How is it actually decided which loot the bosses drop in World of Warcraft? There are many rumors about this – but the truth is quite simple.
There have been a lot of myths and a lot of “half-knowledge” in the history of World of Warcraft, especially about the game’s vanilla era. A particularly popular myth at the time was about how loot was created in the game. The rumors about it boiled so high that Blizzard itself had to explain how and when loot is created.
What was the myth? At the time of the first major raids – the Molten Core, Blackwing Descent and Ahn’Qiraj – there were many rumors about how exactly what kind of loot was dropped by bosses. Particularly common theories were:
- The loot depends on the exact time of the mob kill.
- The loot depends on the person who delivers the killing blow.
- The number of individual members of the different classes decides which loot drops.
Probably the most common theory at the time, however, was that the character who enters the dungeon or raid first and thus generates the “ID” of the instance also influences the loot. For example, if the Protection Warrior goes into the raid first, there is a higher chance of getting the fancy Mage Sword. However, if a hunter goes in first, the Priest Mace is more likely to drop.
All these theories led the community to the question from time to time: When is it really decided which loot a boss drops today?
No character can affect loot
How is loot generated? Blizzard explained almost 20 years ago how loot is actually generated and at what time (via bluetracker.gg):
Loot is determined at the moment a creature spawns. The moment a creature appears in the world, dungeon, or raid, it’s already decided which loot will drop.
As is so often the case in the digital realm, the random factor is based on the time, which is taken as the basis for a random generator. This makes it almost impossible to influence it.
What about quest items then? Some doubted this statement by Blizzard at the time. After all, if loot is really decided at the spawn of a creature – what if you accept a quest and are supposed to get quest items from enemies? Because then you would have to defeat all enemies first so that they respawn and then have their quest items with you.
Blizzard made it clear here: No, mobs with quest items always have them with them. However, they are “hidden” if you have not accepted the corresponding quest.
Of course, there are now many more factors that affect loot generation. Systems such as “Personal Loot” ensure that only loot that is actually used can drop. But old game content that relies on the “Legacy Loot” system should still work exactly as Blizzard explained at the time.
By the way, in “Mythic+” dungeons, the loot is created the moment you defeat the last enemy of the dungeon and meet the requirements for the reward box. Because with the spawn of the crate, the loot is generated. Therefore, you can sometimes unlock achievements (such as reaching a new item level level) before you have opened the box. Because the moment the box appears, the loot is already yours and is already tied to your character.
But there are also loot that you can have a much greater influence on. For example, there are a number of fancy mounts that you can currently earn in the Horrific Visions. Stormwind is active right now, and these 3 pretty mounts are waiting for you — just make sure you’re geared up and ready by buying WOW Gold to give yourself an edge in the fight.
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