described in the engineering guide.
2. Get the Schematic: Gnomish Cloaking Device. It is sold by Zan Shivsproket (Speciality Engineer) in the basement of Ravenholdt Manor in the Alterac Mountains. The schematic is a limited supply item — one copy, then you wait for a restock; the price according to Wowpedia is 24 silver. More about the manor itself on the Ravenholdt page.
3. Alternatively, it is a rare drop (about 2%) from Mekgineer Thermaplugg, the final boss of Gnomeregan.
4. Keep a Blacksmith Hammer and an Arclight Spanner in your bags.
5. Gather the reagents and craft the device.

Use in PvP and PvE

• Escape. The main scenario is to vanish when a fight is lost and get away from pursuit. Combined with Rocket Boots, the device gives an engineer two independent ways to survive.
• Ambush. Invisibility lets you approach an enemy unseen, although with its short duration and long cooldown it is more of a one-time trick than a replacement for rogue stealth.
• Scouting. You can peek around a corner in a PvP zone or check who is standing at a gathering point.
• Dungeons. The device is useful when you need to leave a dangerous area, not when you need damage or healing.

Pitfalls and patch history

• No malfunctions. Wowpedia explicitly notes that, unlike many engineering devices such as the Gnomish Death Ray, the cloaking device has no failure mechanics.
• Long cooldown: 1 hour means one escape per PvP session. Save it for truly dangerous situations.
• It is a trinket: it takes one of your two trinket slots, so wearing it permanently in raids is usually not worth it.
• Patch 1.12.0 fixed a bug that caused a mage's Ice Block to trigger a 5 minute cooldown on the Gnomish Cloaking Device.

◆Related articles

• Engineering utility gadgets 1.12: repair, resurrection, teleports
• Gnomish Mind Control Cap
• Dimensional Ripper - Everlook
• Engineering combat gadgets and explosives
• Engineering schematics

Ready to build your first cloaking device? Register on WoW x5, connect using the guide and level engineering at the accelerated x5 pace.