Many players find instances to be more fun than PvP and often prefer to run the PvE content (PvP is player vs. player and PvE means player vs. environment or basically player vs. non-playable characters (NPC)) due to its more relaxing nature and group orientated fun. The only problem with every instance is that you need a group of 5 to 25 players to join up with you. When you get together a group of players that you don’t personally know then you run the risk of having a very bad or very good run. That’s where you’ll need some good discretion on who you choose to go along with you.

Most 5-man instances (the main category in which you’ll need “pubs” which stand for public players aka people you don’t know) fall into two categories. The two categories are normal mode and heroic mode with each having different needs. Let’s look at what you’ll need for any 5-man instance:

• 5 players
• 1 tank, 1 healer, and 3 DPS classes
• At least 1 utility class (Mage for polymorph, Warlock for banish, Hunter for trapping, or Rogue for sapping depending on what kind of instance it is and what type of enemies can be found inside)
• All 5 players able to follow each encounter’s directions

It’s a rather short list. Knowing this is just the start of the battle to finding that perfect group. The hardest classes to find for your group will be the tank and the healer. A tank can be a Druid, Paladin, or Warrior who is spec’d appropriately for tanking. This is something you can debate, of course, but that’s for another section. The healer can be a Druid, Shaman, Paladin, or Priest. Once again they’ll need to be spec’d properly for healing, although again, that can be debated.

The other three players can be anything else that you wish to bring. Some instances favor having a Warlock (ones full of demons), while others favor Rogues and Mages (who can sap and polymorph humans), and Hunter’s can trap almost anything. So having one class that can CC (crowd control) an enemy is extremely helpful if not necessary for some instances.

Next up you’re going to need them to be able to follow the encounter’s directions. Some encounters can cause your entire group to wipe (that’s when everyone’s HP hits 0) by having one player not follow the encounter’s directions. They don’t have to know how it’s done but they have to be able to follow them. For instance, in the fight with Kael’thas inside of Magisters’ Terrace. If you don’t kill the Phoenix’s egg in a timely manner then it’ll respawn. If it respawns at full health and he hits the 50% mark then the entire group is pretty much done for. Let’s not even start talking about the fight with Murmur.

Now the question is how are you able to find out if they’re able to follow directions? Well, that’s a hard thing to figure out before actually seeing them play. However, there is a trick you can use. That’s to look at their gear. Before they join you can open up the armory and get a good idea of the gear they’re in. If they have some instance blues then it means they’ve successfully completed instances before and you should have no worries about them. If they’re in all greens then I may suggest that you try to find another player (unless the instance is pre-70 and/or has no gear requirements). You can inspect them in the game as well or simply ask them for a few of their stats to see if they're in ok gear. However, looking at the armory is often the easiest way to go about it. Remember that some instances are literally for newbies, so make sure to take that into consideration before you turn someone down for their gear.

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Some encounters require coordination in order to win. Ensuring that the group is able to work well together is the job of the person who assembles the group and is a responsibility of each party member.

Now the next thing you’ll want to look for is gear. While you have the armory open be sure to look at what kind of gear they have. If it’s a normal mode instance then you should have no problems with anything at all as long as it’s good quality level 70 gear (even if it’s greens). The only exception is the harder higher level instances at level 70 that might as well be the lower level heroics. Anything is fine in a normal instance and even tanks that aren’t spec’d for tanking or healers who aren’t spec’d for healing can do an “ok” job, as long as they have the gear to make up for their lack of talents.

For heroics you’re going to have to forcefully in applying some stringent requirements to join the group. Each heroic instance is different and you can’t compare heroic Hellfire Citadel’s Ramparts to heroic Magisters’ Terrace. So it all depends on the actual instance. Anyone who meets the minimum requirements for Karazhan should do fine in most any heroic. Check out our very own Messiah’s Guide to Karazhan Requirements to find more.

I’d say for heroics they’d need to at least have a good bit of blues from normal instances. PvP gear can work to some degree, but remember that PvP and PvE gear really isn’t interchangeable. PvP gear includes a ton of stamina and other stats to keep you alive. That’s all well in good in PvP, but if you have a good tank then no one should be taking any kind of large damage. So lower stamina and higher attack power (either through melee, ranged, or spell damage) is what is needed more. Healers may get a lot of +healing from PvP gear but they need the mana regen for longer encounters. Tanks need dodge and avoidance, all of which isn’t included in PvP gear.

So for a normal instance you don’t have to be too picky. If you’re given the choice between two different players feel free to look them up in the armory or just pick whoever. Most normal instances will be no problem as long as they have some gear. For heroics you’re going to want to do some research, maybe ask a few questions, or just check out their attack power/spell damage before throwing that invite.

Now that you know who to invite you’ll come across the problem of finding people. Blizzard’s looking for group interface is very useful but I’ll go ahead and suggest skipping the “auto-add to group” feature and instead just place yourself looking to kind of pre-screen who is going to join your group. You’ll also want to ask in the looking for group channel (many players will stay here looking for enticing offers) and perhaps if you want to really be forceful then the main city general chat (but I highly suggest having at least a few members before you start spamming everywhere).

Now, let’s say that you have a group but one of the players is a problem. They’re not following directions (assisting when needed), pulling things too often without giving a rest, or generally playing poorly. You should give an understanding hand at first. There is a line between being rude and gently nudging them to pay attention. The best way to judge what to say is to ask yourself “are you telling them how to play their character?” If the answer is yes then avoid doing anything unless it’s causing the group major distress. If the answer is no then speak up politely.

For instance, let’s say you’re fighting an enemy that requires a certain skill to be used on them. Let’s say that two players have silence and one is using it while the other isn’t. It may be a good idea to say something along the lines of “be sure the silence this NPC guys”. Something polite, not confrontational, and suggestive of what to do. Avoid saying, “Player’s Name, you need to use this skill more often.” Unless you know for certain they won’t take offense to it.

If they are causing problems that you can’t solve through normal means then begin looking for a replacement before everyone decides the group isn’t going to work out. Kicking a player out of a group can be a harsh thing to do, but if you’re not able to advance through the instance and it’s clearly their fault then you’ll need to either call the group finished or replace them. Be sure to be polite as possible about and only remove someone if it’s required to progress.

When looking for replacements make sure to tell them how far through the instance you are. Some players looking for specific items off of certain bosses and will generally not want to run an instance if their boss is already dead. Some players will leave after a certain boss as well (although that is extremely rude). So keep that in mind.

Overall, keeping a few good things in mind and being somewhat selective you can increase your chances at having a really good group. Remember, courteous behavior, good investigation, and open lines of communications with other players are all good tips to having a good time.

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