Yes, on your own terms. Nothing stops you walking into a five-player dungeon by yourself in World of Warcraft: Forever, and once your character is well above a dungeon’s level you can clear it alone. At the level a dungeon is made for, though, it is built for a full group, and Blizzard has announced no follower NPCs, solo difficulty or Delves for WoW Forever to fill the empty slots.
Blizzard’s dungeon overview calls all nine of Forever’s new instances “five-player dungeons,” and its new player’s starter guide describes the usual group: “a tank who draws enemy attention, a healer who keeps the party standing, and damage dealers (DPS) who work together.” Below is what happens when you go in alone at level, when soloing starts to make sense, the experience rules that decide whether it is worth it, and what is worth farming. Checked November 12, eight days after launch.
Soloing a Dungeon at Its Own Level
A dungeon at your level tests a group, not one character. Blizzard’s deep dive recap says dungeon play “is also meant to stay tactical, where crowd control can be the right answer when there are too many enemies for a tank to safely control at once.” Dungeon enemies are elites that come in packs, and the bosses expect five players’ worth of damage, healing and threat.
Blizzard is still tuning the new dungeons for those groups. Its November 9 hotfixes fixed creatures in The Drowned City that were doing “about 30% more damage than intended” and lowered the health of the creatures in the Deathless Marrow encounter by 25%. If a run at level feels brutal even with a group, that is why it is not a solo plan.
When Soloing Starts to Work
Soloing becomes realistic once you outlevel a dungeon, and the further above it you are, the easier it gets. There is no fixed level where it clicks: it depends on your class, your gear and how many enemies you pull at once. Start with dungeons whose top level is well below yours, keep pulls small until you know how fast you kill elites, and check the ranges in our dungeon level ranges guide first.
Classes that keep themselves alive have the easiest time:
- Warlocks and Hunters, whose pets hold enemies while they deal damage.
- Paladins, with plate armor, self-healing and Consecration, which every Paladin gets at level 20 in Forever.
- Druids, who can tank in Bear Form and heal themselves between pulls.
Our best solo class guide ranks every class for playing alone, and our class tier list covers group roles.
Is Soloing Worth It for Experience?
Not once you outlevel a dungeon. Enemies far below your level give no experience, and the same goes for groups: Blizzard’s October 8 development notes say “if a member of the party is at a vastly higher level than the enemy being killed, then no player in the party will receive XP, as intended.” So a level 60 friend clearing a low dungeon for your alt also wipes out the alt’s experience from those kills.
At level, dungeons pay better than they did in early testing. The same October notes raised the experience from dungeon kills by about 20% and made party experience depend on each member’s own level, so “only the individual’s level matters.” Then a November 8 hotfix “increased kill experience in dungeons by 50%.” Our dungeon XP story covers what that means for leveling.
What Is Worth Soloing
Once you outlevel a dungeon, a solo run is about loot rather than experience:
- Appearances. Blizzard says Poor and Common items “grant their appearance as soon as they are looted,” and bind-on-pickup Uncommon and Rare dungeon drops grant theirs to every eligible looter. Alone, every drop is yours, and at level 60 the level limits on your collection lift. Our transmog guide covers how collecting works.
- Gold. Vendor trash, cloth and the odd bind-on-equip item add up on every clear. Our gold guide has the bigger earners.
- Recipes. Blizzard’s October 1 notes added a number of Blacksmithing and Leatherworking recipes as random drops in dungeons.
- Skipped dungeon quests. You can go back and finish them alone, though they pay less than they once did: the October 1 notes halved the extra experience dungeon quests give beyond normal quest values.
Raids Are a Different Story
Raids open to level 60 characters on December 9, according to Blizzard’s raid overview: The Barrow Deeps for 10 players, Hyjal Summit for 20, and Onyxia’s Lair for 40. They are built around full raid groups, and Onyxia’s Lair also needs every member to carry the Drakefire Amulet from a faction attunement chain, which itself sends you into high-level dungeons with friends.
How to Find a Group Instead
There is no automatic Dungeon Finder in WoW Forever. The Group Finder lists players and groups, you invite who you want, and everyone travels to the entrance; our Dungeon Finder guide explains how it works. Tanks and healers get invites fastest, and our best class for new players shows which classes can fill those roles. Every guide we have is on our World of Warcraft hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you enter a dungeon alone in WoW Forever? Yes. Nothing requires a group at the entrance. At the dungeon’s own level, though, it is tuned for five players.
Does WoW Forever have follower dungeons or a solo mode? No. Blizzard has announced no follower NPCs, solo difficulty or Delves for WoW Forever. Dungeons are five-player content.
Can a high-level character boost a friend through a dungeon? They can clear it, but Blizzard says nobody in the party gets experience from an enemy when a party member is vastly higher level than that enemy.
What is the best class for soloing dungeons? Once you outlevel the dungeon, pet classes such as Warlocks and Hunters, and self-healing classes that can take hits, such as Paladins and Druids.
Can you solo raids in WoW Forever? Raids open on December 9 for level 60 characters and are built for groups of 10, 20 and 40 players.