Mr.WoW Gold - WoW Professions Guides - Getting the most out of Dungeon Finder
Getting the most out of Dungeon Finder
The Dungeon Finder launched in patch 3.3 and has become an instant success. It allows players from several servers to all queue together for instances making wait times for groups significantly shorter for many players. It also allows players to earn additional badges that can be spent on items and a cool little Pug Puppy for those that collect pets. It has some ups and downs though and requires a little bit of knowledge to get the most out of it.
Expect a wait, unless you're a Tank
The first thing to know when you sign up for a group with the dungeon finder is to expect a wait. How long the wait is really depends on a couple of things. For example if you are looking for a random heroic I have experienced the following on my realm:
Tank – Instant
Healer – 1-2 minutes
DPS – 10+ minutes
Wait times can be long as DPS
If you are looking for a lower level random or a specific instance at any level, expect longer waits. I have seen waits up to 25 minutes for non-80 instances, but have also seen instant groups even when joining as DPS in a sub-80 group. So while anything can happen, be prepared for a wait and have something to do in the mean time, be it crafting, farming, etc. Expect longer waits on DPS and almost no wait when tanking.
Be Prepared and be Respectful
When you go into an instance, be prepared for your role and the instance itself.
If you sign up as a healer, make sure you have your healing gear with you and that you have mana potions and water. If you are a class that requires reagents for buffs, make sure you have some. No mater your class make sure you have some food / water with you so that you can replenish your own health and mana in between fights. Know that not everyone is going to be prepared, so it may be worth while carrying an extra stack of each, even if you do not use water, to hand out as needed. When you do though, explain to players that they now owe someone in a future group and should pass on the food / water and a reminder to bring their own in the future.
As for the instances themselves, make sure you have a basic understanding of the instance, or if you don’t be sure to ask what you need to know before you start. Most importunately make sure you have time for an instance. Do not sign up for a run if you only have 10 minutes, you are not going to get anything done. When you leave you will make it harder on the other players to finish.
Remember when you enter a group in any game you are committing not only your time but other players’ time as well. Do your best to make sure you are ready and prepared to go and survive. If you are not sure you can stick around for a whole instance, don’t join. If you are not sure you are geared for an instance, ask around before joining. If you get into a hard heroic or instance that you know you are not ready for, leave the group and allow someone else to join in.
Learn to Lead
Knowing that you spend some time reading about WoW means you are probably more prepared than most WoW players already. This also probably means that you know more about the instances than the other players do. If this is true, make sure you select leader when you are picking your role on the dungeon finder and make use of your knowledge.
DPS is replaceable
Don’t get me wrong, good DPS is hard to find and even harder to replace. DPS in a heroic or instance though is almost always replaceable. What this means is that as a DPS player you should always go into an instance with something to prove.
Play smart and surprise the tank and healer, make them count on you. Remember any buffs you have, watch your agro, stun or slow down anything that gets loose and goes after the healer, and anything else you can do. This is not typical DPS behaviour though, it should be, but tends not to be. Strive for excellence to be your normal and it will make you irreplaceable.
Get rid of the bad apple
As much as it pains people to be mean, sometimes it is ok to be. After struggling in a group for a while, if it really is obvious that someone just can not be there, use the vote to kick button. This usually will come up with an under geared healer or tank, but can occasionally be a DPS.
While it seems to fly in the face of the above statement that DPS is replaceable, you can generally get through an instance with low DPS. If your tank or healer are not geared or capable though, you will never, ever finish the instance. Give them a chance, sometimes a good player can pull it through even if under geared, but once it’s obvious lay the boot down on them.
While some players consider it rude to kick someone, I find it far worse that a player ruins the experience and wastes the time of four other players simply due to their lack of gear, skill, or knowledge. I would however warn them and be as nice about it as possible. Something like “Sorry but I just don’t think we can survive here with your tanking / healing. We are going to try to find a replacement”.
The same can be done for DPS but really low DPS can still get you through. Replacing DPS comes down to how fast you want to get through and how generous you are with carrying someone. If it is a heroic and they are only doing 1200 DPS you may want to replace them, then again maybe not. By the time the 15 minute time is up and you can replace them, you are likely almost done with the instance anyway. If all DPS is so low that you are having issues, then maybe it is an option.
Learn to cut your loses
Sometimes it happens that everyone in the group is horrible. Blizzard seems to do a decent job and putting together groups, but I have seen a few random heroic groups that don’t have a chance. This could be a bad combination of poorly geared or player tanks and healers, all three DPS being super low, or players constantly AFKing or DCing. Whatever the case may be, sometimes it becomes obvious that the group just will not cut it.
For example once I got put into a group on my Death Knight alt and we were given Halls of Reflection as the heroic instance. While my gear is not great on the DK, it is just good enough to do HoR (being a harder instance than most) if I have a good healer and decent DPS. We started the instance and the first wave took forever and we wiped on the second wave. I then took some time to look at the group, and they were all in blues and greens, with only the occasional epic. Knowing that I would eventually slip up and let something hit one of them, and that I require a lot of healing in the tanking gear I have (being an off set) it was better to just cut all of our loses and leave.
