Blizzard devs have stated in the past that tinker won’t be a class. They also said classic would never happen so… here is a tinker proposal.
As to separate tinker from the engineering profession I would propose that each specialization for the class be paired with another theme. This keeps engineering ‘relevant’ as much as a profession can be in current game and gives specs their own fantasy.
It will wear mail. If granted three specs I believe two ranged dps and one healer would be fair as no dps specs have been added since launch and only one healer spec in MoP. This would tie RDPS and Healer as the least amount of any role added since vanilla.
It would also need to be available to more than just Gnomes/Goblins. I know that they are the first thing that comes to mind when anyone thinks tinker but we just got a bunch of shiny new races and would be a shame to not use them. Would also not be a hero class. Blizzard can’t sell character boosts if their new class starts near max level. Would also be nice to have a new class for grinding racial transmog sets. (Forgot what they are called.)
Spec Proposal #1: Technopath/Technomancer Ranged DPS. As it would be quite inconvenient to pull out a tool kit and a pile of scraps to whip together some explosive or electric gizmo while a tauren is in your face swinging an axe down on your head, I believe it would be much more practical to use some category of magic to assist you in speeding up the process. It would cast spells to hasten the assembly of whatever gadget your character has dreamed up to fit his/her current predicament. This would be the one with the mech as a CD. Imagine rather than climbing into a death robot, it forms around your body. Primarily wields whatever stat stick is best for intellect.
Spec Proposal #2: Vialmaster/Apothacary. Either Ranged DPS or Healer. While a tinker may use machines, they aren’t limited in creativity to only mechanical gadgets of doom. It makes just as much sense for them to experiment with chemicals as well.
Spec Proposal #3: Bard: Either Healer or Ranged DPS. Why just get one long requested class in when you could do two? They do use a musical gadget and could fit into the class fantasy. Think about playing a riff that also shot missiles at your enemy. Could be called Riff Missile. Also the obvious healing/buffing allies but could shake it up.
A sloppy first draft but would be fun.
Thoughts?