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Dungeon Finder is the "Looking for Dungeon" (LFD) system Blizzard introduced in patch 3.3.0. It was made the default mode of the Dungeon Finder window and integrated with the Raid Finder and Scenario Finder in Patch 5.0.4. It is only used for 5-man dungeons, not raids or groups in general for high-level quests. The Dungeon Finder selects players to form a party from all servers in the battlegroup of the current realm, so there need not be a full group of players on one specific realm.
The first screen players see shows the role selection toggles and the type of dungeon desired. By default, the selection is for a random dungeon. This can be changed via the Type dropdown to such options as Random Lich King Heroic, Random Burning Crusade Dungeon, or Random Classic Dungeon. Running a random dungeon confers additional rewards in the form of emblems and gold.
Note that it is not possible to queue for dungeons outside of the player's level bracket or expansion level; e.g. level 80 players cannot queue for classic or Burning Crusade dungeons.
Selecting a specific dungeon or dungeons can be accomplished by choosing the very first option in the Type dropdown. The UI changes to show a list of dungeons, all of which are selected. To narrow the list, click the checkbox next to the category line to select/deselect all dungeons in that category. Players can also collapse categories of dungeons by clicking the +/- box just to the left of the category checkbox.
In Patch 4.1, a new sub-feature was added to offer roles that are lacking representation in the queue additional rewards for completing a random level 85 Heroic dungeon. Initially these rewards will probably be special mounts (like Reins of the Raven Lord, Swift White Hawkstrider, or Deathcharger's Reins) or non-combat pets (companions like Razzashi Hatchling, Cockatiel, or Tiny Sporebat).
Looking for more
So the tank left, or a healer disconnected, or a DPS got kicked. How does the party add a replacement member?
Somebody in the group opens the Dungeon Finder frame and answers "yes" on the refill screen
The other party members confirm their roles
The party joins the queue
When a replacement is found, the new member will be teleported to the party leader's current location
Removing a player
You can remove a player from the group via the Vote Kick System.
Leaving a group
When you leave a group you got via the Dungeon Finder you will get the Deserter Debuff, preventing you from joining another random group for the next 30 Minutes. There are the following exceptions:
You got kicked from the group
Your debuff has run out (you have been in the group for at least 15 Minutes)
The End Boss (or whoever gives the reward for joining a LFD-group) of the Instance has been killed
LookingForGroup channel
In addition to Dungeon Finder, everyone in capital cities automatically joins the LookingForGroup channel. It can be used to manually search for groups instead of, or in addition to, both Dungeon Finder and Looking For Raid.
Rewards
Depending of the type of the dungeon, and on character's level, there are varying rewards:
The Daily item rewards depends on the Dungeon type:
As of Patch 3.3.0, the Burning Crusade Normal rewards appear to be dramatically underleveled, around item level 65 when standard BC rare gear is item level 81-115. This may be fixed in a future patch.
For a Random Burning Crusade Heroic Dungeon there is no reward.
For Wrath of The Lich King normal dungeons, you receive 12 Justice point, money, and some experience.
For the first Random Lich King Heroic Dungeon each day you receive 2 [Emblems of Frost]. For each additional Lich King Heroic you do afterwards, you will get 2 [Emblems of Triumph].
The Daily money and XP rewards depends on the character level. The following table contains the rewards for each levels first random dungeon of the day, any other runs during the same day will yield approximately half the money and experience:
Level
Money
XP
Level
Money
XP
Level
Money
XP
Level
Money
XP
15
35
310
29
70
470
43
1 65
1250
57
1 80
1450
16
35
310
30
70
470
44
1 65
1250
58
1 80
1450
17
35
310
31
70
470
45
1 65
1250
59
6 20
1600
18
35
310
32
70
470
46
1 65
1250
60
6 20
1600
19
35
310
33
70
470
47
1 65
1250
61
6 20
1600
20
35
310
34
1 30
825
48
1 65
1250
62
6 20
1600
21
35
310
35
1 30
825
49
1 65
1250
63
6 20
1600
22
35
310
36
1 30
825
50
1 65
1250
64
6 20
1600
23
35
310
37
1 30
825
51
1 65
1250
65
3 10
1100
24
35
310
38
1 30
825
52
1 65
1250
66
3 10
1100
25
39
1 30
825
53
1 80
1450
67
8 80
1900
26
70
470
40
1 30
825
54
1 80
1450
68
8 80
1900
27
70
470
41
1 30
825
55
1 80
1450
28
70
470
42
1 30
825
56
1 80
1450
Heroic
Heroic
Level
Money
XP
Money
XP
Money
XP
69
—
—
14 80
33100
—
—
70
8 80
1900
14 80
33100
—
—
71
8 80
1900
14 80
33100
—
—
72
8 80
1900
14 80
33100
—
—
73
14 80
33100
—
—
74
—
—
14 80
33100
—
—
75
—
—
14 80
33100
—
—
76
—
—
—
—
77
—
—
—
—
78
—
—
—
—
79
—
—
—
—
80
—
—
19 86
0
26 46
0
Other remarks:
For Random Classic Dungeons you must be at least level 15.
For Random Burning Crusade Dungeons you must be at least level 59.
For Random Normal Wrath of the Lich King Dungeons you must be at least level 69.
For Random Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Dungeons you must be at least level 80.
To queue up for a Random Dungeon, you must be within the correct level range to run at least two dungeons in a given bracket. For example, you can use the Dungeon Finder to go to Utgarde Keep at level 68, but since this is the only Normal dungeon available at that level, you cannot queue for a Random dungeon until you are 69, when The Nexus becomes available.
Dungeon finder instance breakdown
Classic dungeons vary widely in scope, from short romps to 4+ hour marathons. Many of the classic dungeons have been broken up into separate events to allow achievement of the dungeon finder rewards in a comparable amount of time.
All Burning Crusade Heroic-level instances have a level range of 70 to 75, and require the appropriate key to enter (except Magister's Terrace, which is unlocked at the end of a quest chain involving clearing the dungeon on normal difficulty). The keys are purchased from corresponding faction Quartermasters. All have the same completion criteria as the Normal-level instance.
Note that an optional third boss may be invoked in heroic Sethekk Halls, but not in the Normal version. This boss is not required to complete the instance.
As of patch 4.0.6, players no longer need to discover the entrances to these dungeons to queue in Dungeon Finder.
All heroics require an average item level of 329.
Zandalari heroic dungeons
In patch 4.1, two new dungeons were added, as refurbished, level 85 Heroic versions of old raid instances. These dungeons only have a Heroic mode and both require an item level of 346 to queue in Dungeon Finder.
Trial of the Champion, Halls of Reflection, Pit of Saron, and the Forge of Souls all require an average item level of 180.
Halls of Reflection requires an average item level of 219.
All Heroics have a maximum level of 82 in the Dungeon Finder.
Players may teleport in and out of the dungeon at any time if they are not in combat. They will always appear at the beginning of the dungeon upon returning.
The automatic teleport does not work while on a moving boat or zepplin, operating a vehicle, or while dead. Players will have to leave the boat or vehicle, or resurrect and then teleport in.
Leaving a dungeon through its ordinary entrance or exit will return the player to wherever they were before, not to the outside of the dungeon
The only way to use the Dungeon Finder to facilitate overworld travel is to die and resurrect at a spirit healer.
Players may not trade items while in the dungeon, except rare or epic items that dropped in that dungeon and conjured supplies like mage water. This prevents cross-server economic exploitation
The Mechanar also has optional content obtained by combining particular drops. If everyone loots blindly, it is likely that each part will go to a different player, preventing them from being combined. The only workaround is to have everyone except a designated person avoid looting these items.
A quirk or oversight of the tool is that when checking for minimum item level, the tool apparently counts items in bags AND bank even if they are not worn or wearable. One Blizzard representative who responded to this issue did not deny this functionality and gave the impression that it was strangely intentional,[5] while another appeared to recognize it as a bug.[6]
History
At the launch of the game, there was only the LookingForGroup chat channel. This channel was available in all zones, but it was not a linked global channel. This was problematic since zones of the same level range are spread out throughout Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. At this time, many players relied on their guild, friend's list, or even whisper to find groups. Otherwise, they would travel to Orgrimmar or Ironforge respectively, find a group, then travel back out to the site of the dungeon, making dungeons far away from these cities very unpopular. As a result, warlocks were also very popular at this time, as they played an important role in forming groups. Blizzard eventually added a queuing system related to the Meeting Stones in front of the instances, but it was rarely used, and was generally a failed feature. In Patch 1.9, the LookingForGroup channel became global, although it was restricted to the major cities.
With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion and Patch 2.0.1 came the release of the new Looking For Group interface pane as well as the conversion of Meeting Stones from a queuing system to a summoning mechanism. At this time, the LookingForGroup channel was completely removed, since the interface was intended to replace it. Instead, players began to use the Trade channel for LFG, guild recruitment, and general global chat. Blizzard responded by hotfixing a rate limit of so many messages per minute. However, this was eventually lifted, and Trade channel continues to be a mixture of trade and other uses even today. After much community feedback, in Patch 2.1.0, the LookingForGroup channel was restored, although it was only available while actively using the Interface Tool.
In Patch 3.1.0, after the release of Wrath of the Lich King, the Looking For Group panel was improved to include the role which your currently logged character is able to fulfill (tank, damage, or healer), specify leadership, and identifying groups or individuals via the Looking for More pane.
First announced at BlizzCon 2009, Patch 3.3.0 saw a new cross-server Looking For Group (and Looking For Raid) system. This is the second cross-server feature Blizzard has added to the game, after Battlegrounds. Cross-server features are generally used to help users on low-population realms find groups, which was previously nearly impossible any time other than peak hours.
Hotfix (2011-08-10): If a player is kicked by vote from a dungeon finder group, the leader of the group is no longer able to invite that player back.
Patch 4.1.0 (26-Apr-2011): Added Call to Arms feature. Call to Arms will automatically detect which class role is currently the least represented in the queue, and offer them additional rewards for entering the Dungeon Finder queue and completing a random level-85 Heroic dungeon. (Source)
If a party member remains outside of a dungeon for more than 3 minutes, they become eligible for removal, regardless of other Vote Kick restrictions.
When players queue as a group with a tank or a healer, and the tank or healer drops group (or is kicked) within the first 5 minutes, all of the other players who queued with them are removed from the group as well.
If there is a group of 3 or more friends and someone in that group initiates a Vote Kick of a random party member, it now requires 4 votes to kick the player, instead of the standard 3 votes.
The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often is not issued to a player who kicks someone with whom they queued for a dungeon (i.e. the party member being selected for removal is not a player randomly selected via the Dungeon Finder).
The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often will be issued much more quickly to players who join as a party of 4 and kick the randomly selected 5th player.
The penalty for using the Vote Kick feature too often will now not allow the player to initiate a Vote Kick for 2 hours, up from 45 minutes.
Raid queuing was moved to a separate Raid Browser interface. Group quest queuing was removed entirely.
Patch 3.1.0 (14-Apr-2009): Class roles (i.e. damage, tanking, healing) have been added to the Looking For Group feature. Class roles will be displayed when sorting through the Looking For More section.
Patch 2.1.0 (22-May-2007): Players will now be able to access the Looking For Group Channel by joining the Looking For Group/Looking for More tool.
LookingForGroup channel is accessible only when using the interface pane.
/Patch 2.0.1 (05-Dec-2006): A new Looking For Group tool designed to assist players in finding groups for instanced dungeons and quests will now be available. This interface gives players the option to be added to a pool of other players also looking for a group, as a means to expedite the process. In addition, players will also be able to search for additional members in situations where they have a group and are simply looking to find more players. For a complete overview of this new interface, please take a moment and read the information contained on our comprehensive Looking for Group preview.[7]
LookingForGroup channel was removed.
Patch 1.11.2 (11-Jul-2006): The Looking For Group channel is now defaulted off. Players will need to join the channel to access it. (/join LFG)
Patch 1.9.0 (03-Jan-2006): In addition, the "Looking for Group" and "Trade" channels have been unified among the corresponding cities, meaning, for example, that you can trade your goods or look for groups in Ironforge while in Stormwind.
Previously, these were not global (cross city) channels.
28 August 2012 +, 26 April 2011 +, 23 March 2010 +, 8 December 2009 +, 14 April 2009 +, 22 May 2007 +, 5 December 2006 +, 11 July 2006 + and 3 January 2006 +