Dungeon Finder

"Looking For Group" and "LFG" redirect here. For the the meaning of the acronym lFG, see "LFG" in World of Warcraft terminology (A-M) under L

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.

Dungeon Finder main mode of window

Queuing for a specific dungeon example

The original Dungeon Finder

To tell the UI that you only wish to run Pit of Saron in 5-player Heroic mode:

Step 1: Choose the "Specific Dungeons" type

Step 2: Collapse the first category

Step 3: Clear all visible checkboxes

Step 4: Reopen desired category

Step 5: Select desired dungeon(s)

Step 6: Make a role selection

Step 7: Find a group!

Step 8: Wait in the queue

Step 9: There's enough people!

Step 10: Is everyone ready?

Free teleport to the instance if all ready

Call to Arms

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 (LFM)

So the tank left, or a healer disconnected, or a DPS got kicked. How does the party add a replacement member?

1. Somebody in the group opens the Dungeon Finder frame and answers "yes" on the refill screen
2. The other party members confirm their roles
3. The party joins the queue
4. 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:

• For a Random Classic Dungeon and Burning Crusade Normal you receive a Satchel of Helpful Goods.
  • 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.

Classic dungeons

Name	Minimum level	Maximum level	# Bosses	Required boss
Ragefire Chasm	15	21	4	[16+]  Taragaman the Hungerer
Deadmines	15	21	6	[20+]  "Captain" Cookie
Wailing Caverns	15	25	8	[21+]  Mutanus the Devourer
Shadowfang Keep	16	26	5	[21+]  Lord Godfrey
Blackfathom Deeps	20	30	8	[24+]  Aku'mai
Stormwind Stockades	20	30	5	[25+]  Hogger
Gnomeregan	24	34	7	[28+]  Mekgineer Thermaplugg
Scarlet Monastery - Graveyard	26	36	2	[32+]  Bloodmage Thalnos
Scarlet Monastery - Library	29	39	2	[35+]  Arcanist Doan
Razorfen Kraul	30	40	6	[27+]  Charlga Razorflank
Maraudon - The Wicked Grotto (Purple)	30	40	3	[47+]  Lord Vyletongue
Scarlet Monastery - Armory	32	42	1	[37+]  Herod
Maraudon - Foulspore Cavern (Orange)	32	42	4	[46+]  Razorlash
Maraudon - Earth Song Falls	34	44	4	[48+]  Princess Theradras
Scarlet Monastery - Cathedral	35	45	3	[40+]  High Inquisitor Whitemane
Uldaman	35	45	8	[40+]  Archaedas
Dire Maul - Warpwood Quarter (East)	36	46	5	[58+]  Alzzin the Wildshaper
Scholomance	38	48	13	[61+]  Darkmaster Gandling
Dire Maul - Capital Gardens (West)	39	49	5	[61+]  Prince Tortheldrin
Razorfen Downs	40	50	5	[37+]  Amnennar the Coldbringer
Dire Maul - Gordok Commons (North)	42	52	7	[62+]  King Gordok
Stratholme - Main Gate	42	52	10	[62+]  Balnazzar
Zul'Farrak	44	54	8	[46+]  Chief Ukorz Sandscalp
Stratholme - Service Entrance	46	56	7	[62+]  Baron Rivendare
Blackrock Depths - Detention Block	47	57	1	[52+]  High Interrogator Gerstahn
Sunken Temple	50	60	10	[50+]  Shade of Eranikus
Blackrock Depths - Upper City	51	61	19	[56+]  Dagran Thaurissan
Lower Blackrock Spire	55	65	9	[60+]  Overlord Wyrmthalak
Upper Blackrock Spire moved 6.0.2	55	65	5	[60+]  General Drakkisath

Burning Crusade dungeons

Name	Minimum level	Maximum level	# Bosses	Required boss
Hellfire Ramparts	58	67	3	[61+]  Omor the Unscarred
Blood Furnace	59	68	3	[63+]  Keli'dan the Breaker
Slave Pens	60	69	3	[64+]  Quagmirran
Underbog	61	70	5	[65+]  The Black Stalker
Mana-Tombs	62	71	3	[66+]  Nexus-Prince Shaffar
Auchenai Crypts	63	72	2	[67+]  Exarch Maladaar
The Escape from Durnholde	64	73	3	[68+]  Epoch Hunter
Sethekk Halls	65	73	3	[69+]  Talon King Ikiss
Shadow Labyrinth	67	75	4	[72+]  Murmur
Shattered Halls	67	75	3	[72+]  Warchief Kargath Bladefist
Steamvault	67	75	3	[72+]  Warlord Kalithresh
The Botanica	67	75	5	[72+]  Warp Splinter
The Mechanar	67	75	4	[72+]  Pathaleon the Calculator
Magisters' Terrace	68	75	3	[72+]  Kael'thas Sunstrider
The Arcatraz	68	75	5	[72+]  Harbinger Skyriss
The Black Morass	68	75	3	[72+]  Aeonus

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.

A quest chain is required to unlock the Normal-mode Caverns of Time instances of The Escape from Durnholde and The Black Morass.

Wrath of the Lich King dungeons

Name	Min. level	Max. level	# Bosses	Required encounter
Utgarde Keep	68	80	3	[72+]  Ingvar the Plunderer
The Nexus	69	80	4	[73+]  Keristrasza
Azjol-Nerub	70	80	3	[74+]  Anub'arak
Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom	71	81	4	[75+]  Herald Volazj
Drak'Tharon Keep	72	82	4	[76+]  The Prophet Tharon'ja
Violet Hold	73	82	3	[77+]  Cyanigosa
Gundrak	74	82	4	[77+]  Gal'darah
Halls of Stone	75	82	4	[79+]  Sjonnir The Ironshaper
Halls of Lightning	77	82	4	[81+]  Loken
Culling of Stratholme	77	82	4	[82+]  Mal'Ganis
Oculus	77	82	4	[82+]  Ley-Guardian Eregos
Utgarde Pinnacle	77	82	4	[82+]  King Ymiron
Trial of the Champion	80	82	3	[80+]  The Black Knight
Forge of Souls	80	82	2	[82+]  Devourer of Souls
Pit of Saron	80	82	3	[82+]  Scourgelord Tyrannus
Halls of Reflection	80	82	3	[??]  Lich King

Wrath of the Lich King heroic dungeons

All Wrath of the Lich King heroic instances require a minimum level of 80. The Nexus, Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom, Gundrak and Culling of Stratholme each have an optional heroic-only boss.

• Some instances require a minimum level of gear.
• All Heroics require at least an average item level of 180.
• Trial of the Champion, Pit of Saron, and the Forge of Souls require an average item level of 200.
• Halls of Reflection requires an average item level of 219.
• All Heroics have a maximum level of 82 in the Dungeon Finder.

Cataclysm dungeons

Name	Min. level	Max. level	# Bosses	Required encounter	Required Item Level
Throne of the Tides	80	83	4	[??] Ozumat	226
Blackrock Caverns	80	83	5	[??] Ascendant Lord Obsidius	226
Stonecore	82	??	4	[??] High Priestess Azil	272
Vortex Pinnacle	82	??	3	[??] Asaad	272
Grim Batol	84	??	4	[??] Erudax	305
Lost City of the Tol'vir	84	??	4	[??] Siamat	305
Halls of Origination	84	??	7	[??] Rajh	305

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.

Name	Min. level	Max. level	# Bosses	Required encounter	Required Item Level
Zul'Aman	85	85	6	[??] Daakara	346
Zul'Gurub	85	85	6	[??] Jin'do the Godbreaker	346

Hour of Twilight heroic dungeons

Name	Min. level	Max. level	# Bosses	Required encounter	Required Item Level
End Time	85	85	3	[??] Murozond	353
Well of Eternity (instance)	85	85	3	[??] Mannoroth and  [??] Varo'then	353
Hour of Twilight	85	85	3	[??] Archbishop Benedictus	353

Notes

• Some instances require a minimum level of gear.
  • 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
  • In Uldaman, the [Gni'kiv Medallion] cannot be traded. In order to form the [Staff of Prehistoria], the [The Shaft of Tsol] must either be looted by the same player who took the medallion, or it must be given to that player.
  • 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.
• If Ley-Guardian Eregos is defeated when The Oculus (heroic) was chosen randomly, the player will be given a [Cache of the Ley-Guardian] from the Cache of Eregos. If the Oculus was chosen specifically (presumably by that player), this extra reward is not given.
• 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, while another appeared to recognize it as a bug.

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.

Patch changes

• Patch 5.0.4 (28-August-2012): Main mode of Dungeon Finder window with Raid Finder, Scenario Finder, and Challenges tab and Challenge Mode UI.
  
•  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)
  
•  Hotfix (2011-02-18):
  • 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.
    

• Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): Undocumented change.
              Players can now see how long they are in queue while waiting for a group.
  
• Patch 3.3.0 (08-Dec-2009): Looking for Group has been renamed to Dungeon Finder
  • Supports 5-player instances
  • Designed for PUGs
  • Reward System (Source)
                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.
              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.
  

See also

• Challenge Mode
• Group Finder
• Raid Finder
• Scenario Finder

External links

WoW Official Game Site (US) 4.1 Preview -- Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms by Bashiok, Apr 7, 2011 1:00 AM UTC

WoW Official Game Site (EU) 4.1 Preview -- Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms by Bashiok, 07 Apr 2011 07:00 UTC

Guides

WoW Insider Patch 3.3: The Dungeon Finder Guide by Gregg Reece Dec 8th 2009 11:30AM

News

WoW Insider LFG vs LFM for Blizzard's Group Finder tool by Olivia Grace Nov 30th 2013 6:00PM

WoW Official Game Site (US) Catching Up to 5.3 by Blizzard Entertainment, May 2, 2013 6:00 PM PDT

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Catching Up to 5.3 by Blizzard Entertainment, 03 May 2013 15:00 BST

Wowjuju MoP Beta - New UI elements and changes by Lucifer May 15, 2012 11:27 AM

Old

Replay.WaybackMachine.org New Interface Preview, Looking for Group (US-version, as of Aug 7, 2009)

Replay.WaybackMachine.org New Interface Preview, Looking for Group (EU-version, as of Sep 26, 2010)