Raid Finder

The new Raid Finder added in WoW 4.3.0

Not to be confused with Raid Browser.

The Raid Finder, similar to the Dungeon Finder, is a tool that helps players find and join a random or specific raid instance with others. This feature was released in patch 4.3.0. An average item level of 372 is required to queue for the Raid Finder.

Raid Finder is only available in 25-player mode, and the only instance is the Dragon Soul raid. The raid is split into two blocks; the Siege of Wyrmrest Temple (first four bosses) and the Fall of Deathwing (last four bosses). In order to enter Fall of Deathwing, one must first complete the Siege of Wyrmrest Temple. The Siege of Wyrmrest Temple opened with the patch on November 29, 2011, and the Fall of Deathwing opened one week later, on December 6.

Raid Finder gear is stronger than the new five-player heroics (which have an Item Level of 378), but weaker than the normal raid (which have an Item Level of 397).

Difficulty

The boss fights in a Raid Finder raid are simplified, with their difficulty relative to normal scaled down. The difficulty level is around the difficulty of Baradin Hold, another example of a Raid that is designed to "puggable". As a consequence of the reduced difficulty, the bosses have less health, and deal less damage that is experienced on 25-man Normal mode. Specific mechanics have also been removed, where inattentiveness in Normal mode is capable of wiping a raid.

A Looking For Raid run is a gentle introduction to the bosses, and can be educational for a player who is new to, or still learning the fight. Some important differences in boss tactics exist between LFR and Normal mode, and it is especially important to remain informed of this when or if you transition to Normal mode.

Loot rules

The Raid Finder uses an altered version of Need Before Greed, called Need Plus, that provides loot roll bonuses to those that have entered the raid in the role (tank, DPS, healer) that uses those items.

If you're in a raid as one of the below roles here is what you'll receive a roll bonus on:

Tank

• Agility Leather (for Druids)
• Strength plate with tank stats on it
• Trinkets with tank stats
• Trinkets with Agility (for Druids)

Healer

• Any appropriate caster gear without Hit
• Trinkets that trigger on heals or beneficial spells

DPS

• Most gear that doesn't have a tank stat on it
• Spirit gear (for Elemental Shamans, Shadow Priests, and Balance Druids)
• Trinkets that trigger on damaging spells/melee hits

Need Plus is currently (from Blizzard's point-of-view) a work-in-progress, due to the fact that the game is currently unable to detect the Spec of players; This is most obvious during the fight with Ultraxion, as the Last Defender of Azeroth buff uses a tank's stance to determine who gets the buff (i.e. [Defensive Stance], [Bear Form], [Blood Presence] and [Righteous Fury]). This means that a Warrior, for example, is able to roll Need, with a roll bonus, on both Plate gear with tank stats, as well as plate gear with non-tank stats. Under-the-hood changes are being worked on by Blizzard, and they expect these changes to go live with Mists of Pandaria^{[citation needed]}.

Queueing

Queuing can done by forming a complete 25-man raid and initiating a queue request. You will then immediately be teleported to the raid. If a complete 25-man team queues for LFR the loot rules can be chosen by the raid leader (it will not be Need Plus). If any players leave they will be replaced by the LFR system and the loot rules will convert to Need Plus.

You can also form an incomplete 25-man raid and queue, with additional members being chosen by the game to fill out the 25-man roster; all players will be teleported to the raid.

It is currently possible to form a regular party including cross-realm Real-ID friends and queue for the raid. It is not yet possible to convert a party including Real-ID friends into a raid.

Anecdote: It has happened that a 24-player guild raid queued using the Raid Finder and the game chose the 1 PUG as the Raid Leader.

Replacements

Since the Raid Finder is designed to serve players whose schedules do not permit regular raiding, it is designed to replace drop-outs. It is not possible to invite specific players to a Raid Finder raid once it has started (to prevent players from kicking pugged players to make room for friends).

Lock-out

There is no lock-out in the traditional sense. You can queue in the Raid Finder repeatedly and defeat the same bosses over and over again. To balance this out, you are only entitled to roll on loot from a boss the first time you kill that boss per weekly reset. If you kill the boss again later during the same weekly period, you are not eligible to roll on any drops.

If you are chosen as a replacement for a partially-completed raid it is possible for you to complete that raid, then queue again later and roll on loot for bosses that you had not personally defeated yet. When the raid reaches bosses you have defeated, you will not be eligible for loot. If you have completed bosses later in the progression schedule for a raid, the system will give you priority to join a group that will take on the bosses that you have missed.

If you leave a Raid Finder squad while they are in combat with a boss and that squad defeats the boss during that same battle you will be marked as having defeated that boss and will not be eligible for any more rewards (loot or valor points) from that boss that week. If you see a player who stops moving during combat they probably had to leave their keyboard but stayed in the raid so they wouldn't miss out on the loot and valor points.

Supported Raids

Players can use the Raid Finder to queue for the following raids:

Name	Requirement
Dragon Soul - [Siege of Wyrmrest Temple]	Average item level of 372
Dragon Soul - [Fall of Deathwing]	Completion of Siege of Wyrmrest Temple

Patches and hotfixes

• Hotfix (2011-12-20): "Players on the quest   [85] Patricide can no longer receive the  [Fragment of Deathwing's Jaw] while in a Raid Finder group."
  
• Patch 4.3.0 (2011-11-29): Added.
  

See also

• Raid Browser
• Dungeon Finder
• Hard mode
• Dungeon difficulty:
  • Normal mode (deprecated in Patch 3.2.0).
  • Heroic mode (deprecated in Patch 3.2.0).
  • 5-player mode
  • 5-player Heroic mode

• Raid difficulty:
  • Normal mode (deprecated in Patch 3.2.0).
  • Heroic mode (deprecated in Patch 3.2.0).
  • 10-player mode
  • 10-player Heroic mode
  • Raid Finder
  • 25-player mode
  • 25-player Heroic mode

External links

• World of Warcraft Community Site 4.3 Raid Finder Loot Rules
• World of Warcraft Community Site Raid Finder Q&A