Is there a dungeon finder in WoW: Forever?

The short answer: there is a group list, but no dungeon finder. Nothing in Forever puts five strangers together for you and drops them in a dungeon.

What there is, as reported from the BlizzCon demo and an interview with the lead designers:

• A Looking for Group list. Warcraft Tavern says it is the version from WoW Classic, which "allows you to organize groups but does not form them automatically or teleport everyone to the dungeon."
• You open it at the meeting stone. Kotaku, after talking to the lead designers, says meeting stones "open a new Looking for Group feature, which allows you to list and discover groups".
• You still pick the people. Guilds Forever puts it in one line: "It organises people; it does not match them."

This is reported, not confirmed. It comes from the press and from people who played the demo. We found no Blizzard article about it, so it could still change before 4 November.

This is a choice, not a missing feature. Mike Nuthals, a lead encounter designer, told Kotaku why the trip to the dungeon stays:

"We think that those moments of downtime are important for social opportunities."

He calls it "group ramp-up time", and says it matters before a run of "30, 40 minutes". So don't wait for a dungeon finder to be added. Nobody at Blizzard has said one is coming. Guilds Forever mentions forum talk of a Raid Finder later, but "nothing confirmed".

Plan for the game as it is: every group is one somebody put together.

In later versions of WoW you could click a meeting stone and pull your group to the door. In Forever the stones don't summon. Warcraft Tavern and Kotaku both report this.

That leaves two ways to get there:

1. Walk, ride or fly there yourself. Kotaku's words: you "hoof it across the continent".
2. A Warlock summons you. Warcraft Tavern reports that Ritual of Summoning is the only summon, and it needs two more party members already at the stone.

What this means for you:

• Agree a meeting time, not just a group. Leave time to travel before it.
• If you have a Warlock, send two people ahead and let the Warlock bring the rest.
• Form the group near where most of you already are, so the trip is short.

Two limits decide who can be in your group at all. Both are confirmed by Blizzard:

• Same faction. "Horde and Alliance players still cannot group together."
• Same ruleset. "Cross-ruleset grouping is not supported." A friend on PvP cannot join your group on Normal.

So when you ask around in Discord or on a website, say your ruleset and faction first. A healer on the wrong one is no use to you. If you have not picked a ruleset yet, see choosing a ruleset.

The list works. It just leaves the matching to you. Beta players on Blizzard's own forums describe it like this (reported, from the beta, so it may change):

• Leaders get whispers, not applications. One player listed a group and got "25 whispers from random people", with no class or role shown.
• The list of players gets long. The same player found that "Nobody is scrolling past the first 5 names in the list."
• Some players like it. Another wrote that they can "just list my interest in a dungeon and continue on my way".

What this means for you:

• When you whisper a leader, put your class, role and level in the first line.
• If you lead, say exactly what you still need, so the wrong people don't whisper.
• Relist if nothing happens. A listing that has slid down the list is not being read.

Without a dungeon finder, the people you already know are the quickest group you will ever get.

• Join a guild that plays when you play. Guilds Forever's advice is blunt: "Without an automatic group finder, your guild is your group finder." A guild that is online on other nights will not fill your Tuesday.
• Your guild is near you. Out of Games reports that "You will be on the same layer as your guildmates without needing to be grouped." This is reported.
• Keep good players. After a run that went well, add the tank and the healer as friends. They are your next group.

A guild has to be on your ruleset and faction too, for the reasons in the step above.

The in-game list starts working when you log in. If you know which evenings you are free, you can start sooner.

This is what mrgl does. You choose a dungeon, raid or battleground, tick the evenings you are free, and get on with your week. When a group fits one of your evenings, mrgl messages everyone to ask if they are in. On the night you travel to the entrance at your group's time and group up in game. It is free and needs no add-on. How it works.

It does not change the game. You still travel to the door, because meeting stones don't summon, and the group is still only your ruleset and faction.

Whichever way you find your group, the order to run the dungeons in is in dungeon order by level.