One of the consequences of WoW having.. any competition at all (in the form of FFXIV) is a wonderful harmonization of the best features from each. This time, WoW is borrowing Final Fantasy’s “Duty Support” system.
What Are Follower Dungeons?
Put simply, Follower Dungeons are Normal difficulty Dragonflight dungeons that you can complete with a party of NPCs, rather than other players. This first rollout includes all eight Dragonflight dungeons, which should help players struggling to learn mechanics, find groups, or those who have some level of social anxiety grouping up with others.
FFXIV’s system is a great way to get more casual players up to speed with story content by granting them a safe space to learn content at their own pace, and WoW’s system aims to do just the same. You can choose to heal, tank, or DPS in Follower Dungeons, as well! Hopefully we’ll see these rolled out to other content, like leveling dungeons, in the future.
How to Access Follower Dungeons in WoW
When 10.2.5 hits on January 16, simply navigate to the LFG panel and select the “Follower Dungeon” option from the drop-down menu. This will allow you to access any of the eight Normal difficulty Dragonflight dungeons:
Follower Dungeons allow you to take the lead or have your NPC buddies guide the way, and loot will drop as it normally would via Personal Loot rules. According to PTR previews, the Follower AI is pretty clever, using Heroism during boss fights and even conjuring food at the start of the dungeon.
Here’s hoping this is a first step to improving WoW’s absolutely abysmal new-player experience. When these get rolled out to all content, they’ll be a fantastic tool for newbies to learn the game without worrying about getting dragged along by dungeon speedrunners. If you’re just starting out yourself, be sure to stop by our best class for new players guide.
