Gadgetzan

Rising out of the northern Tanaris desert, Gadgetzan is the capital city of the Steamwheedle Cartel, the largest of the goblin cartels. The city was once surrounded by desert, but since the Cataclysm it is now a prime beachfront property.

Some of the best goblin engineers, miners and alchemists ply their trade here. The goblins believe in profit above loyalty, thus Gadgetzan is considered neutral territory in any Horde-Alliance conflict. Anyone with a fat wallet or services to offer is welcomed in Gadgetzan. Both governments officially recognize goblin neutrality, and for those who don't, the streets are heavily patrolled by goblin bruisers ready to pound to a pulp anyone disrupting their trade by instigating conflict.

History


The first mention of Gadgetzan is approximately two years after the end of the Second War. Back then, Charnas would open his bookstore here, and Greydon Thorne, with his brother Silverlaine, visited it.

World of Warcraft
Although goblin neutrality is almost universally acknowledged, there are still those who seek to sow chaos and anarchy. For Gadgetzan, this came in the form of the Wastewander bandits, a gang of miscreants who occupied the Waterspring Field and the Noonshade Ruins on the northeast Tanaris. Few goblins care about ancient ruins (unless they have treasure) – for all they care, the bandits could have the old blocks of stone, however, the Waterspring Field was vital to Gadgetzan's survival in the desert which provided them with the liquid gold.

Water towers out in the field were constructed and maintained by the Gadgetzan Water Company under the blazing heat of the desert sun, so the goblins weren't going to give up their hard-earned towers that easily. However, the goblin bruisers needed to stay in town to keep the gnomes' collective Napoleonic-complex from getting out of hand and to stop the seemingly endless dueling among the various visitors from disrupting business. Therefore, it fell to brave mercenaries from all corners of the world to help the goblins in their time of utmost need.

By this time, the city was briefly visited by Kova Broadhorn, Miles Corebender, and Bellthazor.



Cataclysm
During the Cataclysm, the ocean flooded in close to the town, turning the area outside the eastern wall into beach-front property and obliterating the nearby Steamwheedle Port, whose survivors moved into the city, and destroying the water towers in the Waterspring Field. What was an apocalyptic result for some, it came as a fruitful opportunity for Gadgetzan turning the city into an important neutral port.

Shortly before the Destruction of Theramore, Jaina Proudmoore sent the Starsword full of Theramore civilians to Gadgetzan. Its status remained unknown.

Traveler
By the time of the Cataclysm, the city had greatly expanded and it was described to contain winding and labyrinthine streets full of almost every known race to the human Aramar Thorne, and even a new west gate for the city.

Faeyrine Springsong, a druid of the Cenarion Circle, lives here, and the author of Common Birds of Azeroth, the goblin Charnas, has his shop in the city.

Gadgetzan was visited by the Hidden, Aramar's group, and Gazlowe.

Legion
The city came under the attack of the Burning Legion during their invasion of Tanaris. It was defended by Marin Noggenfogger, its inhabitants and the Alliance and the Horde.

Facilities

 * An auction house, formerly, but the merging of Horde and Alliance auction houses rendered this neutrality obsolete.
 * A handy bank where you can sit in the wonderfully soft and luxurious waiting area while you wait for a teller to become available.
 * A high-quality forge & anvil for any blacksmithing buffs out there. Used even by the Mithril Order.
 * The renowned Road Warrior inn, featuring nice hammocks and soft beds for people of all shapes and sizes. Continental breakfast for an additional price.
 * A friendly stable master who will gladly take care of your animal needs.
 * On the northern side of town is a wyvern handler for the friendly Horde and on the southern side of town there is a gryphon master for the amiable Alliance folk.
 * Supplies for alchemists, engineers, and tailors, as well as engineering and mining trainers for those who wish to brush up on their skills.
 * A teleportation pad for quick and safe arrival for gnomish engineers who have the Ultrasafe Transporter: Gadgetzan.
 * The Thunderdrome, a large cage arena.

Flight

 * Orgrimmar
 * Thunder Bluff
 * The Crossroads, Northern Barrens
 * Ratchet, Northern Barrens
 * Brackenwall Village, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Mudsprocket, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Theramore Isle, Dustwallow Marsh
 * Camp Mojache, Feralas
 * Westreach Summit, Thousand Needles
 * Fizzle and Pozzik's Speedbarge, Thousand Needles
 * New Thalanaar, Thousand Needles
 * Bootlegger Outpost, Tanaris
 * Dawnrise Expedition, Tanaris
 * Marshal's Stand, Un'Goro Crater
 * Mossy Pile, Un'Goro Crater
 * Cenarion Hold, Silithus

NPCs
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Profession supplies


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Guards


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Getting there
Gadgetzan is located on the norheastern region of Tanaris, in the southeast corner of Kalimdor. It can be accessed by traveling through Thousand Needles, crossing a mountain pass at the southeastern edge to travel into Tanaris. The town is built at the base of the pass.

An alternate way to reach Gadgetzan for Alliance players is to swim south along the coast from Theramore Isle.

You can also take a portal to the Caverns of Time from Shattrath City (via Zephyr; requires with Keepers of Time) or Dalaran (portal located in Violet Citadel) and walk to Gadgetzan from there.

Players who have specialized in Gnomish Engineering can build a gadget that can teleport them directly to Gadgetzan once every 4 hours.

Reputation
Killing Southsea Pirates and Wastewander nomads will increase your reputation with the Steamwheedle Cartel. Having a friendly or higher reputation will make the town guards help you in case of initiated violence against you. Completing War at Sea will cause you to lose reputation with the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

Most of the quests associated with the Gadgetzan faction are located in Tanaris.

As of Cataclysm, the goblins of Fuselight and Fuselight-by-the-Sea in the Badlands, a majority of the goblins of Bogpaddle in the Swamp of Sorrows, and the ones in the Steam Pools resort are part of the Gadgetzan faction.

Before arriving

 * Tanaris is Calling - From / on board Fizzle & Pozzik's Speedbarge.

General

 * Thistleshrub Valley (quest)
 * Gadgetzan Water Survey
 * Noxious Lair Investigation
 * WANTED: Andre Firebeard
 * The Dunemaul Compound
 * The Thirsty Goblin
 * In Good Taste
 * Sprinkle's Secret Ingredient (The Hinterlands)
 * Delivery for Marin
 * Noggenfogger Elixir (quest)
 * March of the Silithid
 * Bungle in the Jungle
 * Super Sticky

Water!
As you head east to Noonshade Ruins, you can complete both Wastewander Justice and Water Pouch Bounty, but don't worry if you don't collect enough Wastewander Water Pouches. For More Wastewander Justice, head southeast of Gadgetzan to Waterspring Field. Here, the mobs have a much higher drop rate for Pouches. Caliph Scorpidsting will also be wandering the area with two stealthed escorts. Try to leave with Pouches in multiples of five; the first five for Slake That Thirst if you're Horde and the rest for repeated turn-ins for Water Pouch Bounty. You may want to hold on to the Pouches for the Horde quest line that follows.

After completing Slake That Thirst, you will have access to Another Power Source? and Tanaris Field Sampling. The former is available if you are unable to complete the field sampling in under two hours.


 * Wastewander Justice
 * More Wastewander Justice
 * Water Pouch Bounty
 * Into the Field
 * Slake That Thirst
 * Another Power Source?
 * Tanaris Field Sampling
 * WANTED: Caliph Scorpidsting

Zul'Farrak

 * Scarab Shells
 * Troll Temper (quest)
 * Divino-matic Rod (quest)

An article from the Gadgetzan Times
Gadgetzan: The Jewel of Tanaris

Fara Boltbreaker ''GADGETZAN – Sitting like a sapphire on the silvery-white sands of Tanaris, Gadgetzan is one of the greatest cities of Kalimdor and, to hear goblins speak, of the world itself. Using their ingenuity, the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel have tamed the desert and erected a trading outpost the likes of which none have seen before. This city is open to both members of the Horde and Alliance, provided they keep their weapons sheathed. The city of Gadgetzan features a neutral bank, an auction house run by goblin auctioneers, and vendors galore.

The first of these, the bank, accepts deposits from both the Horde and the Alliance and, working with the banks in Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Thunder Bluff as well as the banks in Ironforge, Stormwind, and Darnassus, allows access to deposits made anywhere in the world. The agreements and technology that allows the goblins to access the other banks and deposits made in them is a closely guarded goblin secret.

The second feature is the Auction House. The auction house in Gadgetzan, to hear the goblins speak, puts the houses in Orgrimmar and Ironforge to shame. The Gadgetzan auction house allows members of the Alliance and the Horde to sell goods that can be purchased by anyone, even members of the opposing faction. One of the most popular trades made through the auction house is the lucrative "pet trade." On any given day, one can walk into the Gadgetzan auction house and see humans trading kittens to the Horde and the Tauren trading prairie dogs to the Alliance. Some speculate that the trade in cuddly creatures may cause the two sides to come to terms yet.

The third major feature of Gadgetzan is the sheer variety of vendors and professionals. In Gadgetzan, one can find materials for many professions from cooking to enchanting. A variety of armor and weapons is sold with no questions asked.

These three things alone make Gadgetzan an ideal city. The rest of the city's amenities, including an inn with beds for all races and sizes, a forge and anvil used and praised by the Mithril Order itself, a Stable Master who is an expert in handling animals from the world over, as well as transportation by Wyvern or Gryphon are just icing on the cake. Taken altogether, all of these things make Gadgetzan one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, city in the world.

That's not to say that Gadgetzan is perfect, of course. There are some minor problems that pester the people of this desert paradise. Small things like the Wastewander bandits who threaten the Waterspring Field. Adventurers who beat the bandits back earn the gratitude of the goblins and will be, in time, suitably rewarded. Of course, sometimes the problems come from the adventurers themselves. The Gadgetzan envisioned by the goblins is a trade haven but sometimes the Gadgetzan that really exists resembles a battlefield. Such battles are finished quickly once the Bruisers arrive on the scene, though, so future visitors need not worry overmuch about the violence they hear about in Gadgetzan. Aside from a few minor quirks, the city of Gadgetzan truly is the goblin-built jewel of Tanaris.''

In Hearthstone


Gadgetzan is the setting for the fifth expansion for Hearthstone, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. In the expansion, Gadgetzan is described as having massively expanded from a small desert town to a large, bustling port city following the flooding of Tanaris during the Cataclysm. Three major crime families rule the back alleys of the newly expanded Gadgetzan: the brutish weapon smugglers of the Grimy Goons led by the cunning and powerful Don Han'Cho, the mystical assassins of the Jade Lotus led by the young and clever Aya Blackpaw and the outcast spellcasters and potion-peddlers of the Kabal led by the mysterious and intelligent Kazakus. Besides these three, there are also some minor factions active in the city, such as the "quilboar biker gang."

Gadgetzan has previously been mentioned in Hearthstone through two different goblin minions: the Gadgetzan Auctioneer from the classic set and the Gadgetzan Jouster from The Grand Tournament.

As of 2017 there are no plans to recreate Gadgetzan in World of Warcraft to match the Hearthstone version.

The novel Traveler: The Spiral Path similarly reflects Gadgetzan's larger size and winding streets, though none of the other new aspects portrayed in the Hearthstone expansion are present.

In Lands of Mystery
Gadgetzan, located up near the edge of the northern mountains in Tanaris, is a metal-walled town, with rusted buildings, giant moving wheels, and smoke rising from chimneys all about. You can hear the hammering and grinding from at least a mile away. It was built and is manned mostly by goblins, with some gnomes helping out here and there.

This small, walled settlement is made almost entirely of metal, with some stone mixed in between. The dominant features are forges and a number of massive machines used to produce and cut metal structures, such as the many wells found throughout the desert. Apparently bandits knock them down almost as fast as goblins put them up, although why they would destroy a source of good water is beyond understanding. The skies above Gadgetzan are almost always choked with black smoke from the various machines that always operate, and you might want to bring a set of earplugs if you expect to get any sleep at night.

Gadgetzan, like Booty Bay, is crawled with all sorts of people there. You can see elves, humans, dwarves, goblins, gnomes, trolls, and even ogres in the streets, all moving about on whatever business brought them to this busy place. Most of them arrive via wyvern or gryphon. The animal masters' keep their camps outside the city walls, opposite to each other. Bars in Gadgetzan are rollicking places. You can hear stories there that no one wouldn't believe. With the information you get in these places, it may save your life several times if you plan to venture into the desert.

About twice a year rain falls on Tanaris. When this happens, it's not just a drizzle, but an intense downpour that lasts for hours. The few scraggly plants that survive in the desert do so chiefly because of this tiny bit of moisture, but for the residents of Gadgetzan, it's a cause for celebration. The entire town comes to a stop, and a holiday breaks out, the Rainy Day. Everyone collects as much water as they can, and then it's an all-day and all-night party. Part of the celebration's appeal is its unpredictability.

Items such as firebloom plants or volatile rum can be purchased on the open market of Gadgetzan. The town is also a good stopping-off point for anyone intending to head into Un'Goro Crater or Silithus.

Chief Engineer Bilgewhizzle is in charge of the town.

In Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game
The neutral goblin trading outpost of Gadgetzar is the only spot of civilization in the entire desert of Tanaris. Weary explorers can find most gear that they need here, as well as a place to escape from the blistering sun and other dangers from the desert.

Notes and trivia

 * In the lore, the Crustacean sailed from Gadgetzan to Stormwind Harbor every week. At some point after the Cataclysm, it was destroyed by Malus and his Hidden.
 * According to Makasa Flintwill, traveling to Gadgetzan along the coast of the Cataclysm-flooded Thousand Needles by foot would take approximately two weeks.
 * In Hearthstone Gadgetzan is said to be near the Great Sea.
 * Although Gadgetzan looks like, and appears to be, a reference to the desert town of from ', it is even likelier to be a reference to "Barter Town" in the movie '; the main area in which the movie is situated is located in a desert and has an arena in the middle which is very similar as the one in Gadgetzan. Further evidence of this is the NPC named Katrina Turner, whose name is very similar to, who played a lead part in that movie.
 * The walls of the Thunderdrome used to block the neutral guards' line-of-sight, allowing Horde and Alliance to gank or otherwise slaughter each other to their content within it.
 * Gadgetzan contains (or at least used to contain) a members-only discothèque, according to Rohan the Assassin.
 * The phrase "Gadgetzan minute" is used to refer to a very short amount of time, seemingly corresponding to the real-world phrase "New York minute".
 * Gadgetzan was infamous among low-level players because of its extremely active high-level PvP. Most players around level 40 would get horribly murdered by high-level players over and over. During The Burning Crusade, this area was heavily populated by level 70 players visiting the arena fighting each other. It was not uncommon to see both flight masters getting killed repeatedly. Even in Wrath of the Lich King, it was still a very active PvP area. However, with the Cataclysm revamp, the area seems to be quite quiet now.