WoW Rookie: Gearing up with the LFG feature
by Lisa Poisso 
Dec 16th 2009 at 4:00PM
Plotting your path from zero to hero? "Last night, I got my alt mage to level 80 (woop) and thought I'd set about doing some heroics to get those 'phat loots' and a have a bit of fun," writes reader Hedwinkle of EU Daggerspine. "However, I was disappointed to see that I couldn't queue up for any heroics using the new tool, as my gear level wasn't high enough. I mean, it's all blue gear from the later instances, so I guess I have two questions ...
"1. What is the gear level required to allow me to queue up for random heroics using the new tool?
"2. What is the best way for me to go about getting my gear level higher? People on my server have very little interest now in finding a group the 'old-fashioned' way."
As it turns out, Hedwinkle's not the only one who's been puzzling over the details of how the new Looking for Group tool matches and places group members. Luckily, blue poster Zarhym had some answers that should reassure all of WoW Rookie's fresh level 80s.
First, let's look at how the dungeon finder works (with information straight from Blizzard):
All dungeons possess a minimum and maximum level range. These ranges are displayed within the Dungeon Finder window just to the right of each dungeon's name. If your level is too high or low for a specific dungeon, it will not populate as an option when you switch to the "Specific Dungeons" option from the drop-down menu.
Some dungeons also require attunement to enter, often in the form of a key or quest, and many of the more difficult dungeons (like Wrath of the Lich King Heroics) possess a minimum gear requirement. If you meet the level requirements of a particular dungeon, but not the additional requirements, a lock icon will replace the check box next to the dungeon's name. To see which additional requirements were not met, simply hover over the lock icon; a window noting that "You may not queue for this dungeon" will appear and any missing requirement(s) will be listed below.
This icon will also appear for group leaders if a group member does not meet all dungeon requirements (level, gear, and attunement), and the list of missing requirements will also specify to which group member they apply.
Now, on to your questions.
What is the gear level required to allow me to queue up for random heroics using the new tool?
The debate over exact numbers associated with the dungeon finder system is just beginning to heat up. A determined search on the internet may uncover some educated guesses, but it's still conjecture at this point. It's fairly certain that there are different gear average thresholds for specific instances and levels of content, but the numbers have been neither revealed nor discovered. Nor do we know if certain item slots (trinkets, rings, etc.) are excluded from the averaging.
What we do know is this:
- According to Zarhym, "There are circumstances however where, say, a player in dungeon or questing blues or greens will be unable to use the Dungeon Finder to queue for Heroic Trial of the Champion, Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron or Halls of Reflection."
- Blizzard considers the dungeon finder tool (and the associated gear thresholds) "fairly forgiving." It probably won't take you long at all -- a day or two of regular level 80 instances -- to bring your gear up to par to begin doing Heroics.
- Similar to the gear checks in Battlegrounds, the dungeon finder system will check all of the gear in your inventory.
Zarhym suggests that some of the tougher Heroic dungeons are best reserved for more "appropriately geared" players. If you're locked out of Heroics, that would indicate that gearing up in non-Heroics is in order. Zarhym recommends using the random instance option for the instances you can run or creating a pre-formed party on your realm without using the Dungeon Finder.
Unless you're playing at very odd hours, we think you should give the dungeon finder another shot. An informal survey of WoW.com friends on Twitter shows both EU and US players are having very good luck using the dungeon finder to get into regular, non-Heroic instances.
- @jameswallis I misclicked the new LFG options and did two non-heroics before I realised. No shortage of non-HC random PUGs in EU, it seems.
- @ryankinsler No the new LFG is helping me find non heroics. It totally changed the game for me. I enjoyed WOW before but now I LOVE it!
- @Dlangar My son has run well over 20 or 30 5-man normal's in the last 3 days, all pugs, all through the LFG tool, almost none heroic. FTW.
- @arras I've found a few regular runs on my recently 80 DK, maybe have to wait an extra minute or two
Read more
- How to queue up in the dungeon finder
- WoW.com readers share their random dungeon experiences
- Are you using the Looking for Group channel?
Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's. WoW Rookie walks you through all sort of new-player concerns, from game lingo for the beginner to joining your first guild as a mid-level player and on to what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, Instances, Features, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Holgar Dec 16th 2009 4:14PM
And number one trick for rookies: DON'T QUEUE AS A TANK OR HEALER UNLESS YOU HAVE A TANK OR HEALER SPEC!
Otherwise Timear forsees many people voting to kick and subsequently ignoring you.
Vaeku Dec 16th 2009 4:54PM
This doesn't particularly matter in the lower levels. The other day I was put in a group for SM - Library and the "tank" was a Fury Warrior, but he did fine for the entire instance. And it wasn't because of an exceptional healer either (not saying the healer was terrible, they were fine).
Julie Dec 16th 2009 5:19PM
1) Far as I know, there is only really a gear requirement for TOC and the icecrown dungeons. The reason for this is because these drop higher-level gear (over 200), which in turn, also means these are harder than the wrath-launch heroics. It would be very very bad to put a healer in i-200 gear into something like say, Halls of Reflection. Of course -- because these drop the best gear, everyone wants to queu for them. Thus, you see the need for the gear requirements :)
2) You should be able to run all the pre-TOC heroics as long as you're in blues, because that is all you ever really needed. I wouldn't try to do any heroics in greens though. And to get into TOC, you probably need to be mostly epicced out; with getting into Icecrown requiring you to have at least mostly naxx (i-213 gear). Seems like how it would work logically.
Shot Dec 16th 2009 6:02PM
I found that my gear level upon hitting 80 (mostly instance blues from 75-80) allowed me to enter normal TOC, and this was a great way to bootstrap the gearing process. From there, I went to the normal Icecrown 5-mans.
Getting ilvl 200 and then 219 epics on a brand new 80 is the path to win!
Mehrik Dec 16th 2009 6:19PM
I find it surprising to hear that there are in fact gear checks being done by the DF. I was involved in a PUG a couple of days back and we were ported to Forge of Souls. The healer appeared, stated that he wasn't geared for this heroic and left. We waited a few moments and a second healer was assigned to the group and ported in. I inspected his gear and was surprised to see an average iLvl score of 175. He was primarily geared in blues, but still had four or five green pieces. He admitted had just reached 80. He was up front about, and asked if we were comfortable with a healer who hadn't healed a heroic yet. Of course we politely declined, and we went on to complete the instance with a third, well-geared healer.
I wonder then if gear level is ignored by the DF under certain situations, as in when four members of a pug are sitting in a dungeon already, with a recently departed fifth.
Edge Dec 16th 2009 7:08PM
I think this applies mainly for the Heroics and WotLK Regs. Vanilla and in some cases normal BC instances can be done fine not being in main spec. It usually goes a bit slower, as a non specced healer will have to drink more often, and a non specced tank will probably need to pull smaller groups.
Randomize Dec 16th 2009 9:19PM
Don't tell me it doesn't matter in a low level instance, it may not be as important, but it can still make a huge difference. For example, I was in a random group for razorfen kraul, and we get a warrior tank. He couldn't hold aggro at all, and we wiped or almost wiped several times. The warrior later admits that he didn't have Defensive Stance yet. That was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen.
uncaringbear Dec 16th 2009 9:22PM
@Mehrik
I also wanted to see if the dungeon finder was assigning healers based on gear level. As a test, I took off half of my gear so that my gear score was roughly equivalent to someone who just dinged 80. I queued up three times for the random heroics. On my first run, I got UK, and I thought, "Sweet!". Second run, I got h ToC. Uh oh, that doesn't seem promising. Third run, I got HoR, and at that point, my little scheme was a proven flop.
So if the dungeon matching system does any sort of gear scoring and matching, I have no clue how it does it.
Shindeiru Dec 16th 2009 10:54PM
I have heard that it also considers gear you have in your bags as well. Heard a DPS warrior was going to build up his tank set and put himself in his tank gear which had some blues. Well the dungeon that the LFG system put him into is H HoR. Seems that it may be set up to do this to keep people from gearing themselves down for battlegrounds then throwing on their 25 man Icecrown gear as soon as they get in.
Melvyl Dec 17th 2009 12:59AM
I had been queuing my Paladin as Holy because I was pretty sure it wouldn't put me in one of the new dungeons. After a very successful UK run, I found myself in FoS and scared to death. Then running Normals I ended up in ToC (which definitely was not my first choice). I still have some blue items on but I bought the lvl245 badge shoulders and that seems to have been the dividing line. One trick though: I haven't turned in the quest to Jaina yet so I don't have to worry about PoS or HoR just yet.
The most interesting site I have seen: running BFD on my lvl23 Heirloom-wearing mage and having a warrior in a combination of greens, whites and grays who tanked everything without difficulty. Runner-up: the low level dwarf paladin who used a two-handed spear with no shield.
Colin Dec 17th 2009 1:06AM
Hey, just a minor point, it doesn't only gearcheck you for H ToC and the new ones. My mage was in greens and hadn't a) run a single reg instance (it was painful to get groups together on my server) and b) was about halfway through Grizzly Hills when I hit 80. Not only was I locked out of all heroics, but even reg ToC. I was surprised, but three reg dungeons and some crafted gear sorted that out within a day or so.
Bronwyn Dec 17th 2009 2:39AM
While it's *okay* for lower levels (I'd say under 40 and maybe up to 50 for some) and technically you can do things even without the gear.. please for the love of god, even if you aren't spec'd for whatever role you are putting yourself into queue for, make the effort to have a little gear. Otherwise it looks like you are an inconsiderate douchebag who just queues up as something you aren't just to get into groups faster.
Seriously. You are grouping with other people and not making an effort to at least be considerate (especially when you figure the three dps you are running with probably had to wait a helluva lot longer than you did), it's wasting everyone's time.
Rippchen Dec 17th 2009 11:45AM
@uncaringbear
did you take your gear out of your bags? because according to the blue the gear in your inventory is considered also.
Kim Jan 5th 2010 1:47PM
"Don't tell me it doesn't matter in a low level instance, it may not be as important, but it can still make a huge difference. For example, I was in a random group for razorfen kraul, and we get a warrior tank. He couldn't hold aggro at all, and we wiped or almost wiped several times. The warrior later admits that he didn't have Defensive Stance yet. That was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen."
I was doing this the other day and our tank DC'd. So a shaman and 3 clothies continued on while a new tank was being delivered to us and downed 2 bosses before they arrived. So yeah, if you were wiping just because your tank couldn't hold aggro you were doing something very wrong.
Slog Dec 16th 2009 4:15PM
The LFR interface wouldn't let me select ICC 25 or TOC 25man last week, however, I have been upgrading since and now I no longer have a locks next to them.
Did it change? I assumed it was because I didn't meet a gear requirement.
Hoaxs Dec 16th 2009 4:19PM
You said you upgraded. In which you meant gear right? You did meet the gear requirement for them.
(cutaia) Dec 16th 2009 4:29PM
He's asking because the article says there's no gear check for the raids, so there's a contradiction.
BubblePriest Dec 16th 2009 4:50PM
My death knight had the lock next to ToC and ICC and it said it was specifically because her gear wasn't high enough.
If that isn't intentional, then Blizz should look into that.
crschmidt Dec 16th 2009 4:53PM
Yeah, the comment in the article about raids not having a gear requirement is false.
My priest started 3.3 with a gearscore of about 4400. When I first opened LFR, I couldn't queue up for TOC25 or TOGC10.
I picked up a battered hilt (go go broken drop rate on the first day), and completed my Hammer of Purified Flame, bumping my gearscore to 4530. I could now queue for TOGC10, but still not TOC25.
I upgraded my shoulders from naxx shoulders to Tier 9 (232) shoulders. With a new gearscore of 4600, I could put myself in LFR for TOC25 as well.
I can now (with a gearscore of 4900) put myself into LFR for all TOC, and I believe ICCs. (no more locks next to the entries.)
So, although you can always invite whoever you want to a raid -- the same way that you can invite anyone you want to a dungeon, if you want to fly there yourself -- you can't put yourself in Looking For Raid until you have more gear for some raids.
evanmbunnell Dec 16th 2009 5:11PM
I think the comment in the article is referring to a premade raid group that is looking for more, not an individual raider looking to join a raid.
The raid leader can invite and queue people who may or may not be adequately geared for the raid and the LFR interface won't check those people's gear. However if said raid is still looking for 2 healers, the LFR interface /will/ be checking the individuals' gear.