How does loot work in Dragonflight?

With release of Dragonflight, there is a lot of confusion on how the new loot system works. We will try to clarify how exactly it operates and how it changes item trading as short as possible.

Gold Elemental

1) How loot worked before?

If you have played WoW before Dragonflight, you probably remember that the main method of loot distribution was Personal Loot.

The game would drop certain amount of loot, and then randomly choose players that get items for their class. If boss dropped a mount, it uses the same logic. The amount of loot dropped followed the 20% rule. For each person in the raid who killed the boss without lockout, there is a 20% chance that an item would drop:

• 1 person = 20% chance for 1 item to drop

• 5 people = 100% chance for 1 item to drop

• 6 people = 100% chance for 1 item to drop + 20% chance for another item

• 10 people = 100% chance for 2 items to drop

2) What loot system is used in Dragonflight?

Personal Loot system has been replaced with new Group Loot. New Group Loot is a combination of Group Loot with additional rules and Personal Loot. Here is how it works:

• ANY ITEM CAN DROP FROM THE BOSS. For example, if there are no hunters in the raid boss can still drop a bow.

• Amount of loot dropped in the raid follows the 20% rule. There is a 20% chance per person that an item drops.

• Players can’t Need on an item if they’re wearing the exact piece at the exact item level, unless the dropped item has tertiary stats or socket and your doesn't.

• Players won’t be able to win multiples of the same item. If two shoulders have dropped, you can "Need" on both of them, but can win only one of them.

• Main spec and Off spec functionality has been added. For example, a ret paladin can roll "Need" for a dropped tank shield, but he won't win it if the main tank needs it himself. Main spec takes priority, then Off spec, then Greed.

• And, if you win an item, it remains fully tradeable. In past, you required to have an item of higher item level in same slot to trade the dropped one.

3) How that affects boosting?

Because of the change from Personal Loot to Group Loot, the loot that can drop from boss is no longer determined based on the classes on your group. It doesn't matter if you stack plate armor classes in your group - leather, cloth and mail still can drop. Trading items also becomes harder due to new need system. Which is why instead of Item Trading runs were changed into the "Group Loot" and "Armor Priority" runs.

4) How Group Loot run works?

For Normal raid run, we assemble a group of boosters that will carry you through the raid. Here are couple of examples how it would work with 20 boosters:

• You are the only customer in that raid. All boosters in the raid have lockout. Each boss has 20% chance to drop an item, but all items dropped will be yours.

• There are 5 customers in the raid including you. All boosters in the raid have lockout. Each boss wil drop 1 item (5 people * 20% = 100%, 20 people have lockout), but depending on people who "Need" it, you may or may not win it.

Important to note: it's not necessarily the case that all boosters have lockout on the raid, but it is pretty often the norm.

So what to do if you want to get more items, but there is no Item Trading now? In that case, we offer Armor Priority.

5) How Armor Priority run works?

For Armor Priority run, we assemble a group of boosters that don't have lockout for the raid. You will get all the items that are used by your specialization, including armor, weapons, shields and trinkets. Here is an example with 20 boosters:

• You are the only customer in that raid. Your Class armor type is Plate. Each boss will drop 4 items and have a 20% chance for 5'th item (21 people * 20% = 420% drop chance). All items dropped will be yours.

• There are 4 customers in the raid including you. Your Class armor type is Plate. Other 3 customers will have OTHER armor types: Cloth, Leather and Mail. Each boss will drop 4 items and have an 80% chance for 5'th item (24 people * 20% = 480% drop chance). All items dropped for your specialization are guaranteed to be yours. Capes, necklaces & rings are not guaranteed to be yours as they don't belong to any armor type.