I made a new Gnome Hunter and chose to do the Gnome staring area instead of exile reach starting area. I realized that I did not get a starting pet. I thought they got the mechanical pets for starters? I got nothing and had to wait until level 5 and find a nearby snow leopard to tame to tie me over.
Also- do Gnomes automatically have the ability to tame mechanical pets?
Gnomes and Goblins can tame mechanicals automatically, everyone else needs to learn the ability from an engineering crafted item.
Not sure about starter pets, I had heard you don’t get one anymore in the starter zones, which seems like a shame. My most recent hunter was a Kil Tiran who got a hawk that’s unique to them, but they start at level 10 already.
If you want the Gnome starter pet from the Exiles Reach you’ll have to run Exile Reach.
Otherwise there are different mech pets you can get to. Some later levels. Some are a mini quest to complete. A few you can tame just finding them in said zone like most hunter pets.