How are gnome spawns determined?

[Jerog]

Does every fight in a gnome-available setting have a random chance to spawn a gnome? Is it determined after winning a fight, whether the following one will have a gnome? Are there hidden conditions, that need to be fulfilled?

My story this week so far is, that I did 35 ranked PVP fights without meeting a gnome, got frustrated and did ca. 50 casual ones just starting and retreating in hopes to find one (did not), started an explore fight and stumbled upon a gnome right away, did another 70-80 casual retreats with no luck, did 30 explore retreats with no gnome either…

I know, the internal mechanics of this game are mostly kept secret, but does anybody have an idea, how gnome spawning works?

[Kory]

Ive had a similar experience - played PvP up to Tier 3, dozens of explores on different levels/kingdoms, not a single gnome. At this point, I’m just giving up on it. I know I could use a vault key, but that shouldn’t be necessary. These spawn rates are abysmal.

[Magnusimus]

If you retreat, then you’ll not be able to trigger a gnome in the next fight. It’s to avoid people farming battles for gnomes, as quitting battles used to he faster than just winning them.

[Jerog]

Helpful to know. Thank you. Was the first time since the introduction of gnomes, that I tried this due to the mentioned frustration.

[blindnighto]

Also, the key to vault weekends in speed. The more fast battles you complete, the more gnomes you will likely encounter (and kill). PvP and cPvP tend to take longer than, say, Explore 1. Only real reason to choose PvP over Explore during vault weekends is if you’re hunting to Pet Gnomes, as they only appear in PvP and cPvP (and technically Arena).