Official Raid Finder Q&A
by Alex Ziebart 
Nov 29th 2011 at 9:45PM
The World of Warcraft community team has come through for us with a full Raid Finder Q&A detailing both the present and future states of the feature. The Real ID functionality in particular receives important clarification.
Raid Finder Q&A
Q: Does Raid Finder support Real ID friends?
A: With patch 4.3, you can invite Real ID friends to a party and then queue together for the Dragon Soul raid using Raid Finder. You can't, however form a raid with cross-realm Real ID friends before joining the Raid Finder queue. While not currently supported, this is something that we're interested in implementing in a future update.
A: With patch 4.3, you can invite Real ID friends to a party and then queue together for the Dragon Soul raid using Raid Finder. You can't, however form a raid with cross-realm Real ID friends before joining the Raid Finder queue. While not currently supported, this is something that we're interested in implementing in a future update.
You can read the full Q&A behind the cut below.
Raid Finder Q&A
The new Raid Finder system is now live with patch 4.3. While we've shared some details already, we wanted to provide you with this primer on what players can expect from the new system before taking on one of the most epic bosses Azeroth has ever seen.
Q.Who is Raid Finder for?
A. Raid Finder is primarily intended for players who don't already raid consistently. These are players who may not have had the opportunity to take part in raid content due to scheduling conflicts, playtime constraints, limited access to other raid-capable players, or a lack of experience with higher-end content. These players may want to experience World of Warcraft's raid content and storyline without being able to commit to the additional time investment of a raiding guild. The Raid Finder is also a great way to quickly and easily gear up alternate characters without having to worry about raid lockouts.
Q. What size raid group will the Raid Finder support and why?
A. Raid Finder will match players up to form a 25-player raid. This allows for a more forgiving experience should errors be made by individual players. Raid Finder groups should be a fun way to experience raid content without feeling too punishing to inexperienced raiders.
Q.What is the Raid Finder difficulty level?
A. Players who take part in Raid Finder groups can expect a similar difficulty level to the Baradin Hold Cataclysm raid.
Q. Are there any character or item level requirements to use the Raid Finder?
A. Yes. You will need to be level 85 with a minimum item level of 372.
Q.What type of loot and items can I expect to get?
A. The items that can be earned are a lower item level than those found in Normal mode Raid Dungeons. Weapons will only be available from Deathwing himself.
Q. How does loot distribution work?
A. All Raid Finder groups determine loot distribution using the "Need Before Greed" system. Unlike Dungeon Finder, players who are identified as rolling need on an item that fits their primary role will be given loot priority over those who play a different role. You can read more about item distribution and loot roll rules here. While Raid Finder raids aren't locked, players are only eligible to win loot from a boss once per week.
Q. How do I use Raid Finder?
A. You can access Raid Finder through the 'Raid' button in the menu at the bottom of the default user interface.
Q. How does Raid Finder populate the raid? Can I invite my friends?
A. Raid Finder will populate the raid with other players who enter the Raid Finder system. Each Raid Finder raid will include two tanks, six healers, and seventeen damage dealers. As the raid is assembled, the Raid Finder will attempt to balance the group according to armor type, which should help ensure a healthy mix of melee and ranged DPS. There are no additional invite capabilities for the raid leader or other members of the raid, however, groups of players are able to queue together, either as a party or a raid, should they wish to raid together.
Q: Does Raid Finder support Real ID friends?
A: With patch 4.3, you can invite Real ID friends to a party and then queue together for the Dragon Soul raid using Raid Finder. You can't, however form a raid with cross-realm Real ID friends before joining the Raid Finder queue. While not currently supported, this is something that we're interested in implementing in a future update.
Q. What raids are available?
A.The Dragon Soul raid dungeon will be available in the Raid Finder and has been split into two wings. Players will be able to access the first wing at the release of patch 4.3. Deathwing will become available approximately one week later.
Q. Why aren't older raids available on Raid Finder?
A. Raid Finder is being used to help players access the most current content and tier gear available within the game. Additional options for the system may be considered in the future.
Q. Can I earn any particular currency with Raid Finder?
A. Players can earn up to 500 Valor points per week (250 per wing) while utilizing Raid Finder.
Q. How often can I enter the Raid Finder system?
A. Each boss within the Dragon Soul raid can be killed once per week for a chance at loot. Since there are no raid locks, skipping a boss will not impede your ability to attempt that boss in a future raid.
Q.Who is Raid Finder for?
A. Raid Finder is primarily intended for players who don't already raid consistently. These are players who may not have had the opportunity to take part in raid content due to scheduling conflicts, playtime constraints, limited access to other raid-capable players, or a lack of experience with higher-end content. These players may want to experience World of Warcraft's raid content and storyline without being able to commit to the additional time investment of a raiding guild. The Raid Finder is also a great way to quickly and easily gear up alternate characters without having to worry about raid lockouts.
Q. What size raid group will the Raid Finder support and why?
A. Raid Finder will match players up to form a 25-player raid. This allows for a more forgiving experience should errors be made by individual players. Raid Finder groups should be a fun way to experience raid content without feeling too punishing to inexperienced raiders.
Q.What is the Raid Finder difficulty level?
A. Players who take part in Raid Finder groups can expect a similar difficulty level to the Baradin Hold Cataclysm raid.
Q. Are there any character or item level requirements to use the Raid Finder?
A. Yes. You will need to be level 85 with a minimum item level of 372.
Q.What type of loot and items can I expect to get?
A. The items that can be earned are a lower item level than those found in Normal mode Raid Dungeons. Weapons will only be available from Deathwing himself.
Q. How does loot distribution work?
A. All Raid Finder groups determine loot distribution using the "Need Before Greed" system. Unlike Dungeon Finder, players who are identified as rolling need on an item that fits their primary role will be given loot priority over those who play a different role. You can read more about item distribution and loot roll rules here. While Raid Finder raids aren't locked, players are only eligible to win loot from a boss once per week.
Q. How do I use Raid Finder?
A. You can access Raid Finder through the 'Raid' button in the menu at the bottom of the default user interface.
Q. How does Raid Finder populate the raid? Can I invite my friends?
A. Raid Finder will populate the raid with other players who enter the Raid Finder system. Each Raid Finder raid will include two tanks, six healers, and seventeen damage dealers. As the raid is assembled, the Raid Finder will attempt to balance the group according to armor type, which should help ensure a healthy mix of melee and ranged DPS. There are no additional invite capabilities for the raid leader or other members of the raid, however, groups of players are able to queue together, either as a party or a raid, should they wish to raid together.
Q: Does Raid Finder support Real ID friends?
A: With patch 4.3, you can invite Real ID friends to a party and then queue together for the Dragon Soul raid using Raid Finder. You can't, however form a raid with cross-realm Real ID friends before joining the Raid Finder queue. While not currently supported, this is something that we're interested in implementing in a future update.
Q. What raids are available?
A.The Dragon Soul raid dungeon will be available in the Raid Finder and has been split into two wings. Players will be able to access the first wing at the release of patch 4.3. Deathwing will become available approximately one week later.
Q. Why aren't older raids available on Raid Finder?
A. Raid Finder is being used to help players access the most current content and tier gear available within the game. Additional options for the system may be considered in the future.
Q. Can I earn any particular currency with Raid Finder?
A. Players can earn up to 500 Valor points per week (250 per wing) while utilizing Raid Finder.
Q. How often can I enter the Raid Finder system?
A. Each boss within the Dragon Soul raid can be killed once per week for a chance at loot. Since there are no raid locks, skipping a boss will not impede your ability to attempt that boss in a future raid.
Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
leeplok Nov 29th 2011 10:11PM
"Q.What type of loot and items can I expect to get?
A. The items that can be earned are a lower item level than those found in Normal mode Raid Dungeons. Weapons will only be available from Deathwing himself."
Huh, this needs clarifying a bit for me: "Weapons will only be available from Deathwing himself."
Is this saying Deathwing isn't available in the raid finder system altogether, or just that he is the only boss who drops weapons? Just the way it is worded sounds to me like he isn't available when using the raid finder.
Task Nov 29th 2011 10:49PM
DW will be available next week as it says in the full post.
As for him being the only one with the weapons, it does make sense since LK has a majority of weapons for his loot table and I'm assuming Rag as well.
Tbah Nov 29th 2011 10:31PM
Q. What raids are available?
A.The Dragon Soul raid dungeon will be available in the Raid Finder and has been split into two wings. Players will be able to access the first wing at the release of patch 4.3. Deathwing will become available approximately one week later.
I read is as we won't be getting weapon drops until next week.
BigDonny09 Nov 29th 2011 10:38PM
Deathwing is included in the raid finder. He's saying that weapons will only drop from Deathwing while using the raid finder. I assume that in the normal raids and heroic ones, weapons drop from other bosses as well.
Revan Nov 29th 2011 11:38PM
No, I actually did 1 raid finder run and the stormbinder boss dropped the dagger weapon.
So far I like how it is working, my only "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUU-" thing is that in the raid there were only me and another rogue who was wearing un-enchanted/un-gemmed pvp gear, doing really poor dps, and he won the roll on a trinket that dropped on 2nd boss, the dagger from last boss, the leather shoulders from first boss and to make it worse, the shoulder token from the last boss...
I mean, I am not against seeing other people win gear rolls on a raid, even more a pugged raid with 25 folks drooling over epics, but maybe Blizz should had made a small fix to the Need roll system to only allow players get the "Need role bonus" on 1-2 items x LFraid run...
Revan Nov 29th 2011 11:45PM
No, I actually did 1 raid finder run and the stormbinder boss dropped
the dagger weapon.
So far I like how it is working, my only 'cringe' thing
is that in the raid there were only me and another rogue who was
wearing un-enchanted/un-gemmed pvp gear, doing really poor dps, and he
won the roll on a trinket that dropped on 2nd boss, the dagger from
last boss, the leather shoulders from first boss and to make it worse,
the shoulder token from the last boss...
I mean, I am not against seeing other people win gear rolls on a raid,
even more a pugged raid with 25 folks drooling over epics, but maybe
Blizz should had made a small fix to the Need roll system to only
allow players get the "Need role bonus" on 1-2 items x LFraid run...
Revan Nov 29th 2011 11:47PM
woops sorry about the double post, for some reason I tought it had not posted on the first try >_
Snuzzle Nov 30th 2011 11:46AM
Random loot is random. If you were that upset about it, I find it works wonders to whisper the party getting all the drops and making a quick plea to them.
"Hey, you've gotten three of the four leather drops tonight and I could really use those shoulders as mine are blue. They're all I really came in here for."
The majority of people aren't so heartless as to be unsympathetic when they're getting everything and you're getting nothing. But you do usually have to say something first.
xdudimus.maximus Nov 29th 2011 10:11PM
First!
Task Nov 29th 2011 10:26PM
Sorry, that is incorrect.
Good day.
Shrikesnest Nov 30th 2011 1:11AM
Fun fact: should you ever *actually* post first on an article, a mod will push your comment down further in the list, just to screw with you. And you deserve every bit of it.
blancester Nov 29th 2011 10:23PM
With this in place, normal raid content might become tougher. And heroic mode extremely challenging... course I'm just giving dreams to the wind for some people.
but, you may never know, right?
Tbah Nov 29th 2011 10:34PM
One can always dream.
Some dreams come true.
Honestly I don't believe this specific raid will see such a change, but this might change the future raids in a bit more challenging direction.
Smurk Nov 30th 2011 10:57AM
LFR is so easy that everyone gets to see all the bosses, so that should make the learning curve lower for "real" raids. So I would expect it to be easier for people to run their own 10-mans in normal content successfully (as long as they are intelligent enough to learn from what they saw in LFR). Heroic content should remain very difficult for the population who decides to move on to those challenges, but I expect to see many more people finishing normal mode raids in this tier.
Mowtems Nov 30th 2011 11:12AM
My hope is that the normal/heroic levels are no more difficult than they have been in the past, but that Blizzard will feel less need to nerf the hell out of them to increase accessibility. Based on our Firelands run on the 29th, I sense that they've stealth-nerfed that place yet again.
Ben Smith Nov 29th 2011 11:35PM
Is anyone else getting really bad lag in LFR? I know it's 25 man, but I usually run BH 25 and in Wrath I did 25s with no problem, but LFR is destroying me. Wondered if there is something not on my end that could be causing this, or if it really is just an issue with my setup.
Aaron Nov 29th 2011 11:47PM
Although it might be your setup, more likely is that everyone is trying it and their servers are straining.
Masarah Nov 29th 2011 11:42PM
Is there a hotkey for accessing the raid finder as I normally hide my menu frame
Chance Nov 29th 2011 11:50PM
Ctrl + i
Ben Smith Nov 29th 2011 11:52PM
ctrl-i will open it