WoW brings back group scavenging, but does it much better than before

The popular “Group Loot” returns in World of Warcraft Dragonflight. We reveal which new rules then apply to loot.

There was a time when World of Warcraft increasingly focused on the solo experience and also looked at group content to see how solo players could feel comfortable there.

Where there used to be “loot drama” because a ninja looter simply rolled need for a popular item even though he didn’t need it, personal loot came along. The personal loot was much fairer and rewarded each player individually – but often damaged the social component and the good feeling of having “won” an item.

With Dragonflight, group looting is coming back and the rules are being expanded even further.

“Rolled Need… need it for my Healer twink!”

What will be changed? In Dragonflight’s first raid, Vault of Incarnations, group looting will be the only option – it’s permanently enabled. This means that you are shown the dropped items “like back then” and can then roll the dice for need or greed to secure the loot. However, Blizzard has refined the system and made a lot of restrictions and adjustments to keep it fair and efficient for groups.

• No one can roll Need for an item they can’t put to good use. For example, warriors can never roll Need for Cloth clothing, but neither can a Priest for a Agility Staff.
• The system differentiates between “Main-Spec” and “Off-Spec”. Players using an item for their main specialization always have priority when rolling Need.
• The general order of priority when rolling dice is:
  1. Requirement: Main specialization
  2. Requirement: Second specialization
  3. greed
• You can set your main specialization. For example, if you’re a paladin helping out as a healer today, but you’re actually a vengeance, you can still choose vengeance as your main specialization, giving you priority over retaliation items.
• You cannot win the same item multiple times. If a boss drops the same sword twice in the same kill, you can roll for both – but if you win the first item, you will be excluded from the second roll because you already have the item.
• You cannot roll Need if you are already carrying the exact same item with the exact same item level. If the item is an upgrade in any way (like having a socket or tertiary stat), then you could roll for it.

Incidentally, the system should also be used in the LFR.

By the way, the release of Dragonflight is coming soon…

Can you still trade items? That’s fine. Once you’ve won an item, you can then trade it with any players who were present during the boss fight and could have legitimately received loot. The previous restrictions that you cannot trade away an item because you don’t have another with a higher or the same item level are no longer applicable.

Please keep in mind that these plans are still beta information and testing. Although Blizzard has announced that they want to use the system in Dragonflight, it is still under discussion.

What does Blizzard expect from this? Blizzard is pursuing several goals with the change. For one thing, the developers want it to be more transparent again about who gets loot and why. Because even with “Personal Loot” the players rolled for rewards – that only took place internally in the background.

In addition, rolling the dice for items is a social interaction that leads to conversations and amusing situations from time to time. At the same time, players have more freedom to trade loot in the raid and adjust it to the needs of the group if they choose.

What do you think of the return of the Group Loot? Exactly what World of Warcraft needs? Or did you prefer the personal loot?